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Reasonable determination of the water pressure on the shaft linings is the key to the optimization design of the vertical shaft of mining. The traditional water pressure calculation model is not suitable for the stratum conditions in western China. A new shaft-surrounding rock seepage model is proposed based on the coordinated seepage conditions of surrounding rock and shaft linings. In the model, the seepage within the shaft depth is assumed happening in a unit thickness confined aquifer. Thereby, the water pressure on the shaft linings is derived by the steady seepage theory, and the water pressure reduction coefficient is defined by normalizing the hydrostatic pressure. The influences of shaft diameter and shaft depth, the permeability coefficient of the surrounding rock, and the seepage flow on the water pressure reduction coefficient are analyzed. After that, the mechanism of reducing water pressure by grouting the surrounding rock is studied by considering the stratum conditions in western China. Finally, a practical equation, which only relating to the depth of the shaft, is fitted on account of the averaged water pressure reduction coefficient from the theoretical model. The effectiveness of the theoretical model and the fitted equation are verified by the measured data and data in the literature.

Machine‐induced soil disturbance may negatively impact the sustainability of a smallholder farming system. On‐farm studies at 143 fields were conducted over three crop seasons with the goal of quantifying the effect of soil disturbance on rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddy productivity induced by small harvesters (i.e., power

Western honey bees (Apis mellifera), a cornerstone to crop pollination in the U.S., are faced with an onslaught of challenges from diseases caused by parasites, pathogens, and pests that affect this economically valuable pollinator. Natural products (NPs), produced by living organisms, including plants and microorganisms, can support health and combat disease in animals. NPs include both native extracts and individual compounds that can reduce disease impacts by supporting immunity or directly inhibiting pathogens, pests, and parasites. Herein, we describe the screening of NPs in laboratory cage studies for their effects on honey bee disease prevention and control. Depending on the expected activity of compounds, we measured varied responses, including viral levels, honey bee immune responses, and symbiotic bacteria loads. Of the NPs screened, several compounds demonstrated beneficial activities in honey bees by reducing levels of the critical honey bee virus deformed wing virus (DWV-A and-B), positively impacting the gut microbiome or stimulating honey bee immune responses. Investigations of the medicinal properties of NPs in honey bees will contribute to a better understanding of their potential to support honey bee immunity to fight off pests and pathogens and promote increased overall honey bee health. These investigations will also shed light on the ecological interactions between pollinators and specific floral food sources.

Calculation of the electrostatic double layer force (EDL force) between clay particles is relevant as it is closely related to important macroscopic mechanical behaviors of clays. The popular method to calculate the EDL force is to integrate the electric potential and Maxwell stress along the boundary enclosing a simply connected domain within which a clay particle resides. The EDL force has also been calculated by the integration of the electrostatic force density over the preceding domain. However, the subtle relation of the EDL forces calculated by the different existing methods has not yet been investigated. By means of theoretical analysis and finite element simulation, it was shown that the force calculated by the integration of Maxwell stress along the complete boundary enclosing a multiply connected domain in which the clay particle is excluded, and that along the partial boundary enclosing the preceding simply connected domain represents the electrical attractive force and osmotic repulsive force, respectively, while the integration of the potential along both the same complete and partial boundary denotes the osmotic force. Numerical results showed that the calculated EDL force deviates from its actual value significantly with the decrease in distance between the chosen integral boundary and particle surface, and the deviation varies with surface potential and angle between particles. Moreover, the recommended minimum distance was proposed to be 10 times the thickness of the particle based on the present simulation results.

In this paper, the concepts of ordered and (fuzzy) ordered hypersemigroups are introduced, and several related properties are investigated. In particular, we give the characterization of regular, intra-regular, and quasi-regular (fuzzy) ordered hypersemigroups in terms of ideals. Furthermore, we define and discuss the semisimple (fuzzy) ordered hypersemigroups.

Human beta-defensin-1 (hBD-1) is one of a number of small cationic host-defense peptides. Besides its well-known broad-spectrum antimicrobial function, hBD-1 has recently been identified as a chromosome 8p tumor-suppressor gene. The role of hBD-1 in modulating the host immune responseto oncogenesis, associated with cell signaling and potential therapeutic applications, has become increasingly appreciated over time. In this study, multiple approaches were used to illustrate hBD-1 antitumor activities. Results demonstrate that hBD-1 peptide alters human epidermal growth factor receptor2 (HER2) signal transduction and represses retroviral-mediated transgene expression in cancer cells. Loss of orthologous murine defense-1 (mBD1) in mice enhances nickel sulfate-induced leiomyosarcoma andcauses mouse kidney cells to exhibit increased susceptibility to HPV-16 E6/7-induced neoplastic transformation. Furthermore, for the first time, a novel function of the urine-derived hBD-1 peptide was discovered to suppress bladder cancer growth and this may lead to future applications in the treatmentof malignancy.

RNA viruses that contain single-stranded RNA genomes of positive sense make up the largest group of pathogens infecting honey bees. Sacbrood virus (SBV) is one of the most widely distributed honey bee viruses and infects the larvae of honey bees, resulting in failure to pupate and death. Among all of the viruses infecting honey bees, SBV has the greatest number of complete genomes isolated from both European honey bees Apis mellifera and Asian honey bees A. cerana worldwide. To enhance our understanding of the evolution and pathogenicity of SBV, in this study, we present the first report of whole genome sequences of two U.S. strains of SBV. The complete genome sequences of the two U.S. SBV strains were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers: MG545286.1 and MG545287.1. Both SBV strains show the typical genomic features of the Iflaviridae family. The phylogenetic analysis of the single polyprotein coding region of the U.S. strains, and other GenBank SBV submissions revealed that SBV strains split into two distinct lineages, possibly reflecting host affiliation. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 5&prime, UTR revealed a monophyletic clade with the deep parts of the tree occupied by SBV strains from both A. cerane and A. mellifera, and the tips of branches of the tree occupied by SBV strains from A. mellifera. The study of the cold stress on the pathogenesis of the SBV infection showed that cold stress could have profound effects on sacbrood disease severity manifested by increased mortality of infected larvae. This result suggests that the high prevalence of sacbrood disease in early spring may be due to the fluctuating temperatures during the season. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the evolution and pathogenesis of SBV infection in honey bees, and have important epidemiological relevance.

China is the largest producer and exporter of royal jelly (RJ) in the world, supplying >90% of the global market. The high production of RJ in China is principally owing to the high RJ-producing lineage of honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806) established by beekeepers in the 1980s. We describe the development of high royal jelly-producing honeybees and the management of this lineage today. Previous research and recent advances in the genetic characterization of this lineage, and the molecular markers and mechanisms associated with high RJ production are summarized. The gaps in our knowledge and prospects for future research are also highlighted.

The effect of temperature on the mechanical behavior of the soils around the special geo-structures, such as nuclear waste containers and energy piles can’t be neglected. In this paper, some temperature-controlled laboratory test results are selected and analyzed, based on which and the thermal induced changes of main mechanical features (e.g., shear strength, critical state line, preconsolidation pressure) are identified. A constitutive model is then developed to interpret the temperature dependent behavior of saturated clays under the framework of critical state theory. Only one temperature related parameter is added in the present model comparing with the Modified Cam Clay model, and this parameter can be directly obtained from the yield loci of the soil. The performance of the proposed model is demonstrated with simulating temperature tests under drained condition.

Both of strain-rate and temperature have significant effects on the one-dimensional (1D) compression behavior of soils. This paper focuses on the time and temperature dependent behavior of the preconsolidation pressure, which is investigated in double logarithm plane. Based on the linear correlation, a strain-rate related parameter and a temperature related parameter are proposed to describe the rate-dependency and temperature dependency, respectively. Finally, a constitutive equation is introduced that expressesing the evolution of the preconsolidation pressure with respect to strain rate and temperature. The evolution of the preconsolidation pressure is the basis of any general elasto-thermo-plastic framework to allow the coupling of the thermoplastic deformation with the modification of the state limit.

China is a country with high honeybee diversity, long history of beekeeping and large amount of managed honeybee colonies. Based on the development of a high royal jelly-producing lineage of honeybees and related techniques and tools, China is producing nearly all of royal jelly in the world market. Over the past decade, great development has occurred in Chinese beekeeping industry, e.g., the development of honeybee pollination market, the promotion of beekeeping with Apis cerana, and the mechanization of beekeeping. However, there are also challenges facing the industry, e.g., honey adulteration and colony losses caused by biotic and/or non-biotic factors. The exploitation of native bumble bees and stingless bees is still in the very early initial stage. The role of honeybee pollination in agriculture has been recognized by government and farmers. We believe that Chinese beekeeping is entering an era full of opportunities.

The present article highlights the diverse role of stem cells in normal kidney and renal cancer, with special emphasis on surface markers. Proteins such as CD105 and CD133 have been reported as being significant in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cancer stem cells. The role of normal kidney progenitor cells and their surface markers is compared with the role of those surface markers in ccRCC. Subsequently, we state the current hypothesis about origin of tumour-initiating cells along with their clinical and prognostic potential in RCC. Finally, we present future perspectives with respect to recent studies.

The Asian honeybee Apis cerana is one of two bee species that have been commercially kept with immense economic value. Here we present the analysis of genomic sequence and transcriptomic exploration for A. cerana as well as the comparative genomic analysis of the Asian honeybee and the European honeybee A. mellifera. The genome and RNA-seq data yield new insights into the behavioral and physiological resistance to the parasitic mite Varroa the evolution of antimicrobial peptides, and the genetic basis for labor division in A. cerana. Comparison of genes between the two sister species revealed genes specific to A. cerana, 54.5% of which have no homology to any known proteins. The observation that A. cerana displayed significantly more vigilant grooming behaviors to the presence of Varroa than A. mellifera in conjunction with gene expression analysis suggests that parasite-defensive grooming in A. cerana is likely triggered not only by exogenous stimuli through visual and olfactory detection of the parasite, but also by genetically endogenous processes that periodically activates a bout of grooming to remove the ectoparasite. This information provides a valuable platform to facilitate the traits unique to A. cerana as well as those shared with other social bees for health improvement.

With the increasing requirement on flattening the hierarchical structure of the military command networks, this paper studied the efficiency of the cross-level command style which is one of the most way to flatten current structure. We present a cross-level command model based on the tree network. According with it, we focused on two measurements, timeliness and invulnerability, to evaluate the command networks on different cross-level by the simulation experiments. Compared the results under two styles of attack strategies, the random attack and selecting attack, it showed that the new command networks with different cross-level are more efficient.

Aiming at the imaging tasks scheduling problem on high-altitude airship under static conditions, some major constraints are analyzed and described, the constraint satisfaction model is constructed based on two optimization objectives: maximizing the task benefit, and minimizing the energy consumption. According to the characteristics of our model, an improved NSGA-II algorithm is proposed. Finally, the efficiency and feasibility of our improved model are verified in an experimental simulation, the application results and comparison analysis show that the proposed algorithm is effective and feasible.

With the increasing requirement on flattening the hierarchical structure of the military command networks, this paper studied the efficiency of the cross-level command style which is one of the most way to flatten current structure. We present a cross-level command of different groups model based on the tree network. According with it, we focused on two measurements, timeliness and invulnerability, to evaluate the command networks on different cross-level by the simulation experiments. Compared the results under two styles of attack strategies, the random attack and selecting attack, it showed that the new command networks with different cross-level are more efficient.

In the presence of magnetic fields, we studied the giant magnetoresistance (MR) effect of Dirac fermions in graphene and silicene, which is related to the spin and valley degrees of freedom. It is found that the electron could resonantly tunnel through the parallel magnetization configuration, but it is blocked in the antiparallel situation. Such a transmission difference leads to a giant MR ratio, which can be controllable electrically in silicene. Furthermore, for the asymmetric structure in silicene, the transport depends strongly on the spin and valley degrees of freedom. Accordingly, this MR device achieves a remarkable spin-valley polarized current which can be effectively controlled by the magnetic fields and electric fields.

The content of 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), a marker compound in royal jelly (RJ), is the most important criterion in grading RJ for commercial trade and varies with its origin. To identify the effect of geographical origin on 10-HDA content in RJ, 138 samples were collected from 19 provinces of China (divided into three groups) produced by either Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806 or a hybrid of A. m. ligustica and Apis mellifera carnica Pollman, 1879 and analyzed for moisture, sugar, crude protein, ash, acid, and 10-HDA concentration. The results show that RJ from western China has a significantly higher 10-HDA level (2.01 +/- 0.05%) than those from northeastern (1.87 +/- 0.05%) and eastern (1.75 +/- 0.03%) China. RJ secreted by hybrid bees contained more 10-HDA (1.89 +/- 0.03%) than that secreted by A. m. ligustica (1.78 +/- 0.03%). The 10-HDA content of RJ produced during flowering of rape (Brassica campestris L.), lime (Tilia amurensis Ruprecht), and vitex (Vitex negundo L. variety heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder) was 1.92, 1.80, and 1.68%, respectively. The results would be helpful during the process of price determination of RJ by providing some basis of geographical, bee strain, and botanical information for commercial trade.

This paper present that experimental research on the fatigue behavior of beam with Q345c steel corrugated webs. There are four test specimens with different structural feature will be tested in three-point bending to load by Shinmadzu 4890 fatigue testing machine. Moreover, the finite-element analysis will be used to simulate the fatigue behavior of common beam with corrugated steel web. Weld will be our focus on importance object.

This paper present the geometrical parameters were conducted to study how they impact the fatigue of the girders with corrugated web by a comprehensive finite element method. Different parameters, such as the oblique angle of the web, the radius of curvature between the web folds, the thickness and width of flange, the height of the beam were investigated. The research object were : promote the application of this structure, especially for corrugated steel web composite bridges on the fatigue design theory and method provide the standard. The numerical results show that geometrical parameters of girders with corrugated webs have great effect on the stress concentration of weld toes. In addition, weld depth and angle have greater impact on the fatigue of the beams with corrugated webs.

Aimed at the problem of image blur while denoising in SAR image, a new denoising method by reserving edges based on MSP-ROA operator is presented after analyzing the image edge detection. The SAR image edges are well reserved while denoising for combining denoising with the edge detection. Experiment results show that the method is feasible and effective.

To provide precise configuration reference for the engineering bionics, high accuracy detection in large field of view on the natural biological body is a prerequisite. Targeting the streamline body of carcharhinus brachyurous, 3D (three dimensional) measurement was carried out with monocular and binocular vision inspecting system based on sinusoidal structure light. By means of moving the vision sensor driven by a stepper motor, fringe patterns with variable fringe spacing were projected to every parts of the shark body, then the point clouds of different parts of the whole shark body were obtained. Using the quaternion method to joint the edges of these point clouds together, surface reconstruction was conducted. Finally the digital model of the low resistance body of shark was achieved. It would be useful reference for the configuration design of underwater vehicles, especially microminiature biomimetic underwater vehicles.

This paper analyzed the composition of the multiple agent system, and combine with the characteristics of simulation in multiple agent. This paper proposed a supply chain system structure based on the coordination center, to achieve communications between any two entities through the coordination center. This paper constructed the agent module chart of coordination center, suppliers, producers and distributors, and expounds the function and task flow of the coordination center, and design the mechanism for data transfer between modules, in order to realize the data exchange between different entities. In this model, the coordination center takes effective measures like effectively plan, coordination, dispatch and control for the logistics, cash flow and information flow of supply chain. So it has a good reference value for the practical application of supply chain model.

International audience; AbstractIn honey bee colonies, workers, in particular of “anarchistic” lineages, can activate their ovaries and lay eggs, even in the presence of the queen. We identified three queenright colonies showing typical signs of worker reproduction. To characterize this new lineage, we extracted the mandibular gland and analyzed it using gas chromatography. The total amounts of the five main components of the mandibular gland, namely methyl p-hydroxyben-zoate (HOB), 9-oxo-2(E)-decenoic acid (9-ODA), (S)-9-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-HDA), 10-HDA, and 10-hydroxyde-canoic acid (10-HDAA) were significantly higher in the mandibular gland profiles of workers with activated ovaries (AWs, 8.88 ± 1.71 μg) compared to workers with inactivated ovaries (IAWs, 4.00 ± 2.09 μg). Furthermore, the chemical profiles of IAWs were dominated by the “worker substances” 10-HDA (34.64 ± 8.19 %) and its precursor 10-HDAA (22.88 ± 4.95 %), while the chemical profiles in AWs were dominated by the precursor of the queen substance 9-HDA (40.04 ± 7.55 %). The ratios of two precursor substances 10-HDAA/9-HDA of IAWs were more worker like (>1.0) whereas AWs were more queen like (≤1.0). These results suggest that the mandibular pheromones of anarchistic workers resemble a more queen-like reproductive active profile and that these workers may represent a reversion to a more basal reproductive phenotype.

The sequences of mitochondrial ND2, CO2, and 16S rRNA genes and nuclear ITPR gene were obtained from 22 samples of 5 Apis species from China. The characteristics of the sequences and the pairwise distances among species were analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed for Apis species using maximum parsimony, neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood methods together with the sequences of the other 4 Apis species downloaded from GenBank. Results supported that Apis species were divided into three major clusters: dwarf bees (A. florea and A. andreniformis), giant bees (A. dorsata and A. laboriosa), and cavity-nesting bees (A. mellifera, A. cerana, A. koschevnikovi, A. nigrocinta, and A. nuluensis). The dwarf honey bees were confirmed as basal lineage. Our study also revealed a high level of genetic divergence between A. dorsata from Hainan Island and China mainland.

International audience; We investigated the genetic structure of Chinese Apis dorsata population based on DNA microsatellites. The results show that populations from different geographical regions are significantly differentiated. Furthermore, the A. dorsata population from Hainan Island very probably diverged from that of the China mainland and also exhibits a lower level of genetic diversity, which is probably the result of founder effects and genetic drift. The results provide useful information for effective management and conservation of A. dorsata in China, particularly with regard to the population of Hainan Island.

Although the phylogenetic relationships of Apis species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) have been generally accepted, genetic variation within most species and some new possible species' status have not been studied in detail. In this study, we surveyed the genetic variation of mitochondrial DNA sequences in Apis species from China and investigated the phylogeography of Apis dorsata F. in China and neighboring Asian areas. The phylogeny of Chinese Apis species was consistent with the generally accepted Apis phylogeny, and a substructure within A. dorsata was suggested. Furthermore, results of analysis of molecular variance revealed significant genetic structuring of A. dorsata between Hainan Island and China mainland. When compared with neighboring Asian areas, Chinese A. dorsata grouped with one A. dorsata sample from Palawan Island of Philippines and two samples from Malaysia. Another two samples from Malaysia clustered with one Nepalese sample and the cluster from Thailand also was supported. These results support the hypothesis that glaciations and deglaciations during the Pleistocene could have greatly influenced the distribution and divergence of A. dorsata in China and Southeast Asia. In addition, the species status of Apis dorsata breviligula Maa and Apis dorsata binghami Cockerell were supported in our study and genetic variation may exist in Apis laboriosa Smith despite of limited natural distribution.

SummaryMultivariate morphometric analyses were performed on the giant honey bees Apis dorsata F. and Apis laboriosa F. of China. The two giant honey bee species were readily separated by principal components, cluster and discriminant analyses. Apis laboriosa showed higher values for the variables of size and cubital index than A. dorsata (ranging respectively as the width of the wax mirror 2.83~2.99 mm and 2.36~2.56 mm, width of sternum 6 3.61~3.86 mm and 3.03~3.26 mm, cubital index 10.36~14.56 and 6.38~9.61). Most of the wing venation angles were also significantly different in the two giant honey bees (angle J10 were 38.2°~40.7° and 34.7°~37.7° respectively). A. dorsata is distributed widely across China, and cluster and discrimination analyses indicated that they could be subdivided into two morphometric subclusters: one from the Chinese mainland and another from Hainan Island which reflects their relative geographic isolation. Few characters differed in the two A. dorsata morphometric subclusters, how...

The content and composition of fatty acids in the seed oil from 4 blackberry varieties were compared in this paper to provide further guidelines for use of blackberry seeds. Blackberry seed oil contains rich α-linolenic and linoleic acid making it an excellent dietary source of 18:3n-3 and essential fatty acids. The oil is a good dietary source of natural antioxidants for health promotion and disease prevention. The presence of n-3 fatty acid and antioxidants also suggests potential value-added utilization of blackberry seeds for preparing functional foods or supplemental products.

In order to understand the nutritional characteristics of blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), provide the fundamental basis for its processing and utilization, 13 blueberry varieties were studied on their major nutrient compositions in fruit. The results showed that blueberry fruit contained 10.31 ± 0.98% of soluble solids, of which 77.13% was soluble sugar and 89.02% of soluble sugar was reducing sugar. Average content of organic acids was 0.79 ± 0.23% and sugar-acid ratio was 10.91 ± 3.38. Total polyphenol content was 4.921 ± 0.738 mg·g-1, of which anthocyanin was 1.441 ± 0.435 mg·g-1 and ellagic acid 0.921 ± 0.098 mg·g-1. Nutrient content and their components had difference between blueberries varieties.

Traditional methods such as scoring method, Likert scale method, etc, suffer from uncertainness, randomness and inaccuracy. To solve these problems, a cloud model is presented in this paper. Based on fuzzy mathematics and statistics, the cloud model can convert the qualitative evaluation of the product to quantitative scores. It’s a better way to overcome the disadvantages of direct scoring method that cause more inaccuracies. A prouct satisfaction evaluation model with three dimensions (i.e., evaluation index, product sets and estimator) is then constructed, which combines the cloud model and the grey relational analysis. Finally, the effectivity of the presented model is demonstrated by a case study.

Nisin is an antimicrobial polypeptide produced by Lactococcus lactis and is believed nontoxic to humans. The objective of this study was to evaluate a nisin-based formulation for the treatment of bovine clinical mastitis in lactating dairy cattle. A total of 92 cows with 107 clinically mastitic quarters were randomly assigned to nisin- (48 cows with 51 quarters) and gentamicin (GM)-treated (44 cows with 56 quarters) groups. In the nisin-treated group, cows received an intramammary infusion of nisin at a dose of 2,500,000 IU; in the GM-treated group, intramammary infusion of GM was administered at a dose of 0.8 g. Results indicated that nisin offered a clinical cure rate similar to GM (90.2 vs. 91.1%) and no difference in bacteriological cure rate than GM-treated group (60.8 vs. 44.6%, respectively). Proportion of the quarters with milk somatic cell counts500,000 cells/mL was not different in the nisin-treated group (50.0 and 47.8%) compared with the GM-treated group (33.3 and 37.3%) 1 and 2 wk after treatment. Of 17 Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 82.5% were resistant to penicillin, and 35.3% to GM, but none of them to nisin. Nisin therapy eliminated 54.5% (6 of 11) of S. aureus IMI, whereas GM eliminated 33.3% (2 of 6). Nisin in milk (4.5 +/- 0.8 IU/mL) was detected only at 12 h following intramammary infusion, which was much lower than the upper limit (500 mg/mL) allowed as preservative in milk by the China authority. Because of its efficacy in the treatment of bovine clinical mastitis, especially resistant Staph. aureus-caused IMI, as well as its safety in humans, nisin deserves further study to clarify its effects on mastitis caused by different mastitis pathogens on a larger scale.

In an attempt to isolate and identify the antigenic epitopes on ferritin of Schistosoma japonicum (SjFer) and to test their protective potentiality against Schistosoma japonicum (S.j), polyclonal antisera against SjFer was prepared to screen a 12-mer random peptide library. Three rounds of biopanning were performed and resulted in an enrichment. Six peptides selected randomly from the third elute were all found to be positive by evaluating the binding to anti-SjFer sera by ELISA and Western blotting. Three amino acid sequences were deduced from the six phage clones by sequencing. When they were used to vaccinate mice, the three peptides could induce significant reduction in adult worms (26.7%, 20.4%, and 25.9%) as well as in liver eggs per gram (LEPG) (40.0%, 38.2%, and 40.8%). This result showed that three mimotopes on SjFer were obtained and they could induce significant protective efficacy against S.j.

The content of 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), a marker compound in royal jelly (RJ), is the most important criterion in grading RJ for commercial trade and varies with its origin. To identify the effect of geographical origin on 10-HDA content in RJ, 138 samples were collected from 19 provinces of China (divided into three groups) produced by either Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806 or a hybrid of A. m. ligustica and Apis mellifera carnica Pollman, 1879 and analyzed for moisture, sugar, crude protein, ash, acid, and 10-HDA concentration. The results show that RJ from western China has a significantly higher 10-HDA level (2.01 +/- 0.05%) than those from northeastern (1.87 +/- 0.05%) and eastern (1.75 +/- 0.03%) China. RJ secreted by hybrid bees contained more 10-HDA (1.89 +/- 0.03%) than that secreted by A. m. ligustica (1.78 +/- 0.03%). The 10-HDA content of RJ produced during flowering of rape (Brassica campestris L.), lime (Tilia amurensis Ruprecht), and vitex (Vitex negundo L. variety heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder) was 1.92, 1.80, and 1.68%, respectively. The results would be helpful during the process of price determination of RJ by providing some basis of geographical, bee strain, and botanical information for commercial trade.

Purpose. Intracavernosal self-injection (ICI) was first described in 1982, and remains a viable therapy for erectile dysfunction. However, intracorporal needle breakage can be a rare complication of therapy. We report a rare complication of intracorporal needle breakage and a retention of a 30-gauge needle in a 42-year-old paraplegic man. We discuss our experience in using portable high-frequency ultrasound intraoperatively to visualize and guide removal of a retained ICI needle. Materials and Methods. Review of case and ultrasound technique are presented. Results. Using intraoperative ultrasound imaging, the retained intracorporal needle was successfully removed from the patient's penis without any complications. Follow-up ultrasonography and X-ray confirmed complete removal of the needle. Conclusions. We report on the successful implementation and use of a portable high-frequency ultrasound probe to visualize a retained intracorporal needle inside the penis and its use to guide removal. Given the rapid proliferation of portable ultrasound machines in the operating room and out in the field, we expect these imaging techniques to become routine, especially in urological emergencies.

The sequences of mitochondrial ND2, CO2, and 16S rRNA genes and nuclear ITPR gene were obtained from 22 samples of 5 Apis species from China. The characteristics of the sequences and the pairwise distances among species were analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed for Apis species using maximum parsimony, neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood methods together with the sequences of the other 4 Apis species downloaded from GenBank. Results supported that Apis species were divided into three major clusters: dwarf bees (A. florea and A. andreniformis), giant bees (A. dorsata and A. laboriosa), and cavity-nesting bees (A. mellifera, A. cerana, A. koschevnikovi, A. nigrocinta, and A. nuluensis). The dwarf honey bees were confirmed as basal lineage. Our study also revealed a high level of genetic divergence between A. dorsata from Hainan Island and China mainland.

Caste differentiation in the female honey bee is one of the most intriguing polyphenism phenomena. This developmental switch depends on the differential expression of entire suites of the genes involved in the larval fate between the queens and workers. In this study, we compared the transcriptome differences between full-sister queen- (QL) and worker-destined larvae (WL) using high-throughput RNA-Seq. QL and WL at fourth (L4) and fifth instar (L5) were used to prepare four libraries and to generate 50,191,699 (QL4), 57,628,541 (WL4), 56,613,619 (QL5), and 58,626,829 (WL5) usable reads, which were assembled into groups of 7,952, 7,993, 7,971, and 8,023 genes, respectively. The transcriptome changes were investigated using the DEGs Package (DEGseq), which resulted in more than 4,500 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the castes. Eight of the DEGs were verified by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), and the results supported our sequencing data. All of the DEGs were analysed using Web Gene Ontology Annotation Plot (WEGO) and then mapped using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. These results suggest that over 70% of the DEGs in each instar were more highly expressed in QL than in WL, possibly suggesting that the QL genes had higher transcriptional activity than the WL genes during differentiation. The same gene set is active (but differentially expressed) in both castes, which in turn result in dimorphic females. The L4 stage is a very active gene expression period for both QL and WL before their pupal stage. The activity of the mTOR (a target of rapamycin) encoding gene in the mTOR signalling pathway is higher in QL4 than in WL4, and this difference was no longer present by the L5 feeding stage. The genes down-stream of mTOR maintained this change at the L5 stage. These results could contribute to an in-depth study of the candidate genes during honey bee caste differentiation and improve our current understanding of the polyphenism phenomenon in insects.

To study the influence of astragalus and zinc sulfate on the viscosity in erythrocyte membrane during intestinal I/R and their mechanism of action.Models of rabbits intestinal I/R injury were made. The effect of astragalus and zinc sulfate on the viscosity and malondialdehyde (MDA) in erythrocyte membrane, superoxide dismutase (SOD) in erythrocyte, oxidase (XO) in plasma and MDA tissues homogenate were observed.The administration of astragalus and zinc sulfate decreased viscosity and MDA and XO, prevented the reduction of SOD, and alleviated I/R injury.Lipid peroxidation injury of the erythrocyte membrane was one of the pathogenesis of I/R injury, and astragalus and the zinc sulfate possessed effects of anti-lipid peroxide, stabilized erythrocyte membrane, increased red blood cell deform ability and raised microcircular perfusion.

It is very important that each feature model of a product remains valid in itself, and, in addition, consistent with the other feature models of the product at the same time. In current feature modelling systems, an invalid feature model always has to be manually adjusted in order to make it valid again, and a feature model for which a consistent feature model in another view does not exist also has to be manually adjusted in order to make such a consistent feature model possible. An approach to avoid this is to have the system automatically adjust the feature model. The presented approach has been built on top of existing constraint solvers and checkers, which are a geometric and an algebraic constraint solver, and a dimension and an interaction constraint checker, and therefore can support several types of constraints. And the automatic model adjustment strategies for different types of constraints will be elaborated. At last, an example was introduced.

Automated negotiation among software agents is becoming increasingly important in e-business. Currently, most of these multi-agent negotiation models are focused simply on mono-object negotiations. But in fact, most practical business negotiations are based on multiple objects. In order to improve the intelligent negotiation model to meet the practical requirements, this paper proposes an integrated multi-agent, multi-object and multi-attribute intelligent negotiation model named M3INM. M3INM introduces a scalable multi-agent negotiation framework and integrates various negotiation rules into the model. In order to meet the balance among multiple attributes, the model introduces the idea of simulated annealing (SA) iterative algorithm. This deliberate SA algorithm adjusts dynamically the correlativity among attributes to obtain the optimized negotiation solution. Besides, the relevant negotiation mathematics model is also discussed and simulation results are presented and analyzed in this paper.

To investigate the enhancement effect of IL-4 expression plasmid on cathepsin B DNA vaccine of Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) in mice.The recombinant IL-4 plasmid constructed by cloning PCR amplified product of murine IL-4 gene into eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1 was co-injected intramuscularly with Sj cathepsin B expression plasmid DNA to mice as the test group. The other three groups of mice were set up as control including IL-4 expression plasmid, Sj cathepsin B expression plasmid and two vacant vector plasmids. The expression of IL-4 and cathepsin B was visualized by immunohistochemistry. Challenge infection in mice was carried out 3 weeks after the last vaccination and immune protection was assessed by worm and egg reduction rates.The recombinant mIL-4 plasmid and cathepsin B DNA vaccine were expressed in muscular cells of the vaccinated mice. Immunization with cathepsin B DNA plus recombinant mIL-4 plasmid yielded a 43.2 % of worm reduction rate and a 76.6% of egg reduction rate, showing a significant difference (P0.01, P0.05) compared with that of cathepsin B DNA vaccine alone.As an adjuvant, IL-4 DNA can improve the protective effect of cathepsin B DNA vaccine in mice against S. japonicum infection.

To clone and characterize new genes of Schistosoma japonicum, Sj, and to provide efficient vaccine candidates.Sj adult cDNA library was screened with rabbit sera raised against male worm soluble antigen. The inserted cDNA fragments from the positively selected clones were amplified with PCR and further sequenced, as well as characterized through internet NCBI GenBank software.Eleven positive clones were obtained and two were verified by GenBank as new, including a novel gene designated as Sj-P8 (GenBank accession No. AF517843) and a new partial cDNA of Sj myosin (GenBank accession No. AY770506). The two new genes encoded a transmembrane protein of 75 amino acids and a myosin protein fragment of 212 amino acids respectively.The newly obtained genes may provide useful information for the research on Sj vaccine.

The key technology in comparison-shopping is the online goods information extraction. Based on DOM, the information extraction with two-stage working pattern and the conception of page information unit have been proposed after a large number of sample pages testing. PIU is extracted and categorized by the classifying algorithm, and information is extracted from PIU. It is implemented that the key information of online goods is extracted based on the above-mentioned information extraction algorithm. It shows that the algorithm is steady and has higher Recall and Precision rate with the sample page testing.

In an attempt to isolate and identify the antigenic epitopes on ferritin of Schistosoma japonicum (SjFer) and to test their protective potentiality against Schistosoma japonicum (S.j), polyclonal antisera against SjFer was prepared to screen a 12-mer random peptide library. Three rounds of biopanning were performed and resulted in an enrichment. Six peptides selected randomly from the third elute were all found to be positive by evaluating the binding to anti-SjFer sera by ELISA and Western blotting. Three amino acid sequences were deduced from the six phage clones by sequencing. When they were used to vaccinate mice, the three peptides could induce significant reduction in adult worms (26.7%, 20.4%, and 25.9%) as well as in liver eggs per gram (LEPG) (40.0%, 38.2%, and 40.8%). This result showed that three mimotopes on SjFer were obtained and they could induce significant protective efficacy against S.j.

To subclone and express the new gene of Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) CAI and evaluate the immunoprotective effect of the recombinant molecule.The cDNA of SjCAI gene was subcloned into expression vector pGEX-5X-3 to form recombinants which were then used to transform to E. coli strain ER 2566. Expression was induced by IPTG. The mice were vaccinated with the expressed protein and the immunoprotective effect was tested.Fusion protein of SjGST-CAI was highly expressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies. The worm reduction rate and the liver egg reduction rate in vaccination group of SjGST-CAI were 29.87% and 63.71%, respectively.SjCAI gene can be highly expressed in E. coli after subcloning into pGEX-5X-3 vector and the expressed fusion protein can induce immunoprotective effect against Sj in mice.

To explore antigens possessing common immunogenicity with Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) cercariae antigens, and to find out new candidate antigens for schistosomiasis diagnosis and vaccine.Sj adult cDNA library was screened using sera from rabbits vaccinated with Sj cercariae antigen, the inserts of positive clones were amplified by PCR, all positive clones were sequenced and the data were analysed using Nucleotide BLAST software of NCBI and Expert Protein Analysis System of Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.Thirteen positive clones were obtained after three rounds of immunoscreening, and all amplified by PCR. Among four novel genes, SjCAI, SjCA, SjCAI-2 and SjCAI-3 (GenBank accession number: AF495883, AF515834, AY118086 and AY129303, respectively) encoded proteins with 353, 161, 137 and 72 animo acids respectively. Sj CAI protein contained six DNA-binding zinc fingers and showed some homology to gastrula zinc finger protein XLCGF48.2; proteins encoded by SjCA, SjCAI-2 and SjCAI-3 respectively contained N-glycosylation sites and phosphorylation sites.Novel genes were obtained by immunoscreening Sj adult cDNA library.