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AIM: To explore the established method of the diabetic mouse blood glucose control model and preliminary observation of its influence on the retinas of diabetic mice. METHODS: The db/db BKS-DB (Lepr(ko/ko)) mice were randomly divided into two groups: the poor blood glucose control group (PG group, n=18) and the stable blood glucose control group (SG group, n=12), with BKS-DB (Lepr(wt/wt)) as the normal blood glucose control group (NG group, n=18). According to the blood glucose values for 5 intervals which were monitored during the period of adaption, the PG group was injected with insulin aspart twice daily, fasted for 2h and then returned to normal. The SG group was injected with insulin aspart twice and insulin glargine once daily and fed with a quantitative ration. Fundus images were collected after eight weeks. The glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), mean blood glucose level (MBG), standard deviation of blood glucose (SDBG), coefficient of variation of blood glucose (CVBG), and mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE) in each group were examined and calculated. RESULTS: The HbA1c, MBG, SDBG, CVBG, and MAGE levels in the PG group were significantly higher than those in the NG and SG groups (all P0.05). Preliminary observation of fundus images in the PG group and SG groups showed scattered retinal bleeding spots, while bleeding was more obvious in the PG group. CONCLUSION: The blood glucose control model of type 2 diabetes mellitus mice can be successfully established by subcutaneous injection of insulin aspart insulin glargine and rationed food, which is valuable for studying the mechanism of blood glucose fluctuations in diabetic complications in vivo.

High salinity is harmful to crop yield and productivity. Peroxidases (PRXs) play crucial roles in H2O2 scavenging. In our previous study, PRX63 significantly upregulated in tobacco plants under salt stress. Thus, in order to understand the function of PRX63 in tobacco salt response, we overexpressed this gene in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), investigated the morphological, physiological and proteomic profiles of NtPRX63-overexpressing tobacco transgenic lines and wild type. The results showed that, compared with the wild type, the transgenic tobacco plants presented enhanced salt tolerance and displayed lower ROS (reactive oxygen species), malondialdehyde (MDA) and Na+ contents; higher biomass, potassium content, soluble sugar content, and peroxidase activity; and higher expression levels of NtSOD, NtPOD and NtCAT. Protein abundance analysis revealed 123 differentially expressed proteins between the transgenic and wild-type plants. These proteins were functionally classified into 18 categories and are involved in 41 metabolic pathways. Furthermore, among the 123 proteins, eight proteins involved in the ROS-scavenging system, 12 involved in photosynthesis and energy metabolism processes, two stress response proteins, one signal transduction protein and one disulfide isomerase were significantly upregulated. Furthermore, three novel proteins that may be involved in the plant salt response were also identified. The results of our study indicate that an enhanced ROS-scavenging ability, together with the expression of proteins related to energy mobilization and the stress response, functions in the confirmed salt resistance of transgenic tobacco plants. Our data provide valuable information for research on the function of NtPRX63 in tobacco in response to abiotic stress.

Starch phosphorylase is a member of the GT35-glycogen-phosphorylase superfamily. Glycogen phosphorylases have been researched in animals thoroughly when compared to plants. Genetic evidence signifies the integral role of plastidial starch phosphorylase (PHO1) in starch biosynthesis in model plants. The counterpart of PHO1 is PHO2, which specifically resides in cytosol and is reported to lack L80 peptide in the middle region of proteins as seen in animal and maltodextrin forms of phosphorylases. The function of this extra peptide varies among species and ranges from the substrate of proteasomes to modulate the degradation of PHO1 in Solanum tuberosum to a non-significant effect on biochemical activity in Oryza sativa and Hordeum vulgare. Various regulatory functions, e.g., phosphorylation, protein–protein interactions, and redox modulation, have been reported to affect the starch phosphorylase functions in higher plants. This review outlines the current findings on the regulation of starch phosphorylase genes and proteins with their possible role in the starch biosynthesis pathway. We highlight the gaps in present studies and elaborate on the molecular mechanisms of phosphorylase in starch metabolism. Moreover, we explore the possible role of PHO1 in crop improvement.

Knowledge of the genetic changes that occurred during the domestication and improvement of perennial trees at the RNA level is limited. Here, we used RNA sequencing analysis to compare representative sets of wild, landrace, and improved accessions of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) to gain insight into the genetic changes associated with domestication and improvement. A close population relationship and similar nucleotide diversity was observed between the wild and landrace groups, whereas the improved group had substantially reduced nucleotide diversity. A total of 11.13 Mb of genome sequence was identified as bearing the signature of selective sweeps that occurred during pear domestication, whereas a distinct and smaller set of genomic regions (4.04 Mb) was identified as being associated with subsequent improvement efforts. The expression diversity of selected genes exhibited a 20.89% reduction from the wild group to the landrace group, but a 23.13% recovery was observed from the landrace to the improved group, showing a distinctly different pattern with variation of sequence diversity. Module-trait association analysis identified 16 distinct coexpression modules, six of which were highly associated with important fruit traits. The candidate trait-linked differentially expressed genes associated with stone cell formation, fruit size, and sugar content were identified in the selected regions, and many of these could also be mapped to the previously reported quantitative trait loci. Thus, our study reveals the specific pattern of domestication and improvement of perennial trees at the transcriptome level, and provides valuable genetic sources of fruit traits that could contribute to pear breeding and improvement.

Alligator weed is reported to have a strong ability to adapt to potassium deficiency (LK) stress. Leaves are the primary organs responsible for photosynthesis of plants. However, quantitative proteomic changes in alligator weed leaves in response to LK stress are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the physiological and proteomic changes in leaves of alligator weed under LK stress. We found that chloroplast and mesophyll cell contents in palisade tissue increased, and that the total chlorophyll content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and net photosynthetic rate (PN) increased after 15 day of LK treatment, but the soluble protein content decreased. Quantitative proteomic analysis suggested that a total of 119 proteins were differentially abundant proteins (DAPs). KEGG analysis suggested that most represented DAPs were associated with secondary metabolism, the stress response, photosynthesis, protein synthesis, and degradation pathway. The proteomic results were verified using parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (PRM&ndash, MS) analysis and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR)assays. Additional research suggested that overexpression of cationic peroxidase 1 of alligator weed (ApCPX1) in tobacco increased LK tolerance. The seed germination rate, peroxidase (POD) activity, and K+ content increased, and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content decreased in the three transgenic tobacco lines after LK stress. The number of root hairs of the transgenic line was significantly higher than that of WT, and net K efflux rates were severely decreased in the transgenic line under LK stress. These results confirmed that ApCPX1 played positive roles in low-K+ signal sensing. These results provide valuable information on the adaptive mechanisms in leaves of alligator weed under LK stress and will help identify vital functional genes to apply to the molecular breeding of LK-tolerant plants in the future.

Physiological and iTRAQ based proteomic analysis provided new insights into potassium deficiency stress response in alligator weed root. Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) has a strong ability to adapt to potassium deficiency (LK) stress. Proteomic changes in response to this stress are largely unknown in alligator weed. In this study, we investigated physiological and molecular mechanisms under LK using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation to characterize proteome-level changes in this plant. First, root physiology, 2, 3, 5-Triphenyl-trazolium chloride (TTC) assay and peroxidase activity were significantly altered after 10 and 15 days of LK treatment. The comparative proteomic analysis suggested a total of 375 proteins were differential abundance proteins. The proteomic results were verified by western blot assays and quantitative real-time PCR. Correlation analysis of transcription and proteomics suggested protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, endocytosis, and spliceosome pathways were significantly enriched. The protein responsible for energy metabolism, signal sensing and transduction and protein degradation played crucial roles in this stress. Twelve ubiquitin pathway related proteins were identified in our study, among them 11 proteins were up-regulated. All protein ubiquitination of lysine using pan antibodies were also increased after LK treatment. Our study provide a valuable insights of molecular mechanism underlying LK stress response in alligator weed roots and afford a vital basis to further study potassium nutrition molecular breeding of other plant species.

Objective: To study the influence of minimally invasive hematoma evacuation combined with nerve growth factor preparation on neurological function injury in patients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage. Methods: A total of 112 patients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage who were treated in our hospital between July 2013 and February 2016 were collected, and according to random number table, they were divided into the control group (n=56) who underwent minimally invasive hematoma evacuation therapy and the observation group (n=56) who underwent minimally invasive hematoma evacuation combined with nerve growth factor preparation therapy. Serum contents of inflammatory mediators, nerve injury indexes and neurotransmitters were compared between two groups of patients before and after treatment. Results: Before treatment, there were no significant differences in serum contents of inflammatory mediators, nerve injury indexes and neurotransmitters between the two groups. After treatment, serum contents of inflammatory mediators such as CRP, PCT, IL-1β and IL-6 in observation group were lower than those in control group; serum contents of nerve injury indexes such as NSE, S100B, GEAP and MBP were lower than those in control group; serum contents of neurotransmitters such as SP, NPY, Glu and Asp were lower than those in control group while GABA and Gly were higher than those in control group. Conclusion: Minimally invasive hematoma evacuation combined with nerve growth factor preparation can effectively reduce neurological function injury, and has positive clinical significance.

Soluble sugar and organic acid levels are important evaluation indices for breeding new varieties of pear. In order to investigate the inheritance of sugars and acids, this study analyzed the inheritance of soluble sugar and organic acid in pear fruit using the reciprocal crossing populations ‘Dangshansuli’ and ‘Housui’ over two successive years. The results showed that the content of most individual acids and sugars, total acid and total sugar content were higher than that of ‘Dangshansuli’ and lower than that of ‘Housui’, trending to an average between the parents. The content of oxalate, quinate, malate, shikimate, and total acid in progenies were higher when ‘Housui’ was the maternal parent, suggesting that the selection of the maternal parent during the breeding process has important effects on the acid content. Conversely, individual and total sugar content did not show significant effects of the maternal parent. In addition, glucose content in progenies showed the increasing trend and sorbitol content showing the transgressive inheritance trait. The correlations for total sugar and total acid of the two populations between 2 years were significant and positive, showing stable sugar and acid traits for fruit in different years. Significant and positive correlations were also found between different components, including oxalate and malate, shikimate and quinate, and citrate and shikimate. Principal component analysis also revealed that oxalate, quinate, malate and shikimate components are closely correlated. Our study thus offers useful information for future pear breeding to improve sugar and acidity quality.

The built environment has long been considered as a potentially influential factor in shaping and changing people’s travel behaviour. However, many gaps still exist in the understanding of the direction, size and mechanism of this influence. This thesis explores the complexities in the influence of the built environment on daily travel using a behaviour-oriented, activity-based modelling approach based on the notion of utility maximisation. The model simulates the full process of decision making in daily activity participation and travel, which involves the decisions on the type and frequency of activity participation, the sequence of activities, the choice of destinations and the time and mode of travel. Moreover, the thesis also addresses the lack of understanding on the influence of the ‘third dimension’ of the built environment — the street facades. A machine learning-based method is proposed to automatically evaluate the qualities of street facades from street view images. Scenario analyses using the proposed model show that, both commute and non-commute travel are more sensitive to the built environment in proximity to home (in my experiment, 500 metre buffer zone). In the context of Beijing, the total car use and commute car use of a person is significantly affected by the level of land use mix and the continuity of street facades around home, among all built environment features. Non-commute car use is significantly affected by employment density, retail density, accessibility to commercial clusters, bus coverage, road density and the quality and continuity of street facades. Similar effects on the final outcomes of travel behaviour (such as total car use) by different built environment features can happen through diverse processes and have different implications for people’s actual experience and the urban system. Some of the results are consistent with theoretical assumptions and some are not, which provides alternative insights into the relationship between the built environment and travel behaviour., China Scholarship Council Cambridge Overseas Trust

Background An evaluation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) screening and pre-operative pulmonary rehabilitation in reducing postoperative complications and improving fast-track recovery in high-risk patients who undergo resection for lung cancer. Methods Of 342 potential lung cancer cases, 142 high-risk patients were finally divided into two groups: group R (n = 71) underwent an intensive pre-operative pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP), followed by lobectomy; group S (n = 71) underwent only lobectomy with conventional management. Postoperative complications, average days in hospital, postoperative days in hospital, and cost were analyzed. Results The 142 high-risk patients were screened by smoking history and CPET. Sixty-eight patients had bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and 47 patients had peak expiratory flow

Phosphorus (P) is an important mineral nutrient for plant growth and development. Overexpressing AtWRKY6 (35S:WRKY6-9) was more sensitive and wrky6 (wrky6-1) was more resistant under low Pi conditions. To better understand the function of AtWRKY6 under low phosphate stress conditions, we applied two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) to analyse differentially expressed proteins in the shoots and roots between wild type, 35S:WRKY6-9 and wrky6-1 after phosphorus deficiency treatment for three days. The results showed 88 differentially abundant protein spots, which were identified between the shoots and roots of 35S:WRKY6-9 and wrky6-1 plants. In addition, 59 differentially expressed proteins were identified in the leaves and roots of 35S:WRKY6-9 plants. After analysis, 9 genes with W-box elements in their promoter sequences were identified in the leaves, while 6 genes with W-box elements in their promoter sequences were identified in the roots. A total of 8 genes were identified as potential target genes according to the quantitative PCR (QPCR) and two dimension difference gel electrophoresis, (2D-DIGE) results, including ATP synthase, gln synthetase, nitrilase, 14-3-3 protein, carbonic anhydrases 2, and tryptophan synthase. These results provide important information concerning the AtWRKY6 regulation network and reveal potential vital target genes of AtWRKY6 under low phosphorus stress. two dimension difference gel electrophoresis, 2D-DIGE

Given the size of modern cities in the urbanising age, it is beyond the perceptual capacity of most people to develop a good knowledge about the beauty and ugliness of the city at every street corner. Correspondingly, for planners, it is also difficult to accurately answer questions like 'where are the worst-looking places in the city that regeneration should give first consideration', or 'in the fast urbanising cities, how is the city appearance changing', etc. To address this issue, we here present a computer vision method for the large-scale and automatic evaluation of the urban visual environment, by leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning techniques and the wide-coverage street view images. From the various factors that are at work, we choose two key features, the visual quality of street facade and the continuity of street wall, as the starting point of this line of analysis. In order to test the validity of this method, we further compare the machine ratings with ratings collected on site from 752 passers-by on fifty-six locations. We show that the machine learning model can produce a good estimation of people's real visual experience, and it holds much potential for various tasks in terms of urban design evaluation, culture identification, etc., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures

Pear is one of the most important temperate fruits, with high genetic diversity, but controversial classification for some genotypes or species. Our study evaluates the polymorphism of 385 pear resources belonging to five cultivated species or interspecies of Pyrus, based on a set of 134 core simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 690 variant alleles were detected, from 2 to 12 per locus, with an average of 5.45, as well as 30 rare alleles. The clustering relationship divided the pear genotypes into three groups, with the primary division between occidental and oriental pears, revealing separate evolution processes, followed by division of Pyrus ussuriensis, Pyrus pyrifolia, and Pyrus bretschneideri. Population structure analysis with K values of 2 to 8 reflected a clear genetic composition within different genotypes, supporting Pyrus sinkiangensis as a hybrid of oriental and occidental pears and P. pyrifolia and P. bretschneideri sharing a common ancestor. However, the division of genetic components also revealed separate evolution at the different geographic and environmental conditions of South China and North China. The varieties “Pingguoli” and “Chaoxianyangli,” which currently have controversial classification, were classified into P. bretschneideri and Pyrus communis, respectively. A core collection of 88 accessions was chosen, covering all of the rare alleles and 95.54 % of all alleles. The high-quality and comprehensive evaluation of a wide range of pear cultivars by core SSR markers covering the whole genome demonstrated their excellent application for the study of genetic diversity, genetic relationships, and building a core collection for pear.

A stochastic model of wind farm is built in the paper, and the influence of wind power on voltage and line power flow of distribution network is analyzed. Wind power branch and parallel branch are defined and simulated, in addition, the influence of wind farm on the transmission lines' power is analyzed. And the mathematical model of conductor type selection taking into account the grid and wind power station is built to solve the problem of the selection for conductor wire under the influence of wind power. Moreover, the general law of conductor type selection considering wind power of different capacities and different positions is revealed. Simulation results show that the method of conductor type selection is effective.

Objective: To investigate the role of nm23 gene expression in human lung cancer. Methods: Forty human lung cancer tissues and 19 non-cancer pulmonary tissues were studied for their nm23-H1 and nm23-H2 mRNA expression with non-radioactive Northern blot hybridization. The correlation of nm23 mRNA expression with clinical features of lung cancer was analyzed. Results: The mRNA expression of nm23-H2 gene in poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was significantly decreased compared to that in moderate-high differentiated squamousd cell carcinoma. The mRNA expression of nm23-H1 and nm23-H2 gene in small cell lung cancer was significantly decreased compared to that in squamous cell carcinoma. No significant difference in nm23 mRNA expression was observed between lung cancer with and without lymph node metastasis, nor was there significant difference between tumor stage. Conclusion: The mRNA expression of nm23 gene is correlated with the degree of differentiation of lung cancer, but there is no evidence of metastasis suppression effect by nm23 gene.

To establish ascariasis transmission mathematical models and apply them to predict field status.Cuiping District in Sichuan Province, Jinxian County in Jiangxi Province and Yueyang County in Hunan Province were selected as the investigation sites. The Ascaris lumbricoides infection rates and mean worm burdens of baseline, 1 month and 1 year later after deworming were acquired by field surveys. The transmission models on population dynamics, distribution and infection rate were developed. The model parameters obtained through the field data were substituted into models to predict the infection level one year after deworming. The predicted values were compared with the actual survey data, and the sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze factors related to the chemotherapy measures.The infection rates of Cuiping, Jinxian and Yueyang at baseline were 28.79%, 20.35% and 20.72%, respectively, with mean worm burdens of 1.32, 0.65 and 0.48, respectively. Those one year after chemotherapy were 30.10%, 7.51% and 0.94%, respectively, with mean worm burdens of 1.04, 0.56 and 0.34, respectively. The predict values were all in the range of the 95% confidence interval of the actual values. The sensitivity analysis showed that the treatment coverage rate and the treatment frequency were the important factors influencing the disease benefits (infection rate and mean worm burden).The ascariasis transmission mathematical models have been established which fit the actual field data well. Therefore, they can provide theoretical basis for setting ascariasis control specifications and optimizing the control strategies.

Standard job schedulers rely on either the user's estimation, or a few approaches that use performance databases to keep information about job runtimes to predict future runs. Co-scheduling for improved resource utilization, however, requires more detailed information as regards behavior on multiple resources to make predictions about slowdowns. Thus, information about communication, I/O, and computation at application level is needed but hard to estimate by the user. Furthermore, dynamic adaptive resource allocation requires information about the different processes on different machine nodes. We present an intelligent monitoring tool, ScoPro, which provides such information. To make monitoring more feasible, ScoPro harnesses the dynamic instrument techniques, which postpone insertion of instrumentation code until the application is executing. To keep intrusion low, we limit monitoring to short test phases. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Computer Science. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .L586. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, page: 1407. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005.

Iminium salts derived from amides and phosphoryl chloride or oxalyl chloride are demonstrated to be excellent reagents for the aminoalkylation of organophosphorus compounds containing a P-H bond. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Funder: Beijing Social Science Foundation 20GLA003 Tsinghua University Spring Breeze Fund 2021Z99CFY038 Institute of Public Governance of Peking University YQZX202005, TDXM202104, COVID-19 raises attention to epidemic transmission in various places. This study analyzes the transmission risks associated with human activity places at multiple scales, including different types of settlements and eleven types of specific establishments (restaurants, bars, etc.), using COVID-19 data in 906 urban areas across four continents. Through a difference-in-difference approach, we identify the causal effects of activities at various places on epidemic transmission. We find that at the micro-scale, though the transmission risks at different establishments differ across countries, sports, entertainment, and catering establishments are generally more infectious. At the macro-scale, contradicting common beliefs, it is consistent across countries that transmission does not increase with settlement size and density. It is also consistent that specific establishments play a lesser role in transmission in larger settlements, suggesting more transmission happening elsewhere. These findings contribute to building a system of knowledge on the linkage between places, human activities, and disease transmission.

Given the present size of modern cities, it is beyond the perceptual capacity of most people to develop a good knowledge about the qualities of the urban space at every street corner. Correspondingly, for planners, it is also difficult to accurately answer questions such as ‘where the quality of the physical environment is the most dilapidated in the city that regeneration should be given first consideration’ and ‘in fast urbanising cities, how is the city appearance changing’. To address this issue, in the present study, we present a computer vision method that contains three machine learning models for the large-scale and automatic evaluation on the qualities of the urban environment by leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning techniques and wide-coverage street view images. From various physical qualities that have been identified by previous research to be important for the urban visual experience, we choose two key qualities, the construction and maintenance quality of building facade and the continuity of street wall, to be measured in this research. To test the validity of the proposed method, we compare the machine scores with public rating scores collected on-site from 752 passers-by at 56 locations in the city. We show that the machine learning models can produce a medium-to-good estimation of people's real experience, and the modelling results can be applied in many ways by researchers, planners and local residents.