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English has become an utterly crucial device to take part in global verbal exchange and competition. It is essential to enhance English teaching's flexibility to meet the desires to improve the market economy. Therefore, powerful coaching strategies and language identification are considered challenging factors in existing methods. The proposed model includes hypothesized relationships among college students' conception of learning English, their perceptions of the study room environment, and their approaches to learning. They are examined using the Pre-trained Teacher–Student Fixed Interactive Model (PTSFIM). This model proposes a new way to develop the teaching process providing the baseline of record excellence towards a strategic performance control framework for an institute. The traditional strategies emphasize the benefits of the interactive approach and accentuate their effectiveness through Structural Multivariate Equation (SME) analysis in enhancing students' innovative thinking, research, and reasoning abilities. The reciprocal instructional analysis optimizes students' models to memorize for a longer duration. The evaluation of the study's outcomes suggests that interactive learning can assist college students that predict different results in participating inside the speech system and gain the best knowledge. The simulation analysis is performed based on accuracy, performance, and efficiency proves the reliability of the proposed framework.

Bearing failure in freight trains can directly affect operational safety. Therefore, bearing condition evaluation is of practical and critical significance. In this paper, a new method of evaluating the condition of the bearings is proposed based on spatiotemporal feature extraction with bearing temperature data. First, the temperature time series is divided into many sub-sequences with a sliding time window. Second, based on the forms of series anomaly, point anomaly, and pattern anomaly in time series, the spatiotemporal features extraction framework is presented, which combines manual feature extraction with machine learning methods. Specifically, series classification, distribution-based and increment-based outlier detection, model-based time series anomaly detection methods are utilized to extract abnormal features in temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal dimensions. Third, a penalty vector is constructed by an ergodic accumulation of penalty values for the outliers. And the weights to each element in the penalty vector are allocated using correlation analysis. The penalty vector and the weights are then employed to calculate the bearing health indicator, which can quantify the health condition and determine the severity of the potential fault. Finally, the validity of the proposed evaluation method is verified with on-site historical temperature data of 15,120 bearings on 35 trains, which demonstrates an accuracy of more than 94%. The method can provide early warning for an average of 161 h before hotbox alarms. The results indicate the proposed method can effectively evaluate the bearing condition and provide supportive information for condition-based maintenance.

A primary goal of fault diagnosis is to build generalizable models for flexible industrial scenes. However, most literature assumed that the training and testing data are collected from the same distributions, which poses obstacles in cross-domain diagnosis. This paper proposes a multi-source domain adaptation (MSDA) strategy in response to diversiform working conditions, in which the labeled testing data are difficult to obtain. The regularization term expressed by multi-order moment matching is adopted to extract transferable knowledge from multiple source domains. An adversarial strategy, which takes the maximization and minimization of two independent classifiers’ discrepancy as the alternate optimization objective, is introduced to dynamically align moments of feature distributions between all domain pairs. Three datasets are carried out to prove the robustness of the proposed method. The results of comparative experiments and ablation study demonstrate that the approach can learn features from multiple specific domains and possess strong generalization ability under diverse constant or any unknown variable conditions with unlabeled target samples.

Novobiocin (NOV) has been used in clinical practice as an ATPase inhibitor for decades. However, because it has been withdrawn from the market, pharmaceutical companies are searching for other ATPase inhibitors.

When the observed data are imprecise, the uncertain regression model is more suitable for the linear regression analysis. Least squares estimate can fully consider the given data and minimize the sum of squares of residual error, and can effectively solve the linear regression equation of imprecisely observed data. On the basis of uncertainty theory, this paper presents an equation deformation method for solving unknown parameters in uncertain linear regression equations. We first establish the equation deformation method of one-dimensional linear regression model, and then extend it to the case of multiple linear regression model. We also combine the equation deformation method with Cramer's rule and matrix, and propose the Cramer's rule and matrix elementary transformation method to solve the unknown parameters of the uncertain linear regression equation. Numerical examples show that the equation deformation method can effectively solve the unknown parameters of the uncertain linear regression equation.

Transforming glyoxal to value-added glyoxylic acid (GA) is highly desirable but challenging due to the uncontrollable over-oxidation. In this work, we report on a first demonstration of semi-oxidation of glyoxal with high selectivity (86.5%) and activity on WO

The demonstrated developmental and reproductive toxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), coupled with the increasing production and use of emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has resulted in progressively higher human exposure levels. This has raised concerns about PFAS exposure levels in the fetus, which is highly susceptible to the potential effects of hazardous environmental chemicals. However, in utero exposure to PFASs and health implications have not been fully characterized in China. To fill this gap, we analyzed 19 PFASs in umbilical cord serum samples (n = 66). Information about the mothers and newborns was obtained through questionnaires. Associations between maternal characteristics and neonatal birth weight and PFAS concentrations were analyzed using nonparametric tests. As results, PFOA was detected in all serum samples. The highest median concentration of PFOS in umbilical serum was 1.092 ng mL

An unnatural flavor in a food or drink product caused by the presence of undesirable compounds due to contamination or deterioration is called off-flavor. This study determined the characteristics of cattle by-products off-flavor (heart, liver, lung, rumen, and intestine). We identified 25, 34, 26, 22, and 26 volatile compounds from the heart, liver, lung, rumen, and intestine, respectively, in the bovine via headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Based on the relative odor activity value (ROAV ≥ 1), 16 volatile compounds were labeled as characteristic off-flavor by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The compounds involved in the characteristic off-flavor in bovine heart were E,E-2,4-nonadienal, E,E-2,4-decadien-1-al, hexanal, (E)-2-octenal, and decyl aldehyde. In the bovine liver, the off-flavor compounds were 1-nonanol, ethyl hexanoate, 2-octanone, and dodecyl aldehyde and in bovine lung 3-heptylacrolein was the off-flavor compound. In bovine rumen, heptaldehyde, octanal, p-cresol, and 1-nonanal were off-flavor compounds, and lastly, 1-octen-3-ol and E-2-nonenal were off-flavor compounds with bovine intestine. The cattle by-products were deodorized by shallot-ginger extract masking, baker's yeast fermentation, active dry yeast + β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) composite, and ultrasound + chitosan composite. The above 16 labeled characteristic compounds decreased in concentration. The ultrasound + chitosan composite method showed a significantly better effect than the other methods (p .05). The aim of this study was to determine the characteristic flavor information of cattle by-products and provide idea on how to improve the flavor by various deodorization methods. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This study investigated the volatile flavor compounds of cattle by-products from five organs (heart, liver, lung, rumen, and intestine) by headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The 16 volatile compounds were labeled as the major characteristic off-flavor compounds by relative odor activity values and principal component analysis. Four different deodorization methods were adopted, and among them, ultrasound + chitosan composite method showed best results. This study has provided useful information about the characteristic off-flavor compounds and suggests how to improve the flavor of cattle by-products through various deodorization methods.

Tengchong snow, which has white feathers and black meat, is one of the most important black-bone chicken breeds and a genetic treasure of black food in China. Although the black meat traits are dominant, there are some chickens with white meat traits born in the process of folk selection and breeding. The purpose of this study was to compare the differences in skeletal muscle development between Tengchong snow black meat chickens (BS) and white meat chickens (WS), as well as whether excessive melanin deposition has an effect on skeletal muscle development. The BS and WS groups were selected to determine their muscle development difference at stages of 1, 7, 14, 21, and 42 days, using histological stain methods to analyze the development and composing type of breast and leg muscle fibers, as well as the count of melanin in BS muscle fibers. Finally, we were validated key candidate genes associated with muscle development and melanin synthesis. The results showed that BS breast muscle development was inhibited at 7, 14, and 21 days, while the leg muscle was inhibited at 7, 14, 21, and 42 days, compared to WS. Melanin deposition was present in a temporal migration pattern and was greater in the leg muscles than in the breast muscles, and it focused around blood vessels, as well as the epithelium, perimysium, endomysium, and connective tissue. Additionally, melanin produced an inhibitory effect similar to MSTN during skeletal muscle fiber development, and the inhibition was strongest at the stage of melanin entry between muscle fibers, but the precise mechanisms need to be confirmed. This study revealed that melanin has an inhibitory effect on the early development of skeletal muscle, which will provide new insights into the role of melanin in the black-boned chicken and theoretical references for the future conservation and utilization of black-boned chicken.

A magnetic graphene oxide (GO/Fe

CTX-M extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli cause severe health hazards in livestock breeding. To date, little is known about antibiotic resistance differences among bacterial isolates from yaks, cows, and beef cattle; therefore, the aims of this study were to analyse the prevalence of CTX-M-producing E. coli in yak, beef cattle, and dairy cattle feces from different provinces in China. A total of 790 fecal samples from yaks, beef cattle, and dairy cows were used. Among all the samples, 523 non duplicate E. coli isolates were identified, and 29.6% of samples harbored CTX-M producers. The results showed that these E. coli strains harbored 15 clusters of CTX-M genes: CTX-M-79, CTX-M-55, CTX-M-15, CTX-M-14, CTX-M-28, CTX-M-179, CTX-M-65, CTX-M-24, CTX-M-27, CTX-M-102, CTX-M-105, CTX-M-173, CTX-M-238, CTX-M-196, and CTX-M-10. The dominant resistance genes were CTX-M-15, CTX-M-14, and CTX-M-55. Moreover, the distribution of CTX-M genes was related to geographical region. Based on the above findings, we reasoned that bovines are potential reservoirs of antibiotic resistance, and this problem should be given adequate attention.

The least squares estimation can fully consider the given data and minimize the sum of squares of the residuals, and it can solve the linear regression equation of the imprecisely observed data effectively. Based on the least squares estimation and uncertainty theory, we first proposed the slope mean model, which is to calculate the slopes of expected value and each given data, and the average value of these slopes as the slope of the linear regression equation, substituted into the expected value coordinates, and we can get the linear regression equation. Then, we proposed the deviation slope mean model, which is a very good model and the focus of this paper. The idea of the deviation slope mean model is to calculate the slopes of each given data deviating from the regression equation, and take the average value of these slopes as the slope of the regression equation. Substituted into the expected value coordinate, we can get the linear regression equation. The deviation slope mean model can also be extended to multiple linear regression equation, we transform the established equations into matrix equation and use inverse matrix to solve unknown parameters. Finally, we put forward the hybrid model, which is a simplified model based on the combination of the least squares estimation and deviation slope mean model. To illustrate the efficiency of the proposed models, we provide numerical examples and solve the linear regression equations of the imprecisely observed data and the precisely observed data respectively. Through analysis and comparison, the deviation slope mean model has the best fitting effect. Part of the discussion, we are explained and summarized.

The number of sentence pairs in the bilingual corpus is a key to translation accuracy in computational machine translations. However, if the amount goes beyond a certain degree, the increasing number of cases has less impact on the translation while the construction of translation systems requires a considerable amount of time and energy, thus preventing the development of a statistical translation by the computer. This article offers a number of classifications for measuring the amount of information for each pair of sentences, using the Heuristic Bilingual Graph Corpus Network (HBGCN) to form an improved method of corpus selection that takes the difference between the first amount of information between the pairs of sentences into account. Using a graphic-based selector method as a training set, they achieve a close translation result through our experiments with the whole body and achieve better results than basic results for the following based on the Document Inverse Frequency (DIF) ranking approach.

Wheel polygonal wear aggravates the dynamic responses of vehicle-track coupling systems, especially for the wheel-rail interaction force and rail vibration acceleration, which will influence train operation safety. Previous studies about wheel polygonal wear mostly focused on high-speed trains, while freight trains and track systems are rarely involved. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the wheel polygonization effect on the dynamic responses of vehicle-track coupling systems, involving a high-speed train, a heavy haul freight train, ballasted tracks, and slab ballastless tracks. With the combined excitation of track irregularity and wheel polygons of different orders and wave depths, the simulation results are analyzed in the time domain and frequency domain, and this indicates that the rail accelerations and wheel/rail forces of slab tracks induced by over-15th order polygonal wear are more intense than those of ballasted tracks as high-speed trains pass at speeds of 300 km/h and above, and the responses of freight trains are more severe than those of passenger trains on ballasted tracks. For the vehicle system of freight wagons, wheel polygonization has a more obvious effect on the wheelset than the car-body and bogie frame. Moreover, rail vertical acceleration is more sensitive to the various types of wheel polygonal defect in different track structures, and this can serve as a vital indicator of polygonal wear.

AimsThe purpose of this study was to explore the microstructural properties of the major white matter (WM) tracts in constant exotropia (XT) before and after strabismus surgery, and further investigate the association between microstructural alterations and the ocular dominance (OD).MethodsWe collected diffusion tensor imaging data of patients with XT before (n=19) and after (n=15) strabismus surgery and 20 healthy controls and evaluated OD and stereopsis. The probabilistic streamline tractography of the 24 major WM tracts was reconstructed by using the automated fibre quantification package. Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity (MD) along each tract were estimated, and their differences between the groups were examined. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationship between OD and the absolute value of altered microstructural parameters.ResultsWhile all postoperative XT patients restored normal stereopsis, most of their OD remained aberrant (9 out of 11). Compared with that of preoperation, the MD of postoperative patients decreased significantly along left anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), left arcuate fasciculus (AF), left corticospinal tract (CST), left cingulum cingulate (CGC) and left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Moreover, OD was negatively correlated with the absolute value of MD changes in left ATR, left AF, left CST and left CGC.ConclusionMicrostructural alterations after surgery in the visuospatial network tracts may contribute to the stereopsis restoration. Additionally, the results of the correlation analysis may signify that the balanced binocular input may be more conducive for the restoration and improvement of binocular visual function, including stereopsis. Thus, restoring normal ocular balance after surgical correction may be necessary to achieve more substantial improvements.

A capillary electrophoresis method with on-line inhibited chemiluminescence (CL) detection was first used to determine folic acid (FA). This method was established based on the quenching effect of FA on the CL reaction of luminol with a Ag(iii) complex in alkaline medium. The separation was conducted with a 20.0 mM sodium borate buffer containing 1.0 mmol L

Morphometric estimates of mean glomerular volume (MGV) have clinical implications, over and above histologic data. However, MGV estimation is time-consuming, could waste tissue sections and requires expertise limiting its utility in retrospective clinical studies.MethodsWe evaluated MGV using both plastic and paraffin-embedded tissue from control and FSGS mice (n=10 each) using the gold-standard Disector/Cavalieri technique (Vglom-Cav) and other reported techniques [2- or 3-profile technique, Weibel-Gomez method (W-G)]. Within Vglom-Cav we examined the precision of MGV estimation while using MGVs obtained from 5- or 10-individual glomeruli measurements vs the true mean (20 glomeruli).ResultsIn both FSGS and controls, we identified an acceptable precision of 10-glomerular sampling vs true MGV within Vglom-Cav technique [88 (79-94) % of MGV obtained were within 10% of the true MGV]. The 5-glomerular sampling was less precise [70 (56, 81) % of MGV obtained were within 10% of true MGV]. In plastic based techniques, 2- or 3-profile MGVs showed greater concordance with Vglom-Cav, than W-G MGV. The new 3-profile technique offered incremental benefit to the existing 2-profile method (improved Lin’s concordance in control and FSGS animals). We observed a consistent reduction of Vglom values within control animals (52+/-0.06%) in paraffin-embedded tissue (vs corresponding methods in plastic) demonstrating a clear shrinkage artefact due to tissue processing. FSGS glomeruli showed significantly less and more variable shrinkage artefact likely due to glomerular fibrosis.ConclusionWe report the precision of 5- or 10-glomerular sampling for MGV estimation using controls and FSGS animals. We demonstrate and quantify the shrinkage bias in MGV during tissue processing for paraffin-embedding that also differentiated control animals and FSGS. Our findings have implications for experimental studies using glomerular morphometry.

In the present research, field-amplified sample injection-CZE (FASI-CZE) coupled with a diode array detector was established to determine trace level sulfa antibiotic. Sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfisoxazole were selected as analytes for the experiments. The background electrolyte solution consisted of 70.0 mmol/L borax and 60.0 mmol/L boric acid (including 10% methanol, pH 9.1). The plug was 2.5 mmol/L borax, which was injected into the capillary at a pressure of 0.5 psi for 5 s. Then the sample was injected into the capillary at an injection voltage of -10 kV for 20 s. The electrophoretic separation was carried out under a voltage of +19 kV. The capillary temperature was maintained at 20˚C throughout the analysis, and six sulfonamides were completely separated within 35 min. Compared with pressure injection-CZE, the sensitivity of FASI-CZE was increased by 6.25-10.0 times, and the LODs were reduced from 0.2-0.5 to 0.02-0.05 μg/mL. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in river water and particulate matter samples. The recoveries were 78.59-106.59%. The intraday and interday precisions were 2.89-7.35% and 2.77-7.09%, respectively. This provides a simpler and faster method for the analysis of sulfa antibiotic residues in environmental samples.

Caffeine (CA) is a common xanthine alkaloid found in tea leaves, coffee beans, and other natural plants, and is the most widely used psychotropic substance in the world. Accumulating evidence suggests that low plasma levels of CA and its metabolites may serve as reliable diagnostic markers for early Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. In this study, we demonstrated a new MEKC method for determining CA and its three main downstream metabolites, paraxanthine (PX), theobromine (TB), and theophylline (TP), in human plasma. Plasma samples were collected, and analyzed using MEKC, after SPE. The running buffer was composed of 35 mM phosphate, pH of 10.5, and 25 mM SDS. The separation voltage was 15 kV and the detection wavelength was at 210 nm. Under the optimum conditions, four distinct analytes were completely separated and detected in less than 12 min. Method limits of detection were as low as 7.5 ng/mL for CA, 5.0 ng/mL for TB, and 4.0 ng/mL for both PX and TP. The recoveries were between 88.0% and 105.9%. This method was successfully applied to 27 human plasma samples. The results indicate that the plasma concentrations of the four analytes are significantly lower in patients with early PD than in control subjects (p < 0.05). The area under curve was improved to 0.839 when CA and its three main metabolites were included, suggesting that MEKC testing of CA, TP, TB, and PX may serve as a potential method for early diagnosis of PD.

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) play an important role in various biochemical reactions involving the maintenance of human health and disease prevention. In this study, ...

Efficient extractions of trace antibiotic residues in the environment are a key factor for accurate quantification of the residues. A new nanoporous material, namely, magnetically covalent organic polymer (MCOP, Fe

This study investigated the microbial contamination of ice cream in China. A total of 2887 ice cream samples were collected from different regions of China. Contamination by the aerobic plate count (APC), coliforms, and three foodborne pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Salmonella spp., was detected in the samples. L. monocytogenes isolates were further analyzed for antibiotic susceptibility and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The results showed that APC was more than 105 colony forming units (CFU)/g in 6.10% (176/2887) and coliform was more than 102 CFU/g in 15.69% (453/2887) of all samples. The positive rates of S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. were 0.66%, 0.62%, and 0.10%, respectively. Among these, S. aureus contamination was more than 102 CFU/g in two samples, and L. monocytogenes in the positive sample was in the range of 0.3–240 most probable number (MPN)/g, with a median of 4.3 MPN/g. The hygienic status of the packaged samples was much better than that of the bulk samples (P0.05). For 18 L. monocytogenes strains isolated from ice cream, the resistance rate of nine antibiotics was 5.56% (1/18). By MLST, the L. monocytogenes strains were classified into nine sequence types (STs), of which ST8 was the most common (six isolates). These results indicate that a potential health risk to the public may be caused by ice cream, particularly in susceptible populations.

Egg production is a vital biological and economic trait for poultry breeding. The ‘hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian (HPO) axis’ determines the egg production, which affects the layer hens industry income. At the organism level, the HPO axis is influenced by the factors related to metabolic and nutritional status, environment, and genetics, whereas at the cellular and molecular levels, the HPO axis is influenced by the factors related to endocrine and metabolic regulation, cytokines, key genes, signaling pathways, post-transcriptional processing, and epigenetic modifications. MiRNAs and lncRNAs play a critical role in follicle selection and development, atresia, and ovulation in layer hens; in particular, miRNA is known to affect the development and atresia of follicles by regulating apoptosis and autophagy of granulosa cells. The current review elaborates on the regulation of the HPO axis and its role in the laying performance of hens at the organism, cellular, and molecular levels. In addition, this review provides an overview of the interactive network regulation mechanism of the HPO axis in layer hens, as well as comprehensive knowledge for successfully utilizing their genetic resources.

Yaks and Tibetan sheep are important and renowned livestock of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Both host genetics and environmental factors can shape the composition of gut microbiota, however, there is still no consensus on which is the more dominant factor. To investigate the influence of hosts and seasons on the gut microbiome diversity component, we collected fecal samples from yaks and Tibetan sheep across different seasons (summer and winter), during which they consumed different diets. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, principal component analysis (PCoA) data showed that PCo1 explained 57.4% of the observed variance (P = 0.001) and clearly divided winter samples from summer ones, while PCo2 explained 7.1% of observed variance (P = 0.001) and mainly highlighted differences in host species. Cluster analysis data revealed that the gut microbiota composition displayed a convergence caused by season and not by genetics. Further, we profiled the gut microbial community and found that the more dominant genera in yak and Tibetan sheep microbiota were influenced by seasonal diets factors rather than genetics. This study therefore indicated that seasonal diet can trump host genetics even at higher taxonomic levels, thus providing a cautionary note for the breeding and management of these two species.

The ecological toxicity caused by antibiotic residues and resistance genes in the environment affects the community structures and activities of environmental microorganisms; the ecological toxicity effects of a long-term exposure to low doses antibiotic residues on microorganisms have not however been well-studied. In this work, sequence analysis and species annotation of the full-length 16S rRNA gene were carried out on the extracted whole genome by a 3-generation sequencing method to analyze the diversity of the microbial populations and the population differences among different sampling sites in the environment surrounding a veterinary antibiotic production factory. A total of 1720 OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Unit, OTU) were found, of which 1055 OTUs were in the river samples and 993 OTUs were in the soil samples. 643 and 438 bacterial strains were identified in the river water and soil samples respectively. The bacterial populations are classified into 29 phylum, 612 genus, and 849 species. The dominant phylum of bacteria was Proteobacteria, which was also the absolutely dominant phylum. Shannon diversity index of the bacteria showed that the bacterial abundance in downstream river was significantly higher than that in an upstream non-polluted area (

Herein, we report that Shroom3 knockdown, via Fyn inhibition, induced albuminuria with foot process effacement (FPE) without focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) or podocytopenia. Interestingly, knockdown mice had reduced podocyte volumes. Human minimal change disease (MCD), where podocyte Fyn inactivation was reported, also showed lower glomerular volumes than FSGS. We hypothesized that lower glomerular volume prevented the progression to podocytopenia. To test this hypothesis, we utilized unilateral and 5/6th nephrectomy models in Shroom3-KD mice. Knockdown mice exhibited less glomerular and podocyte hypertrophy after nephrectomy. FYN-knockdown podocytes had similar reductions in podocyte volume, implying that Fyn was downstream of Shroom3. Using SHROOM3 or FYN knockdown, we confirmed reduced podocyte protein content, along with significantly increased phosphorylated AMPK, a negative regulator of anabolism. AMPK activation resulted from increased cytoplasmic redistribution of LKB1 in podocytes. Inhibition of AMPK abolished the reduction in glomerular volume and induced podocytopenia in mice with FPE, suggesting a protective role for AMPK activation. In agreement with this, treatment of glomerular injury models with AMPK activators restricted glomerular volume, podocytopenia, and progression to FSGS. Glomerular transcriptomes from MCD biopsies also showed significant enrichment of Fyn inactivation and Ampk activation versus FSGS glomeruli. In summary, we demonstrated the important role of AMPK in glomerular volume regulation and podocyte survival. Our data suggest that AMPK activation adaptively regulates glomerular volume to prevent podocytopenia in the context of podocyte injury.

The fastener system is an essential component of the high-speed ballastless track system. A detailed analysis for the effect of fastener looseness on the vertical dynamic response of the vehicle–track coupling system is conducted from the time domain, frequency domain and time–frequency domain in this paper. A fine fastener system model is employed, which includes two spring rods and one rail pad. The preloaded force is proposed to simulate the defect of the fastener, and a looseness coefficient is defined to represent the loose degree of the fastener. First, three fastener system models are introduced into the model, respectively, and the difference in the vehicle–track dynamic is analyzed and compared. The results show that the proposed model is more consistent with the real situation and more suitable to simulate fastener defects. Then, the detailed analysis of vehicle and track dynamic responses is explored in the case of different degrees of loose fasteners and the case of completely loose fasteners. According to the simulation results, there is little impact on the dynamic response of the vehicle–track system when the looseness coefficient is less than 0.9. When the fasteners are completely loosened, the dynamic response of the wheelset and the rail significantly increases. The vibration responses of rail and wheelset enhance with the increase of the number of the completely loose fastener. The loose fasteners affect the low-frequency part of the wheelset vibration response and the high-frequency part of the rail vibration response. Finally, a time–frequency analysis method is used to analyze the system vibration response under the combined effect of the completely loose fastener and the track irregularity. The track irregularity still dominates the excitation of the system, and the vibration response of the wheelset and the rail is more sensitive to the fastener defect at low speed.

CTX-M extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing

We reported that Shroom3 knockdown, via Fyn inhibition, induced albuminuria with foot process effacement (FPE) without glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) or podocytopenia. Interestingly, knockdown mice had reduced podocyte volumes. Human minimal change disease, where podocyte Fyn inactivation was reported, also showed lower glomerular volumes than FSGS. We hypothesized that lower glomerular volume prevented the progression to podocytopenia. To test this hypothesis, we utilized unilateral- and 5/6th nephrectomy models in Shroom3 knockdown mice. Knockdown mice exhibited lower glomerular volume, and less glomerular and podocyte hypertrophy after nephrectomy. FYN-knockdown podocytes had similar reductions in podocyte volume, implying Fyn was downstream of Shroom3. Using SHROOM3- or FYN-knockdown, we confirmed reduced podocyte protein content, along with significantly increased phosphorylated AMP-kinase, a negative regulator of anabolism. AMP-Kinase activation resulted from increased cytoplasmic redistribution of LKB1 in podocytes. Inhibition of AMP-Kinase abolished the reduction in glomerular volume and induced podocytopenia in mice with FPE, suggesting a protective role for AMP-Kinase activation. In agreement with this, treatment of glomerular injury models with AMP-Kinase activators restricted glomerular volume, podocytopenia and progression to FSGS. In summary, we demonstrate the important role of AMP-Kinase in glomerular volume regulation and podocyte survival. Our data suggest that AMP-Kinase activation adaptively regulates glomerular volume to prevent podocytopenia in the context of podocyte injury.

Chicken is the most widely consumed meat product worldwide and is a high-quality source of protein for humans. The skeletal muscle, which accounts for the majority of chicken products and contains the most valuable components, is tightly correlated to meat product yield and quality. In domestic chickens, skeletal muscle growth is regulated by a complex network of molecules that includes some non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). As a regulator of muscle growth and development, ncRNAs play a significant function in the development of skeletal muscle in domestic chickens. Recent advances in sequencing technology have contributed to the identification and characterization of more ncRNAs (mainly microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs), and circular RNAs (CircRNAs)) involved in the development of domestic chicken skeletal muscle, where they are widely involved in proliferation, differentiation, fusion, and apoptosis of myoblasts and satellite cells, and the specification of muscle fiber type. In this review, we summarize the ncRNAs involved in the skeletal muscle growth and development of domestic chickens and discuss the potential limitations and challenges. It will provide a theoretical foundation for future comprehensive studies on ncRNA participation in the regulation of skeletal muscle growth and development in domestic chickens.

Objective We investigated the level of physician trust in China and how it is influenced by various demographic factors. MethodsWe surveyed 12 public hospitals from which inpatients were randomly selected using hospitalization ID and outpatients were selected using census sampling to participate in the interview. Trust in physicians was measured using the Chinese version of Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale. Mixed-effects and logistic models were employed to study correlates of trust. ResultsThe distribution of scale mean was left skewed, which implied a subpopulation bearing low levels of trust towards physicians. Respondents who were male, young, outpatients, unsatisfied with their life status, had high levels of education and income, and paid less attention to their health were prone to be less satisfied with their physicians. ConclusionsThe level of physician trust in China is lower compared to studies in western countries. We also found demographic factors related with significantly lower physician trust, which may help policymakers identify potential target subpopulations and be more specific with their efforts to improve patient-physician relationships.

Objectives To evaluate disparity in service quality between second- and third-tier hospitals and explore factors that affect patients' perception of service quality in China. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Twelve hospitals in China. Participants 5714 patients. Intervention None. Main Outcome Measure Total score of the SERVQUAL scale and each of its five dimensions. Results Patients from third-tier hospitals rated significantly higher scores overall and in all the five dimensions of the SERVQUAL scale. Those with lower education, urban residents and those who had higher degree of life satisfaction and attention paid to health perceived higher service quality. Inpatients perceived higher service quality compared with outpatients. Conclusion We found a significant gap in patient's perceived service quality between second- and third-tier hospitals in China. A variety of demographic and personality factors were found to significantly influence patient's perceived service quality.

A novel magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) material (Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2-G2) had been prepared and employed for adsorption and analysis of seven quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in infant fruit and vegetable products coupled with high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). In this paper, Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2-G2 was synthesized based on Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 and dendrimer (G2) consisting of cyanuric chloride and imidazole. The morphology, configuration and magnetic behavior of the magnetic material were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Critical parameters affecting extraction efficiency, such as the adsorbent amount, sample pH, extraction time, the type of eluent, and desorption time, were optimized. The proposed method provided good linearity with the correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.9992-0.9999, low limits of detection (LODs) (0.05-0.50 μg kg-1) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) (0.20-2.00 μg kg-1). The satisfactory method recoveries in three spiked infant fruit and vegetable products samples were between 80.12% and 101.35% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 12.04%. In summary, the established method was an effective sample preparation method and showed good prospect for the analysis of QACs in complex matrices.

Background DELLAs play key roles in plant gibberellin signaling pathways and are generally important in plant development and growth. However, DELLAs in many plant taxa have not yet been systematically analyzed. Results In our study, we searched for DELLA genes across 58 green plant genomes and found 181 DELLAs. Structure analysis showed some DELLA domains do not contain “D-E-L-L-A” sequences and instead contain similar domains, including DGLLA and DSLLH domains. “VHYNP” motifs in plant DELLAs comprise 23 types of sequences, while some DELLAs did not contain GRAS domains. In grape, we found that the DELLA protein GSVIVT01015465001 contains an F-box domain, while apple DELLA proteins MDP0000220512 and MDP0000403162 contain a WW domain and a BCIP domain, respectively. These DELLAs can be divided into 22 homologous groups and 17 orthologous groups, and 35 paralogous genes were identified. In total, 35 positively selected genes (PSGs) and 121 negatively selected genes (NSGs) were found among DELLAs based on selective pressure analysis, with an average Ks of NSGs that was significantly higher than that of PSGs (P Ka values. We also found some paralogous groups with ω values exceeding 1 that differed in their motifs. Conclusions This study provides helpful insights into the evolution of DELLA genes and offers exciting opportunities for the investigation of DELLA functions in different plants.

Wheels are essential parts of railway freight cars, thus scheduling reasonable maintenance time can improve transportation efficiency and reduce maintenance cost, while ensuring operation safety. In this paper, an opportunity-centralized maintenance strategy is presented based on Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prediction. First, a degradation model of wheel tread wear is constructed with non-linear Wiener process, while model parameters are estimated using Gibbs sampling algorithm and wheel degradation data. With the updated model, real-time RUL of wheels are predicted. Next, an opportunity-centralized maintenance strategy based on the different failure time of all the wheels is proposed in order to make a reasonable maintenance schedule, which is difficult to set due to the significantly varying individual degradation processes on different wheels. The decision of maintenance strategy is transformed into a multi-objective optimization problem, in which maintenance times and cost are the optimization objectives. A cost function reflecting the wheel operation cost is constructed, while the average cost per time unit is defined as an optimization objective. Furthermore, NSGA-II algorithm is employed to solve the optimization problem. And a semi-randomized method is proposed to increase the diversity of the initial population. Finally, the effectiveness of the presented algorithm is verified using 500-days on-line monitoring data of wheel tread wear in a 54 fixed group of railway freight cars. The proposed method can be applied to maintenance strategy formulation of any equipment with many similar parts.

The wheel-rail dynamic responses under the initiation of rail corrugation are aggravating obviously, which may lead to the security issue and discomfort of a train with high-speed. In this work, firstly, the vehicle-track vertical coupling system is established to acquire the wheelset dynamic response of the vehicle under the action of rail corrugation and track irregularity. Correspondingly, the characteristic parameters of the wheelset vibration acceleration signals were selected using different signal processing methods. Next, the detection of rail corrugation and the corrugation depth classification were implemented using the support vector machine and particle swarm optimization algorithm. In the end, an optimal algorithm based on wavelet packet and bispectrum was proposed for the comparison of different signal processing algorithms. Features, such as normalized wavelet packet energy, energy entropy, bispectrum entropy, diagonal slice peak and normalized frequency were extracted. The detection accuracy of normal rail and rail corrugation based on the proposed algorithm can be up to 100% and the classification accuracy can be up to 99% under the corrugation depth of 0mm, 0.01mm~0.03mm, 0.04mm~0.07mm and 0.08mm~0.1mm, which performs better than EMD, WPT or bispectrum.