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The newly-developed Ni–28W–6Cr alloy is the structural material for the next-generation molten salt reactor (MSR). Due to the detrimental effects of welding hot cracks on the quality of welded structures, it is essential to study the hot cracking behavior and mechanism to achieve the qualified Ni–28W–6Cr alloy welded joint. This paper analyzes the characteristics of the dynamic cracking behavior of welding hot cracks using a high-speed camera. The microstructure, morphology, and cracking mechanism of hot cracks are studied. The results show that solidification cracks and liquation cracks occur in the welded joint. According to the propagation direction of the hot crack, there are longitudinal cracks and transverse cracks, respectively. The quantity and length of hot cracks increase with the laser power. The laser welded joint's hardness value fluctuates from 200 HV to 260 HV. The width of heat affected zone (HAZ) is approximately 0.5–1 mm, and there is a slight softening zone in the HAZ. Meanwhile, the hardness of the weld metal is the highest in the welded joint. The solidification cracks tend to initiate and crack along the solidification grain boundary, which is mainly related to the thermal stress caused by the welding process and the weak bonding strength of grain boundaries caused by the element segregation and precipitation at the grain boundary. Liquation cracking is mainly affected by welding thermal stress and element segregation at the grain boundary in the HAZ. However, the eutectic carbides play the role of inhibiting the propagation of liquation cracks.

This paper introduces the research on the elements that could lead to the DGS issue of Mini LED BLU, as well as a theoretical model built based on the research result. By performing a variety of experiments studying the relationship between several elements, this DGS issue was confirmed to be caused by electrochemical corrosion under the joint impact of water steam infiltrate and electric potential difference between metal pattern on the product. In this specific circumstance, the two necessary condition for DGS issue to happen are electric potential difference between 2 ndCu layer pattern in LED zone and 1 stCu layer pattern on the G‐ bus, and the water steam infiltrated from the via hole left for the LED chip soldering. The water steam infiltrated then diffuse through the 1 stResin layer and the time cost for the water steam to reach the position where electric potential difference exists is in a direct proportion to the distance from such point to the soldering via. Moreover, the larger that electric potential difference is, the higher probability of DGS issue happening is, while the relationship between this probability and the distance mentioned previously is in an opposite way. Overall, by applying several optimization such cancelling the hedgehopping 1 stCu pattern and adding extra inorganic insulating layer protection on the design of product, and applying an extra cathode protection design, the DGS issue was significantly resolved.

Al–Si coated 22MnB5 steels are one of the most important lightweight materials for automotive weight reduction and safety improvement due to its advantages of light weight, high strength and good formability at high temperature. Considering the formation of α-ferrite caused by the Al–Si coating deteriorating the weld mechanical performance, the common way in the automotive industry is to remove the Al–Si coating prior to laser welding. In this work, a patented laser-filler wire welding process was developed with a high strength steel wire to inhibit the formation of α-ferrite and achieve high quality laser weld in Al–Si coated 22MnB5 without the requirement of removing the Al–Si coating. A formula for calculating the average content of Al element in the fusion zone was provided and verified by experiment. Experimental results show that Al segregation in the fusion zone with the designated filler wire was reduced, and the microstructure was full martensite with high dislocation density. The strain of the welded joint was concentrated in the hot-stamped base metal (HSBM) and fractured in an obvious necking during the tensile shear test. The tensile strength and elongation of the welded joint with filler wire increased by 7.5% and 183.9% compared with that without filler wire.

Al–Si coated 22MnB5 steel is a lightweight material that helps significantly reduce vehicle weight and fuel consumption. In this article, the effect of different oscillation frequencies on the fraction of α-ferrite, the cross-sectional shape, microstructure and mechanical properties of laser welded Al–Si coated 22MnB5 steel was investigated. The results showed that after stamping, the fraction of α-ferrite in the fusion zone can be significantly reduced from 47.9% to 2.2% by oscillating laser beam welding compared to static laser beam welding with oscillation frequency and amplitude equal to zero. When the oscillating frequency was increased from 0 to 320 Hz, the cross-sectional shape of the weld changed from “X" to “Y", and the tensile strength and elongation of the welded joint was firstly increased and then decreased from the minimum value of (426.45HV, 1159.92 MPa, 1.14%) to the maximum value of (476.98HV, 1521.39 MPa and 2.76%). The formation of α-ferrite along the strip distribution near the upper surface of the fusion zone of static laser beam welding and oscillating laser beam welding after hot stamping, which led to stress concentration and eventual failure. Under the tensile-shear load, the cracks in the weld of static laser beam welding and oscillating laser beam welding were initiated on the massive α-ferrite location in the top surface of the fusion zone and expanded to the bottom of the weld.

Quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steels are among the most critical third-generation steels for realizing vehicle weight reduction and improving safety performance. It is critical for the structure durability to have an excellent fatigue life of the welds. In this study, Q&P1180 steel was laser spot welded (LSW) in order to evaluate the microhardness, mechanical properties, and fatigue behavior of its joints, which were compared with resistance spot welding (RSW). In both types of joining methods, the welded zone is composed of lath martensite with high microhardness value. Due to the martensite tempering, the sub-critical heat affected zone of Q&P RSW welds was soften, resulting in a decrease of 52 HV of microhardness than the LSW joint. The presence of stress concentration in the boundary influenced tensile strength and all-welded samples failed in the boundary. Furthermore, the fatigue limit of the RSW joint (1.139 kN) was about 91.5%t of the LSW joint (1.245 kN). Fatigue specimens of the LSW joint failed between the fusion zone and heat-affected zone because of their higher sensitivity to stress concentration than the RSW joint, resulting in double eyebrow failure and pull-out failure. Fatigue crack originated from the specimen surface and propagated through fatigue striations together with secondary cracks.In addition, it was found that the strength of the base metal has inconsequentially affected the fatigue life of the welds when these welds were produced by the same welding method and have similar geometries.

Black spot disease (PBS) caused by Alternaria alternatais an economic disease of pear (Pyrus pyrifoliaNakai). Developing cultivars with durable PBS resistance traits is an important research objective for improving pear germplasm. The Deshengxiang is a popular pear variety in China and resistant to PBS. This study aimed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with PBS resistance trait in pear and determine closely linked molecular markers by specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). F1 population resulting from a cross between “Deshengxiang” (female) and “Guiguan,” a susceptible (male) variety, was developed and evaluated in 2016 and 2017. SLAF technology was used to discover SNPs in the F1 individuals and subsequently a high-density genetic linkage map for PBS resistance was constructed which contained 17,604 SNP markers. Based on the linkage map, the markers were distributed into 17 linkage groups, spanning 1548.48 cM, with a mean marker distance of 0.09 cM, representing the densest genetic map of the genus Pyrus. QTL analysis of PBS resistance identified a locus strongly related to PBS resistance at 77.68 ~ 112.99 cM on linkage group 15, which was further narrowed down to 93.79 ~ 112.99 cM. Two markers, Marker94293 and Marker94206, located at 97.47 and 102.93 cM, were closely associated with PBS resistance, with a Δ (SNP index) value of 0.46. Co-localization of QTL interval, bioinformatics analysis, and functional annotation revealed PBS putative candidate genes. Overall, the high-density pear linkage map is a suitable reference for mapping PBS resistance trait, QTL, and genes identified in this study contribute information that could be useful for PBS improvement in pear.

Although 1,10-phenanthroline-based ligands have recently shown vast opportunities for the separation of trivalent actinides (Ans(III)) from lanthanides (Lns(III)), the optimization and design of the extractant structure based on the phenanthroline framework remain hotspots for further improving the separation. Following the strategy of hard and soft donor atom combination, for the first time, the quinoline group was attached to the 1,10-phenanthroline skeleton, giving a lipophilic ligand, 2,9-diacyl-bis((3,4-dihydroquinoline-1((2H)-yl)-1),10-phenanthroline (QL-DAPhen)), for Am(III)/Eu(III) separation. In the presence of sodium nitrate, the ligand can effectively extract Am(III) over Eu(III) in HNO3solution, with the separation factor (SFAm/Eu) ranging from 29 to 44. The coordination chemistry of Eu(III) with QL-DAPhen was investigated by slope analysis, NMR titration, UV–vis titration, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, and theoretical calculations. The experimental results unanimously confirm that the ligand forms both 1:1 and 1:2 complexes with Eu(III), and the stability constants (log β) of each of the two complexes were obtained. Density functional theory calculations show that the Am–N bonds have more covalent characteristics than the Eu–N bonds in the complexes, which reveals the reason why the ligand preferentially bonds with Am(III). Meanwhile, the thermodynamic analysis reveals that the 1:1 complex is more thermodynamically stable than the 1:2 complex. The findings of this work have laid a solid theoretical foundation for the application of phenanthroline-based ligands in the separation of An(III) from practical systems.

Network on a chip (NoC) uses packet‐switched network to implement interconnections in System on chip (SoC). In SoC design, performance and energy efficiency are respectively the first and second priorities, and optimal on‐chip communication should decrease the power consumption and area overhead. In this work, a simplified BCH codec is proposed for reliable communication in NoC and SoC. It performs BCH error corrections without Berlekamp's algorithm, only using reduced syndrome bits to determine error patterns. The error locations can be found by looking up tables, by which the possible errors are directly corrected. Only one matrix product and one ROM access are required in the BCH decoder. The proposed (20, 8, 2) and (31, 16, 3) decoders in the paper can be easily applied for error corrections of interconnects and buses for NoC and SoC. It is also beneficial to correct data lines without length definition and control lines without storage.

The design and development of a water-soluble heterocyclic ligand are believed to be an alternative way for improving the separation efficiency of actinides from lanthanides. Herein, we designed and synthesized a novel hydrophilic multidentate ligand: disulfonated N,N′-diphenyl-2,9-diamide-1,10-phenanthroline (DS-Ph-DAPhen) with soft and hard donor atoms, as a masking agent in aqueous solutions for Am(III) separation. The combination of N,N,N′,N′-tetraoctyldiglycolamide in kerosene and DS-Ph-DAPhen in aqueous phases could separate Am(III) from Eu(III) across a range of nitric acid concentrations with very high selectivity. The coordination behaviors of Eu(III) with DS-Ph-DAPhen in aqueous solutions were studied by UV–vis titration, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The results indicated that Eu(III) ions could form both 1:1 and 1:2 complexes with the DS-Ph-DAPhen ligand in aqueous solution. Density functional theory calculation suggests that there are more covalent characters for Am–N bonds than that for Eu–N bonds in the complexes, which supports the better selectivity of the DS-Ph-DAPhen ligand toward Am(III) over Eu(III). This work demonstrates a feasible alternative approach to separating trivalent actinides from lanthanides with high selectivity.

Diglycolamide-based ligands have recently received increased attention due to their outstanding affinity for trivalent actinides and lanthanides. The structure optimization of the ligands, however, still remains a hot topic to achieve better extraction performance. In this work, we prepare and investigate three multidentate diglycolamide ligands for the selective separation of Eu(III) over Am(III) from a nitric acid solution to explore the effect on the extraction of alkyl groups on the nitrogen atoms in the center of the BisDGA ligands. The introduction of ethyl or isopropyl groups on the central nitrogen atoms greatly increased the distribution ratios of trivalent metal ions and enhanced the separation factor of Eu(III) over Am(III). The complexation behaviors of Eu(III) and Am(III) ions were studied by slope analyses, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the trivalent metal ions were extracted as 1:2 and 1:3 complexes for all three BisDGA ligands during the extraction. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations verified the relevant experimental conclusion that the selectivity of THEE-BisDGA for Eu(III) is better than that for Am(III). The metal–DGA bonds in the ML3(NO3)3complexes seem to be stronger than those in ML2(NO3)3complexes.

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In order to study the mechanism of selective catalytic reduction of activated coke to remove NO in low-temperature flue gas and provide some theoretical basis for the development of related technologies. The pore size distribution and BET specific surface area of AC were obtain by data analyzing of N2adsorption/desorption isotherm at − 196 °C and carbon matrix and surface chemistry of virgin activated coke samples were characterized by acid–base titration and XPS. The process of selective catalytic reduction of activated coke (AC) samples with NH3as reducing agent was studied in a fixed bed reactor at 150 °C. The result shows that pore size distribution or BET specific surface of activated cokes have not correlation with denitrification activity for SCR. The NO reduction activities of the activated cokes are apparent to increase with their surface oxygen element content and total amount of acidic sites. Obviously there is good linear relationship between the NH3adsorption capacity and activity for SCR with linear correlation coefficient 0.943. It has been presented that adsorption of NH3on acidic functional groups in the edge of large polycyclic aromatic ring of activated coke is key rate controlling step in the SCR heterogeneous catalytic reaction.

Background The clinical use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the intensive care unit (ICU) has dramatically increased, its impact on long-term prognosis in these patients has not been studied. This study aimed to explore the effect of early-TTE on long-term mortality in patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS in ICU.Methods A total of 2833 patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS who had or had not received early-TTE were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC-III) database after imputing missing values by a random forest model, patients were divided into early-TTE group and non-early-TTE group according to whether they received TTE examination in ICU. A variety of statistical methods were used to balance 41 covariates and increase the reliability of this study, including propensity score matching, inverse probability of treatment weight, covariate balancing propensity score, multivariable regression, and doubly robust estimation. Chi-Square test and t-tests were used to examine the differences between groups for categorical and continuous data, respectively.Results There was a significant improvement in 90-day mortality in the early-TTE group compared to non-early-TTE group (odds ratio  =  0.79, 95% CI: 0.64–0.98, p-value  =  0.036), revealing a beneficial effect of early-TTE. Net-input was significantly decreased in the early-TTE group on the third day of ICU admission and throughout the ICU stay, compared with non-early-TTE group (838.57 vs. 1181.89 mL, p-value  =  0.014; 4542.54 vs. 8025.25 mL, p-value  =  0.05). There was a significant difference in the reduction of serum lactate between the two groups, revealing the beneficial effect of early-TTE (0.59 vs. 0.83, p-value  =  0.009). Furthermore, the reduction in the proportion of acute kidney injury demonstrated a correlation between early-TTE and kidney protection (33% vs. 40%, p-value < 0.001).Conclusions Early application of TTE is beneficial to improve the long-term mortality of patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS.

The first comprehensive genomic survey of the immune gene repertoire of the amphioxus Branchiostoma floridae, the purple sea urchin is reported. The survey observations revealed that the amphioxus, a species without vertebrate-type adaptive immunity holds extraordinary innate complexity and diversity.

A protocol for small ncRNA cloning and microarray sample preparation is applied to a mixed-stage Caenorhabditis elegans whole genome tiling microarray. It is used to map the extent of its non-protein-coding transcriptome by combining overlapping transcripts.

In this paper, an invented electrode named NewTon Ring (NTR) and the other two Flat Top (FT) electrodes of having 5 mm and 8 mm outer diameter were employed to weld 2 mm AA 5182-O aluminum alloy sheets. The appearance and mechanical performance of the Resistance Spot Welding (RSW) welds obtained using the selected electrodes were investigated. The results showed that the tensile shear and cross-tension strength of the joints obtained by NTR electrode were higher than those obtained by FT electrodes, which have the same outer diameter and contact area compared with NTR respectively. The improvement of the weld strength was attributed to the formation of a bigger weld nugget and spatter-free process achieved by NTR electrode compared to FT electrodes. A new nucleation mechanism was proposed for the weld nugget formation, which was different from the traditional RSW method.

Background We assessed the Th17 (T-helper cell)/Treg (Regulatory T cell) imbalance in sepsis patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and the clinical benefits of continuous high-volume hemofiltration (HVHF).Methods 48 sepsis patients, including 22 patients with MODS (MODS group, n = 22) and 26 without (non-MODS group, n = 26), and 20 healthy volunteer controls were enrolled. The patients in MODS group were randomly divided into the continuous blood purification (CBP) group (n = 11) receiving conventional comprehensive treatment plus high-volume hemofiltration and the non-CBP group (n = 11) receiving conventional comprehensive treatment only. At day 28, all 48 patients were divided into the survival group (n = 36) and the non-survival group (n = 12). Venous blood samples, collected at 0, 6, 12 and 24 hours during hemofiltration (or equivalent times in the non-CBP group), were assessed by flow cytometry to detect the Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood. Serum cytokines (such as IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, IL-10 and TGF-ß1) were detected by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA).Results Th17%, Treg%, Th17/Treg, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, IL-10 and TGF-ß1 were significantly higher in MODS and non-MODS group than in the health control (p<0.05), while Th17%, Treg%, Th17/Treg and measured cytokines were significantly higher in the MODS group compared to the non-MODS group (p<0.05). After HVHF treatment, Th17%, Treg%, Th17/Treg, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-10 were significantly reduced (p<0.05), while there were no significant changes in the non-CBP group (p>0.05). In addition, APACHE II and SOFA scores decreased markedly after HVHF treatment. Baseline Th17%, Treg%, Th17/Treg, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, IL-10 and TGF-ß1 were significantly higher in the non-survival group compared to the survival group. Both Th17% and Th17/Treg were positivity correlated with concentration of IL-6 and APACHE II score (p<0.01).Conclusions The level of Th17/Treg imbalance in sepsis is related to the occurrence and prognosis of MODS. High-volume hemofiltration can attenuate the Th17/Treg imbalance in sepsis patients, possibly by removing inflammatory mediators.

Rock bolting has firmly used as the coal mine roof reinforcement in underground coal mine. The bolting effect of fully grouted rebar bolt is closely related to the bolt surface profile. This paper provides an experimental study to confirm that bolt rib internal length has great influence on bolting effect. Pull-out tests were conducted using rebar bolt with different rib spacings of 12, 24, 36 and 48mm representatively from steel tube and from concrete. Results show that peak load increases 25.3% for bolt with large rib spacing. For pull out using concrete block, the increment of peak load between large and small rib spacing is not significant, but the bolt with large rib spacing has great absorption of deformational energy than small rib spacing bolt. This study provides experimental evidence towards optimum design of rock bolt for understand coal mining industry.

Although phenanthroline diamide (DAPhen) ligands have recently shown vast opportunity in group separation of actinides, the commonly used diluents in research, such as cyclohexanone with highly aqueous intersolubility, and 1-(trifluoromethyl)− 3-nitrobenzene with strong toxicity and corrosiveness, are becoming clear demerits. Herein, several lipophilic N,N′-dialkyl-N,N′-diphenyl-2,9-diamide-1,10-phenanthroline (R-Ph-DAPhen) ligands were synthesized and employed for selective separation of Am(III) from Eu(III) in 1-octanol, a practical low-toxicity and low-corrosive solvent. The solvent extraction results confirm their separation effect toward Am(III) over Eu(III) in both 1-octanol and TBP/1-octanol (v/v, 3/7) systems. Spectroscopic analysis illustrates that the ligands simultaneously generate M:L= 1:1 and 1:2 complexes with Ln(III), depending on the molar ratio of metal ion to ligand. The steric hindrance caused by the length of the alkyl side chains greatly affects the coordination chemistry of these ligands. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations shed light that these R-Ph-DAPhen ligands have desired An(III) affinity over Ln(III), and compared with F-3 solvent, 1-octanol weakens the extraction ability of the ligands for both lanthanides and actinides. This work contributes to further understanding of the extraction behavior of phenanthroline diamide-based ligands in different solvents and pushing them forward into practical applications in real An(III) extraction.

The target tracking technology in image sequence is of great meanings in the military and civilian areas, by using Monte Carlo method to complete the Bayesian recursive, particle filter is widely used in the systems of non-linear and non - Gaussian and good results are gained. However, particle filter there are also disadvantages in terms of sample impoverishment, the choosing of proper proposal distribution, real time and so on. In this paper, the particle filter is utilized to in the feature fusion of the moving target, and the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has certain effect both on the remission of the sample impoverishment and the enhancement of the tracking robustness.

Dwarfism is one of the most important traits in crop breeding. In this study, a dwarf cucumber D0462 and a vine NA129 were taken as experimental materials. The metabolism of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide anion radical (O2−•), activities of antioxidant enzymes, and the levels of endogenous hormones of the two cultivars were compared. In the whole growth period, D0462 maintained higher H2O2and O2−• levels than NA129. The activities of SOD (superoxide dismutase), CAT (catalase), APX (ascorbate peroxidase) and IAAO (indoleacetic acid oxidase) in D0462 were found higher than those in NA129. The contents of gibberellic acid (GA3), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), zeatin riboside (ZR) and jasmonic acid (JA) in internode were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The internode of D0462 remained lower levels of GA3, IAA, and ZR. In contrast, JA level in internode of D0462 was higher than that of NA129. Compared with NA129, the cell mumbers in internode of D0462 did not change, but cell size evidently decreased. The chloroplasts in mature mesophyll D0462 exhibited swollen filled with starch grains instead of regular oval ones, and thylakoids of chloroplast swelled and became ambiguous.

Propamocarb (PM) residue in cucumber (Cucumis sativusL.) receives little attention. As is well known to all, high PM residue of cucumber could lead to increase in the violation rates of maximum residue limits and ultimately cause harm to human health. Knowledge of PM residue could help cucumber breeders in developing cultivars with low PM residue and improving cucumber quality. In this study, 32 representative cucumber accessions (26 breeding lines and six cultivars) from different regions of China were evaluated for their PM residue in fruit and leaf to provide meaning to the subjective rating, which was highly correlated with PM residual content of fruit (r=0.97) and leaf (r=0.94). In addition, PM residual content of North China ecotype was the highest and Pickling ecotype was the lowest in fruit and leaf of cucumber. The leaf had significantly higher (P<0.01) PM residual content than the fruit, and poor correlation between leaf and fruit was represented. This study verified PM residual relationship between fruit and leaf, and laid the foundation for further identification of germplasm resources and breeding of new varieties for low PM residue of cucumber.

Baicalin is a major bioactive component of Scutellaria baicalensis and a substrate of multiple drug resistance-associated protein 2. Expression of multiple drug resistance-associated protein 2 is regulated by NF-E2-related factor 2. The aim of this study was to explore whether ursodeoxycholic acid, an NF-E2-related factor 2 activator, could influence the oral bioavailability of baicalin. A single dose of baicalin (200 mg/kg) was given orally to rats pretreated with ursodeoxycholic acid (75mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, per day, intragastrically) or normal saline (per day, intragastrically) for six consecutive days. The plasma concentration of baicalin was measured with the HPLC method. The result indicated that the oral bioavailability of baicalin was significantly and dosedependently reduced in rats pretreated with ursodeoxycholic acid. Compared with control rats, the mean area under concentration-time curve of baicalin was reduced from 13.25±0.24mg/L h to 7.62±0.15mg/L h and 4.97±0.21mg/L h, and the Cmax value was decreased from 1.31±0.03 mg/L to 0.62±0.05mg/L and 0.36±0.04 mg/L in rats pretreated with ursodeoxycholic acid at doses of 75 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, respectively, for six consecutive days. Hence, ursodeoxycholic acid treatment reduced the oral bioavailability of baicalin in rats, probably due to the enhanced efflux of baicalin from the intestine and liver by multiple drug resistance-associated protein 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

n the past years, the routing problems of wireless sensor network (WSN) have attracted great interest, and many routing protocols for WSN have being proposed. However, these routing protocols pay little attention to the transmission reliability. Therefore, this paper proposes a new multipath ring routing algorithm for WSNs. The proposed algorithm utilizes ring level to separate sensor nodes into several sections, which can improve the reliability of the data transmission. Using the multipath ring routing data delivery improves as an average of 27.58% to leach routing and 113.06% to directing routing.

Human carboxylesterase (CES) 1A and CES2, two major forms of human CES, dominate the pharmacokinetics of most prodrugs such as imidapril and irinotecan (CPT-11). Antihypertensive drugs are often prescribed for clinical therapy concurrently with others. Moreover, two or more antihypertensive drugs are ubiquitously combined. The influences of antihypertensive drugs on the activity of CES remain undefined. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of 17 antihypertensive drugs on the CES1A1 and CES2 activities were evaluated. Imidapril and CPT-11 were used as substrates and cultured with liver microsomes in vitro.The imidapril hydrolase activities by recombinant CES1A1 and human liver microsomes (HLM) were intensely inhibited by telmisartan and nitrendipine (Ki=0.49±0.09 and 1.12±0.39 μΜ for CES1A1, 1.69±0.17 μΜ and 1.24±0.27 μΜ for HLM, respectively). However, other drugs did not exert strong inhibition. The enzyme hydrolase activity of recombinant CES2 was substantially inhibited by diltiazem and verapamil (Ki=0.25±0.02 and 3.84±0.99 μΜ, respectively). Hence, diltiazem, verapamil, nitrendipine and telmisartan may attenuate the drug efficacy of catalyzed prodrugs by changing the activities of CES1A1 and CES2.

The digital control system of the walking system of the asphalt paver based on the TMS320LF2407 DSP is introduced in this paper. The paper accomplishes the software and hardware design of the control system, integrates the PID and fuzzy control into the design of the digital control system so as to conduct constant-velocity control under paving. The thesis proves fuzzy-adjustable-PID control is superior to traditional PID control by simulation and analysis. The feasibility and rationality of control system design are proved by the test.

With the rapidly developing of ULSI fabrication technique to high integration and low cost, the key technology is how to ensure the higher flattening, lower roughness and lower cost. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method is the best one for global planarization. In this paper, the CMP mechanism process of silicon wafer was analyzed, and it was pointed that chemical reaction was the kinetics control process. The influence of surfactant on silicon surface quality during CMP process was also discussed, and the contrast experiments were processed. SiO2 was selected as abrasive, which particle size was 40nm. And the polishing temperature was 25deg. At the end of silicon CMP, the water polishing was processed using de-ionized water with surfactant, and the optimal surface was gotten, and the surface roughness was 0.5nm.

An interview with art curator Hans-Michael Herzog is presented. He talks about his purpose in attending eight art biennial exhibitions in Asia. He cites the biennials that he already seen, including the "Farewell to Post-Colonialism" exhibition in Guangzhou and Shanghai, both in China. He presents his opinion about the Singapore Biennial, as well as the Asian Biennials, in general.

The process of parameter choosing in vehicle overall design is a process of collaboration design, and is also a process of group decision optimization. The degree of cooperation and level of experts become the crucial standards in Computer Supported Collaborative Design because many decision-makers participating in the design process have different expertise and goals. This paper describes vehicle overall design parameter selection with a Multi-Objective Decision-Making optimization model, presents the concepts of non-cooperation degree and non-specialty degree, and uses entropy to describe the model. Furthermore, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to resolve the model and to get optimal parameter. In addition, we propose an effective expert system based on the model and actual design process. Finally, the effect of the non-cooperation degree and non-specialty degree on the result is discussed and the sensitivity of the proposed system analyzed in this paper.

Comparisons of total peroxidase activity and peroxidase isozymes as well as protein profiles among segregating, near-isogenic bush and vine phenotypes of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne) were investigated. Peroxidase activities of internode and leaf tissues of the bush plants were higher than those of respective vine tissues. Roots of bush plants, however, had a lower peroxidase activity than vine plants. In both bush and vine plants, peroxidase activities were lower in leaf tissues than in root and internode tissues. Electrophoretic comparisons revealed qualitative differences in peroxidase patterns in internodes between bush and vine plants. Moreover, qualitative differences between internode and root profiles were found between bush and vine plants in C. moschata. In conclusion, the results of this report revealed that a single gene conferring the bush phenotype in C. moschata might affect the relative expression of peroxidase activity, peroxidase isozymes, and protein profiles in leaf, internode, and root tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective; To explore the effects of acupuncture on the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) gene of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in obese rats.Methods: The expression of UCP1gene of BAT was determined with RT-PCR technique. The changes of body weight, Lee’s index, body fat, and the expression of UCP1gene of BAT in obese rats were observed before and after acupuncture.Results: The body weight, Lee’s index, body fat in obese rats were all markedly higher than those in normal rats, but the expression of UCP1gene of BAT in obese rats was all lower than that in normal rats. There were negative correlation between the obesity index and the expression of UCP1gene in BAT. After acupuncture the marked effect of weight loss was achieved while the expression of UCP1gene of BAT obviously increased in obese rats.Conclusion: The abnormal reduction for expression of UCP1gene of BAT might be an important cause for the obesity. To promote the expression of UCP1in obese organism might be an important cellular and molecular mechanism in anti-obesity effect by acupuncture.

In order to investigate the effects of injection position on drag reduction as well as further the effects of polymer additives on turbulent structures, LDA measurements of turbulent pipe flows were conducted. The results show that the amount of drag reduction grows with the increase of the Reynolds number, and injecting the polymer at the centre of pipe is more effective than at the wall. Due to the addition of polymer solution, the axial, radial r.m.s. velocity fluctuations and Reynolds stress decrease over the entire pipe cross‐section, the time auto‐correlation coefficients of axial and radial velocity fluctuation at the centre of pipe decay more slowly, the number of spectrum peaks is decreased, and the peak shifts towards lower wave numbers. The results also reveal that, due to the addition of polymer solution, the large‐scale vortices are enhanced and small‐scale vortices are suppressed.

The equation of the suspension-gas non-streamwise complex disturbance velocity ratio near the injection area of moving jet was theoretically derived by using a phase-coupled model and stability theory. Then the ratio curves were obtained by the finite difference method based on the asymptotic method and the Euler conservative difference scheme. Analysis of the curves yielded conclusions on the disturbance properties of suspensions and effects of the natures of the flow-field and the properties of the suspensions on the suspensions ability to track the disturbed gas flow are presented in this paper.

Aluminum alloys are critical lightweight materials in the automotive industry, which can significantly reduce vehicle weight and improve vehicle fuel efficiency. However, resistance spot welding, as one of key joining approaches, faces the challenges of short electrode life and unstable weld quality when welding aluminum alloy. A novel electrode named as Newton Ring (NTR) electrode was developed to address these issues. The mechanical property, nugget evolution and electrode degradation during continuous welding of aluminum alloy with NTR electrode were investigated and compared with the typical spherical electrode. Results indicate that the mechanical property, electrode life and surface quality of the weld fabricated by NTR electrode were much better than typical one. The improvement in the weld quality with NTR electrode stems from its unique surface morphology, which changes the current density distribution during welding and creates a ring-shaped nucleation process of the nugget. Therefore, the shape and size of the nugget are more stable, and the nugget does not cause serious offset in the continuous welding test. Additionally, the wear of the NTR electrode gradually grows from concentric rings to the base ring, avoiding the random and rapid wear on the electrode weld face, thus improving the surface quality of the weld.

The clinical effect on treatment of diabetic retinopathy with acupuncture plus herbal decoction has been observed. Eighty cases were randomly divided into treatment group and control group by the odd and even serial numbers. Forty cases in the treatment group were treated with needling Taiyang (Ex-HN 5), Yangbai (GB 14) toward Yuyao (Ex-HN 4) and Cuanzhu (BL 2) plus the herbal decoction called “Mingmu Wuzi Decoction”. Forty cases in the control group were treated with intravenous drip of Venorutin and oral administration of dipyridamole and vitamin E. And the result showed the total effective rate of 92.5% in the treatment group and that of 55.0% in the control group with significant difference (P<0.01), which suggested that acupuncture plus herbal decoction had better therapeutic effect than western medications alone.

Purpose: To observe the curative effects of different treatments on genual osteoarthritis.Methods: The 148 cases were randomly divided into 4 groups: acupuncture group; Chinese herbs plus spectrograp irradiation group; comprehensive treatments group and western medicine group.Results: The total effective rate in these groups were 78.9%, 72.7%, 92.3% and 78.9% respectively, and there was not a significant difference among the groups (P>0.05). The marked effective rate in comprehensive treatments group was higher than that in other three groups (P<0.05).Conclusion: Acupuncture and Chinese herbs plus sepectrograp irradiation had certain effect on gonitis. Comprehensive therapies could coordinate the actions of acupuncture, and Chinese herbs plus spectrograp irradiation, and raise the curative effect.