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The epoxidation process of soybean oil (SBO) and peracid produced by 50 wt% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and formic acid (FA) was studied with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) as a catalyst. Three reaction parameters, including reaction temperature, FA-to-SBO ratio, and H2O2-to-SBO ratio, were investigated, along with the combined effect on oxirane value (OV). Based on response surface methodology (RSM), the Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the process parameters. According to the results, the calculated OV (7.34%) and the experimental OV (7.31%) were signifi cantly in agreement. The product was confi rmed as epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) by IR and NMR characterization methods. These results demonstrated the reliability of RSM to optimize the SBO reaction to produce ESO with high oxygen content.

The pores and fissures in loaded rock masses are the main channels for underground flow, and may cause serious accidents during the development of groundwater resources. This work presents an efficient method for analyzing the microstructure of the loaded rock mass using fractal theory and computed tomography (CT) scanning. A relation between the microstructure features of the sandstone porosity, fractal dimension, and loading stress is developed using an image identification technique. The results demonstrate that the distribution trends of sandstone samples' slice porosities in the xz- and yz-directions are nearly identical, and the distribution in the xy-direction differs significantly from those in xz- and yz-directions. The total and connected porosities increase with the increase of stress, and the change can be fitted to straight lines. The fractal dimensions of the pores change significantly with stress or loading stress in the xy-direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glabridin is a prenylated isoflavonoid with considerable anticancer property. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have evolved as regulators of many cellular signaling pathways in prostate cancer (PC). However, the role of ROS signaling in the anticancer activity of glabridin has not been investigated. Here, we attempted to evaluate the effect of glabridin on PC and the involvement of ROS signaling. Intracellular ROS and mitochondrial ROS (mitoROS) production in PC cell lines, DU‐145 and LNCaP, were measured by H2DCFDA and MitoSOX Red staining, respectively. MTT assay was used to analyze the cellular viability. EdU staining assay was conducted to analyze the cell proliferation. To analyze apoptotic rate, TUNEL assay was performed. Caspase‐3 activity was detected to reflect cell apoptosis. Western blot was carried out to detect the expression levels of Akt and p‐Akt. We found that intracellular ROS and mitoROS levels were dose‐dependently upregulated after glabridin treatment in both DU‐145 and LNCaP cells, which was reversed by the treatment of ROS inhibitor, N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine (NAC). Glabridin inhibited the cell viability and reduced the number of EdU‐positive DU‐145 and LNCaP cells, which were respectively proved by MTT assay and EdU staining assay. Glabridin promoted cell death with increased apoptotic rate and caspase‐3 activity in DU‐145 and LNCaP cells. The effects of glabridin on cell proliferation and apoptosis were reversed by NAC. Moreover, glabridin suppressed the ratio of p‐Akt/Akt, while NAC mitigated the decreased p‐Akt/Akt ratio. In addition, the effects of glabridin on cell proliferation and apoptosis were also attenuated by Akt activator, SC79. Collectively, our results demonstrated that glabridin suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in PC cells via regulating ROS‐mediated PI3K/Akt pathway. These findings suggested that glabridin might hold a promising prospective as a therapeutic agent against PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The driving concept of students' sports training involves a unique activity that is often tightly correlated to students' efficiency and varies with the momentum of sports training. Supervised learning is one of the smart methods with positive results in the fields of classification techniques. Due to the excessive currency unit associated with sports, sports forecasting is a growing area that must be well predicted. Therefore, in this paper, sports training based on the supervised learning (STSLM) model has been proposed to evaluate and predict student sports efficiency. STSLM models are based on various variables, such as traditional student ratings, performance, and efficiency. The emphasis is on the efficiency of students predicting sports outcomes. STSLM defines evaluation methods, information sources, effective models for testing students' sports training, and unique challenges to forecast sports outcomes. The experimental results have been performed. The suggested STSLM model enhances the efficiency ratio of 96.3%, injury prevention level of 98.2%, fitness level of 95.5%, evaluation ratio of 98.8%, and training optimization ratio of 97.2% compared to other existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]