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With rapid development of technology and improvement of living standards, the per capita holding of automobiles greatly increases, and the amount of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) becomes larger and larger such that it is valuable to investigate an effective strategy for recycling ELVs from the viewpoints of environmental protection and resource utilization. In this paper, an optimization model with fuzzy and stochastic parameters is built to formulate the transportation planning problems of recycling ELVs in polymorphic uncertain environment, where the unit processing and transportation costs, the selling price of reused items, and the fixed cost are all fuzzy, while the demand in secondary market and the production capacity are random owing to features underlying the practical data. For this complicated polymorphic uncertain optimization model, a unified compromising approach is proposed to hedge the uncertainty of this model such that some powerful optimization algorithms can be applied to make an optimal recycling plan. Then, an interactive algorithm is developed to find a compromising solution of the uncertain model. Numerical results show efficiency of the algorithm and a number of important managerial insights are revealed from the proposed model by scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis., 1. Introduction 1.1. Background. With rapid development of technology and improvement of living standards, the per capita holding of automobiles greatly increases. In China, as the largest developing country with [...]

Summary: With the rapid development of electronic industry, the miniaturization and integration of components have become an irreversible development trend, which puts forward high requirements for lead‐free ceramic materials with excellent recoverable energy storage density and efficiency. In addition, it is also a great challenge to sustain excellent energy storage performance under different environmental conditions. In this work, a combined design strategy was proposed to induce polar nano regions and reduce grain size by introducing SrTi0.5Zr0.5O3 (STZ). The addition of STZ reduced the grain size to submicron level, accompanied by relaxation enhancement. The high energy storage properties (Wrec = 1.85 J/cm3, η = 65.92%) were achieved in 0.80Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3‐0.20SrTi0.5Zr0.5O3 (BNT‐STZ) ceramics at 150 kV/cm. Excellent temperature stability (40°C‐160°C) and frequency stability (1‐500 Hz) of energy storage performance have been obtained under 100 kV/cm, with the fluctuations below 8%. Importantly, A high power density of 3.64 MW/cm3 and a transitory discharge time (t0.9 ~ 0.632 μs) were achieved for 0.80BNT‐0.20STZ ceramic under 160 kV/cm. These characteristics indicate that 0.80BNT‐0.20STZ ceramic is expected to be applied in high‐power equipment. Highlights: A combined design strategy was proposed to induce polar nano regions and reduce grain size by introducing STZ.0.80BNT‐0.20STZ ceramic possesses a recoverable energy density of 1.85 J/cm3 and efficiency of 65.92%.0.80BNT‐0.20STZ ceramic exhibits good electrical stability in wide frequency (1‐500 Hz) and temperature range (40‐160°C).A high power density (PD) of 3.64 MW/cm3 and a transitory discharge time (t0.9 ~ 0.632 μs) can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a leading foodborne pathogen that occurs naturally in estuarine and marine environments worldwide, is responsible for raising food safety issues in China. The global dissemination of this pathogen underscores the importance of understanding its virulence factors and their effects on the human host. We herein obtained and compared the secretomic profiles of the virulent ATCC17802 strain and the avirulent JHY32 strain of V. parahaemolyticus. In total, 28 extracellular proteins were identified, and most proteins that were differentially expressed in ATCC17802 were related to toxicity and environmental adaptability. In addition, various extracellular proteins with unknown function and potential virulence factors were identified. Our results provide data that can be used for the development of novel vaccines against V. parahaemolyticus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Icariin ( ICA), a flavonoid isolated from epimedii, has been reported to have potential protective effects on the cardiovascular system. This study is to investigate the effect and the underlying mechanisms of ICA on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Methods Wister rat hearts were subjected to I/R using Langendorff perfusion system. Cardiac function, myocardial infarct size, lactate dehydrogenase ( LDH), and creatine kinase- MB ( CK- MB) activities in coronary effluent, and superoxide dismutase ( SOD) and malondialdehyde ( MDA) content in heart tissue and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were assayed. Results Compared with the I/R group, ICA treatment significantly improved cardiac function, decreased myocardial infarct size, enzyme activity, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. In addition, ICA treatment lead to an increased p-Akt level, which was partially reversed by LY294002, a PI3 K pathway inhibitor. Conclusion Our study suggests that ICA has a cardioprotective effect against I/R injury, which is associated with its antioxidative and anti-apoptotic effect, at least partially, through the activation of PI3 K-Akt signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Papulonodular mucinosis ( PM) is a cutaneous clue to the presence and activity of silent lupus erythematosus ( LE), but the exact pathogenesis is still under secret. Moreover, the currently available treatments for PM are not satisfactory. To demonstrate the possibility of multiphoton microscopy ( MPM) to trace the pathological state of PM and evaluate the treatment efficacy, epidermal and dermal alteration in skin lesion with PM before and after treatment was examined using MPM. Microstructure of epidermis as well as content and distribution of collagen and elastin in dermis were quantified to characterize the pathological states of PM. The results showed significant morphological difference between skin lesion before and after treatment, indicating the possibility of MPM to assess the therapeutic efficacy. With the advancement on MPM miniaturization and enhancement of contrast and depth of imaging, the MPM technique can be applied in in vivo tracking PM formation and progression, and leading the better understanding the PM pathogenesis and mechanism of response to any treatment, helping to establish novel effective therapies for PM. SCANNING 35:22-27, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]