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One or several component failures may lead to more related component malfunction and ultimately cause system reliability reduction. Based on this, we focus on the assessment system reliability of complex electromechanical systems (CEMSs) in a fault-propagation view. First, failure propagation model taking into consideration failure data based on network theory and improved polychromatic sets is proposed for system reliability evaluation. From the node point of view, system effectiveness index is constructed to investigate the variation of efficiency of the holistic network. Subsequently, from the system’s perspective, system reliability measurement is provided and estimated in combination with system effectiveness index and failure propagation models. Finally, the application of proposed method to a bogie system of high-speed train assesses system reliability, and meanwhile, the effectiveness of the proposed method is able to be illustrated.

A growth trial was conducted to examine the effect of dietary digestible energy (DE) content on methionine (Met) utilization and requirement in juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Ten iso-nitrogenous (288 g kg(-1) protein) practical diets, with two DE levels (10.9 MJ kg(-1); 12.4 MJ kg(-1)) and five methionine supplementation levels (0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 g kg(-1)), were hand-fed twice daily to triplicate groups of Nile tilapia (initial body weight 8.95 +/- 0.06 g) for 8 weeks. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased significantly with increasing dietary methionine concentration at the same DE content (P < 0.001). At the same dietary methionine level, WG and SGR of fish fed high-DE diets were significantly higher than that of fish fed low-DE diets (P = 0.0001), although no interaction was found between dietary DE and methionine supplementation. Based on quadratic regression analysis between dietary methionine concentration and weight gain, optimal methionine requirement for maximum growth, expressed as g Met required kg(-1) diet (low-versus high-DE diets), increased as diet DE concentration increased (7.34 versus 9.90 g kg(-1) diet, respectively; with cysteine 4.70 g kg(-1) diet). The results indicated that diet DE content affects methionine utilization and requirement in juvenile Nile tilapia, fish fed high-DE diets required more methionine for maximum growth.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the optimum dietary γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level in low fishmeal diet for juvenile Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Six practical diets (449 g kg−1 protein, 87 g kg−1 lipid) supplemented with graded levels of GABA (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mg kg−1) were formulated. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 30 shrimps (approximately 0.44 g), and the shrimps were fed four times a day to apparent satiation. Weight gain and gain rate were significantly increased with the supplementation of GABA (P

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of dietary L-methionine supplementation on growth performance, serum immune and antioxidative responses of juvenile Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Six iso-nitrogenous (282 g kg(-1) crude protein) diets were formulated to contain graded levels of methionine (0.32%, 0.54%, 0.75%, 0.93%, 1.14% and 1.33% of dry weight) at a constant dietary cysteine level of 0.83 g kg(-1). Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 25 juvenile fish (2.3 +/- 0.0 g), which were fed three times daily (8:30, 12:30 and 17:00 hours). The results showed that growth performance and feed utilization significantly improved when dietary methionine levels increased (P 0.05). Methionine supplementation decreased malondialdehyde content in serum significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with the control diet, while there was no significant difference among supplemented treatments. These data suggested that L-methionine affected antioxidant status and promoted serum immune response in juvenile Nile tilapia, and at non-stressed status, the requirement of dietary methionine in maintaining normal immunity and physiology is lower than that for maximum growth.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on growth performance, haematological parameters and histological changes in juvenile Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Six practical diets (455 g kg-1 protein, 78 g kg-1 lipid) with different levels of AFB1 (0, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 μg kg−1) were formulated. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of shrimps (initial weight: 0.52 g). The results showed that shrimp fed with control diet (0 μg kg−1 AFB1) had significant higher weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) than other groups. However, there were no significant differences in feed efficiency (FE) or hepatosomatic index (HSI) among all groups. Compared to the control diet, AFB1 supplementation significantly changed the activities of shrimp serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) and the content of cholesterol (CHO). Histological damages were identified in the hepatopancreas of shrimp when dietary AFB1 level was over 107.6 μg kg−1. Based on this study, it was concluded that the AFB1 level in Pacific white shrimp diet should be

Background. The associations between polymorphisms in microRNAs and the susceptibility of colorectal cancer (CRC) were inconsistent in previous studies. This study aims to quantify the strength of the correlation between the four common polymorphisms among microRNAs (hsa-mir-146a rs2910164, hsa-mir-149 rs2292832, hsa-mir-196a2 rs11614913, and hsa-mir-499 rs3746444) and CRC risk.Methods. We searched PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and CNKI to find relevant studies. The combined odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was used to estimate the strength of the association in a fixed or random effect model.Results. 15 studies involving 5,486 CRC patients and 7,184 controls were included. Meta-analyses showed that rs3746444 had association with CRC risk in Caucasians (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.34–0.95). In the subgroup analysis, we found significant associations between rs2910164 and CRC in hospital based studies (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.03–1.49). rs2292832 may be a high risk factor of CRC in population based studied (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.08–1.38).Conclusion. This meta-analysis showed that rs2910164 and rs2292832 may increase the risk of CRC. However, rs11614913 polymorphism may reduce the risk of CRC. rs3746444 may have a decreased risk to CRC in Caucasians.

The feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the replacement effect of cystine on methionine at a constant total sulphur amino acid (TSAA) level in practical diets of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Soybean meal, cottonseed meal and rapeseed meal were used as the main protein sources in the diets containing 16.4 MJ kg(-1) gross energy and 301 g kg(-1) crude protein. Crystalline DL-methionine (Met) to L-cystine (Cys) were supplemented to fulfil various ratios of Met to Cys (60:40, 50:50, 40:60 and 30:70, based on an equimolar sulphur basis; and the analysed ratios were 53:47, 49:51, 34:66 and 31:69). Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of Nile tilapia juveniles (10.1 g mean initial weight) in a recirculation system for 8 weeks. The results showed that the growth performance and nutrient accretion were not affected by dietary methionine:cystine ratios (P > 0.05). However, the survival rates of fish tended to decrease with the decreasing methionine: cystine ratios. The only dietary treatment to achieve 100% survival was the 53:47 methionine: cystine treatment. And methionine digestibility decreased linearly with the decreasing methionine: cystine ratios (P < 0.05). Thus, it was concluded that cystine could replace up to approximately 47% of TSAA requirement on an equimolar sulphur basis without hampering growth performance in the practical diets of juvenile Nile tilapia.

The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the protective effects of ferulic acid (FA) against cyclophosphamide- (CTX-) induced changes in mice. Forty-eight male ICR mice were divided into four groups. Control group was intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with 200 μL of phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Model group was intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of CTX (200 mg/kg). FA (50 mg/kg) and FA (100 mg/kg) groups were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of CTX (200 mg/kg) followed by the intragastric treatment with FA (50, 100 mg/kg) for 7 consecutive days. After 12 d, the mice were sacrificed to analyze the hematological, biochemical, histological parameters and mechanism research. The results indicated that FA significantly decreased the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in CTX-injected mice. In addition, FA effectively reduced the total numbers of white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells, platelets, and hemoglobin content. FA also obviously attenuated the histological changes of the heart tissues caused by CTX. Moreover, Western blot demonstrated that FA inhibited the phosphorylations of NF-κB signaling pathway in CTX-stimulated cardiac tissues. In conclusion, FA might be considered as an effective agent in the amelioration of the heart toxicity resulting from CTX treatment.