Search

Abstract The nucleoside adenosine is a potent regulator of vascular homeostasis, but it remains unclear how expression or function of the adenosine‐metabolizing enzyme adenosine kinase (ADK) and the intracellular adenosine levels influence angiogenesis. We show here that hypoxia lowered the expression of ADK and increased the levels of intracellular adenosine in human endothelial cells. Knockdown (KD) of ADK elevated intracellular adenosine, promoted proliferation, migration, and angiogenic sprouting in human endothelial cells. Additionally, mice deficient in endothelial ADK displayed increased angiogenesis as evidenced by the rapid development of the retinal and hindbrain vasculature, increased healing of skin wounds, and prompt recovery of arterial blood flow in the ischemic hindlimb. Mechanistically, hypomethylation of the promoters of a series of pro‐angiogenic genes, especially for VEGFR2 in ADK KD cells, was demonstrated by the Infinium methylation assay. Methylation‐specific PCR, bisulfite sequencing, and methylated DNA immunoprecipitation further confirmed hypomethylation in the promoter region of VEGFR2 in ADK‐deficient endothelial cells. Accordingly, loss or inactivation of ADK increased VEGFR2 expression and signaling in endothelial cells. Based on these findings, we propose that ADK downregulation‐induced elevation of intracellular adenosine levels in endothelial cells in the setting of hypoxia is one of the crucial intrinsic mechanisms that promote angiogenesis.

With the rapid advancement of information technology, the integration and utilization of photoelectric sensor equipment within the realm of physical education are experiencing a notable increase, particularly in the environments of colleges and universities. The widespread adoption of wireless networking technologies has ushered in revolutionary opportunities for the transmission of data and for the real-time monitoring capabilities of photoelectric sensors. This study is aimed at investigating the practical applications of photoelectric sensor devices that employ dynamic adaptive cache technology in the context of physical education instruction at higher education institutions. Additionally, it seeks to assess the impact of these technologies on teaching effectiveness and the levels of student engagement. For the purposes of this research, a specific physical education course at a university has been chosen as the focal point of the study. Within this framework, photoelectric sensor equipment configured to operate over wireless networks has been deployed, and this setup is enhanced further through the incorporation of dynamic adaptive cache technology, which facilitates the efficient management and transmission of data. Throughout the course delivery, real-time monitoring of students’ athletic performance is conducted, allowing for the collection and analysis of relevant performance data. The findings of the experimental analysis reveal that the photoelectric sensor devices—operating over wireless networks—are highly effective in capturing data pertaining to students’ movements and athletic endeavors. This data is transmitted in real time thanks to the dynamic adaptive caching technology implemented in the system, thus significantly enhancing the interactive nature and immediacy of the teaching process. As a result, there has been a marked increase in both the participation levels and enthusiasm of students in their physical activities. Moreover, the overall effect of the teaching has seen significant improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. (Ranunculaceae) is a potential source of an important herbal drug named "Fuzi", which is derived from the lateral root of the plant. Increased therapeutic usage resulted in the great demand for artificial cultivation of A. carmichaeli, however, the obstacles caused by continuous cropping is a serious problem. Continuous cropping has shown to affect the soil biological and non-biological factors. The current study attempted to discover the variations of microbial communities and soil properties in short-term continuous cropping of A. carmichaeli. An experimental procedure with A. carmichaeli planted two years continuously was established. The variation of the soil microbial community, disease incidence, soil properties, and the correlation between soil microbe and disease incidence were investigated. The disease incidence increased during the continuous cropping of A. carmichaeli. The PCoA and LefSe results indicated that fungal communities in rhizosphere soil were altered during the short-term continuous croppingand the bacterial community was disturbed by the cultivation of A. carmichaeli, however, in the following two years of continuous cropping period, the soil bacterial community has not changed obviously. Proportions of some fungal and bacterial genera were varied significantly (p < 0.05), and some genera of microflora showed a significant correlation with adisease incidence of A. carmichaeli. Microorganisms contributing to community composition discrepancy were also elucidated. Continuous cropping of A. carmichaeli disturbed the rhizosphere soil microbial community and altered the soil chemical parameters and soil pH. These variations in soil may be related to the occurrence of plant diseases. The current study will not only provide theoretical and experimental evidence for the A. carmichaeli continuous cropping obstacles but will also contribute to A. carmichaeli agricultural production and soil improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocompatible Fe3O4/chitosan (CS)/poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)/gentamicin (Gent) magnetic nanoparticles, namely Fe3O4@PEG-Gent NPs, have been successfully developed for antibiotic delivery. In which, PEG dicarboxylic acid was used to modify Fe3O4 NPs for good dispersity as well as offer sufficient carboxyl groups as binding sites. And then the free Gent was facilely loaded onto Fe3O4 NPs so as to achieve powerful antibacterial activity via electrostatic interactions. Under acidic condition, the CS and PEG of Fe3O4@PEG-Gent were protonated to introduce the positive charge to NPs surface, thus facilitating the contact with negatively charged bacterial cell membrane. What is more, the stretches of CS chains triggered by acidic pH may prevent the antimicrobial efficiency of Gent from weakening. Compared with the free antibiotic, these nanocomposites presented better antimicrobial efficacy against gram-positive bacteria S. aureus under acidic condition. Intriguingly, the confocal laser scanning macroscopy imaging suggested that the anti-biofilm efficacy of nanocomposites was significantly enhanced in the presence of an external magnetic field. Due to the superparamagnetic performance of Fe3O4 NPs, these nanocomposites were allowed deeper penetration into a mature biofilm of S. aureus by magnetic field, leading to an effective Gent delivery for eradication of biofilm. The ingenious fabrication of the antibiotic delivery system not only efficiently improved the effectiveness and bioavailability of Gent at acidic media, but also provided an innovative platform to treat bacterial biofilms-associated infection by applying extra environmental factors such as magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent optimization algorithm (IOA) has been widely studied and applied to solve various optimization problems. When scholars improve IOA with mathematical methods, they also want to seek an effective method to implement algorithms with higher real time, especially for a complex problem. Parallel design is an effective method to improve the real time of IOA. Currently, the parallel programming based on open multi-processing (OpenMP) and compute unified device architecture (CUDA) are two popular methods. To find and develop a new IOA parallel method, in this paper, a parallel design and implementation method based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) is explored. In order to validate the proposed method, parallel genetic algorithm (GA) and parallel particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are realized by the proposed method. Furthermore, the performance and advantage of the proposed FPGA-based parallel IOA method are tested by comparing with OpenMP-based parallel programming and CUDA-based parallel programming, the final results show that the proposed method with highest real-time performance in IOA parallel implementation. A case study by using FPGA-based parallel simulate annealing (SA) to address job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) to illustrate the proposed method has high potential in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automated submerged arc welding (SAW) platform for welding of complex seams of large-size and thick-wall workpieces is introduced in this paper. The orthogonal intersection of a cylinder and a brunch pipe is taken as an example. The mathematical models of the weld trajectory in a dynamic coordinate system and in an absolute coordinate system are built respectively. A collaborative control algorithm and control strategy for the pose of the workpieces and the position of the welding torch is proposed based on coordinate transformation and discrete approximation theory. Closed form expressions of the control laws for the workpieces and the welding torch are worked out under the constraints of SAW process. The control effect of the algorithm is simulated and the approximation error is analyzed in MATLAB. Simulation results show that the approximation error of the proposed discrete control method and the tracing accuracy of the welding torch are satisfactory. The proposed welding platform provides a practical method for automated SAW process in intersection seam welding for large-size and thick-wall workpieces, in which stabilized welding quality, high efficiency, high productivity, and good production environment are promising. In the end, the application of cloud technology in the automated welding platform is also discussed, which can further improve the applicability and flexibility of the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

cDNA encoding translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) of Jatropha curcas L., JcTCTP, was isolated from an endosperm cDNA library. JcTCTP consisted of a 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of 526 bp, a 3′ UTR of 377 bp and an open reading frame (ORF) of 507 bp, encoding a protein of 168 amino acid residues, which contained two signature sequences of TCTP family. Its deduced amino acid sequence was similar to the other known plants TCTPs in a range of 77.4-92.3%. Expression of JcTCTP was the highest in the stem, endosperm at embryo formation stage and embryo of J. curcas tissues, and the lowest in the endosperm at seminal leaf embryo stage and flower, demonstrating a pattern of temporal and spatial specific expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image authentication is an important topic in image forensics, which tells whether an image is tampered or not or even tells the tampered regions. To implement image authentication, image hash techniques have been reported recently. In this paper, we investigate existing image hash algorithms, and design an novel image hash based on human being's visual system. In this algorithm, we capture the perceptual characters of the image using Gabor filter which can sense the directions in the image just like human's primary visual cortex. For a given image, we compute the reference scale, direction and block to make sure the final hash can resist against rotation, scale, and translation attacks while maintain the sensitivity to local malicious manipulations. In addition, it has another promising ability to locate the tampered image blocks, and approximately determining the type of tampering methods (delete, add, modify) and the original direction of each block. This ability is very useful in forensics. The experimental results show that the strategy of the reference metrics works quite well and our method is much more effective than the other state of art image hash methods. Moreover, our method can still locate the content-altering changes even undergo some content-preserving manipulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frego ( fg) bract is an important agronomic trait in tetraploid cotton, which has been widely introduced into several cotton varities or lines in the past several years. In order to help us further understand the underlying molecular mechanism of frego bract development, a map-base cloning strategy was used to localize the fg locus. An F population which comprised of 290 fg individuals derived from a cross of the multiple-marker line T582 ( G. hirsutum, carrying the fg gene) with Hai7124 ( G. barbadense) was constructed. Genetic linkage analysis was carried out to map of the fg locus with SSR and EST-SSR markers in tetraploid cotton. Genetic linkage analysis showed that the fg locus was flanked by the marker NAU3016 and NAU3172 on the long arm of chromosome 3, with the genetic distance of 0.3 cM and 4.7 cM, respectively. The information of fg locus provided the basic information for the final isolation of this important gene in tetraploid cotton, these marker information could be used in marker-assisted selection in cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO crystals with different morphologies have been synthesized by an organic solution method using Zn(CH3COO)2 · 2H2O and polyvinylpyrrolidone as precursors. X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transition electron microscopy were used to characterize the obtained samples. The results showed that novel petal-like ZnO particles could be obtained when the molar ratio of Zn2+/C = O was 1 : 4. The particle had uniform diameter in 200–300 nm and with good dispersibility. Otherwise, octahedron shaped particles with sub-crystalline were achieved when the molar ratio of Zn2+ to the carbonyl group of polyvinylpyrrolidone was 1 : 2 or 1 : 8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu3+ doped GdVO4 was successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. It was characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the GdVO4:Eu3+ was tetragonal (zircon-type structure). Photoluminescence spectra revealed that there was efficient energy transfer from the GdVO4 host to the Eu3+, and the GdVO4:Eu3+ crystal exhibited a strong red emission peaked at 616 nm due to the Eu3+ 5 D 0-7 F 2 transition. The hydrothermal route is proposed for synthesizing a red luminescent GdVO4:Eu3+ phosphor as an economical technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To determine the effect of luteinized unruptured follicle (LUF) cycles on frozen thawed embryo transfer (FET). Design A retrospective analysis comparing the clinical outcomes after FET among 144 cases of luteinized unruptured follicle (LUF) cycles and 866 cases of ovulation cycles. Setting Reproductive medical center, Beijing China. Patient(s) Chinese infertile women who underwent FET. Intervention(s) None. Main outcome measure(s) Clinical pregnancy rate (PR), implantation rate. Result(s) The implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, ongoing pregnancy rate and live birth rate in LUF group were 12.76% (49/384), 27.78% (40/144), 24.31% (35/144) and 19.44% (28/144), respectively, and in ovulation group, 14.74% (332/2251), 31.29% (271/866), 28.29% (245/866) and 22.23% (193/866), respectively (p>0.05). Conclusion(s) LUF does not affect the clinical outcomes of FET. Patients of LUF should be included in FET treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-crystalline indium oxide (In2O3) nanocubes were successfully prepared via dehydration of indium hydroxide (In(OH)3) nanocubes synthesized by a hydrothermal method. In situ x-ray diffraction patterns of the phase transition were obtained. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the morphology of the In2O3 nanocrystallites was the same as that of their precursors, In(OH)3 nanocrystallites. The reported method, the dehydration of In(OH)3 nanocrystallites prepared by a hydrothermal method, shows a simple and effective synthesis route for In2O3 nanostructured materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-crystalline indium oxide (In2O3) nanocubes were successfully prepared via dehydration of indium hydroxide (In(OH)3) nanocubes synthesized by a hydrothermal method. In situ x-ray diffraction patterns of the phase transition were obtained. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the morphology of the In2O3 nanocrystallites was the same as that of their precursors, In(OH)3 nanocrystallites. The reported method, the dehydration of In(OH)3 nanocrystallites prepared by a hydrothermal method, shows a simple and effective synthesis route for In2O3 nanostructured materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu3+ doped GdVO4 was successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. It was characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the GdVO4:Eu3+ was tetragonal (zircon-type structure). Photoluminescence spectra revealed that there was efficient energy transfer from the GdVO4 host to the Eu3+, and the GdVO4:Eu3+ crystal exhibited a strong red emission peaked at 616 nm due to the Eu3+ 5 D 0-7 F 2 transition. The hydrothermal route is proposed for synthesizing a red luminescent GdVO4:Eu3+ phosphor as an economical technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]