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Background: Bletilla species are endangered terrestrial orchids used in natural skin care formulas in Asia for a long history. In order to explore the bioactivity potential of Bletilla species as a cosmetic ingredient in a sustainable resource manner, the callus of Bletilla formosana (Hayata) Schltr. was established and extracted by an eco-friendly supercritical fluid CO2 extraction (SFE-CO2) method. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity and antioxidation-related gene expression of the callus extract were evaluated in both Hs68 fibroblast cells and HaCaT keratinocytes. The melanogenesis-inhibitory effect was investigated in B16F10 melanoma cells and in an in vivo zebrafish model. Results: The calli of B. formosana were propagated for 10–15 generations with a consistent yellow friable appearance and then subjected to SFE-CO2 extraction to obtain a yellow pasty extract. Obvious intracellular ROS scavenging activity of the extract was detected in both Hs68 and HaCaT cells with 64.30 ± 8.27% and 32.50 ± 4.05% reduction at the concentration of 250 μg/mL. Moreover, marked expression levels of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and (NAD(P)H) quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) genes were detected after 6-h and 24-h treatments. These results indicate the cellular antioxidative activity of B. formosana callus extract was probably activated via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/HO-1 signaling pathway. Melanogenesis-inhibitory effect of the extract was observed in α-MSH stimuli-inducing B16F10 cells with 28.46% inhibition of intracellular melanin content at the concentration of 50 μg/ml. The effect was confirmed with in vivo zebrafish embryos that showed a relative pigmentation density of 80.27 ± 7.98% at the concentration of 100 μg/mL without toxicity. Conclusion: Our results shed light on a sustainable utilization of Bletilla species as a potential ingredient for skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptocurrencies represented by Bitcoin have fully demonstrated their advantages and great potential in payment and monetary systems during the last decade. The mining pool, which is considered the source of Bitcoin, is the cornerstone of market stability. The surveillance of the mining pool can help regulators effectively assess the overall health of Bitcoin and issues. However, the anonymity of mining-pool miners and the difficulty of analyzing large numbers of transactions limit in-depth analysis. It is also a challenge to achieve intuitive and comprehensive monitoring of multi-source heterogeneous data. In this study, we present SuPoolVisor, an interactive visual analytics system that supports surveillance of the mining pool and de-anonymization by visual reasoning. SuPoolVisor is divided into pool level and address level. At the pool level, we use a sorted stream graph to illustrate the evolution of computing power of pools over time, and glyphs are designed in two other views to demonstrate the influence scope of the mining pool and the migration of pool members. At the address level, we use a force-directed graph and a massive sequence view to present the dynamic address network in the mining pool. Particularly, these two views, together with the Radviz view, support an iterative visual reasoning process for de-anonymization of pool members and provide interactions for cross-view analysis and identity marking. Effectiveness and usability of SuPoolVisor are demonstrated using three cases, in which we cooperate closely with experts in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is uncertainty and limited knowledge regarding stand characteristics and soil properties of middle-aged pure forest plantations in the mountainous area of Western Sichuan. Plantation forests are almost exclusively planted as monocultures in the Pengzhou forest farm in the western mountainous area of Sichuan Province. This study aimed to assess the spatial and ecological characteristics of middle-aged Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. and Cryptomeria fortunei Hooibr. in the Pengzhou forest farm. The relationships and differences between stand growth characteristics and forest soil composition were assessed on the two forests planted simultaneously within the same area and exposed to the same environmental conditions. Cr. fortunei grew sparse, and slower than Cun. lanceolata. Principal component analysis indicated that the soil properties in the Cr. fortunei plantation were better than those in the Cun. lanceolata plantation. Redundancy analysis revealed that the differences in stand structure were affected significantly by the total nitrogen content and pH value. Thus, we propose that Cr. fortunei is planted for priority consideration in the subtropical high mountain area. Further, tending operations and application of fertilizers need to be conducted in Cun. lanceolata forests. Based on theoretical and experimental data, the present study explains why local farmers are more willing to plant Cr. fortunei, and thus provides a useful theoretical reference for the development of sustainable plantations in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korean Sewol is successfully lifted up with the strand jack system based on twin barges. During the salvage operation, two barges and Sewol encounter offshore environmental conditions of wave, current and wind. It is inevitable that the relative motions among the three bodies are coupled with the sling tensions, which may cause big dynamic loads for the lifting system. During the project engineering phase and the site operation, it is necessary to build up a simulation model that can precisely generate the coupled responses in order to define a suitable weather window and monitor risks for the salvage operation. A special method for calculating multibody coupled responses is introduced into Sewol salvage project. Each body’s hydrodynamic force and moment in multibody configuration is calculated in the way that one body is treated as freely moving in space, while other bodies are set as fixed globally. The hydrodynamic force and moment are then applied into a numerical simulation model with some calibration coefficients being inserted. These coefficients are calibrated with the model test results. The simulation model built up this way can predict coupled responses with the similar accuracy as the model test and full scale measurement, and particularly generate multibody shielding effects. Site measured responses and the responses only resulted from from the simulation keep project management simultaneously to judge risks of each salvage stage, which are important for success of Sewol salvage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combat system effectiveness simulation (CoSES) plays an irreplaceable role in the effectiveness measurement of combat systems. According to decades of research and practice, composable modeling and multi-domain modeling are recognized as two major modeling requirements in CoSES. Current effectiveness simulation researches attempt to cope with the structural and behavioral complexity of CoSES based on a unified technological space, and they are limited to their existing modeling paradigms and fail to meet these two requirements. In this work, we propose a model framework-based domain-specific composable modeling method to solve this problem. This method builds a common model framework using application invariant knowledge for CoSES, and designs domain-specific modeling infrastructures for subdomains as corresponding extension points of the framework to support the modeling of application variant knowledge. Therefore, this method supports domain-specific modeling in multiple subdomains and the composition of subsystem models across different subdomains based on the model framework. The case study shows that this method raises the modeling abstraction level, supports generative modeling, and promotes model reuse and composability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an oxygen-acetylene flame synthesis system was developed to fabricate nanocarbon-based nanofluids (NCBNFs) through a one-step synthesis method. Measured in liters per minute (LPM), the flame's fuel flows combined oxygen and acetylene at four ratios: 1.5/2.5 (P1), 1.0/2.5 (P2), 0.5/2.5 (P3), and 0/2.5 (P4). The flow rate of cooling water (base fluid) was fixed at 1.2 LPM to produce different nanocarbon-based materials (NCBMs) and various concentrations of NCBNFs. Tests and analyses were conducted for determining the morphology of NCBMs, NCBM material, optical characteristics, the production rate, suspension performance, average particle size, zeta potential, and other relevant basic characteristics of NCBNFs to understand the characteristics and materials of NCBNFs produced through different process parameters (P1-P4). The results revealed that the NCBMs mainly had flaky and spherical morphologies and the diameters of the spherical NCBMs measured approximately 20-30 nm. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the NCBMs contained graphene oxide (GO) and amorphous carbon (AC) when the oxygen flow rate was lower than 1.0 LPM. In addition, the NCBMs contained reduced GO, crystalline graphite (graphite-2H), and AC when the oxygen flow rate was higher than 1.0 LPM. The process parameters of P1, P2, P3, and P4 resulted in NCBMs produced at concentrations of 0.010, 0.013, 0.040, and 0.023 wt%, respectively, in NCBNFs. All the NCBNFs exhibited non-Newtonian and shear-thinning rheological properties. The P4 ratio showed the highest enhancement rate of thermal conductivity for NCBNFs, at a rate 4.85 % higher than that of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intestinal microbiotas are thought to be the most important source of maturational stimuli to the development of the immune system. However, few studies have focused on the development of T helper (Th) 1 immune response and antibody response to vaccinations in healthy infants, especially in a large cohort. Through this randomized, double-blind control trial, we investigated the effects of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 (BB536) supplementation on intestinal microbiota composition and the immune response in term infants. Methods: In total, 300 healthy newborns were recruited, randomized and fed formula either supplemented with BB536 or with no supplementation. Stool samples were analyzed at months 2, 4 and 11. The representative cytokine for Th1 [interferon- γ (IFN- γ)] and Th2 [interleukin-4 (IL-4)] secretion cells were measured using enzyme-linked immunospot assay at 4 and 7 months of age. The antibody response to vaccines was measured at months 7 and 11. Results: A total of 264 infants completed the study. The amount of bifidobacteria and the bifidobacteria/ Enterobacteriaceae ratio (B/E) were significantly higher in the BB536 supplementation group at months 2 and 4. The number of IFN- γ secretion cells and the ratio of IFN- γ/IL-4 secretion cells were increased in the BB536 supplementation group at 7 months. Moreover, the higher value of B/E in the early stages seems to be related to the increased Th1 response. No difference was observed between groups in the antibody response after vaccination. Conclusion: BB536 has positive effects on establishing a healthy intestinal microbiota early in life, and it also plays an important role in improving the Th1 immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulation of cardiac differentiation is critical for maintaining normal cardiac development and function. The precise mechanisms whereby cardiac differentiation is regulated remain uncertain. Here, we have identified a GATA-4 target, EGF, which is essential for cardiogenesis and regulates cardiac differentiation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, EGF demonstrates functional interaction with GATA-4 in inducing the cardiac differentiation of P19CL6 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Biochemically, GATA-4 forms a complex with STAT3 to bind to the EGF promoter in response to EGF stimulation and cooperatively activate the EGF promoter. Functionally, the cooperation during EGF activation results in the subsequent activation of cyclin D1 expression, which partly accounts for the lack of additional induction of cardiac differentiation by the GATA-4/STAT3 complex. Thus, we propose a model in which the regulatory cascade of cardiac differentiation involves GATA-4, EGF, and cyclin D1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power control for virtualized environments has gained much attention recently. One of the major challenges is keeping underlying infrastructure in reasonably low power states and achieving service-level objectives (SLOs) of upper applications as well. Existing solutions, however, cannot effectively tackle this problem for virtualized environments. In this paper, we propose an automated power control solution for such scenarios in hope of making some progress. The major advantage of our solution is being able to precisely control the CPU frequency levels of a physical environment and the CPU power allocations among virtual machines with respect to the SLOs of multiple applications. Based on control theory and online model estimation, our solution can adapt to the variations of application power demands. Additionally, our solution can simultaneously manage the CPU power control for all virtual machines according to their dependencies at either the application-level or the infrastructure-level. The experimental evaluation demonstrates that our solution outperforms three state-of-the-art methods in terms of achieving the application SLOs with low infrastructure power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent researches show that inter-session network coding could decrease the number of packets transmission and achieve higher throughput in wireless network compared with traditional forwarding mechanism. In most existing relay mechanisms based on inter-session network such as COPE, relay node demands to collect the messages from its neighbor nodes to get notice of which packets already overheard by them so as to determine whether there exists coding opportunity between or among forwarding packets. However, transmission overhead of this message collection and computing cost of opportunity determination will degrade the performance of these mechanisms. It is observed that coding opportunity at relay node is much more related with the local topology, and the opportunity of encoding three or more packets together is far less than that of encoding two packets together in wireless network with general density. Based on this, a new coding-aware routing mechanism, named TCAR, is proposed. TCAR ignores the opportunity of encoding three or more than three packets together. Each relay node maintains an encoding mapping table being established according to the result of its local topology detection, which can be used to calculate the path cost during routing setup phase, and determine that which two packets can be encoded together during the packets forwarding phase. In TCAR, instead of periodic messages collection, each relay nodes just need once local topology detection, and the encoding determination is much simpler than that of the former mechanisms. Simulation results show that compared with typical inter-session network coding mechanisms COPE and COPE-based routing, TCAR achieves 12% and 7% throughput gains, and keeps the minimum end to end delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:Potassium 2-(1-hydroxypentyl)-benzoate (dl-PHPB) is a new drug candidate for ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dl-PHPB on memory deficits and long-term potentiation (LTP) impairment in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.Methods:The expression of NMDA receptor subunits GluN1 and GluN2B in the hippocampus and cortex of APP/PS1 transgenic mice were detected using Western blot analysis. Memory deficits of the mice were evaluated with the passive avoidance test. LTP impairment was studied in the dentate region of Aβ1-42-injected rats and APP/PS1 transgenic mice.Results:APP/PS1 transgenic mice showed significantly lower levels of GluN1 and p-GluN2B in hippocampus, and chronic administration of dl-PHPB (100 mg·kg−1·d−1, po) reversed the downregulation of p-GluN2B, but did not change GluN1 level in the hippocampus. Furthermore, chronic administration of dl-PHPB reversed the memory deficits in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. In the dentate region of normal rats, injection of dl-PHPB (100 μmol/L, icv) did not change the basal synaptic transmission, but significantly enhanced the high-frequency stimulation (HFS)-induced LTP, which was completely prevented by pre-injection of APV (150 μmol/L, icv). Chronic administration of dl-PHPB (100 mg·kg−1·d−1, po) reversed LTP impairment in Aβ1-42-injected normal rats and APP/PS1 transgenic mice.Conclusion:Chronic administration of dl-PHPB improves learning and memory and promotes LTP in the animal models of Alzheimer's disease, possibly via increasing p-GluN2B expression in the hippocampus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and facile gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) fingerprint of Su-He-Xiang-Wan (SHXW) was developed, the similarity analysis was conducted, and attribution of the major characteristic peaks was identified for SHXW quality control. GC-MS analysis was performed on a QP2010 instrument (Shimadzu, Japan) equipped with a capillary column of RTX-5MS. The column temperature was initiated at 50 °C, held for 5 min, increased at the rate of 3 °C/min to 120 °C, held for 2 min, and then increased at the rate of 4 °C/min to 220 °C, held for 10 min. Helium carrier gas was used at a constant flow rate of 1.3 mL/min. Mass conditions were ionization voltage, 70 eV; injector temperature, 250 °C; ion source temperature, 250 °C; splitting ratio, 30:1; full scan mode in the 40-500 Da mass ranges with rate of 0.2 s per scan. Attribution of the major characteristic peaks was identified for SHXW by comparing the chemical standards, references of Chinese herbal medicines and the negative controls of prescription samples (NC) of SHXW. With the help of the temperature-programmed retention indices (PTRIs) used together with mass spectra and chemical standards, 25 major characteristic peaks have been identified. Nine volatile medicinal materials were identified in the prescription of SHXW by attributing to the 27 major characteristic peaks. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is a powerful approach to quality control of complex herbal medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:To investigate the reverse mode function of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 expressed in CHO cells as well as their modulations by PKC and PKA.Methods:CHO-K1 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1 (+) plasmid carrying cDNA of rat cardiac NCX1.1 and brain NCX1.5. The expression of NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 was examined using Western blot analysis. The intracellular Ca2+ level ([Ca2+]i) was measured using Ca2+ imaging. Whole-cell NCX currents were recorded using patch-clamp technique. Reverse mode NCX activity was elicited by perfusion with Na+-free medium. Ca2+ paradox was induced by Ca2+-free EBSS medium, followed by Ca2+-containing solution (1.8 or 3.8 mmol/L CaCl2).Results:The protein levels of NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 expressed in CHO cells had no significant difference. The reverse modes of NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 in CHO cells exhibited a transient increase of [Ca2+]i, which was followed by a Ca2+ level plateau at higher external Ca2+ concentrations. In contrast, the wild type CHO cells showed a steady increase of [Ca2+]i at higher external Ca2+ concentrations. The PKC activator PMA (0.3-10 μmol/L) and PKA activator 8-Br-cAMP (10-100 μmol/L) significantly enhanced the reverse mode activity of NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 in CHO cells. NCX1.1 was 2.4-fold more sensitive to PKC activation than NCX1.5, whereas the sensitivity of the two NCX isoforms to PKA activation had no difference. Both PKC- and PKA-enhanced NCX reverse mode activities in CHO cells were suppressed by NCX inhibitor KB-R7943 (30 μmol/L).Conclusion:Both NCX1.1 and NCX1.5 are functional in regulating and maintaining stable [Ca2+]i in CHO cells and differentially regulated by PKA and PKC. The two NCX isoforms might be useful drug targets for heart and brain protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision modeling is an essential part of the combat system effectiveness simulation (CoSES), which needs to cope with the cognitive quality, diversity, flexibility, and higher abstraction of decision making. In this paper, a multi-paradigm decision modeling framework is proposed to support decision modeling at three levels of abstraction based on domain-specific modeling (DSM). This framework designs a domain-specific modeling language (DSML) for decision modeling to raise the abstraction level of modeling, transforms the domain-specific models to formalism-based models to enable formal analysis and early verification and validation, and implements the semantics of the DSML based on a Python scripts framework which incorporates the decision model into the whole simulation system. The case study shows that the proposed approach incorporates domain expertise and facilitates domain modeler's participation in CoSES to formulate the problem using DSML in the problem domain, and enables formal analysis and automatic implementation of the decision model in the solution domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography-chemical vapour generation-atom fluorescent spectrometry (HPLC-CVG-AFS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination mercury species in Su-He-Xiang-Wan (SHXW) and in tissues of rats, respectively. The species of mercury were separated by a Venusil MP-C18 (5 μm, 150 mm×4.6 mm) column with the optimized mobile phase containing 5% (w/v) acetonitrile, 0.01 mol/L L-cysteine and 0.06 moL/L ammonium acetate. The tissues of rats were freeze-dried after giving the medicine for 10 d, and then added into the solution containing 10% (w/v) HCl, 1% (w/v) sulfocarbamide and 0.15% (w/v) KCl for increasing extraction rate. The resolutions of Hg, MeHg and EtHg were 1.5 and 2.9, respectively. The detection limits of Hg, MeHg and EtHg were 2.0, 1.0 and 0.9 ng/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of inter- and intra-day precisions ranged from 1.56% to 2.86%. The recovery rates of three different adding level were 87%-101% ( n=6), and the RSDs were smaller than 8.2%. The results show that no MeHg and EtHg were detected in rat tissues. Only soluble mercury (Hg) was determined for the mercury species of SHXW in rat tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive disorders after epilepsy can have a great impact on the quality of life of epileptic patients, though it has not drawn much attention. Even after identified, it is often undertreated or has gone untreated. Memantine has been approved to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer disease (AD), which is characterized by cognitive impairment. In present study, we determined the effects of memantine on PTZ-kindled rats, which can mimic the postseizure dysfunction that resembles symptoms observed in human epilepsy. We found that memantine can ameliorate the spatial learning and memory of epileptic rats. But contrary to previous claims that memantine can improve cognition in AD patients, without serious side effects on normal learning and memory abilities, we found that rats treated only with memantine exhibited the impaired spatial learning and memory ability. We conclude that memantine can improve cognition related to an excitotoxicity-induced pathologic state, but the potential side effects of memantine on the physiological processes should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased prevalence of visual impairments has been reported in preterm populations. However, it remains unclear about the long-term visual electrophysiological outcomes and their association with visual cognitive functions in premature infants. We investigated visual electrophysiological outcome of 2-year-old infants of different birth weights by flash visual evoked potentials (FVEPs) in order to explore the correlation between visual cognitive functions and FVEPs and to assess the application of FVEPs in evaluating the visual capability of an infant. The FVEPs of 77 infants, including 25 very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants, 16 low birth weight (LBW) premature infants and 36 full-term infants, were tested with a visual electrophysiological testing device. Neuromotor development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition (BSID-II). The visual cognitive functions were evaluated by scoring the proportion passed of 12 items chosen from the BSID-II for infants at 23 to 25 months of age. The second prominent positive wave (P2) was the major component presented in all three groups. The mean latency of P2 in the VLBW, LBW and full-term groups was 149.65±23.79 ms, 129.39±8.70 ms, and 126.14±7.73 ms respectively. There was no significant difference in mean latency of P2 wave between the LBW and full-term groups; the mean latency of the P2 wave in the VLBW group was delayed more significantly than those of the other two groups. The difference in amplitude of the P2 peak to the preceding N2 peak (N2P2) between the three groups was not statistically significant. The latency of the P2 main wave was negatively correlated with mental developmental index (MDI) (r’MDI = −0.35) and visual cognitive capability (r’visual capability = −0.21). The latency of the P2 main wave on FVEPs was delayed more significantly in premature infants than in full-term infants at 2 years of corrected age. The visual functional development was delayed in premature infants, especially in VLBW infants (gestational age 〈32 weeks). The FVEPs were reported low but there were statistically significant correlations between measures of visual cognition and P2 peak latency. As a noninvasive and convenient method, FVEPs are useful in assessing certain aspects of an infant’s visual development and visual function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we propose a novel three-dimensional conceptual model for an emerging service-oriented simulation paradigm. The model can be used as a guideline or an analytic means to find the potential and possible future directions of the current simulation frameworks. In particular, the model inspects the crossover between the disciplines of modeling and simulation, service-orientation, and software/systems engineering. Finally, two specific simulation frameworks are studied as examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new architecture for scalable anonymous communication system(SACS) was proposed. The users were divided into several subgroups managed by different sub-blenders, and all sub-blenders were managed by the main-blender using two layers management scheme. The identity information of members are distributed on different sub-blenders, which makes each member keep much less information and network overload greatly reduce. The anonymity and the overhead of the new scheme were analyzed and compared with that of Crowds, which shows the cost of storage and network overhead for the new scheme largely decreases while the anonymity is little degraded. The experiment results also show that the new system architecture is well scalable. The ratio of management cost of SACS to that of Crowds is about 1:25 while the value of P(IsvH1+) only increases by 0.001–0.020, which shows that SACS keeps almost the same anonymity with Crowds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]