Search

n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) has been widely used in foods, and pharmaceutical products due to its beneficial effects. The content of n-3 PUFA in natural oils is usually low, which decreases its added value. Thus, there is an increasing demand on the market for n-3 PUFA concentrates. This review firstly introduces the differences in bioavailability and oxidative stability between different types of PUFA concentrate (free fatty acid, ethyl ester and acylglycerol), and then provides a comprehensive discussion of different methods for enrichment of lipids with n-3 PUFA including physical-chemical methods and enzymatic methods. Lipases used for catalyzing esterification, transesterification and hydrolysis reactions play an important role in the production of highly enriched various types of n-3 PUFA concentrates. Lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis or hydrolysis reactions are the mostly employed method to prepare high-quality n-3 PUFA of structural acylglycerols. Although many important advantages offered by lipases in enrichment of n-3 PUFA, the high cost of enzyme limits its industrial-scale production. Further research should focus on looking for biological enzymes with extraordinary catalytic ability and clear selectivity. Other novel technologies such as protein engineering and immobilization may be needed to modify lipases to improve its selectivity, catalytic ability and reuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone weakness causes many problems such as osteoporosis, bone fractures, and economic loss, especially at the late stage of lay, in laying hen production. However, the genetic factors and molecular mechanism affecting the bone strength is still largely unknown. To elucidate the molecular mechanism and genetic factors affecting bone strength, a total of six cDNA libraries were constructed and used to compare genetic differences between tibia with higher（Group HBS）and lower（Group LBS）breaking strength in Hyline grey layers. A comparison between Groups HBS and LBS revealed nine differentially expressed genes, of which five were upregulated and four were downregulated in the LBS relative to the HBS in tibia. Our results showed novel candidate genes concerned with bone strength in the late laying period. These include transcription factor paired box protein Pax-5 (Pax5), tissue inhibitor of Metallopoteinase-4 (TIMP4), Kelch-like protein 14 (KLHL14), predicted MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 isoform X4 (MPP7) and Osteoclast-associated Ig-like receptor (OSCAR). Our data provide a vital resource for discovering important candidate genes associated with bone strength and will help further study the molecular mechanisms for bone remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the output torque of an in-plane bending mode traveling wave rotary ultrasonic motor, a double-sided tapered teeth traveling wave rotary ultrasonic motor was proposed. The motor is designed with three types of adaptive rotors that can be used for replacement in different output environments. Simulation analysis was conducted using ANSYS, and prototype production and experimental testing were conducted. The experimental results show that when the excitation voltage is 300 V and the excitation frequency is 22.665 kHz, the maximum output torque that the motor provide is 3.087 N·mm, and the maximum no-load speed is 295 rpm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new type of circular ring traveling wave linear ultrasonic motor with incomplete teeth. The motor's movable slider is pressed against the end face of the tooth structure on the outer surface of the circular ring vibrator under a certain pre-pressure, four piezoelectric ceramic plates are evenly distributed at 90° intervals on the inner side of the circular structure, and four sets of driving teeth are arranged at 45° intervals from the position of the piezoelectric ceramic plates.When the motor is in operation, only one driving tooth works, and the life of the ultrasonic motor can be increased by rotating the different working teeth. The motor operates in two in-plane third-order bending modes that are orthogonal to each other at the same frequency. The dynamic design and simulation of the vibrator was carried out using ANSYS finite element software to analyze the effect of the structure on the mode. The principle prototype was fabricated, and the operating mode of the vibrator was measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), and the vibration characteristics and output performance of the prototype were tested. Experimental results show that the motor runs smoothly at the excitation voltage of 240 V peak-to-peak, the excitation frequency of 30.459 kHz and the pre-pressure of 0.6 N, with the maximum output force of 90 mN and the motor no-load speed of 102 mm/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the constraints of control inputs, which is important to system performance, but rarely noticed. To deal with the constraints in practical situations, a new approach is proposed based on using diffeomorphism, which is the first introduced. Based on this transformation, the control input can be regarded as a function of an auxiliary variable. As a result, the value of control input is limited to a prescribed bound by choosing the proper bounded function. That is, it provides a new aspect to deal with the inequality control input constraints. The range of the input bounds is related to the uncertainties and can be designed according to the actual situation. This novel control is proven to guarantee uniform boundedness and uniform ultimate boundedness. In the simulation, we show this control renders a superior performance at a lower control cost, comparing with the LQR control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of biochar provide a novel approach against organic contaminated soil issues. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of biochars amendment on flumioxazin degradation using batch experiments. A simple and accurate pretreatment method coupled with liquid chromatography tandem with mass spectrometry was developed and successfully applied on the assessment trials of the effect of biochar amendment on the degradation of flumioxazin in soil. Three different types of biochar were characterized in terms of the degradation of flumioxazin in soil. The results demonstrated that flumioxazin degraded fast in four nonbiochar soil sample (half-lives of 11.1–20.8 days) but slower in biochar soils (half-lives of 15.4–30.7 days), and the effect varied with the nature of feedstock and pyrolysis temperature. Biochars prepared at 500°C (CB500 and RB500) could remove flumioxazin more effectively than the biochar prepared at 700°C (BB700). In addition, biochar content also affected the remediation. When the biochar content changed, the degradation rate of flumioxazin varied significantly. The degradation of flumioxazin was faster in soil samples with 0.5% cornstalk biochar than those in nonbiochar soil samples. As the biochar content increased, the degradation rate decreased because of the dominant adsorption efficiency. The results in this study support the environmental risk assessment of flumioxazin in soil and provide some guidance for biochar amendment in soil contaminated with flumioxazin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the problem of the diffusion event-triggered sequential asynchronous state estimation for the stochastic multiplicative noise systems. In this paper, we propose a diffusion sequential asynchronous state estimation algorithm for each node to obtain the final estimate. In order to ease the communication burden of the system, we propose a two-stage event-triggered mechanism to avoid the unnecessary information transmissions, and the corresponding state estimation algorithm is derived. The sufficient conditions to guarantee the boundedness of the estimation error of the proposed algorithm are established. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified through its application to a target tracking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a novel trajectory tracking control for uncertain mechanical systems. We reformulate the trajectory tracking control as a constraint-following problem. A new set of servo constraints are constructed to fulfill the requirement of trajectory tracking. By the advantage of the second-order form of constraints, the constraint forces required in the constraint-following are derived in an explicit form. The uncertainty considered in the mechanical system is time-varying and bounded. But the bound is unknown. An adaptation mechanism with leakage and dead-zone is designed. Based on the adaptation, a new class of robust control is proposed. The performance of the resulting controlled system, including uniform boundedness and uniform ultimate boundedness, is guaranteed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFor many crystal-based products (e.g., pharmaceuticals, energy storage), the size uniformity is not only a key quality attribute, but sometimes also an indicator of other attributes such as solid purity. This paper proposes a sequential selection approach to find a proper experimental setting that leads to high uniformity, or equivalently, small variance for crystal sizes, from the advanced slug flow reaction crystallization process of a model crystal, called manganese oxalate hydrate. The proposed sequential selection approach contains a Bayesian adaptive method to incorporate new uniformity measurements in each step and two design acquisition functions to improve the selection of the most promising experimental setting in terms of minimizing the variance. We study the performance of the proposed approach through multiple synthetic numerical studies, as well as a case study based on data from slug flow crystallization experiments. Throughout these studies, the proposed approach shows competitive performance in identifying the best experimental setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel fuzzy dynamical system approach to the control design of flexible joint manipulators with mismatched uncertainty is proposed. Uncertainties of the system are assumed to lie within prescribed fuzzy sets. The desired system performance includes a deterministic phase and a fuzzy phase. First, by creatively implanting a fictitious control, a robust control scheme is constructed to render the system uniformly bounded and uniformly ultimately bounded. Both the manipulator modelling and control scheme are deterministic and not IF-THEN heuristic rules-based. Next, a fuzzy-based performance index is proposed. An optimal design problem for a control design parameter is formulated as a constrained optimisation problem. The global solution to this problem can be obtained from solving two quartic equations. The fuzzy dynamical system approach is systematic and is able to assure the deterministic performance as well as to minimise the fuzzy performance index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural changes of proteins in fresh noodles during mixing, resting, sheeting, and cooking were investigated. The protein structural changes were evaluated by measuring the protein content, molecular weight, thiol and disulfide contents, secondary structure, thermal properties, microstructure, and mean particle size. The protein content was not significantly changed during fresh noodle processing. The wheat protein molecular weight decreased from 66.2 to 22.0 kDa during the cooking process. The disulfide content increased during the mixing and cooking processes. Additionally, the cooking process caused an increase in the number of gluten protein absorption peaks in the FTIR analysis. The secondary structure was mainly composed of β-sheets, and their proportion decreased in the cooking process. Gluten proteins were demonstrated to have high thermal stability with an average denaturation temperature of 84.9°C. There was a significant relationship between the gluten protein properties and fresh noodle processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intradiploic epidermoid cysts are uncommon in the orbital walls and typically present with chronic headaches. We present the unusual presentation of a 46-year-old man where a long-standing intradiploic mass of the orbital roof led to acute onset of pain and mechanical ptosis. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradiploic cystic mass within the orbital roof. The cystic mass was extirpated and histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of an epidermoid cyst. This case illustrates the potential of long-standing intradiploic epidermoid cysts in producing an acute presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, biodegradable and biocompatible zein films were prepared by electrophoretic deposition using indium tin oxide electrodes with two different modes: vertical and horizontal electric fields. The effects of the different mode of the electric field in the presence of ethanol on mechanical, hydrophobicity, water resistance properties, microstructures, and thermal stability of zein films were investigated. The results indicated that the physiochemical properties (tensile strength, hydrophobicity, water vapor permeability, water absorption, and thermal stability) of zein films prepared from the vertical electric field were superior to those of zein film produced from the horizontal electric field and the control. The results of scanning electron microscope demonstrated the presence of the compact and homogenous structures of zein films manufactured in electric fields. In summary, the knowledge achieved from this study could facilitate to prepare the zein-based films using a readily and scale-up method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We demonstrate a simple temperature sensor based on an optical microfiber coil resonator which is wrapped on a PMMA rod and embedded in Teflon. The microfiber is thick, strong and easy to be handled, which is 4~5 μm in diameter and more than 1 cm in waist region length. The PMMA rod has a diameter of ~2 mm. The temperature sensitivity is ~80 pm/°C thanks to the large thermal expansion coefficient of PMMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme to generate theN-atom singlet state via adiabatic passage of a dark state in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) system. Appropriate Rabi frequencies of the classical fields are selected to realize the present scheme. We discuss the influence of decoherence induced by cavity decay and atomic spontaneous emission by numerical calculation. The result shows that the scheme is insensitive to atomic spontaneous emission as the atomic excited state is hardly populated in adiabatic evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an efficient scheme for deterministic generating-atom Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states in separate coupled cavities connected by optical fibers based on quantum Zeno dynamics only by one-step manipulation. Firstly, we discuss the generation of three-atom GHZ states in separate cavities. Then, the scheme is directly generalized to-atom case without increasing new operations in experiment. The influence of decoherence induced by atomic spontaneous emission and the fibers and cavities losses is discussed by numerical calculation. The results show that the scheme is insensitive to the optical fibers decay due to a tiny excitation probability of the optical fibers during the operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of aromatic polysulfonamides with various monomer ratios of 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulfone (p-DDS) and 3,3′-diaminodiphenylsulfone (m-DDS) were synthesized to investigate the relationship between copolymer composition and their properties. The copolymer composition was determined from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It was found that the copolymer composition of the polysulfonamides varied little from the monomer ratio; thus, similar reactivity of the two diaminodiphenylsulfones was shown by the results. From the analysis of the thermal properties of the polysulfonamides, high thermal stability of the copolymers was shown both in N2 and air and the decomposition temperature exhibited little dependence on the copolymer composition. However, the glass transition temperatures (Tg ) decreased obviously with increasing m-DDS segments, which is helpful to improve the solubility and spinnability of these polysulfonamides. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper shows that Bayesian estimation and comparison of multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (MGARCH) and multivariate stochastic volatility (MSV) models with Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods could be straightforwardly and successfully conducted in WinBUGS package. And an algorithm based on the Cholesky decomposition is proposed to set as a prior for a correlation matrix. They are illustrated by applying three types of parsimonious MGARCH and MSV specifications nested in constant conditional correlations to weekly returns of five sector indexes of Shanghai Stock Exchange over the period of 28 June 2004 to 30 June 2008. Empirical results provide evidence for the superior performance of MSV models over MGARCH models and give support to the feasibility of the algorithm we presented. In addition, the estimation results also suggest the significant negative correlation between the persistency and the variability of volatilities in MSV models. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Quantum dots have been used for the detection of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), one of chief inhibitory neurotransmitters. Quantum dots (QDs) with carboxyl functional group have been covalently bonded to goat anti-rabbit IgG labeled with Alexa Fluor, and their fluorescence spectra change has been studied. By addition of Alexa Fluor, immunocomplex was formed and the local distance between QD and Alexa Fluor became closer and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process from QDs to dyes could be observed. The FRET efficiency was obtained based on their spectra intensity ratio, and this was further confirmed by the lifetime measurement. By addition of rabbit polyclonal with GABA, the FRET efficiency was decreased which means the local distance between QDs and Alexa Flour was increased. The dependence of FRET efficiency on GABA concentration shows that QDs combined with fluorescent dyes can be used for the detection of neurotransmitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of malignant tumor in the periocular region. BCCs with neuroendocrine differentiation in the periocular region, however, have not been described in the literature. We present a retrospective case review of a patient with an eyelid BCC with neuroendocrine differentiation. Demographical, clinical, radiological, surgical, histological, and follow-up data are presented. The patient presented with a slow-growing lesion of the eyelid with associated epiphora and dull ache. Initial incisional biopsy of the lesion revealed an infiltrating carcinoma composed of epithelial cells. Immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor was positive for p40, Ber-Ep4, neuron specific enolase (NSE), chromogranin A, CD56 (NCAM), and synaptophysin. The pathology from the margin-controlled excision showed basosquamous cell carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation. Tumor recurrence was not detected clinically at the post-operative six-month review. BCC with neuroendocrine marker positivity represents an important diagnostic differential for rare eyelid carcinomas such as primary cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma and metastatic small cell carcinoma that have a poor prognosis. The prognostic importance of neuroendocrine marker positivity in BCCs is uncertain. The present case provides further evidence for neuroendocrine differentiation in BCCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical manifestations of Clostridioides difficile infections range from diarrhoea to pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) and death. We evaluated the association between gene content in C. difficile clinical isolates and disease severity. Fifty-three C. difficile isolates were subjected to Sanger sequencing, clinical data were used to analyse the association of gene content with disease severity, and 83 non-duplicate isolates were collected to confirm the results. Virulence was further examined by functional in vitro and in vivo experiments. Among the 53 C. difficile isolates, ribotypes 017 (n = 9, 17.0%) and 012 (n = 8, 15.1%) were predominant. Fifteen strains exhibited a correlation between mutations of pathogenicity locus genes (tcdB, tcdC, tcdR, and tcdE) and were named linked-mutation strains. Ribotypes are not associated with clinical PMC and Linked-mutation strains. The proportion of patients with PMC was higher in the group infected with linked-mutation strains than in the non-linked-mutation group (57.14% vs. 0%, p < 0.001). The linked-mutation rate of C. difficile was higher in patients with PMC than in patients without PMC (89.47% vs. 7.8%, p < 0.0001). Linked-mutation strains showed greater cytotoxicity in vitro and caused more severe tissue damage in a mouse model. Linked-mutation strains are associated with high virulence and PMC development. This result will help monitor the clinical prognosis of C. difficile infection and provide key insights for developing therapeutic targets and monoclonal antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waveform relaxation method at the PDE level can simplify the original differential system by several decoupling approaches, which is very useful for the iterative solution of nonlinear differential equations. In this paper, the convergence of waveform relaxation method at the PDE level for quasilinear equations is analysed for the first time. We mainly consider a class of general quasilinear parabolic equations both in divergence form and in non-divergence form. Some superlinear and linear convergence results under several convergence conditions for these quasilinear equations are given, and numerical experiments illustrated these superlinear or linear convergence rates, which claim that waveform relaxation method is available as an iterative framework for nonlinear problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidation reaction is the typical thermal runaway reaction, and the reaction of 1, 4-dioldiacetate-2-Butene oxidized by ozone was investigated in this study. Firstly, the thermal hazards of the oxidative exothermic reactions were identified and evaluated combined process risk assessment method. The Qualitative Assessment for Inherently Safer Design (QAISD) was used to identify the risk of the reaction process. Meanwhile, the Reaction Calorimeter (RC1e) was used to obtain the thermal properties of the oxidation reaction. Then the inherent safer designs (ISD) were proposed according to the risk assessment results to increase the level of safety of chemical industry technique. 1) ISD I: reaction temperature was improved to –5 °C, and ventilation rate was improved to 200 L•h−1. 2) ISDII: using a tubular reactor as reaction vessel. The results indicated that the severity of the reaction hazard was reduced by 43%, and safety was improved significantly via two ISDs. Moreover, the inherent safety level of the reaction was increased by 63% and 43.4% via ISD Iand II, respectively. The reaction process get closer to inherent safety theories of "minimize," "substitute," and "moderate". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Gender minority (GM) students are at high risk for substance use and depression. This study explores the role of protective factors in reducing rates of substance use and depression based on high school surveys. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between exposures and outcomes. Youth completed surveys in 2018 (n = 16,288) and in 2021 (n = 10,792). GM students reported exposure to protective factors less frequently than their cisgender peers: good financial status (88.6% vs. 96.5% in 2018 and 95% vs. 97.8% in 2021), feeling a sense of school/community membership, (mean score 2.7 vs. 3.0 in 2018 and 2.6 vs. 3.0 in 2021) or having two or more caring adults in their life (61.5% vs. 79.7% in 2018 and 64.2% vs. 80.6% in 2021). GM youth experienced risk factors more often than their peers including bias-based bullying (mean score: 0.6 vs. 0.2 in 2018, 0.5 vs. 0.2 in 2021); peer victimization (0.5 vs. 0.2 in 2018, 0.3 vs. 0.1 in 2021), and homelessness/foster care exposure (32.8% vs. 10.8% in 2018 and 15.8% vs. 6.6% in 2021). Several factors mitigated depression and substance use among GM students. GM youth experienced these protective factors less frequently than their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1) is over-expressed in tumour cells where it mediates the uptake of drug payload of reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rHDL) via the process of reverse cholesterol transport. In this study, rHDL was prepared to determine its function as a drug delivery carrier for targeting hepatocellular carcinoma by incorporating the anti-tumour drug garcinia glycosides (GG) into rHDL to yield rHDL/GG nano-complexes. Structural analysis indicated that the rHDL/GG nano-complex was similar to HDL in size. HepG2 cells treated with fluorescent-labelled rHDL/GG exhibited a time-dependent increase in cell death. Further experiment in which HepG2 cells were treated with rHDL/GG plus plasma-derived HDL showed reduction in cell death compared to treatment with rHDL/GG alone, suggesting that plasma-derived HDL compete with rHDL/GG for binding to the SR-B1 on the cell. We concluded that rHDL could not only incorporate GG but could also serve as a carrier, targeting the drug to HepG2 cells via SR-B1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Ectopic mediastinal parathyroid glands are parathyroid glands located completely below the clavicle. At present, most literature reports on ectopic mediastinal parathyroid tumors (EMPT) are case reports or small case sequences. Methods. This study conducted a retrospective analysis of ectopic mediastinal parathyroid tumors cases treated over the past 23 years, summarizing and analyzing general conditions, preoperative positioning, postoperative pathology, intraoperative conditions, and long-term follow-up results. Results. This study enrolled 28 patients. Among them, 27 patients underwent preoperative localization diagnosis using 99mTc-sestamibi scan (MIBI) in conjunction with chest computed tomography (CT), including 26 cases of the anterior superior mediastinum and 2 cases of middle mediastinum. Postoperative pathology revealed 23 cases of parathyroid adenoma, 4 cases of parathyroid hyperplasia, and 1 case of parathyroid cyst. In this study, 12 patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and thoracotomy approaches. Using Mann-Whitney U test, we discovered that VATS approach group is significantly superior in surgical time (P = 0.039) and intraoperative bleeding (P < 0.001). Within one week of surgery, 26 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) experienced a significant decrease in blood parathyroid hormone (PTH) (P < 0.001) and blood calcium (P < 0.001), and all achieved long-term remission. Conclusions. EMPT is most frequently performed in the anterior superior mediastinum. EMPT is predominantly parathyroid tumors, and most of them are associated with PHPT. MIBI and chest CT combination can be used for preoperative lesion localization (positive rate 96.15%). VATS can be used as a better surgical approach. PHPT patients before surgery can achieve long-term symptom relief with surgical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the shortcuts to adiabatic passage, we propose a scheme for directly implementing a controlled-not (CNOT) gate in a cavity quantum electrodynamics system. Moreover, we generalize the scheme to realize a CNOT gate in two separate cavities connected by an optical fiber. The strictly numerical simulation shows that the schemes are fast and insensitive to the decoherence caused by atomic spontaneous emission and photon leakage. In addition, the schemes can provide a theoretical basis for the manipulation of the multiqubit quantum gates in distant nodes of a quantum network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research shows that parents' phubbing has negative impacts on children's well-being. The aim of our study was to explore the relationship between father phubbing (FPh) and adolescents' depressive symptoms, the mediating and moderating mechanisms in this relationship. That is, whether FPh would be positively related to adolescents' depressive symptoms, whether perceived father acceptance (PFA) would be a mediator between the relationship of FPh and adolescents' depressive symptoms, and whether adolescent resilience would be a moderator in the pathways of FPh on adolescents' depressive symptoms. In this study, 3,770 Chinese adolescents (M = 16.44 years, SD = 0.78) were surveyed about their demographics, FPh, depressive symptoms, PFA, and resilience through questionnaires. After controlling for demographic information, the results showed that (1) FPh was positively correlated with depressive symptoms; (2) PFA was a mediator between FPh and adolescents' depressive symptoms; (3) resilience moderated the two indirect paths that the relationships between FPh and PFA and the relationship between PFA and adolescents' depressive symptoms. Our study shows that FPh is positively correlated with adolescents' depressive symptoms, which is of great significance to the theoretical construction and intervention of adolescents' depressive symptoms in this digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Zn(II) compound, namely [Zn(btec)0.5(bpe)0.5(DMF)]n(1 H4btec = 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid, bpe = 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene, DMF = N,N’-dimethylformamide), has been solvothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound1features a complicated three-dimensional (3D) framework with (3,4)-connected fsh topology. Moreover, this compound emits strong luminescence at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of flame speed and explosion pressure on the flamequenching performance of an in-line crimped-ribbon flame arrester was investigated using propane, ethylene, and hydrogen/air mixtures. The results show that the in-line arrester successfully stopped flames moving at high speeds and generating low explosion pressures, independently of pipe length and ignition distances, but failed for flames moving at low speeds and generating high explosion pressures. This indicates that both flame speed and explosion pressure are key parameters to evaluate the efficiency of an in-line flame arrester. Thus, the effect of increased pressure should be considered when the maximum flameproof speed by a given crimped-ribbon arrester is obtained. Furthermore, the relationship between the flameproof speed and explosion pressure is presented, based on the physical model of heat conduction, which is proved by experiments and provides more accurate reference for design and selection of crimped-ribbon flame arrester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identified clinical characteristics of 30 pulmonary metastasis (PM) patients and 29 second primary lung cancer (SPLC) patients with feature of solitary pulmonary mass (SPM) after radical treatment of prior cancers. 6.7% and 44.8% patients presented with centrally located SPM and the median event-free durations were 33 and 72 months in PM and SPLC groups, respectively. PM was more likely to be found in prior cancers with stage III. In conclusion, the location of SPM, the event-free duration and the prior tumor staging were important features for differentiating SPLC from PM among patients with SPM after prior cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely information on lake ice cover conditions is critical in support of commercial shipping, winter-road transportation, and winter leisure activities such as snowmobiling and ice fishing. Monitoring of lake ice extent and ice phenology (i.e. dates associated with freeze-up/break-up and ice duration) is also valuable for improving numerical weather prediction (NWP) and for climate monitoring. The availability of free synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 A/B constellation provides an unprecedented opportunity to develop operational algorithms for lake ice cover mapping at a temporal frequency not available until now from SAR missions (ca. every 1–5 days depending on latitude). For NWP, rapid and accurate mapping of ice cover and open water areas in lake-rich regions is required. However, the classification of SAR imagery using traditional machine learning (ML) approaches is challenging due to the large data volume generated by imaging systems such as Sentinel-1 SAR as well as the complexity of radar signatures as a function of sensor and target characteristics. For lakes specifically, radar backscatter can vary greatly with incidence angle, polarization and surface properties (e.g. calm and wind-roughed open water, new thin ice, surface roughness due to the presence of pressure ridges, ice type, melting of ice and on-ice snow). To address the challenge of large-scale lake ice mapping, we investigate the GPU-boosted deep neural network approach that is efficient at handling big complex data. In this paper, we design a novel maximum a posterior (MAP) approach combining a convolutional neural network (CNN) and conditional random field (CRF) for better addressing the challenges of operational lake ice mapping. The proposed approach is tested on 17 Sentinel-1 dual-polarization (VV and VH) SAR images, where eight are used for training and validation and nine used for out-of-sample testing. To identify the optimal network architecture, an independent validation set is used to evaluate the performance of a series of six CNNs with increasing model complexity. The best model overcomes the noise effect in Sentinel-1 SAR imagery and the lake ice signature ambiguity issue; it achieves average classification accuracies of 97.10% and 97.14% for open water and ice, respectively, on the validation set. Moreover, the best model outperforms the last-ranked model by about 2% in terms of mean overall accuracy (OA), demonstrating the improvement and importance of model selection. The use of CRF can consistently improve the CNN by reducing the artefacts and noise effect in ice maps, outperforming the CNN model when used alone by about 3% in terms of mean OA on the validation set. The proposed CNN-CRF approach also achieves high accuracy on the nine test scenes, achieving a mean OA of 93.10%, demonstrating strong generalization capability that is important for SAR lake ice mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (S. suis 2) is an important ubiquitous zoonotic pathogen. To date, regulatory factors and their implication in S. suis pathogenesis are not fully understood. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) have been proven to function as important regulatory factors in bacterial pathogenesis and stress adaptation. Here, we identified a differentially downregulated S. suis 05ZYH33 sRNA after iron starvation by RNA-seq, which we named sRNA23. The presence of sRNA23 was further confirmed by RACE and Northern blot. Expression of sRNA23 was significantly altered under different environmental stresses such as nutritional starvation, osmotic pressure, oxidative stress, and lysozymal exposure. A sRNA23-deleted mutant exhibited relatively shorter streptococcal chains and weakened biofilm-forming ability. The mutation also resulted in decreased adherence of the S. suis 05ZYH33 to human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma (HEp-2) cells, increased sensitivity to phagocytosis by RAW264.7 macrophages, and significantly reduced hemolytic activity. Furthermore, we observed that a sRNA23-deleted mutant had a low survival rate in pig whole blood and attenuated virulence in a mouse model. Moreover, based on RNA pull-down and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we found that sRNA23 can directly bind to two proteins involved in adhesion and biofilm formation, namely, moonlighting protein FBA (fructose diphosphate aldolase) and rplB (50S ribosomal protein L2), respectively. Collectively, sRNA23 enhances S. suis 2 pathogenicity and the binding between sRNA23 and FBA/rplB might play an essential role in the adherence and biofilm-forming ability of S. suis 2. sRNA: small noncoding RNA; FBA: fructose diphosphate aldolase; rplB: 50S ribosomal protein L2; RACE: rapid amplification of cDNA ends; EMSA: electrophoretic mobility shift assay; THB: Todd-Hewitt broth; FBS: fetal bovine serum; BIP: 2,2ʹ-Bipyridine [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored variables associated with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) including symptom burden, impact on daily life and work, obstacles during therapy, satisfaction level with therapy, and health-related quality of life in 1500 respondents with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) including essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV) and myelofibrosis (MF) in a multicenter, cross-sectional study across China, a representative of the developing countries. In multivariate analyses, urban household registration and higher education level were significantly-associated with no symptoms at diagnosis in respondents with ET or MF. CALR mutation was significantly-associated with lower MPN-10 scores in respondents with MF. Higher MPN-10 scores were significantly-associated with negative impact on daily life and work as well as lower satisfaction level in respondents with ET, PV and MF. Receiving ruxolitinib was significantly-associated with high satisfaction and satisfaction in respondents with MF. In addition, other demographics and clinical variables were also impacting PROs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we designed a rhombic electroosmotic micromixer (REM). REM uses the principles of convergence and divergence in combination with microelectrodes to improve mixing efficiency. We improved the mixing efficiency by changing the rhombic angle and the combination of different rhombic elements. Then, the effects of electrode voltage, electrode configuration, Reynolds number, and AC frequency on the mixing performance were studied. The results show that the mixing efficiency of REM can exceed 99% when an asymmetric potential difference is applied in the channel, the AC voltage is 10 V and the electroosmotic micromixer has two sets of rhombic units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve dihydrostilbenes (including five new analogues) were prepared by the Witting-Hornor reaction from appropriate aromatic aldehydes and phosphonate esters, followed by hydrogenation in five steps. The in vitro inhibition activity against human neutrophil elastase (HNE) of these dihydrostilbenes was evaluated, and three 1,2-dihydroxylated dihydrostilbenes (6b, 6j, and 6l) exhibited stronger inhibitory activity against HNE than other analogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate and simple analytical approach for the determination of residues cinerin I, cinerin II, jasmolin I, jasmolin II, pyrethrin I and pyrethrin II (six active ingredients of pyrethrins) in fresh and dried goji berries was developed and validated for analysis by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Good linearity (determination coefficient >0.99), accuracy (average recoveries of 88.3%–111.5%) and precision (intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations of 0.4%–8.3%) were obtained with the optimised determination method. The LODs and LOQs of the six analytes in two goji matrices were 0.24–2.1 µg/kg and 0.8–7 µg/kg, respectively. In a field trial, the terminal residual levels of pyrethrins (the sum of the concentrations of the six target analytes) in fresh and dried goji berry samples were <20–304 µg/kg at harvest, which could provide some information for the establishment of a maximum residue limit of pyrethrins on goji berries in China. Moreover, the risk assessment results indicated that because the risk quotient values were ≪100%, the potential dietary risk of pyrethrins on goji berries could be negligible for Chinese consumers. These detection and field results could provide some supporting data for the determination of pyrethrin residues in other crops and the proper application and safety assessment of pyrethrins in goji plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate predictions of decaying swirling flow behavior in the multi-lobed swirl generator (MLSG) are essential for certain engineering applications. In this study, decaying swirling flow characteristics in an MLSG are examined using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique with a Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM). The effects of different lobe numbers (n) and pitch length ratios (P/D) on swirl intensity, pressure drop, friction factor coefficient, and decay rate are observed with Reynolds number from 50,000 to 125,000. Combined with the pressure loss, the efficiency of swirl induction is evaluated by introducing a swirl effectiveness (SE) evaluation criterion. The initial swirl intensity is shown to first increases and then decreases as lobe number increases. The maximum value is obtained at lobe number n = 4. The pitch length ratios P/D corresponding to the optimal SE value obtained from different lobe also differ. The optimal SE value is achieved at n = 4 and P/D = 8. The friction factor ratio fs/fp decreases as pitch length ratio increases, but the decreasing trend decelerates over time. Correlations based on the numerical predictions of friction factor ratio fs/fp and decay rate β are presented accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound 2-[2-(2-fluorobenzylidene)hydrazinyl]-4-(1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl) thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidine (C22H16FN5S) was prepared and its structure was confirmed by IR, 1H NMR, MS, elemental analyses and X-ray diffraction. The crystal of the title compound belongs to the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 14.4546(17) Å, b = 17.0895(19) Å, c = 17.9621(15) Å, α = 90°, β = 122.717(6), γ = 90°, V = 3733.1(7) Å3, Z = 4, and R = 0.0412 for 4816 observed reflections with I > 2σ(I). In addition, the compound possesses distinct effective inhibition on the proliferation of HT-29, A549 and MKN45 cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new 3,4,6-trisubstituted α-pyrone derivatives, namely 6-(2′R-hydroxy-3′E,5′E-diene-1′-heptyl)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (1), 6-(2′S-hydroxy-5′E-ene-1′-heptyl)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (2), and 6-(2′S-hydroxy-1′-heptyl)-4 -hydroxy-3-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (3), together with one known compound trichodermic acid (4), were isolated from the solid-substrate fermentation culture of Penicillium ochrochloronthe associated the roots of Taxus media. Compounds 1–4 displayed the antimicrobial activity selectively against tested fungal and bacterial strains with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 12.5 to 100 μg/ml. Furthermore, we found that only compound 4 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against five human cancer cells (A549, LN229, MGC, LOVO, and MDA231) with IC50 values of 51.45, 23.43, 39.16, 46.97, and 42.85 μg/ml, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new phenylpropanoid esters bobulretulates A (1) and B (2), together with eleven known compounds, were isolated from the whole plants of Bulbophyllum retusiusculum. Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new picrotoxane-type sesquiterpenoid lactones, dendrowillins A (1) and B (2), together with five known sesquiterpenoids, (−)-picrotin (3), α-dihydropicrotoxinin (4), dendronobilin B (5), amoenin (6), and (−)-10β,13,14-trihydroxyalloaromadendrane (7), were isolated from the whole plants of Dendrobium williamsonii. Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new 5(6→7)abeo-sterol, podosterol (1), together with 20 known compounds, were isolated from the leaves ofPodocarpus fleuryi. Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Podosterol was assessed for its cytotoxicity against five human tumor cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW-480), and the result showed that it had no activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new synthesis of 4-methoxy (or ethoxy)-1,6-diaryl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives is described. An efficient one-step methodology for the title compounds was achieved by using 5-amino-1-aryl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitriles with arylaldehydes in CH3OH or C2H5OH and NaOH at 60 °C. The new compounds were obtained in moderate to good yields as stable solids and easily purified by filtration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DNA damage checkpoint is tightly controlled. After its activation, the checkpoint machinery is inactivated once lesions are repaired or undergoes adaptation if the DNA damage is unable to be repaired. Protein acetylation has been shown to play an important role in DNA damage checkpoint activation. However, the role of acetylation in checkpoint inactivation is unclear. Here we show that histone deacetylase Rpd3-mediated deacetylation of Rad53 plays an important role in checkpoint adaptation. Deletion of Rpd3 or inhibition of its activity impairs adaptation. RPD3 deletion also leads to a higher acetylation level and enhanced kinase activity of Rad53. Replacement of two major acetylation sites of Rad53 with arginine reduces its activity and further suppresses the adaptation defect of rpd3Δ cells, indicating that Rpd3 facilitates adaptation by preventing Rad53 overactivation. Similar to its role in adaptation, deletion of RPD3 or inhibition of its activity also suppressed checkpoint recovery. Altogether, our findings reveal an important role of Rpd3 in promoting checkpoint adaptation via deacetylation and inhibition of Rad53. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microbiological transformation of the triterpene nigranoic acid (3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),24(Z)-diene-3,26-dioic acid) (1) to 3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),17(20),24(Z)-triene-7β-hydroxy-16β,26-lactone-3-oic acid (2) and 3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),17(20)(Z),24(Z)-triene-7β-hydroxy-16β-methoxy-3,26-dioic acid (3) by the freshwater fungus Dictyosporium heptasporum YMF1.01213 has been demonstrated. The structures of the biotransformation products were determined by spectroscopic and MS analyses. Compound 2, characterized by the presence of a formed C-16/C-26 ester bridge, provided a novel nine-membered lactone ring structural skeleton for 3,4-secocycloartane triterpenoid derivatives. In addition, Compounds 1–3 exhibited weak anti-HIV activity in vitro. Compounds 2 and 3 were reported for the first time as natural product derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors deal with the computing seismic passive earth pressure acting on a vertical rigid wall. The wall is provided with a drainage system along soil-structure interface and retains the cohesionless backfill subjected to water seepage. A general solution for the seismic passive earth pressure is presented. The solution is based on Coulomb's theory wherein seismic forces are assumed to be pseudostatic. The solution considers the pore water pressures induced by water seepage and earthquake shaking. Some important parameters are included in the solution. The parameters are the soil effective internal friction angle, wall friction, soil unit weight, and horizontal and vertical seismic acceleration coefficients. The comparison of the total seismic passive earth pressure in horizontal direction from the present method with published works indicates that the present method may be reasonable. The variations of the passive earth pressure coefficient with the soil effective internal friction angle are investigated for different wall friction angles and seismic forces. The effect of the water seepage on the seismic passive earth pressure is also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]