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Euphorbiae pekinensis Radix (EPR) is a traditional Chinese herb commonly used to treat edema, pleural effusion, and ascites. However, counterfeit and adulterated products often appear in the market because of the homonym phenomenon, similar appearance, and artificial forgery of Chinese herbs. This study comprehensively evaluated the quality of EPR using multiple methods. The DNA barcode technique was used to identify EPR, while the UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS technique was utilized to analyze the chemical composition of EPR. A total of 15 tannin and phenolic acid components were identified. Furthermore, UPLC fingerprints of EPR and its common counterfeit products were established, and unsupervised and supervised pattern recognition models were developed using these fingerprints. The backpropagation artificial neural network and counter‐propagation artificial neural network models accurately identified counterfeit and adulterated products, with a counterfeit ratio of more than 25%. Finally, the contents of the chemical markers 3,3′‐di‐O‐methyl ellagic acid‐4′‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside, ellagic acid, 3,3′‐di‐O‐methyl ellagic acid‐4′‐O‐β‐d‐xylopyranoside, and 3,3′‐di‐O‐methyl ellagic acid were determined to range from 0.05% to 0.11%, 1.95% to 8.52%, 0.27% to 0.86%, and 0.10% to 0.42%, respectively. This proposed strategy offers a general procedure for identifying Chinese herbs and distinguishing between counterfeit and adulterated products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: This study aims to quantify the impacts of chilling at the grain filling stage on rice yield and grain quality. A factorial experiment with four levels of temperature and duration of chilling treatments at the early and late grain filling stages was conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Per 10 °C·day increase in the accumulated cooling degree day at the early and late grain filling stages, the rice emergence–maturity duration was delayed by 0.8% (0.6%) and rice yield decreased by 2.2% (1.7%). Chilling at the early grain filling stage decreased the rice heading rate, while chilling at the late grain filling stage increased rice amylose but decreased protein content. For chilling treatment at the early grain filling stage, rice yield and grain quality were mainly correlated with seed‐setting rate, whereas for chilling treatment at the late grain filling stage the rice yield and grain quality were mainly correlated with 1000‐grain weight. CONCLUSION: This study improved the understanding of how chilling at the grain filling stages affects rice phenology, yield and grain quality, providing a theoretical basis for maintaining rice yield while ensuring grain quality. The results could be used to guide the rice‐growing community in combating chilling at grain filling stages. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging large‐area flexible polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) are crucial for flat‐panel displays. The development of uniform, large‐area, flexible, and ultra‐deep‐blue PLEDs remains challenging owing to the lack of efficient and stable deep‐blue light‐emitting conjugated polymers with robust deep‐blue emission, excellent large‐scale solution‐processing capacity, and stable electrical properties. In this study, a multidimensional steric triphenylethylene (TPE) segment is introduced into the substitution side chain of polydiarylfluorenes (P‐F) for deep‐blue large‐area blade‐coated and flexible PLEDs. The encapsulation of backbone chains with extremely weak interchain π–π interactions facilitated the preparation of large‐area PLEDs via blade coating. Large‐area uniform P‐F films (16 cm2) are fabricated. Flexible PLEDs are fabricated with efficient deep‐blue emission (CIE: 0.15, 0.07) and a maximum brightness of 2314 cd m−2. Notably, the large‐area PLEDs exhibited a narrow‐band deep‐blue emission with a CIE of (0.15, 0.08) at ≈1000 mA cm−2 and an emitting area of 3.6 cm2. Furthermore, a preliminary patterned PLED array display with a pixel size of 800 × 1000 µm2 is successfully created, which exhibited stable and uniform deep‐blue light‐emitting pixel performance (CIE: 0.15 0.08). These results demonstrated the effectiveness of the TPE encapsulation strategy for large‐area PLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ground‐source heat pump heating and cooling system is currently the most important development and utilization method of shallow geothermal resources, but its key component is the ground heat exchanger system. Herein, a new type of ground heat exchanger, the soil‐cement energy pile, is proposed. The similarity model comparison experiments of the soil‐cement energy piles and the soil energy pile in summer and winter were conducted respectively, and the 3D numerical models of heat transfer of the two kinds of energy piles are established, their related thermal properties are verified. Then the heat transfer calculation methods of the soil‐cement energy pile are presented and validated. The research has shown that the soil‐cement energy pile has good thermodynamic performance, which effectively reduces the largest thermal resistance in the heat transfer system of the energy pile, the thermal resistance of pile body material, and the heat transfer per linear meter of the soil‐cement energy pile is 21.20%–55.60% higher than that of the soil energy pile. The soil‐cement energy pile is of great significance to improve the thermal efficiency of the ground‐source heat pump system and can reduces the overall project cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the availability of water in very deep soil layers for vegetation is important for assessing the eco‐hydrological effects of the thick loess soil and optimizing soil water management and vegetation restoration initiatives. However, the proportion of soil water sourced from the soil layer deeper than 300 cm by typical afforestation species on the Loess Plateau, along with its seasonal variations, remains unclear. In this study, we examined the composition of the water sources used by two typical afforestation plant species (Caragana korshinskii and Medicago sativa) from soil depths of up to 10 m during the growing season, using isotopic analysis. The results showed that soil desiccation occurred in the soil layers of 260–1000 cm and 260–700 cm at the upper and lower slope positions, respectively, for both species plots. Relative stability of the isotopic values in >260 cm soil layers explained a piston flow occurred in these layers. The contribution proportion of soil water in 260–1000 cm was at 41.7% ± 9.0% and 51.3% ± 8.8% for C. korshinskii on upper and lower slope, respectively and was at 67.6% ± 6.7% and 73.7% ± 7.0% for M. sativa on upper and lower slope, respectively. The serious soil desiccation was induced by the dependence on very deep soil water and the slow recharge with the piston flow. Meanwhile, C. korshinskii converted the main water source between 0–260 cm and 260–1000 cm in different seasons. In contrast, M. sativa used water mainly from soil layers deeper than 260 cm in June and increased the utilization proportion of deeper water sources in July and September. The persistent dependence on very deep soil water for M. sativa, induced a deeper desiccation depth as compared to C. korshinskii. Thus, thinning to the optimal leaf area index and converting to natural grassland were recommended for C. korshinskii and M. sativa plots, respectively to restore the depleted soil water and to promote water cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Northeast China, the frequency and intensity of chilling events has been increasing continuously, which places regional rice production at an increasing risk for yield loss. Previous studies have shown that continuous chilling at the tillering, booting and flowering stages could reduce rice grain yield. However, the effects of intermittent chilling at different growth stages on rice yield have rarely been reported. In this study, we conducted a temperature‐controlled experiment on rice plants at the tillering, booting and flowering stages, with both continuous and intermittent chilling treatments at two chilling temperatures and four chilling durations. The results showed that rice grain yield was most affected by chilling at the booting stage, followed by chilling at the flowering stage and least affected by chilling at the tillering stage. For per 1 day increase in chilling duration, the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at T1 (11°C/12°C/12°C) at the tillering, booting and flowering stages decreased the grain yield per plant by 1.0%, 6.0% and 2.9% (0.9%, 2.7% and 1.6%), respectively. For per 10°C·day increase in cooling degree days, the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at the booting stage decreased the grain yield per plant, spikelet fertility, grain number per spike and thousand grain weight by 10.7%, 7.9%, 5.4% and 1.6% (5.6%, 1.5%, 4.4% and 1.2%), respectively. While the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at the flowering stage decreased the grain yield per plant and spikelet fertility by 4.9% and 3.9% (2.8% and 3.2%), respectively. Our study is complementary to the current knowledge gap concerning the mechanism of chilling‐induced yield losses for rice. In particular, the results of this study could be used to (a) modify the chilling effects algorithms in rice models to improve the simulation accuracy in rice yields and (b) target the genetic features to breed new rice varieties with greater cold tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilling is a major constraint on rice production in mountainous regions of the tropics and in the temperate rice‐growing zones of the world. In this study, our goal is to quantify the impacts of chilling at the tillering phases on rice growth and grain yield. In 2017 and 2018, we conducted a factorial chilling treatment at four temperatures (T1, T2, T3 and T4) and four duration days (D2, D4, D6 and D8) on rice plants at the early, middle and late tillering phases. The results showed that chilling at the tillering phases delayed rice growth period. The rice grain yield slightly increased with decrease in chilling temperature but significantly decreased with increase in chilling duration at the tillering phases. For the chilling treatment at T1 (lowest temperature), the D2 (shortest duration) had positive effects on rice yield, while the D8 (longest duration) had adverse effects on rice yield. The middle and late tillering phases were the critical growth phases for rice spike numbers formation, with the increase in temperature and duration, the rice spike numbers per plant significantly decreased. The decrease in chilling temperature and increase in chilling duration both decreased rice thousand‐grain weight under chilling treatments at tillering phases. The prolongation of days from emergence to flowering led to increase in rice aboveground biomass per plant and allocation index of stem; however, the decrease in days from flowering to maturity led to reduction in allocation index of panicle and grain yield under chilling treatments at tillering phases. This study could help farmers to better understand the impacts of chilling on rice growth and yield, especially for rice that are prone to chilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has resulted in a continuous increase in the frequency and intensity of chilling events in cold regions. In Northeast China, chilling at the booting and flowering stages negatively affects japonica rice grain yield. In this field experiment study, we conducted a 2‐year temperature‐controlled experiment to investigate the effects of chilling temperature and duration applied at the booting and flowering stages on japonica rice. The results showed that chilling at the two study stages delayed the rice phenology and decreased the grain yield. In particular, japonica rice was more sensitive to chilling at the booting stage than at the flowering stage. The rice grain yield was reduced by more as the chilling temperature decreased and the chilling duration increased. As for the yield components, the spikelet fertility and grain number per spike were more sensitive to chilling at the booting stage than at the flowering stage. Variations in the grain yield per plant were primarily contributed by the differences in spikelet fertility and grain number per spike, especially the spikelet fertility. In addition, cooling degree days showed statistically significant negative correlations with grain yield per plant, grain number per spike and spikelet fertility. For every 10°C·day increase in CDD at the booting (flowering) stage, the grain yield per plant, spikelet fertility and grain number per spike decreased by 7.1%, 6.2% and 3.4% (3.9%, 5.0% and 1.2%) respectively. As the spikelet fertility and grain number per spike decreased, the sink capacity decreased as well with the increasing of allocated assimilation to the stem and leaf while decreasing the assimilation allocated to the panicle. Increasing cooling degree days at the booting and flowering stages increased the allocations of assimilation to the stem and leaf. As a result, less assimilation was allocated to the panicle. This study suggests that breeding cultivars to improve the spikelet fertility and grain number per spike could help to minimize the potential rice grain yield loss due to the increase in chilling events occurring at the booting and flowering stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study evaluated the effects of the different concentrate‐to‐forage ratio on the parameters of production, ruminal fermentation, blood biochemical indices, and ruminal epithelial morphological structure of the male cattle‐yaks. Methods: Eight male cattle‐yaks (280 ± 10 kg of body weight) were randomly divided into the high concentrate (HighC, 70% concentrate feeds on a dry matter basis) and low concentrate (LowC, 50% concentrate feeds on a dry matter basis) groups. All the animals were regularly provided rations twice a day at 08:00 and 16:00 h and had free access to water. The experiment lasted for 37 days. Results: The dry matter intake and average daily gain of the HighC group were higher (p < 0.05) than those of LowC group. Moreover, a high concentrate diet was found to significantly increase (p < 0.05) the total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) production, and the ratio of propionate and butyrate in TVFA. On the contrary, the ruminal pH, the ratio of isobutyrate and isovalerate, and the acetate‐to‐propionate were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) after high concentrate feeding. The lipopolysaccharide concentrations of the ruminal fluid and plasma in the HighC group were higher (p < 0.05) than those of the LowC group. The results of the ruminal histomorphology showed the rumen to possess an inflammatory reaction. Conclusion: These findings revealed that upon higher dry matter intake and average daily gain, high concentrate feeding altered the rumen fermentation and morphology, inducing the ruminal inflammation of the cattle‐yak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hereditary basis and identification of novel genes of heading date have significant implications for japonica rice improvement in northeast China, especially in Heilongjiang province. A re‐sequenced recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross between Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH) and Shennong 265 (SN265) was used to detect the genetic basis for the RIL in 2017 and 2018. Fourteen heading date quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including nine in 2017 and thirteen in 2018, were detected with a linkage map containing 2,818 bin markers. They were distributed on chromosomes 3, 4, 6 and 9–11 with 9.34%–25.26% phenotypic variations. The QTLs qHD3a, qHD4a, qHD4b, qHD4c, qHD9b, qHD10, qHD11c and qHD11d were identified in both years. The qTRS1, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) alleles from LTH and the qTRS4 allele from SN265 were identified by controlling the temperature responsiveness in the RIL population. The explained phenotypic variation in these five QTLs varied from 14.52% to 26.31%. In order to accurately determine the difference in heading date under different temperature conditions, the RILs and two parents were grown in a phytotron. Four QTLs controlling temperature responsiveness were identified on chromosomes 3, 6 and 9, including qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b), qTRS6 and qTRS9 (qHD9a). In a different environment, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) were detected. A comparison of chromosomal locations between the QTLs detected in this study and heading date genes previously cloned indicated that DTH3, Hd16, RFL, HAF1, Ehd2 and RBS1 might be candidate genes for them. The four major heading date genes (Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8) affecting ecogeographical adaptation were sequenced between SN265 and LTH. SN265 carried a functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a weak functional Ghd8 haplotype. LTH also carried functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a non‐functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a non‐functional Ghd8 haplotype. The combinations of the Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 alleles in SN265 and LTH largely defined their short heading date under long‐day conditions. The selection of heading date gene combinations with functional Hd1 alleles and non‐functional alleles or weak functional alleles of Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 would be an effective way to improve japonica rice with proper heading days in Northeast China. The novel QTLs detected in this study could also become a valuable source for designing the appropriate heading date in Northeast China japonica rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite global warming, chilling injury during the reproductive stage is still a severe climate stress in temperate rice production systems. Much work has been done on stress avoidance by altering sowing dates and cultivar maturation, but stress tolerance has received less attention. The lack of data to inform existing genetic differences in chilling tolerance impedes model‐based investigations exploring this adaptation. Here, from multiple data sources, we composited control experiments of 25 major rice cultivars in Northeast China, which allows determining the genetic differences in chilling tolerance. The results suggest that newer released rice cultivars tend to resist stronger chilling than older cultivars, and there is a coexistence between high‐yielding and more chilling tolerance. By projecting the above statistical relationship to regional yield, our analysis indicates that the lower chilling sensitivity due to such breeding progress may reduce yield fluctuation by approximately 74% in the lousy harvest year since 1960. Our results also indicate that chilling exposure at booting and flowering not only results in sterility but also may impact grain filling. Our study highlights the quantified cultivar difference in chilling tolerance based on the existing rice genotypes that can support further simulation‐driven studies on the genetic adaptation of chilling stress and improve the quantitative evaluation of cultivar chilling tolerance in crop improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The study compared the growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of steers of Xuanhan yellow cattle, Simmental crossbreed cattle (Simmental × Xuanhan yellow cattle) and cattle‐yak (Jersey × yak). All steers were feed with the same diet from 6 months until slaughter at 30 months. The longissimus dorsi muscle was used to compare the meat quality traits. RESULTS: By comparison, Simmental crossbreed cattle had higher growth performance (P < 0.05) and carcass characteristics (P < 0.05); cattle‐yak had higher value of a*, b* of meat color (P < 0.05) and higher protein contents of meat (P < 0.05); Xuanhan yellow cattle had higher water holding capacity (P < 0.05) and lower shear force (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that Simmental crossbred cattle had better meat performance and provided low‐fat meat with a beneficial fatty acid composition, but with lower meat quality; cattle‐yaks provided greater meat color and higher protein content; Xuanhan yellow cattle provided meat with preferable tenderness. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product lifetime prediction is challenging when the product is subject to a time‐varying operational environment. Most of the existing studies use some functions to explicitly specify the relationship between degradation parameters and environmental conditions so as to reveal how the degradation process evolves over time. However, in many applications, the assumptions needed for establishing these functions cannot be validated in engineering practice or they cannot accurately model the entire underlying degradation mechanism. In contrast to previous work, the focus of our study is placed on product degradation prognosis by implementing an ensemble learning method. This method combines the stochastic process modeling approach and the machine learning approach, taking advantage of these approaches to gain a more accurate and stable degradation prediction. The proposed method is demonstrated by some simulation examples and by a case study of lithium‐ion battery accelerated degradation test. Both the simulation study and the real case verify the superiority of the proposed method. The case study indicates that the ensemble learning method can further help to effectively manage the energy storage and energy distribution of battery packs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic selection is a technique that breeders use to select plant or animal individuals to mate and produce new generations of species. The conventional selection method is to select individuals that are either observed or predicted to be the best based on the assumption that parents with better phenotypes will produce better offspring. A major limitation of this method is its focus on the short‐term genetic gains at the cost of genetic diversity and long‐term growth potential. Recently, several new genomic selection methods were proposed to maximize the long‐term potential. Along this research direction, we propose a new method, the complementarity‐based selection strategy (CBS), to improve the tradeoff between short‐term genetic gain and long‐term potential. This approach is inspired by the genetic compatibility mate‐choice mechanism in animals. Our selection method selects the individual with the highest genomic estimated breeding value to emphasize short‐term achievement and then pairs it with the individual that is the most complementary to the one with highest genomic estimated breeding value to emphasize the long‐term growth potential. The CBS method allows favorable alleles to be accounted for within the selection and more of them to be included. We present simulation results that compare the performance of the new method against the state‐of‐the‐art methods in the literature and show that the CBS approach has a great potential to further improve long‐term response in genomic selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Conventional genomic selection approaches use breeding values to evaluate individual plants or animals and to make selection decisions. Multiple variants of breeding values and selection approaches have been proposed, but they suffer two major limitations. First, selection decisions are not responsive to changes in time and resource availability. Second, selection decisions are not coordinated with related decisions such as mating and resource allocation. We present three new genomic selection approaches that attempt to address these two limitations, which were designed by engineering students in a class project at Iowa State University. Compared with previous approaches using the same data set from the literature, two of these engineering approaches were found to be comparable to the state of the art, and the third one significantly dominated all the previous approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on physical function and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in China. Method: A cross‐section survey was conducted in 21 general hospitals in China. Eight hundred and seven patients were recruited. Data on demographics, clinical data, physical function (Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index, HAQ‐DI) and HRQoL (Study Short Form 36 Health Survey, SF‐36) were collected on site. Results: In our cohort, physical function was impaired in 77.6% of patients (HAQ‐DI >0). The median (interquartile range, IQR) of HAQ‐DI was 0.750 (0.125, 1.500). Rated by HAQ‐DI 0‐1, >1‐2, and >2‐3, percentage of patients with mild, moderate and severe disability was 61.0%, 25.4%, and 13.6%, respectively. Older age, long disease duration, presence of extra‐articular manifestations, tender joint count (TJC), overall status (assessed by patient Global Visual Analogue Scale [G‐VAS] and physician G‐VAS) and lacking disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs were identified as predictive factors for worse physical function (P < .05). The composite scores of SF‐36 in the observed patients were: physical component summary 40.4 (IQR 27.4, 60.3), and mental component summary 49.0 (IQR 33.6, 70.9). Impaired physical health may be predicted by low income, presence of extra‐articular manifestations, TJC, patient G‐VAS and high HAQ‐DI. Predictors for suboptimal mental health were low income, physical labor, married status, increased swollen joint count (SJC), physician G‐VAS and high HAQ‐DI. Conclusion: Rheumatoid arthritis has profound effects on physical function and HRQoL in Chinese patients. Patients with identified predictive factors for poor outcome should be closely monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to estimate the effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) on intramuscular and subcutaneous fat deposition in Yellow Breed × Simmental cattle. The experiment was conducted for 60 days. The results showed that the average backfat thickness, (testicles + kidney + pelvic) fat percentage and subcutaneous fat percentage in dietary CLA were significantly lower than in the control group, while intramuscular the fat percentage was significantly higher. Compared to the control group, the Longissimus muscle enzyme activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) in dietary CLA and the subcutaneous fat enzyme activities of LPL, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) were significantly increased. Similarly, compared to the control group, the Longissimus muscle sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1), FAS, stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (SCD), ACC, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), heart fatty-acid binding protein (H-FABP) and LPL gene expression in dietary CLA were significant increased, as were the subcutaneous fat of PPARγ, H-FABP, LPL, CPT-1 and HSL in dietary CLA. These results indicated that dietary CLA increases IMF depositionmainly by the up-regulation of lipogenic gene expression, while decreasing subcutaneous fat deposition mainly by the up-regulation of lipolytic gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, simple, one-step method of synthesizing vanillin and vanillic acid from eugenol has been developed. The method uses ligand- and additive-free Co(OAc)2 ⋅ 4H2O as catalyst and molecular oxygen as oxidant to achieve catalytic process without isomerizing eugenol. Extensive screening efforts were used to optimize eugenol to obtain vanillin and vanillic acid. Under optimal conditions, the reaction provided vanillin and vanillic acid with 68.5 % and 15.2 % yields, respectively. Apart from the desired products, coniferyl alcohol 9-methyl ether and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde as two intermediates were also detected in the reaction process. Level changes of all compounds over time were presented in the reaction. The reaction pathway from eugenol to vanillic acid was validated by conducting several control experiments. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism dominated by a circular redox reaction from Co(III) and Co(II) species was proposed. This method offers a potentially practical alternative for manufacturing vanillin and vanillic acid efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to estimate the effect of dietary energy level on lipid metabolism-related gene expression of subcutaneous adipose tissue in Yellow breed × Simmental cattle. The experiment was conducted for 60 days. The results showed that final weight, average daily gain, average backfat thickness, (testicles + kidney + pelvic) fat percentage and subcutaneous fat percentage in the high and medium energy groups were significantly higher than in the low-energy group but that the feed conversion ratio was significantly lower. The glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein in the high-energy group were significantly higher than in the low-energy group. With dietary energy increasing the activities of lipoprotein lipase ( LPL), fatty acid synthase ( FAS) and acetyl- CoA carboxylase ( ACC) significantly increased, whereas hormone-sensitive lipase ( HSL) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 ( CPT-1) significantly diminished. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ ( PPARγ), LPL, FAS, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 ( SREBP-1), ACC, stearoyl- CoA desaturase ( SCD) and adipocyte-fatty acid binding proteins (A- FABP) gene expression were significantly increased by dietary energy increasing, and HSL and CPT-1 gene expression were significantly decreased. These results indicated that with dietary energy increasing, the subcutaneous fat accumulation mainly increased due to adipose tissue lipogenic gene expression and decreased lipolytic gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ESD (esterase D), GLO1 (glyoxalase I), and GPT (glutamate pyruvate transaminase) are human erythrocytic isoenzymes and have previously been applied in forensic medicine caseworks. The molecular bases of the polymorphic gene expression products have been demonstrated to be because of SNPs in respective coding regions. However, it has not been revealed whether the SNPs conferring the polymorphisms to the aforementioned erythrocytic isoenzymes could be simultaneously detected by using a simple PCR method. In this study, we used mismatched primers to simultaneously amplify three common isoenzyme loci so that all amplified products contained the same Hph I cleavage sites. The products were then digested with Hph I and electrophoretically separated and stained so that alleles were identified. The accumulated values for the probability of discrimination power and excluding the probability of paternity to the aforementioned systems attained 90.41% and 41.72%, respectively, in the Chinese Han population. This assay could be extremely valuable for future forensic medicine practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the title compound, C(29)H(30)N(2), the dihedral angle between the mean planes of the carbazole and the quinoline systems is 52.41 (6)°. Mol-ecules are linked into dimers by pairs of inter-molecular C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds and into a three-dimensional network by C-H⋯π inter-actions.