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The muscle is a highly organized tissue, where there are three different moistures including free water, entrapped water, and bound water. These moistures were distributed in intercellular spaces, intracellular spaces, and other solute environments, respectively. Understanding the moisture migration in different environments is crucial to enhance energy efficiency and improve the quality of processed food. Therefore, the tilapia fillets were used to experiment, and the low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance technique is used to measure the change in different moistures during the drying process. The study found that free water is the highest when cell membranes started to rupture. In addition, it also observed that the cell membrane ruptures at different stages of drying. The result of this study provides critical information that could be used to guide the study of the dynamic mechanisms underlying drying and the development of drying technology for tilapia fillets and similar aquatic products., With the progress of drying, the surface and core temperature of the tilapia fillets continues to rise which leads to the decline of free water content, in addition, it was found that the free water is the highest when cell membranes started to rupture by the low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance technique. As the temperature increasing, the free water content appears a peak because the exposed intracellular water is able to readjust rapidly to become free water. The cell membrane ruptures at different stages of drying.

Inflammation response is a complex physiological process and suppression of inflammation activated in macrophages induced by LPS is an important target for treatment of various chronic diseases. A crude extract produced by Streptomyces ssp. (R31 crude extract) which was isolated from a mangrove sediment showed a significant inhibitory effect in LPS-stimulated inflammatory response. In this study, R31 crude extract decreased the NO production dose-dependently. The release of IL-6 and IL-10 in macrophages were reduced upon pretreatment of R31 crude extract. In addition, R31 crude extract treatment inhibited the translocation of NF-κB and NFAT into the nucleus and the phosphorylation of MAPKs as well as AKT. On the other hand, R31 crude extract induced HO-1 expression in LPS-stimulated macrophage. Collectively, these findings indicate that R31 crude extract exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect and is a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Recently, the research of identification input design for Bayesian methods has been actively investigated. Either the problem is formulated as a non-convex problem with difficulty in solving or relaxed as a convex problem with a price of some conservativeness. In this contribution, a new minimum power input design problem is formulated by viewing the input as a stochastic process. We seek the minimum energy input with variance constraints over a frequency band. By exploiting the generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov lemma, the stochastic consideration facilitates the input design problem to be presented as a convex problem whose decision variables are a finite number of autocorrelation coefficients. We obtain the autocorrelation coefficients of the desired stochastic input signal by solving the convex problem and extend them by the maximum entropy extension. Then, a specific identification input is sampled from the obtained stochastic process. Simulations results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of dezocine on the prevention of postoperative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD). Patients and methods: Ninety-six adult patients undergoing abdominal surgery with urinary catheterization under general anesthesia were randomized into dezocine and control (flurbiprofen) groups. The postoperative CRBD, pain score, sedation score and adverse effects were evaluated at 0, 1, 2 and 6 hrs after tracheal extubation. Results: The primary outcome showed a lower incidence of CRBD at 1 hr post-extubation in the dezocine group (29.17%) than the control group (58.33%, P 0.05); however, the overall severity of CRBD was decreased in the dezocine group compared with the control group (P

In vitro production of oocytes capable of producing offspring has exciting potential applications in reproductive medicine. Here, we generated and characterized an ovarian organoid model derived from female germline stem cells using a three-dimensional culture system. We show that this model generated normal offspring and detected drug toxicity. The ovarian organoids could produce oocytes and exhibited endocrine functions. Single-cell analysis of ovarian organoids identified six ovarian cell lineages, such as germ, granulosa and theca cells, and produced gene-expression signatures for each cell type. Investigation of the expression patterns of genes related to meiosis and gene ontogeny analysis for germ cell clusters showed that a germ cell population was maintained in the ovarian organoids. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the population of germ cells could be maintained on the organoids and showed that ascorbic acid treatment had a beneficial effect of germ cell population maintenance on the organoids. Furthermore, we demonstrated the successful production of offspring from oocytes derived from ovarian organoids. Finally, we showed the ovarian organoids had the potential to drug toxicological detection. For example, we found that salinomycin impaired the formation of ovarian organoids and germ cell population maintenance by inducing apoptosis. These results indicate that the female germline stem cell-derived ovarian organoids represent a valuable model system for generating oocytes that can yield offspring, and provide a novel model for drug screening and toxicological detection.

The widely distributed, thick Chang 7 Shale is the richest shale oil formation in China. A calculation method for the evaporative hydrocarbon recovery coefficient based on formation volume factor is proposed considering the correction of heterogeneity-based total organic carbon differences to improve the adsorbed oil calculation method, and light hydrocarbon evaporative sampling losses, which can make mobile and total oil calculations more accurate. The adsorbed oil, S1 evaporative loss, total oil yield, and movable oil yield of 200 shale samples from the Chang 7 Member were calculated using the new methods. Results show that S1 evaporative loss accounts for 29% of S1, total oil yield is 3.5 times S1, and movable oil yield accounts for 37% of total oil yield. Based on the calculated total oil yield and movable oil yield results, the relationships among total oil yield, movable oil yield, and total organic carbon of the Chang 7 were established yielding total oil yield and movable oil yield estimates of 11.12 × 109 t and 4.01 × 109 t, respectively, revealing its tremendous shale exploration potential.

Background: Patients’ capacity to manage their own health can be graded by levels of activation. Highly activated patients tend to have better health outcomes. However, little is known about the activation levels of chronic pain patients in China. This study aimed to identify: (1) the activation levels within this population; and (2) demographic and pain factors associated with the level of activation. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, patients completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, Brief Pain Inventory and Patient Activation Measure (PAM) 13. Patient activation was measured and categorized into Levels 1–4. Its associations with sociodemographic, patient-reported diseases and pain variables were explored using Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kruskal-Wallis H test. Results: Of 338 patients, 84 were excluded. Of the 254 remaining, 51.6% of patients were at lower activation levels (PAM Levels 1 and 2). Higher activation levels (PAM Levels 3 and 4) were recorded in patients with younger age (P = .00005), higher education (P = .0018), non-laboring occupations (P = .0239), and fewer co-morbidities (P = .00615). Intensities of the worst pain (P = .000627), average pain (P = .0213), and current pain (P = .0353), as well as the impact of pain on relationships with others (P = 0.00529), mood (P = .00391), sleep (P = .0132), and interest in life (P = .0248), were negatively correlated with activation levels. Conclusion: Half of the chronic pain patients in this population displayed lower activation levels. Older age, less education, manual labor, more co-morbidities, more intense pain and greater impact of pain on life were associated with lower activation levels. Pain education programs need to target the individual's PAM level. Registration: This trial was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Number: ChiECRCT-20180170

Scorpion venom represents a significant source of bio-active peptides. However, the anti-inflammatory potency of scorpion venom oligopeptides (CMOs) has not been well explored. In the current study, thirty-five CMOs were isolated, the amino acid sequences were identified, and the anti-inflammatory potency was further explored in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. The results showed that CMO-1 (His-Tyr-Gly-His) demonstrated the best anti-inflammatory potency by attenuating inflammatory cytokine (NO, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) production. CMO-1 also inhibited IκBα degradation and p65 nuclear translocation and suppressed NF-κB activation. Moreover, CMO-1 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPKs. It is worth noting that CMO-1 exhibited anti-inflammatory potency; thus, it is a potential anti-inflammatory agent.

A series of significant breakthroughs in exploring conventional and unconventional natural gas resources have been achieved in new strata and new domains. However, the quality of the increased reserves has declined with the entry of unconventional resources into the reserves sequence. Therefore, the potential of conventional and unconventional natural gas resources as well as important exploration regions of the remaining natural gas resources need to be clarified, and favorable directions need to be established. On the basis of oil and gas exploration results, discoveries in petroleum geology, and exploration data of the past 10 years acquired by PetroChina, an entire system of resource assessment for conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources has been established. The fourth round of resource assessment has been systematically executed. The results indicate that the total conventional natural gas resources of China are 78 × 1012 m3, which shows an increase of 8 × 1012 m3 over the results of the third round of resource assessment. Unconventional resources include four types of resources: tight gas, shale gas, coalbed methane, and natural gas hydrates. Among them, tight gas reservoirs make up 21.86 × 1012 m3 (Jiyang, Dongpu, Nanxiang, Subei, and others were excluded from the assessed regions). In addition, shale gas, coalbed methane, and natural gas hydrate reservoirs make up 80.21 × 1012 m3, 29.82 × 1012 m3, and 153.06 × 1012 m3, respectively. The remaining resources for onshore conventional natural gas are distributed mainly in four significant domains, which are lithology–strata (clastic rock), marine carbonatites, foreland thrust belts, and complex tectonic belts. Of these, marine carbonatites and foreland thrust belts are the dominant domains. The resources for offshore natural gas are concentrated mainly in three domains, which are offshore structures, organic reefs, and lithology in deep water. The total remaining natural gas resources in marine carbonatites, foreland, lithology–strata, complex tectonic belts, and the South China Sea amount to 59.83 × 1012 m3, which is 94% of the remaining natural gas resources in China. Based on this assessment, favorable targets are selected including 10 targets for conventional resources, 4 for tight gas, 4 for coalbed methane, and 6 for shale gas. Keywords: Resources assessment, Resources potential of natural gas, Remaining resources potential of natural gas, Resources distribution, Major exploration region, Favorable target zone

Bayesian nonparametric methods have been introduced in a linear system identification paradigm to avoid the model and order selection problem. In this framework, a finite impulse response (FIR) model is considered, and the impulse response is realized as a zero-mean Gaussian process. The identification results mainly depend on a prior covariance (kernel) which has to be estimated from data. But the Gaussian prior assumption is inappropriate when the impulse response is constrained on an interval. This paper considers the positive FIR model identification problem using non Gaussian prior where a positive model denotes a system with the nonnegative impulse response. A suitable prior is selected as the maximum entropy prior when the impulse response has interval constraints. A truncated multivariate normal prior is shown to be the maximal entropy prior for positive FIR model identification. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed prior shows significantly better robustness.

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is an important factor that limits the agricultural production potential in acidic soils. The bacterial phoC gene encodes non-specific acid phosphatase (ACP), which participates in the mineralization of soil organic P and is therefore important for the improvement of soil P availability. However, the function and community population of phoC-harboring bacteria and their driving factors in acidic soil remain largely unknown. For this study, 51 soil samples and 207 plant samples were collected from four locations in the acidic soil region of southern China. Quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing were employed to analyze abundance and community composition of phoC-harboring bacteria. The results showed that soil P availability was the important nutrient element limiting the growth of both plants and soil bacteria. Soil ACP activity was clearly higher than alkaline phosphatase, indicating the important effect of phoC-harboring bacteria in acidic soils. ACP activity and phoC gene abundance showed a significant positive correlation, and both were closely related to soil available P, total carbon, and total nitrogen. The dominant genera of phoC-harboring bacteria involved Cupriavidus, Stenotrophomonas, and Xanthomonas. Compared to land-use pattern, sampling location, and soil parent material, soil property played a more important role in affecting phoC-harboring bacterial community structure, where N-related variables including soil NO 3 - -N, NH 4 + -N, and C/N ratio appeared to be the main factors. These findings suggest that phoC-harboring bacteria should provide an important contribution to soil P availability in acidic soil, and its function and community composition were strongly associated with soil nutrients.

Ammonium (NH4+) alleviates manganese (Mn) toxicity in various plant species, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we compared the effects of NH4+ and nitrate (NO3−) on rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth, accumulation and distribution of Mn, accumulation of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu), root cell wall components, and expression of Mn and Fe transporter genes. After rice seedlings were grown in non-pH-buffered nutrient solution for 2 days, the pH of growth medium changed from an initial value of 4.5 to 3.5 and to 5.5 in the presence of NH4+ and in the presence of NO3−, respectively. Compared with NO3−, ammonium decreased nutrient-solution pH and alleviated Mn toxicity and accumulation in rice under non-pH-buffered conditions. This alleviation disappeared when 5 mM Homo-PIPES pH buffer was added. Regardless of N form, roots, shoots, root cell sap, and xylem sap accumulated much lower Mn at pH 3.5 than at pH 5.5, whereas Mn distribution in different leaves and Mn accumulation in root cell walls was affected by neither N form nor pH. Ammonium decreased the expression of the Mn influx transporter gene OsNramp5 in roots under non-pH-buffered conditions, but not under pH-buffered ones. OsNramp5 expression was down-regulated at pH 3.5 compared with pH 5.5. Another efflux Mn transporter gene, OsMTP9, was not regulated by either N form or pH. High pH (5.5) enhanced the expression of the Fe transporter gene OsIRT1 and increased the accumulation of Zn but not Fe or Cu in shoots compared with pH 3.5. Taken together, our results indicate that NH4+ alleviates Mn toxicity and accumulation in rice through the down-regulatory effects of rhizosphere acidification on the Mn influx transporter gene OsNramp5. In addition, the up-regulation of OsIRT1 expression may contribute to the increased Zn uptake by rice at high pH of nutrient solution.

Studies have reported that scorpion toxins have excellent anti-cancer effects; however, the anti-inflammatory activity of scorpion peptides has rarely been studied. Here, a series of

Scorpion venom represents a significant source of bio-active peptides. However, the anti-inflammatory potency of scorpion venom oligopeptides (CMOs) has not been well explored. In the current study, thirty-five CMOs were isolated, the amino acid sequences were identified, and the anti-inflammatory potency was further explored in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. The results showed that CMO-1 (His-Tyr-Gly-His) demonstrated the best anti-inflammatory potency by attenuating inflammatory cytokine (NO, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) production. CMO-1 also inhibited IκBα degradation and p65 nuclear translocation and suppressed NF-κB activation. Moreover, CMO-1 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPKs. It is worth noting that CMO-1 exhibited anti-inflammatory potency; thus, it is a potential anti-inflammatory agent.

Small artery occlusion (SAO) is responsible for 31.3% of all ischemic strokes in China. However, reports regarding the recurrence rate of SAO in China are rare. We aimed to assess the recurrence rate and factors associated with SAO in China. All consecutive patients with SAO hospitalized at Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from 2005 to 2014 were recruited. We assessed the association between stroke subtype, severity, and disease history with recurrence at 3, 12, and 36 months of onset using multivariate logistic regression analysis. A total of 2,524 SAO patients were included in this study, including 1696 (67.2%) men and 828 (32.8%) women. The recurrence rates were 3.1% at 3 months, 12.7% at 12 months, and 36.5% at 36 months. Compared with women, men had a higher risk of recurrence at 3 months after SAO (P = 0.003). Old age and severity of stroke were also associated with a higher risk of recurrence (P

Low soil nutrient availability severely constrains plant growth and productivity in acidic soil ecosystems. Diazotrophs and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are the important microbial groups that improve the bioavailability of soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), respectively. Therefore, the objective was to investigate the biogeographic patterns and co-occurrence networks of the diazotrophic and AMF communities in the acidic soil ecosystem. We collected 52 soil samples from four long-term field observation stations with spatial distances of 961.3 km in the acidic soil region of southern China, and analyzed the community composition and biogeographic distributions of the diazotrophs and AMF using high-throughput sequencing of the functional gene amplicons. The variation partition analysis indicated that soil physicochemical factors provided more contributions than geographic distance, sampling stations and land-use types in the assembly of the diazotrophic and AMF community communities. Distance-decay relationships and Mantel tests showed that soil physicochemical factors had remarkable effects on both microbial community structures, whereas geographic distance only significantly affected the diazotrophic community variations. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that AMF network was more complex and stable than the diazotrophic network. Furthermore, the dominant genera Bradyrhizbium and Glomus might be the more important keystone taxa in the diazotrophic and AMF networks, respectively. These findings suggest that the diazotrophic and AMF communities exhibit different assembly mechanisms and co-occurrence ecological networks in the acidic soil region of southern China, and both community assemblies were mainly driven by soil physicochemical factors.

The nitrogen (N) cycle process in agricultural soil is affected by fertilization. However, there is limited information on the abundance of N-cycling microbial community and its response to the different fertilization strategies in acidic soil. Using quantitative PCR, we investigated the microbial abundance involving 11 functional genes of the N cycle (nifH, chiA, aprA, archaeal and bacterial amoA, napA, narG, nirS, nirK, norB and nosZ) in an acidic agricultural soil. The soils were subjected to no fertilizer (Control), chemical NPK fertilizer (NPK), NPK combined with quicklime (NPKCa), NPK combined with crop residues (NPKS), NPK combined with quicklime and crop residues (NPKSCa), NPK combined with manure (NPKM) and only manure (M) fertilization for 27 years. Results showed that fertilization improved crop yield and soil nutrient availability, changed soil pH levels and affected the abundance of N-cycling functional genes. Manure application markedly increased the abundance of all genes and was associated with the largest shift in community structure. The variation of microbial community in the fertilization treatments (NPK, NPKCa, NPKS, NPKSCa, M and NPKM) resulted from the distinct contribution of functional genes, in which the nifH, napA and archaeal amoA genes highly contributed to the community variations between manure fertilization and Control. Soil variables, particularly pH, NO3−-N and AP, significantly affected the N-cycling microbial community structure. Overall, the different fertilization strategies demonstrated varying influential patterns on the N-cycling microbial abundance and community by altering soil properties and affecting specific functional gene abundance; in particular, manure treatments had a greater influence compared to chemical fertilizers.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to study the feasibility and acceptability of electroacupuncture (EA) for preventing postoperative gastrointestinal complications in patients undergoing thoracoscopic segmentectomy/lobectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) segmentectomy/lobectomy received either EA treatments plus usual care (EA group) or usual care alone (UC group). Patients in the EA group were given 30 minutes of bilateral electroacupuncture on 3 acupoints [Neiguan (PC6), Zusanli (ST36), and Shangjuxu (ST37)] at 3 time points (24 hours before surgery, and 4 hours and 24 hours after surgery). The primary outcomes were recruitment, retention, acceptability of the EA intervention, incidence and severity of abdominal distension (AD), and time to first flatus and defecation. Secondary outcomes included postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), pain intensity, and duration of hospital stay. RESULTS We recruited 60 participants and 59 were randomized into 2 groups for this study: 30 in the EA group and 29 in the UC group. In total, 57 participants completed the study. With the exception of one participant in the EA group, all participants completed all three sessions of EA. The one exclusion was a case where a paravertebral block was not used during the surgery. Qualitative findings from the acceptability questionnaire indicated that participants viewed the EA treatment as acceptable. After EA treatment, there was a small but statistically significant improvement in participants' acceptance of EA for alleviating postoperative gastrointestinal discomfort (P=0.001). The EA group showed improved outcomes compared to the UC group in terms of time to first flatus (20.8±4.6 versus 24.1±6.2 hours, P=0.026) and defecation (53.9±6.0 versus 57.5±7.2 hours, P=0.046). No significant differences appeared regarding AD, rescue medication, or duration of hospitalization. PONV and pain intensity were similar in both groups at the recorded time periods. CONCLUSIONS EA is feasible and acceptable to patients undergoing VATS surgery. Our preliminary findings of EA promoting postoperative recovery of gastrointestinal function warrants large randomized controlled trials.

Metaphor exists everywhere, which is not only a figurative use of language, but also a cognitive tool and a way of thinking. “Head” has a lot of metaphorical senses in English, for instance, “To hit a ball with your head” and “The side of a coin that has a picture of someone’s head on it”. These unique metaphorical senses are closely related to the football and coin culture in foreign countries. Taking the different senses of “Head” as the object of study, this paper analyzes the generation and cognitive styles of the metaphorical senses of “Head” from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and further explores the cultural factors behind these metaphorical senses of “Head”.

Background Acute postoperative pain remains a major clinical problem that affects patient recovery. Distal acupoint and peri-incisional stimulation are both used for relieving acute postoperative pain in hospital. Our objective was to assess and compare the effects of distal and peri-incisional stimulation on postoperative pain in open abdominal surgery. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Chinese databases CNKI and Wanfangdata were searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trials. Intensity of postoperative pain, opioid consumption and related data were extracted and analyzed using a random effects model. Risk of bias was assessed. Subgroup analyses were conducted when data were enough. Results Thirty-five trials were included, in which 17 trials studied distal stimulation, another 17 trials studied peri-incisional stimulation and one studied the combination of the two approaches. No studies that directly compared the two approaches were identified. Subgroup analysis showed that both distal and peri-incisional stimulation significantly alleviated postoperative resting and movement pain from 4 h to 48 h after surgery by 6 to 25 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. Peri-incisional stimulation showed a better reduction in postoperative opioid consumption. No studies compared the effects of the combined peri-incisional and distal stimulation with either mode alone. Overall the quality of evidence was moderate due to a lack of blinding in some studies, and unclear risk of allocation concealment. Conclusion Both distal and peri-incisional modes of stimulation were effective in reducing postoperative pain. Whether a combined peri-incisional stimulation and distal acupuncture has superior results requires further studies.

Properly adjusting the transmission power of the wireless sensor nodes has shown to be an effective approach to reduce energy consumption and to improve the network reliability. I In this paper, an adaptive Node Degree adjustment based Power Control method for wireless sensor networks (NDPC) is proposed to dynamically adjust the transmission power of the nodes. In NDPC, each node is embedded with a fuzzy neural controller which is used to adjust the target node degree so as to control the communication range properly. The fuzzy neural controller consists of two Fuzzy Inference Systems (FIS). One adopts closed-loop feedback mechanism to adjust the target node degree according to the residual energy. The other adjusts the communication range by a self-learning neural network to control the transmission power based on the target node degree. Consequently, the actual energy consumption of the node is reduced while keeping the desired node degree. Several simulation experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of NDPC, and the results show that NDPC can reduce the actual energy consumption as well as extend the network lifetime.

The high-temperature resistant Si–Al–C–(O) fibers were prepared through polymer-derived method using continuous polyaluminocarbosilane (PACS) fibers. Evolutions of the crystallization during the pyrolysis of the Si–Al–C–(O) precursor fibers were investigated by a series analysis. The structure of the fibers transforms from organic state to inorganic state and the crystalline phases appear during the pyrolysis. The β-SiC crystallite size increases when the temperature is higher than 1,300 °C. At the same time, the α-SiC appears. At 1,600 and 1,800 °C, the grain size of β-SiC of the fibers is 15.4 and 22.1 nm, respectively. The growth of β-SiC and the appearing of α-SiC have a great influence on the properties of the fibers. The change of the tensile strength of the pyrolysis products is divided into three stages with the growth of the crystal. The tensile strength of the Si-Al-C fibers is higher than 1.9 GPa.

Chlorophyll content, photosystem 2 functioning (Fv/Fm, Fv/F0), activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, and net photosynthetic rates (PN) of flag leaf blade, sheath, peduncle, and ear organs were assessed in large-ear type (Pin 7) and small-ear type (ND93) wheat cultivars. Some differences were found in photosynthetic properties between different green plant parts, the values of all studied parameters in ear parts being higher in Pin7 than in ND93. Furthermore, ear surface areas and ear PN in 26 wheat genotypes measured at anthesis showed highly significant positive correlation with grain mass per ear. Hence a greater capability of ear photosynthesis may result in a greater grain yield in large-ear type cultivars.