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This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of supplementing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in breeder hens diet on development and hepatic lipid metabolism of chick offspring. Hy-Line Brown breeder hens were allocated into two groups, supplemented with 0 (control (CT)) or 0·5 % CLA for 8 weeks. Offspring chicks were grouped according to the mother generation and fed for 7 d. CLA treatment had no significant influence on development, egg quality and fertility of breeder hens but darkened the egg yolks in shade and increased yolk sac mass compared with the CT group. Addition of CLA resulted in increased body mass and liver mass and decreased deposition of subcutaneous adipose tissue in chick offspring. The serum TAG and total cholesterol levels of chick offspring were decreased in CLA group. CLA treatment increased the incorporation of both CLA isomers (c9t11 and t10c12) in the liver of chick offspring, accompanied by the decreased hepatic TAG levels, related to the significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) enzyme activities and the increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) enzyme activity. Meanwhile, CLA treatment reduced the mRNA expression of genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS, ACC and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c) and induced the expression of genes related to β-oxidative (CPT1, AMP-activated protein kinase and PPARα) in chick offspring liver. In summary, the addition of CLA in breeder hens diet significantly increased the incorporation of CLA in the liver of chick offspring, which further regulate hepatic lipid metabolism.

This paper considers a dual-channel supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a capital-constrained retailer, where the retailer makes certain sales efforts and the manufacturer may hitch a ride on the retailer’s sales efforts. Deferred payment and bank loan financing models under Retailer- and Manufacturer-Stackelberg settings are established, respectively. The equilibrium price and sales effort strategies of both sides of the supply chain under two power structures and financing modes are obtained by the backward solution method, and then the influence of free-riding behavior and financing interest rate on equilibrium strategies is explored, as well as how the power structure affects the financing decisions of enterprises. The results show that deferred payment is more conducive to retailers’ sales effort and order volume, which is the optimal financing model for the retailers under each power structure. Power structure affects the initial capital threshold of retailers and the manufacturers’ financing decisions. The impact of free-riding behavior and financing rate on equilibrium prices exists and varies, depending on the power structure and financing model. Numerical simulation results show that manufacturers should give priority to publishing price strategies, while retailers should decide whether to give priority to publishing price strategies according to financing mode and cross-price sensitivity. This paper’s findings can provide valuable guidance for decision-making in financing, price, and sales effort for the capital-constrained dual-channel supply chain.

Traumatic brain edema occurs commonly brain injury, and most manifests as pericontusional edema of brain contusions. On the basis of evidence-based medicine, apart from recommending craniotomy and mannitol, there are few particularly effective measures to prevent and treat traumatic brain edema. It is uncertain whether an early complementary acupuncture treatment would improve long-term outcomes of patients with traumatic brain edema. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and the safety of early complementary acupuncture for patients with traumatic brain edema.This study is an actively accruing, single-center, single-blinded, 2-arm, randomized controlled trial. Patients with traumatic brain injury, a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 6∼12, and brain edema on computed tomography scan will be divided into 2 groups on the basis of stratified block randomization. All patients will receive conventional treatment, and the study group will undergo additional acupuncture therapy (start within 72 hours after the injury) once a day for 28 days. The primary outcome is the dichotomized Glasgow Outcome Score at 6 months and 12 months after injury, and the secondary outcomes are the Glasgow Coma Scale, the volume of traumatic brain edema, the serum levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, and the Modified Barthel Index.This study will provide data regarding the efficacy of early complementary acupuncture for traumatic brain edema. If the study yields positive results, its findings may offer insights into a valuable complementary option of acupuncture for traumatic brain edema that could provide pilot evidence for large, randomized, controlled trials.Trial registration: This trial has been published in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register, http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=141208htm=4 (Identifier: ChiCTR2100053794, registered on December 3, 2021).

An EMU train with detailed cabin structural is established based on the finite element method. The secondary impact between train driver and control desk is fully analysed and two measures are proposed to reduce the driver injury severity, such as the multi-objective optimization of the driver seat position and equipping the train with three-point seat belt. Simulation results indicate that the driver seat position has a significant effect on the driver injury severity during a secondary impact. According to the multi-objective optimization, some Pareto solutions are suggested to design the driver seat position. Besides that, it is also indicated although the chest and leg are well protected when the driver wears a two-point seat belt, it increases the head injure during a secondary impact. On the other hand, the three-point seat belt can supply the train driver with an overall protection against the secondary impact. The injury criteria (HIC, VC, TI) of the driver with the three-point seat belt is significantly lower than those of the driver without seat belt. Moreover, according to the simulation analysis, the limited load of the three-point seat belt is suggested about 1.5 kN.

Truncated Painleve expansion method is used to solve the fifth order potential Bogoyavlenskii-Schiff equation. New exact solutions with lower-dimensional arbitrary functions are obtained. By using the symbolic computation software Maple, some typical examples with specific parameters are exhibited, which have various physical features.

C16H12N4O10Zn, monoclinic, C2/c (no. 15), a = 18.6618(10) Å, b = 13.5466(6) Å, c = 14.7722(8) Å, β = 108.481(2)°, V = 3541.9(3) Å3, Z = 8, R gt(F) = 0.0392, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1061, T = 293(2) K.

The wide use of polymers to enhance oil recovery can make pumping and rejecting oilfield produced water difficult because of the high viscosity of the treated water. To deal with this problem, this study proposed an electrocoagulation method that is time saving, highly efficient, and easy to apply. A Box–Behnken design coupled with the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to construct a model of the electrocoagulation process that considers three key variables: current density, inter-electrode gap, and operation time. The optimized operational conditions were obtained using second-order polynomial models; they were a current density of 45.6 mA/cm2, an inter-electrode of 3.2 cm, and an operation time of 22.8 min. The results under these conditions were a viscosity reduction of 90.9% and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction of 74.9%. These data strongly correlated with the predicted values of the RSM models. Based on the single and interactive effect analysis, it showed that viscosity and...

Cholangiocarcinoma cells originate in the biliary epithelium. The cells easily metastasize and cause relapse. The effect of Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) on the biological behavior of cholangiocarcinoma cells is not yet clear. In the present study, RKIP and cytokeratin 19 expression was detected in the extrahepatic tissues of cholangiocarcinoma patients by immunohistochemistry. RKIP small interfering (si)RNA or an RKIP-overexpressing adenoviral vector were used to infect the human cholangiocarcinoma RBE cell line. RKIP protein or gene expression was analyzed by western blotting or reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), respectively. The cells were assayed for proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 4 (TIMP-4) mRNA was assayed by RT-qPCR. RKIP expression was reduced in the extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma tumor compared with the adjacent uninvolved peritumoral tissues. The current study revealed that RKIP expression was positively correlated with cell differentiation, but negatively correlated with lymph node or distant metastasis (P

Copolymers with super segregated structure of hydrophilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) and fluorophilic poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate) (PFA) were prepared. And just because of this super segregated structure which was resulted from the extremely strong incompatibility between the two blocks, several interesting self-assembly behaviors of the copolymers were displayed and studied under different conditions. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed that with the increase of PFA in the polymerization system, the incompatibility in this super segregated structure became stronger, and the self-assembly behavior changed from ball-like or rod-like to vesicles, and finally collapsed to sheet-like. The self-assembly behavior changed likewise when the initial concentration increased. And the interesting formation of these barrel-like and spindle-like vesicles was finally studied with different cooling speeds. It’s finally found that with this super segregation structure, these new self-assembly morphology might be formed due to the extremely strong incompatibility between mPEG and PFA segments.

In the present article, a novel gas engine-driven heat pump (GEHP) which could independently provide heating, cooling, and hot water for the buildings with its autonomous power supply system was presented, and the cooling performance characteristics of GEHP using mixture refrigerant R134a/R152a were investigated experimentally. The thermophysical properties and flammability of this proposed mixture refrigerant were analyzed and experimented to approve that it could be used safely in GEHP. The experimental results indicated that the cooling capacity, waste heat recovered from cylinder jacket and exhaust gas, gas engine energy consumption, and compressor power increased with the increase of the gas engine speeds and evaporator water inlet flow rate, but changed in a small range with the increase of the evaporator water inlet temperature except cooling capacity. The generator power remained about 4.90 kW in different operating conditions. Furthermore, the coefficient of performance (COP) and the primary ener...

Gas-engine driven heat pump (GEHP) working as water heater has higher energy utilization efficiency and can reduce more environmental pollution than gas-fired (oil-fired, coal-fired) boiler and electric motor driven heat pump (EHP). In the present work, a thermal model of a GEHP system working as water heater was established, and the performances (heating capacity, coefficient of performance (COP) and primary energy ratio (PER) of the GEHP system were also studied both by simulation and experiment. The results showed that the heating capacity increased with the increase of the rotary speed and water flow rate, but decreased with the increase of the hot water temperature. The COP and PER increased with the increase of the water flow rate, but decreased with the increase of the rotary speed and hot water temperature. The simulation results were well agreed with experimental data. The defrost time of the GEHP system was also studied by experiment, the results showed that the defrost time of both using waste heat recovered and reverse cycle defrost (RCD) was the shortest among the three defrost methods used in this paper.

The data transmission scheme between a transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) network port and a serial port based on an ARM embedded system is introduced in the paper. The data transmission between a personal computer (PC) and remote equipment through an Internet is realized. The structure of a hardware platform is simply introduced, the cutting and transplant of operating system, the communication program design of the network port and the serial port and the cross compiling between the two ports are introduced in detail. The AT91SAM9261 chip of ATMEL Corporation is employed as the embedded board of a kernel processor. The Redhat9 Linux operating system is employed as a software development platform, an ARM-Linux operating system is employed as a program operation platform and the kernel version is Linux-2.6.2. The C program is used and an ARM-Linux-GNU tool chain is used for the cross compiling. The experimental result proves that the real-time, parallel full duplex data transmission between the network port and the serial port is realized by the scheme provided in the paper.

In this paper, we study the best-mixture ratio of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel for diesel engines. The simulation results show that the integrated indexes including engine power, cost-effectiveness and emission properties are rather better with different optimizing index when the ratio of bio-diesel, ethanol and diesel are 71.58:2.72:25.70 and 50:2.4127:47.5873.

In this paper, a passenger train with detailed cabin structural has been established based on the finite element method. Simulation results indicate that the train driver injury by the triangular impact pulse in US 49CFR is more seriously than those by the collision scenarios in EN15227. Besides that the driver seat position has a significant effect on the driver injury severity during a secondary impact. It is found that generally the head injury criterion (HIC15) is proportional with the longitudinal and vertical distance between the driver seat and control desk. And the leg injury criterion (TI) is inversely proportional with the longitudinal distance and proportional with the vertical distance. In terms of the chest injury criterion (V*C), it is more complicated, and its minimal value is about at the position of 0.43 m (longitudinal) and 0.15 m (vertical). Moreover, simulation results indicate that the train driver with arms lying on the control desk has a less injury severity than that with the arms dropping naturally, and equipping with the three-point belt is of significant benefit for the train driver to reduce the secondary impact against the control desk during a train collision accident.

To explore the safety and immediate efficacy of endovascular treatment for superior mesenteric artery embolism.From November 2007 to October 2012, 18 cases of superior mesenteric artery embolism were treated by thrombus extraction and/or catheter-directed thrombolysis. There were 13 males and 5 females with an age range of 44-91 years. The concurrent conditions included atrial fibrillation (n = 8) and rheumatic valve disease (n = 3). All diagnoses were made with abdominal enhanced computed tomography (CT) examination. Embolism was predominantly located at 3 to 10 cm away from opening. The procedures included thrombus extraction plus system thrombosis (n = 3), thrombus extraction and catheter-directed thrombolysis (n = 6), catheter-directed thrombolysis (n = 5) and thrombus extraction, catheter-directed thrombolysis and PTA (n = 2).The technical success rate was 100%. Two cases had new embolism in popliteal artery. Another case with peritoneal irritation syndrome died after automatic discharge. The other 17 patients obtained satisfactory results and were followed up after 6 months by color Doppler ultrasound or abdominal enhanced CT. It showed that superior mesenteric arteries were unobstructed, but local stenosis occurred in 2 cases.Endovascular interventional therapy is both safe and efficacious in the treatment of superior mesenteric artery embolization. And its immediate effect is satisfactory.

Laser holographic interferometry measurements of temperature distributions are presented for a developing rectangular duct with a detached square-rib array and an abrupt-contraction inlet. The Reynolds number based on the duct hydraulic diameter and bulk mean velocity extended from 5.0 × 10 3 to 5.0 × 10 4 . The ratios of rib pitch to height, rib to duct height, and detached distance to rib height were 10, 0.13 and 0.58, respectively. Isotherm contours and local and average Nusselt number distributions were used to document the heat transfer characteristics. The complementary pressure loss measurements allowed thermal performance comparison between detached-ribbed, attached-ribbed and smooth ducts to be made. It was found that thermal performance was better in the detached-ribbed duct flows than in the attached-ribbed duct flows. The entry length effect was 5.3–10.6% in terms of length-mean Nusselt number ratio for the detached-ribbed duct flows. Further, semi-empirical correlations for heat transfer and friction in the fully developed region and length mean Nusselt number ratio were developed.

To study the molecular mechanisms of antithrombin (AT) deficiency caused by AT gene mutations T98I and A404T.Wild-type and mutant AT cDNA expression plasmids (ATwt, AT T98I and AT A404T) were constructed and transfected into the monkey fibroblast of the line COS-7 or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. NH4Cl. ALLN and brefeldin A were added. ELISA was used to detect the AT: Ag. Pulse-chase experiment and immunofluorescence assay were used to detect the radioactivity of the 35S-labeled AT. Fluorescence real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of AT mRNA, protein degradation inhibition was used to elucidate the mutant T98I degradation pathway inside the cells.AT T98I was not secreted from the cells and was gradually degraded inside the cells. There was partial secretion of AT A404T, but most of the molecule was not secreted but was degraded intracellularly. Fluorescence real-time PCR indicated that the mutant AT mRNA was transcribed at a similar or even higher level as that of wild-type (wt). Pulse-chase labeling studies suggested both AT variants did not accumulate, but degraded intracellularly. Protein degradation inhibition experiment showed that mutant AT T98I was degraded intracellularly through the proteasome pathway. Immunohistochemical staining of the transfected cells revealed that CHO cells expressing the AT T98I mutant were stained diffusely without perinuclear enhancement and cells expressing AT A404T mutant mainly in the whole cytoplasm with weaker perinuclear enhancement.Impaired secretion of the mutant AT molecules, due to intracellular degradation, is the molecular mechanism of AT deficiency caused by T98I and A404T mutation.

A LabVIEW-based self-constructed chemical virtual instrument (VI) has been developed for determining temperatures and pressures. It can be put together easily and quickly by selecting hardware modules, such as the PCI-DAQ card or serial port method, different kinds of sensors, signal-conditioning circuits or finished chemical instruments, and software modules such as data acquisition, saving, proceeding. The VI system provides individual and extremely flexible solutions for automatic measurements in physical chemistry research.

Most secreted proteins, including coagulation factor X (FX), are synthesized with a signal peptide, which is necessary for targeting the nascent polypeptide into the endoplasmic reticulum. Characterization of naturally occurring mutations may provide insights into the functional roles of the amino acids in the signal peptide.A 52-year old male patient with type I FX deficiency was studied. Mutations were searched for by FX gene (F10) sequencing. The wild-type and the mutant FX proteins were expressed in transfected cells and then immunological assays were performed. Pulse-chase experiments and cell-free expression studies were conducted to determine the cellular fate of the mutant FX molecules.The patient we studied was homozygous for a substitution of arginine for serine at codon -30 in the signal sequence of F10. Immunoassays detected low FX antigen levels in both the conditioned media and lysates of the cells expressing the mutant protein. Pulse-chase analysis showed that only trace amounts of the mutant FX protein were detectable in the conditioned media, and that the mutant molecules did not accumulate inside the cells either. The results of cell-free expression studies showed that although the transcription and translation of the mutant construct were normal, no post-translational processing, such as N-linked glycosylation, occurred in the presence of microsomes.These findings suggest that substitution of a neutral polar amino acid, serine by arginine, in the hydrophobic core of FX signal peptide severely impairs the ability of the protein to enter the endoplasmic reticulum and results in FX deficiency.

We identified the gene mutations in two Chinese pedigree of type I hereditary protein C deficiency and type I hereditary antithrombin deficiency.The plasma level of protein C activity (PC:A), protein C antigen (PC:Ag), protein S activity, antithrombin activity (AT:A) and antithrombin antigen (AT:Ag) of propositi and two family members were detected using ELISA and chromogenic assay, respectively. All exons and intron-exon boundaries of protein C gene and antithrombin gene were analyzed by direct sequencing of the corresponding amplified PCR products in DNA from the propositus.The plasma PC:A and PC:Ag of propositus 1 was 26% and 1.43 mg/dl, respectively. The PC:Ag and PC:A of his father were normal. The decreased PC:A level was seen in his mother and 4 of his maternal pedigree. PS:A and AT:A were all normal in pedigree 1 members. A C5498T heterozygous mutation in exon 3 of protein C gene, resulting in the substitution of Arg for Trp at the 15th amino acid, was identified in propositus 1 and 8 of his relatives. The plasma AT:A and AT:Ag of propositus 2 was 48.6% and 10.4 mg/dl, respectively. The reduced AT:A and AT:Ag levels were found in his father and 5 of paternal pedigree. PC:A, PC:Ag and PS:A were all in normal range. A heterozygous 13387-9G deletion in exon 6 of antithrombin gene was identified in propositus 2. This mutation introduced a frameshift and a premature stop at codon 426 and existed in 6 members of pedigree 2.The C5498T heterozygous mutation in exon 3 of protein C gene, first reported in China, leads to type I hereditary protein C deficiency. The 13387-9G deletion, a novel mutation, can cause antithrombin deficiency and thrombosis.

To investigate the mechanisms of two novel missense mutations of factor XIIIA subunit gene (Arg77--Cys,Ser413--Trp) in the pathogenesis of hereditary factor XIII deficiency.Site-directed mutagenesis was conducted to obtain 2 mutant human XIII A recombinant plasmids, mut-PCI/FXIIIA. Normal wild type factor XIII A recombinant plasmid, wt-PCI/FXIIIA, and mut-PCI/FXIIIA, were transfected into cultured COS7 cells line, renal fibroid cell of African green monkey using Superfect reagent respectively, The expression levels of DNA, RNA and protein of human factor XIII, both wild type and mutant, were detected by PCR, RT-PCR and Western blotting. Pulse-chase experiment was used to look into the changing of factor XIII A in the cytoplasm. Factor XIIIA activity was assayed by Biotin-pentylamine incorporation technique.The mRNA levels of the two mutants in transfected cells were similar to that of the wild type factor XIIIA. But the amount of mutant factor XIIIA protein and its activity in cells decreased markedly, even disappeared. Pulse-chase experiment revealed that at the two mutants existed chase time 0.5 h and 1 h considerable amounts in cells and then disappeared rapidly later.The 2 mutations of the factor XIIIA cause the instability, degradation, and rapid disappearance of FXIIIA in cytoplasm, thus resulting in hereditary factor XIII deficiency.

To identify the gene mutation in a Chinese pedigree of type I hereditary protein C deficiency.The plasma levels of protein C activity (PC:A), protein C antigen (PC:Ag), protein S activity, and anti-thrombin activity (AT:A) of the propositus, male, aged 7, and 11 members of the pedigree were detected using ELISA and chromogenic assay respectively. All of the nine exons and intron-exon boundaries of protein C gene of the propositus were analyzed by direct sequencing of the corresponding amplified PCR products in DNA from the propositus. Restriction enzyme site analysis was used to confirm the mutation.The plasma concentrations of protein C activity and antigen of the propositus were 26% and 1.43 g/L respectively. The PC:Ag and PC:A of his father were normal. Decreased PC:A level was seen in his mother and 4 of his maternal pedigree. PS:A and AT:A were all normal in all of the pedigree members. A C5498T heterozygous mutation in exon 3, resulting in the substitution of Arg for Trp at the 15th amino acid, was identified in the propositus and 8 of his relatives. This mutation was confirmed by restriction enzyme site analysis. Mutations C/T at position 2405, A/G at position 2418, and A/T at position 2583 in the protein C promoter region were confirmed in the propositus and all members of the pedigree.C5498T heterozygous mutation in exon 3 of protein C gene, first reported in China, leads to type I hereditary.