Search

This paper presents a simulation model for a preemptive transportation system where vehicles can have tasks dynamically reassigned to optimize overall efficiency. The model, built using Flexsim software, includes 9 storage areas and 8 vehicles. Exponential distributions, validated with real logistics warehouse data, generate stochastic task arrivals. Recursive logic implements the preemption algorithm. Comparative analysis over a 10-hour duration shows that the preemptive mode increases average transport volume by 13 % and reduces vehicle travel distance by 13 % compared to a non-preemptive baseline. The results demonstrate the value of preemptive transportation in enhancing system responsiveness and operational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a type of main meat food, pork is widely accepted, and has been used over a long time by residents in China. However, its high cholesterol is the primary unfavourable factor that influences human health. The reduction of cholesterol content in pork through fermentation using probiotics may be a promising candidate approach. In the present work, the probiotic strains were obtained from traditional naturally fermented foods, and identified via monoclonal culture, morphological observation, biochemical detection, and 16S rRNA sequencing. The dominant strain was used to produce sour pork, which was applied to regulate lipid metabolism in mice. Results showed that a total of 31 strains were identified from the traditional naturally fermented foods, of which four strains had similar characteristics to Lactobacillus plantarum, and displayed good capacity for cholesterol degradation with metabolism efficiencies of 75.31% (DC2 strain), 68.01% (PC1 strain), 60.49% (SC1 strain), and 58.02% (DC1 strain). The dominant strain DC2 had 99.93% homology with L. plantarum. Following fermentation with DC2 strain (4 × 106 CFU/g inoculum size, 20-day incubation), the cholesterol in sour pork was significantly reduced with 77.2% efficiency. The serum lipids in mice that were fed with sour pork were significantly lower than those in mice that were fed with normal pork. In summary, a L. plantarum strain with good capacity for cholesterol degradation was obtained (CCTCC NO: M 2019121). The strain can be used to produce fermented sour pork. Dietary sour pork may be beneficial for lowering blood lipid levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Meteorology Administration chemistry model Chinese Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environment (CUACE) is online integrated into the mesoscale operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) model (GRAPES_Meso5.1) and aerosol‐cloud‐radiation interaction is achieved to establish the first version (V1) of chemistry‐weather (CW) interacted model GRAPES‐Meso5.1/CUACE CW V1. The most polluted winter 2016–2017 is selected to study the meteorology impacts on haze/fog prediction, the impact of aerosol‐radiation, aerosol‐cloud and CW interaction (ARI, ACI, CWI) on haze/fog prediction and NWP. Single way model without CWI displays reasonable PM2.5 and visibility prediction in general. However, modeled PM2.5 peaks are underestimated and visibility valleys are overestimated during haze/fog pollution, the underestimation of relative humidity (RH) contributes major to this misestimation; CWI model cut the negative bias of PM2.5 peaks and the positive bias of visibility valleys. The improvement of 5 and 3 km low visibility by CWI during severe haze/fog period is more obvious than that of 10 km, which just compensates for the largest deficiency in low visibility prediction related with severe haze/fog by single way model; The NWP including sea level pressures, RH, temperature, wind speed are also improved by CWI from surface to upper troposphere; ARI contributes larger to the predicted PM2.5,visibility and NWP improvement than that of ACI, their relative contributions varies with model vertical height and the overlapping condition of cloud and aerosols. Due to the joint contribution of RH and PM2.5, CWI's improving on visibility is larger than PM2.5. This study illustrates the importance of including CWI in air quality prediction model. Plain Language Summary: Double way atmospheric chemistry model considering complete aerosol‐radiation‐cloud interaction is the hot and difficult issue in climate, weather and air quality (AQ) modeling. Focusing on better prediction of haze/fog pollution in China, the first version (V1) of chemistry‐weather (CW) interacted model GRAPES‐Meso5.1/CUACE CW V1 is established by online coupling the Chinese Meteorology Administration CUACE chemistry model with the updated operational mesoscale weather model GRAPES_Meso5.1 and the further completion of aerosol‐cloud‐radiation interaction in it. The meteorology impacts on haze/fog prediction including PM2.5 and visibility is discussed. The impacts of aerosol‐cloud interaction (ACI), aerosol radiation interaction (ARI) and the both (CWI) on haze/fog prediction and mesoscale NWP is further studied. The study results shows that the important impacts of relative humidity on high PM2.5 and low visibility and the improving of PM2.5, low visibility prediction and NWP by ARI, ACI and CWI during haze/fog episode, indicating the importance of CW model in better AQ prediction and NWP in polluted region. Key Points: An online chemistry‐weather (CW) interacted GRAPES_Meso5.1/Chinese Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environment CW V1.0 model with aerosol‐radiation‐cloud interaction is establishedSingle way model shows basic reasonable haze/fog prediction including visibility and PM2.5 in most polluted subregions in ChinaCW Interaction improves PM2.5, visibility and numerical weather prediction from surface to upper troposphere to varying degree [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent chronic orthopedic disease, but its relationship with the lncRNA OIP5 Antisense RNA 1(OIP5-AS1)/micro-30a-5p axis is still under investigation. This study was designed to explore the regulatory function of this axis on chondrocytes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was carried out to quantify lncRNA OIP5-AS1 and micro-30a-5p in cartilage tissues of patients with OA, and lncRNA OIP5-AS1 siRNA, micro-30a-5p mimics, and micro-30a-5p inhibitor vectors were constructed to analyze the functions of lncRNA OIP5-AS1/micro-30a-5p on chondrocytes. In addition, the Western blot was used to determine the levels of proteins in chondrocytes, the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)assay to determine the viability of chondrocytes, the flow cytometry to analyze apoptosis and cycle of them, and the Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay to verify the targeting relationship between LncRNA OIP5-AS1 and micro-30a-5p. RESULTS: LncRNA OIP5-AS1 in cartilage tissues of patients with OA decreased, while micro-30a-5p in them increased and increased with apoptosis. Down-regulation of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 gave rise to increased micro-30a-5p, and up-regulation of micro-30a-5p or down-regulation of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 brought about cell apoptosis and inflammatory response, and inhibited cell proliferation, while up-regulation of micro-30a-5p suppressed cell apoptosis and inflammatory response, and accelerated cell proliferation. LncRNA OIP5-AS1 affected chondrocytes by negatively regulating micro-30a-5p. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA OIP5-AS1 inhibits the apoptosis and inflammatory response of chondrocytes and promotes their survival by targetedly inhibiting micro-30a-5p, and both up-regulation of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 and down-regulation of micro-30a-5p is beneficial to patients with OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystal structures, magnetic, and dielectric properties for the ordered double perovskites LnPbCoSbO6 (Ln = La, Pr, Nd) have been investigated. The crystal structure has been solved by Rietveld refinements of X-ray diffraction data in the monoclinic space group P21/n (No. 14). The Co2+ and Sb5+ ions are almost fully ordered over the B-site, and the octahedral framework displays significant tilting distortion according to the Glazer's tilt system a-a-c+. As the result of lanthanide contraction from La3+ to Nd3+, the B-site sublattice distortions become stronger accompanying with the reduction of the tolerance factor and coordination number. The magnetization measurements show an antiferromagnetic ordering with large effective magnetic moments (μeff) suggesting that the orbital component is significant. The maximum values of isothermal magnetization increase with the decrease in radii of rare earth ions, which is attributed to the weakening of antiferromagnetic interaction via Co2+-O-Sb5+-O-Co2+ paths. The dielectric constants present frequency dependence and monotonically decrease with the ionic radii reduction from La3+ to Nd3+ due to the suppression of electron transfer. These results indicate that the magnetic and dielectric properties can be tuned by controlling the degree of lattice distortion, which is realized by introducing different Ln3+ ions at the A-site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of oncolytic reovirus on the biological activities of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) as a novel virotherapy strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to detect the viability of hUC-MSCs infected with different multiplicities of infection (MOIs) of reoviruses. The biological activities (proliferation, marker expression, multipotency, and migration) of hUC-MSCs were verified by assaying osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential, flow cytometry, and electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing, respectively. RESULTS: The viability of hUC-MSCs slightly decreased by infection with low titers of reoviruses. A MOI of 1 had no effect on the viability of hUC-MSCs within 96 h. The biological activities (proliferation, marker expression, multipotency, and migration) of hUC-MSCs were not affected by reovirus infection at a MOI of 1. CONCLUSIONS: Reovirus at a MOI of 1 had no effect on the biological activities of hUC-MSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: S100 proteins conduce to tumorigenesis and metastasis in a variety of ways, facilitating a local inflammatory environment for development and progression of tumors. However, the expression patterns and the precise roles of the S100 family members contributing to tumorigenesis and the progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain to be elucidated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Herein, the expression of S100 transcripts was analyzed in various tumor types in comparison to the normal controls using the ONCOMINE database, along with the corresponding expression profiles in the different subtypes of AML as retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We used the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database to investigate the prognostic values of S100 mRNA expression in AML. RESULTS: Our results indicated that high expression of S100A4 mRNA was associated with poor overall survival (OS) (p=0.026), while that of S100P was correlated with a favorable OS in AML patients (p=0.028). Other members of the S100 family did not show any correlation to the survival. Moreover, the correlation between the expression levels of S100A4 and S100P and the clinical characteristics and methylation of AML patients was investigated. The results demonstrated that the promoter methylation level of S100A4 (p=0.002) and S100P (p=0.029) was higher in 61-80-years-old group as compared to the other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, it can be deduced that S100A4 and S100P might be novel biomarkers and crucial prognostic factors for AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Osteogenic differentiation plays a crucial role in maintaining general bone homeostasis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) act as important regulators during the osteogenesis process. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism of Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily Q member 1 overlapping transcript 1 (KCNQ1OT1) in osteogenic differentiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to detect the expression of KCNQ1OT1, osteonectin (OCN), osteopontin (OPN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), miR- 320a, mothers against DPP homolog 5 (Smad5). Protein levels of OCN, OPN, RUNX2 and Smad5 were measured by Western blot assay. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity detection assay was performed to examine the ALP activity. The interactions among KCNQ1OT1, miR-320a and Smad5 were determined by dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: KCNQ1OT1, OCN, OPN and RUNX2 expression were enhanced in human bone marrow- derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) treated with osteogenic medium (OM). KCNQ1OT1 positively regulated OCN, OPN and RUNX2 expression and ALP activity of hBMSCs. Furthermore, KCNQ1OT1 directly bound to miR- 320a, and KCNQ1OT1 knockdown reduced OCN, OPN and RUNX2 expression and ALP activity by suppressing miR-320a expression. Moreover, Smad5 was a target of miR-320a, and miR-320a inhibition abated the effects of Smad5 silencing in OCN, OPN and RUNX2 expression and ALP activity of hBMSCs. Also, KCNQ1OT1 knockdown reduced OCN, OPN and RUNX2 expression by targeting miR-320a/Smad5 axis. CONCLUSIONS: KCNQ1OT1 promoted osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs by regulating Smad5 expression via sponging miR-320a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the deformation-mechanism-based true-stress (DMTS) creep model is modified to include oxidation influence on the long-term creep performance of modified 9Cr-1Mo steels. An area-deduction method is introduced to evaluate oxide scale formation on the creep coupons, which is incorporated into the DMTS model formulated based on intragranular dislocation glide (IDG), intragranular dislocation climb (IDC), and grain boundary sliding (GBS) mechanisms, in modifying the true stress. Thus, the modified DMTS model can not only describe the creep curve, but also predict the long-term creep life and failure mode, which is shown to be in good agreement with the creep data generated in the authors' laboratory as well as by the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) of Japan for long-term (> 104 hours) creep life prediction on Grade 91 steels. In particular, the predictability of the model is demonstrated in comparison with the Larson–Miller parameter method. In addition, the modified DMTS model provides quantitative information of mechanism partitioning, insinuating the failure mode via intragranular/intergranular deformation. Therefore, it has advantages over the empirical models in providing physical insights of creep failure, which can be useful to material design for performance optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α- and β-FeSe thin films were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Compared to the other parameters, the growth temperature shows decisive influence on the phase transition of the FeSe samples. In temperature-dependent electrical measurements, n-type to p-type reversion was observed for both the α- or and β-FeSe samples. Furthermore, the p-type character of the films becomes more and more obvious with increasing the Se/Fe atomic ratio in the samples. Ferromagnetism was observed in the α-FeSe films although which is not supported by calculation on density of states. The ferromagnetic character shows significant dependence on Se/Fe atomic ratio in the films and was attributed to the Fe vacancies or Fe clusters in the α-FeSe thin films. The magnetic domain and hysteresis loop of the β-FeSe thin films are also studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alternative doping approach known as apical oxygen doping was developed for the copper oxyhalide family (Sr,Ca)3Cu2O4+deltaCl2-y to render it superconductive at 80 K. Holes were introduced by replacing certain portions of the monovalent halogen found on the apical sites with divalent oxygen. The introduction of charge carriers into the CuO2 planes is necessary to make such materials superconductive. A bulk superconductivity was obtained with Tc above 77 K in a new two-layer compound (Sr,Ca)3Cu2O4+deltaCl2-y. The compound is found to be isostructural with (La,Sr)2-CaCu2O6 with (Sr,Ca) at the (La,Sr) or Ca sites, and Cl at the apical sites outside the CuO2 planes.

Electron diffraction studies confirm the formation of 2a0x2b0xc0 superstructure upon treatment of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O2 ((Bi, Pb)-2223) with 7,7,8,8-tetracynoquinodimethane. An ordering of oxygen vacancies residing in both CuO and SrO sheets results in the superstructure. The superstructure eliminates the superconductivity of (Bi, Pb)-2223.