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This study was designed to determine the effect of osmotic dehydration (OD) process temperature (35–55 °C), sucrose concentration (40–60% w/w) and immersion time (90–210 min) on the water loss (WL), solid gain (SG), DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and sensory quality of the dehydrated Terung Asam slices. Response Surface Methodology with Central Composite Design was applied to investigate the influence of these variables on the aforementioned responses. The increase in the levels of these processing parameters increased the WL and SG. The antioxidant activities also increased with sugar concentration, but reduced with immersion time and temperature elevation. About 36–80% of IC50 and 47–72% of FRAP were depleted after osmotic process. The loss of antioxidants was predominantly due to leaching during osmotic treatment rather than hot air drying. Despite the losses of these compounds, osmotic pretreatment was able to improve the sensory quality of the product. The optimum OD process condition was predicted as process temperature 38.1 °C, sucrose concentration 55.6% and osmotic duration 126.3 min.

Mechanical principle is an important basic course for machinery majors, is a machine and institutions as the main research object of the course. To meet the needs of the complex machinery of the applied talents training, starting from the teaching problems existing in the current mechanical principles, this paper expounds the main process of auxiliary teaching by using virtual prototype technology. In shaping machine, for example, intuitive show the process of physical movement and the movement of each component, is helpful to deepen students' understanding of abstract theory, inspire the students' interest in learning, have achieved good teaching effect.

Background The present health economic evaluation in Afghanistan aims to support public health decision makers and health care managers to allocate resources efficiently to appropriate treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) elicited by Leishmania tropica or Leishmania major. Methods A decision tree was used to analyse the cost and the effectiveness of two wound care regimens versus intra-lesional antimony in CL patients in Afghanistan. Costs were collected from a societal perspective. Effectiveness was measured in wound free days. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and incremental net monetary benefit (NMB) were calculated. The model was parameterized with baseline parameters, sensitivity ranges, and parameter distributions. Finally, the model was simulated and results were evaluated with deterministic and probability sensitivity analyses. Final outcomes were the efficiency of the regimens and a budget impact analysis in the context of Afghanistan. Results Average costs per patients were US$ 11 (SE = 0.016) (Group I: Intra-dermal Sodium Stibogluconate [IL SSG]), US$ 16 (SE = 7.58) (Group II: Electro-thermo-debridement [ETD] + Moist wound treatment [MWT]) and US$ 25 (SE = 0.48) (Group III: MWT) in patients with a single chronic CL ulcer. From a societal perspective the budget impact analysis shows that the regimens’ drug costs are lower than indirect disease cost. Average effectiveness in wound free days are 177 (SE = 0.36) in Group II, 147 (SE = 0.33) in Group III, and 129 (SE = 0.27) in Group I. The ICER of Group II versus Group I was US$ 0.09 and Group III versus Group I US$ 0.77, which is very cost-effective with a willingness-to-pay threshold of US$ 2 per wound free day. Within a Monte-Carlo probabilistic sensitivity analysis Group II was cost-effective in 80% of the cases starting at a willingness-to-pay of 80 cent per wound free day. Conclusions Group II provided the most cost-effective treatment. The non-treatment alternative is not an option in the management of chronic CL ulcers. MWT of Group III should at least be practiced. The cost-effectiveness of Group III depends on the number of dressings necessary until complete wound closure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: 10.1186/s40249-018-0389-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The ATP binding cassette B/multidrug-resistance/P-glycoprotein (ABCB/MDR/PGP) subfamily is a member of the ABC protein family. Significant progress has been made in the functional characterization of ABCB genes, particularly in Arabidopsis thaliana. This review evaluates recent advances concerning the plant ABCB subfamilies including their evolution and structure, the involvement and regulation of ABCB-mediated auxin transport, and the roles of ABCBs in plant growth and development. Insights into specific functions of members of the ABCB subfamily and their mediation of various regulatory pathways are also presented.

The effectiveness of cryotherapy on joint arthroplasty recovery remains controversial. This systematic review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of cryotherapy in patients after joint arthroplasty. Comprehensive literature searches of several databases including Cochrane Library (2013), MEDLINE (1950–2013), and Embase (1980–2013) were performed. We sought randomised controlled trials that compared the experimental group received any form of cryotherapy with any control group after joint arthroplasty. The main outcomes were postoperative blood loss, adverse events, and pain. Analyses were performed with Revman 5.0. Results were shown as mean differences (MD) and standard deviations or as risk difference and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). Ten trials comprised 660 total knee arthroplastys and three trials comprised 122 total hip arthroplastys (THAs) met the inclusion criteria. Blood loss was significantly decreased by cryotherapy (MD = −109.68; 95 % CI −210.92 to −8.44; P = 0.03). Cryotherapy did not increase the risk of adverse effect (n.s.). Cryotherapy decreased pain at the second day of postoperative (MD = −1.32; 95 % CI −2.37 to −0.27; P = 0.0003), but did not decreased pain at the first and third day of postoperative (n.s.). Cryotherapy appears effective in these selected patients after joint arthroplasty. The benefits of cryotherapy on blood loss after joint arthroplasty were obvious. However, the subgroup analysis indicated that cryotherapy did not decreased blood loss after THA. Cryotherapy did not increase the risk of adverse effect. Cryotherapy decreased pain at the second day of postoperative, but did not decreased pain at the first and third day of postoperative. II.

The Realizable k-ε turbulence model was performed to investigate the film cooling effectiveness with different blowing ratio 1,1.5,2 and different density ratio 1,1.5,2.The results show that, cooling effectiveness increases with the augment of blowing ratio. On the pressure side, cooling effectiveness increases with the augment of density ratio. On the suction side, with higher density ratio the leading edge cooling increases, the middle section reduces, and the trailing edge cooling effectiveness increases first decreases.

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT), as a novel and effective therapeutic modality to eradicate drug resistant bacteria without provoking multidrug resistance, has attracted increasing attention. This study examined the antimicrobial efficacy of the novel cationic amino acid-porphyrin conjugate 4I with four lysine groups against two different clinical isolated strains (drug sensitive and multidrug resistant) of the Acinetobacter baumannii species and its toxicity on murine dermal fibroblasts in vitro, as well as the therapeutic effect of PACT on acute, potentially lethal multidrug resistant strain excisional wound infections in vivo. The PACT protocol exposed 4I to illumination, exhibiting high antimicrobial efficacy on two different strains due to a high yield of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and non-selectivity to microorganisms. The photoinactivation effects of 4I against two different strains were dose-dependent. At 3.9 μM and 7.8 μM, PACT induced 6 log units of inactivation of sensitive and multidrug resistant strains. In contrast, 4I alone and illumination alone treatments had no visibly antimicrobial effect. Moreover, cytotoxicity tests revealed the great safety of the photosensitizer 4I in mice. In the in vivo study, we found 4I-mediated PACT was not only able to kill bacteria but also accelerated wound recovery. Compared with non-treated mice, over 2.89 log reduction of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain was reached in PACT treat mice at 24 h post-treatment. These results imply that 4I-mediated PACT therapy is an effective and safe alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy and has clinical potential for superficial drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii has been reported to be a potential raw material for functional food due to its high content of soluble dietary fibre, mineral, omega-3 fatty acids as well as a substantial amount of essential amino acids. In order to benefit from these excellent nutritional properties, this project aimed to develop a high-value dehydrated snack from K. alvarezii using osmotic dehydration (OD) treatment prior to hot air-drying. A 3 × 3 factorial design with 50°, 60° and 70°Brix sucrose concentration as well as treatment temperatures of 30, 35 and 40 °C were used. In general, an increase in sucrose concentration and temperature promoted mass transfer. OD treatment using 70°Brix sucrose concentration at 40 °C caused case hardening of the seaweed that reduced the solid gain (p 0.05), but dehydrated seaweed became darker at high sugar concentration. Interaction effect between sucrose concentration and temperature was found to affect the water loss and solid gain of the OD treatment (p

In this study, we identified the effects of water temperatures on the survival, feeding, and growth of the juveniles of Anguilla marmorata and Anguilla bicolor pacifica which have been commercially cultured in southeastern China in recent years. Twelve groups of each species, each group of 20, were reared in 12 105-l tanks for 45 days at six water temperature levels of 8, 13, 18, 23, 28 and 33 degrees C (one level two groups). The results showed that A. marmorata all died within 10 days at 8 degrees C and most died at 13 degrees C, but survived normally at temperature of >= 18 degrees C. A. bicolor pacifica all died within 9 days at 8 degrees C and 20 days at 13 degrees C, and partly died at 18 degrees C and 23 degrees C, but survived normally at temperature of 28 degrees C and 33 degrees C during experiment. The maximum feeding rates of both species occurred at temperature of 33 degrees C, being 2.23 +/- 0.10 % day(-1) for A. marmorata and 2.41 +/- 0.06 % day(-1) for A. bicolor pacifica. However, the maximum feed conversion rates occurred at 28 degrees C, being 54.79 +/- 7.54 % for A. marmorata and 71.35 +/- 1.85 % for A. bicolor pacifica. The maximum daily weight gains (DWG) of both species, 2.63 +/- 0.12 g day(-1) for A. bicolor pacifica and 1.19 +/- 0.38 g day(-1) for A. marmorata, were also achieved at 28 degrees C with initial and final mean body weights of 5.62 +/- 0.30 g and 11.59 +/- 0.03 g for the former and 4.97 +/- 0.36 g and 7.18 +/- 0.80 g for the latter. The DWG of A. bicolor pacifica was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than A. marmorata at 28 degrees C and 33 degrees C. The specific growth rates of both species were positively correlated to water temperature (P < 0.01). The optimal growth temperature is estimated to be 27.6 degrees C for A. marmorata and 30.1 degrees C for A. bicolor pacifica. We conclude that A. marmorata and A. bicolor pacifica survive and grow better at water temperature of 28-33 degrees C than that of

Congestions of the traffic flow within the urban traffic network have been a challenging task for all the urban developers. Many approaches have been introduced into the current system to solve the traffic congestion problems. Reconfiguration of the traffic signal timing plan has been carried out through implementation of different techniques. However, dynamic characteristics of the traffic flow increase the difficulties towards the ultimate solutions. Thus, traffic congestions still remain as unsolvable problems to the current traffic control system. In this study, artificial intelligence method has been introduced in the traffic light system to alter the traffic signal timing plan to optimize the traffic flows. Q-learning algorithm in this study has enhanced the traffic light system with learning ability. The learning mechanism of Q-learning enables traffic light intersections to release itself from traffic congestions situation. Adjacent traffic light intersections will work independently and yet cooperate with each others to a common goal of ensuring the fluency of the traffic flows within the traffic network. The simulated results show that the Q-Learning algorithm is able to learn from the dynamic traffic flow and optimize the traffic flow accordingly.

To investigate the antiinflammatory activities of aqueous extract of Occimum gratissmium (OGE) with emphasis on expression of proinflammatory cytokines in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated epithelial cell BEAS-2B.Effects of OGE on cell viability were determined by MTT assay. mRNA expression were analyzed by and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. Activation of kinase cascades was investigated by immunoblot. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was analyzed by flow cytometry.OGE (200 μg/mL) treatment or pretreatment and following LPS exposure slightly affected viability of BEAS-2B cells. Increase of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 and the elevated level of intracellular ROS in LPS-stimulated BEAS-2B cells were diminished by OGE pretreatment in a dose-dependent manner. OGE suppressed inflammatory response-associated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and Akt activation. Additionally, OGE pretreatment increased level of cellular inhibitor of κBα (IκBα) and inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB).These findings indicate that significant suppression of IL-6 and IL-8 expressions in LPS-stimulated BEAS-2B cells by OGE may be attributed to inhibiting activation of MAPKs and Akt and consequently suppressing nuclear translocation of NF-κB.

Apomixis represents an alteration of classical sexual plant reproduction to produce seeds that have essentially clonal embryos. In this report, hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.), which is an important oil tree, is identified as a new apomictic species. The ovary has a chamber containing one ovule that is unitegmic and orthotropous. Embryological investigations indicated that the developmental pattern of embryo sac formation is typical polygonum-type. Zygote embryos were not found during numerous histological investigations, and the embryo originated from nucellar cells. Nucellar embryo initials were found both at the micropylar and chalazal ends of the embryo sac, but the mature embryo developed only at the nucellar beak region. The mass of the nucellar embryo initial at the nucellar beak region developed into a nucellar embryo or split into two nucellar proembryos. The later development of the nucellar embryo was similar to the zygotic embryo and progressed from globular embryo to heart-shape embryo and to cotyledon embryo.

In this paper, the transient over-voltage (TOV) online monitoring technology based on the 500kV capacitive voltage transformer (CVT) is introduced, including an voltage divider formed by the 500kV CVTs within an unit C 3 (the low-voltage capacitor) and the development of an intelligent TOV monitoring system. Based on this monitoring system, some recorded typical TOV waveshapes are displayed and analyzed, which shows the feasibility and reliability of the online monitoring technology and system in long-term field application.

A new method for transient overvoltage (TOV) measurements in 500kV power system using capacitor voltage transformers (CVTs) is introduced in this paper. It is realized with a voltage sensor installed within the CVT as the low-voltage capacitor C 3 connection in series with the high-voltage (HV) capacitor C 1 and the median-voltage capacitor C 2 . Simulations studies and laboratory tests in manufactory have confirmed the validity and practicability of this method, which can be used to measure the TOV of the 500kV power grid.

The Chinese central government launched the Health System Reform Plan in 2009 to strengthen disease control and health promotion and provide a package of basic public health services. Village doctors receive a modest subsidy for providing public health services associated with the package. Their beliefs about this subsidy and providing public health services could influence the quality and effectiveness of preventive health services and disease surveillance.To understand village doctors' perspectives on the subsidy and their experiences of delivering public health services, we performed 10 focus group discussions with village doctors, 12 in-depth interviews with directors of township health centres and 4 in-depth interviews with directors of county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The study was conducted in four counties in central China, two in Hubei province and two in Jiangxi province.Village doctors prioritize medical services but they do their best to manage their time to include public health services. The willingness of township health centre directors and village doctors to provide public health services has improved since the introduction of the package and a minimum subsidy, but village doctors do not find the subsidy to be sufficient remuneration for their efforts.Improving the delivery of public health services by village doctors is likely to require an increase in the subsidy, improvement in the supervisory relationship between village clinics and township health centres and the creation of a government pension for village doctors.Résumé PROBLÈME: Le gouvernement central chinois a lancé le plan de réforme du système de santé en 2009 pour renforcer la lutte contre les maladies et l'amélioration de la santé, et pour fournir un paquet de services de base en termes de santé publique. Les médecins de village reçoivent une subvention modeste pour offrir des services de santé publique liés à ce paquet. Leurs opinions sur cette subvention et la fourniture de services de santé publique pourraient avoir une influence sur la qualité et l'efficacité des services de santé préventive et sur la surveillance des maladies. APPROCHE: Pour comprendre les perspectives des médecins de village sur la subvention et leur expérience dans le domaine de la fourniture de services de santé publique, nous avons organisé 10 discussions de groupe cible avec des médecins de village, 12 entrevues approfondies avec des directeurs de centres de santé cantonaux et 4 entrevues approfondies avec des directeurs départementaux de centres pour la lutte et la prévention des maladies. ENVIRONNEMENT LOCAL: L'étude a été effectuée dans quatre comtés du centre de la Chine, deux dans la province de Hubei et deux dans la province du Jiangxi. CHANGEMENTS SIGNIFICATIFS: Les médecins de village donnent la priorité aux services médicaux, mais ils font de leur mieux pour gérer leur temps de manière à inclure les services de santé publique. La volonté des directeurs de centres de santé cantonaux et des médecins de village d’offrir des services de santé publique s'est accrue depuis l'introduction du paquet et d'une subvention minimale, mais les médecins de village ne considèrent pas que cette subvention constitue une rémunération suffisante pour leurs efforts. LEÇONS TIRÉES: Il est possible que l’amélioration de la fourniture de services de santé publique par les médecins de village nécessite une augmentation de la subvention, l'amélioration de la relation de supervision entre cliniques de village et centres de santé cantonaux et la création d'une pension gouvernementale pour les médecins de village.Resumen SITUACIÓN: En el año 2009, el gobierno central chino puso en marcha el plan de reforma del sistema sanitario con el objetivo de reforzar el control de las enfermedades y fomentar la salud, así como proporcionar un paquete de servicios básicos de salud pública. Los médicos rurales perciben una modesta subvención por la prestación de los servicios de salud pública relacionados con dicho paquete. Sus opiniones acerca de dicha subvención y la prestación de los servicios de salud pública podrían influir en la calidad y la eficacia de los servicios sanitarios preventivos y de la vigilancia de las enfermedades. ENFOQUE: Con objeto de comprender los puntos de vista de los médicos rurales acerca de la subvención y sus experiencias en la prestación de servicios sanitarios, hemos llevado a cabo 10 debates con grupos focales de médicos rurales, 12 entrevistas en detalle con directores de centros de salud municipales y 4 entrevistas en detalle con directores de Centros para el Control y Prevención de las Enfermedades provinciales. MARCO REGIONAL: El estudio se llevó a cabo en cuatro condados del centro de China, dos de ellos en la provincia de Hubei y otros dos en la de Jiangxi. CAMBIOS IMPORTANTES: Los médicos rurales dan prioridad a los servicios médicos, pero hacen todo lo posible por gestionar su tiempo a fin de incluir los servicios de salud pública. La disposición de los directores de los centros sanitarios municipales y de los médicos rurales para prestar los servicios de salud pública ha aumentado desde la introducción del paquete y de la subvención mínima, si bien los médicos rurales no consideran que sea una retribución suficiente por sus esfuerzos. LECCIONES APRENDIDAS: Es probable que, para mejorar la prestación de servicios de salud pública por parte de los médicos rurales, sea necesario un aumento de la subvención, una mejora en la relación de supervisión entre las clínicas rurales y los centros de salud municipales, así como la creación de una pensión gubernamental para los médicos rurales.ملخص المشكلة : أطلقت الحكومة المركزية الصينية خطة إصلاح النظام الصحي في عام 2009 لتعزيز مكافحة الأمراض وتعزيز الصحة وتقديم حزمة من خدمات الصحة العمومية الأساسية. ويتلقى الأطباء القرويون إعانة متواضعة نظير تقديم خدمات الصحة العمومية المرتبطة بالحزمة. ويمكن أن تؤثر معتقداتهم بشأن هذه الإعانة وتقديم خدمات الصحة العمومية على جودة الخدمات الصحية الوقائية وفعاليتها وترصد الأمراض. الأسلوب : لفهم وجهات نظر الأطباء القرويين بشأن الإعانة وخبراتهم في إيتاء خدمات الصحة العمومية، أجرينا عشر مناقشات جماعية مع أطباء قرويين واثنتي عشرة مقابلة متعمقة مع مديري المراكز الصحية بالبلدة وأربع مقابلات متعمقة مع مديري مراكز مكافحة الأمراض والوقاية منها على مستوى المقاطعة. المواقع المحلية : تم إجراء الدراسة في أربع مقاطعات في وسط الصين، اثنتين في مقاطعة هوبي واثنتين في مقاطعة جيانغشي. التغيّرات ذات الصلة : يقوم الأطباء القرويون بتحديد أولويات الخدمات الطبية، غير أنهم يبذلون ما بوسعهم لإدارة وقتهم ليتضمن خدمات الصحة العمومية. وزاد استعداد مديري المراكز الصحية بالبلدة والأطباء القرويين لتقديم خدمات الصحة العمومية منذ تقديم الحزمة وإعانة دنيا، غير أن الأطباء القرويين لا يجدون الإعانة أجراً كافياً نظير جهودهم. الدروس المستفادة : من المرجح أن يتطلب تحسين إيتاء خدمات الصحة العمومية من جانب الأطباء القرويين زيادة في الإعانة، وتحسين في العلاقة الإشرافية بين العيادات القروية والمراكز الصحية بالبلدة وتقديم معاش حكومي للأطباء القرويين.摘要 问题: 中国中央政府在2009 年推出了卫生系统改革计划，旨在加强疾病控制，推进健康并提供基本的公共卫生服务包。乡村医生因提供与此服务包相关的公共卫生服务而获得适度补贴。他们对此补贴的信任以及公共卫生服务提供活动可能影响预防保健服务和疾病监测的质量和效率。 方法: 为了解乡村医生对补贴的看法及其提供公共卫生服务的经验，我们与乡村医生进行了10 个重点小组讨论，与乡镇卫生院的负责人进行了12 次深度访谈，与县级疾病控制和预防中心的负责人进行4 次深度访谈。 当地状况: 这项研究在华中地区的四个县执行，其中两个县在湖北省，两个县在江西省。 相关变化: 乡村医生以医疗服务为优先事务，但他们尽最大努力安排自己的时间将公共卫生服务纳入其中。在引入服务包和最低补贴之后，乡镇卫生院中心负责人和乡村医生提供公共卫生服务的意愿得以改善，但乡村医生发现补贴不足以偿付其付出的努力。 经验教训: 改善乡村医生提供公共卫生服务的状况，很可能需要增加补贴、改善乡村卫生室和乡镇卫生院的监督关系以及创立为乡村医生提供的津贴。Резюме Проблема: Центральное правительство Китая в 2009 г. приняло План реформирования системы здравоохранения, целью которого является улучшение контроля над заболеваниями, укрепление здоровья и предоставление населению пакета основных услуг общественного здравоохранения. Сельские врачи получают скромные субсидии за предоставление услуг общественного здравоохранения в составе базового пакета. Их отношение к этой субсидии и предоставлению услуг общественного здравоохранения может повлиять на качество и эффективность профилактических медицинских услуг и наблюдения за заболеваниями. Подход: Чтобы понять отношение сельских врачей к субсидии и предоставлению услуг общественного здравоохранения, было проведено 10 дискуссий с участием фокус-групп их сельских врачей, 12 подробных интервью с руководителями городских медицинских центров и 4 подробных интервью с руководителями окружных центров по контролю и профилактике заболеваний. Местные условия: Исследование было проведено в четырех округах в центральном Китае – два в провинции Хубэй и два в провинции Цзянси. Осуществленные перемены: Сельские врачи отдают приоритет медицинским услугам, но они делают все возможное, чтобы выделять часть своего рабочего времени на услуги общественного здравоохранения. Желание руководителей поселковых медицинских центров и сельских врачей предоставлять услуги общественного здравоохранения возросло с введением пакетов и минимальных субсидий, но сельские врачи не считают эти субсидии достаточным вознаграждением за их усилия. Выводы: Чтобы улучшить качество оказания услуг общественного здравоохранения сельскими врачами, вероятно, потребуется увеличение субсидий, улучшение надзора за сельскими клиниками со стороны городских медицинских центров и предоставление государственной пенсии сельским врачам.

Background Pravastatin can reduce atherosclerotic progression in patients after coronary artery bypass graft. However, it is unknown whether pravastatin has a direct effect on intimal hyperplasia of grafted vessels in vivo or what the underlying mechanisms may be. In this study, a murine vein graft model was applied to deal with these issues. Methods Vein grafting was performed between C57BL/6J mice. Immediately after operation, pravastatin (30 μM) or phosphate-buffered saline in 50 μL 20% pluronic F-127 gel was delivered to the adventitia of grafted vessels. Results Compared with the vehicle, pravastatin significantly reduced intimal hyperplasia 4 weeks after the surgical procedure. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are a major component of the neointima. The percentage of cells positive for proliferating cell nuclear antigen and Mac-3-positive immunostaining intensity within the intima of vein grafts was significantly lower in the pravastatin-treated group than in the control group. We separated VSMCs from mouse inferior vena cava and collected peritoneal macrophage from mice injected intraperitoneally with 4% thioglycollate. Pravastatin significantly decreased VSMC proliferation and platelet-derived growth factor–induced VSMC migration and, in a dose-dependent manner, inhibited macrophage migration induced by monocyte chemotactic protein-1. Conclusions Local delivery of pravastatin at the time of vein-graft surgery directly suppresses subsequent neointimal formation of grafted vessels in a vein graft model of normocholesterolemic mice. These beneficial effects are associated with inhibitory actions on VSMC and macrophage functions.

The trees, shrubs ,vines and grass form the plant landscaping. They make the landscape full of colors and depict a beautiful picture coupling with the surrounding environment for people to enjoy. In this paper, We studied the spatial analysis of plant landscape of the Quyuan-Fenghe Park, which located in the Lake West of Hangzhou and composed of flowers, bridges, lawns, pavilions and trees. This research demonstrated how to use plants to create a different space.

Experiment investigation of mechanical, physical, and biological properties on a dental precious alloy was performed. The density of the alloy is 12.04 g/cm3, the solidus temperature is 1144.5 °C and the liquidus temperature is 1283.5 °C. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the alloy is 14.84×10-6 /°C between 25 °C to 500 °C. The average 0.2% yield strength is greater than 400MPa, and the average percentage elongation after fracture is greater than 4%. The average bonding strength of the metal-ceramic is 41.93 MPa, much greater than the standard requirement. The biocompatibility of the alloy is excellent, there are no cytotoxicity reactivity, sensitization, irritation, mutagenicity and short-term systemic toxicity. The alloy is a superior dental alloy with excellent mechanical, physical and biological performance.

The graft technique is a valid method for propagating plants. A better elucidation of the graft mechanism is helpful in improving the production efficiency and fruit quality in hickory. In this study, cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to examine the gene expression in hickory at four time points (at 0, 3, 7 and 14 days) during the graft process. Forty-nine unique genes involved in the graft mechanism were obtained. The expression patterns of these genes were confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis based on 12 selected genes representing different patterns. The 49 genes composed 19 genes of known function, nine genes of unknown function and 21 novel genes. These 19 genes of known functions were involved in the indole-3-acetic acid transport protein, cell cycle, signal transduction, water metabolism, nuclear metabolism, amino acid metabolism, protein metabolism, carbon metabolism and secretion of substances, suggesting that Carya cathayensis Sarg. undergoes a complex metabolism process during the grafting.

This paper presents the heat transfer model of a continuous flow ohmic heating process. The model fluid used was a mixture of reconstituted skimmed milk and whey protein concentrate solution. Two-dimensional numerical simulations of an annular ohmic heater were performed using a general purpose partial differential equation solver, FlexPDE. The momentum, energy, and electrical equations were solved for a laminar flow regime. Two models were used to determine the volumetric heating rate, one taking into account the local electric field by solving the Laplace equation while another model assumes an average voltage gradient applied between the two electrodes. Results show that while the wall temperature distribution is different for the two cases, the bulk fluid temperature and the average outlet temperature are the same. The predicted temperatures generally agree well with the measured temperatures. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hundreds of researchers across the world use the Stanford Microarray Database (SMD; http://smd.stanford.edu/) to store, annotate, view, analyze and share microarray data. In addition to providing registered users at Stanford access to their own data, SMD also provides access to public data, and tools with which to analyze those data, to any public user anywhere in the world. Previously, the addition of new microarray data analysis tools to SMD has been limited by available engineering resources, and in addition, the existing suite of tools did not provide a simple way to design, execute and share analysis pipelines, or to document such pipelines for the purposes of publication. To address this, we have incorporated the GenePattern software package directly into SMD, providing access to many new analysis tools, as well as a plug-in architecture that allows users to directly integrate and share additional tools through SMD. In this article, we describe our implementation of the GenePattern microarray analysis software package into the SMD code base. This extension is available with the SMD source code that is fully and freely available to others under an Open Source license, enabling other groups to create a local installation of SMD with an enriched data analysis capability.

To investigate how excess excitation energy is dissipated in a ribulose-1,5-bisphospate carboxylase/oxygenase activase antisense transgenic rice with net photosynthetic rate (P N) half of that of wild type parent, we measured the response curve of P N to intercellular CO2 concentration (C i), electron transport rate (ETR), quantum yield of open photosystem 2 (PS2) reaction centres under irradiation (Fv′/Fm′), efficiency of total PS2 centres (ΦPS2), photochemical (qP) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), post-irradiation transient increase in chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence (PITICF), and P700+ re-reduction. Carboxylation efficiency dependence on C i, ETR at saturation irradiance, and Fv′/Fm′, ΦPS2, and qP under the irradiation were significantly lower in the mutant. However, NPQ, energy-dependent quenching (qE), PITICF, and P700+ re-reduction were significantly higher in the mutant. Hence the mutant down-regulates linear ETR and stimulates cyclic electron flow around PS1, which may generate the ΔpH to support NPQ and qE for dissipation of excess excitation energy.

Objective To observe the effects of atorvastatin on serum matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9), and the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1) in the development of chronic heart failure. To investigate the role of atorvastatin in the therapy of chronic heart failure and determine its possible mechanism of action. Methods Thirty Japanese Big Ear rabbits were randomly selected and divided into 3 groups: sham-operated group(SO group), heart failure control group(HC group) and heart failure atorvastatin therapy group(HA group), with 6, 12 and 12 animals in the respective groups. Volume overloading was produced in the HC group and HA group animals by creating an aortic insufficiency, induced by damaging the aortic valve with a catheter introduced through the carotid artery. After 14 days, abdominal aorta constriction was performed in order to obtain a pressure overload. Six weeks later rabbits in the HA group were administered atorvastatin 3mg. Kg −1 .d −1 for 4 weeks, at which time the experiment was terminated. Arterial blood was drawn and serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were measured in all groups at the same time using an ELISA method. Results Structural and functional indicators of chronic heart failure(CHF) were seen in both the HC and HA groups, but atorvastatin significantly reduced the observed effects. The serum concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were at low levels in all three groups at the start of the study, with no difference between them( P P P > 0.05). The increased concentrations in HC group continued to the end of the experiment, but values in the HA group were all lower than those in the HC group by the end of the experiment( P Conclusion Serum concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 increase significantly during the course of CHF, paralleling the pathological progress of CHF. Atorvastatin benefits CHF, and the decreased serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 may be one of the drug's mechanism of action.

Recently, fed-batch fermentation has been introduced in an increasing number of fermentation processes. Previous researches showed that fed-batch fermentation can increase the biomass yield of many strains. Improvement of the biomass yield is interested because biomass from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this research is to study the ability and feasibility of fed-batch fermentation to improve biomass production of LAB. Appropriate model has been selected from literature. Monod equation described the substrate limitation of LAB and the product inhibition of LAB follows a nan-competitive model. Furthermore, the lactic acid production follows Luedeking and Piret model. Then the models are applied to simulate the fermentation of batch and fed-batch cultures by using MATLAB. From the results of simulation, fed-batch fermentation showed that substrate limitation and substrate inhibition can be avoided. Besides that, the variable volume fed-batch fermentation also showed that product inhibition can be eliminated by diluting the product concentration with added fresh feed. However, it was found that fed-batch fermentation is. not economically feasible because large amount of substrate is required to reduce the product inhibition effect. Therefore, fed-batch fermentation plays more importance role if the fermentation strain has high Ks value or low Kp value. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

The Stanford Microarray Database (SMD; http://smd. stanford.edu/) is a research tool and archive that allows hundreds of researchers worldwide to store, annotate, analyze and share data generated by microarray technology. SMD supports most major microarray platforms, and is MIAME-supportive and can export or import MAGE-ML. The primary mission of SMD is to be a research tool that supports researchers from the point of data generation to data publication and dissemination, but it also provides unrestricted access to analysis tools and public data from 300 publications. In addition to supporting ongoing research, SMD makes its source code fully and freely available to others under an Open Source license, enabling other groups to create a local installation of SMD. In this article, we describe several data analysis tools implemented in SMD and we discuss features of our software release.

Brassinosteroids play a significant role in the amelioration of various biotic and abiotic stresses. To investigate the effects of exogenously applied brassinosteroids on the thermotolerance of plants, reactive oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant defense and methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification systems were examined in Ficus concinna seedlings with or without 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) application. Our results showed that EBR treatment reduced high temperature-induced increases in the levels of ROS, MG and lipid peroxidation. We also demonstrate that EBR attenuates high temperature-induced oxidative stress by simultaneously increasing non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant responses, as well as MG detoxification systems., Although brassinosteroids (BRs) play crucial roles in plant development and stress tolerance, the mechanisms by which they have these effects are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the possible mechanism of exogenously applied BRs on reactive oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant defence and methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification systems in Ficus concinna seedlings grown under high-temperature (HT) stress for 48 h. Our results showed that the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glyoxalase II (Gly II) were increased under two levels of HT stress. Compared with control the activities of catalase (CAT) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) were not changed due to HT stress. The activities of glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and glyoxalase I (Gly I) were increased only at moderate HT stress. Despite these protective mechanisms, HT stress induced oxidative stress in F. concinna seedlings, as indicated by the increased levels of ROS, malondialdehyde (MDA) and MG, and the reductions in chlorophyll levels and relative water content. The contents of reduced glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (AsA) were not changed under moderate HT stress. Spraying with 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) alone had little influence on the non-enzymatic antioxidants and the activities of antioxidant enzymes. However, EBR pretreatment under HT stress resulted in an increase in GSH and AsA content, maintenance of high redox state of GSH and AsA, and enhanced ROS and MG detoxification by further elevating the activities of SOD, GST, GPX, APX, MDHAR, GR, DHAR, Gly I and Gly II, as evident by lower level of ROS, MDA and MG. It may be concluded that EBR could alleviate the HT-induced oxidative stress by increasing the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defence, and glyoxalase systems in F. concinna seedlings.

Gas exchange, chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence, and contents of photosynthetic pigments, soluble proteins (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, RuBPCO), and antioxidant enzymes were characterized in the fully expanded 6th leaves in rice seedlings grown on either complete (CK) or on nitrogen-deficient nutrient (N-deficiency) solutions during a 20-chase period. Compared with the control plants, the lower photosynthetic capacity at saturation irradiance (Pmax) was accompanied by an increase in intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), indicating that in N-deficient plants the decline in Pmax was not due to stomatal limitation but due to the reduced carboxylation efficiency. The fluorescence parameters ΦPS2, Fv′/Fm′, electron transport rate (ETR), and qP showed the same tendency as Pmax in N-deficient plants. Correspondingly, a higher qN paralleled the rise of the ratio of carotenoid (Car) to Chl contents. However, Fv/Fm was still diminished, suggesting that photoinhibition did occur in the photosystem 2 (PS2) reaction centres. In addition, the activities of antioxidant enzymes on a fresh mass basis were gradually lowered, leading to the aggravation of membrane lipid peroxidation with the proceeding N-deficiency. The accumulation of malonyldialdehyde resulted in the lessening of Chl and soluble protein content. Analyses of regression showed PS2 excitation pressure (1 - qP) was linearly correlated with the content of Chl and inversely with soluble protein (particularly RuBPCO) content. There was a lag phase in the increase of PS2 excitation pressure compared to the decrease of RuBPCO content. Therefore, the increased excitation pressure under N-deficiency is probably the result of saturation of the electron transport chain due to the limitation of the use of reductants by the Calvin cycle. Rice plants responded to N-deficiency and high irradiance by decreasing light-harvesting capacity and by increasing thermal dissipation of absorbed energy.

Summary: GO::TermFinder comprises a set of object-oriented Perl modules for accessing Gene Ontology (GO) information and evaluating and visualizing the collective annotation of a list of genes to GO terms. It can be used to draw conclusions from microarray and other biological data, calculating the statistical significance of each annotation. GO::TermFinder can be used on any system on which Perl can be run, either as a command line application, in single or batch mode, or as a web-based CGI script. Availability: The full source code and documentation for GO::TermFinder are freely available from http://search.cpan.org/dist/GO-TermFinder/

The explosion in the number of functional genomic datasets generated with tools such as DNA microarrays has created a critical need for resources that facilitate the interpretation of large-scale biological data. SOURCE is a web-based database that brings together information from a broad range of resources, and provides it in manner particularly useful for genome-scale analyses. SOURCE's GeneReports include aliases, chromosomal location, functional descriptions, GeneOntology annotations, gene expression data, and links to external databases. We curate published microarray gene expression datasets and allow users to rapidly identify sets of co-regulated genes across a variety of tissues and a large number of conditions using a simple and intuitive interface. SOURCE provides content both in gene and cDNA clone-centric pages, and thus simplifies analysis of datasets generated using cDNA microarrays. SOURCE is continuously updated and contains the most recent and accurate information available for human, mouse, and rat genes. By allowing dynamic linking to individual gene or clone reports, SOURCE facilitates browsing of large genomic datasets. Finally, SOURCEs batch interface allows rapid extraction of data for thousands of genes or clones at once and thus facilitates statistical analyses such as assessing the enrichment of functional attributes within clusters of genes. SOURCE is available at http://source.stanford.edu.

The objectives of this study were to use Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to predict colour change, shrinkage and texture of osmotically dehydrated pumpkin slices. The effects of process variables such as concentration of osmotic solution, immersion temperature and immersion time on the above mentioned physical properties were studied. The colour of the samples was measured using a colorimeter and the net colour difference changes, ΔE were determined. The texture was measured in terms of hardness by using a Texture Analyzer. As for the shrinkage, displacement of volume method was applied and percentage of shrinkage was obtained in terms of volume changes. A feed-forward backpropagation network with sigmoidal function was developed and best network configuration was chosen based on the highest correlation coefficients between the experimental values versus predicted values. As a comparison, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) statistical analysis was also employed. The performances of both RSM and ANN modelling were evaluated based on absolute average deviation (AAD), correlation of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE). The results showed that ANN has higher prediction capability as compared to RSM. The relative importance of the variables on the physical properties were also determined by using connection weight approach in ANN. It was found that solution concentration showed the highest influence on all three physical properties.

The aim of this study was to establish a composite pig model with sepsis and ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) and to investigate the differences in serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and proinflammatory cytokines in septic and non-septic AKI. Seventeen healthy hybridized pigs (weighed 26.97 ± 2.26 kg) were randomly divided into two groups. Group A (n = 12) served as the septic AKI model which received cecal ligation and puncture, resulting in abdominal infection plus clamping of renal artery (CRA). Group B (n = 5) received CRA only. Vital signs and the functions of the main organs were observed. Serum NGAL, TNF-α, and IL-6 were measured at 0, 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after surgical admissions. Septic AKI model was successfully induced, which manifested as multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, including AKI, liver dysfunction, progressive decline of cardiac function and abnormal pulmonary function. Apparent pathological changes were found in kidney, liver, lung and small intestine of group A. The proinflammatory cytokines in Group A were significantly higher than those in Group B at different time points (P

To explore the integrated application of sales of child-specific over-the-counter (OTC) cold related medications in retail pharmacies and healthcare visits of children for influenza-like illness (ILI) in surveillance and early warning of influenza among children.An integrated surveillance system (ISS) was implemented since 2012 in Qianjiang County, a rural area in Hubei Province of China. The daily information from August 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013 of health care visits of children for ILI reported by 80 health facilities and sales of 14 child-specific over-the-counter (OTC) cold related medications reported by 11 pharmacies were extracted from ISS database. Cumulative sums (CUSUM) model was conducted to analyze the degree of fitting and the early warning signal generated; the correlationship was then analyzed further.In 212 days, 983 visits of children for ILI and 12 819 sales by person of child-specific OTC were reported. Conducting CUSUM model, the fitting degree was in the acceptable range, 31 warning signals were generated from ILI data series with 3 peak periods and 14 from OTC data series with 2 peak periods. A similar time trend of two data series was observed with a correlation(r = 0.497, P0.05), but without any spatial clustering. And the optimal correlation(r = 0.505, P0.05) appeared at a time offset of 4 days preceded by OTC sales.The availability of integrated surveillance system for symptoms could be applied for surveillance of influenza among children; while it could explore the possibility of real epidemic in the very early stage.

Common chemotherapeutic agents such as oxaliplatin often cause neuropathic pain during cancer treatment in patients. Such neuropathic pain is difficult to treat and responds poorly to common analgesics, which represents a challenging clinical issue. Corydalis yanhusuo is an old traditional Chinese medicine with demonstrated analgesic efficacy in humans. However, the potential analgesic effect of its active component, levo-tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP), has not been reported in conditions of neuropathic pain. This study found that l-THP (1–4 mg/kg, i.p.) produced a dose-dependent anti-hyperalgesic effect in a mouse model of chemotherapeutic agent oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic pain. In addition, we found that the anti-hyperalgesic effect of l-THP was significantly blocked by a dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 (0.02 mg/kg), suggesting a dopamine D1 receptor mechanism. In contrast, l-THP did not significantly alter the general locomotor activity in mice at the dose that produced significant anti-hyperalgesic action. In summary, this study reported that l-THP possesses robust analgesic efficacy in mice with neuropathic pain and may be a useful analgesic in the management of neuropathic pain.

Stress induced by ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation stimulates the accumulation of various secondary metabolites in plants. Nitric oxide (NO) serves as an important secondary messenger in UV-B stress-induced signal transduction pathways. NO can be synthesized in plants by either enzymatic catalysis or an inorganic nitrogen pathway. The effects of UV-B irradiation on the production of baicalin and the associated molecular pathways in plant cells are poorly understood. In this study, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, NO release and the generation of baicalin were investigated in cell suspension cultures of Scutellaria baicalensis exposed to UV-B irradiation. UV-B irradiation significantly increased NOS activity, NO release and baicalin biosynthesis in S. baicalensis cells. Additionally, exogenous NO supplied by the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), led to a similar increase in the baicalin content as the UV-B treatment. The NOS inhibitor, Nω-nitro-l-arginine (LNNA), and NO scavenger, 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO) partially inhibited UV-B-induced NO release and baicalin accumulation. These results suggest that NO is generated by NOS or NOS-like enzymes and plays an important role in baicalin biosynthesis as part of the defense response of S. baicalensis cells to UV-B irradiation.