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The accumulation of cyclic plasticity in bond coat (BC) is a key factor controlling the displacement instability of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) in thermal barrier systems. The cyclic plasticity is affected by the component material properties, which vary observably with the service temperature. A numerical model with the behavior of creep and thermal growth in TGO under thermal cycling is used to explore the effect of temperature-dependent properties on cyclic plasticity in BC. The influence of temperature-dependent Young's modulus of thermal barrier coating (TBC), TGO, BC and substrate, thermal expansion coefficient of TBC, BC and substrate, and the yield strength of BC on cyclic plasticity in BC is discussed respectively.

In this work, NASICON-type disks with the formula, Na3Zr2Si2PO12 were prepared by non-aqueous tape casting method. The effect of the dispersant on the slurry viscosity was investigated, triethanolamine was found to be an effective dispersant for NASICON slurry. The correlation between the overall conductivity and the sintering conditions (temperature and time) for the NASICON disk was also studied. Green tapes were calcined at 900°C, 1000°C, 1100°C for 6h and 12h, respectively. Results revealed that the overall conductivity increased with the increasing of the sintering temperature and decreased with the increasing of the sintering time. The segregation of resistive monoclinic ZrO2 phase was examined to have a negative effect on the overall conductivity. The CO2 sensor using NASICON disk and Li2CO3-BaCO3 complex thick film was fabricated and evaluated, the sensitivity was about 82.9 mV/decade at 450°C.

Cerebral ischemia induces delayed, selective neuronal death in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear, but it is known that apoptosis is involved in this process. Chloride efflux has been implicated in the progression of apoptosis in various cell types. Using both the inside-out and whole-cell configurations of the patch-clamp technique, the present study characterized an outwardly rectifying chloride channel (ORCC) in acutely dissociated pyramid neurons in the hippocampus of adult rats. The channel had a nonlinear current-voltage relationship with a conductance of 42.26±1.2 pS in the positive voltage range and 18.23±0.96 pS in the negative voltage range, indicating an outward rectification pattern. The channel is Cl − selective, and the open probability is voltage-dependent. It can be blocked by the classical Cl − channel blockers DIDS, SITS, NPPB and glibenclamide. We examined the different changes in ORCC activity in CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons at 6, 24 and 48 h after transient forebrain ischemia. In the vulnerable CA1 neurons, ORCC activity was persistently enhanced after ischemic insult, whereas in the invulnerable CA3 neurons, no significant changes occurred. Further analysis of channel kinetics suggested that multiple openings are a major contributor to the increase in channel activity after ischemia. Pharmacological blockade of the ORCC partly attenuated cell death in the hippocampal neurons. We propose that the enhanced activity of ORCC might contribute to selective neuronal damage in the CA1 region after cerebral ischemia, and that ORCC may be a therapeutic target against ischemia-induced cell death.

The stability and performance of the web running is one of the key factors of printing quality. Through the analysis of the mechanical structure of web running, movement rules and dynamic characteristics of the tape established the physical simulation model. A physical simuliation platform of the web-fed system was built based on technical load testing about feeding device, the feed rollers and tension control, a guidance for optimizing the structure, designing of high-performance presses on the basis of the experiment and web running was provided.

The advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) on board the European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat satellite is an important resource for observation of global ocean surface wave spectra. The ESA retrieval procedure for the fast-delivery level 2 ASAR wave spectra has undergone an important update since October 2007. Testing the benefit of the new procedure against ground truth is not straightforward, due to a lack of other independent ocean wave spectral observations; however an indirect comparison of the ASAR wave spectra with altimeter and buoy observations is made possible via a wave model. In addition to the conventional significant wave height (SWH), four spectral sub-range wave heights (SRWHs) are used to illustrate the spectral characteristics of these observations. The indirect comparison is applied on the updated ASAR wave spectra for over one year (November 2007 to December 2008). Results indicate that the updated ASAR spectra are better than the pre-October 2007 data since the updated procedure removes erroneous long waves, and improves the treatment of short waves beyond the detection range of the instrument.

By proteomic analysis, we found that 14-3-3ζ was one of the proteins co-immunoprecipitated with human κ-opioid receptor (hKOPR) from extracts of solubilized Neuro2A cells stably expressing FLAG-hKOPR (N2A-FLAG-hKOPR cells). 14-3-3 proteins are a family of conserved regulatory molecules in eukaryotic cells, where they participate in signal transduction, metabolism, and membrane protein transport. 14-3-3ζ co-localized with the hKOPR in N2A cells. The hKOPR C-tail interacted with 14-3-3ζ in rat brain extracts and bound directly to purified 14-3-3ζ as demonstrated by pulldown techniques. 14-3-3ζ siRNA decreased expression of the hKOPR in N2A-FLAG-hKOPR cells and cultured primary cortical neurons of E19 rats by ~25% as determined by immunoblotting, ligand binding, and flow cytometry. The effect of 14-3-3ζ siRNA was reversed by overexpression of 14-3-3ζ. Expression of the 14-3-3 scavenger protein pGpLI-R18 also decreased hKOPR expression. 14-3-3ζ siRNA did not change expressions of the hDOPR and rMOPR in N2A cells. Pulse-chase study showed that 14-3-3ζ siRNA decreased the amount of mature hKOPR but did not change the rate of maturation or stability of hKOPR protein. Mutations of R354A/S358A in the putative 14-3-3 interaction motif (354)RQSTS(358) in the hKOPR C-tail reduced interaction of the hKOPR with 14-3-3ζ and abolished the effect of 14-3-3ζ knockdown on hKOPR expression. Mutation of the endoplasmic reticulum retention motif (359)RVR adjacent to the 14-3-3 interaction motif in the hKOPR C-tail decreased interaction of coatomer protein I (COPI) with the hKOPR and abolished 14-3-3ζ-mediated regulation of hKOPR expression. 14-3-3ζ knockdown increased association of COPI with the hKOPR. These results suggest that 14-3-3ζ promotes expression of the hKOPR by inhibiting COPI and RVR motif-mediated endoplasmic reticulum localization machinery.

It has been demonstrated that ganoderma acids suppress growth, angiogenesis and invasiveness of highly invasive and metastatic breast cancer cells in vitro and vivo. However, the mechanism of action of ganoderma acids in breast cancer remains unknown. In the present study, we looked into the effect of ganoderic acid Me (GA-Me) on cellular phenotypes and tumor growth in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. The results indicated the GA-Me inhibited nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) activity at 24 h in MDA-MB-231 cells. When MDAMB- 231 cells were stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), the inhibitory effects of GA-Me were still maintained. We demonstrated that GA-Me inhibited proliferation and invasion and induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells via suppressing the NF-κB activity. However, GA-Me did not inhibit the phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaB-α (IkB-α). GA-Me down-regulated the expression of various NF-κB-regulated genes including genes involved in cell proliferation (c-Myc and cyclin D1), anti-apoptosis (Bcl-2), invasion (MMP-9) and angiogenesis (VEGF, interleukin (IL)-6 and -8). I.P. administration of GA-Me inhibited tumor growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in vivo. Our results demonstrated that GA-Me inhibited proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion and induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells via suppressing NF-κB activity and the expression profile of its downstream genes. These findings provide evidence for a novel role of GA-Me in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer by its ability to modulate the NF-κB signaling pathway.

The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of autofluorescence (AF) spectroscopy as a method for the diagonosis of normal, benign and malignant of dysplasia in colorectal tissues experimentally. By improvement of optical design in laser pulse generator, wavelength-adjustable output was acquired and the optimal wavelength was defined as 380 nm. With 380-nm pulsed laser excitation, AF spectra of normal, benign and malignant colorectal tissues were recorded in the spectra region from 460-570 nm in vitro. The spectral analysis for discrimination among the different types of tissues was carried out using principal component analysis (PCA)-based Neural networks algorithm. The performance of analysis was pretty good with sensitivity, specificity and accuracy found to be 100%,90% and 96.7%, respectively. The AF spectroscopy may serve as an excellent tool for the evaluation of dysplasia in colorectal clinical diagnosis.

Lagrange-Maxwell equations and Park transform are adopted based on electrical and mechanical energy equations consisting of servomotor parameters. Lagrange-Maxwell equations are transformed from three-phase stator reference coordinates to two-phase rotor reference coordinates. Electromechanical coupling dynamics equations of permanent magnet synchronous servomotor in two-phase reference coordinates are obtained. In this dynamical modeling method of electromechanical coupling system, to establish dynamical differential equations needs to measure amplitude of the flux induced by the permanent magnets and the winding's inductance in dq0 reference of the motor but needs not to measure the size of magnetic circuit. The equations deduced is terse, efficient, and the equations easy to use. Electromechanical coupling dynamics system, servomotor is simulated. Simulation results show that the electromechanical coupling dynamics equations deduced for servomotor are correct, and current control schemes are reasonable.

Through laboratory experiments, a green cross-linked movable gel has been developed, which has been used for reservoir profile modification. The main agent of gel is hydrophobic associating polymer, concentration is 3000mg/L; the cross-linking agent is Aluminum citrate from complex of Aluminum ion and citric acid root ion. The best molar ratio of aluminum ions and citrate ions is 1.5:1 in complex reaction, the amount is 140mg/L; the retarder is tartaric acid sodium, the amount is 150mg/L; The stabilizer is thiourea, the amount is 800mg/L; The strength of the green cross-linked movable gel is 3.12×104mPa.s, gelling time 36h, Stable time 160d; It is suitable for low-temperature reservoir profile modification, and salt resistance is good. Laboratory experiments show that the green cross-linked movable gel have strong plugging capacity and improving profile ability. The green cross-linked movable gel has strong three dimensional network structure, which be observed through the environmental scanning electron microscopy.

For many rapid or near-rapid solidification processes, the interfacial heat transfer between the melt and the substrate is a key issue on the cooling and solidification rate of castings. For the purpose of controlling and adjusting of the interfacial thermal resistance, the effects of C/BN, Zn and organic coatings on the instantaneous interfacial heat flux and the solidified structure of AISI304 stainless steel solidification on copper substrate have been investigated by using an experimental simulator. The results show that C/BN coatings can improve the uniformity of heat flux and solidified structure; Zn coating can increase the heat flux and solidification rate in the growth stage of the solidified shell; organic coating will decrease the heat flux and the solidification rate and make re-melted structure on the surface of the solidified shell.

Three R2R3-MYB genes, designated CaMYB1 , CaMYB2 and CaMYB3 , were isolated from hot pepper (Capsicum annuum . L). CaMYB1 , CaMYB2 and CaMYB3 encode polypetides consisting of 340, 262 and 345 amino acids respectively, containing R2R3 domain and the signature motif specific for the interaction between MYB and bHLH proteins in the R3 domain. Phylogenetic analysis based on the deduced amino acid sequences of these three R2R3 MYB transcription factor members revealed that CaMYB1 and CaMYB2 clustered together with the anthocyanin-related subgroup of R2R3 MYB proteins from other plants, while CaMYB3 did not. CaMYBs transcripts accumulation was detected in all stages of fruit development and in flower and leaves. Three CaMYBs transcription factors showed differential expression during fruit ripening. Anthocyanin biosynthetic gene expression patterns were quite different in young leaves, flower, and the four stages of fruit development. CaMYB1 and CaMYB2 may regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis in hot pepper.

In the industry division standard GB/T 4754-2002, construction includes two types. They are E- construction and K-construction, especially the booming real estate has been the first pillar industry in recent years. The industry development provide capacious space for the talents that express in the enrollment amount of colleges and universities and the incrementary ratio is 20% higher than other traditional professions. As the important education combination of architecture professional ability, people with professional skill needs to grasp opportunity of high-speed development to adjust the industry requirement. That will train students to reach professionalization, specialization and pay attention to the talents training systematization that students can express their innovation and business establishment in the architecture industry. This article will emphasize in the systematization education mode and application of architecture major in higher education, describe the establishment of projectization education platform, sectional type education application and courses resource accumulate and integration then to provide new opinion and method to the higher education revolution.

A novel method termed field activated and low pressure assisted combustion synthesis (FALPCS) was developed for an in situ fabrication of TiC-Al composite from Ti, C and Al elemental powders. With the Al content of 30 wt% and application of a pressure as low as 2 MPa, a highly dense sample was successfully obtained on a versatile Gleeble thermal simulation instrument. The TiC particles are fine in the order of ~0.5 µm, with a uniform dispersion in aluminum. The study on un-lubricated sliding wear of the synthesized material revealed a wear mechanism that combines the characteristics of both adhesive and three-body abrasions.

Interfacial heat transfer is a key issue in many solidification processes. In the paper, a novel experimental apparatus has been designed and on this basis, the instantaneous interfacial heat transfer between molten steel or solidified shell and copper substrate during the first 0.2 s has been studied. The investigated parameters include melt superheat, substrate temperature and surface roughness. The results show that the peak value of the interfacial heat flux in the first stage of liquid/solid contact increases with melt superheat and changes slightly with substrate temperature and surface roughness. The interfacial heat flux in the stage of solid/solid contact has a similar trend of slow decrease in most conditions.

Two new asymmetric slab optical waveguides with a left-handed media (LHM) cover or substrate are studied. The effective thickness is derived by using normalized waveguide parameters. An analytical method is then proposed to calculate the universal effective thickness. We show that negative effective thickness exists in the waveguide with a LHM substrate, unlike in conventional waveguide or other LHM waveguides studied previously. However, for the waveguide with a LHM substrate, the shape of high-order mode behaves like that of a traditional slab waveguide, and neither the fundamental mode nor the other higher order modes have the novel phenomena of negative effective thickness. Both TE and TM modes are discussed.

In Chinese children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS), it was reported that NPHS2 mutation was detected in 4.3%, which was lower than that in Caucasians (10-30%). However, there were no data on WT1 mutation in nephrotic syndrome (NS), especially in early-onset NS of Chinese children. Thus, a study, which enrolled 36 Chinese children with early-onset (before 3 y old) NS and steroid resistance if failing steroid therapy (early-group), was conducted. As control, 35 children with SRNS and with disease onset age after 3 y old were also analyzed (control-group). WT1 gene was examined by PCR and direct sequencing. The result showed that in the early-group 6/36 (16.7%) were detected with WT1 mutations. Further analysis according to different onset age revealed that the mutation detection rates of WT1 were 26.3% (5/19), 6.3% (1/16), and 0 (0/1) in children younger than 1 y, 1-2 y, and 2-3 y, respectively. In control-group, no WT1 (0/35) mutation was detected. WT1 mutation combined with NPHS2 variant was detected in a girl. In conclusion, WT1 mutations seemed more common in Chinese children with early-onset NS.

It is not easy to handle relativities of metals toxicology and ecological risk grades, especially, fuzzy in realization of soil heavy metal pollution, when the method suggested by Hakanson was used to assess ecological risk. To explore a better way to solve this problem, certainty in ecological risk grades was fuzzed through engineering fuzzy set theory, and a fuzzy mathematic model was built. The model was then applied in Xiaoqinling gold mining regional, which was selected as case study and where soil was polluted by heavy metals over decades, and its results were compared with that from Hakanson method. The results showed that the fuzzy mathematic model was a better way for ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in contaminated soil.

Methoxyl silica gel was prepared readily by the treatment of silica chloride with methanol. By using methoxyl silica gel as a dehydrating agent, carboxylic acids reacted with methanol in the presence of a protonic acid such as 12-phosphotungstic acid afforded the corresponding methyl esters in excellent yields.

This study was designed to characterize the differential protein expression in the progeny of human liver cells surviving exposure to ionizing radiation. The progeny of irradiated cells were derived from a human liver cell line exposed to 0, 2, 4, or 6 Gy of (60)Co gamma-irradiation. Total protein of the cells was extracted by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and analyzed with ImageMaster 2D Platinum software. In total, 42 differentially expressed proteins from the progeny of irradiated cells were screened, of which 17 were identified by matrix assistant laser desorption ion-top flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis. There were 4 upregulated and 13 downregulated proteins detected. The upregulated expression of two proteins, mitochondrial heat-shock 60-kD protein (HSP60) and globin transcription factor 1 (GATA-1), was further confirmed by immunoblotting. Database search revealed that these differentially expressed proteins may function in cell cycle regulation, cytoskeleton maintenance, stress response, and tumor metastasis, indicating an effect of radiation-induced genomic instability (RIGI) in the progeny of irradiated cells. Analysis on functional roles of the screened proteins may provide insight into further mechanistic investigations underlying molecular events induced by RIGI.

Ethylbenzene is an important industrial chemical that has recently been classified as a possible human carcinogen (International Agency of Research on Cancer class 2B), but the available data do not support the genotoxic mechanism of ethylbenzene-induced tumors in kidney. We investigated the effects of ethylbenzene on renal ultrastructure and explored the nongenotoxic mechanism of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used as a vivo model with ethylbenzene inhalation for 13 weeks, and the metabolites of ethylbenzene, mandelic acid (MA), and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) in urine were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Meanwhile, the ultrastructure of renal tubular epithelial cells was observed, and cell apoptosis was detected via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay. Furthermore, we investigated the expression levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein of bax, bcl-2, cytochrome c, caspase-9, and caspase-3 in rat kidney. With respect to levels of MA, PGA, and MA + PGA, a significant dose-dependent increase was observed in 4335 and 6500 mg/m(3) ethylbenzene-treated groups against the control group. The mitochondria of renal tubular epithelial cells became a compact and vacuolar structure in 6500 mg/m(3) ethylbenzene-treated group, and ethylbenzene induced a significant increase in the number of apoptotic cells as compared to the control group. In addition, enhanced mRNA and protein expression levels of all measured genes were observed in various ethylbenzene-treated groups except the decreased bcl-2 expression levels. Our results indicated that ethylbenzene may induce apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells via mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways. MA and PGA in urine might be a parameter of biological dose in vivo after ethylbenzene inhalation.

A density functional theory investigation on sandwich-type D5 [C5Li5]Znn[C5Li5] (n = 2–8) complexes containing –Zn–Zn– chain has been performed in this work at B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level. The Zn n 2 + sandwich complexes with D5 symmetry are all true minima on the potential energy surface. NBO analyses for the series of complexes reveal that the Zn–Zn bond is a weak σ covalent bond. The –Zn–Zn– chain plays a dominant role in the stability of the series of complexes. The C–C bond length in these complexes is slightly elongated with respect to that in C 5 Li 5 - , the NICS computed with GIAO-B3LYP/6-311+G(d) indicates that the C 5 Li 5 - rings in the series of complexes are aromatic. These novel complexes turn out to be strongly thermodynamically favored in the gas phases and may be targeted in future experiments to expand the structural domain of sandwich-type complexes.

This paper investigates the observer-based H(infinity) control problem of networked nonlinear systems with global Lipschitz nonlinearities and random communication packet losses. The random packet loss is modelled as a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability distribution. In the presence of random packet losses, sufficient conditions for the existence of an observer-based feedback controller are derived, such that the closed-loop networked nonlinear system is exponentially stable in the mean-square sense, and a prescribed H(infinity) disturbance-rejection-attenuation performance is also achieved. Then a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach for designing such an observer-based H(infinity) controller is presented. Finally, a simulation example is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

In order to synthesize the targeting drug carrier system, magnetic chitosan-5-fluorouracil nanopartic1es were prepared by using 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) as model drug, Fe3O4 nano-particles as kernel, chitosan as enveloping material and glutaraldehyde as cross linking agent through ultrasonic technique. The morphology of the magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles was observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed that magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles were prepared in spherical structure with a size range of 50-60 nm. The delivering capacity and drug releasing properties of magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles were investigated by UV-vis spectrum analysis. The results showed that the loading capacity was 13.4% and the cumulative release percentage in the phosphate buffer (Ph=7.2) solutions was 68% in 30 h. These data indicate that the wrapped drug of magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles was slowly-released. The magnetic response of magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles was studied by UV-vis spectrometer to detect the changes of solution absorbance. Without external magnetic field, the nano-particle deposition rate was slow. When being subjected to 8 mT magnetic field, the particle sedimentation rate was increased rapidly. The results showed that magnetic chitosan-5-Fu nano-particles have a magnetic stability and strong targeting characteristics.

The Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on board the Envisat satellite is an important resource for observation of global ocean surface wave spectra. However, assessment of this valuable dataset is not straightforward as a result of a lack of other independent ocean wave spectral observations. The radar altimeter (RA-2) on board the same satellite measures ocean wave height at the same time as the ASAR but at a location about 200 km distant. A small number of moored buoys produce one-dimensional (1D) ocean wave spectra but few ASAR spectra fall on the buoy positions in a given period. Indirect comparison of the Envisat ASAR 2D wave spectra with the RA-2 wave heights and 1D spectra of three selected buoys from July 2004 to February 2006 is facilitated by a wave model, which provides coherent spatial and temporal links between these observations. In addition to the conventional significant wave height (SWH), four spectral subrange wave heights (SRWHs) are used to illustrate the spectral characteristics of these observations. A comparison of three Envisat ASAR 2D spectra with the closest model and buoy spectra is also attempted to illustrate the qualities of these different observations and to demonstrate the restrictions to their direct comparison. Results indicate that these three independent observations are in good agreement in terms of SWH, though the Envisat ASAR shows the largest variance. Comparison of SRWHs indicates that the ASAR spectra agree well with buoy and model in moderately long waves, but the ASAR instrument does not resolve high-frequency waves, especially along the satellite track.

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) plays a central role in regulating the transcription of several genes associated with sepsis/septic shock. Therefore, the author investigated the effects of propofol on the plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 6 (TNF-alpha and IL-6) levels and NF-kappaB activation during polymicrobial sepsis in rats. Male Sprague-Dawlay rats were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP, a model of polymicrobial sepsis) or sham operation. The animals were randomly assigned into four equal groups (n = 10): sham CLP group, CLP group, PPF (propofol) I group and PPF II group. Thirty minutes before CLP, propofol (5 and 10 mg kg(-1) h(-1), respectively) was infused continuously through the left femoral vein cannula in PPF I group or PPF II group, CLP group and sham CLP group receiving 0.9% saline only at the rates of 5 ml kg(-1) h(-1). The right femoral artery was cannulated to monitor mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rates (HR). CLP produced progressive hypotension and a first increase followed by a decrease in HR. The plasma TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels and the hepatic NF-kappaB activation significantly increased after CLP alone. Compared with CLP group, propofol treatment reversed hypotension, slightly steadied heartbeats, and decreased the plasma TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels, and significantly suppressed NF-kappaB activation. Propofol has inhibited the hepatic NF-kappaB activation and the pro-inflammatory cytokine response during polymicrobial sepsis in rats.

Upstream nonoscillatory (UNO) advection schemes are derived by optimizing existing classical advection schemes and combining them in different monotonic zones to avoid flux limiters for simplicity. The UNO schemes are extended to irregular grids in the form of upstream midflux linear interpolation with symmetrical gradients and are adapted to multidimensions with an advective–conservative operator. They are given in finite-volume flux form and hence are consistent and conservative. They also preserve constancy and linear correlation. Implicit numerical diffusivity of these schemes is also derived and used as a guideline for the selection of advection schemes. One- and two-dimesional tests are used for comparisons with their classical counterparts. Multiple-cell grids are used to test the irregular grid formulation and demonstrate their performance. The simple second-order UNO2 scheme may be accurate enough when the physical diffusion or numerical smoothing term is larger than the numerical diffusion. The third-order UNO3 scheme has very small self-constrained numerical diffusion and is suitable for general atmospheric and oceanic tracer advection.

Pilot plant experiments were conducted to examine the performance of a retention treatment basin (RTB) with chemical coagulation using a cationic polymer in the treatment of combined sewer overflow (CSO) for the City of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The pilot plant was operated at surface overflow rates (SORs) up to 1370 m3/m2 x d. This study demonstrated that the use of polymer coagulation improved settling characteristics of solids, and allowed the SOR in the RTB to be increased significantly. An optimum polymer dosage to achieve the discharge standards of CSO was determined from the experimental runs. The effluent quality met the Ontario Ministry of the Environment Procedure F5-5 in terms of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids removals. A flushing box was successfully tested for flushing the collected floatables and sludge from the bottom of the RTB after storm events.

1,1,1-trichloro-2,2'-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) exhibits its long persistence in the environment, unusual bioaccumulation, effects on wildlife, and the possibility of long-term adverse effects on human health, especially reproductive toxicity. Despite the prohibition of most persistent organochlorine pesticides in China, the presence of organochlorine residue, including DDT, has been widely indicated in environmental substance. However, scarce information is available about accumulative levels of DDT in human tissues in China. To evaluate levels of DDT and its potential effects on women and children's health in a Chinese pesticide-exposed area, we recruited 50 pairs of mother-child and 50 postpartum women, and determined the levels of total DDT and its four main metabolites (p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT) in venous blood, breast milk and umbilical blood cord by gas chromatography. Accordingly, data on reproductive outcomes of mothers and postpartum women and healthy status of children and infants were gathered through a questionnaire and medical examinations. Furthermore, we also assayed the DDT levels of some environmental samples (soil, food, milk, et al.). The levels of DDT in children's blood were higher than that in the women's. As compared to breast milk, the umbilical blood cord and the ventral fat individually demonstrated a significantly lower and higher level of DDT in the postpartum women. DDT was lower in milk and crucian carp than in the soil near the chemical plant. p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE were the main metabolites of DDT. Our findings suggested the cumulative effect of DDT in human body in Tianjin, China.

In this work we investigated the effects of sintering atmospheres of titanium dioxides on the wetting behaviour with molten copper by using the sessile drop method. Nano-powders of titanium dioxides were used to fabricate titania substrates. Experimental results showed that titanium dioxides sintered in different atmospheres exhibited a very pronounced difference in the wetting behaviours with the molten metal. Special attention was paid to the correlation of wetting properties with the non-stoichiometry of titania substrates. It was thus deduced that the contact angle increases and the work of adhesion decreases as the titania substrates become more deficient in oxygen.

Using drugs acting on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), we examined temporal-parietal and frontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum to identify sites of cognition enhancement in 4- and 27-month rabbits. First, we compared radioligand receptor binding for neuronal alphabeta heteromeric nAChRs ([3H]epibatidine) and alpha7 homomeric nAChRs ([3H]methyllycaconitine) in rabbits and rats. In cerebellum, nAChR levels of both species are low, about at the detection limit of the radioligand binding assays. Next, we compared nAChRs in 4- and 27-month vehicle-treated rabbits trained in delay eyeblink conditioning. Older rabbits conditioned more poorly and had lower alphabeta heteromeric nAChR binding in hippocampus than young rabbits. For cognition enhancement, galantamine (mild cholinesterase inhibitor and allosteric modulator of nAChRs) or MEM-3389 (alpha7nAChR agonist formerly identified as AR-R 17779) was injected before conditioning. Drugs improved learning in both age groups. In 27-month rabbits, drugs increased expression of frontal and temporal-parietal alphabeta heteromeric nAChRs and hippocampal alphabeta and alpha7nAChRs. In 4-month rabbits, drugs increased expression of alpha7 homomeric nAChRs in frontal and temporal-parietal cortex and hippocampus, but increased expression of alphabeta heteromeric nAChRs only occurred in temporal-parietal cortex. Increased expression of alphabeta nAChRs was more extensive in older drug-treated rabbits, whereas increased expression of alpha7nAChRs was more prevalent in younger drug-treated rabbits, suggesting different substrates for amelioration (27-month rabbits) vs facilitation (4-month rabbits) of learning. Results provide evidence for cortical as well as hippocampal nAChR modulation of delay eyeblink conditioning and demonstrate that more sensitive binding assays are required to assess nAChR effects in cerebellum.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are associated with the activation and differentiation of T helper (Th) cells. Cluster of differentiation (CD)80 and CD86, the co-stimulatory molecules highly expressed in DCs, have are prominent in promoting the differentiation of Th cells toward Th2 cells. However, little is known about the effect of CD80 and CD86 knockdown on Th1/Th2 cytokine production in mature DCs (mDCs). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether small-interfering RNA (siRNA) could suppress the surface expression of CD80 and CD86 in mDCs. The effects of CD80 and CD86 knockdown in mDCs on Th1/Th2 cytokine expression were examined using an asthmatic murine model. DCs were isolated, separated and cultured in vitro. Flow cytometry was used to examine the expression of CD11c, CD80 and CD86 on the DCs. The DCs were transfected with CD80- and CD86-specific siRNA, while non-siRNA and negative siRNA controls were also designed. Then, the mRNA and protein expression levels of CD80 and CD86 were determined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry, respectively. The levels of interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-4 produced by T cells co-cultured with mDCs were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Substantial downregulation of CD80 and CD86 mRNA and protein levels were observed in the mDCs following transfection with siRNA. The level of IFN-γ produced by T cells co-cultured with mDCs was significantly increased in the siRNA group, while IL-4 production was significantly decreased. These results show that specific targeting of CD80 and CD86 with siRNA is able to suppress CD80/CD86 expression and consequently regulate Th1/Th2 cytokine levels by increasing IFN-γ production and decreasing IL-4 levels in an asthmatic murine model.

The experimental results of brittle/ductile two-layer analogue models verify that intraplate tectonic deformation in central-eastern Asia is controlled mainly by the netlike plastic-flow (NPF) occurring in the lower lithosphere, including the lower crust and lithospheric mantle. The ductile lower layer in the model, corresponding to the lower lithosphere in the natural prototype, is made of a mixture of gum rosin and turpentine oil and the brittle upper one, to the upper crust, is formed by the consolidation of talc-powder slurry. The NPF hypothesis for continental dynamics can be regarded as a combination and development of two kinds of seemingly mutually exclusive ones, which are based on the theories of slip-line field and viscous (plastic) flow, respectively. In contrast to “homogeneous” viscous (plastic) flow considered usually in fluid mechanics and rheology, NPF is a viscous (plastic) flow accompanied with shear strain localization, forming plastic-flow network in the flow field. Plastic-flow network, being composed of two families of plastic-flow belts intersecting each other with their initial conjugate angles (i.e. the included angles facing the compression direction) equal to 90°, is similar to but different from the traditional slip-line network, which is assumed as a critical state of yield in elastoplastic medium. The experiments show that there are several NPF-controlled tectonic network systems to be developed in the models and two of them correspond to those in central-eastern Asia, which have the Himalayan and Taiwan arcs as their driving boundaries, respectively. The existence of “stable blocks” in the ductile lower layer has promoted some types of tectonic deformation, including the formation of large-scale compressional basins, corresponding to the Tarim, Ordos, Sichuan basins, etc., the development of compression-shear tectonic zones between some of these basins, corresponding to those shown by the Tianshan and Altay mountain ranges, and the uplift of some areas of the “plateau”, corresponding to a contribution to the formation of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The distributions of maximum compressive stress directions and strains in the ductile lower layer estimated using the “conjugate-angle-bisector” and “conjugate-angle-increment” methods, respectively, are coincident in general tendency and framework with those in the prototype for the major part of the central-eastern Asian continent. It is also inferred that the westward influence of the horizontal compression component of the Pacific plate has reached North China by means of the interaction between adjacent plastic-flow networks although the tectonic network resulting directly from this horizontal compression has not spread westward beyond the Japan Sea.

Undesirable phase and microstructure formation, and poor HAP/metal bonding strength restrict the fabrication technique to obtain HAP and other calcium phosphate ceramic coatings. In this paper a bioceramic composite coating, which includes HAP andβ-Ca2P2O7, was obtained by laser cladding with pre-depositing mixed powders of CaHPO4·2H2O and CaCO3 directly on the 316L stainless steel metal substrate. The phases, microstructure and bonding feature of the bioceramic composite coating are characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy(SEM-EDS). The microstructure of the coating consists of minute granular HAP that is distributed among the overlapped club-shapedβ-Ca2P2O7. Uniform presences of Ca, P and O in bioceramic composite coating supplie necessary elements for the synthesis of HAP andβ-Ca2P2O7. Diffusions inwards of P and O into alloying layer help form the chemical metallurgical bonding and composition gradient distributions are present. a chemical metallurgical bonding was formed between the bioceramic composite coating and metal substrate.

To investigate the anti-tumor immunity in vitro of heat shock protein 70-peptide complexes (HSP70-PC) from human lung cancer tissue. HSP70-PC was purified from lung tumor tissues and corresponding non-tumor lung samples with the methods of ADP-affinity chromatography, DEAE ion-exchange chromatography and Western-blot. The activation and proliferation of PBMC induced by different HSP70-PC and tumor cytotoxic reactivity to A549 cells in vitro were measured by the MTT cell proliferation assay. The purified HSP70-PC had a very high purity found by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot. Human lymphocytes were sensitized efficiently by HSP70 preparation purified from lung cancer tissues and a definite cytotoxicity to A-549 cells was observed. There was significant difference with HSP70-PC purified from lung cancer, compared with the control group (P

We report on a Chinese girl with Frasier syndrome (FS). She presented with steroid-resistant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and male pseudohermaphroditism. The WT1 IVS 9 + 5 GA mutation was detected in one allele in the proband. The ratio of +KTS/-KTS was 0.67 in the proband's cDNA. The expression of podocyte molecules (WT1, nephrin, podocin, alpha-actinin 4 and CD2AP) were also investigated in a renal specimen of this FS patient. WT1 expression showed diffuse nuclear staining, with less obvious speckles in the patient's glomeruli than in those of controls. The distribution and intensity of podocyte molecules were altered both in normal- and abnormal-appearing glomeruli. In conclusion, the study presented a case of FS by clinical manifestation, renal pathology, karyotype analysis and genetic testing. A lower ratio of +KTS/-KTS and an abnormal distribution of WT1, as well as abnormal expressions of other podocyte molecules, were also revealed. The mechanisms of WT1 mutation causing FS still need to be investigated.

Nickel ferrite, NiFe 2 O 4 , with spinel structure was prepared by citrate coordination method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). When the weight of NiFe 2 O 4 sample was 0.5 g, the optimum reduction condition for the preparation of oxygen-deficient nickel ferrite, NiFe 2 O 4–δ , reduced by H 2 was as follows: reduction temperature was 320°C, H 2 flow rate was 40 mL·min –1 and reduction time was 3 h. The results also showed that the higher reduction temperature and higher H 2 flow rate as well as longer reduction time led to an excessive reduction of NiFe 2 O 4–δ and the destructiveness of its spinel structure, resulting in the formation of Fe-Ni alloy Fe(Ni) as well as α-Fe phase.

Hydroxyapatite(HAP) has excellent osteoconductive properties. By controlling the Ca/P ratio better biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics can be produced than pure HAP ceramics. β- calcium pyrophosphate(β-Ca2P2O7) is a new biodegradable ceramic material and its biological response is quite similar to HAP. Obtaining HAP and other bioactive calcium phosphate ceramic coatings has been a popular research field in the past. In our research a new bioceramic composite coating was obtained by laser cladding with pre-depositing mixed powders of CaHPO4·2H2O and CaCO3 directly on the metal substrate. Its main constituents are HAP and β-Ca2P2O7. The microstructure of the coating consists of minute granular HAP that is distributed among the overlapped club-shaped or needle-like β-Ca2P2O7. The hardness distribution in the cladding layer is even and its value is much higher than that in the substrate. There is a bonded structure of the epitaxial planar growth between the substrate and cladding layer, and both a typical cellular microstructure in the middle and an equiaxed microstructure at the top of the cladding layer.

To explore the effect of Danshensu on the lipid metabolism of hyperlipidemic rats.Sixty clean male SD rats were selected. Twelve of them were selected in the basic control group and fed with common foods, and the remaining rats were fed with the high-fat feeds. After the successful modeling, they were randomly divided into the high-fat control group and low dose (10 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)), medium dose (20 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and high dose (40 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) Danshensu (dissolved in saline) groups. Both of the two groups were abdominally injected with the same volume of normal saline once a day for consecutively 30 days. The serum TG, TC, HDL-C and liver ACC1, FAS, HMGR, CPT-I mRNA expressions were detected.Danshensu could inhibit the LDL-C level, timely clear redundant cholesterol and effectively regulate the lipid metablism of hyperlipidemic rats by reducing the TC content, decrease the fatty acid by reducing the FAS mRNA expression, and reduce the synthesis levels of endogenous cholesterol by inhibit the HMGR mRNA expression.

The formation of Aβ is directly controlled by the γ-secretase complex and its activator, γ-secretase activating protein (GSAP). GSAP derives from a C-terminal fragment of a larger precursor protein via a caspase-3 mediated cleavage. However, the mechanism regulating this process remains unknown. Here we provide in vitro experimental evidence that 5-Lipoxygenase (5LO) is as an endogenous regulator for GSAP formation, but not for other known γ-secretase modulators, by directly and specifically activating caspase-3. These results were confirmed in vivo by using transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease in which 5LO level and activity were modulated genetically or pharmacologically. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that GSAP cleavage via caspase-3 is regulated and depend upon the availability of 5LO further establishing this protein as an attractive and viable therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease.