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A catalyst system of Sevelamer, a phosphate-binding drug, has been prepared and used in the Knoevenagel reaction of aromatic aldehydes in water to produce substituted electrophilic alkenes. The products were obtained in excellent yields. Several novel, related catalytic systems showed promising catalytic properties for aromatic and heterocyclic aldehydes. The Sevelamer catalyst can be recovered using simple filtration and reused numerous times (up to 15 times) in the aqueous Knoevenagel reaction without any significant lowering of activity.

This study finds that the four kinds of aquatic plants ofIpomoea aquatica(IA), Eichhornia crassipes(EC), Alternanthera philoxeroides(AP) andSagittaria sagittifolia(SS) have the significant effect on the purification of aquaculture wastewater through the contrast monitoring in the outdoor natural environment condition. The removal rates of the four kinds of aquatic plants are 91.37%, 94.27%, 58.64%, 90.26%, 92.67%, 100%;87.41%, 94.69%, 54.09%, 82.82%, 88.36%, 100%;83.09%, 94.91%, 51.36%, 86.67%, 87.36%, 100%;93.52%, 95.59%, 60.45%, 90.68%, 93.58%, 100% respectively to TN, TP, CODMn, NH4+-N, NO3--N, NO2--N in 10d trial period. On this basis, this study uses the aquatic plants, ozone measurement and control instrument and pump to build an ecological aquaculture wastewater purification system, it is applied in the high density running water breeding of theClarias leather, channel catfish, grass carpandOdontobutis potamophila. We harvest the adult fish 47.2 Kg per square meter, the output value is 566.91 yuan and the profit is 136.76 yuan, so it has the significant economic and ecological benefits and it explores a new model for the development of "water-saving, zero emissions" aquaculture.

The power generation system using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a new technology for energy recovery, but very few people have studied the control system of the organic working fluid turbine at present. This paper put forward the speed and power control strategy about the organic working fluid turbine. The parameters of the speed and power regulators are tuned to insure the steady of speed and power. A series of dynamic simulation experiments are carried out in Simulink. Through the simulation research of robustness and load disturbance experiments, the designed control system have a good effect on accuracy and dynamic response.

The aim of present study was to assess the radioprotective effects of the local application of amifostine to treat acute buccal mucositis in guinea pigs. A total of 32 guinea pigs were randomized into four groups: (Group A) topically administered 50 mg of amifostine plus radiotherapy (RT); (Group B) 100 mg amifostine plus RT; (Group C) normal saline plus RT; and (Group D) normal saline plus sham RT. The opportunity for administration was 15 min before irradiation. When administered, the cotton pieces that had been soaked with 0.5 ml amifostine solution or saline were applied gently on the buccal mucosa of each guinea pig for 30 min. The animals in Groups A, B and C were irradiated individually with a single dose of 30 Gy to the bilateral buccal mucosa. Eight days after irradiation, the animals were scored macroscopically; they were then euthanized, and the buccal mucosal tissues were processed for hematoxylin–eosin staining and ICAM-1 immunohistochemical analysis. In Groups A and B, the mean macroscopic scores were 2.9 ± 0.6 and 2.4 ± 1.1, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, when they were separately compared with Group C (4.4 ± 0.7), a noticeable difference was obtained (P < 0.05). No mucositis was observed in Group D. Comparisons of the expression of ICAM-1 were in agreement with the macroscopic data. Histologically, superficial erosion, exudate and ulcer formation were all observed in the RT groups; only the severity and extent were different. The microscopic observations in the amifostine-treated groups were better than in Group C. The results demonstrated that topical administration of amifostine to the oral mucosa is effective treatment of acute radiation-induced mucositis.

A new dinuclear Ca(II) complex, {[Ca(bpy)(H2O)4]2(μ-1,5-NDS)}·(1,5-NDS) (1,5-NDS = 1,5-naphthalenedisulfonate bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) has been successfully synthesized in water:ethanol (1:5) medium, and was characterized by elemental analysis, IR and thermal analysis. Structurally characterized with the aid of X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis, which revealed that the complex crystallizes in the triclinic system with the P-1 space group, and the complex molecules exhibit a novel one-dimensional supramolecular chain structure via hydrogen bonding interactions. The antitumor activity of 1,5-naphthalenedisulfonic acid sodium ligand and the dinuclear Ca(II) complex against human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cell line and human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line reveals that the Ca(II) complex is more resistive to this cell line as compared to 1,5-naphthalenedisulfonic acid sodium ligand.

The East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains (EH-HM) region has a high biodiversity and harbors numerous endemic alpine plants. This is probably the result of combined orographic and climate oscillations occurring since late Tertiary. Here, we determined the genetic structure and evolutionary history of alpine oak species (including Quercus spinosa, Quercus aquifolioides, and Quercus rehderiana) using both cytoplasmic-nuclear markers and ecological niche models (ENMs), and elucidated the impacts of climate oscillations and environmental heterogeneity on their population demography. Our results indicate there were mixed genetic structure and asymmetric contemporary gene flow within them. The ENMs revealed a similar demographic history for the three species expanded their ranges from the last interglacial (LIG) to the last glacial maximum (LGM), which was consistent with effective population sizes changes. Effects of genetic drift and fragmentation of habitats were responsible for the high differentiation and the lack of phylogeographic structure. Our results support that geological and climatic factors since Miocene triggered the differentiation, evolutionary origin and range shifts of the three oak species in the studied area and also emphasize that a multidisciplinary approach combining molecular markers, ENMs and population genetics can yield deep insights into diversification and evolutionary dynamics of species.

We use the occurrence frequency of 20 amino acids and take the new numerical characteristic of 2D graphical representation based on three physicochemical properties indexes as pseudo amino acid components. After a protein sequence is converted into a 23 dimensional vectors. Finally, based on the Euclidean distance, the similarities of ND5 proteins of nine species are used to demonstrate the effectiveness and rationality of our method. And correlation analysis has been provided to compare both our results and the results basing on the other graphical representation with the Clustal W’s results in order to show the utility of our method.

Flos Chrysanthemi is used in a variety of diseases in traditional Chinese medicine including hypertension, and the total flavonoids (rich in luteolin (LUT) and buddleoside (BUD)) of Flos Chrysanthemi is known to modulate vascular functions and reduce the blood pressure. However, the active flavonoids and their synergistic effects on anti-hypertension are still unclear. To investigate the combined anti-hypertension effects of LUT and BUD enriched extracts on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), as well as the anti-hypertensive mechanism of LUTBUD mixture.CODA MouseRat Tail-Cuff Blood Pressure System was used to measure the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of SHR after treated with extracts contains with LUT and/or BUD. The expressions of Ang II, PRA, ALD, ET, PGI2 and TXB2 were investigated by ELASA. Serum NO concentration was measured by the method of Nitric acid reductase.A single administration of LUT, BUD, or LUT:BUD=1:1 significantly reduced SBP by about 3.35 mmHg, 4.39 mmHg and 15.42 mmHg, respectively. Chronic administration of LBM (at 60 mg/kg; p.o. for 30 days) reduced both SBP and DBP by 4.04% and 5.24% of the vehicle group, respectively. Oral administration of LBM at 60 mg/kg inhibited the serum levels of ANG, ALD and ET, but increased serum NO concentration.This study shows the synergistic anti-hypertension effects of LUT and BUD in SHR. The effects of LBM on blood pressure are associated with RAAS and endothelial system. Thus, our experiments suggest that the combination of luteolin and buddleoside from Flos Chrysanthemi are potentially useful for the therapeutic treatments for hypertension.

With the development of cloud computing, more and more data-intensive workflows have been deployed on virtualized datacenters. As a result, the energy spent on massive data accessing grows rapidly. In this paper, an energy aware scheduling algorithm is proposed, which introduces a novel heuristic called Minimal Data-Accessing Energy Path for scheduling data-intensive workflows aiming to reduce the energy consumption of intensive data accessing. Extensive experiments based on both synthetical and real workloads are conducted to investigate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed scheduling approach. The experimental results show that the proposed heuristic scheduling can significantly reduce the energy consumption of storing/retrieving intermediate data generated during the execution of data intensive workflow. In addition, it exhibits better robustness than existing algorithms when cloud systems are in presence of I/O intensive workloads.

CCD time-series photometric observations are presented for the stars in the fields of the open clusters NGC7209, NGC1582 and Dolidze 18 in Johnson V , together with some photometric observations in R, and B . The results reveal 14 variable stars in the three clusters in total, among which 13 are newly-discovered variables. With color–magnitude diagrams and color–color diagram, memberships of the variable stars are estimated. With the derived light curves, scales of time and amplitude of variability of these variable stars are obtained. Together with the spectral types due to the estimation of color temperatures, possible types of the variable stars are preliminarily discussed.

The casting-solid extrusion forging plus semi-solid partial remelting route is used to improve the properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy products. The effect of remelting temperature and holding time on the microstructure of AZ31 magnesium alloy is studied. Furthermore, the properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy components produced by the casting-solid extrusion forging plus partial remelting route are examined. The results show that the AZ31 components have very good smooth surface and are formed completely. The increases in holding time and remelting temperature result in the formation of spheroidal grains surrounded by liquid phases. The best combination of properties of thixoforged alloy is 290 MPa of tensile strength, 220 MPa of yield strength and 10% of percentage elongation.

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the wall thickness of C-shaped canals in mandibular first premolars using micro-computed tomographic imaging. The focus was on the relation between the radicular groove and the mesial canal wall thickness.A total of 148 mandibular first premolars were scanned by a micro-computed tomographic scanner. After 3-dimensional reconstruction of the teeth, 29 specimens were identified to contain a C-shaped canal, and then they were analyzed in software Mimics 10.01 (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium). The buccal and lingual canal wall thickness, minimum mesial and distal wall thickness, and the depth and angle of radicular grooves were measured at different root levels. Two-way analyses of variance and the post hoc Tukey's honestly significant difference test were used to compare the groups in relation to canal wall thickness.The buccal and lingual canal walls were significantly (P .005) thicker than the mesial and distal walls. The minimum thickness of the mesial walls was significantly (P .005) lower than that of the distal walls, and the locations were frequently at lingual sites, with an incidence of 67.3% for the mesial walls and 69.2% for the distal walls. Backward multivariate analysis showed that the root level and groove angle contributed significantly (P .005) to the minimum mesial wall thickness.The mesial walls of C-shaped canals in mandibular first premolars are the thinnest zones. The minimum mesial wall thickness decreases with the increased severity of the radicular groove, and it mainly occurs at lingual sites. Care should be taken to avoid perforation at danger zones during shaping and post space preparation procedures.

An effective theoretical method is developed to analyze three-ball system at contact in a bidimensional case basing on the impact law. The accurate solutions of the post-velocity have been computed in the paper. With the increase of between BallII and Ball III, the post-velocity of Ball III will be less and less. In fact, in the case of , the three-ball system in the same plane is consistent with the three-ball system in co-linear, when , the impact is happened only between BallI and Ball II. It is proved that the vibrating frequency influences only the impact time and the displacement of each ball for the three-ball system in the plane with elastic impact, but can not affect the momentum transfer and the post-velocities of the three balls, and all possible rigid solutions for impact are the limits of the theoretical results in some parameters of the system actually.

SNRIs (serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) have been proposed to exert increased therapeutic efficacy or be faster acting compared to commonly used antidepressants. In this study, we performed in vitro binding and uptake assays and in vivo behavioral tests to assess the pharmacological properties and antidepressant-like efficacy of the compound 071031B; we also performed cytotoxicity tests using HepG2 cells and SH-SY5Y cells to predict the toxicity of 071031B. In vitro, 071031B had high affinity for both serotonin transporters and norepinephrine transporters prepared from rat cortex tissue (Ki=2.68 and 1.09 nM, respectively) and recombinant cells (Ki=1.57 and 0.36 nM, respectively). Moreover, 071031B also potently inhibited the uptake of serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) into rat cortical synaptosomes (Ki=1.99 and 1.09 nM, respectively) and recombinant cells (Ki=3.23 and 0.79 nM, respectively). In vivo, acute administration of 071031B dose-dependently reduced the immobility time in the tail suspension test in mice and the forced swimming test in mice and rats with higher efficacy than duloxetine and showed no stimulatory effect on the locomotor activity. Chronic 071031B treatment (5 or 10mg/kg) significantly reversed depressive-like behaviors in chronically stressed rats, including reduced sucrose preference, decreased locomotor activity, and prolonged latency to begin eating. Furthermore, 071031B also exhibited lower cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells and SH-SY5Y cells in vitro than duloxetine. These findings suggest that 071031B is a novel, balanced serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, with more potent antidepressant effects and lower hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity in vitro than duloxetine.

Sea surface microlayer (SML) samples and corresponding bulk surface water (SW) samples were collected in the Jiaozhou Bay and its adjacent area in July and November 2008. The average concentrations of dissolved monosaccharides (MCHO) and polysaccharides (PCHO) revealed similar temporal variability, with higher concentrations during the green-tide period (in July) than during the non-green-tide period (in November). Average enrichment factors (EF) of MCHO and PCHO, defined as the ratio of the concentration in the SML to that in the SW, were 1.3 and 1.4 in July, respectively, while those values in November were 1.9 and 1.6. Our data also showed that the concentrations of MCHO and PCHO in the SML were strongly correlated with those in the SW, indicating that most of the organic materials in the SML came from the SW. The total dissolved carbohydrate concentrations (TDCHO) in the bulk surface water were closely correlated with salinity during the cruises (July: r=−0.580, n=18, P=0.01; November: r=−0.679, n=26, P

To observe the clinical efficacy and the change of airway responsiveness to Chinese medicine (CM) in treating cough variant asthma (CVA).Ninety-four patients who had confirmed the diagnosis of CVA were selected and randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group by the blocked randomization method. The ratio of the two groups was 2:1. The treatment group had 63 patients that were treated by CM, lost in 10 cases, 53 patients had finished the trial. The control group had 31 patients that were treated by montelukast tablets and theophylline, lost in 5 cases, 26 patients had finished the trial, two weeks as one therapeutic course. The syndrome efficacy, cough efficacy, symptom score and the airway responsiveness between two groups were observed.The comparison of the syndrome efficacy: the total effective rate of the treatment group was 90.57% and the control group was 76.92%, and the two groups were significantly different (P0.05). The comparison of the cough efficacy: the total effective rate of the treatment group was 98.11% and the control group was 80.77%, and the two groups were also significantly different (P0.05). Syndrome scoring and cough scoring were all significantly lowered, but the airway responsiveness was not significantly lowered.The treatment of CM could ease the cough, improve the syndrome, and shows obvious advantages compared with the control group, which is worthy of extensive clinical application.

Embedded system is an important and popular application system for information technology. The applications of embedded system are depended on embedded hardware and software. In fact, applications of embedded systems have changed life of people in the world. They can be found anywhere, and almost can be used in every field. Since there are multiple definitions for the terminology, few people exactly know the concept of an embedded system. In this paper, some important concepts and definitions of embedded system are discussed and analyzed. The research is helpful to understand the embedded systems and apply them better.

Background: Oxidative stress is a key factor implicated in the development of diabetic neuropathy. This study evaluates the prophylactic and antinociceptive effects of the antioxidant coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on diabetes-induced neuropathic pain in a diabetic mouse model. Methods: Total 56 mice with type 1 diabetes induced by streptozotocin were used, 20 normal mice were used as control. Mechanical and thermal nociceptive behavioral assays were applied to evaluate diabetic neuropathic pain. Tissue lipid peroxidation, immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription, and polymerase chain reaction were used to evaluate the molecular mechanisms of CoQ10. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Results: CoQ10 administration was associated with reduced loss of body weight compared with nontreated diabetic mice, without affecting blood glucose levels. Low dose and long-term administration of CoQ10 prevented the development of neuropathic pain. Treatment with CoQ10 produced a significant dose-dependent inhibition of mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in diabetic mice. Dorsal root ganglia, sciatic nerve, and spinal cord tissues from diabetic mice demonstrated increased lipid peroxidation that was reduced by CoQ10 treatment. CoQ10 administration was also noted to reduce the proinflammatory factors in the peripheral and central nervous system. Conclusions: The results of this study support the hypothesis that hyperglycemia induced neuronal oxidative damage and reactive inflammation may be pathogenic in diabetic neuropathic pain. CoQ10 may be protective by inhibiting oxidative stress and reducing inflammation by down-regulating proinflammatory factors. These results suggest that CoQ10 administration may represent a low-risk, high-reward strategy for preventing or treating diabetic neuropathy.

The detection and fault identification of the partial discharge is the important aspect for the monitoring of the power equipment. For the lacks of the traditional detection methods, this paper analyzed the UHF signal characteristic parameters of the power equipment’s partial discharge, and developed the UHF detection system of the partial discharge. The A/D technology of the gain equalization and quantization in the different bands is studied, and the fault diagnosis strategy of the partial discharge based on the UHF and AE is proposed. On the premise to ensure the integrity of the partial discharge signals, the acquisition, amplification, analysis and storage of the partial discharge signal is realized. The case-based reasoning technology determines the fault type and fault degree of the partial discharge to make the accurate judgment for the operational state of the equipment and improve the intelligence level and the operational reliability for the state diagnosis of the power equipment.

Preparation and oxygen sensing properties of a luminescent composite material based on a mixed-ligand ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(phen)2DPOP]Cl2 {phen = 1, 10-phenanthroline, DPOP = 2-(11-dipyrido [3, 2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine)-5-phenyl-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole} are reported, which are assembled in mesoporous silica MCM-41. As a result, the emission intensities of all assembly systems are sensitive to oxygen concentrations, that is to say, this material shows good oxygen-sensing properties. [Ru(phen)2DPOP]Cl2/MCM-41 (10 mg·g–1) exhibits the best sensitivity (I0/I100 = 10.8) and fast response time (2 s). These results indicate that this composite material is a promising candidate for optical oxygen sensors.

On the basis of studying the transformer condition assessment, the paper put forward the monitoring framework of the transformer cooler based on the intelligent electrical grid, and developed the intelligent monitoring system of the transformer cooler based on the DCS and dual PLC. The system used the DCS and dual PLC redundancy, the intelligent controller of the motor, the system’s platform for the centralized monitoring, the environmental control system and the other advanced technology, and implemented the monitoring, remote control and status monitoring of the transformer cooling system to improve the reliability and adaptability of the transformer cooler system. The system can be applied for the intelligent electrical grid. The above technologies are innovative in the high-performance distributed bus, the integrated design of three-phase solid state relay and magnetic latching relay and the cooling technology of the semiconductor in the PLC module, and lie in the leading domestic level.

Partial discharge causes mainly the insulation deterioration. It is the significant symptom and manifestation, and is an important factor of the insulation failure for the electrical power equipment. On the basis of analyzing the physical model of partial discharge, this paper used the online monitoring technology of partial discharge that combines the ultra high frequency (UHF) method and the acoustic emission (AE) method, studied the fault pattern recognition method of partial discharge based on the case-based reasoning algorithm, and established the intelligent fault identification system of partial discharge based on the case-based reasoning. The system can accurately and reliably identify the fault mode type, the specific fault location and severity of partial discharge for the electrical power equipment to make the health evaluation and improve the reliability. Through the application of the new materials and new technology, the load loss of the transformer can drop by 15%, the no-load loss can decline by 50% and the fee of electricity loss can down by 32.5%.

Our previous investigation demonstrated that plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) siRNA ameliorated bleomycin (BLM)-induced rat lung fibrosis. The present study was undertaken to explore the effect and the mechanism of PAI-1 siRNA and plasmid pcDNA on the proliferation and apoptosis of cultured fibroblasts from BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissues.The fibroblasts from BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissue were isolated and transfected using PAI-1 siRNA and plasmid pcDNA-PAI-1. The techniques of real time RT-PCR and/or western blot were used to determine the expression of PAI-1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) (real time RT-PCR only), collagen type-1 and type-3 (real time RT-PCR only), and the levels of caspase-3, ERK and AKT signal molecules. The proliferation of fibroblasts was measured by cell cycle with flow cytometry. The intracellular concentration of Ca(2+) was examined by confocal laser microscopy.PAI-1 siRNA downregulated the PAI-1 mRNA expression by 70%±7% at 24h and protein expression by 73.5%±10% and 42%±3% at 48h and 72h compared to Non-specific siRNA group. Flow cytometry showed that the fibroblasts at the G(2)M+S phase were significantly reduced by 20.56±1.03% after transfecting PAI-1 siRNA and were significantly increased by 43.8±1.21% after transfecting plasmid pcDNA-PAI-1. The mRNA expressions of α-SMA, collagen type-1and type-3 were downregulated after transfecting the PAI-1 siRNA, while upregulated after the transfection of pcDNA-PAI-1. PAI-1 siRNA increased the level of caspase-3, inhibited the expressions of p-ERK and p-AKT protein molecules, while the pcDNA-PAI-1 transfection showed a reversal effect on these expressions. Intracellular Ca(2+) concentration was decreased after transfecting PAI-1 siRNA, whereas increased after transfecting pcDNA-PAI-1.PAI-1 promotes the proliferation, transforming into myofibroblasts, collagen synthesis, and inhibits apoptosis of pulmonary fibroblasts by activating Ca(2+), ERK and AKT signaling pathway. Decreasing PAI-1 expression is an available strategy in inhibiting the progression of pulmonary fibrosis.

According to tests of 8 T concrete beams with HRB500 steel bars as stirrup, the shear behavior of beams was researched under uniform load, and the influencing factors of diagonal crack width were analyzed, such as the different concrete strength, stirrup spacing and the welded wire fabric. Experimental results show that concrete beams with HRB500 steel bars as stirrup show similar behavior to the beams with conventional stirrup, and the stirrups yield can be achieved which meets the requirement of shear behavior in structure. In addition, the welded wire fabric can be used as one of the new kinds of reinforcement to control diagonal crack width.

An updated and practical approach to the synthesis of dithymoquinone via one-step photoirradiation of thymoquinone (2-methyl-5-isopropyl-1,4-benzoquinone) is described. Synthesis resulted in a 55% yield of one structural isomer (trans-anti derivative), as confirmed by HPLC, NMR spectroscopy and first ever single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses.

A simple and novel synthesis of polytrisubstituted-2-pyridones derivatives by the reaction of enamino esters and diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate has been reported. The method provides a rapid synthetic route for the construction of 2-pyridones under catalyst- and solvent-free reaction conditions in moderate-to-good yields.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is correlated with NAPDH oxidase (NOX)-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ROS-induced NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a novel mechanism of EMT. Angiotensin II (AngII) induces EMT by regulating intracellular ROS. Nevertheless, it has not been reported whether AngII could induce hepatocyte EMT. Angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] can inhibit the effects of AngII via a counter-regulatory mechanism. However, whether Ang-(1-7) attenuated the effects of AngII on hepatocyte EMT remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether Ang-(1-7) attenuated AngII-induced hepatocyte EMT by inhibiting the NOX-derived ROS-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1s/Smad circuit. In vivo, two animal models were established. In the first model, rats were infused AngII. In the second model, Ang-(1-7) was constantly infused into double bile duct ligated (BDL) rats. In vitro, hepatocytes were pretreated with antioxidant, NLRP3 siRNA, NOX4 siRNA, or Ang-(1-7) before exposure to AngII. In vitro, AngII induced hepatocyte EMT, which was inhibited by N-acetylcysteine (NAC), diphenylene iodonium (DPI), and NOX4 siRNA. NLRP3 inflammasome, which was activated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), mediated AngII-induced hepatocyte EMT. Ang-(1-7) suppressed AngII-induced EMT by inhibiting the NOX-derived H2O2-activated NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1s/Smad circuit. In vivo, infusion of AngII induced activation of H2O2-correlated NLRP3 inflammasome in rat livers and accumulation of α-collagen I (Col1A1) in hepatocytes. Infusion of Ang-(1-7) alleviated BDL-induced liver fibrosis and inhibited the expression of Col1A1 and the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in hepatocytes. Ang-(1-7) attenuated AngII-induced hepatocyte EMT by inhibiting the NOX-derived H2O2-activated NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1s/Smad circuit.

Diabetic neuropathic pain is reduced with tight glycemic control. However, strict control increases the risk of hypoglycemic episodes, which are themselves linked to painful neuropathy. This study explored the effects of hypoglycemia-related painful neuropathy. Pretreatment with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) was performed to explore the preventive effect of CoQ10 on hypoglycemia-related acute neuropathic pain. Two strains of mice were used and 1 unit/kg of insulin was given to induce hypoglycemia. Mechanical sensitivity of hindpaw withdrawal thresholds was measured using von Frey filaments. Blood glucose levels were clamped at normal levels by joint insulin and glucose injection to test whether insulin itself induced hypersensitivity. Results suggest that the increased mechanical sensitivity after insulin injection is related to decreased blood glucose levels. When blood glucose levels remained at a normal level by the linked administration of insulin and glucose, mice demonstrated no significant change in mechanical sensitivity. Pretreatment with CoQ10 prevented neuropathic pain and the expression of the stress factor c-Fos. These results support the concept that pain in the diabetic scenario can be the result of hypoglycemia and not insulin itself. Additionally, pretreatment with CoQ10 may be a potent preventive method for the development of neuropathic pain.

In this work, the optimal clathration condition was investigated for the preparation of aspirin-β-cyclodextrin (Asp-β-CD) inclusion complex using design of experiment (DOE) methodology. A 3-level, 3-factor Box-Behnken design with a total of 17 experimental runs was used. The Asp-β-CD inclusion complex was prepared by saturated solution method. The influence on the embedding rate was investigated, including molar ratio of β-CD to Asp, clathration temperature and clathration time, and the optimum values of such three test variables were found to be 0.82, 49°C and 2.0 h, respectively. The embedding rate could be up to 61.19%. The formation of the bonding between -COOH group of Asp and O-H group of β-CD might play an important role in the process of clathration according to FT-IR spectra. Release kinetics of Asp from inclusion complex was studied for the evaluation of drug release mechanism and diffusion coefficients. The results showed that the drug release from matrix occurred through Fickian diffusion mechanism. The cumulative release of Asp reached only 40% over 24 h, so the inclusion complex could potentially be applied as a long-acting delivery system.

Optogenetic approaches allow the manipulation of neuronal activity patterns in space and time by light, particularly in small animals such as zebrafish. However, most techniques cannot control neuronal activity independently at different locations. Here we describe equipment and provide a protocol for single-photon patterned optical stimulation of neurons using a digital micromirror device (DMD). This method can create arbitrary spatiotemporal light patterns with spatial and temporal resolutions in the micrometer and submillisecond range, respectively. Different options to integrate a DMD into a multiphoton microscope are presented and compared. We also describe an ex vivo preparation of the adult zebrafish head that greatly facilitates optogenetic and other experiments. After assembly, the initial alignment takes about one day and the zebrafish preparation takes

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is involved in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects on pulmonary fibrosis of silencing PAI-1 expression with small interfering RNA (siRNA) and to assess the possible underlying mechanisms. Male Wistar rats were subjected to intratracheal injection of bleomycin (BLM, 5 mg/kg, 0.2 mL) to induce pulmonary fibrosis. Histopathological changes of lung tissue were examined with HE or Masson's trichrome staining. The expression levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen type-I and type-III, caspase-3, as well as p-ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt in the lung tissue were evaluated using imunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses. The fibroblasts isolated from BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissue were cultured and transfected with pcDNA-PAI-1 or PAI-1siRNA. The expression level of PAI-1 in the fibroblasts was measured using real time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The fibroblast proliferation was evaluated using MTT assay. Intratracheal injection of PAI-1-siRNA (7.5 nmoL/0.2 mL) significantly alleviated alveolitis and collagen deposition, reduced the expression of PAI-1, α-SMA, collagen type-I and collagen type-III, and increased the expression of caspase-3 in BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissue. In consistence with the in vivo results, the proliferation of the cultured fibroblasts from BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissue was inhibited by transfection with PAI-1-siRNA, and accelerated by overexpression of PAI-1 by transfection with pcDNA-PAI-1. The expression of caspase-3 was increased as a result of PAI-1 siRNA transfection, and decreased after transfection with pcDNA-PAI-1. In addition, the levels of p-ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt in the fibrogenic lung tissue were reduced after treatment with PAI-1siRNA. The data demonstrate that PAI-1 siRNA inhibits alveolitis and pulmonary fibrosis in BLM-treated rats via inhibiting the proliferation and promoting the apoptosis of fibroblasts. Suppression ERK and AKT signalling pathways might have at least partly contributed to this process. Targeting PAI-1 is a promising therapeutic strategy for pulmonary fibrosis.

The application of coherent cube and volume curvature algorithm to analyze and process the three-dimensional seismic data of Ordovician carbonate rocks in the Tazhong area of Tarim Basin, and to predict the faults and fractures development. After the comparison, coherent cube algorithm is fit for prediction of main faults development with the clear result in oilfield exploration stage , volume curvature algorithm is fit for prediction of faults and fractures development with the abundant information in oilfield development stage. Therefore, according to different purposes of exploration and development, different algorithms could be applied to prediction of faults and fractures. This would be useful to guide the oilfield exploration and development.

In order to learn the present situation of heavy metals on particulate matters and evaluate their health risk, this paper cites the examples of District Xigu which is severely polluted and Town Yuzhong which is slightly polluted in Lanzhou city, the concentration of heavy metals attached on particulate matters in different seasons and different regions is measured, and the distribution proportion of heavy metals in different diameters of particulates is analyzed. Based on the health risk evaluation model recommended by USEPA, this paper evaluates health risks of pollution caused by heavy metals on atmosphere particulates at different sampling places in Lanzhou city. The result shows that heavy metal attached on particulate matter in Lanzhou city is distributed seasonally and regionally. Heavy metals on particulate matters in Lanzhou city are mainly attached on particulates of which the diameters are less than 10μm(PM10). In terms of horizontal gradient, the hazard index of heavy metal in the total suspension particulates in severely-polluted district of Lanzhou city in winter is greater than 1. In terms of vertical gradient, the hazard index of heavy metals on total suspension particulates 15m above ground in winter is greater than 1. These polluted aspects should be treated. The carcinogenic risk of chromium exceeds 10-6~10-4 which is acceptable scope stipulated by USEPA and should be well handled.

In order to understand the seismic performance of the large complex structure with multi-storey basement, the structure-pile-soil finite element model of a typical cross sections of one transfer station in a transportation junction were established by using the ANSYS software. The time history analysis was adopted, and the seismic responds of the whole system under the seismic load was analyzed, and some rules were attained. Comparing the result of the seismic responds with the rigid foundation model which the soil around the underground structure simulated by spring element, and some salutary conclusions are attained.

Thermal energy storage is the main way to ensure solar power plant to generate electric in the form of stable and continuous. In this paper, a structure optimization model for large-scale, commercialization solar thermal energy storage system is proposed according to life cycle analysis. Based on the analysis of thermal energy storage medium, thermal energy storage tanks, insulation, bottom bearing structure, pump energy and land use, the optimization of thermal energy storage system is realized. Finally, the structure optimization design for 50MW solar power plant is implemented and storage tank’s geometric parameters are calculated. This research can provide technological support for large-scale application of solar thermal generation.

Soil drying and wetting impose significant influences on soil nitrogen (N) dynamics and microbial communities. However, effects of drying-wetting cycles, while common in vegetable soils, especially under greenhouse conditions, have not been well studied. In this study, two greenhouse vegetable soils, which were collected from Xinji (XJ) and Hangzhou (HZ), China, were maintained at 30% and 75% water-holding capacity (WHC), or five cycles of 75% WHC followed by a 7-day dry-down to 30% WHC (DW). Soil inorganic N content increased during incubation. Net N mineralization (Nmin), microbial activity, and microbial biomass were significantly higher in the DW treatment than in the 30% and 75% WHC treatments. The higher water content (75% WHC) treatment had higher Nmin, microbial activity, and microbial biomass than the lower water content treatment (30% WHC). Multivariate analyses of community-level physiological profile (CLPP) and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) data indicated that soil moisture regime had a significant effect on soil microbial community substrate utilization pattern and microbial community composition. The significant positive correlation between Nmin and microbial substrate utilization or PLFAs suggested that soil N mineralization had a close relationship with microbial community.

In the olfactory bulb, the modulatory neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) is coexpressed with GABA by local interneurons, but its role in odor processing remains obscure. We examined functions of DA mediated by D2-like receptors in the olfactory bulb of adult zebrafish by pharmacology, whole-cell recordings, calcium imaging, and optogenetics. Bath application of DA had no detectable effect on odorant-evoked sensory input. DA directly hyperpolarized mitral cells (MCs) via D2-like receptors and slightly increased their response gain. Consistent with this effect on input–output functions of MCs, small odorant responses were suppressed, whereas strong responses were enhanced in the presence of DA. These effects increased the root-mean-square contrast of population activity patterns but did not reduce their correlations. Optical stimulation of interneurons expressing channelrhodopsin-2 evoked fast GABAergic inhibitory currents in mitral cells but failed to activate D2receptor-mediated currents when stimuli were short. Prolonged stimulus trains, however, activated a slow hyperpolarizing current that was blocked by an antagonist of D2-like receptors. GABA and DA are therefore both released from interneurons by electrical activity and hyperpolarize MCs, but D2-dependent dopaminergic effects occur on slower timescales. Additional effects of DA may be mediated by D1-like receptors. These results indicate that DA acts on D2-like receptors via asynchronous release and/or volume transmission and implicate DA in the slow adaptation of circuit function. The shift of the membrane potential away from spike threshold could adapt mitral cells to background input without compromising their sensitivity.

As to shield tunneling, that soil is reinforced into the void is one of the most important reasons which cause the ground settlement, and always most important factor in the tunnel construction and the relative research. The numerical simulation studies presented in this paper focus on the different grouting pressure causing different ground settlement, plastic area and stress growth behavior. Based on the simulation results and the engineering ground settlement limit, propose reasonable synchronous slurry injection pressure and the relative method of controlling ground settlement. Propose reasonable suggestion for the determination of grouting pressure during shield construction.

Neuronal activity patterns contain information in their temporal structure, indicating that information transfer between neurons may be optimized by temporal filtering. In the zebrafish olfactory bulb, subsets of output neurons (mitral cells) engage in synchronized oscillations during odour responses, but information about odour identity is contained mostly in non-oscillatory firing rate patterns. Using optogenetic manipulations and odour stimulation, we found that firing rate responses of neurons in the posterior zone of the dorsal telencephalon (Dp), a target area homologous to olfactory cortex, were largely insensitive to oscillatory synchrony of mitral cells because passive membrane properties and synaptic currents act as low-pass filters. Nevertheless, synchrony influenced spike timing. Moreover, Dp neurons responded primarily during the decorrelated steady state of mitral cell activity patterns. Temporal filtering therefore tunes Dp neurons to components of mitral cell activity patterns that are particularly informative about precise odour identity. These results demonstrate how temporal filtering can extract specific information from multiplexed neuronal codes. Optogenetic stimulation in the zebrafish olfactory bulb and downstream read out of activity in the homologue of olfactory cortex demonstrate how temporal filtering can extract specific components of neuronal codes. Neurons in the olfactory bulb of zebrafish and other species respond to odours with complex firing that contains both oscillatory and non-oscillatory components, but the functional importance of these different components is unclear. Using optogenetic stimulation, Rainer Friedrich and colleagues examine directly the downstream readout of oscillatory bulb activity in the posterior zone of the dorsal telencephalon (Dp), a zebrafish homologue of the olfactory cortex. Dp neurons were largely insensitive to synchronized oscillatory activity, but respond to steady-state activity. These findings could be accounted for by low-pass filter-like biophysical properties of Dp neurons, and demonstrate how filtering can extract individual components of neuronal codes.

Munc18-1 has an important role in neurotransmitter release, and controls every step in the exocytotic pathway in the central nervous system. In the present study, whether epileptic seizure causes a change of Munc18 localization in neuronal nuclei was analyzed.Epilepsy models were established by injection of kainic acid (KA) solution into hippocampus of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats or intraperitoneal injection of KA in Kunming mice. The hippocampal neurons were prepared from embryonic day 18 SD rats, and cultured in neurobasal medium, followed by treatment with glutamate for 3 h. Neuronal and glial nuclei of hippocampus were separated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The nucleus-enriched fractions were stained with 0.1% Cresyl Violet for morphological assay. Immunochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy with anti-Munc18-1 antibody were used to determine the nuclear localization of Munc18-1. Immunoblotting was used to detect the protein level of Munc18-1.The localization of Munc18-1 in nucleus of rat hippocampal neuron was confirmed by immunochemistry, immunoelectron microscopy, and immunoblotting detection of neuronal nucleus fraction. In animals receiving intrahippocampal or intraperitoneal injection of KA, immunostaining revealed that the expression of Munc18-1 decreased in pyramidal cell layer of CA regions, as well as in hilus and granular cell layer of dentate gyrus in hippocampus. Moreover, immunoblotting analysis showed that the expression level of Munc18-1 in nucleus fraction of hippocampus significantly decreased in KA-treated animals. The relationship between the change of Munc18-1 expression in neuronal nuclei and neuronal over-activation was also tested in primary cultured neurons. After treatment with 50 μmol/L glutamate acid for 3 h, Munc18-1 level was decreased in nucleus fraction and increased in cytoplasmic fraction of primary cultured neurons.These results suggest that excitatory stimulation can induce the distribution change of Munc18-1 in neuron, which may subsequently modulate neuronal functions in brain.

The evolution of nuclear disintegration mechanisms with increasing excitation energy, from compound nucleus to multifragmentation, has been studied by using the Statistical Multifragmentation Model (SMM) within a micro-canonical ensemble. We discuss the observable characteristics as functions of excitation energy in multifragmentation, concentrating on the isospin dependence of the model in its decaying mechanism and break-up fragment configuration by comparing the A0 = 200, Z0 = 78 and A0 = 200, Z0 = 100 systems. The calculations indicate that the neutron-rich system (Z0 = 78) translates to a fission-like process from evaporation later than the symmetric nucleus at a lower excitation energy, but gets a larger average multiplicity as the excitation energy increases above 1.0 MeV/u.