Search

We propose a real-time hyperspectral video acquisition system that uses coded slits. Conventional imaging spectrometers usually have scanning mechanisms that reduce the temporal resolution or sacrifice the spatial resolution to acquire spectral information instantly. Recently, computational spectral imaging has been applied to realize high-speed or high-performance spectral imaging. However, the most current computational spectral imaging systems take a long time to reconstruct spectral data cubes from limited measurements, which limits real-time hyperspectral video acquisition. In this work, we propose a new computational spectral imaging system. We substitute the slit in a conventional scanning-based imaging spectrometer with coded slits, which can achieve the parallel acquisition of spectral data and thus an imaging speed that is several times higher. We also apply an electronically controlled translation stage to use different codes at each exposure level. The larger amount of data allows for fast reconstruction through matrix inversion. To solve the problem of a trade-off between imaging speed and image quality in high-speed spectral imaging, we analyze the noise in the system. The severe readout noise in our system is suppressed with S-matrix coding. Finally, we build a practical prototype that can acquire hyperspectral video with a high spatial resolution and a high signal-to-noise ratio at 5 Hz in real time.

Abstract Cisplatin, a potent anticancer drug, is usually causing nephrotoxicity; limiting its therapeutic application and efficiency. Maltol may be used to prevent such toxic effect. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying protective mechanisms of maltol on nephrotoxicity by cisplatin using a cisplatin-treated mouse model and a cellular toxicity model of HEK293 cells. The blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels in mice were increased by cisplatin but decreased to normal ranges by maltol pretreatment (50 and 100 mg/kg) for ten days. Besides, maltol pretreatment decreased oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and apoptosis in cisplatin-treated mice. The inhibitory action of maltol on inflammatory responses was achieved by reducing the expressions in NF-κB, IL-1β, iNOS, and TNF-α in the mice in vivo. Additionally, maltol restored the reduction of PI3K/Akt and mTOR levels by cisplatin through increasing AMPK expression in cisplatin-treated HEK293 cells. Maltol also suppressed the expression of Bax and caspase 3 by inhibiting the p53 activity in HEK293 cells. Overall, maltol may serve as a valuable potential drug to prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, and the underlying molecular mechanisms of maltol action may involve intracellular AMPK/PI3K/Akt and p53 signaling pathways.

Background/Aims: Cisplatin (CDDP) was the first platinum-containing anti-cancer drug. However, CDDP causes nephrotoxicity as a side effect, which limits its clinic application. The aim of this study was to investigate the renoprotective effect of ginsenoside Re (G-Re) in a murine model of CDDP-induced acute kidney injury. Methods: Male ICR mice were divided into 4 groups. G-Re was administered to the mice by oral gavage once a day at a dose of 25 mg/kg for 10 days. On the 7th day, a single injection of CDDP (25 mg/kg) was given at 1 h after G-Re treatment. Results: CDDP administration resulted in renal dysfunction, as evidenced by an increase in the serum levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen. Oxidative stress in the CDDP group was reflected by an increase of malondialdehyde and a depletion of reduced glutathione and catalase in renal tissue. These findings were supported by increased 4-hydroxynonenal expression, which was significantly reduced by G-Re. Simultaneously, the overexpression of cytochrome P450 E1 was inhibited. G-Re inhibited the inflammatory response by the reduction of the protein expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Furthermore, CDDP increased the expression of Bax and decreased Bcl-2 expression in renal tissue. Hematoxylin and eosin, Hoechst 33258, and TUNEL staining also confirmed the presence of acute tubular necrosis and apoptosis. G-Re significantly decreased the levels of indicators of renal dysfunction, inflammatory cytokines, apoptosis, and malondialdehyde in the kidney and also significantly attenuated the histopathological changes associated with acute renal failure. Conclusions: Collectively, the results of this study suggest that the nephroprotective potential of G-Re may, in part, be related to its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects.

This study proposes a technique to implement see-through three-dimensional (3-D) display based on point light source integral imaging. This display consists of an edge-lit light guide plate, a polarizer array, and a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) panel without rear polarizer. The combination of the light guide plate and the polarizer array act as a transparent polarized point light source array (PLSA), and reconstructs the 3-D image with the elemental image array loaded on the LCD panel. The background rays passing through the gaps in the polarized PLSA carry the object information and implement see-through property. The experimental system is constructed based on 1-D integral imaging to verify the proposed method. The see-through and superposition capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated.

Although iris recognition has achieved big successes on biometric identification in recent years, difficulties in the collection of iris images with high resolution and in the segmentation of valid regions prevent it from applying to large-scale practical applications. In this paper, we present an eye recognition framework based on deep learning, which relaxes the data collection procedure, improves the anti-fake quality, and promotes the performance of biometric identification. Specifically, we propose and train a mixed convolutional and residual network (MiCoRe-Net) for the eye recognition task. Such an architecture inserts a convolutional layer between every two residual layers and takes the advantages from both of convolutional networks and residual networks. Experiment results show that the proposed approach achieves accuracies of 99.08% and 96.12% on the CASIA-Iris-IntervalV4 and the UBIRIS.v2 datasets, respectively, which outperforms other classical classifiers and deep neural networks with other architectures.

Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the United States and current treatment for stroke is limited to two modalities with well-defined time restraints. The prehospital setting is a significant and relatively easy setting for innovation in stroke care, as the most clinical decisions are made within the first several hours of symptom onset. In this review, we look at recent innovations in improving prehospital care for acute stroke including the conception of mobile stroke units, the ongoing development of stroke models for emergency providers, barriers to prehospital care, and the innovation of new telephone applications. Although there are notable improvements in acute stroke care, additional research is needed to further improve on current models and technologies.

FeF2/carbon composite nanoparticle was prepared by a one-pot thermal reaction using a mixture of ferrous oxalate and PTFE as precursor. FeF2 was obtained as the main phase according to the XRD patterns of the samples prepared in the present study. Furthermore, the FeF2 particle has a size of 50–100 nm. Its electrochemical properties were studied in the 4.2–1.3 V region at a current density of 60 mA g−1. It exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 503.394 mA h g−1 and still reserved discharge capacity of about 268.478, 211.34, 193.817 and 183.328 mA h g−1 at the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, and 20th cycles, respectively. Keywords: Lithium-ion battery, FeF2, Nanoparticles, Cathode material, Charge–discharge performance

In this paper, we present an easy-to-implement metamaterial absorber based on bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS). The proposed device not only obtains an ultrahigh quality factor (Q-factor) of 4133 and dynamic adjustability at high absorption, but also exhibits an excellent sensing performance with a figure of merit (FOM) of 4125. These outstanding properties are explained by the surface lattice resonance, which allows us to improve the quality factor significantly and control resonance wavelength precisely by tuning the unit cell periods, Fermi energy of the BDS, and structural parameters. Our findings can provide high-performance applications in terahertz filtering, detection, and biochemical sensing.

A transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) is a porcine enteropathogenic coronavirus, causing acute swine enteric disease especially in suckling piglets. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are safe vaccine adjuvant, which could enhance immune responses. Our previous research confirmed that nano silicon had immune-enhancing effects with inactivated TGEV vaccine. In this study, we further clarified the immune-enhancing mechanism of the inactivated TGEV vaccine with MSNs on porcine dendritic cells (DCs). Our results indicated that the inactivated TGEV vaccine with MSNs strongly enhanced the activation of the DCs. Expressions of TLR3, TLR5, TLR7, TLR9, and TLR10, cytokines IFN-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-α, cytokine receptor CCR-7 of immature DCs were characterized and showed themselves to be significantly higher in the inactivated TGEV vaccine with the MSN group. In summary, the inactivated TGEV vaccine with MSNs has effects on the phenotype and function of porcine DCs, which helps to better understand the immune-enhancing mechanism.

Clostridium perfringens autolysin (CpAcp) is a peptidoglycan hydrolase associated with cell separation, division, and growth. It consists of a signal peptide, ten SH3b domains, and a catalytic domain. The structure and function mechanisms of the ten SH3bs related to cell wall peptidoglycan binding remain unclear. Here, the structures of CpAcp SH3bs were studied through NMR spectroscopy and structural simulation. The NMR structure of SH3b6 was determined at first, which adopts a typical β-barrel fold and has three potential ligand-binding pockets. The largest pocket containing eight conserved residues was suggested to bind with peptide ligand in a novel model. The structures of the other nine SH3bs were subsequently predicted to have a fold similar to SH3b6. Their ligand pockets are largely similar to those of SH3b6, although with varied size and morphology, except that SH3b1/2 display a third pocket markedly different from those in other SH3bs. Thus, it was supposed that SH3b3-10 possess similar ligand-binding ability, while SH3b1/2 have a different specificity and additional binding site for ligand. As an entirety, ten SH3bs confer a capacity for alternatively binding to various peptidoglycan sites in the cell wall. This study presents an initial insight into the structure and potential function of CpAcp SH3bs.

Various algorithms predominantly use data-driven methods for forecasting building electricity consumption. Among them, algorithms that use deep learning methods and, long and short-term memory (LSTM) have shown strong prediction accuracy in numerous fields. However, the LSTM algorithm still has certain limitations, e.g., the accuracy of forecasting the building air conditioning power consumption was not very high. To explore ways of improving the prediction accuracy, this study selects a high-rise office building in Shanghai to predict the air conditioning power consumption and lighting power consumption, respectively and discusses the influence of weather parameters and schedule parameters on the prediction accuracy. The results demonstrate that using the LSTM algorithm to accurately predict the electricity consumption of air conditioners is more challenging than predicting lighting electricity consumption. To improve the prediction accuracy of air conditioning power consumption, two parameters, relative humidity, and scheduling, must be added to the prediction model.

The resolution-priority holographic stereogram uses spherical waves focusing on the central depth plane (CDP) to reconstruct 3D images. The image resolution near the CDP can be easily enhanced by modifying three parameters: the capturing depth, the pixel size of elemental image and the focal length of lens array. However, the depth range may decrease as a result. In this paper, the resolution characteristics were analyzed in a geometrical imaging model, and three corresponding methods were proposed: a numerical method was proposed to find the proper capturing depth; a partial aperture filtering technique was proposed after reducing pixel size; the moving array lenslet technique was introduced after increasing focal length and partial aperture filtering. Each method can enhance resolution within the total depth range. Simulation and optical experiments were performed to verify the proposed methods.

Abstract Background X-ray micro-CT has increasingly been used for 3D imaging of plant structures. At the micrometer resolution however, limitations in X-ray contrast often lead to datasets with poor qualitative and quantitative measures, especially within dense cell clusters of plant tissue specimens. The current study developed protocols for delivering a cesium based contrast enhancing solution to varying plant tissue specimens for the purpose of improving 3D tissue structure characterization within plant specimens, accompanied by new image processing workflows to extract the additional data generated by the contrast enhanced scans. Results Following passive delivery of a 10% cesium iodide contrast solution, significant increases of 85.4 and 38.0% in analyzable cell volumes were observed in pear fruit hypanthium and tomato fruit outer mesocarp samples. A significant increase of 139.6% in the number of analyzable cells was observed in the pear fruit samples along the added ability to locate and isolate better brachysclereids and vasculature in the sample volume. Furthermore, contrast enhancement resulted in significant improvement in the definition of collenchyma and parenchyma in the petiolule of tomato leaflets, from which both qualitative and quantitative data can be extracted with respect to cell measures. However, contrast enhancement was not achieved in leaf vasculature and mesophyll tissue due to fundamental limitations. Active contrast delivery to apple fruit hypanthium samples did yield a small but insignificant increase in analyzable volume and cells, but data on vasculature can now be extracted better in correspondence to the pear hypanthium samples. Contrast delivery thus improved visualization and analysis the most in dense tissue types. Conclusions The cesium based contrast enhancing protocols and workflows can be utilized to obtain detailed 3D data on the internal microstructure of plant samples, and can be adapted to additional samples of interest with minimal effort. The resulting datasets can therefore be utilized for more accurate downstream studies that requires 3D data.

Abstract Background Surgeries are inevitable for treating primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and risk factors of surgical failure play a key role in surgical decision making. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of delay of surgery and preoperative speed of progression (SP) on the surgical outcomes in these patients. Methods Medical records of 83 eyes of 51 PCG patients with trabeculotomy within 3 years were retrospectively observed. Surgical outcomes, demographic and clinical data were compared after separating the eyes into two groups based on the interval (between onset of PCG and trabeculotomy) and SP index (SPI) respectively. Student’s t-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Pearson’s chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used in the statistical analysis. Results Comparative analysis showed better outcomes in the group with longer interval and lower SPIs. Better intraocular pressure (IOP) control was found in patients with lower SPI at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively (19.54 ± 4.84 mmHg vs. 24.75 ± 8.87 mmHg, p = 0.004; 19.88 ± 7.78 mmHg vs. 23.19 ± 6.74 mmHg, p = 0.089; 17.45 ± 6.23 mmHg vs. 21.31 ± 7.28 mmHg, p = 0.031; 15.09 ± 6.21 mmHg vs. 19.18 ± 6.66 mmHg, p = 0.008; 14.95 ± 2.95 mmHg vs. 18.10 ± 3.96 mmHg, p = 0.004). The correlation between SPI and IOP at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively was 0.328 (CI = 0.105 to 0.529, p = 0.005), 0.192 (CI = −0.070 to 0.429, p = 0.149), 0.261 (CI = 0.010 to 0.481, p = 0.042), 0.046 (CI = −0.183 to 0.270, p = 0.70), and 0.230 (CI = −0.072 to 0.493, p = 0.134), respectively. Patients with lower SPI were less likely to fail (χ2 = 22.71, p = 0.000, OR: 0.174; 95%CI: 0.059–0.510). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a much slower decline of success rate in patients with lower SPI (χ2 = 25.52, p = 0.000). Conclusions In PCG patients, lower preoperative SPI was associated with better short-term IOP control and success rate. Evaluation of preoperative SPI may help with surgical decision. However, early detection and treatment are important given the same SPI.

More than 80 years ago, McCay and colleagues first reported that limiting the amount of food provided to experimental animals (i.e. calorie restriction or CR) prolongs their lifespan and suppresses the onset and progression of various age-related diseases. Today, CR remains the most reliable method of delaying aging in experimental animals, and research into its underlying molecular mechanisms is ongoing. CR has been reported to have anti-aging and life-extension effects on primates, with progress being made toward applications for humans. Studies on mechanisms underlying the onset and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes have elucidated the cellular signaling pathways that regulate energy metabolism, and commonalities have been discovered between the targets of existing diabetes drugs and the signaling pathways affected by CR. This finding has led to research into the discovery of drugs that have the anti-aging effects of CR in the absence of food intake limitations, namely CR mimetics (CRM). Several drugs have been reported to extend the lifespan of experimental organisms, which may thus have the potential to also extend human lifespan. In this article, we outline and compare those drugs that have been reported to date and discuss the possibility of taurine as a CRM, which is a topic of our ongoing research.

Abstract Background In recent years, highly frequent swine respiratory diseases have been caused by extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) in China. Due to this increase in ExPECs, this bacterial pathogen has become a threat to the development of the Chinese swine industry. To investigate ExPEC pathogenesis, we isolated a strain (named SLPE) from lesioned porcine lungs from Changchun in China, reported the draft genome and performed comparative genomic analyses. Results Based on the gross post-mortem examination, bacterial isolation, animal regression test and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the pathogenic bacteria was identified as an ExPEC. The SLPE draft genome was 4.9 Mb with a G + C content of 51.7%. The phylogenomic comparison indicated that the SLPE strain belongs to the B1 monophyletic phylogroups and that its closest relative is Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) O78. However, the distribution diagram of the pan-genome virulence genes demonstrated significant differences between SLPE and APEC078. We also identified a capsular polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster (CPS) in the SLPE strain genomes using blastp. Conclusions We isolated the ExPEC (SLPE) from swine lungs in China, performed the whole genome sequencing and compared the sequence with other Escherichia coli (E. coli). The comparative genomic analysis revealed several genes including several virulence factors that are ExPEC strain-specific, such as fimbrial adhesins (papG II), ireA, pgtP, hlyF, the pix gene cluster and fecR for their further study. We found a CPS in the SLPE strain genomes for the first time, and this CPS is closely related to the CPS from Klebsiella pneumoniae.

We propose an integral floating display using two retro-reflector arrays. The proposed method is composed of an integral imaging display, a half mirror, and two retro-reflector arrays. In this paper, the depth-resolution limit and the small complete viewing range for real image in conventional integral imaging are theoretically analyzed, and can be improved much in the proposed method. The floating 3-D image looks of high-quality with smooth surface without the influence of the lens array structure. Experiments are performed to verify the method.

After the publication of this work [1], the authors note that there are no figure legends in published paper.

Introduction This study aimed to assess the prevalence of hypertension and to explore the disparities of its risk factors among urban and rural elderly. Method Data of hypertensive patients were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015. Stratified sample households were selected from 450 villages or communities of 150 counties from 28 provinces. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze the factors correlated with hypertension. Results Prevalence of HBP was 47.6% (95% CI [45.2%–50.1%]) in total and it was close between urban and rural population (48.6% vs 47.2%). Factors associated with HBP were different between urban and rural areas. In urban areas, hypertension was significantly associated with literacy and diabetes in both genders, high BMI level and smoke quitters in males, and physical activity and dyslipidemia in females. In rural areas, hypertension was significantly associated with older age, higher BMI level in both males and females, and dyslipidemia in males. Conclusions The prevalence are about the same among urban and rural residents, but their risk factors vary from each other. Disparity in the risk factors between urban and rural population should be taken into consideration for further intervention.

Aim: To assess platelet (PLT) function and bleeding risks in patients with acute coronary syndrome after tirofiban infusion.Methods: Patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome from May 2016 to February 2018 in the Department of Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Zhongshan Hospital, were enrolled. They were symmetrically allocated into two groups: tirofiban treatment group or control group (without tirofiban treatment). Blood samples were collected 24 h postoperation for the evaluation of antiplatelet effect of tirofiban. We applied thromboelastography to detect on-treatment PLT reactivity and conducted laboratory tests to assess the risk of bleeding following tirofiban treatment. After discharge, telephone follow-up and outpatient interview were carried out. The primary clinical endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events, including cardiovascular death, cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, and revascularization for the targeted vascular lesion.Results: There were a total of 196 patients with acute coronary syndrome after screening with the inclusion criteria and the exclusion criteria. Ninety-eight patients were assigned to receive either tirofiban treatment or control treatment. Patients treated with tirofiban had more coronary lesions and stents implanted compared with the control group (P = 0.000). After tirofiban infusion, inhibition of platelet aggregation induced by thromboxane A2 and adenosine diphosphate was significantly higher compared to patients without tirofiban infusion (80.3% ± 19.6% vs. 72.6% ± 13.0%, P = 0.002; and 81.0% ± 19.8% vs. 75.4% ± 12.4%, P = 0.020, respectively). There was no significant difference in the reduction of hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), and PLT after administration of tirofiban, compared with baseline (P > 0.05). In addition, no significant differences were identified between the two groups with respect to Hb, Hct, and PLT after tirofiban infusion. However, C-reactive protein level, referred to as an inflammation marker, was significantly lowered after infusion tirofiban compared with the control group (11.9 ± 14.2 vs. 17.9 ± 21.2, P = 0.020). During the 1-year follow-up, the incidence rate of major adverse cardiovascular events remains indiscriminate between the two groups (P = 0.208). The assessments of cardiac biomarkers showed that tirofiban could decrease incidence of procedural myocardial infarction (odds ratio [OR] = 0.250, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.067–0.925, P = 0.027). At follow-up, the morbidity of left atrial dilation in tirofiban-treated patients, defined as enlargement of left atrial diameter >40mm, was lower compared to the control group (OR = 0.533, 95% CI = 0.301–0.945, P = 0.031).Conclusion: Tirofiban infusion could decrease PLT activation in patients with acute coronary syndrome without increasing the risk of bleeding. As a concomitant medication, tirofiban shows no benefit in reducing the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events.

Human thermoregulation models can predict human thermal responses to evaluate thermal comfort and help create a healthy environment, while their applicability to older people has not been sufficiently validated. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the Stolwijk model and the Tanabe model for predicting older people’s mean and local skin temperatures under thermal transient conditions. Eighteen healthy older people were recruited and exposed to transient environments including neutral (26 °C), low-temperature (23 and 21 °C), and high-temperature (29 and 32 °C) conditions. The local skin temperatures of the subjects were measured and compared to predictions of the Stolwijk model and the Tanabe model. The results revealed that the Stolwijk model and the Tanabe model could accurately predict the mean skin temperature of older people under neutral and high-temperature conditions, while their predictive accuracy declined under low-temperature conditions. Increased deviations were observed in the predictions of local skin temperatures for all conditions. This work attempted to provide an understanding of older people’s thermal response characteristics under transient conditions and to inspire the improvement of thermoregulation models for older people.

Abstract Let X and Y be Banach spaces, L be a linear manifold in X × Y $X\times Y$ , or, equivalently, the graph of a multi-valued linear operator from X to Y, and let S be a prescribed hyperplane in X, i.e. S = g + N $S=g+N$ . A central problem in our general setting is to determine, for a given y ∈ Y $y\in Y$ , a vector w ∈ S ∩ D ( L ) $w\in S\cap D ( L )$ such that, for some z ∈ L ( w ) $z\in L ( w )$ , ∥ z − y ∥ = dist ( y , L ( S ∩ D ( L ) ) ) $\| z-y\| =\operatorname{dist} ( y, L ( S\cap D ( L ) ) )$ , such a vector w is called the constrained extremal solution of multi-valued linear inclusions y ∈ L ( x ) $y\in L ( x )$ in Banach spaces. We establish three equivalent characterizations of constrained extremal solution of linear inclusions in Banach spaces by means of the algebraic operator parts, the metric generalized inverse of multi-valued linear operator L, and the dual mapping of the spaces. As follows from the main results in this paper, we may get the constrained extremal solution of multi-valued linear inclusions, by using the extremal solution of some interrelated multi-valued linear inclusions in the same spaces. The setting in this paper includes large classes of constrained extremal problems and optimal control problems subject to generalized boundary conditions.

Solid acid catalysis is an important class of reactions. The principal advantages of solid acid catalysts as compared to their corresponding fluid acids include minimal waste and ease of product separation. One type of these catalysts is based on aluminum bromide (Al2Br6), which is a stronger Lewis acid than Al2Cl6. In this report, Al2Br6 is grafted on commercial mesoporous silica (CMS), SBA-15 and silica gel to create a solid catalyst similar to the silica-supported Al2Cl6 superacid. These supported Al2Br6 catalysts were characterized by NH3-Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD), pyridine Diffuse Reflectance for Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS NMR). Formation of acid sites was confirmed and quantified with NH3-TPD. Both Lewis and Brønsted sites were observed with DRIFTS using pyridine as a probe molecule. In addition, thermal stability of acid sites was also studied using DRIFTS. 27Al MAS NMR analysis showed tetrahedral, pentahedral and octahedral co-ordination of Al, confirming that Al2Br6 reacted with –OH groups on silica surface. Performance of these catalysts was evaluated using acid-catalyzed 1-butene isomerization. Conversion above 80% was observed at 200 °C, corresponding to thermodynamic equilibrium.

Due to the high cost of failures of wind turbines, redundancy designs are commonly applied in wind turbines for improving the reliability and availability of systems. For this reason, replacing failed components with other working components of the same type in redundant systems is becoming an attractive option of maintenance strategies towards more resilient systems. To quantitatively evaluate system’s reliability, this paper focuses on the reliability analysis of redundant systems of offshore wind turbines based on swapping existing components. The survival signature-based component swapping method is introduced to describe the new structure-function of the system upon swapping. Furthermore, the reliability model of redundant systems is established using the fault tree and survival signature. Following this, the influences of component swapping on component reliability importance measure (marginal reliability importance and joint reliability importance) without and with considerations of the imprecision of failure rates are explored. Finally, a 5MW offshore wind turbine is presented to show the applicability of the proposed approach for redundant systems, and the results show that the proposed approach can obtain realistic reliability assessment of redundant systems and considering component swapping can significantly improve system reliability.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have a unique action mechanism that can help to solve global problems in antibiotic resistance. However, their low therapeutic index and poor stability seriously hamper their development as therapeutic agents. In order to overcome these problems, we designed peptides based on the sequence template XXRXXRRzzRRXXRXX-NH2, where X represents a hydrophobic amino acid like Phe (F), Ile (I), and Leu (L), while zz represents Gly−Gly (GG) or d-Pro−Gly (pG). Showing effective antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria and low toxicity, designed peptides had a tendency to form an α-helical structure in membrane-mimetic environments. Among them, peptide LRpG (X: L, zz: pG) showed the highest geometric mean average treatment index (GMTI = 73.1), better salt, temperature and pH stability, and an additive effect with conventional antibiotics. Peptide LRpG played the role of anti-Gram-negative bacteria through destroying the cell membrane. In addition, peptide LRpG also exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity by effectively neutralizing endotoxin. Briefly, peptide LRpG has the potential to serve as a therapeutic agent to reduce antibiotic resistance owing to its high therapeutic index and great stability.

In recent years, there have been large-scale jellyfish outbreaks in the Bohai Sea in summer, which have greatly affected the water intake for cold source of Hongyanhe nuclear power station in Fuzhou bay and threatened the normal operation. This study aims at early warning of invasion of jellyfish, designs and develops acoustic monitoring system for cold source biological (jellyfish)by using ascientificechosounder (EY60,70kHz,Simrad), and carries out real-time monitoring of the echo of cold source biological entering water intake, so as to obtain the resource density of jellyfish from June to September 2019. The acoustic data is processed with a software of Echoview to calculate the average SV and detect the strength of the single target to calculate the daily average flux of the monitoring point. According to the monitoring results, the maximum and minimum daily average values of SV were -62.7dB and -80.0dB, respectively. The maximum and minimum daily average values of target strength are -37.2dB and -81.0dB, respectively. The maximum and minimum daily average values of flux are 5.36ind/(s•m2) and 1.2x10-5ind/(s•m2).Combined with the daily cleaning amount of the monitoring point back-end intercepting network and meteorological data, the comparative analysis is carried out to determine the index level of the acoustic warning for cold source biological flowing into the water intake according to the correlation between average flux and amount of cleaned net.

Tissues are organized in hierarchical structures comprised of nanoscale, microscale, and macroscale features. Incorporating hierarchical structures into biomaterial scaffolds may enable better resemblance of native tissue structures and improve cell interaction, but it is challenging to produce such scaffolds using a single conventional scaffold production technique. We developed the Freeze-FRESH (FF) technique that combines FRESH 3D printing (3DP) and freeze-casting to produce 3D printed scaffolds with microscale pores in the struts. FF scaffolds were produced by extrusion 3DP using a support bath at room temperature, followed by freezing and lyophilization, then the FF scaffolds were recovered from the bath and crosslinked. The FF scaffolds had a hierarchical pore structure from the combination of microscale pores throughout the scaffold struts and macroscale pores in the printed design, while control scaffolds had only macroscale pores. FF scaffolds frozen at −20 °C and −80 °C had similar pore sizes, due to freezing in the support bath. The −20 °C and −80 °C FF scaffolds had porous struts with 63.55% ± 2.59% and 56.72% ± 13.17% strut porosity, respectively, while control scaffolds had a strut porosity of 3.15% ± 2.20%. The −20 °C and −80 °C FF scaffolds were softer than control scaffolds: they had pore wall stiffness of 0.17 ± 0.06 MPa and 0.23 ± 0.05 MPa, respectively, compared to 1.31 ± 0.39 MPa for the control. The FF scaffolds had increased resilience in bending compared with control. FF scaffolds supported MDA-MB-231 cell growth and had significantly greater cell numbers than control scaffolds. Cells formed clusters on the porous struts of FF scaffolds and had similar morphologies as the freeze cast scaffolds. The FF technique successfully introduced microscale porosity into the 3DP scaffold struts to produce hierarchical pore structures that enhanced MDA-MB-231 growth.

Although previous studies confirmed that steaming and the fermentation process could significantly improve the cognitive-enhancement and neuroprotective effects of Codonopsis lanceolata, the anti-tumor efficacy of steamed C. lanceolata (SCL) and what mechanisms are involved remain largely unknown. The present study was designed to evaluate the anti-tumor effect in vivo of SCL in H22 tumor-bearing mice. The results clearly indicated that SCL could not only inhibit the tumor growth, but also prolong the survival time of H22 tumor-bearing mice. Besides, the serum levels of cytokines, such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), were enhanced by SCL administration. The observations of Hoechst 33258 staining demonstrated that SCL was able to induce tumor cell apoptosis. Finally, immunohistochemical analysis revealed that SCL treatment significantly increased Bax expression and decreased Bcl-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression of H22 tumor tissues in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, LC/MS analysis of SCL indicated that it mainly contained lobetyolin and six saponins. Taken all together, the findings in the present study clearly demonstrated that SCL inhibited the H22 tumor growth in vivo at least partly via improving the immune functions, inducing apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis.

C82H64N12O11Co2, orthorhombic, Pbcn (no. 60), a = 22.286(7) Å, b = 22.725(7) Å, c = 14.056(5) Å, V = 7119(4) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0582, wRref(F2) = 0.1634, T = 296(2) K.

Maltol, a food-flavoring agent and Maillard reaction product formed during the processing of red ginseng (Panax ginseng, C.A. Meyer), has been confirmed to exert a hepatoprotective effect in alcohol-induced oxidative damage in mice. However, its beneficial effects on acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity and the related molecular mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this article was to investigate the protective effect and elucidate the mechanisms of action of maltol on APAP-induced liver injury in vivo. Maltol was administered orally at 50 and 100 mg/kg daily for seven consecutive days, then a single intraperitoneal injection of APAP (250 mg/kg) was performed after the final maltol administration. Liver function, oxidative indices, inflammatory factors—including serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (ALT and AST), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), liver glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), cytochrome P450 E1 (CYP2E1) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) were measured. Results demonstrated that maltol possessed a protective effect on APAP-induced liver injury. Liver histological changes and Hoechst 33258 staining also provided strong evidence for the protective effect of maltol. Furthermore, a maltol supplement mitigated APAP-induced inflammatory responses by increasing phosphorylated nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), inhibitor kappa B kinase α/β (IKKα/β), and NF-kappa-B inhibitor alpha (IκBα) in NF-κB signal pathways. Immunoblotting results showed that maltol pretreatment downregulated the protein expression levels of the B-cell-lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family and caspase and altered the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, our findings clearly demonstrate that maltol exerts a significant liver protection effect, which may partly be ascribed to its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic action via regulation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Background: Although kidney injury caused by cisplatin has attracted much attention, cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity is elusive. Our previous studies have confirmed that saponins (ginsenosides) from Panax quinquefolius can effectively reduce acute renal injuries. Our current study aimed to identify the potential effects of saponins from leaves of P. quinquefolius (PQS) on cisplatin-evoked cardiotoxicity. Methods: Mice were intragastrically with PQS at the doses of 125 and 250 mg/kg daily for 15 days. The mice in cisplatin group and PQS + cisplatin groups received four times intraperitoneal injections of cisplatin (3 mg/kg) two days at a time from the 7th day, respectively. All mice were killed at 48 h following final cisplatin injection. Body weights, blood and organic samples were collected immediately. Results: Our results showed that cisplatin-challenged mice experienced a remarkable cardiac damage with obvious histopathological changes and elevation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) concentrations and viabilities in serum. Cisplatin also impaired antioxidative defense system in heart tissues manifested by a remarkable reduction in reduced glutathione (GSH) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, demonstrating the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress. Interestingly, PQS (125 and 250 mg/kg) can attenuate cisplatin-evoked changes in the above-mentioned parameters. Additionally, PQS administration significantly alleviated the oxidation resulted from inflammatory responses and apoptosis in cardiac tissues via inhibition of overexpressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, Bax, and Bad as well as the caspase family members like caspase-3, and 8, respectively. Conclusion: Findings from our present research clearly indicated that PQS exerted significant effects on cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity in part by inhibition of the NF-κB activity and regulation of PI3K/Akt/apoptosis mediated signaling pathways.

M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative pathogen of Johne’s disease, a chronic granulomatous enteritis that principally affects ruminants and can survive, proliferate and disseminate in macrophages. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression and can impact the processes of cells. To investigate the role of miRNAs in monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) during MAP infection, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to analyze small RNA libraries of MAP-infected and control MDMs. The results showed that a total of 21 miRNAs were differentially expressed in MDMs after MAP infection, and 8864 target genes were predicted. A functional analysis showed that the target genes were mainly involved in the MAPK signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, NF-kappa B signaling pathway and apoptosis. In addition, using a dual-luciferase reporter assay, flow cytometry, and a small interfering (si)RNA knockdown assay, the role of miR-150 in regulating macrophage apoptosis by targeting the programmed cell death protein-4 (PDCD4) was demonstrated. These results provide an experimental basis to reveal the regulatory mechanism of MAP infection and suggest the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of Johne’s disease in bovines.

Resveratrol (RV), a dietary antioxidant polyphenolic compound found in grapes and red wine, exerts a wide variety of pharmacological activities. However, lower content in plants compared with polydatin (PD, the glucoside of RV) limits its application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In this paper, we carried out efficient biotransformation of PD to RV with 100% conversion yield by snailase hydrolysis. Moreover, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the effects of the reaction temperature, enzyme load, and reaction time on the conversion process. Validation of the RSM model was verified by the good agreement between the experimental and the predicted RV yield values. The optimum preparation conditions were as follows: temperature of 62.0 °C, enzyme load of 6.6%, and reaction time of 96 min. The proposed method may be highly applicable for the enzymatic preparation of RV for medicinal purposes.

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer is a highly valued medicinal plant. Cylindrocarpon destructans is a destructive pathogen that causes root rot and significantly reduces the quality and yield of P. ginseng. However, an efficient method to control root rot remains unavailable because of insufficient understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying C. destructans-P. ginseng interaction. In this study, C. destructans-induced transcriptomes at different time points were investigated using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). De novo assembly produced 73,335 unigenes for the P. ginseng transcriptome after C. destructans infection, in which 3,839 unigenes were up-regulated. Notably, the abundance of the up-regulated unigenes sharply increased at 0.5 d postinoculation to provide effector-triggered immunity. In total, 24 of 26 randomly selected unigenes can be validated using quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of these unigenes showed that "defense response to fungus", "defense response" and "response to stress" were enriched. In addition, differentially expressed transcription factors involved in the hormone signaling pathways after C. destructans infection were identified. Finally, differentially expressed unigenes involved in reactive oxygen species and ginsenoside biosynthetic pathway during C. destructans infection were indentified. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report on the dynamic transcriptome triggered by C. destructans. These results improve our understanding of disease resistance in P. ginseng and provide a useful resource for quick detection of induced markers in P. ginseng before the comprehensive outbreak of this disease caused by C. destructans.

With cutting-edge live microscopy and image analysis, biologists can now systematically track individual cells in complex tissues and quantify cellular behavior over extended time windows. Computational approaches that utilize the systematic and quantitative data are needed to understand how cells interact in vivo to give rise to the different cell types and 3D morphology of tissues. An agent-based, minimum descriptive modeling and analysis framework is presented in this paper to study C. elegans embryogenesis. The framework is designed to incorporate the large amounts of experimental observations on cellular behavior and reserve data structures/interfaces that allow regulatory mechanisms to be added as more insights are gained. Observed cellular behaviors are organized into lineage identity, timing and direction of cell division, and path of cell movement. The framework also includes global parameters such as the eggshell and a clock. Division and movement behaviors are driven by statistical models of the observations. Data structures/interfaces are reserved for gene list, cell-cell interaction, cell fate and landscape, and other global parameters until the descriptive model is replaced by a regulatory mechanism. This approach provides a framework to handle the ongoing experiments of single-cell analysis of complex tissues where mechanistic insights lag data collection and need to be validated on complex observations.

In this work, pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) of three acetophenones (4-hydroxyacetophenone, baishouwubenzophenone, and 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone) from Cynanchum bungei (ACB) were investigated. The optimal conditions for extraction of ACB were obtained using a Box-Behnken design, consisting of 17 experimental points, as follows: Ethanol (100%) as the extraction solvent at a temperature of 120 °C and an extraction pressure of 1500 psi, using one extraction cycle with a static extraction time of 17 min. The extracted samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography using an UV detector. Under this optimal condition, the experimental values agreed with the predicted values by analysis of variance. The ACB extraction yield with optimal PLE was higher than that obtained by soxhlet extraction and heat-reflux extraction methods. The results suggest that the PLE method provides a good alternative for acetophenone extraction.

In the present work, we reported the enzymatic preparation of deapio-platycodin D (dPD) and platycodin D (PD) optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) from Radix Platycodi. During investigation of the hydrolysis of crude platycosides by various glycoside hydrolases, snailase showed a strong ability to transform deapio-platycoside E (dPE) and platycoside E (PE) into dPD and PD with 100% conversion. RSM was used to optimize the effects of the reaction temperature (35–45 °C), enzyme load (5–20%), and reaction time (4–24 h) on the conversion process. Validation of the RSM model was verified by the good agreement between the experimental and the predicted values of dPD and PD conversion yield. The optimum preparation conditions were as follows: temperature, 43 °C; enzyme load, 15%; reaction time, 22 h. The biotransformation pathways were dPE→dPD3→dPD and PE→PD3→PD, respectively. The determined method may be highly applicable for the enzymatic preparation of dPD and PD for medicinal purposes and also for commercial use.

In the present study, we developed a liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionization/mass spectrometric (LC-DAD-ESI/MS) method for analysis of saikosaponins in Bupleurum falcatum. The LC method employed a ZORBAX SB-Aq analytical column (150 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min coupled with a diode array detector at 204 nm. A step gradient of acetonitrile-water (v/v) containing 0.5% formic acid from 30 to 70% was applied, leading to a sample analysis time of 30 min. The ESI-MS was carried out in positive and negative modes from 500 to 1,500 m/z. Saikosaponins c, a, and d gave strong sodium adducts at m/z 949.6, 803.5 and 803.6, respectively, in positive mode. The data indicate that the present LC-DAD-ESI/MS assay is an effective method for the determination of saikosaponins c, a and d from the roots of Bupleurum falcatum.

A new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin, named platycoside N (1), together with six known saponins, was isolated from the roots of Platycodon grandiflorum. On the basis of acid hydrolysis, comprehensive spectroscopic data analyses and comparison with the spectral data of the known compounds, its structure was elucidated as 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2β,3β,16α,23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O-β-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside. The six known compounds were platycodin D (2), deapioplatycodin D (3), platycodin D3 (4), deapio- platycodin D3 (5), platycoside E (6) and deapioplatycoside E (7).

Transition metal multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) are novel alloys that may offer enhanced surface and mechanical properties compared with commercial metallic alloys. However, their biocompatibility has not been investigated. In this study, three CoCrFeNi-based MPEAs were fabricated, and the in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated in direct contact with fibroblasts for 168 h. The cell viability and cell number were assessed at 24, 96, and 168 h using LIVE/DEAD assay and alamarBlue assay, respectively. All MPEA sample wells had a high percentage of viable cells at each time point. The two quaternary MPEAs demonstrated a similar cell response to stainless steel control with the alamarBlue assay, while the quinary MPEA with Mn had a lower cell number after 168 h. Fibroblasts cultured with the MPEA samples demonstrated a consistent elongated morphology, while those cultured with the Ni control samples demonstrated changes in cell morphology after 24 h. No significant surface corrosion was observed on the MPEAs or stainless steel samples following the cell culture, while the Ni control samples had extensive corrosion. The cell growth and viability results demonstrate the cytocompatibility of the MPEAs. The biocompatibility of MPEAs should be investigated further to determine if MPEAs may be utilized in orthopedic implants and other biomedical applications.

Although cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic agent against cancers, its clinical application is seriously limited by its severe side effects of nephrotoxicity. Previous studies reported that saponins isolated from the roots of Platycodon grandiflorum (PGS) exerted protective effects in various animal models of renal injury, with no confirmation on cisplatin-induced injury. This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of PGS (15 and 30 mg/kg) on cisplatin-induced kidney injury in mice. The levels of serum creatinine (CRE) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and renal histopathology demonstrated the protective effect of PGS against cisplatin-induced kidney injury. PGS exerted anti-inflammation effects via suppressing nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation and alleviating the cisplatin-induced increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in kidney tissues. The expressions of phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B and its downstream apoptotic factors, such as Bcl-2 and caspase families were regulated by PGS in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, PGS exerted kidney protection effects against cisplatin-induced kidney injury by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB and regulating PI3K/Akt/apoptosis signaling pathways in mice.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate whether maltol could protect from hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in vivo by inhibition of apoptosis and inflammatory responses. In this work, maltol was administered at a level of 100 mg/kg for 15 days prior to exposure to a single injection of CCl4 (0.25%, i.p.). The results clearly indicated that the intrapulmonary injection of CCl4 resulted in a sharp increase in serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), irreducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels. Histopathological examination demonstrated severe hepatocyte necrosis and the destruction of architecture in liver lesions. Immunohistochemical staining and western blot analysis suggested an accumulation of iNOS, NF-κB, IL-1β and TNF-α expression. Maltol, when administered to mice for 15 days, can significantly improve these deleterious changes. In addition, TUNEL and Hoechst 33258 staining showed that a liver cell nucleus of a model group diffused uniform fluorescence following CCl4 injection. Maltol pretreatment groups did not show significant cell nuclear condensation and fragmentation, indicating that maltol inhibited CCl4-induced cell apoptosis. By evaluating the liver catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and further using a single agent to evaluate the oxidative stress in CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity by immunofluorescence staining, maltol dramatically attenuated the reduction levels of hepatic CAT, GSH and SOD, and the over-expression levels of CYP2E1 and HO-1. In the mouse model of CCl4-induced liver injury, we have demonstrated that the inflammatory responses were inhibited, the serum levels of ALT and AST were reduced, cell apoptosis was suppressed, and liver injury caused by CCl4 was alleviated by maltol, demonstrating that maltol may be an efficient hepatoprotective agent.

Acetaminophen overdose-induced hepatotoxicity is the most common cause of acute liver failure in many countries. Previously, alpha-mangostin (α-MG) has been confirmed to exert protective effects on a variety of liver injuries, but the protective effect on acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury (ALI) remains largely unknown. This work investigated the regulatory effect and underlying cellular mechanisms of α-MG action to attenuate acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. The increased serum aminotransferase levels and glutathione (GSH) content and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) demonstrated the protective effect of α-MG against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. In addition, α-MG pretreatment inhibited increases in tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) caused by exposure of mice to acetaminophen. In liver tissues, α-MG inhibited the protein expression of autophagy-related microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) and BCL2/adenovirus E1B protein-interacting protein 3 (BNIP3). Western blotting analysis of liver tissues also proved evidence that α-MG partially inhibited the activation of apoptotic signaling pathways via increasing the expression of Bcl-2 and decreasing Bax and cleaved caspase 3 proteins. In addition, α-MG could in part downregulate the increase in p62 level and upregulate the decrease in p-mTOR, p-AKT and LC3 II /LC3 I ratio in autophagy signaling pathways in the mouse liver. Taken together, our findings proved novel perspectives that detoxification effect of α-MG on acetaminophen-induced ALI might be due to the alterations in Akt/mTOR pathway in the liver.

The rapid development of mobile Internet technology and the wide spread of smart terminals have brought opportunities for the transformation of power grid business model. Compared to the non-real-time information, the real-time and running data of dispatch and control domain is easy to be intercepted and cracked. To solve this problem, this paper presents a new approach to mobile application security framework for the power grid control field. It is to realize secondary encryption by using the method of MD5+AES mixed encryption algorithm and combining the time stamp in real-time data transmission process. At the same time it is to prevent cross-border operations and brute force by using Token authentication and Session technology. China EPRI safety test results show that the application of the framework significantly improves the integrity, safety and reliability of real-time data in power grid control.