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The honeycomb sandwich structure reflector panel is a multilayer structure formed by three-layer aluminum plate and two-layer honeycomb bonded by epoxy resin adhesive, and its thermal deformation behavior is complicated. In this study, the thermal deformation behavior of the reflector panel is studied by a combination of experiment and finite element simulation. Firstly, the thermal deformation analysis finite element model of reflector panels with honeycomb sandwich structure is established. The three-layer aluminum plate is modeled according to actual geometric parameters and adopts shell element model. The honeycomb core is equivalent to a homogeneous orthotropic layer with a constant thickness. The elastic modulus of the equivalent model of the honeycomb core with adhesive are obtained through the tensile and compressive mechanical performance tests. Then, the temperature deformation experiment of the honeycomb sandwich structure panel is carried out. Combined with the experimental results and the thermal deformation simulation analysis model, the multi-island genetic algorithm is used to modify the thermal expansion coefficient of the honeycomb core layer. Finally, the thermal deformation behavior of the reflector is verified by finite element simulation and experiment. The results show that the profile error distribution caused by the panel thermal deformation has continuous symmetry. From the error distribution trend and numerical deviation, the established simulation model can be used to predict the thermal deformation of sandwich panels.

Multi-photon-excited thermal-correlated green and red upconversion (UC) emissions have been quantified in

To study anisotropic hydrogen segregation and diffusion in nickel polycrystalline, Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) and Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) are integrated to investigate hydrogen distribution around grain boundaries. Hydrogen distribution in pre-charged samples were correlated with grain boundary character by integrating high-resolution grain microstructure from EBSD inverse pole figure map and low-resolution hydrogen concentration profile map from SIMS. This multimodal imaging instrumentation shows that grain boundaries in nickel can be categorized into two families based on behavior of hydrogen distribution crossing grain boundary: the first one includes random grain boundaries with fast hydrogen diffusivity, showing a sharp gap for hydrogen concentration profile cross the grain boundaries The second family are special Σ3n grain boundaries with low hydrogen diffusivity, showing a smooth gradient of hydrogen concentration cross the grain boundary. Heterogeneous hydrogen distributions due to grain boundary family revealed by SIMS/EBSD on mesoscale further validate the recent hydrogen permeation data and anisotropic ab-initio calculations in nanoscale. The results highlight the fact that grain boundaries character impacts hydrogen distribution significantly.

The possibility of a spectrally tunable solar-like light source is drawing attention with the development of LEDs. We researched the market of high-power, monochromatic LEDs and established a database with 103 kinds of LED by a new model. We used the database to match the solar spectrum in the wavelength range 380–780 nm. The optimal combination maximising the fit to the solar spectral curve was obtained. The trade-off relationship between the selection of LEDs and the fit was investigated in detail. The results show that the optimal combination contains 34 types of LED with a maximum correlation index R2 of 88.67%. The value of R2 reduces to 85.06% when the number of LED types is reduced to 20, but the R2 value decreases sharply if the number of LED types is decreased to 16, with a R2 of 79.97%.

Вирус болезни Ньюкасла (NDV) способен избирательно реплицироваться в опухолевых клетках, поэтому возможность применения этого вируса в терапии опухолей, изучаемая на моделях иммунокомпетентных злокачественных опухолей, вызывает большой интерес. Онколитические свойства и противоопухолевый потенциал NDV недавно удалось усилить при помощи методов обратной генетики. В доклинических исследованиях показано, что экспрессия чужеродных генов рекомбинантными NDV (rNDV-FG) повышает эффективность терапии опухолей. В представленном обзоре рассмотрено современное состояние изучения цитотоксической и противоопухолевой активности rNDV-FG, обусловленной онколизисом и способностью к иммуномодуляции. Обсуждается также безопасность rNDV-FG в качестве препарата для иммунотерапии и виротерапии опухолей.

RNA-seq data and miRNA-seq data of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) were analyzed to identify critical long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and disclose molecular pathogenesis.RNA-seq data and miRNA-seq data were downloaded from TCGA. Differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and microRNAs (DEMs) were revealed by two sample t-test. |Fold change|2 and p-value0.01 were set as the cutoffs. Univariate Cox regression was performed to disclose prognostic lncRNAs. Information about miRNA-lncRNA interactions and miRNA-mRNA interactions were acquired from miRcode and miRTarBase, respectively. A miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA regulatory network was then constructed, from which regulatory modules were identified. Functional enrichment analysis was performed with DAVID.A total of 57 DELs and 118 DEMs were identified from 507 LUAD compared with 19 normal samples. Three DELs, including MEG3, MIAT and MIR4697HG, were associated with clinical features, while nine DELs (LINC00115, LINC00265, LINC01001, LINC01002, MIR22HG, NFYC-AS1, SNHG10, THUMPD3-AS1 and TMPO-AS1) were revealed to be prognostic biomarkers. A regulatory network including 61 miRNA-lncRNA interactions and 304 miRNA-mRNA interactions was constructed, from which 19 lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory modules were identified. Among the modules, MEG3 and MIAT may play important roles in the development of LUAD by interactions with miR-106 which then regulated the MAPK9 to involve in MAPK signaling pathways. LINC00115 might interact with miR-7 to regulate FGF2 to participate in pathways in cancer.MEG3, MIAT, LINC00115 may be underlying therapeutic targets for LUAD functioning as ceRNAs for regulation of miRNA-mRNA.

Corroded cables from a cable-stayed bridge in China that had been in service for 18 years were employed to investigate the basic mechanical properties and residual fatigue life of wires and cables. First, the wires were randomly selected from the cables near the bottom anchorages and cut into segments as test specimens. The extent of corrosion of the wires was experimentally investigated. A tensile loading test was conducted on the wires to obtain the mechanical properties of the corroded single wires. The fatigue life of the corroded single wires was experimentally studied, and a dramatic degradation in fatigue life was observed. This phenomenon was interpreted using SEM images. Fatigue tests on two corroded cables were also conducted, and the test results indicated that the fatigue life of the cables had also decreased dramatically. A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to obtain the fatigue life of cables. The simulation results indicated that the fatigue life of a cable was controlled by the small fraction of wires in the cable with the shortest fatigue lives. The fatigue life of a cable at a certain failure probability was dependent on the number of wires in the cable, but the mean fatigue life of a cable was not affected by the number of wires in the cable. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000235. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Cable-stayed bridges; Fatigue; Corrosion; Monte Carlo method; Simulation; Experimentation. Author keywords: Stay cable; Corrosion; Fatigue; Monte Carlo simulation.

Chitosan was obtained from cuticles of the housefly (Musca domestica) larvae. Antibacterial activities of different Mw chitosans were examined against six bacteria. Antibacterial mechanisms of chitosan were investigated by measuring permeability of bacterial cell membranes and observing integrity of bacterial cells. Results show that the antibacterial activity of chitosan decreased with increase in Mw. Chitosan showed higher antibacterial activity at low pH. Ca2+ and Mg2+ could markedly reduce the antibacterial activity of chitosan. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of chitosans ranged from 0.03% - 0.25% and varied with the type of bacteria and Mw of chitosan. Chitosan could cause leakage of cell contents of the bacteria and disrupt the cell wall.

An interesting aspect of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is the ability to selectively replicate in tumor cells. Recently, using reverse genetics technology to enhance the oncolytic properties and therapeutic potential of NDV for tumor therapy has become popular in immunocompetent carcinoma tumor models. Expressing foreign genes by recombinant NDV (rNDV-FG) has been shown to be more effective in cancer therapy in preclinical studies. This paper provides an overview of the current studies on the cytotoxic and anti-cancer effects of rNDV-FG via direct oncolysis and immune stimulation. Safety of rNDV-FG as a therapeutic agent for cancer immunotherapy and virotherapy is also discussed.

Because the braking performance of automobile has close relationship to traffic safety, it is important to detect that. Focusing on the problem that the real time speed is difficult to obtain in detection process, soft sensing technique is introduced in this paper. According to analyzing the relationship of the dynamics equation of a moving automobile, a module of real time speed of braking is set up. By using imitation method with experiment data to get the pressure function of cylinder and analyzing the relationship between the trigging moment of a wheel and the pressure function of brake cylinder, the real time speed is confirmed in good precision. The maximal measurement error of real time speed is 8.7% and the precision can satisfy engineering request.

Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) respond poorly to standard hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine given as sequential 20 microg IM shots because of an overall impaired immune response. Many of these patients go on to liver transplantation and are at risk of acquiring recurrent or de novo HBV infection. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-dose (80 microg) IM HBV vaccination in patients with CLD who had previously failed to respond to a standard three-dose schedule of 40 microg IM vaccine given monthly. A retrospective review was undertaken at our institution of 79 patients with CLD who were treated with high-dose (80 microg) HBV vaccinations. All had previously failed a three-dose course of 40 microg HBV vaccine. An HBV vaccine response was defined as an anti-HBs titer greater than 100 mIU/ml. Liver enzymes, creatinine, age, prothrombin time, total vaccine dose, and MELD score were recorded. No adverse events were reported. Seventy-two per cent (57/79) of the subjects had an adequate response after receiving a mean total dose of 220 mug vaccine (range 80-800 microg). Twenty-eight per cent (22/79) of the subjects did not respond after receiving a mean total dose of 420 microg vaccine (range 240-720 microg). Non-responders had more severe hepatic disease defined as a higher mean total bilirubin level (p = 0.003) and a lower mean albumin level (p < 0.05). Age, prothrombin time, MELD score, and creatinine were not statistically significant between the responders and non-responders. Repeated high-dose (80 microg) HBV vaccination, in patients who do not respond to standard HBV vaccine doses, is safe and effective in the majority of patients with CLD.

The effects of high magnetic field annealing on the preferred orientation distribution (texture) and magnetic anisotropy of arc-melted FePd alloy were studied by recalculated pole figure method and vibrating sample magnetometry. A rigorous texture characterization method was used to analyze the crystal orientation distribution of the annealed FePd. As compared with annealing without magnetic field, the high magnetic field annealing increases the volume fraction of crystal grains with c-axis aligned along the annealing magnetic field direction. A corresponding uniaxial magnetic anisotropy was also observed in the magnetically annealed FePd alloy.

We reported the effect of the deposition time of barrier layers on optical and structural properties of high-efficiency green-light-emitting InGaN∕GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) by photoluminescence (PL) and high-resolution x-ray diffraction techniques. The MQW samples on (0001)-plane sapphire substrates were prepared with a ramping method by metalorganic chemical deposition. It was found that the structural or interface quality of the MQW system improved as the deposition time of barrier layers increased from 10 to 14min, but lattice relaxation was still observed. The relaxation degree decreases from 33% to 6% as the deposition time increases. Temperature-dependent PL measurements from 12 to 300K indicated that the integrated PL intensities start to decay rapidly as temperature rises above 50K for the sample with the shorter deposition time, and above 100K for the sample with the longer deposition time. The luminescence thermal quenching of the two samples suggests the two nonradiative recombination c...

The reverse bias current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were investigated. The leakage current exhibits exponential dependence on the bias voltage with different exponents for various voltage ranges. The leakage current is closely related to the density of dislocations. The number of dislocations in GaN was determined by atomic force microscopy combined with hot H3PO4 etching. Dislocations with a screw component in the GaN films were found to have a strong influence on the reverse leakage current of LEDs. The dislocation electrical activity in GaN grown on c-plane sapphire is different from that in GaN grown on a-plane sapphire.

This paper introduces a design method for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) structural acoustic sensors for the active control of sound radiation into enclosures. It combines genetic algorithms and the quadratic optimal approach to search for a sensor configuration capable of detecting vibration components with strong sound-radiation ability. In this research, one PVDF sensor is not limited to one single piece of continuous PVDF film. It can consist of a cluster of small PVDF pieces, which could be discrete. Therefore, the parameters to be optimized are the number and the locations of PVDF pieces involved in a sensor. The design method is applied to a cylindrical shell with a floor partition. The general design guidelines are discussed. To show the effectiveness of the method, the control performance of an optimal sensor arrangement is compared with that of non-optimal ones. Physical insights are obtained using structural modal response analysis, modal spectrum analysis of the PVDF sensor output, and structural acoustical coupling analysis. The performance of a PVDF sensor configuration designed at one acoustic resonant frequency is also investigated for other disturbance frequencies below 500 Hz, showing that a significant reduction of acoustic potential energy can be achieved over a wide frequency range. It is demonstrated that, with PVDF sensors optimally designed using the proposed method, the active control of sound radiation into enclosures can be achieved without using acoustic transducers.

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are employed to optimize locations of PZT actuators in an active structural acoustic control (ASAC) system comprising a cylindrical shell with an internal floor partition. The effect of PZT actuators is simulated using a bending model and an in-plane force model, respectively. The characteristics of the optimal placements of both models are discussed and compared. Numerical simulations demonstrate that for the investigated structure, the in-plane force model has a better control performance than the bending model in the low-frequency range. The underlying physics of the control results are analyzed. Considering the practical applicability of optimally designed ASAC systems, the control performance of the optimal configuration obtained at a single frequency is assessed in the low-frequency range between 100 and 500 Hz, with results showing a significant sound attenuation in the whole range of interest.

The origin of ST depression in ischemia remains poorly understood. The accepted source is of intracellular current flowing between the ischemic and non ischaemic muscle both in systole and diastole such that the AC recorded electrocardiogram shows ST elevation over the ischemic area. The difficulty comes with partial thickness ischemia where the body surface changes do not allow localisation of the ischemic region. In an animal model we have shown that the reason one cannot see the region on the body surface is that the epicardial distribution of ST segment is almost identical for partial thickness ischaemia in the left anterior descending coronary artery, (LAD) and circumflex coronary artery (Cx) territories. Dissection of the reasons for this finding has lead to 3 contributing factors. The first is the role of the right ventricular blood mass, the second the boundary between ischemia and normal and the third the presence of anisotropy and its contribution. In a block of myocardium with anisotropy included we have shown marked differences between the distributions depending on the anisotropy. We have also shown that the published values of conductivity for use in the bidomain model produce unacceptably disparate results.

Magnetically soft/hard exchange-coupled Ni80Fe20/Si3N4/Sm40Fe60 and Ni80Fe20/mixture/Sm40Fe60 layered structures with induced in-plane uniaxial anisotropy were deposited by sputtering on Si (100) substrates. The interfacial exchange coupling strength between the soft and hard layers was tailored by inserting a thin nonmagnetic insulating Si3N4 layer or by varying interfacial mixture of NiFe and SmFe. It was found that the reduction in the exchange coupling greatly reduces the nucleation field HN of the soft layer and increases the irreversible switching field Hirr of the hard layer. The simple formula used before to describe the nucleation field of the soft layer does not work in the case of the reduced interfacial exchange coupling.

In the present paper the structural acoustic coupling characteristics of a cylindrical shell with an internal floor partition are analyzed. Due to the existence of the floor, the cavity becomes irregular and both the structural and acoustic modes are difficult to express analytically. A method using “Radiation Efficiency Analysis of Structural Modes” is proposed. Typical configurations ranging from plain shells to shells with floor partitions are analyzed and, whenever possible, results are compared with those found in the literature. This method is shown to be effective when irregular-shaped cavities are involved. Meanwhile, analyses using wavenumber spectrum are also employed as an alternative. Results show that both methods have their own merit and both are very useful in the analysis of structural acoustic coupling systems, especially in the case of irregular cavities.

Severe sepsis after trauma still associated with a high mortality rate in intensive care units (ICU). In this study we aimed to identify genes related to multiple trauma complicated by severe sepsis.The gene expression profile dataset GSE12624 including 36 samples of traumatic patients not complicated by sepsis and 34 traumatic patients complicated by sepsis was downloaded from GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) database. The limma package in R was applied to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these two groups of samples. All the DEGs were divided into up- and down-regulation groups according to the changes of their expression value, which were then subjected to GO enrichment analysis. Two genes with largest changes among the up- and down-regulation groups were selected. Interaction networks based on these two genes were constructed using HitPredict software and then pathway enrichment analysis for the networks were performed by WebGestalt software.A total of 21 up-regulated genes and 37 down-regulated genes were obtained, which were mainly related to GO terms "endopeptidase inhibitor activity" and "response to wounding", respectively. The |logFC| of genes PLAU (urokinase-type plasminogen activator) and MMP8 (matrix metalloproteinase-8) ranked first in down-regulated or up-regulated list. There were 18 genes which can interact with PLAU at a high degree of confidence while there were 5 genes with MMP8. Further analysis showed that PLAU was closely associated with the pathway "complement and coagulation cascades".PLAU and MMP8 may act as potential targets for diagnosis and therapy of trauma complicated by sepsis.

In the notebook and clamshell mobile phone, data communication wire often requires repeated bending. Generally, communication wire with the actual application conditions, the test data cannot assess bending resistance performance of data communication wire is tested conventionally using wires with weights of 90 degree to test bending number, this test method and device is not fully reflect the fatigue performance in high frequency and light load application condition, at the same time it has a large difference between the test data of the long-term reliability of high frequency and low load conditions. In this paper, high frequency light load fatigue testing machine based on the giant magnetostrictive material and stroke multiplier is put forward, in which internal reflux stroke multiplier is driven by giant magnetostrictive material to realize the rapid movement of light load. This fatigue testing device has the following advantages: (1) When the load is far less than the friction, reducing friction is very effective to improve the device performance. Because the body is symmetrical, the friction loss of radial does not exist in theory, so the stress situation of mechanism is good with high transmission efficiency and long service life. (2) The installation position of the output hydraulic cylinder, can be arranged conveniently as ordinary cylinder. (3) Reciprocating frequency, displacement and speed of high frequency movement can be programmed easily to change with higher position precision. (4)Hydraulic oil in this device is closed to transmit, which does not produce any environment pollution. The device has no hydraulic pump and tank, and less energy conversion processes, so it is with the trend of green manufacturing.

The formulation of quercetin nanoliposomes (QUE-NLs) has been shown to enhance QUE antitumor activity in C6 glioma cells. At high concentrations, QUE-NLs induce necrotic cell death. In this study, we probed the molecular mechanisms of QUE-NL-induced C6 glioma cell death and examined whether QUE-NL-induced programmed cell death involved Bcl-2 family and mitochondrial pathway through STAT3 signal transduction pathway. Downregulation of Bcl-2 and the overexpression of Bax by QUE-NL supported the involvement of Bcl-2 family proteins upstream of C6 glioma cell death. In addition, the activation of JAK2 and STAT3 were altered following exposure to QUE-NLs in C6 glioma cells, suggesting that QUE-NLs downregulated Bcl-2 mRNAs expression and enhanced the expression of mitochondrial mRNAs through STAT3-mediated signaling pathways either via direct or indirect mechanisms. There are several components such as ROS, mitochondrial, and Bcl-2 family shared by the necrotic and apoptotic pathways. Our studies indicate that the signaling cross point of the mitochondrial pathway and the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in C6 glioma cell death is modulated by QUE-NLs. In conclusion, regulation of JAK2/STAT3 and ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway agonists alone or in combination with treatment by QUE-NLs could be a more effective method of treating chemical-resistant glioma.

Introduction: The early diagnosis of osteoporosis is of great meaning for reducing osteoporotic fracture risk. Non-invasive osteoporosis diagnosis based on image analysis has been focused on in recent years. Materials and Methods: In this paper, we propose a new approach for osteoporosis diagnosis based on support vector machine (SVM) using 3D micro-CT images. This approach combines the parameters related to osteoporosis and obtains an optimal classifier for distinguishing osteoporosis and normal groups. Bone mineral density (BMD) and four parameters relevant to trabecular bone (TB) structure have been used as features for osteoporosis recognition, which are obtained from micro-CT image data through Volumetric Topological Analysis (VTA). Combining the five parameters, we utilize SVM method to train these data due to its excellent performance on classification. 50 micro-CT image data are used in our experiment, in which, 25 are from osteoporosis group and 25 are from normal group. Results: Precision, recall and F-measure are used to evaluate the performance of the classifier obtained, which are 90.9%, 100% and 95.2% in the experiment. Discussion: The good performance demonstrates that SVM method performed on the five parameters can effectively distinguish osteoporosis and normal groups. It is convinced that SVM is a promising method for osteoporosis diagnosis.

Antimicrobial peptides represent ancient host defense effector molecules present in organisms across the evolutionary spectrum. Lots of antimicrobial peptides were synthesized based on well-known structural motif widely existed in a variety of lives. Leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) are sequence motifs present in over 60,000 proteins identified from viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotes. To elucidate if LRR motif possesses antimicrobial potency, two peptides containing one or two LRRs were designed. The biological activity and membrane–peptide interactions of the peptides were analyzed. The results showed that the tandem of two LRRs exhibited similar antibacterial activity and significantly weaker hemolytic activity against hRBCs than the well-known membrane active peptide melittin. The peptide with one LRR was defective at antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. The peptide containing two LRRs formed α-helical structure, respectively, in the presence of membrane-mimicking environment. LRR-2 retained strong resistance to cations, heat, and some proteolytic enzymes. The blue shifts of the peptides in two lipid systems correlated positively with their biological activities. Other membrane-peptide experiments further provide the evidence that the peptide with two LRRs kills bacteria via membrane-involving mechanism. The present study increases our new understanding of well-known LRR motif in antimicrobial potency and presents a potential strategy to develop novel antibacterial agents.

The aim of this paper is to check the effect of salinity on the bioremediation process of petroleum hydrocarbons in the saline-alkaline soil. In this study, soil salinity was adjusted to different levels by water leaching method and the bioremediation process was conducted for 28 days. Soil pH increased after leaching and decreased during bioremediation process. At initial time, moderate salinity enhanced the biodegradation and addition of microbial consortium was not effective in enhancing degradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons. At day of 28 days, higher degradation rate was found in treatments with more leaching times with a maximum value of 42·36%. Dehydrogenase activity increased with the progress of bioremediation and positive correlation was found between dehydrogenase activity and degradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis result showed decreased microbial community diversity with increased salt content. The result suggested that salinity had great impact on bioremediation, and leaching and addition of inoculated consortium were effective in enhancing biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the saline-alkaline soil. The result of this study is important for understanding the bioremediation process of petroleum in contaminated soil. New remediation method of petroleum contaminated soil can be developed based on this study.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 recently has been identified as a potent glucose regulator with potential to become a therapeutic approach for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the mechanism of glucose regulation by the molecule is not fully understood. The objective of this paper was to determine the effects of FGF-21 on glucose uptake and its molecular mechanism. In this study, 3T3-L1 adipocytes and pre-adipocytes were used to study the correlation between glucose uptake stimulated by FGF-21 and glucose transporter (GLUT)-1 expression and translocation. The cells were stimulated by FGF-21, insulin or combination of both, and the glucose consumption of the cells was detected by the method of glucose oxidizes/peroxides (GOD-POD); the mRNA expression of GLUT1 was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers; GLUT1 translocation was examined by Immuno-fluorescence. The results showed that FGF-21 dramatically stimulated glucose uptake by differentiated adipocytes, but that it had no effect on pre-adipocytes. Effects on GLUT1 expression and regulation likely contributed to this effect, since GLUT1 was expressed and translocated to the cell membrane of the adipocytes upon stimulation by FGF-21. In addition, FGF-21 had a synergistic effect with insulin on glucose uptake by adipocytes, further suggesting that the effect with FGF-21 was not mediated via GLUT4. This study provides evidence for stimulation of GLUT1-, mediated uptake of glucose into adipocytes by FGF-21, and clearly demonstrates dynamic regulation of GLUT1 by FGF-21 stimulation. Key words: Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21, adipocytes, glucose transporter (GLUT)-1, translocation.

Synonymous codons are not used randomly. Rather, some codons are used more frequently than others. Investigating codon usage bias is essential to the understanding of viral evolution. However the factors shaping synonymous codon usage bias and nucleotide composition in animal viruses have been studied only to a limited extent. In our study, using the 19 complete CDS sequences of Spike (S) genes of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), we analyzed synonymous codon usage bias. The relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) was used to estimate codon usage variation in each gene, and the results indicated that preferentially used codons were A-ended, G-ended, and U-ended codons. Effective number of codons (ENC) values varies from 48.15 to 49.52, which suggested that the codon usage bias in PEDV S genes was very slightly. Correspondence analysis (COA) was further performed to study the major trend in codon usage variation, and the plot of ENC values against GC3s (at synonymous third codon position) revealed that mutational pressure rather than translational selection was the main factor determining the codon usage bias in PEDV S genes. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that aromaticity and hydrophobicity of S genes also influenced the codon usage variation in a minor way. Our study provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of PEDV S genes’ codon usage patterns and provides a basic understanding of the mechanisms for codon usage bias. Key words: Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, Spike gene, relative synonymous codon usage, effective number of codons, correspondence analysis, correlation analysis.

Longitudinal tensile tests have been conducted on unidirectional SiC fibre reinforced 6061 aluminium matrix composites in the annealed and as-manufactured conditions. The results are presented in terms of stress-strain curves and tangent modulus-strain relations, which show considerable non-linearity. Corresponding micromechanical finite element modelling is performed including the effects of the manufacturing process on the matrix in-situ properties. The analysis shows that the non-linear behaviour of the composite is caused by the elastic-plastic deformation of the matrix alloy. The matrix fully yields during the cooldown from manufacturing. Residual stress relaxation plays an important role in the stress-strain characteristics of the annealed aluminium matrix composite by introducing some initial elastic deformation. The amount of elastic deformation for the as-manufactured condition is greater because of subsequent age hardening. However, more linear elastic deformation was observed than predicted in the as-manufactured specimens, which is believed to be due to higher precipitation hardening caused by metallurgical effects induced in the manufacturing process.

Purpose: Tumor conditioned medium (CM) has been widely used to stimulate endothelial cells to form capillary- like structures in angiogenesis models in vitro. However, the molecular events triggered by CM are not fully understood. Here, we aimed to examine the effects of CM from human lung carcinoma A549 on cultures of primary human umbilical veins endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods: After treatment of HUVECs with the CM, cell migration was assessed by wound-healing assay, cell viability was evaluated by XTT assay, and apoptosis and cell death of HUVECs was analyzed by flow cytometry. Akt activation was assessed by Western blotting. To dissect the direct role of Akt, small interfering RNA (siRNA) against Akt1 was used. Results: The CM significantly stimulated cell migration and promoted cell viability. The CM also significantly inhibited low seruminduced apoptosis and cell death of HUVECs. Moreover, addition of CM activated the PI3K-Akt pathway: the level of p-Akt was increased by CM, and both the increase in p-Akt and the increase in migration and survival were blocked by an inhibitor of PI3K (wortmaninn) or by special knock-down Akt1. Conclusion: The results indicated that the angiogenic effects of A549-CM are largely mediated through activation of the PI3K-Akt in endothelial cells, and that the Akt1 is crucial in such a process, which may provide a therapeutic strategy of decreasing tumor angiogenesis.

This work describes the induction, purification and partial biochemical characterizations of an antimicrobial protein from the housefly larvae induced by ultrasonic wave. It has been purified to apparent homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by Sephadex G-75, Bio-gel P6 gel filtration, and CM-Sepharose Fast Flow cation exchange chromatography. The protein is a cationic protein with an apparent molecular weight of 16315 Da determined by no-denaturing electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE, respectively. Biochemical profile assays show that this protein has good thermal stability, and repeatedly frozen and defrosted durability. The optimum pH for antimicrobial activity is around pH5. The antimicrobial range of the protein includes Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and some fungi. Results of the membrane permeability assays suggest that the probable mode of action of this protein is membrane-disrupting mechanism.

Ten soil samples collected in Linfen were analyzed for 21 organochlorine pesticides. The concentration of total organochlorine pesticides ranged from 4.3 to 23.2 ng g(-1) in soil from urban areas and from 26.3 to 247.4 ng g(-1) in soil from industrial plants. The highest levels of contamination were observed in northwest and central Linfen, reflecting the distribution of industrial plants. The HCH and DDT profiles revealed that the sources were associated mainly with lindane and technical DDT, respectively, while HCHs in the soil of industrial plants might originate from a new source.