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Film-hole can be often blocked by the thermal-barrier coatings (TBC) spraying, resulting in the variations of film cooling performance and pressure loss. In this work, a numerical study of the effect of blockage ratio on the film cooling effectiveness of inclined cylindrical-holes was carried out on a concave surface to simulate the airfoil pressure side. Three typical blowing ratios (BRs) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 were chosen at an engine-similar density ratio (DR) of 2.0. Two common inclination angles of 30° and 45° were designed. The blockage ratios were adjusted from 0 to 20%. The results indicated that the blockage near the trailing edge of hole-exit could enhance the penetration of film cooling flow to the mainstream. Thus, the averaged effectiveness and coolant coverage area were reduced. Moreover, the pressure loss inside of hole was increased. With the increase of BR, the decrement of film cooling effectiveness caused by blockage rapidly enhanced. At BR = 1.5, the decrement could be acquired up to 70% for a blockage ratio of 20%. The decrement of film cooling effectiveness caused by blockage was nearly non-sensitive to the injection angle; however, the larger injection angle could generate the higher increment of pressure loss caused by blockage. A new design method for the couple scheme of film-cooling and TBC was proposed, i.e. increasing the inlet diameter according to the blockage ratio before TBC spraying. In comparison with the original unblocked-hole, the enlarged blocked-hole not only can keep the nearly same area-averaged effectiveness, but also can reduce slightly the pressure loss inside of hole. The smaller injection angle could obtain the larger reduction of pressure loss. Unfortunately, application of enlarged blocked-hole at large BR could lead to a more obvious reduction of effectiveness near hole-exit, in comparison with the original common-hole.

Poor performances in growth and resistance ability greatly hamper the aquaculture of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus . Here, sea cucumbers were fed artificial diets with four concentrations of dietary Cr-Pic supplementation (0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 mg/kg) for 56 days. The growth, digestive enzyme activities (LPS, AMS and pepsin), expression of growth-related genes ( MAPK-7 , FGFR-1 and c-myc ) and resistance ability (immune responses and antioxidant system) were subsequently assessed. The present study found that the SGR and BWG in 0.6 mg/kg group were significantly higher than those in control group. Significantly better activities of LPS and AMS and higher expressions of genes MAPK-7 and c-myc were consistently detected in 0.6 mg/kg group than those in control group, suggesting that dietary Cr-Pic supplementation greatly improves the food utilization and genes expression and consequently promotes the growth performances in sea cucumbers. Further, the activities of immune enzymes (AKP, ACP and LZM) and antioxidant enzymes (SOD and T-AOC) in 0.6 mg/kg group were significantly higher than those in control group, indicating that dietary Cr-Pic supplementation significantly enhances the resistance ability of sea cucumbers. The present study provides valuable information for improving the production efficiency of sea cucumbers A. japonicus .

Background: Superior posterior mediastinal tumours may arise in the apical chest. However, the removal of such tumours via conventional minimally invasive approaches remains challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate our experience of robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) for patients with neurogenic apical chest tumours (ACT). Methods: We retrospectively included 15 consecutive patients who underwent the resection of posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumour wherein the upper extent of the tumour extended upwards to the sternoclavicular joint plane based on chest imaging findings. The clinical characteristics and perioperative outcomes of these patients were collected and analysed.Results: Between April 2017 and June 2020, a total of 15 consecutive cases with ACT underwent radical surgical resection through RATS by our team. These patients showed encouraging short-term outcomes after surgery and there was no conversion to thoracotomy. The median tumour size was 4.0 (2.1-10.6) cm. Five large tumours (> = 5.0 cm) were completely resected. The median overall time of surgery was 100 (range, 30–240) minutes. In only one case, a patient experienced massive bleeding (> 500 mL) with a left schwannoma (10.6*5.8*4.8 cm). This resulted in intraoperative haemorrhage because of significant adhesion around the lesion. However, this case was successfully managed by robotic manoeuvres. The median hospital stay was 3 (range, 4–7) days. The median duration of the chest tube was 2 (range, 1–3) days. One case suffered from a non-permanent Horner’s syndrome and recovered within seven months. No patients developed brachial plexus-associated complications. No death occurred during the perioperative period. Conclusions: RATS is a safe and effective alternative modality for the treatment of ACT. The technique extends conventional thoracoscopic indications for posterior mediastinal lesions including apical chest lesions.

Objective: Chemoradiation (CRT) may induce a change in systemic inflammatory state which could affect clinical outcomes in oesophageal cancer. We aimed to evaluate the changes and prognostic significance of systemic inflammatory markers following definitive CRT in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A total of 53 patients treated with concurrent CRT were included in this retrospective analysis. We compared neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) before and after CRT using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated. Univariable and multivariable survival analysis were performed using Cox regression analysis. Clinical univariable survival prognostic factors with p < 0.1 were included in a multivariable cox regression analysis for backward stepwise model selection. Results: Both NLR (median ∆+2.8 [IQR −0.11, 8.62], p < 001) and PLR (median ∆+227 [81.3–523.5], p < 0.001) increased significantly after CRT. Higher levels of pre-CRT, post-CRT and change (∆) in NLR and PLR were associated with inferior OS and PFS. Post-CRT NLR (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02–1.07, p < 0.001), post-CRT platelets (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05, p = 0.005), cT-stage (HR 3.83, 95% CI 1.39–10.60, p = 0.01) and RT dose (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21–0.81, p = 0.01) were independent prognostic factors for OS in multivariable analysis. Change in NLR (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.06, p = 0.001), post-CRT platelets (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05, p = 0.002), cT-stage (HR 3.98, 95% CI 1.55–10.25, p = 0.004) and RT dose (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21–0.80, p = 0.009) were independent prognostic factors for PFS. Conclusion: Both NLR and PLR increased following definitive CRT. Post-CRT NLR and ∆NLR were associated with adverse survival in oesophageal SCC. Advances in knowledge: We showed that CRT increased PLR and NLR, possibly reflecting a systemic inflammatory state which were associated with poor clinical outcomes in oesophageal SCC.

N-trans-feruloyloctopamine (FO) isolated from Garlic skin was identified as the primary antioxidant constituents, however, the effect of which on HCC invasion is still unclear. Herein, the FO was synthesized and its antitumor activities were evaluated in HCC cell lines. Cellular functional analyses have revealed that the reformed FO owns strong abilities of inhibiting cell proliferation and invasion in HCC cells. Molecular data have further showed that FO could significantly decrease the phosphorylation levels of Akt and p38 MAPK. In addition, the expression of Slug was inhibited and the level of E-cadherin increased. Molecular docking analysis indicates that the H-bond and hydrophobic interactions were critical for FO and E-cadherin binding, but FO did not seem to act directly on phosphorylated Akt and p38 MAPK. We have thus concluded that reformed FO inhibits cell invasion might be directly through EMT related signals (E-cadherin) and indirectly through PI3K/Akt, p38 MAPK signaling pathways. FO might be a promising drug in HCC treatment and prognosis.

Prolonging the ovarian lifespan is attractive and challenging. An optimal clinical strategy must be safe, long‐acting, simple, and economical. Allotransplantation of brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is most abundant and robust in infants, has been utilized to treat various mouse models of human disease. Could we use BAT to prolong the ovarian lifespan of aging mice? Could we try BAT xenotransplantation to alleviate the clinical need for allogeneic BAT due to the lack of voluntary infant donors? In the current study, we found that a single rat‐to‐mouse (RTM) BAT xenotransplantation did not cause systemic immune rejection but did significantly increase the fertility of mice and was effective for more than 5 months (equivalent to 10 years in humans). Next, we did a series of analysis including follicle counting; AMH level; estrous cycle; mTOR activity; GDF9, BMP15, LHR, Sirt1, and Cyp19a level; ROS and annexin V level; IL6 and adiponectin level; biochemical blood indices; body temperature; transcriptome; and DNA methylation studies. From these, we proposed that rat BAT xenotransplantation rescued multiple indices indicative of follicle and oocyte quality; rat BAT also improved the metabolism and general health of the aging mice; and transcriptional and epigenetic (DNA methylation) improvement in F0 mice could benefit F1 mice; and multiple KEGG pathways and GO classified biological processes the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) or differentially methylated regions (DMRs) involved were identical between F0 and F1. This study could be a helpful reference for clinical BAT xenotransplantation from close human relatives to the woman.

By means of time-resolved thermal infrared technique, an experimental investigation of the effect of transverse trench on unsteady film cooling performances of backward cylindrical-holes with various compound angles was carried out under typical coolant-to-mainstream blowing ratios (BRs) from 0.2 to 2.0. The main feature of this work was that the time-averaged film cooling effectiveness and the unsteadiness of effectiveness caused by fluid-interaction were evaluated simultaneously. A row of backward-holes with orientation angles of β = 90°, 120°, 135° and 180° were designed as the specimens, and the corresponding forward injections were also chosen. The effect of transverse trench on the coverage and loss performances of film cooling flow of backward-holes under different BRs was analyzed, and the effects of compound angle and jet orientation on the film cooling performances of common- and trenched-holes were compared. The conclusions revealed that the trench could improve obviously the effectiveness and the maximum increment was 46% for 135°-hole; moreover, the trench could weaken the unsteadiness of effectiveness when β

A series of indolyl substituted 1,4,6,7-tetrahydropyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole derivatives were synthesized via a domino method based on the 1,4:3,6-Dianhydrofructose. The mechanism was proposed and proved by calculation with a density functional theory (DFT), which includes formation of phenylhydrazone, furanone ring opening, Fischer indole synthesis, pyrazole ring closing and a furan ring expansion. In vitro antitumor activity of all synthesized compounds against four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, EC-109, HGC-27, and PC-3 cell lines) were then evaluated, using MTT assay. We found that most of the compounds were more potent than the positive control 5-fluorouracil. Particularly, compound 4i against HGC-27 and PC-3, 4j against EC-109 cell lines showed three fold greater activity than 5-fluorouracil, respectively. The activity of compounds 4c and 4d against MCF-7 cell line was close to that of doxorubicin.

A versatile method for synthesis of chiral furopyran-β-one analogues starting from 1,4:3,6-dianhydrofructose has been developed. The target compounds were acquired by treatment of 1,4:3,6-dianhydrofructose with benzaldehydes in the presence of KF/Al2O3 and subsequent ring expansion of furanones induced by TMSOTf (trimethylsilyl triflate). The ring expansion involves an unprecedented nucleophilic 1,2-migration of a keto-carbonyl as a key step. In vitro antifungal activity of all compounds obtained were evaluated against five human pathogenic fungi (Candida parapsilosis ATCC22019, Candida albicans ATCC10231, Trichophyton rubrum CMCC(F)T1f, Epidermophyton floccosum CMCC(F)E1d, and Microsporum canis CMCC(F)M3d). We found that the furopyran-β-one analogues bearing chloro or fluoro group showed significant inhibitory activity against dermatophytes, especially M. canis.

De novo peptide sequencing for large-scale proteomics remains challenging because of the lack of full coverage of ion series in tandem mass spectra. We developed a mirror protease of trypsin, acetylated LysargiNase (Ac-LysargiNase), with superior activity and stability. The mirror spectrum pairs derived from the Ac-LysargiNase and trypsin treated samples can generate full b and y ion series, which provide mutual complementarity of each other, and allow us to develop a novel algorithm, pNovoM, for de novo sequencing. Using pNovoM to sequence peptides of purified proteins, the accuracy of the sequence was close to 100%. More importantly, from a large-scale yeast proteome sample digested with trypsin and Ac-LysargiNase individually, 48% of all tandem mass spectra formed mirror spectrum pairs, 97% of which contained full coverage of ion series, resulting in precision de novo sequencing of full-length peptides by pNovoM. This enabled pNovoM to successfully sequence 21,249 peptides from 3,753 proteins and interpreted 44–152% more spectra than pNovo+ and PEAKS at a 5% FDR at the spectrum level. Moreover, the mirror protease strategy had an obvious advantage in sequencing long peptides. We believe that the combination of mirror protease strategy and pNovoM will be an effective approach for precision de novo sequencing on both single proteins and proteome samples.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the one of most common malignant tumors. The tumor microenvironment has a role in not only supporting growth and survival of tumor cells, but also triggering tumor recurrence and metastasis. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), one of the important growth factors in the tumor microenvironment, has an important role in angiogenesis, tumorigenesis and regeneration. However, the exact mechanism by which HGF regulates HCC initiation and development via epigenetic reprogramming has remained elusive. The present study focused on the epigenetic modification and target tumor-suppressive genes of HGF treatment in HCC. Expression profiling and DNA methylation array were performed to investigate the function of HGF and examine global genomic DNA methylation changes, respectively. Integrated analysis of gene expression and DNA methylation revealed potential tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in HCC. The present study showed the multiple functions of HGF in tumorous and non‑tumorous pathways and global genomic DNA methylation changes. HGF treatment upregulated the expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Overexpression of DNMT1 in HCC patients correlated with the malignant potential and poor prognosis of HCC. Furthermore, integration analysis of gene expression and DNA methylation changes revealed novel potential tumor suppressor genes TSGs including MYOCD, PANX2 and LHX9. The present study has provided mechanistic insight into epigenetic repression of TSGs through HGF‑induced DNA hypermethylation.

This The IEEE 802.15.4 devices are proposed to operate in the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band. The other devices that use IEEE 802.11 b, g and n share the same frequency band. The interference caused by these technologies can degrade the performance of an IEEE 802.15.4 based wireless network. In this paper we study such degrading effects on a network equipped with IEEE 802.15.4 devices that is exposed to interference in turn with IEEE 802.11 b, g and n. The performance measure in this paper is the link Packet Receive Rate (PRR). Measurements are performed with real-life equipment, in order to quantify coexistence issues. We test all 16 channels of IEEE 802.15.4 in 2.4G band and the results show the decrease of PRR when suffering in close frequency with IEEE 802.11. The connection between energy detection and PRR is also exhibited in this paper.

A data center energy-saving system and method based on virtual IT technology resource distribution technology is proposed in this paper. Through monitoring virtual environment resources in data center, the limited IT resources can be dynamically migrated and the auxiliary equipment resources such as air conditioner can be rationally managed. Then the resources can be reasonably and efficiently allocated by monitoring the virtual environment. With a closed-loop feedback control mechanism, it effectively improves the utilization of data center resources, and ultimately achieves the operation and maintenance for data center of green energy-saving target. This method was implemented in a true data center for cloud computing. Test results show that the total energy consumption of this system can be reduced by 13%, and the power usage effectiveness drops to 1.5.

A series of indolyl substituted 1,4,6,7-tetrahydropyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole derivatives were synthesized via a domino method based on the 1,4:3,6-Dianhydrofructose. The mechanism was proposed and proved by calculation with a density functional theory (DFT), which includes formation of phenylhydrazone, furanone ring opening, Fischer indole synthesis, pyrazole ring closing and a furan ring expansion. In vitro antitumor activity of all synthesized compounds against four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, EC-109, HGC-27, and PC-3 cell lines) were then evaluated, using MTT assay. We found that most of the compounds were more potent than the positive control 5-fluorouracil. Particularly, compound 4i against HGC-27 and PC-3, 4j against EC-109 cell lines showed three fold greater activity than 5-fluorouracil, respectively. The activity of compounds 4c and 4d against MCF-7 cell line was close to that of doxorubicin.

For the sake of reflecting the concentrated heat flux distribution boundary condition as genuine as possible during simulation, the sequential coupled optical-thermal heat transfer analysis is introduced for porous media receiver. During the sequential coupled numerical analysis, the non-uniform heat flux distribution on the fluid entrance surface of porous media receiver is obtained by Monte-Carlo ray tracing method. Finite element method (FEM) is adopted to solve energy equation using the calculated heat flux distribution as the third boundary condition. The dimensionless temperature distribution comparisons between uniform and non-uniform heat flux distribution boundary conditions, various porosities, and different solar dish concentrator tracking errors are investigated in this research.

The theory of structural dynamic analysis is put forward firstly. Then the dynamic performance of HMC80 high-speed precision machining center column is analyzed by means of finite element method. The dynamic performance of the column is analyzed using structural dynamic optimization theory and variation analysis with the thickness of wall plate and the inner rib plates as the parameters thirdly. Based on the analysis results, the structure optimization scheme of the column is obtained. The structure optimization scheme is analyzed and the analysis results show that the dynamic performance of the column optimization scheme is improved obviously.

Based on the general geometrical model of scroll compression chamber for scroll fluid machine, the geometric characteristics of scroll compression chamber, such as width, length, volume, and comprehensive curvature radius at the mesh point, and their variation as well are comprehensively analyzed. It is shown by the analysis that among all of the geometric characteristics, the width variation is the most complicated one; the comprehensive variation of the width together with the length can be used to determine the deformation processes of the chamber. The variability of its length, volume, and comprehensive curvature radius at meshing points should be taken as its basic deformation characteristics. For a scroll compression chamber with involute of circle, its deformation efficiency is higher and dynamic stability is excellent. At the same time, the scroll wrap with involute of circle is easy to fabricate and the profile with involute of circle is used widely for the major part of the scroll profile.

Depending on the solar radiant flux and velocity measured in Harbin, with finite element method, use a modified radiant heat flux function to calculate the temperature field of a plate on the focal region of a dish solar concentrator. Compared the result with picture taken by infrared camera, there is a good accordance between them. The temperature field is used as the loading parameters to calculate the thickness’s impact on the thermal stress field in the plate. When the value of the thickness increases, the maximum values of the stress increase, but the overall stress field tend to decrease.

Wind speed forecasting is critical for wind energy conversion systems. Adaptive and reliable methods and techniques of wind speed forecasting are urgently needed in view of the stochastic nature of wind resource, which is varying from time to time and from site to site. Multi-step-ahead speed forecasting is built with empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method and RBF neural network, which makes use of non-linear and non-stationary signal characteristics. Time series of original wind speed data is decomposed by EMD method. And RBF neural network is used to predict the decomposition of the various components. Experimental results show that the method effectively improves the accuracy and the reliability of wind speed forecasting.

Optical efficiency analysis of conical cavity receiver is introduced in this receiver. Monte-Carlo ray tracing codes was developed to analyze the optical efficiency and heat flux distribution of conical cavity receiver with aperture radius variation. Besides, the impact of slope error variation on the optical efficiency and heat flux distribution are also investigated. The numerical results show that inverted conical cavity receiver with optimized aperture radius has the highest optical efficiency.

The theory of structural dynamic analysis is put forward in this paper. The dynamic performance of a precision machine tool bed is analyzed by means of finite element method, and the analysis result shows that the natural frequency is too low is the main reason of the vibration of the bed. In order to improve the dynamic performance of the bed, the dynamic performance of the unit structure of the precision machine tool bed is analyzed. Based on the analysis of the unit structure, two structural optimization schemes for the machine tool bed are obtained. Furthermore, two optimization schemes are analyzed by means of finite element method too. Compared to the original machine tool bed, the dynamic performance of two structural optimization schemes is significantly improved.

Using the life table method, we analyzed in this paper the survival of enterprises that were established from 1980 to 2007 in the Hunan province. Based on the quantile indicators, the average remaining firm lifespan in the specified period of time and the average survival time during a specific period of time, we conducted a comparative study using enterprises associated with different cities, industries, capital sizes, types of ownership and periods of establishment. The results show that there are great differences in firm survival that correlate with differences in city affiliation, industry, capital size, ownership type and period of establishment. Survival of Chinese enterprises is affected not only by the location of the business, the industry and the capital scale, which are usual players in the classical theory of industrial organization, but also by the nature of ownership and the time of establishment, which are determined by China's national context.

Coastal zones provide habitat cores and corridors that maintain the diversity of entire landscapes, and they can form the cornerstone elements of regional conservation strategies. Natural environmental driving factors and excessive anthropogenic activities play important roles in coastal wetland change. Many studies have used remote sensing images to map and assess coastal wetland change on local or regional scales. This paper aims to provide insight into coastal wetland change in the Yancheng National Nature Reserve (YNNR) using remote sensing technology and landscape metrics analysis. The results reveal that grass flat and reed areas have significantly decreased, whereas agriculture fields, aquaculture ponds and built-up areas have continuously increased from 1988 to 2006. The spatial pattern of the coastal landscape has become fragmented and heterogeneous under great pressure from rapid economic development and population growth. The wetland changes have important impacts on natural habitat of the red-crowned cranes. The results of this study provide basic information that is required for developing measures toward a sustainable management and conservation of the YNNR.

One-dimensional semiconductor materials Bi2Te3 nanotubes were synthesized via an ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal method at 180 °C for 48 h. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, and HRTEM. The results indicate the size of as-prepared Bi2Te3 nanotubes is about 500–1000 nm in length and 50–100 nm in diameter. Bi2Te3 nanotubes grow spirally along the (0 0 1) direction, whose angle with the tube axis is about 20°. The probable formation model of Bi2Te3 nanotubes is proposed based on the experimental results. The synthetic approach could be used to synthesize other one-dimensional nanomaterials.

Under deep and complex geological conditions, severe deformation occurs at intersection points of Y-type roadways with large cross sections during engineering projects in coal mines, especially at junction arches. Based on in-situ investigations and theoretical studies, we have summarized typical forms of destruction and identified high stress and unrestricted support at both sides of junction arch as its main causes. In this study, we also presented double-directional control bolt support technology for a large Y-type span intersection, applied to deep intersection engineering in the Jiahe Coal Mine, which has proved effective.

Construction of tunnels in urban areas requires assessment of the impact of tunneling on the stability and integrity of existing pile foundations. We have focused our attention to the analysis of the carrying capacity of pile foundations provided by the impact of construction of urban tunnels on adjacent pile foundations, under the engineering background of the construction of the # 2 Line of the Guangzhou subway. It is carried out using a fast Lagrangian analysis of a continuum in a 3D numerical code, which is an elastoplastic three-dimensional finite difference model, to simulate the response of piles under the entire process of metro tunneling (deactivation of soil element and activation of the lining). The adjacent stratum around the tunnel is classified into three regions: Zone I (upper adjacent stratum of tunnel), Zone II (45°-upper-lateral adjacent stratum of tunnel) and Zone III (lateral adjacent stratum of tunnel). In each region one typical pile is chosen to be calculated and analyzed in detail. Numerical simulations are mainly conducted at three points of each pile shaft: the side-friction force of the pile, the tip resistance of the pile and the axial loading of the pile. A contrasting analysis has been conducted both in the response of typical piles in different regions and from computer calculated values with site monitoring values. The results of numerical simulations show that the impact on carrying capacity of the piles lies mainly in the impact of construction of urban tunnels on the side-friction forces and the tip resistance of piles. The impact differs considerably among the different strata zones where the pile tips are located. The complicated rules of side-friction force and tip resistance of piles has resulted in complicated rules of pile axial loading thus, in the end, it impacts the carrying capacity of pile-foundations. It is necessary to take positive measures, such as stratum grouting stabilization or foundation underpinning, etc, to deal with the carrying capacity and the settlement of pile-foundations. The results are of value to similar engineering projects.

A novel phenylacetyl-CoA ligase gene, designated phlB, was cloned and identified from the penicillin producing strain Penicillium chrysogenum based on subtractive suppression hybridization approach. The phlB gene contains a 1686-bp open-reading frame and encodes a protein of approximately 62.6 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence shows about 35% identity to the characterized P. chrysogenum phenylacetyl-CoA ligase Phl and has a peroxisomal targeting signal on its C-terminal. Recombinant PhlB protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Enzymatic assay confirmed that recombinant PhlB can catalyze the reaction of phenylacetic acid (PAA) with CoA to yield phenylacetyl-CoA. The expression level of phlB in the penicillin producing medium supplemented with PAA, the side chain precursor of penicillin G, was about 2.5-fold higher than that in medium without PAA. The study suggested that PhlB might participate in the activation of PAA during penicillin biosynthesis in P. chrysogenum.

Based on the commercial CFD software CFX-4.3, two-phase flow of electrolyte in 156 kA drained aluminum reduction cells with a new structure was numerically simulated by multi-fluid model and k-ɛ turbulence model. The results show that the electrolyte flow in the drained cells is more even than in the conventional cells. Corresponding to center point feeding, the electrolyte flow in the drained cells is more advantageous to the release of anode gas, the dissolution and diffusion of alumina, and the gradient reduction of the electrolyte density and temperature. The average velocity of the electrolyte is 8.3 cm/s, and the maximum velocity is 59.5 cm/s. The average and maximum velocities of the gas are 23.2 cm/s and 61.1 cm/s, respectively. The cathode drained slope and anode cathode distance have certain effects on the electrolyte flow.

We previously reported the case of a 56-year-old male who underwent surgical treatment for gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma and splenic metastasis. The present study reports the case of the same patient who underwent successful ex vivo hepatectomy and partial liver autotransplantation. Computed tomography scans demonstrated that the tumor was located in the left and caudate lobes of the liver, with hepatic vein and inferior vena cava involvement, and right portal vein compression. To clarify the association between the vessels and the tumor, a three-dimensional imaging technique was used to reconstruct the liver architecture. During the surgery, the whole liver was removed with the retrohepatic vena cava, which was replaced with a prosthetic graft without a veno-venous bypass; a portacaval shunt for the anhepatic phase was performed simultaneously. The surgery lasted 9 h, and the anhepatic phase lasted 4 h. Blood loss during the surgery was recorded at 1,500 ml. The time taken for recovery was 21 days post-surgery, and at 20 months, the patient was disease-free. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of ex vivo liver resection performed for hepatic metastasis of hepatoid adenocarcinoma to be reported.

In the wireless sensor networks with multiple mobile sinks, the movement of sinks or failure of sensor nodes may leads to the breakage of existing routes. In order to repair broken path with lower communication overhead in terms of both energy and delay, we propose an efficient routing recovery protocol with endocrine cooperative particle swarm optimization algorithm to establish and optimize the alternative path. With this method, the alternative path from source nodes to the sink with the optimal QoS parameters can be selected. Simulation results demonstrate that ECPSOA can adapt to rapid topological changes with multiple mobile sinks, while decreasing communication overhead and efficiently reducing the energy consumption.

Background Due to the importance of Penicillium chrysogenum holding in medicine, the genome of low-penicillin producing laboratorial strain Wisconsin54-1255 had been sequenced and fully annotated. Through classical mutagenesis of Wisconsin54-1255, product titers and productivities of penicillin have dramatically increased, but what underlying genome structural variations is still little known. Therefore, genome sequencing of a high-penicillin producing industrial strain is very meaningful. Results To reveal more insights into the genome structural variations of high-penicillin producing strain, we sequenced an industrial strain P. chrysogenum NCPC10086. By whole genome comparative analysis, we observed a large number of mutations, insertions and deletions, and structural variations. There are 69 new genes that not exist in the genome sequence of Wisconsin54-1255 and some of them are involved in energy metabolism, nitrogen metabolism and glutathione metabolism. Most importantly, we discovered a 53.7 Kb "new shift fragment" in a seven copies of determinative penicillin biosynthesis cluster in NCPC10086 and the arrangement type of amplified region is unique. Moreover, we presented two large-scale translocations in NCPC10086, containing genes involved energy, nitrogen metabolism and peroxysome pathway. At last, we found some non-synonymous mutations in the genes participating in homogentisate pathway or working as regulators of penicillin biosynthesis. Conclusions We provided the first high-quality genome sequence of industrial high-penicillin strain of P. chrysogenum and carried out a comparative genome analysis with a low-producing experimental strain. The genomic variations we discovered are related with energy metabolism, nitrogen metabolism and so on. These findings demonstrate the potential information for insights into the high-penicillin yielding mechanism and metabolic engineering in the future. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-S1-S11) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

To preliminarily study the essence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of cold-dampness arthralgia spasm syndrome (CDASS) at the protein expression level.Totally 24 RA patients were recruited from Department of Rheumatology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine from July 2009 to September 2010. They were assigned to the CDASS group and the dampness-heat arthralgia spasm syndrome (DHASS) group according to Chinese medicine syndrome typing, 12 in each group. The normal control group consisted of 12 healthy volunteers from the Health Examination Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The serum proteins were compared between the CDASS group and the normal control group/the DHASS group respectively using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The common differential protein spots of CDASS were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The SwissProt database was inquired using Mascot Software to identify differential proteins.There were 81 differential protein spots between the CDASS group and the normal control group. There were 45 differential protein spots between the CDASS group and the DHASS group. Thirteen protein spots were found to be higher or lower in protein expression quantity of the CDASS group when compared with those of the other two groups. Nine differential protein spots were identified by mass spectrometry and database retrieval. It's suggested that these proteins were most likely to be related with inhibition of cellular events, such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and so on.4.1 protein and DLC-1 protein were of potential significance in the diagnosis, prognostic markers, or treatment targets of RA patients of CDASS, which also provided evidence for further studies on the essence of CDASS.

AIM: To find the significant altered proteins in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients as potential biomarkers of AMD.METHODS: A comparative analysis of the protein pattern of AMD patients versus healthy controls was performed by means of proteomic analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by protein identification with MALDI TOF/TOF mass spectrometry.RESULTS: We identified 28 proteins that were significantly altered with clinical relevance in AMD patients. These proteins were involved in a wide range of biological functions including immune responses, growth cytokines, cell fate determination, wound healing, metabolism, and anti-oxidance.CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the capacity of proteomic analysis of AMD patient plasma. In addition to the utility of this approach for biomarker discovery, identification of alterations in endogenous proteins in the plasma of AMD patient could improve our understanding of the disease pathogenesis.