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This paper presents a decision-making approach grounded in rough set theory and evidential reasoning to address the demand for expert decision-making in greenhouse environmental control systems. Furthermore, a decision-making model is developed by integrating the D-S evidence theory with an expert knowledge table for greenhouse environmental control systems. The model's reasoning process encompasses continuous attribute discretization, expert decision table formation, attribute reduction, and evidence combination reasoning. Firstly, the fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm is employed to discretize the original environmental data and cluster it. Subsequently, an attribute reduction algorithm based on information entropy is utilized to optimize the decision table by eliminating unnecessary conditional attributes in expert knowledge. The reduced indicators are then combined using evidential theory. Finally, suitable greenhouse control methods are determined by the confidence decision proposed by the D-S evidence theory. To assess the efficacy of this intelligent decision-making algorithm based on rough set and D-S evidence theory, its performance is compared with traditional SVM algorithms and small-shot learning algorithms. The results indicate that this proposed method significantly enhances the credibility of control decision-making processes, with an average running time of 0.002378s for the fusion decision algorithm and 0.017939s for the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, respectively. The SVM accuracy rate after testing and training stands at 90.34%. Moreover, retraining based on information entropy attribute reduction leads to a correct decision rate increase of up to 100%. This method notably improves confidence levels in decision-making processes while reducing uncertainty and demonstrates reliability when applied in making decisions regarding greenhouse environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed at performing a comprehensive review of the approaches employed in nanosatellite platforms, specifically 1 U and 3 U, for electrical power systems (EPS). Moreover, it seeks to develop a robust maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller using the sliding mode control (SMC) method. The proposed control strategy is intended to monitor the solar panel's maximum power point (MPP) and adapt to changes in temperatures and solar irradiance in low Earth orbit (LEO). The EPS model, designed with the proposed sizing method, is built in MATLAB-Simulink and integrates a solar panel, battery storage, and power converters controlled by diverse MPPT methods. Then, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SMC approach compared to other conventional control methods for the designed EPS under varying LEO conditions. To achieve a robust validation of the most appropriate MPPT control method under steady-state conditions, this paper presents an experimental investigation into the proposed EPS hardware design. The proposed SMC method achieved an increase in power generation from 10% to 12% for buck and boost power converters, respectively, compared to traditional control methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction: This study was carried out to investigate the relationship of stressful life events (SLEs) with the risk of cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: A total of 316 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus aged >45 years were recruited in this study, and data on demographics, medical history, lifestyle characteristics and SLEs were collected. The cognitive status of patients was evaluated with a battery of cognitive function scales. Logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the risk and protective factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Results: Participants, including 217 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with MCI and 99 patients without MCI, were enrolled in the current study. Among the SLEs, the death of an offspring or parent (odds ratio [OR] 1.994, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.017-3.908) was a risk factor for MCI after adjustment for age and education level. In the subgroup of participants aged <60 years, the death of an offspring or parent (OR 2.731, 95% CI 1.119- 6.665) and financial difficulty (OR 22.205, 95% CI 4.365-112.966) were risk factors for the development of MCI, whereas high working pressure (OR 0.154, 95% CI 0.048-0.495) and career changes (OR 0.324, 95% CI 0.124-0.847) were protective factors for MCI. Conclusions: These data suggested that SLEs were associated with cognitive function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Adverse life events, such as the death of an offspring or parent, were risk factors for cognitive impairment, whereas high work pressure in middle-aged people was a protective factor against cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for cervical cancer, patients with cervical cancer invading the lower one‑third of the vagina require bilateral inguinal lymphatic area preventive irradiation. However, it is not clear whether they need preventive inguinal area irradiation. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the necessity of bilateral inguinal lymphatic area irradiation for patients with cervical cancer with invasion of the lower one‑third of the vagina. Settings and Design: Patients without inguinal lymph node metastasis were divided into preventive radiotherapy and nonpreventive radiotherapy groups. The occurrence of inguinal skin damage, lower extremity edema, and femoral head necrosis was observed during and after treatment. Methods and Material: In total, 184 patients with cervical cancer with invasion of the lower one‑third of the vagina were selected. A trial and control method was used to select 180 patients without inguinal lymph node metastasis. Statistical Analysis: Comparison between groups was performed using a t test. Data were enumerated using frequency (percentage), and comparison between groups was performed using a Chi‑square test. Results: Imaging examination revealed inguinal lymph node enlargement in 7.07% of patients, and only four cases (2.17%) were further confirmed by pathology. The inguinal lymph node metastasis rate in these patients was very low. The prophylactic irradiation group showed a high occurrence rate of side injury. In the follow‑up of both groups, no recurrence was detected in the inguinal lymph nodes. Conclusions: Prophylactic irradiation of inguinal lymph nodes is not essential for patients without pathological metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the serum levels of IL-17 and IL-35 in preeclamptic Chinese women, and their pharmacological association with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) compounds. Methods: In this study, 60 preeclamptic and 60 healthy pregnant Chinese women comprised the study and control groups, respectively. The serum levels of IL-17 and IL-35 were determined using the ELISA technique. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory effects of 5 TCM compounds were determined with respect to their inhibitory potential against IL-10 and IL-35 in RAW 264.7 cells. Results: There were statistically significant differences in mean serum levels of IL-17 and IL-35 between preeclamptic patients and control patients (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the serum levels of the two cytokines were significantly higher in patients with severe preeclampsia than in patients with mild preeclampsia (p < 0.05). Significant positive correlations were observed between systolic blood pressure of patients and levels of IL-17 and IL-35. The 5 TCM compounds showed good inhibitory potential against IL-17 and IL-35, when compared to the reference drug and positive control (p < 0.05). Conclusion: IL-17 and IL-35 are useful inflammatory biomarkers for preeclampsia in Chinese women, and can potentially be used to assess the severity of the disease. In addition, TCM compounds which inhibit IL-17 and IL-35 may be useful therapeutic agents for controlling preeclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental parameters such as temperature, light, water, gas, and fertilizer in a controlled environment are important components of the greenhouse microclimate. In general, temperature and humidity are highly dependent on individual factors, and indeed it is difficult to control multiple targets simultaneously. This paper proposes an improved non dominant classification genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) to solve this problem. The method of adaptive mutation can be set in the holding solution diversity, while still maintaining a high speed to obtain a Pareto optimal solution. Original crossover method has the global search capability is not big enough limitations, it is replaced with arithmetic crossover method, but also can make the diversity of knowledge is maintained. For improved multi-objective optimization algorithm simulation test, simulation and data analysis found: Pareto optimal distribution of cutting-edge solution set more reasonable, and its efficiency with better performance indicators have improved [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk management is a significant part of the success of a public-private partnership (PPP) project. There are four phrases for the process of risk management: Constructing a risk management environment, identifying risk factors, evaluating risk factors, and allocating risk factors. After identifying risk factors, it is imperative to analyze and evaluate critical risk factors, which can help participants formulate strategies to allocate risk factors, and thus alleviate the possible adverse results. The objectives of analyzing and evaluating risk factors focus on two aspects: The possibilities of risk occurrence and the degrees of risk loss. On behalf of determining the critical risk factors effectively, we take the probability degree and linguistic expressions into consideration to manifest experts' perspectives. We consider critical risk factors in terms of the probabilistic linguistic terms with weakened hedges from the evidential reasoning approach view. The linguistic terms with weakened hedges are applied to express the degree of risk risk loss, and the possibilities of risk occurrence collect from the probabilities of linguistic terms with weakened hedges. First, the commonality function and plausibility function are applied to correct the possibilities of risk occurrence for linguistic terms with weakened hedges. Next, we build a risk evaluation model from experts' risk propensity and risk perceptions. Moreover, a case study of the risk analyzing and evaluating process of a PPP project is applied to illustrate the availability and effectiveness of the proposed model. We contrast the introduced model with other approaches. Finally, the advantages of this model intend to improve the linguistic terms with weakened hedges for the probabilistic linguistic terms with weakened hedges and evaluate risk factors considering the evidence reasoning approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the effect and mechanism of oridonin in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depressive-like behaviors. Methods: CUMS was established using 6-week stress stimuli, including feed/water deprivation, night lighting, inverted light/dark cycle, and tail clamping. Depressive behaviors were analyzed using the sucrose preference test, forced swim test (FST), and tail suspension test (TST). Locomotor activity was analyzed using the open field test (OFT) while inflammatory cytokines were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The activation of the TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway was evaluated by western blot. Results: Sucrose consumption of CUMS-treated mice was significantly decreased, while immobility times of the FST (control vs. CUMS, ~50 to 150 s; p < 0.01) and TST (Control vs. CUMS, ~50 to 130 s; p < 0.01) were increased; oridonin significantly reversed these effects. Spontaneous locomotor activities (crossing, rearing, and grooming) measured in the OFT were decreased after the CUMS procedure, and oridonin increased these activities (p < 0.01 vs. CUMS). Oridonin decreased the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in the hippocampus of CUMS-treated mice and significantly inhibited activation of the TXNIP/NLRP3 pathway induced by CUMS. Conclusion: Oridonin ameliorates depressive-like behaviors in mice induced by CUMS, partly via TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway. Thus, the findings provide evidence for the potential application of oridonin in depression therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental parameter measurements from various sensors spatially distributed in greenhouse crops can be used to create an accurate and detailed depiction of the climate in different regions of the greenhouse. Microclimate environments have an impact on crop yield, productivity, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of plants, and various plant diseases. In this study, an automatic monitoring system based on a wireless sensor network was designed to monitor the survival rate of greenhouse crops. The system design includes a sensor model selection and placement process, host computer monitoring software and communication module design. The Zigbee protocol was used for wireless communication between the nodes. The proposed fuzzy-PID controller was easy to design and highly adaptive to the measurement errors of the sensors. The test results show that the system valuable for monitoring the environment in the greenhouse, where it was successful in controlling and maintaining an optimal microclimate condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spinal code is the type of rateless code, which has been proved to be capacity- achieving over both a binary symmetric channel (BSC) and an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Rateless spinal codes employ a hash function as a coding kernel to generate infinite pseudo-random symbols. A good hash function can improve the perfor- mance of spinal codes. In this paper, a lightweight hash function based on sponge structure is designed. A permutation function of registers is a nonlinear function. Feedback shift registers are used to improve randomness and reduce bit error rate (BER). At the same time, a pseudo-random number generator adopts a layered and piecewise combination mode, which further encrypts signals via the layered structure, reduces the correlation between input and output values, and generates the piecewise random numbers to compensate the shortcoming of the mixed linear congruence output with fixed length. Simulation results show that the designed spinal code with the lightweight hash function outperforms the original spinal code in aspects of the BER, encoding time and randomness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepsin is a transmembrane serine protease implicated in many biological processes, including hepatocyte growth, urinary protein secretion, auditory nerve development, and cancer metastasis. Zymogen activation is critical for hepsin function. To date, how hepsin is activated and regulated in cells remains an enigma. In this study, we conducted site-directed mutagenesis, cell expression, plasma membrane protein labeling, trypsin digestion, Western blotting, and flow cytometry experiments in human hepatoma HepG2 cells, where hepsin was originally discovered, and SMMC-7721 cells. Our results show that hepsin is activated by autocatalysis on the cell surface but not intracellularly. Moreover, we show that hepsin undergoes ectodomain shedding. In the conditioned medium from HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells, we detected a soluble fragment comprising nearly the entire extracellular region of hepsin. By testing protease inhibitors, gene knockdown, and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified calpain-1 as a primary protease that acted extracellularly to cleave Tyr52 in the juxtamembrane space of hepsin. These results provide new insights into the biochemical and cellular mechanisms that regulate hepsin expression and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) has been recently proven to be a powerful dimensionality reduction tool for monitoring nonlinear processes. However, the KPCA based monitoring method suffers from several drawbacks. First, the KPCA method depends strongly on its kernel function, but its selection of kernel parameters is problematic. Second, the underlying manifold structure of the data is not considered in process modelling. To overcome these deficiencies, this paper proposes a new process monitoring technique named extended maximum variance unfolding (EMVU). Because the global and local structures of process data probably change in some abnormal states, global and local graphs are designed to exploit the underlying geometrical structure. The feasibility and validity of the EMVU based process monitoring scheme are investigated through a simple numerical example simulation process. The experimental results demonstrate that the EMVU based nonlinear process monitoring method is a good alternative method to the KPCA-based monitoring method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) is one of the four global navigation satellite systems. More attention has been paid to the positioning algorithm of the BDS. Based on the study on the Kalman filter (KF) algorithm, this paper proposed a novel algorithm for the BDS, named as the minimum dispersion coefficient criteria Kalman filter (MDCCKF) positioning algorithm. The MDCCKF algorithm adopts minimum dispersion coefficient criteria (MDCC) to remove the influence of noise with an alpha-stable distribution (ASD) model which can describe non-Gaussian noise effectively, especially for the pulse noise in positioning. By minimizing the dispersion coefficient of the positioning error, the MDCCKF assures positioning accuracy under both Gaussian and non-Gaussian environment. Compared with the original KF algorithm, it is shown that the MDCCKF algorithm has higher positioning accuracy and robustness. The MDCCKF algorithm provides insightful results for potential future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent optimization algorithm (IOA) has been widely studied and applied to solve various optimization problems. When scholars improve IOA with mathematical methods, they also want to seek an effective method to implement algorithms with higher real time, especially for a complex problem. Parallel design is an effective method to improve the real time of IOA. Currently, the parallel programming based on open multi-processing (OpenMP) and compute unified device architecture (CUDA) are two popular methods. To find and develop a new IOA parallel method, in this paper, a parallel design and implementation method based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) is explored. In order to validate the proposed method, parallel genetic algorithm (GA) and parallel particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are realized by the proposed method. Furthermore, the performance and advantage of the proposed FPGA-based parallel IOA method are tested by comparing with OpenMP-based parallel programming and CUDA-based parallel programming, the final results show that the proposed method with highest real-time performance in IOA parallel implementation. A case study by using FPGA-based parallel simulate annealing (SA) to address job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) to illustrate the proposed method has high potential in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the various factors that affect the intensity of a flood event, such as its duration and volume, is essential for strategic planning and flood management. Further, quantifying the impacts of these major factors on flood intensity using the contribution rate is essential, but technically challenging. In this study, the authors have adopted the projection pursuit model to quantify the contribution rates of peak flood stage and peak flood discharge, flood duration, and total flood volume (the maximum 12-, 24-, and 72-hour flood volumes) in the Wujiang River in Southern China. This study showed that peak flood discharge and total flood volume were the two dominant factors impacting flood intensity. Although flood duration can be a major factor for some flood events, it contributed the least to flood intensity for most of the historic flood events studied. Likewise, the maximum 24-hour and 72-hour flood volumes contributed little to flood intensity. Findings from this study not only demonstrated the successful adoption of the projection pursuit model for contribution rates, but also provided critical information for planning and managing the regional hydraulic resources in the Wujiang River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disease involving multiple organs, but there are a limited number of reports on family TSC. In the present report, a case of a 52‑year‑old female with a familial genetic TSC, associated with bilateral giant renal angiomyolipoma, was described. The mother, second elder brother and daughter of the patient all exhibited TSC, but the clinical manifestations, and therapeutic prognosis between the family members were not the same. The present case report aimed at identifying an effective diagnostic method and treatment through additional study of familial genetic TSC, in order to prolong and improve the quality of life for patients with TSC. According to the present case and relevant literature reviews, it is suggested that fetal gene detection during pregnancy could prevent the passing of this disease onto further generations. Furthermore, early application of drug treatment may control the development of the disease in diagnosed patients. The combination of classical treatments with a small dose of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors is the typical recommendation, which may control the development of the disease more effectively and decrease adverse side‑effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence has demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER) is involved in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Viral infection often triggers a hyperinflammatory response by an expansion of the ER. The present study was designed to observe the role of respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV)-induced ER stress on lung fibrosis. In order to determine the role of ER stress on the onset and progression of pulmonary fibrosis, mice received an intratracheal combined injection of RSV and bleomycin on day 0. At day 7, 14 and 21 following combined injection, RSV in the lung tissues was assayed by immunohistochemistry, cellular classification was assayed by direct microscopic observation after Wright staining and the secretion of cytokines in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was assayed by ELISA. The expression of collagen type I was assayed by immunofluorescence and western blot analysis. The expression of ER stress related proteins was analyzed by western blot. In addition, the correlations of ER-stress related proteins with collagen type-1 were examined. RSV administration resulted in increased inflammation, as demonstrated by increased levels of leukocytes and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the BALF, and increased collagen type-1 deposition in the lung tissues of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis animal model at 7, 14 and 21 days. RSV promoted the expression of phosphorylated protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (p-PERK), 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) and activating transcription factor 6a (ATF6a), which accelerated the severity and process of fibrosis in bleomycin-induced animal models. The present study provides evidence that RSV infection accelerated the unfolded protein response and bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, which may improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tongue cancer is still one of the leading causes of mortality around the world. Recently, the ubiquitin system has been established as a critical modulator of tumors. In order to find the oral cancer related E3 ubiquitin ligases, we screened the human E3 ubiquitin ligase library and found that RING finger protein 139 (RNF139) regulated the biological behavior of tongue cancer cells.Methods: MTT assay was used to analyze the cell viability changes of tongue cancer SCC9 and SCC25 cells caused by RNF139. The invasion ability of SCC9 and SCC25 cells with or without the knockdown of RNF139 was evaluated through transwell assay. The immunoblotting was recruited to determine the expression level of RNF139 in human tongue cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues. The effect of RNF139 on tumorigenicity of tongue cancer cells was analyzed by xenograft model on immunodeficient Balb/c nude mice.Results: Overexpression of RNF139 inhibits the viability of tongue cancer cells since day 2. The colony formation ability of SCC9 and SCC25 cells was also decreased with the overexpression of RNF139. Knockdown of RNF139 significantly promoted the invasion ability of SCC9 and SCC25 cells. Furthermore, knockdown of RNF139 also induced the activation of AKT signaling pathway. While human tongue cancer tissues had low expression of RNF139. In nude mice, knockdown of RNF139 promoted the tumorigenicity of the SCC25 cells.Conclusions: Our data establish a role for RNF139 in regulating the progression of tongue cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epileptic seizure detection is commonly implemented by expert clinicians with visual observation of electroencephalography (EEG) signals, which tends to be time consuming and sensitive to bias. The epileptic detection in most previous research suffers from low power and unsuitability for processing large datasets. Therefore, a computerized epileptic seizure detection method is highly required to eradicate the aforementioned problems, expedite epilepsy research and aid medical professionals. In this work, we propose an automatic epilepsy diagnosis framework based on the combination of multi-domain feature extraction and nonlinear analysis of EEG signals. Firstly, EEG signals are pre-processed by using the wavelet threshold method to remove the artifacts. We then extract representative features in the time domain, frequency domain, time-frequency domain and nonlinear analysis features based on the information theory. These features are further extracted in five frequency sub-bands based on the clinical interest, and the dimension of the original feature space is then reduced by using both a principal component analysis and an analysis of variance. Furthermore, the optimal combination of the extracted features is identified and evaluated via different classifiers for the epileptic seizure detection of EEG signals. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is investigated by using a public EEG database at the University Hospital Bonn, Germany. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed epileptic seizure detection method can achieve a high average accuracy of 99.25%, indicating a powerful method in the detection and classification of epileptic seizures. The proposed seizure detection scheme is thus hoped to eliminate the burden of expert clinicians when they are processing a large number of data by visual observation and to speed-up the epilepsy diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium alloys as biodegradable metal implants have received a lot of interest in biomedical applications. However, magnesium alloys have extremely high corrosion rates a in physiological environment, which have limited their application in the orthopedic field. In this study, calcium phosphate compounds (Ca-P) coating was prepared by arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-cysteine (RGDC) peptide-induced mineralization in 1.5 simulated body fluid (SBF) to improve the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of the AZ31 magnesium alloys. The adhesion of Ca-P coating to the AZ31 substrates was evaluated by a scratch test. Corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility of the Ca-P coating were investigated. The results showed that the RGDC could effectively promote the nucleation and crystallization of the Ca-P coating and the Ca-P coating had poor adhesion to the AZ31 substrates. The corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of the biomimetic Ca-P coating Mg alloys were greatly improved compared with that of the uncoated sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) has been identified as an important participant in tumor invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) localization to lipid rafts on signaling pathways involved in the regulation of MMP-1 expression in SiHa cells, a cervical cancer cell line. EGFR activation by EGF specifically induced MMP-1 expression at both the messenger RNA and protein levels. Additionally, it was observed that EGFR localized to lipid rafts, and that the redistribution of EGFR induced by lipid raft disruption strengthened EGF-induced MMP-1 expression. MMP-1 induction was blocked by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase inhibitors PD98059 and U0126. Our results suggested that lipid rafts provide a platform to inhibit EGFR regulation of MMP-1 in SiHa cells through the MAPK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, adenovirus-mediated interleukin 21 (Ad5-IL-21-EGFP) gene expression was induced in Hepa1-6 cells to investigate whether IL-21 was capable of enhancing antitumor immunity and reducing tumorigenicity of Hepa1-6 in a mouse model. Mice were inoculated intradermally into the right flank with Hepa1-6 cells or Hepa1-6 cells infected with Ad5 or Ad5-IL-21. Four weeks later, the mice were sacrificed humanely, and the tumor volume, tumor weight and mouse spleen index were measured. The levels of IL-21, IL-4 and interferon (IFN)-γ levels in mouse serum and tumor tissues were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to detect the killing ability of spleen T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, and the proliferation ability of T cells. The expression of IL-21 was confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, western blot analysis and ELISA assay in Ad5-IL-21-EGFP-infected Hepa1-6 cells. The overexpression of IL-21 significantly reduced the tumorigenicity of Hepa1-6 cells. The tumor volumes and tumor weights in Ad5-IL-21-Hepa1-6 mice were much smaller than those in the Ad5-Hepa1-6 group and Hepa1-6 wild-type group. The immunohistochemistry and ELISA assay demonstrated that IL-21 and IFN-γ levels were much higher while the IL-4 level was much lower in the Ad5-IL-21-Hepa1-6 group than in the other two groups. CCK-8 assay revealed that the killing ability of NK cells and T cells, and the proliferation ability of T cells in Ad5-IL-21-Hepa1-6 mice were higher than in the other two groups; the spleen index of Ad5-IL-21-Hepa1-6 mice was also higher than in the other groups. The data had a significant difference (P<0.01). In conclusion, IL-21 reduces tumorigenicity of Hepa1-6 by a mechanism involving enhanced activation of cell-mediated immunity in tumor-bearing mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically evaluate the relationship of the methylation of the human-runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) promoter region and gastric cancer risk through meta-analysis.Materials and Methods: The studies published in PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid, and CNKI were retrieved. The association between RUNX3 gene promoter methylation and gastric cancer was analyzed using Stata 11.0 (http://www.stata.com; Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA) and Review Man 5.0 software (http://ims.cochrane.org/revman/download).Results: Seventeen studies are included in the analysis. Meta-analysis reveals that the odds ratio of the methylation of the RUNX3 promoter region in gastric was 7.32 (95% confidence interval: 5.12-10.47), which was significant higher than the normal gastric tissues (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The RUNX3 gene promoter methylation rate was much higher in tumor tissue than that in normal gastric tissue in patient with gastric cancer, which indicates a close association between gastric cancer and RUNX3 gene promoter methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The function of α-synuclein (α-syn) has been long debated, and two seemingly divergent views have emerged. In one, α-syn binds to VAMP2, acting as a SNARE chaperone--but with no effect on neurotransmission--while another posits that α-syn attenuates neurotransmitter release by restricting synaptic vesicle mobilization and recycling. Here, we show that α-syn-VAMP2 interactions are necessary for α-syn-induced synaptic attenuation. Our data connect divergent views and suggest a unified model of α-syn function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automated submerged arc welding (SAW) platform for welding of complex seams of large-size and thick-wall workpieces is introduced in this paper. The orthogonal intersection of a cylinder and a brunch pipe is taken as an example. The mathematical models of the weld trajectory in a dynamic coordinate system and in an absolute coordinate system are built respectively. A collaborative control algorithm and control strategy for the pose of the workpieces and the position of the welding torch is proposed based on coordinate transformation and discrete approximation theory. Closed form expressions of the control laws for the workpieces and the welding torch are worked out under the constraints of SAW process. The control effect of the algorithm is simulated and the approximation error is analyzed in MATLAB. Simulation results show that the approximation error of the proposed discrete control method and the tracing accuracy of the welding torch are satisfactory. The proposed welding platform provides a practical method for automated SAW process in intersection seam welding for large-size and thick-wall workpieces, in which stabilized welding quality, high efficiency, high productivity, and good production environment are promising. In the end, the application of cloud technology in the automated welding platform is also discussed, which can further improve the applicability and flexibility of the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer membranes have been widely used in guided tissue regeneration (GTR) and guided bone regeneration (GBR). In this review, various commercially available membranes are described. Much attention is paid to the recent development of biodegradable polymers applied in GTR and GBR, and the important issues of biodegradable polymeric membranes, including their classification, latest experimental research and clinical applications, as well as their main challenges are addressed. Herein, natural polymers, synthetic polymers and their blends are all introduced. Pure polymer membranes are biodegradable and biocompatible, but they lack special properties such as antibacterial properties, osteoconductivity, and thus polymer membranes loaded with functional materials such as antibacterial agents and growth factors show many more advantages and have also been introduced in this review. Despite there still being complaints about polymer membranes, such as their low mechanical properties, uncontrollable degradation speed and some other drawbacks, these problems will undoubtedly be conquered and biodegradable polymers will have more applications in GTR and GBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The majority of lung cancers are sporadic, and familial cases are extremely rare. Previous studies have mainly focused on sporadic lung cancer and identified a large quantity of driver genes. However, familial lung cancers are rarer and studied less. The present study recruited a Chinese family in which multiple members had developed lung squamous carcinoma. To find the causative mutations, whole exome sequencing was conducted using a peripheral blood sample of one lung squamous carcinoma patient, and certain variants were validated in more samples. Whole exome sequencing analysis obtained ~2.0 Gb of data (an average of 60x depth for each targeted base), and further validation experiments identified two functional variants in two cancer-related genes (c.1218delA:p.E406fs in PDE4DIP and C1342A:p.L448I in CLTCL1). This study therefore provides useful sources for the further study of hereditary lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary extragonadal germ cell tumors are rare, and 60% of such cases are seminomas. While the tumors can occur in the mediastinum, thymus, retroperitoneal organs and pineal gland, seminoma originating in the prostate tissue is extremely rare. The present study reports the case of a 54-year-old male with prostate seminoma. The patient was followed up at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University (Dalian, Liaoning, China) from 2001 onwards. The patient received chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide following total resection of the pelvic organs, pelvic lymph node dissection, continent detenial cecum-ascending colic bladder and orchidectomy. The patient experienced considerable post-operative quality of life for >10 years and the disease did not reappear. The study indicated that extragonadal seminoma is sensitive to chemotherapy, and that radical surgery and post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide is a reasonable and feasible treatment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant type of human glioma, and has a poor prognosis. Screening differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in brain tumor samples and normal brain samples is of importance for identifying GBM and to design specific-targeting drugs. The transcriptional profile of GSE30563, containing three genechips of brain tumor samples and three genechips of normal brain samples, was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus to identify the DEGs. The differences in the expression of the DEGs in the two different samples were compared through hierarchical biclustering. The co-expression coefficient of the DEGs was calculated using the information from COXPRESdb, the network of the DEGs was constructed and functional enrichment and pathway analysis were performed. Finally, the transcription factors of important DEGs were predicted. A total of 1,006 DEGs, including 368 upregulated and 638 downregulated DEGs, were identified. A close correlation was demonstrated between six important genes, associated with immune response, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DPA1, HLA-B, HLA-DMA and HLA-DRA, and the immune response. Allograft rejection was selected as the most significant pathway. A total of 17 transcription factors, including nuclear factor (NF)-κB and NF-κB1, and their binding sites containing these six DEGs, were also identified. The DEGs, including major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, DQβ1, MHC class II, DRβ1, MHC class IB, MHC class II, DMα, MHC class II, DPα1, MHC class II, DRα, may provide novel targets for the diagnosis and treatment of GBM. The transcription factors of these six genes and their binding sites may also provide evidence and direction for identifying target-specific drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic triaxial test at room temperature is performed and the influence of the joint action of freeze-thaw cycle and train load is analyzed. This article studied the influence of the number of freeze-thaw cycles, the melting temperature and amplitude of dynamic stress on the resilient deformation and accumulated permanent deformation of the silty clay along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. According to the analysis results, (1) As the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases, the accumulative plastic strain of the silty clay on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway grows with the increase of the number of vibration. Meanwhile, its failure mode slowly evolves from brittle failure to plastic failure; (2) Resilient strain shows a growing trend with the increase of the number of freeze-thaw cycles and the corresponding resilient modulus is declining, but the effect of freeze-thaw cycles is larger than that of the last two factors, both showing only mild changes; (3) As the temperature during thawing rises, the accumulative plastic strain increases, which causes the rise of resilient strain and the drop of the corresponding resilient modulus; the larger the dynamic strain amplitude, the greater the influence of temperature during thawing on accumulative plastic strain is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) is an essential element that plays a very important role in plant growth and development. Its accumulation in soil is now considered a serious environmental problem endangering agricultural production and human health. In this study, the influence of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on photosynthesis, Cu, magnesium (Mg), and iron (Fe) contents was studied in tomato seedlings under Cu stress grown in hydroponic culture. The results showed that the addition of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a donor of exogenous NO, significantly alleviated photosynthetic inhibition in Cu-stressed tomatoes, including the recovery of photosynthetic pigment content and chlorophyll a fluorescence and the improvement of net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate. Application of exogenous NO by SNP reduced the excessive accumulation of Cu and recovered Mg and Fe contents in Cu-stressed tomatoes. This positive involvement of exogenous NO in tomato tolerance to Cu stress was further confirmed by addition of 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO), a specific NO scavenger, which resulted in further reduction of photosynthesis and more severe disturbance of ion homeostasis in Cu-stressed seedlings. These results indicate that rebalance of ion content was involved in alleviation of photosynthesis inhibition in Cu-stressed tomatoes by exogenous NO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biosensing platform using Ag@SiO2-DNA-fluorophore nanostructure was designed for metal ions and small organic molecules detection. DNA hybridization occurred in the presence of the targets through the formation of base-target-base complex; accordingly, the fluorophore (Cy3) was brought to the surface of Ag@SiO2 core/shell nanostructures. Through controlling the thickness of the silica shell on the Ag nanoparticle, the fluorescence of Cy3 could be enhanced by the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticle for up to 2.5 folds. This metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) sensor provided high sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of Hg2+, Ag+, and coralyne. It may be developed as a new class of MEF biosensors for other metal ions and organic molecules analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Pd-catalyzed, highly regio- and stereoselective addition of boronic acids to ynamides has been realized. This protocol generates (Z)-α,β-disubstituted enamides in high yields with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity under the mild reaction conditions, thereby providing a good complementary method for the diverse synthesis of multifunctional enamides. A wide collection of functional groups are found to be tolerated. It represents a straightforward and useful means to assemble stereodefined enamides from readily available starting materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tissue engineered blood vessel requires oriented fibrous scaffold as template to guide smooth muscle cells (SMCs) oriented growth and infiltration. It is a considerable challenge to fabricate this kind of fibrous scaffold. In this letter, we developed a new wet-spinning system that involves a blended solution of edible oil and hexane as a non-solvent coagulation bath to fabricate oriented poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfiber scaffold. The fiber diameter and porosity could be controlled in the range of 7 to 27 μm and 68 to 82%, respectively. SMCs could grow in an oriented fashion along the fibers and infiltrate inside the scaffold as well as maintain SMCs phenotype. This oriented microfiber scaffold has a promising potential for regenerating blood vessels and other fibrous tissues such as tendon, ligament and intervertebral discs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumonia is a disease causing serious inflammation and infection of the lungs and accounts for >50,000 mortalities annually. The elderly are at an increased risk of developing pneumonia. Pneumonia is more serious in the elderly than in any other age group due to the increased inflammation and risk of community-acquired pneumonia associated with aging. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) is an anti-inflammatory protein that counteracts the destructive effects of inflammatory proteins. Therefore, the possible association between pneumonia in elderly individuals and reduced levels of IL-1RA was investigated in the present study. The number of lymphocytes was counted in all subjects and the relative protein expression levels of IL-1RA were determined using western blot analysis. In addition, the immunological activities of IL-1RA were measured using ELISA. The results demonstrated that the numbers of lymphocytes in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were significantly higher in elderly patients than those in young patients. Furthermore, the serum and BALF levels of IL-1RA in elderly patients were significantly lower than those in young patients (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). Therefore, reduced levels of IL-1RA in BALF may act as a marker for pneumonia in the elderly and may be a potential adjuvant for the diagnosis of pneumonia in elderly individuals. The results also showed that smoking was associated with significant reductions in the levels of IL-1RA in the BALF of elderly patients. The association between smokers and non-smokers found in this study provides support for the hypothesis that smoking may contribute to the pathogenesis of pneumonia by further reducing IL-IRA levels in certain elderly patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction mechanism of gold cyanide leaching process is complex, and there are many factors affecting leaching process. These will lead to some errors between process model and actual process. Therefore, the operation setting point acquired through model-based optimization is not the actual optimal one. As a result, it is difficult for the process to operate under the minimum material consumption required by the hydrometallurgy process. Therefore, a data-based compensation method for optimal operation setting of gold cyanide leaching process is proposed. Firstly, the optimal operation setting point is obtained through model-based optimization. Then, near the setting point, using the idea of Just-In-Time Learning (JITL), the model is established to describe the relationship between setting point deviation and material consumption reduction. On the basis of this model, the deviation of the setting point from the actual optimal one can be obtained by optimization. Furthermore, through iterative compensation, the setting point gradually converges to the actual optimal one, and the material consumption is further reduced. Finally, the gold cyanide leaching process in a smelter is taken as study object, the results prove this method is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The filtering properties of a continuously tunable single-passband microwave photonic filter based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) are investigated. The filter utilizes the advantage of combining phase-modulated RF signal and dual-sideband suppressed-carrier pump signal to achieve the SBS-based tunable narrowband filtering. The effects of pump power on the out-of-band rejection (OBR) and 3-dB bandwidth, the optical fiber structure on the resonant sideband, and input RF signal power on the OBR and 3-dB bandwidth are analyzed theoretically and experimentally. The results show that the pump power has the potential of increasing the OBR and tuning 3-dB bandwidth, whereas the RF signal power has nearly no influence on the two parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest families of transcriptional regulators in plants. WRKY genes are not only found to play significant roles in biotic and abiotic stress response, but also regulate growth and development. Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) production is largely limited by stressful climate conditions such as cold stress and the role of WRKY genes in the survival of grapevine under these conditions remains unknown. Results We identified a total of 59 VvWRKYs from the V. vinifera genome, belonging to four subgroups according to conserved WRKY domains and zinc-finger structure. The majority of VvWRKYs were expressed in more than one tissue among the 7 tissues examined which included young leaves, mature leaves, tendril, stem apex, root, young fruits and ripe fruits. Publicly available microarray data suggested that a subset of VvWRKYs was activated in response to diverse stresses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results demonstrated that the expression levels of 36 VvWRKYs are changed following cold exposure. Comparative analysis was performed on data from publicly available microarray experiments, previous global transcriptome analysis studies, and qRT-PCR. We identified 15 VvWRKYs in at least two of these databases which may relate to cold stress. Among them, the transcription of three genes can be induced by exogenous ABA application, suggesting that they can be involved in an ABA-dependent signaling pathway in response to cold stress. Conclusions We identified 59 VvWRKYs from the V. vinifera genome and 15 of them showed cold stressinduced expression patterns. These genes represented candidate genes for future functional analysis of VvWRKYs involved in the low temperature-related signal pathways in grape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of LeuRS, an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, as an intracellular L-leucine sensor for the mTORC1 pathway has been the subject of much research recently. Despite this, the association between LeuRS and lactation in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells (DCMECs) remains unknown. In this study, we found that LeuRS expression in mammary gland tissue was significantly higher during lactation than pregnancy. Moreover, our data demonstrates that LeuRS is localized in the cytoplasm. Treatment with leucine increased DCMECs viability and proliferation, as well as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p-mTOR, ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), p-S6K1, β-Casein, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), and Cyclin D1 mRNA and protein expression. Secretion of lactose and triglyceride were also increased. siRNA-mediated knockdown of LeuRS led to reduction in all of these processes. Based on these data, LeuRS up-regulates the mTOR pathway to promote proliferation and lactation of DCMECs in response to changes in the intracellular leucine concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus AgrC is an important component of the agr quorum-sensing system. AgrC is a membrane-embedded histidine kinase that is thought to act as a sensor for the recognition of environmental signals and the transduction of signals into the cytoplasm. However, the difficulty of expressing and purifying functional membrane proteins has drastically hindered in-depth understanding of the molecular structures and physiological functions of these proteins. Here, we describe the high-yield expression and purification of AgrC, and analyze its kinase activity. A C-terminal green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion to AgrC served as a reporter for monitoring protein expression levels in real time. Protein expression levels were analyzed by the microscopic assessment of the whole-cell fluorescence. The expressed AgrC-GFP protein with a C-terminal His-tagged was purified using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) at yields of ⩾10 mg/L, following optimization. We also assessed the effects of different detergents on membrane solubilization and AgrC kinase activity, and polyoxyethylene-(23)-lauryl-ether (Brij-35) was identified as the most suitable detergent. Furthermore, the secondary structural stability of purified AgrC was analyzed using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. This study may serve as a general guide for improving the yields of other membrane protein preparations and selecting the appropriate detergent to stabilize membrane proteins for biophysical and biochemical analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatoid carcinoma of the ovary (HCO), a rare invasive malignant tumor composed mainly of epithelioid cells, presented with unilateral or bilateral ovarian masses and elevated serum α-fetoprotein (AFP), has been found mainly in post-menopausal women. We hereby report on the case of a 53-year-old Chinese woman who presented with abdominal distension and a lower abdominal mass with high serum levels of CA-125 and AFP. She was later diagnosed with bilateral HCO. After surgery and following chemotherapy, the patient had no recurrence of tumor or ascites. The hepatoid cells were positive for AFP, p53 and CK7 by immunohistochemistry. Her serum CA-125 and AFP levels had decreased significantly after surgery. Our results suggest that testing and monitoring of serum levels of AFP and CA-125 are considered as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis and progression of this malignancy, and that tissue immunohistochemical staining for AFP, p53 and CK7, plays an important role in distinguishing HCO from other ovarian tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Chinese medicine acupuncture points are treated by physical stimuli to counteract various diseases. These stimuli include mechanical stress as applied during the needle manipulation or tuina, high temperatures as applied during moxibustion, and red laser light applied during laser acupuncture. This study aimed to investigate cellular responses to stimuli that might occur in the tissue of acupuncture points. Since they have a characteristically high density of mast cells that degranulate in response to acupuncture, we asked whether these processes lead to ATP release. We tested in in vitro experiments on mast cells of the human mast-cell line HMC-1 the effects of the physical stimuli; mechanical stress was applied by superfusion of the cells with hypotonic solution, heat was applied by incubation of the cells at 52°C, and red laser light of 657 nm was used for irradiation. We demonstrate that all the stimuli induce ATP release from model human mast HMC-1 cells, and this release is associated with an intracellular free Ca2+ rise. We hypothesize that ATP released from mast cells supplements the already known release of ATP from keratinocytes and, by acting on P2X receptors, it may serve as initial mediator of acupuncture-induced analgesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-level laser irradiation of visible light had been introduced as a medical treatment already more than 40 years ago, but its medical application still remains controversial. Laser stimulation of acupuncture points has also been introduced, and mast-cells degranulation has been suggested. Activation of TRPV ion channels may be involved in the degranulation. Here, we investigated whether TRPV1 could serve as candidate for laser-induced mast cell activation. Activation of TRPV1 by capsaicin resulted in degranulation. To investigate the effect of laser irradiation on TRPV1, we used the Xenopus oocyte as expression andmodel system. We show that TRPV1 can functionally be expressed in the oocyte by (a) activation by capsaicin (K1/2 = 1.1 μ M), (b) activation by temperatures exceeding 42°C, (c) activation by reduced pH (from 7.4 to 6.2), and (d) inhibition by ruthenium red. Red (637 nm) as well as blue (406 nm) light neither affected membrane currents in oocytes nor did it modulate capsaicin-induced current. In contrast, green laser light (532 nm) produced power-dependent activation of TRPV1. In conclusion, we could show that green light is effective at the cellular level to activate TRPV1. To which extend green light is of medical relevance needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The effect of hCG priming on oocyte maturation and subsequently outcome in IVM cycles has remained a debated issue. A randomized controlled study was performed to investigate whether or not hCG priming prior to oocyte aspiration can improve the developmental competence of immature oocytes from unstimulated ovaries in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Eighty two patients with PCOS underwent IVM cycles. Each patient was randomly assigned to the hCG-primed (10,000 IU) or non-primed groups 36-38 hours before oocyte retrieval depending on the computerized random table. After the oocytes had in vitro matured, fertilization, culture and embryo transfer were performed. Results: The average number of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) recovered was 13.80 and 14.35 in the hCGprimed and non-primed groups, respectively (p>0.05). The maturation rate of COCs was significantly improved in the hCG-primed group (55.43% vs. 42.29%; p<0.05). The fertilization and cleavage rates were comparable between the groups. The hCG-primed and non-primed groups did not differ with respect to the clinical pregnancy (37.50% vs. 50.00%), live birth (22.50% vs. 30.95%), and implantation rates (32.86% vs. 32.56%). The pregnancy losses was 6 (40.00%) of 15 clinical pregnancies in the hCG-primed group, and 8 (38.10%) of 21 clinical pregnancies in the non-primed group. Conclusions: While a significant improvement in the nuclear maturation rate of immature oocytes was observed in hCG-primed IVM cycles with PCOS patients, the use of hCG prior to oocyte retrieval did not improve the subsequent embryo developmental competence. The high rate of pregnancy loss in IVM cycles should receive more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal separation (MS), which can lead to hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities in rhesus monkeys, is frequently used to model early adversity. Whether this deleterious effect on monkeys is reversible by later experience is unknown. In this study, we assessed the basal hair cortisol in rhesus monkeys after 1.5 and 3 y of normal social life following an early separation. These results showed that peer-reared monkeys had significantly lower basal hair cortisol levels than the mother-reared monkeys at both years examined. The plasma cortisol was assessed in the monkeys after 1.5 y of normal social life, and the results indicated that the peak in the peer-reared cortisol response to acute stressors was substantially delayed. In addition, after 3 y of normal social life, abnormal behavioral patterns were identified in the peer-reared monkeys. They showed decreases in locomotion and initiated sitting together, as well as increases in stereotypical behaviors compared with the mother-reared monkeys. These results demonstrate that the deleterious effects of MS on rhesus monkeys cannot be compensated by a later normal social life, suggesting that the effects of MS are long-lasting and that the maternal-separated rhesus monkeys are a good animal model to study early adversity and to investigate the development of psychiatric disorders induced by exposure to early adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysuccinimide (abridged as PSI) was synthesized by urea and maleic anhydride. Aminobenzenesulfonic acid (ABSA) was introduced at different mole ratio to PSI to generate polyaspartic acid (abridged as PASP)/ABSA graft copolymer. The scale inhibition behavior of resultant PASP/ABSA copolymer was evaluated by using static scale inhibition method. The transmittance of the supernatant of the copolymer solution was measured to evaluate its dispersion ability for ferric oxide. The corrosion inhibitionperformance of the copolymer for iron plates immersed in the refined testing water (including 0.555 g of CaCl2·2H2O, 0.493 g of MgSO4·7H2O, 50 mg PASP/ABSA graft copolymer and 0.168 g of NaCl) was tested. It was found that PASP/ABSA copolymer was able to efficiently inhibit CaCO3 and Ca3(PO4)2 scales and had good corrosion inhibition ability as well, and it also had good dispersion ability for Fe2O3. Besides, the inhibition efficiency of PASP/ABSA against CaCO3 and Ca3(PO4)2 scales and its dispersion capacity for Fe2O3 was highly dependent on dosage. The reason may lie in that PASP/ABSA copolymer simultaneously possesses carboxylic ion and sulfonic group which can chelate Ca2þ to form stabilized and dissoluble chelates, resulting in increase of solubility of calcium salts in water. Also it may lie in that the introduction of acidic hydrophilic sulfonic group with a strong electrolytic capacity into PASP molecule simultaneously enhances the dispersion of the inhibitor molecules and hinders the formation of Ca3(PO4)2 scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a study of the spectroscopic behavior of two Schiff base derivatives, salicylaldehyde salicylhydrazone (1) and salicylaldehyde benzoylhydrazone (2), Schiff base 1has high selectivity for Zn2+ion not only in abiotic systems but also in living cells. The ion selectivity of 1for Zn2+can be switched for Mg2+by swapping the solvent from ethanol−water to DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide)−water mixtures. Imine 2is a good fluorescent probe for Zn2+in ethanol−water media. Many other ions tested, such as Li+, Na+, Al3+, K+, Ca2+, Cr3+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Ag+, Cd2+, Sn2+, Ba2+, Hg2+, and Pb2+, failed to induce any spectral change in various solvents. The selectivity mechanism of 1and 2for metal ions is based on a combinational effect of proton transfer (ESPT), CN isomerization, and chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF). The coordination modes of the complexes were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image authentication is an important topic in image forensics, which tells whether an image is tampered or not or even tells the tampered regions. To implement image authentication, image hash techniques have been reported recently. In this paper, we investigate existing image hash algorithms, and design an novel image hash based on human being's visual system. In this algorithm, we capture the perceptual characters of the image using Gabor filter which can sense the directions in the image just like human's primary visual cortex. For a given image, we compute the reference scale, direction and block to make sure the final hash can resist against rotation, scale, and translation attacks while maintain the sensitivity to local malicious manipulations. In addition, it has another promising ability to locate the tampered image blocks, and approximately determining the type of tampering methods (delete, add, modify) and the original direction of each block. This ability is very useful in forensics. The experimental results show that the strategy of the reference metrics works quite well and our method is much more effective than the other state of art image hash methods. Moreover, our method can still locate the content-altering changes even undergo some content-preserving manipulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

J. Neurochem. (2010) 115, 795-803. The roles of two subtypes of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor in corticostriatal synaptic plasticity under cocaine withdrawal condition were examined in this study. Neither the resting membrane potential and input resistance of striatal neurons nor the long-term potentiation (LTP) of corticostriatal slices were affected by cocaine withdrawal. CRF dose-dependently enhanced in vitro corticostriatal LTP in rats from both cocaine-withdrawal and saline-control groups. Yet, the enhancement of corticostriatal LTP by CRF (20, 40, 80 nM) was significantly greater in the cocaine-withdrawal group than in the control group. CRF1-selective antagonist (NBI 27914, 100 nM) attenuated the CRF-induced enhancement of corticostriatal LTP in both groups, whereas the CRF2-selective antagonist (astression2B, 100 nM) attenuated the enhanced corticostriatal LTP only in the cocaine-withdrawal group. Importantly, urocortin2 (a CRF2-selective agonist, 40 nM) selectively increased corticostriatal LTP in the cocaine-withdrawal group, but not in the saline controls. The urocortin2-induced enhancement of LTP was totally blocked by astression2B (100 nM). These results suggest that the CRF system modulate neuroadaptive changes in the corticostriatal circuit during cocaine withdrawal, and the CRF2 in this area mediate an important mechanism that contributes to the relapse of cocaine addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]