Search

Elevated levels of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) play a significant role in the pathogenesis of many diseases, but is particularly important for the formation of malignant tumors. Nonetheless, the function of HMGB1 and the underlying mechanism of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain incompletely understood, causing uncertainty. Here we found immunohistochemistry from 97 LSCC tissues showed HMGB1 was upregulated, which was associated with poor differentiation. HMGB1 knockdown could significantly inhibit wound closure and colony formation. The full-genome gene expression microarray was performed to investigate the mechanism. After knockdown of HMGB1 by siRNA, among the expressed differential genes, 10 genes were randomly selected for validation. Then, shRNA lentivirus targeting these genes were constructed to explore their role in LSCC by cell proliferation assay. LSM6 downregulation was dramatically promoted by HMGB1 knockdown, resulting in higher expression in LSCC tissues. Furthermore, downregulation of LSM6 could significantly suppress cell proliferation, migration and colony formation. This study indicated that HMGB1 promoted LSCC cell malignant phenotypes through regulation of LSM6. We anticipate that HMGB1-LSM6 could be a putative therapeutic target for LSCC.

ABSTRACT: The large-scale and intensive development of the meat pigeon breeding industry have resulted in the replacement of a large number of low-performance local breeds by a few breeds with excellent production performance. However, due to the characteristics of pigeon species that are monogamous, for which the W chromosome cannot be recovered and for which semen cannot be cryopreserved, the preservation of pigeon species is still mainly based on in-situ preservation. In this study, pigeons were classified into 6 classes of endangerment based on the criteria of the 100-year inbreeding coefficient of poultry populations in the “Assessment of Endangered Poultry Genetic Resources” (NY/T 2996–2016). The results show that when the generation interval was 1.5 yr, the number of ideal populations with the same gene frequency variance or the same heterozygosity decay rate of pigeons in class 1 to 5 was ≤149, 150 to 204, 205 to 316, 317 to 649 and ≥650. In random-reserved breeding, when the generation interval was 1.5 yr, the number of male (female) pigeons corresponding to class 1 to 5 was ≤74, 75 to 102, 103 to 157, 158 to 324 and ≥325. In family-equal-reserved breeding, when the generation interval was 1.5 yr, the number of male (female) pigeons corresponding to class 1 to 5 was ≤36, 37 to 50, 51 to 78, 79 to 162 and ≥163. When the generation interval was 1.5 yr, the inbreeding increments corresponding to class 1 to 5 were ≥0.00335, 0.00244 to 0.00334, 0.00159 to 0.00243, 0.00078 to 0.00158 and ≤0.00077; with the same population size, the inbreeding coefficient and inbreeding increment decreased with the increase of generation interval; the population effective content, inbreeding coefficient and inbreeding increment of family-equal-reserved pigeons were lower than those of random-reserved pigeons. The results of this study have certain reference value for analyzing the status quo of local and endangered species, constructing live gene banks and breeding farms of poultry genetic resources, and rescuing endangered species.

Abstract Background The transcriptome and metabolome dissection of the skeletal muscle of high- and low- growing individuals from a crossbred population of the indigenous Chongming white goat and the Boer goat were performed to discover the potential functional differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differential expression metabolites (DEMs). Results A total of 2812 DEGs were detected in 6 groups at three time stages (3,6,12 Month) in skeletal muscle using the RNA-seq method. A DEGs set containing seven muscle function related genes (TNNT1, TNNC1, TNNI1, MYBPC2, MYL2, MHY7, and CSRP3) was discovered, and their expression tended to increase as goat muscle development progressed. Seven DEGs (TNNT1, FABP3, TPM3, DES, PPP1R27, RCAN1, LMOD2) in the skeletal muscle of goats in the fast-growing and slow-growing groups was verified their expression difference by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Further, through the Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) approach, a total of 183 DEMs in various groups of the muscle samples and these DEMs such as Queuine and Keto-PGF1α, which demonstrated different abundance between the goat fast-growing group and slow-growing group. Through weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA), the study correlated the DEGs with the DEMs and identified 4 DEGs modules associated with 18 metabolites. Conclusion This study benefits to dissection candidate genes and regulatory networks related to goat meat production performance, and the joint analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic data provided insights into the study of goat muscle development.

Abstract This paper aims to deal with the Cauchy problem of a fractional Lorentz force equation. By the methods of reducing and topological degree in cone, the existence and multiplicity of solutions to the problem were obtained, which extend and enrich some previous results.

To explain the reason for different flower color adjustabilities of Hydrangea macrophylla, non-adjustable color ‘Tijana’ and adjustable color ‘Ravi Brent’ of Hydrangea macrophylla were used as experimental materials. The extraction conditions were optimized and the components of H. macrophylla anthocyanins were measured. Their physical-chemical stabilities were also explored, aiming to explore the mechanism of flower color adjustability. The optimal extraction conditions of Hydrangea anthocyanins by the ultrasonic method were determined through L9（33）orthogonal experiments. The anthocyanin components were separated and identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. And the effects of temperature, light, metal ions and sugars on the physical-chemical stabilities of H. macrophylla anthocyanins were also explored in vitro conditions. The results were as follows: (1) The optimal conditions for extraction of H. macrophylla anthocyanins were that the ethanol concentration for ‘Tijana’ and ‘Ravi Brent’ were 70% and 80% respectively; the ratio of plant material to extraction solution was both 1∶20; and the extraction time was both 20 m. (2) The main anthocyanin component of the two varieties was both Delphinidin 3-O-glucoside. (3) H. macrophylla anthocyanins were more stable when stored below 70℃ and in the dark. (4) Both Cu2+ and Al3+ change the color of the anthocyanin solution, and Cu2+ specifically improved the stability of the anthocyanin of ‘Tijana’. 10-90 mmol·L-1 Ca2+, Al3+ and 90 mmol·L-1 Mg2+ had significant effects on the stability of anthocyanin of both varieties. Glucose, maltose, sucrose, galactose and 8%-10% concentration of rhamnose increased the stability of the non-adjustable color ‘Tijana’ Hydrangea macrophlla anthocyanins. While 4%-10% concentration of rhamnose promoted the stability of adjustable color ‘Ravi Brent’ Hydrangea macrophylla anthocyanins. The non-adjustable color ‘Tijana’ of H. macrophylla anthocyanins were more stable to light, sugars and most metal ions, compared with the adjustable color ‘Ravi Brent’. Only the anthocyanins of the adjustable color ‘Ravi Brent’ of H. macrophylla turned from pink to blue, and its stability increased after adding low medium concentration (10-30 mmol·L-1) of Al3+. However, the non-adjustable color ‘Tijana’ of H. macrophylla did not have this kind of color change, indicating that the difference in color adjustability of H. flowers is related to its physical-chemical stability. These results provide the theoretical reference for the extraction and observation of H. macrophlla anthocyanins, flower color improvement and dry flower color protection.

Considering the head and tail deformation phenomenon in the slab rolling process, this paper studies the online width adjustment control problem of the continuous casting slab based on the digital twin framework. First, the material mechanical properties, geometric model and boundary conditions of the continuous casting slab rolling are given to establish the deformation model of the continuous casting slab rolling process by using the rigid-viscoplastic finite element method. Second, the deformation model of the rolled piece is mainly reflected by shape parameters of the head and tail. The feature design of the head and tail shape is carried out based on the finite element simulation results, and multi-layer perceptron is used to extract features and realize the model regression for obtaining a digital twin model. Then, in view of the parameters of the continuous casting slab, the digital twin model is used to predict the loss-width curve at the head and tail of the slab online, and then the roll gap of the vertical roll mill is corrected synchronously to realize the width adjustment technology of the continuous casting slab and reduce production costs. Finally, taking the slab rolling process of a steel factory as an example, the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method are illustrated.

Reproductive performance is one of the most important economic traits in the goat industry. Increasing the number of goats is an effective measure to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs. Ovaries are important reproductive organs in female mammals that directly affect the estrous cycle and reproductive abilities. Understanding the complex transcription network of non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs, circRNAs, and miRNAs) and messenger RNA (mRNA) could lead to significant insights into the ovarian regulation of the reproductive processes of animals. However, the whole-transcriptome analysis of the non-coding RNAs and mRNA of the ovaries in Chongming white goats between high-fecundity (HP) and low-fecundity (LP) groups is limited. In this study, a whole-transcriptome sequencing approach was used to identify lncRNA, circRNA, miRNA, and mRNA expression in the ovaries of Chongming white goats during the estrus phase using RNA-Seq technology. More than 20,000 messenger RNAs (mRNAs), 10,000 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), 3500 circular RNAs (circRNAs), and 1000 micro RNAs (miRNAs) were identified. A total of 1024 differential transcripts (724 mRNAs, 112 lncRNAs, 178 circRNAs, and 10 miRNAs) existing between the HP and the LP groups were revealed through a bioinformatics analysis. They were enriched in the prolactin signaling pathway, the Jak–STAT signaling pathway, and the GnRH signaling pathway, as well as various metabolic pathways. Differentially expressed mRNAs (such as LYPD6, VEGFA, NOS3, TNXB, and EPHA2) and miRNAs (such as miR-10a-5p) play key roles in the regulation of goat ovaries during the estrus phase. The enrichment of pathways related to reproduction, such as the Hippo, Hedgehog, PI3K–AKT, and MAPK signaling pathways, suggests that they might be involved in the prolificacy of goat ovaries. Overall, we identified several gene modules associated with goat fecundity and provided a basis for a molecular mechanism in the ovaries of Chongming white goats.

Abstract This paper aims to consider the multiplicity of solutions for a kind of boundary value problem to a fractional quasilinear differential model with impulsive effects. By establishing a new variational structure and overcoming the difficulties brought by the influence of impulsive effects, some new results are acquired via the symmetry mountain-pass theorem, which extend and enrich some previous results.

Abstract Oxaliplatin resistance is a major challenge in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Many molecular targeted drugs for refractory CRC have been developed to solve CRC drug resistance, but their effectiveness and roles in the progression of CRC and oxaliplatin resistance remain unclear. Here, we successfully constructed CRC PDOs and selected the Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) inhibitor ML264 as the research object based on the results of the in vitro drug screening assay. ML264 significantly restored oxaliplatin sensitivity in CRC PDOs by restoring the apoptotic response, and this effect was achieved by inhibiting the KLF5/Bcl-2/caspase3 signaling pathway. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase reporter assays verified that KLF5 promoted the transcription of Bcl-2 in CRC cells. KLF5 inhibition also overcame oxaliplatin resistance in xenograft tumors. Taken together, our study demonstrated that ML264 can restore oxaliplatin sensitivity in CRC PDOs by restoring the apoptotic response. KLF5 may be a potential therapeutic target for oxaliplatin-resistant CRC. PDOs have a strong potential for evaluating inhibitors and drug combination therapy in a preclinical environment.

IntroductionThe role of tumour secretory cytokines and peripheral circulatory cytokines in tumour progression has received increasing attention; however, the role of tumour-related inflammatory cytokines in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In this study, the concentrations of various cytokines in the peripheral blood of healthy controls and patients with CRC at different stages were compared.MethodsPeripheral blood samples from 4 healthy participants and 22 colorectal cancer patients were examined. Luminex beads were used to evaluate concentration levels of 40 inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood samples.ResultsIn peripheral blood, compared with healthy controls and early stage (I + II) CRC patients, advanced CRC (III + IV) patients had increased concentrations of mononuclear/macrophage chemotactic-related proteins (CCL7, CCL8, CCL15, CCL2, and MIF), M2 polarization-related factors (IL-1β, IL-4), neutrophil chemotactic and N2 polarization-related cytokines (CXCL2, CXCL5, CXCL6, IL-8), dendritic cells (DCs) chemotactic-related proteins (CCL19, CCL20, and CCL21), Natural killer (NK) cell related cytokines (CXCL9, CXCL10), Th2 cell-related cytokines (CCL1, CCL11, CCL26), CXCL12, IL-2, CCL25, and CCL27, and decreased IFN-γ and CX3CL1 concentrations. The differential upregulation of cytokines in peripheral blood was mainly concentrated in CRC patients with distant metastasis and was related to the size of the primary tumour; however, there was no significant correlation between cytokine levels in peripheral blood and the propensity and mechanism of lymph node metastasis.DiscussionDifferent types of immune cells may share the same chemokine receptors and can co-localise in response to the same chemokines and exert synergistic pro-tumour or anti-tumour functions in the tumour microenvironment. Chemokines and cytokines affect tumour metastasis and prognosis and may be potential targets for treatment.

The competition mechanism of ferritic recrystallization and austenitic transformation, nucleation and growth kinetics of different crystallographic orientation components during intercritical annealing of a cold-rolling Fe–Al–Mn–Mo–C deep drawing dual-phase steel were investigated by a series of continuous annealing simulation experiments. The experiments provided an insight into the microstructural characteristics and mechanical behaviors that were caused from the interaction of primary recrystallization and phase transformation. The results show that the promoting effect of austenite transformation is greater than that of ferrite recrystallization with the increase of temperature in the two-phase region, and an appropriate soaking time is contributed to the formation and development of {111} oriented grains. Austenite formation affects morphology and size of the microstructure owing to inhibiting ferrite recrystallization and growth. From these that experimental data of the observed temperature or time-dependent mechanical properties can be interpreted. An excellent comprehensive properties with tensile strength of 480 MPa and plastic strain ratio (r value) of 1.15 can be obtained at annealing temperature of 880 °C for 300 s.

In the cold regions of China, lignin-rich corn straw accumulates at high levels due to low temperatures. The application of psychrotrophic lignin-degrading bacteria should be an effective means of overcoming the low-temperature limit for lignin degradation and promoting the utilization of corn straw. However, this application is limited by the lack of suitable strains for decomposition of lignin; furthermore, the metabolic mechanism of psychrotrophic lignin-degrading bacteria is unclear. Here, the whole genome of the psychrotrophic lignin-degrading bacterium Arthrobacter sp. C2, isolated in our previous work, was sequenced. Comparative genomics revealed that C2 contained unique genes related to lignin degradation and low-temperature adaptability. DyP may participate in lignin degradation and may be a cold-adapted enzyme. Moreover, DyP was proven to catalyze lignin Cα-Cβ bond cleavage. Deletion and complementation of the DyP gene verified its ability to catalyze the first-step reaction of lignin degradation. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed that the transcriptional expression of the DyP gene was upregulated, and the genetic compensation mechanism allowed C2ΔDyP to degrade lignin, which provided novel insights into the survival strategy of the psychrotrophic mutant strain C2ΔdyP. This study improved our understanding of the metabolic mechanism of psychrotrophic lignin-degrading bacteria and provided potential application options for energy-saving production using cold-adapted lignin-degrading enzymes.

Abstract This paper aims to consider the solvability for Erdélyi–Kober fractional integral boundary value problems with p ( t ) $p ( t )$ -Laplacian operator at resonance. By employing the coincidence degree method, some new results on the existence of solutions are acquired.

The spring steel for automotive stabilizer bars has a great responsibility in that its quality directly affects the stability, safety, and comfort of vehicle operation. The isothermal thermal compression behavior of a novel lean Si spring steel that was used to manufacture an anti-roll bar was investigated with a DIL805A/D quenching thermal dilatometer in this research. A hyperbolic sine type of constitutive model was established, and hot processing maps were produced to evaluate the experimental steel’s hot workability properties. The experimental results suggest that dynamic recrystallization (DRX) preferentially occurs at a low strain rate and high thermal processing temperature, while the processing maps of the experimental steel are susceptible to strain. The instability regions increase as the strain increases. The processing maps’ stable and instable domains should be decided upon comprehensive analysis of the instability criterion, power dissipation efficiency, and strain rate sensitivity index. The optimum parameters of hot processing for the experimental steel at various strains are that the deformation temperature of 1000–1150 °C and the strain rate of 0.1, approximately.

The close relations between dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and humans lay a foundation for cross species transmissions of viruses. The co-existence of multiplex viruses in the host accelerate viral variations. For effective prediction and prevention of potential epidemic or even pandemic, the metagenomics method was used to investigate the gut virome status of 45 domestic healthy dogs which have extensive contact with human beings. A total of 248.6 GB data (505, 203, 006 valid reads, 150 bp in length) were generated and 325, 339 contigs, which were best matched with viral genes, were assembled from 46, 832, 838 reads. In the aggregate, 9,834 contigs (3.02%) were confirmed for viruses. The top 30 contigs with the most reads abundance were mapped to DNA virus families Circoviridae, Parvoviridae and Herpesviridae; and RNA virus families Astroviridae, Coronaviridae and Picornaviridae, respectively. Numerous sequences were assigned to animal virus families of Astroviridae, Coronaviridae, Circoviridae, etc.; and phage families of Microviridae, Siphoviridae, Ackermannviridae, Podoviridae, Myoviridae and the unclassified phages. Further, several sequences were homologous with the insect and plant viruses, which reflects the diet and habitation of dogs. Significantly, canine coronavirus was uniquely identified in all the samples with high abundance, and the phylogenetic analysis therefore showed close relationship with the human coronavirus strain 229E and NL63, indicating the potential risk of canine coronavirus to infect humans by obtaining the ability of cross-species transmission. This study emphasizes the high detection frequency of virus harbored in the enteric tract of healthy contacted animal, and expands the knowledge of the viral diversity and the spectrum for further disease-association studies, which is meaningful for elucidating the epidemiological and biological role of companion animals in public health.

Agapanthus praecox has become a burgeoning variety in the flower market due to its high ornamental value with unique large blue-purple inflorescence. For rapid entering into the market, tissue culture technology or organogenesis has an attractive application over the conventional reproduction approach. In this study, a highly efficient protocol based on indirect organogenesis has been successfully established for A. praecox subsp. orientalis ‘Big Blue’. Two types of explants, root tips versus root segments, were compared for callus induction frequency in response to the induction culture media. The induction media contain Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) Basal Salt supplemented with various concentrations of picloram (PIC), 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), thidiazuron (TDZ), kinetin (KT) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Of the two types of explants, root tips were found to be more effective for callus induction than root segments. Among the induction media tested, the highest callus induction rate (100.00%) was achieved when cultured on MS supplemented with 2.0 mg/L PIC, 1.5 mg/L KT and 0.1 mg/L NAA, which was probably accredited to higher endogenous phytohormone contents, especially of 3-indoleacetic (IAA). The optimal medium for callus proliferation was MS + 1.0 mg/L PIC + 1.0 mg/L 6-BA + 0.4 mg/L NAA, and the fresh weight increased by 72.74%. After being transferred onto the adventitious bud induction medium for 25 days, shoots were dedifferentiated from the surface of the flourishing callus, which then developed to the plantlet with roots in 90 days. The plantlets were transplanted in a greenhouse with a survival rate of 92.86%. This study innovatively established an indirect organogenesis tissue culture system of A. praecox with roots as explants, which provided a practical reference in its application.

Background/Aims: PITX1 has been identified as a potential tumor-suppressor gene in several malignant tumors. The molecular mechanism underlying PITX1, particularly its function as a transcription factor regulating gene expression during tumorigenesis, is still poorly understood. Methods: The expression level and location of PITX1 were determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical staining in gastric cancer (GC). The effect of PITX1 on the GC cell proliferation and tumorigenesis was analyzed in vitro and in vivo. To explore how PITX1 suppresses cell proliferation, we used PITX1-ChIP-sequencing to measure genome-wide binding sites of PITX1 and assessed global function associations based on its putative target genes. ChIP-PCR, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and promoter reporter assays examined whether PITX1 bound to PDCD5 and regulated its expression. The function of PDCD5 in GC cell apoptosis was further examined in vitro and in vivo. The relationship between the PITX1 protein level and GC patient prognosis was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Meanwhile, the expression level of miR-19a-3p, which is related to PITX1, was also detected by luciferase reporter assay, qRT-PCR, and western blotting. Results: The expression level of PITX1 was decreased in GC tissues and cell lines. Elevated PITX1 expression significantly suppressed the cell proliferation of GC cells and tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. PITX1 knockdown blocked its inhibition of GC cell proliferation. PITX1 bound to whole genome-wide sites, with these targets enriched on genes with functions mainly related to cell growth and apoptosis. PITX1 bound to PDCD5, an apoptosis-related gene, during tumorigenesis, and cis-regulated PDCD5 expression. Increased PDCD5 expression in GC cells not only induced GC cell apoptosis, but also suppressed GC cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, PITX1 expression was regulated by miR-19a-3p. More importantly, a decreased level of PITX1 protein was correlated with poor GC patient prognosis. Conclusion: Decreased expression of PITX1 predicts shorter overall survival in GC patients. As a transcriptional activator, PITX1 regulates apoptosis-related genes, including PDCD5, during gastric carcinogenesis. These data indicate PDCD5 to be a novel and feasible therapeutic target for GC.

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has been implicated in cancer, but little is known about the role of lncRNAs as regulators of tumor metastasis. In the present study, we demonstrate that lncRNA TRERNA1 acts like an enhancer of SNAI1 to promote cell invasion and migration and to contribute to metastasis of gastric cancer (GC). TRERNA1 is significantly unregulated in GCs and GC cell lines. Increased TRERNA1 is positively correlated with lymph node metastasis of GCs. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed that TRERNA1 functions as a scaffold to recruit EZH2 to epigenetically silence epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker CDH1 by H3K27me3 of its promoter region. TRERNA1 knockdown markedly reduced GC cell migration, invasion, tumorigenicity, and metastasis. Depletion of TRERNA1 reduced cell metastasis of GCs in vivo. Taken together, our findings indicated that TRERNA1 serves as a critical effector in GC progression by regulating CDH1 at the transcription level. It is implied that TRERNA1/CDH1 is a new potential target for GC therapy. Keywords: TRERNA1, SNAI1, metastasis, gastric cancer, CDH1

Abstract In this paper, we establish an existence and uniqueness theorem for solutions to backward stochastic differential equations driven by time-changed Lévy noises, in which the generator is monotonic and general growth with respect to y. Our conclusion extends the corresponding result in Di Nunno and Sjursen (Stoch. Process. Appl. 124:1679-1709, 2014).

Cold hardiness is important for alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown in northeast China. We investigated overwintering for three alfalfa grown alone or mix-sowed with meadow fescue. During the overwinter stage of the year from October 2013 to April 2014, five physiological and biochemical indexes and overwintering rate were investigated under natural conditions. The results showed that no matter either singly sowed or mix-sowed plants, physiological traits such as soluble sugar, soluble protein, and free proline of the alfalfa roots increased as the temperature decreased at the end of autumn, and decreased when the air temperature increased in the spring. The malondialdehyde content and peroxidase activity of all the treatments showed the trend of up–down–up during the whole overwintering stage. Investigation of the overwintering rate and using the membership function method combined with correlation analyses revealed that the order of the cold resistance of the selected alfalfa cultivars was as follows: Gongnong1 + meadow fescue > Gongnong1 > Wega7F + meadow fescue > Wega7F > WL319HQ + meadow fescue > WL319HQ. These results indicated that the cold resistance of alfalfa mix-sowed with the meadow fescue was higher than that of alfalfa that was singly sown.

Dual phase steel generally has poor deep drawing property with a low r value less than 1.0, making it difficult to be used for deep drawing automotive parts. In order to improve the mechanical properties of the steel through heat treatment, effect of heat treatments with different conditions on a Fe-Si-Cr-Mo-C deep drawing dual-phase steel was investigated with the aim of identifying effective heat treatment parameters for effective modification towards optimal properties. Relevant thermal dilation and heat treatment experiments were performed. Corresponding characters were investigated. The results show that island martensite can be obtained at low cooling rate. With the increase of cooling rate, the formation of pearlite and bainite is favored. During annealing at low temperatures, recrystallization of the steel is incomplete with the presence of the shear bands. With the increase of annealing temperature, the recrystallization process is gradually complete, and the number of high angle grain boundaries increases significantly. The ratio of gamma orientation components to alpha orientation components decreases first and then increases with the increase of annealing temperature. The strain hardening exponent and r value show an upward trend with respect to annealing temperature, and the r value is as high as 1.15.

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection is one of the most important and sensitive nondestructive testing approaches. For online MFL inspection of a long-range railway track or oil pipeline, a fast and effective defect profile estimating method based on a multi-power affine projection algorithm (MAPA) is proposed, where the depth of a sampling point is related with not only the MFL signals before it, but also the ones after it, and all of the sampling points related to one point appear as serials or multi-power. Defect profile estimation has two steps: regulating a weight vector in an MAPA filter and estimating a defect profile with the MAPA filter. Both simulation and experimental data are used to test the performance of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits high speed while maintaining the estimated profiles clearly close to the desired ones in a noisy environment, thereby meeting the demand of accurate online inspection.

A Ti bearing interstitial-free steel was finishing rolled in the ferrite region with and without lubrication and microstructures, mechanical properties and textures evolution during warm rolling and subsequent annealing were investigated by OM, SEM, tensile test and ODF. The results show that the surface microstructure of the as-rolled specimen without lubrication is composed of dense shear bands, while the microstructures of the central layer of the as-rolled specimen without lubrication and the whole cross section of the as-rolled specimen with lubrication are elongated ferrite. Short-time annealing can make the non-lubricated rolling sample recrystallize, but the lubricated rolling sample cannot. After complete recrystallization, the microstructure of the surface layer of the as-annealed specimen without lubrication is finer than that of the center layer of the as-annealed specimen without lubrication and the whole section of the as-annealed specimen with lubrication. The mechanical properties of as-annealed sample without lubrication change significantly in the initial annealing stage, while that of as-annealed sample with lubrication remain unchanged until the end stage of annealing. The surface layers of the as-rolled samples have strong Goss component and weak γ fibre components, while the central layers have strong γ fibre components and moderate rotated cubic components. As annealing proceeds, the Goss components of the surface layer decrease and the γ fibre components increase. The rotated cubic components in the central layer are gradually transformed into γ texture.

In this article, we consider the multi-point boundary-value problem for nonlinear fractional differential equations with $p$-Laplacian operator: $$\displaylines{ D_{0^+}^\beta \varphi_p (D_{0^+}^\alpha u(t)) = f(t,u(t),D_{0^+}^{\alpha - 2} u(t),D_{0^+}^{\alpha - 1} u(t), D_{0^+}^\alpha u(t)),\quad t \in (0,1), \cr u(0) = u'(0)=D_{0^+}^\alpha u(0) = 0,\quad D_{0^+}^{\alpha - 1} u(1) = \sum_{i = 1}^m {\sigma_i D_{0^+}^{\alpha - 1} u(\eta_i )} , }$$ where $2 < \alpha \le 3$, $0 < \beta \le 1$, $3 < \alpha + \beta \le 4$, $\sum_{i = 1}^m {\sigma_i } = 1$, $D_{0^+}^\alpha$ is the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative. $\varphi_{p}(s)=|s|^{p-2}s$ is p-Laplacians operator. The existence of solutions for above fractional boundary value problem is obtained by using the extension of Mawhin's continuation theorem due to Ge, which enrich konwn results. An example is given to illustrate the main result.