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RNAscope is a new generation of in situ hybridization technology and with the advantage of new probe design, it is now being gradually applied to a wide range of research fields, and its research scope is constantly expanding. Our country has large number of liver disease patients, so there is a great demand for histological testing and research evaluation based upon biological information. This technology has unique specificity and sensitivity in situ level, which makes up for the technical defects of immunohistochemistry and traditional in situ hybridization. Realizing the multiplicity and monomolecular level detection, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of nucleic acid level can be carried out in many aspects of the field of liver disease, and the visual evaluation can be achieved by combining it with tissue in situ to highlight the value of "gold standard". This article summarizes the recent year's application of RNAscope technology carried out in liver histology field.RNAscope是以新型探针设计为优势的新一代原位杂交技术，现正逐步应用于多个研究领域，研究范围亦在不断拓展之中。我国肝病人口基数大，基于组织学生物信息检测及研究评价的需求性大，该技术有独特原位水平的特异性与敏感性，弥补了免疫组织化学与传统原位杂交的技术缺陷。实现多重性及单分子水平检测，可在肝病领域多个方面进行核酸水平的定性、定量分析并与组织原位结合实现可视化评价以凸显"金标准"的价值。现就近年来RNAscope技术在肝脏组织学方面的应用进行综述。.

To investigate whether supplementing manganese (Mn) to the maternal diet could reduce the deleterious effect of heat stress on the developing embryo, the hatchability, antioxidant status, and expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) were evaluated in chick embryos under normal and high incubation temperatures. A completely randomized design ( = 6) with 2 maternal dietary Mn treatments (unsupplemented control basal diet versus the basal diet + 120 mg Mn/kg as inorganic Mn) × 2 incubation temperatures (normal, 37.8°C, versus high, 39.0°C) was used. High incubation temperature did not affect ( > 0.19) hatchability and embryo mortality and development but did increase ( 0.07) in the liver of embryos. Maternal diet with Mn supplementation not only increased ( 0.43) under normal incubation temperature. These results indicated that high incubation temperature induced self-protective responses of chick embryos with a modification of antioxidant status and a depression of HSP70 protein level. Maternal dietary supplementation of Mn could improve the hatchability as well as antioxidant ability to protect against heat challenge in embryos during incubation.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of environmental temperature and dietary Mn on egg production performance, egg quality, and some plasma biochemical traits of broiler breeders. A completely randomized factorial design involved 2 environmental temperatures (a normal temperature, 21 ± 1°C, and a high temperature, 32 ± 1°C) × 3 dietary Mn treatments (a Mn-unsupplemented corn–soybean meal basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 120 mg of Mn/kg of diet as either MnSO4·H2O or manganese proteinate). There were 6 treatments with 6 replicates (4 birds per replicate). High temperature decreased egg weight (P < 0.0001), laying rate (P < 0.0001), egg yield (P < 0.0001), feed intake (P < 0.0001), egg:feed ratio (P < 0.0001), eggshell strength (P < 0.05) and thickness (P < 0.0001), plasma triiodothyronine level (P < 0.05), and alkaline phosphatase activity (P < 0.04) whereas it increased rectal temperature (P < 0.0001); plasma malondialdehyde level (P < 0.02); and activities (P < 0.002) of lactic dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and creatine kinase. Broiler breeders fed the diets supplemented with Mn regardless of source had greater (P < 0.05) eggshell strength and lower (P ≤ 0.05) plasma triiodothyronine level and protein carbonyl content than those fed the control diet. The broiler breeders fed the diet supplemented with the organic Mn had greater (P < 0.01) eggshell thickness than those fed the control diet. There were interactions (P < 0.05) between environmental temperature and dietary Mn in laying rate, egg yield, feed intake, and egg:feed ratio. Under normal temperature, dietary Mn did not affect the above 4 parameters; however, under high temperature, broiler breeders fed the diet supplemented with the organic Mn showed greater (P < 0.03) improvements in these 4 parameters than those fed the control diet. The results from this study indicated that high temperature significantly impaired egg production performance and eggshell quality and induced lipid peroxidation and tissue damage whereas dietary supplementation of either organic or inorganic Mn improved eggshell strength and thermotolerance and reduced protein oxidation and that the organic Mn could alleviate the negative effect of high temperature on egg production performance of broiler breeders at the period of 32 to 45 wk of age.

1. A 2 × 8 factorial experiment containing different sexes (female and male) and 8 dietary riboflavin concentrations (1.2, 3.2, 5.2, 7.2, 9.2, 11.2, 13.2 and 15.2 mg/kg) was conducted to evaluate the riboflavin requirements of male and female White Pekin ducks from hatch to 21 d of age. 2. A total of 640 1-d-old Pekin ducks including 320 male and 320 female birds were randomly distributed into 80 wire-floor pens of 8 birds, sexed separately and with each treatment group containing 5 replicate pens. The birds were raised from hatch to 21 d of age. At 21 d of age, the weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and plasma and liver riboflavin were measured. 3. Growth depression, high mortality and low plasma and liver riboflavin were observed in riboflavin-deficient ducks, and these ill effects could be reduced by increasing dietary riboflavin concentrations. Weight gain, feed intake and riboflavin concentration in plasma and liver increased as dietary riboflavin increased. 4. According to broken-line regression analysis, the riboflavin requirements of modern breed of White Pekin ducks from hatch to 21 d of age for weight gain, feed conversion ratio, plasma riboflavin and liver riboflavin were 3.31, 5.20, 3.85 and 3.91 mg/kg for male and 3.27, 3.33, 3.84 and 3.28 mg/kg for female, respectively. Compared with female birds, more riboflavin was needed by male ducks, which may be because of significantly greater weight gain and liver riboflavin content of male ducks.

Conceptual design aims at developing design concepts that can satisfy the specified design requirements, where the design concepts are normally in the form of a physical structure. There has been quite a lot of work done in this area of design research, from which it is now generally agreed that functional decomposition and function to structure mapping are two fundamental steps of design task in synthesis for design solution. However, there have not been many strategies to support these design tasks, especially for the function to structure mapping. In addition, design solutions may not just consist of physical structure. Sometimes only materials can provide a feasible design solution; sometimes a materials solution might be more effective and/or more economic than a structural solution. Again, there have not been many strategies that explicitly considered materials solution at the early design stage. To address these problems, this paper proposes three mappings from function to both structure and material. Several embodiment strategies supporting these mappings are also proposed, including four functional matches used for identifying functional design solutions, and a performance match used for ensuring that the identified solution can satisfy the performance requirements or constraints. A design case is also studied to illustrate as well as to test the effectiveness of these strategies.

To investigate whether supplementing manganese (Mn) to the maternal diet could reduce the deleterious effect of heat stress on the developing embryo, the hatchability, antioxidant status, and expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) were evaluated in chick embryos under normal and high incubation temperatures. A completely randomized design ( = 6) with 2 maternal dietary Mn treatments (unsupplemented control basal diet versus the basal diet + 120 mg Mn/kg as inorganic Mn) × 2 incubation temperatures (normal, 37.8°C, versus high, 39.0°C) was used. High incubation temperature did not affect (0.19) hatchability and embryo mortality and development but did increase (0.05) activities of heart manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and liver copper zinc superoxide dismutase and liver MnSOD mRNA and protein levels in embryos. High incubation temperature also decreased (0.003) HSP70 protein level in the heart but had no effects (0.07) in the liver of embryos. Maternal diet with Mn supplementation not only increased (0.05) the hatchability and Mn content (0.001) in the yolk and embryonic tissues and the activity of MnSOD in the heart (0.004) as well as relative liver weight (0.05) under normal incubation temperature but also decreased ( ≤ 0.05) embryo mortality and HSP90 mRNA level in the liver and heart of embryos. Furthermore, under high incubation temperature, maternal diet Mn supplementation increased (0.002) MnSOD protein expression in the liver of embryos but had no effect (0.43) under normal incubation temperature. These results indicated that high incubation temperature induced self-protective responses of chick embryos with a modification of antioxidant status and a depression of HSP70 protein level. Maternal dietary supplementation of Mn could improve the hatchability as well as antioxidant ability to protect against heat challenge in embryos during incubation.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of environmental temperature and dietary Mn on egg production performance, egg quality, and some plasma biochemical traits of broiler breeders. A completely randomized factorial design involved 2 environmental temperatures (a normal temperature, 21 ± 1°C, and a high temperature, 32 ± 1°C) × 3 dietary Mn treatments (a Mn-unsupplemented corn–soybean meal basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 120 mg of Mn/kg of diet as either MnSO4·H2O or manganese proteinate). There were 6 treatments with 6 replicates (4 birds per replicate). High temperature decreased egg weight (P0.0001), laying rate (P0.0001), egg yield (P0.0001), feed intake (P0.0001), egg:feed ratio (P0.0001), eggshell strength (P0.05) and thickness (P0.0001), plasma triiodothyronine level (P0.05), and alkaline phosphatase activity (P0.04) whereas it increased rectal temperature (P0.0001); plasma malondialdehyde level (P0.02); and activities (P0.002) of lactic dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and creatine kinase. Broiler breeders fed the diets supplemented with Mn regardless of source had greater (P0.05) eggshell strength and lower (P ≤ 0.05) plasma triiodothyronine level and protein carbonyl content than those fed the control diet. The broiler breeders fed the diet supplemented with the organic Mn had greater (P0.01) eggshell thickness than those fed the control diet. There were interactions (P0.05) between environmental temperature and dietary Mn in laying rate, egg yield, feed intake, and egg:feed ratio. Under normal temperature, dietary Mn did not affect the above 4 parameters; however, under high temperature, broiler breeders fed the diet supplemented with the organic Mn showed greater (P0.03) improvements in these 4 parameters than those fed the control diet. The results from this study indicated that high temperature significantly impaired egg production performance and eggshell quality and induced lipid peroxidation and tissue damage whereas dietary supplementation of either organic or inorganic Mn improved eggshell strength and thermotolerance and reduced protein oxidation and that the organic Mn could alleviate the negative effect of high temperature on egg production performance of broiler breeders at the period of 32 to 45 wk of age.

Wireless sensor network is a new research field. It can be used in some special situation for signal collection, processing and transmitting. Zigbee is a new Wireless sensor network technology characteristic of less distance and low speed. It is a new wireless network protocol stack of IEEE 802.15.4. Lately traditional system to collects parameters for Greenhouse is widely used in agriculture. The traditional system adopts wired way wiring, which makes the system complex and expensive. Generally modern Greenhouse has hundreds of square meters and they may plant variety of plants depending on different seasons. So we need to adjust the sensors which collect parameters for Greenhouse to a better place to work more efficient. Adopting wireless way wiring is convenient and economical. This paper developed a wireless sensor network system based on ZigBee technology for greenhouse. It offers flexibility and mobility to save cost and energy spent on wiring. The framework hardware and software structure, related programming are also discussed in this paper. Comparing the system which uses ZigBee technology with traditional wired network system for greenhouse, it has advantage of low cost..low power and wider coverage. Additionally it complies with IEEE802.15.4 protocol, which makes it convenient to communicate with other products that comply with the protocol too.

We report a new morphology of "cactus" top-decorated aligned carbon nanotubes grown by the PECVD method using pure C 2 H 2 gas. Unlike most previous reports, no additional carrier gas is used for pretreatment. Carbon nanotubes can still grow and maintain the tubular structure underneath the "cactus" tops. It is proposed that the H atoms produced by the dissociation of C 2 H 2 activate the catalyst nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the top "cactus" morphology is composed of a large quantity of small nanosheets. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals the amorphous carbon nature of these "cactus" structures. The formation of these "cactus" structures is possibly due to covalent absorption and reconstruction of carbon atoms on the broken graphite layers of nanotubes produced by the strong ion bombardment under plasma. The third-order optical nonlinearities and nonlinear dynamics are also investigated. The third-order nonlinear susceptibility magnitude |Χ (3) | is found to be 2.2 × 10 -11 esu, and the relaxation process takes place in about 1.8 ps.

1. An experiment with 9 dietary supplemental biotin concentrations (0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12, 0.15, 0.18, 0.21, 1.5 mg biotin/kg) was conducted to study the effects of supplementary dietary biotin on growth performance and foot pad dermatitis (FPD) of White Pekin ducklings from hatch to 21 d of age. 2. One-d-old male Pekin ducklings (n=576) were randomly divided into 9 dietary treatments, each containing 8 replicate pens with 8 birds per pen. Final weight, feed intake and body weight gain increased with increasing dietary biotin levels from hatch to 21 d of age. No differences were observed in feed conversion ratio. 3. The supplemental biotin requirement of ducklings for optimal body weight gain was estimated to be 0.180 mg/kg. 4. At 28 d of age, dehydration, cracks, bleeding and scab, and ulceration were observed in biotin-deficient ducks. The external scores for FPD decreased from 17.50 to 1.00 with increasing dietary biotin. It was concluded that supplemental dietary biotin should not be less than 0.21 mg/kg to minimise the incidence of FPD.

To observe the leukocyte increasing effects of Shaunghuang Shengbai Granule (SHSBG) in tumor patients treated by chemotherapy (CT) and its function on bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment in mice.Patients of non-small-cell lung cancer and breast, gastric or intestinal cancer, who were retreated with CT, were enrolled and divided into 4 groups randomly. The 28 cases in the treated group 1 received SHSBG and CT simultaneously. The 27 cases in the treated group 2 also received firstly CT, and SHSBG started when WBC count lowered to less than 4 x 10(9)/L after CT. The control group 1 and 2 (n = 33 and n = 24) was treated by the method similar to that applied to the treated group 1 and 2 respectively but with Rubidate instead of SHSBG. Experimental study of observing bone marrow ultrastructure in mice was also conducted with electron microscopy.The total leukocyte increasing effective rate occurred in the treated group 1 was 75.00%, that in the treated group 2 was 88.89%, in the control group 1 was 54.55% and in the control group 2 was 58.33%. There was significant difference between the treated groups and the control groups (P0.01). Experimental study showed that SHSBG has good bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironmental protecting and improving effect in mice.SHSBG has obvious protecting and treating effect on CT caused bone marrow suppression in tumor patients.

Determination of the magnitudes of motion-dependent equalizing pulses for reducing the gray scale disturbances on plasma display panels (PDPs) has been examined. First, amounts of light intensity perceived by the retina are calculated. Then the pixels to which to add the equalizing pulses are determined by checking whether the disturbance is dark or bright. Also appropriate sub-fields of each pixel are chosen for emission compensation. Finally, a feedback loop is provided for a fine adjustment of luminance. The technique is applicable to any sub-field configuration.

A cDNA encoding human O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltranferase (MGMT) was cloned from Hela S3 cells and the sequence is identical with the published data. The MGMT cDNA was inserted into the expression vector pET-21a and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). A 24 kD protein was expressed after IPTG induction. Essays using lethal dose of alkylating agents indicate that expression of MGMT protein can repair the DNA mutations of the recombinant bacteria produced by alkylating agents.

This phase II study was performed to investigate the efficacy of a 3-hour 225 mg/m2 paclitaxel infusion (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ) followed 24 hours later by a 30-minute infusion of carboplatin (dosed to an area under the concentration-time curve of 6) in patients with stage IIIA, IIIB, or IV non-small cell lung cancer. Patients received chemotherapy and were monitored for toxicity, response, quality of life, and survival. Paclitaxel and carboplatin pharmacokinetics were also determined with the first cycle of chemotherapy. Eleven men have been treated to date. Eight were white and three black, with a median age of 65 years. All patients had a performance status of 0 or 1. The regimen was well tolerated, with no deaths or grade 4 toxicities noted. The most common grade 3 toxicity was neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and parasthesias (observed in10% of cycles). The overall response rate was 57% (14% complete and 43% partial responses). Quality of life improved in most patients. Physical and emotional well-being improved in 57%, functional well-being in 43%, and social/family well-being in 14% of patients. Pharmacokinetic data are being analyzed by limited sampling technique to predict the paclitaxel area under the concentration-time curve. This unique schedule of paclitaxel and carboplatin is well tolerated and active, and is associated with improvements in various aspects of quality of life.

The plasma concentration--time course of muscone in rats after a single i.v. administration fitted well to a two-compartment open model, and those in rabbits and dogs were all conformed to a three- compartment open model. Significant species differences were observed in the pharmacokinetic parameters among rats, rabbits and dogs, while no significant differences were found among the three dosages of 12, 18 and 24 mg/kg after i.v. administration to rats. In rats, the T1/2 beta was found to be 118.1-131.2 min. In rabbits and dogs, the T1/2 beta were 24.9 and 30.0 min, respectively and the T1/2 gamma were 331.9 and 366.4 min, respectively. In rats, rabbits and dogs, the Vss were 23.0, 51.7 and 7.3 L/kg, respectively, and the Vc were 2.33, 2.13 and 0.38 L/kg, respectively.

Purpose To assess the pharmacokinetics (PK) of a human monoclonal antibody to IL-12 p40 (anti-IL-12 p40 mAb) following single intravenous (IV) infusion in patients with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis as part of a Phase I study. Methods. Patients (n = 18) were randomly assigned to receive a single ascending IV dose of the mAb (n = 4–5 per group). Blood samples were collected and serum mAb levels were measured using an ELISA method. Non-compartmental analysis was employed to calculate the PK parameters of the mAb. The relationship between PK and the severity of psoriatic lesions (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, PASI) was also investigated to explore the relationship between drug exposure and efficacy. Results. The mAb was slowly eliminated from the circulation after a single IV infusion. The Cmax and AUC were linearly correlated with the dose. Dose-dependent sustained improvements in PASI were observed. Conclusions. PK of the mAb following a single IV infusion were linear and dose-independent, and the systemic exposure increased in a dose-proportional manner. IV administration to patients is feasible in terms of its favorable elimination half-life and sustained clinical response. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2004) 75, P9–P9; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2003.11.034

A new method is discussed which examines trace, dried bloodstains by gel in situ hybridization using a Y-chromosome-specific deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) probe to determine the sex of the bloodstain for forensic medicine application. The complete DNA is transferred directly by electrophoresis onto the gel intact, bypassing the possibilities of impurities contaminating the sample and of DNA degradation. The method has proven accurate for small (2.5-mm-diameter) samples aged up to eight years and is quick, simple, and easily read.

The qualitative and semiquantitative analysis of residues on wound in homicide cases were done by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis X-ray system (EDAX) in this paper. It provides a new method of examination for identifying lethal objects in homicidal cases. Our experiment provides some advantages in these examinations, such as saving time, objective conclusion and exact results in practical cases.