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The Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen is mainly grown in China, and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma is widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Ancient Chinese medical books recorded that Sanchi processed products were used to treat various diseases. However, its extracts were used for clinical applications. Currently, more attentions are paid to using the Sanchi for dietetic and health-care, hence, many products of Panax notoginseng are available for medicine and food. This review summarizes the present uses of Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma products worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aims to recognize M-type stars which are classified as 'UNKNOWN' due to poor quality in the Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR5 V1. A binary nonlinear hashing algorithm based on Multi-Layer Pseudo-Inverse Learning (ML-PIL) is proposed to effectively learn spectral features for M-type-star detection, which can overcome the bad fitting problem of template matching, particularly for low S/N spectra. The key steps and the performance of the search scheme are presented. A positive data set is obtained by clustering the existing M-type spectra to train the ML-PIL networks. By employing this new method, we find 11 410 M-type spectra out of 642 178 'UNKNOWN' spectra, and provide a supplemental catalogue. Both the supplemental objects and released M-type stars in DR5 V1 are composed of a whole M-type sample, which will be released in the official DR5 to the public in June 2019. All the M-type stars in the data set are classified as giants and dwarfs by two suggested separators: (1) a colour diagram of H versus J − K from 2MASS, (2) line indices CaOH versus CaH1, and the separation is validated with the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (HRD) derived from Gaia DR2. The magnetic activities and kinematics of M dwarfs are also provided with the equivalent width (EW) of the Hα emission line and the astrometric data from Gaia DR2 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large proportion of constrained mechanical systems result in nonlinear ordinary differential equations, for which it is quite difficult to find analytical solutions. The initial motions method proposed by Whittaker is effective to deal with such problems for various constrained mechanical systems, including the nonholonomic systems discussed in the first part of this paper, where in addition to differential equations of motion, nonholonomic constraints apply. The final equations of motion for these systems are obtained in the form of corresponding power series. Also, an alternative, direct method to determine the initial values of higher-order derivatives q¨0,q⃛0,… is proposed, being different from that of Whittaker. The second part of this work analyzes the stability of equilibrium of less complex, nonholonomic mechanical systems represented by gradient systems. We discuss the stability of equilibrium of such systems based on the properties of the gradient system. The advantage of this novel method is its avoidance of the difficulty of directly establishing Lyapunov functions aimed at such unsteady nonlinear systems. Finally, these theoretical considerations are illustrated through four examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve anti-corrosion and wear resistance, a new kind of Fe5Cr5SiTiCoNbMoW high-entropy alloy (HEA) coating was fabricated successfully on Q235 by laser cladding technology. The microstructure, phase structure, microhardness, anti-corrosion and wear resistance were researched using metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, microhardness tester, electrochemical workstation as well as friction and wear testing machine, respectively. The experimental results show that the microstructure of cladding coating is composed of dendrite and eutectic crystal. The main phase in the coating is single body-centered cubic solid solution. The anti-corrosion of HEA coating is better than that of 304 stainless steel in NaCl solution. Moreover, the average microhardness of HEA coating is nearly 600 HV0.2, which is almost five times higher than that of Q235 substrate. The HEA coating is of low friction coefficient and mass loss, exhibiting excellent wear resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation and deposition of plaques of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in the brain. Growing epidemiological and experimental studies have shown that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) exerts neuroprotection against AD. However, the underlying mechanisms of the action remain unclear. Since Aβ clearance plays a crucial role in Aβ balance in the brain, the aim of the present study was to investigate potential effects of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 on Aβ 1–40 , the major soluble oligomeric form of Aβ, clearance via transport across blood–brain barrier (BBB) mediated by low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) (efflux) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) (influx) and peripheral uptake by liver mediated by LRP1. We identified colocalization of LRP1 and RAGE at BBB of mice, established an in vitro BBB model by culturing monolayer mouse brain microvascular endothelial cell line (bEnd.3) cells under hypoxia and observed that 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 treatment enhanced Aβ 1–40 efflux across the BBB model and uptake by HepG2 cells. After 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 exposure, LRP1 expression was increased significantly both in vivo and in vitro , and RAGE expression was reduced in the in vitro BBB model but not in microvascular endothelial cells of mice hippocampus. Additionally, we explored the correlation between the corresponding effects of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 and its nuclear hormone receptor vitamin D receptor (VDR) level. We found that VDR expression was upregulated after 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 treatment both in vivo and in vitro . Collectively, our finding that 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 reduces cerebral Aβ 1–40 level by increasing Aβ 1–40 brain-to-blood efflux and peripheral uptake through regulating LRP1 and RAGE could shed light on the mechanism of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 neuroprotection against AD. And the action of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 might be associated with the VDR pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel single-feed tri-band circularly polarized (CP) annular slot antenna is presented. The antenna structure is composed of two nonconcentric annular slots that are fed by an L-shaped series step impedance microstrip line configuration. The proposed antenna is designed to operate at the L, and L2 bands of the global positioning system and the operat-ing band of the compass navigation satellite system. Compared to the most of the previ-ously reported tri-band CP antenna structure, the proposed antenna has low profile, compact size, and easy fabrication on the single-layer PCB. The measured results show that the impedance bandwidths are good for all bands. The axial ratio bandwidth and radiation patterns are also measured at the three resonant frequencies. The proposed compact tri-band CP antenna design is suitable for mounting onto the mobile communication devices and portable positioning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an optimization technique for the design of substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) filters using knowledge-embedded space mapping. An effective coarse model is proposed to represent the SIW filter. The proposed coarse model can be analyzed in the available commercial software ADS. The embedded knowledge includes not only formulas but also extracted design curves, which help to build the mapping between the coarse and fine models. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through a design example of a six-pole SIW filter. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel single-feed tri-band circularly polarized (CP) dual-annular slot antenna is presented. The antenna structure is composed of two nonconcentric annular slots fed by a novel inverted h-shaped microstrip line configuration. Compared to most of the previously reported tri-band CP antenna structures, the proposed antenna has low profile, compact in size, and easy to fabricate on the single-layer PCB. It is easy for the antenna to match all the three frequency bands by employing an h-shaped feeding line. The antenna also can provide a conical radiation pattern at the third band. A sample design of a tri-band CP antenna operated at 1.58, 2.42, and 3.0GHz is realized. Details of the experimental results compared with simulated results are presented and discussed. The proposed compact tri-band CP antenna design is suitable for mounting onto the mobile communication devices and portable positioning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ultra-wideband (UWB) signal over a multimode fibre-based radio-over-fibre link is discussed. The co-transmissions of UWB signals with other wireless signal standards, including wireless code division multiple access (W-CDMA) (2.15 GHz), wireless local area network 802.11a/g and global system for mobile communication (1.8 GHz) are considered. Based on the measurement results, it has been shown that UWB signals can be transmitted without error over 400 m for the highest data rate of 480 Mbps using the system proposed. The co-transmission can also be successfully done with minimal mutual interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband circularly polarised slot antenna is presented. The slot antenna is fed by four microstrip line feeds orientated to have relative phases of 0°, 90°, 180° and 270° using a feed network comprising a pair of broadband 90° hybrid. The proposed antenna delivers measured and simulated impedance bandwidths of 77.8% (1.02–2.32 GHz) and 89.1% (1.02–2.66 GHz), respectively, for standing wave ratio (SWR)<2, measured and simulated axial-ratio bandwidths of 88.9% (1–2.6 GHz) and 81% (1.1–2.6 GHz), respectively, for axial ratio < 3 dB and measured and simulated gain bandwidths of 33% (1.5–2.1 GHz) and 27% (1.6–2.1 GHz), respectively, for gain >3 dB. A good agreement is observed between simulation and measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact dual-band printed wire antenna for applications in wireless communications is presented. An additional shorted parasitic element to the F-shaped wire antenna is introduced to achieve a dual-band operation. As an example, a new antenna was designed and fabricated for wireless local area network applications that operate in the 2.4 and 5.2/5.8 GHz bands. The prototyped antenna offered two separate measured impedance bandwidths of 700 (2.35–3.05 GHz) and 2150 MHz (3.95–6.1 GHz), for a return loss less than -10 dB. A measured antenna gain of 1.78–1.9 dBi was observed across the lower band, whereas a measured antenna gain of 3.9–4.4 dBi was observed across the upper band. The measured radiation patterns were stable across the passband. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new balanced planar ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna is proposed. First, a novel uniplanar broadband balun transition is presented. Then, a balanced UWB planar dipole antenna fed by the proposed balun is studied, and has a measured bandwidth from 2.8 to 11.2 GHz for the return loss better than -10 dB. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 114–118, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22040 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity was investigated for forty populations of ten Elymus species from the Tibetan and Inner Mongolian plateaus of China using allozyme and micro-satellite markers. The two assays differed in the amount of polymorphism detected. Micro-satellites detected the higher amounts of polymorphism. For allozymes and micro-satellite markers, between populations of each species, the proportion of polymorphic loci, heterozygosity and Shannon's Information index ranged from 0·1667 to 0·833, and 0·455 to 1·00, respectively, 0·0800 to 0·2528 and 0·1622 to 0·3619, respectively, and 0·1173 to 0·3769 and 0·2248 to 0·5318 respectively. As for gene flow at the species and population levels, limited gene flow was found between populations within species and between species. From a geographical standpoint, samples from different regions showed a range of values. Populations from the Tibetan Plateau of China had higher genetic variation than from the Inner Mongolian plateau both using allozyme and micro-satellite markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A carp IL-1β gene was identified from a subtraction hybridisation technology based cDNA library from activated carp leucocytes. This gene was cloned into pQE vector carrying 6xHis tag and the protein was expressed. Recombinant IL-1β was used to produce hybridomas specific for carp IL-1β. Monoclonal antibodies were purified by affinity column and a sandwich ELISA for IL-1β was developed with a detection limit of 10 ng of the recombinant protein. Using the capture ELISA, the presence of native IL-1β in culture supernatant of PHA-stimulated leucocytes from carp was identified, which was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Since IL-1β is known to stimulate proliferation of T & B cells and macrophages, its ability to stimulate proliferation of carp leucocytes was studied using tritiated thymidine. The recombinant protein was found to significantly stimulate proliferation of head kidney and spleen cells from carp. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Wideband T-probe proximity-fed regular circular and compact semicircular patch antennas are proposed in this paper. For the regular circular patch antenna, using a foam layer of thickness ∼0.13λ0 as a supported substrate, an impedance bandwidth of 35% and a gain of over 8.0 dBi have been obtained. For the compact semicircular patch antenna, an impedance bandwidth of 56% and a gain of over 5.4 dBi are achieved with the same substrate thickness. The far-field patterns are stable across the passband. Experimental and computed results based on the finite-difference time-domain method are provided. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 31: 68–71, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-efficiency concurrent dual-mode dual-band power amplifier is presented. It simultaneously operates at class-F mode for one band and at inverse class-F mode for the other band. With this mode assignment method, the conflict in harmonic impedance control for concurrent dual-band applications is avoided. Experimental results show a high performance of more than 80% peaking power added efficiency with 40.6 and 41.8 dBm output power in the sampled bands of 0.8 and 1.25 GHz, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel 60 GHz three-dimensional (3D) cavity bandpass filter using low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology is presented. The proposed filter shows two finite transmission zeros with each at either side of the passband using the extracted-pole and cross-coupling techniques. Both simulated and experimental results of the filter are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma is the tuberous root and rhizome of Panax notoginseng (Burk) F.H. Chen, a perennial plant of Ginseng (family Araliaceae). Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) considers it has strong flavour and provides warmth in liver and stomach. It is highly effective medicine to treat blood stasis, haemorrhage and pain. Many scholars have conducted research on the Panax notoginseng allelopathy. This review attempts to provide insight into the records of Sanchi in TCM, verify its name, efficacy of its producing areas and information about its cultivation and medicinal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a 34-GHz substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) quasi-elliptic filter fabricated in PCB is presented. The filter consists of one SIW cavity and four coupling metallic circular post. It is found that the filter can deliver a simulated bandwidth of 600 MHz, centered at 34 GHz with an insertion loss of 1 dB, with two transmission zeros at each side of the passband. The good agreement between the simulated and measured results is presented at the end of this article. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 402–404, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23097 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly selective dual-band stepped impedance bandpass filter is presented. The filter has two tunable passbands. Two finite out-of-band transmission zeros are realised, which have high selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental results for an L-probe-fed shorted triangular patch antenna are presented. Using a foam layer of thickness ∼0.13λ0 as a supported substrate, an impedance bandwidth of 61% (SWR≤2) and a gain of over 4.0 dBi in the bandwidth have been obtained. The far-field patterns are stable across the passband. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 30: 218–220, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A broadband quarter-wavelength patch antenna with a U-slot is presented. Using a foam layer of thickness ∼0.07λ0 as a supported substrate, an impedance bandwidth of 27% (SWR≤2) has been obtained. The far-field patterns are stable across the passband. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 28: 328–330, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe-Cr-Ni-Mn-Mox-Si0.5-B0.5 (x=0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0) alloy systems with close-to-equiatomic ratios were fabricated by laser surface alloying onto Q235 steel substrates, aiming to obtain excellent coatings. The experimental results indicate that the phase composition consists of face-centred cubic (FCC) phase with a few intermetallic FeMoSi as a result of adding Si and Mo into FeNiCrMn alloy system. It makes lattice constant increase and lattice expansion. The coatings also shows excellent corrosion resistance in the simulated saturated brine slurry, especially FeCrNiMnMo0.8Si0.5B0.5 coating is the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain high performance coating materials a Fe5Cr5SiTiCoNbMoW high entropy alloy coating was prepared for deposition onto 6542# and Q235 tool steel by CO2 laser cladding. The microstructure, microhardness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance of the coatings were investigated. The experimental results showed that the Fe5Cr5SiTiCoNbMoW high entropy alloy is mainly composed of body-centred cubic (BCC) phase accompanied with a few metal carbides. The microstructure was dendritic crystal. The hardness and wear resistance of the Fe5Cr5SiTi-CoNbMoW high entropy alloy coated 6542# tool steel with high C content was higher than those of the Fe5Cr5SiTiCoNbMoW high entropy alloy coated Q235 tool steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact planar bandpass filter with improved selectivity using source–load coupling is proposed. The new filter consists of quarter-wavelength resonators and short-ended feedlines. An extra transmission zero is produced near the passband owing to the source–load coupling, which can improve the skirt-selectivity of the filter, and quarter-wavelength resonators are used to enhance the rejection level around the second harmonic. Both simulated and measured results with good agreement are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental results for an L-probe-fed shorted semicircular patch antenna are presented. Using a foam layer thickness ∼0.12λ0 as a supported substrate, an impedance bandwidth of 57% (SWR≤2) and a gain of over 4.0 dBi in the majority of the wide bandwidth have been obtained. The far-field patterns are stable across the passband. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 29: 289–290, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single domain YBCO bulk superconductors with different additions of ZnO have been successfully fabricated by RE011 TSIG process with a new solid phase of [(100-)(Y2OBaCuO2)+ZnO] and a new liquid phase of (Y2O3+6CuO+10BaCuO2). The effects of ZnO additions on the growth morphology, microstructure, critical temperature (), the levitation force and trapped field of the YBCO bulks have been investigated. It is found that within the range of ZnO additions =0-1.0 wt.%, all the samples are of the typical characteristic of single-domain YBCO bulk; the of the samples decreases from 92 K to 80 K when the ZnO addition increases from =0 wt.% to =1.0 wt.%; the levitation force and trapped field of the samples firstly increase and then decrease with increase of ZnO additions after going through a maximum, which is closely related with the ZnO addition and the resulting flux pinning force caused by lattice distortion due to the substitution of Zn for Cu site in the YBCO crystal; the largest levitation force 36.8 N (77 K, 0.5 T) and trapped field 0.416 T (77 K, 0.5 T) of the samples are obtained when =0.1 wt.%, respectively. This result is significantly important and helpful for us to improve the properties of YBCO bulk superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major continuous cropping problems exist in P. notoginseng growing fields which lowers its quality than wild types. It is known that climate change significantly influences the plant chemical components. Therefore, analysis of relationship between climatic factors and the chemical components of P. notoginseng would be beneficial to find the climatic conditions required to increase the contents of desired chemical components. This can help in searching the new ginseng producing areas, to avoid continuous cropping problem and improve the quality of cultivated P. notoginseng. Precipitation and climate changes are the key climatic factors that affects the chemical components of P. notoginseng. Different chemical components have distinct or even opposite responses to climate factors. What's more, the effects of climate on different chemical components in P. notoginseng could be categorized. In this study, partial least-squares regression was introduced for the first time to analyze the effects of ecological environment on the chemical components. We analyzed the synthetic mechanism of chemical constituents of P. notoginseng. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of a four fold segmented clover detector coupled to a CsI-suppressed shield has been tested using several standard radioactive sources. The summing characteristics, hit patterns and absolute efficiency were measured in both crystal and clover modes. Peak-to-total ratios of 57.3% and 45.6% in suppressed clover mode have been determined for 137Cs and 60Co sources, respectively. A Geant4 simulation of the suppressed clover detector, including the segmentation of the germanium crystals, has been created, and the simulation results agreed very well with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A miniaturized substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) band-pass filter with two transmission zeros is proposed in low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The miniaturization of the filter is achieved by vertically stacking three double-folded SIW resonators. To strengthen the coupling between the feeding structure and the resonators, a new meandered microstrip feeding line is introduced. In addition, to realize better out-of-band rejection performance, twoshort-circuited lines are adopted in the filter design to achieve two transmission zeros outside the passband. To verify the design concept, an X-band LTCC band-pass filter was designed, fabricated, and measured. Both simulation and measurement results indicate that the proposed filter has good frequency response, high selectivity, and a size reduction of about 87% in comparison with conventional planar direct-coupled waveguide filter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: To isolate new lactobacilli strain with cholesterol-lowering effect and analyse its probiotic properties and possible mechanisms of cholesterol removal. Methods and Results: The strain with cholesterol-lowering effect was isolated from pickled juice. The acid and bile tolerance and antimicrobial activity were tested. The free cholalic acid, the cholesterol in supernatant fluid, washing buffer and cell extract, the cholesterol removed by growing, dead and resting cells were quantified. The isolated strain with high cholesterol-reducing rate of 43·95% was identified as Lactobacillus buchneri ( Lact. buchneri) P2. It had acid and bile tolerance and antimicrobial activity. Moreover, it could remove cholesterol via coprecipitating with deconjugated bile salts, assimilating and adsorbing by cells. And the assimilation was considered to be the main reason of cholesterol removal. Conclusions: The isolated Lact. buchneri P2 showed probiotic properties of cholesterol reduction, acid and bile tolerance and antimicrobial activity and could remove cholesterol via different ways. Significance and Impact of the Study: A new strain of Lact. buchneri P2 with efficient cholesterol-reducing ability was isolated to provide species diversity of lactobacilli for functional dairy products. And the possible mechanism of cholesterol removal by Lact. buchneri was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A miniaturized dual-mode bandpass filter with controllable harmonic response for dual-band applications is presented in this paper. The new bandpass filter is designed with loading distributed capacitors in the inner area of conventional dual-mode loop resonator. This loading can realize both compact size and controllable harmonic response of the filter. A demonstrated filter with the dual-band operating at 1.8 and 2.6 GHz was designed, fabricated and measured. Simulated and measured results indicate that a high selective dual-mode dual-band filter with its size reduced to 34.5% of the conventional case at about 1.8 GHz has been achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotransformation of piceid in Polygonum cuspidatum to resveratrol by Aspergillus oryzae was investigated in this study. Resveratrol is widely used in medicine, food, and cosmetic because of its pharmacological properties. However, it has a much lower content in plants compared with its glucoside piceid, which has a much lower bioavailability. Traditionally, the aglycone is acquired by acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of its glucoside, but the violent condition and the acid pollution in hydrolytic reaction and the high cost of the enzyme limit their industrial development. In this paper, fermentation of P. cuspidatum by A. oryzae was successfully performed, during which, piceid was converted to resveratrol with the highest yield of trans-resveratrol 1.35%, 3.6 times higher than that obtained from raw herb by microwave-assisted extraction. Scale-up production was also performed and the yield of trans-resveratrol was 3.1 times higher after 24 h incubation. Therefore, biotransformation is a better method to increase the yield of resveratrol because of its high yield and mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to identify suitable reference genes that can be used for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis in mung bean (Vigna radiata). Therefore, 10 potential reference genes were selected and the results showed that ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme was suitable as reference under drought and pathogen infection stress; elongation factor 1-α was the most stable gene under waterlogging; and actin performed the best under saline stress. These selected reference genes were further confirmed by analysis of the expression profiles of catalase and peroxidase under waterlogging. Our results will contribute to the improvement of the accuracy of gene expression evaluation in mung bean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to discuss the motion of controllable constrained Birkhoffian system along with its absence of constraints. The first step is to establish the autonomous and non-autonomous differential equations of motion of the system, based on Pfaff–Birkhoff principle. Secondly, the existence of constraint multipliers are exhaustively discussed. Thirdly, the definition of one kind motion of the system, called free motion, is given, which is described and analyzed by the absence of constraints that are determined by constraint multipliers. Lemma 2 illustrates that one system can realize its free motion by selecting proper control parameters. In particular, theorem 2 provides that one system can naturally realize free motion when we consider the integral of the unconstrained Birkhoffian system as the constraints of constrained Birkhoffian system. Finally, the results obtained are illustrated by several examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact microstrip lowpass filter with an ultra-wide stopband is proposed. To achieve wide stopband suppression and compact size, both symmetrically loaded resonant patches and meander transmission line are adopted. A demonstration filter with 3 dB cutoff frequency at 1.3 GHz has been designed, fabricated and measured. The proposed filter also exhibits a very wide stopband of 152%, and is able to suppress the eleventh-harmonic response together with a small size of 0.12λg × 0.071λg, where λg is the guided wavelength at 1.3 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel miniaturised microstrip lowpass filter has been studied. With triangular and high–low impedance resonators symmetrically loaded, the proposed filter has successfully achieved size reduction and performance enhancement simultaneously. A demonstrator filter with 3 dB cutoff frequency at 1.5 GHz has been designed, fabricated and measured. Results show that a roll-off of 257 dB/GHz together with a relative stopband bandwidth of 157.4% can be obtained while achieving a high figure-of-merit of 38747. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact slow-wave microstrip rat-race ring coupler is presented. The new structure effectively reduces the occupied area to 8% of the conventional rat-race ring coupler due to the slow-wave effect. The design is validated both by using the full-wave electromagnetic simulator and by measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The effects of perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) seed on carcass traits, meat quality, antioxidant status and antioxidant gene expression in the liver and muscle of Hu lambs were investigated in this study. Sixty Hu lambs (23.02 ± 1.36 kg) were randomly divided into four experimental groups receiving diets containing 0%, 5%, 10% or 15% perilla seed (CD, 5%PFSD, 10%PFSD and 15%PFSD, respectively). The addition of perilla seed had no significant impacts on carcass traits (p > .05). There were no differences in pH, meat colour, drip loss, cooking loss or shear force among the four treatments (p > .05). Addition of perilla seed increased (p < .05) deposition of intramuscular lipids but had no effect on other chemical components in the longissimus dorsi (LD) (p > .05). The 15%PFSD diet decreased the total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the liver (p < .05 for both) but increased the activity of these antioxidant enzymes in LD (p < .05 for both). Compared to CD, addition of perilla seed increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) expression in the liver and LD (p < .05 for all). These results indicate that perilla seed supplementation in lambs’ diets can increase deposition of intramuscular lipids and improve muscular oxidative status and meat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dried star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.; SA), salvia miltiorrhiza (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge; SM) and ginger root (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, ginger) which were processed to particle sizes of 300 μm on laying performance, egg quality and antioxidant status of laying hens. A total of 675 Hy-Line brown laying hens at 40 weeks of age were randomly allocated into 5 treatments (TRT) with 5 replicates in a complete randomised design. The 5 TRT were: 1) Control, laying hens were fed maize-soybean meal diets; 2) TRT 1 + 0.150 g/kg BHT = butylated hydroxytoluene; 3) TRT 1 + 5 g/kg SA; 4) TRT 1 + 10 g/kg SM; 5) TRT 1 + 10 g/kg ginger. All laying hens had similar average daily feed intake, average egg weight, egg shape index and egg yolk. However, as compared with those of the control treatment, laying hens supplemented with SA, SM and ginger had an improved (P<0.05) laying rate, egg mass and Haugh units and increased (P<0.05) activity of superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity, but reduced (P<0.05) malondialdehyde content in serum. Laying hens supplemented with SA and ginger had increased (P<0.05) eggshell thickness, and supplementation of ginger improved (P<0.05) egg yolk colour compared with control birds. Laying hens supplemented with BHT had higher (P<0.05) laying rate, egg mass, Haugh units and SOD activity, and lower (P<0.05) MDA content than those in the control group. Dietary supplementation of SA, SM and ginger could improve laying performance, serum antioxidant status and egg quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive diseases have been a great threat in large animal herds. Before induction of western medicines, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that is based on the use of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and other forms of therapy has been practiced in China for thousands of years. The foundational text of Chinese medicine dated back to 5th century to 3rd century BCE, humans in China began developing the TCM therapy by maintaining normal homeostasis and body functions. Traditional Chinese medicine prophylaxis is a very different strategy from that of the western medicine, targeting the balance of the diseased animals as compared to the single lesion. Traditional Chinese medicine was also applied to cure ruminant's reproductive disorders such as infertility, abortion and retained placenta. With the increasing concerns of the antibiotic resistance and drug abuse happened, TCM has acquired re-recognition as compared to western medicines due to eco-friendly consumer-driven developments and less residue in food chains. More importantly, a growing number of active substances or extracts with the reliable efficacy are being identified, meanwhile, the quality control measures are satisfied in the large-scale production already. However, few TCM is recognized to be used internationally as the popular human medication. Even less TCM is prescribed legally to animal industry due to poor understanding TCM philosophy and lack of the right guidelines of the registration. This summary aims to elucidate the TCM application in the treatment of the reproductive disorder in large animals and offer alternative strategies for prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article describes a novel aperture-coupled feed, for the excitation of a cavity-backed quad-slot antenna with circular polarization. Firstly, a quad-slot cavity-backed antenna with linear polarization (LP) is proposed. Then, a novel aperture-coupled feed, which is composed of a cross-shaped coupling aperture and a T-shaped feeding microstrip line, will be applied to this LP antenna. By differing the lengths of the four radiation slots together with the novel aperture-coupled feed, 90° phase difference and equal magnitude between the radiations from the two pairs of slots can be generated. As a result, a good performance of axial ratio will be achieved for the proposed antenna. A prototype is fabricated at Ka band for a demonstration. Investigations show that the antenna can present a minimum axial ratio (AR) of only about 0.37 dB, as well as a fractional AR bandwidth of about 0.94%. A relative high gain of 6.9 dBic at 32.1 GHz is also achieved for the prototype. The proposed substrate integrated cavity backed antenna with circularly polarization has great potential to be integrated into millimeter-wave transceiver modules. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:588-594, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locating ultracool companions to M dwarfs is important for constraining low-mass formation models, the measurement of substellar dynamical masses and radii, and for testing ultracool evolutionary models. We present an optimized method for identifying M dwarfs which may have unresolved ultracool companions. We construct a catalogue of 440 694 M dwarf candidates, from Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, Two Micron All-Sky Survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, based on optical- and near-infrared colours and reduced proper motion. With strict reddening, photometric and quality constraints we isolate a subsample of 36 898 M dwarfs and search for possible mid-infrared M dwarf + ultracool dwarf candidates by comparing M dwarfs which have similar optical/near-infrared colours (chosen for their sensitivity to effective temperature and metallicity). We present 1082 M dwarf + ultracool dwarf candidates for follow-up. Using simulated ultracool dwarf companions to M dwarfs, we estimate that the occurrence of unresolved ultracool companions amongst our M dwarf + ultracool dwarf candidates should be at least four times the average for our full M dwarf catalogue. We discuss possible contamination and bias and predict yields of candidates based on our simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the Meissner effect of Mg-doped InN film with superconducting transition onset temperature Tc,onset of 5 K. Mg-doped InN is magnetically ordered and exhibits a simultaneous first-order magnetic and electric transition near 50 K. Its behavior is similar to that of iron-based superconductors. A strong correlation is proposed to exist between structural distortion and superconductivity when Mg is doped into InN. The suppression of magnetic ordering close to Tc by doping is further demonstrated by anisotropic magnetoresistance and M-H measurements. The findings suggest that the superconducting mechanism in the system may not be conventional BCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of pozzolanic reaction and active ion dissolution of fly ash in different concentrations of Ca(OH)2 solution dissolving in 48 hours. The active ion concentration and conductivity of filtrate were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and conductivity metre. The micromorphology of residue in different dissolving times was analysed by field emission transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate the following: (a) the fly ash has pozzolanic activity and it has similar variation of active Al3+, Fe3+, Si4+ ion concentration in 1 mol L−1 Ca(OH)2 solutions compared with 0·1 mol L−1 Ca(OH)2 solutions with an increase in dissolving time: the concentration of Al3+, Si4+ ions appears to have two peaks at 6 and 24 hours, whereas Fe3+ ion concentration appears declining. (b) Conductivity of 1 and 0·1 mol L−1 fly ash-Ca(OH)2 solution shows decreasing tendency, the degree of pozzolanic reaction in 1 mol L−1 Ca(OH)2 solution appears to be higher than in 0·1 mol L−1 Ca(OH)2 solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whey fermented liquid (WFL) was studied for its hepatoprotective effects by using chronic alcohol-induced mice. Whey fermented liquid, prepared by inoculating whey with 4% (vol/vol) Lactobacillus casei and then incubating at 41°C for 8 h, was used to orally treat alcohol-induced mice at 3 dosages for 5 wk. Ethanol consumption significantly reduced the activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, while lowering glutathione content and increasing levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, total triglyceride, malondialdehyde, and cytochrome P450 2E1. Treatment with WFL significantly attenuated the increased levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, triglyceride, and cytochrome P450 2E1, while decreasing superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, malondialdehyde, and glutathione levels. Pathological changes in the livers of mice who had ingested alcohol were improved by the administration of WFL. These results suggest that WFL may exert a protective effect against alcoholic liver disease by increasing antioxidant activity, which supports the use of WFL as an antialcoholic liver disease treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]