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Optimal intestinal health and functionality are essential for animal health and performance, and simultaneously intestinal nutrient transporters and intestinal peptides are also involved in appetite and feed intake control mechanisms. Given the potential of essential oil (EO) in improving animal performance and improving feed palatability, we hypothesized that dietary supplementation of cinnamaldehyde and carvacrol could improve performance and appetite of nursery pigs by modulating intestinal health and microbiota. Cinnamaldehyde (100 mg/kg), carvacrol (100 mg/kg), and their mixtures (including 50 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde and 50 mg/kg carvacrol) were supplemented into the diets of 240 nursery pigs for 42 d, and data related to performance were measured. Thereafter, the influence of EO on intestinal health, appetite and gut microbiota and their correlations were explored. EO supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the body weight, average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of piglets, and reduced (P < 0.05) diarrhea rates in nursery pigs. Furthermore, EO increased (P < 0.05) the intestinal absorption area and the abundance of tight junction proteins, and decreased (P < 0.05) intestinal permeability and local inflammation. In terms of intestinal development and the mucus barrier, EO promoted intestinal development and increased (P < 0.05) the number of goblet cells. Additionally, we found that piglets in the EO-supplemented group had upregulated (P < 0.05) levels of transporters and digestive enzymes in the intestine, which were significantly associated with daily gain and feed utilization. In addition, EO supplementation somewhat improved appetite in nursery pigs, increased the diversity of the gut microbiome and the abundance of beneficial bacteria, and there was a correlation between altered bacterial structure and appetite-related hormones. These findings indicate that EO is effective in promoting growth performance and nutrient absorption as well as in regulating appetite by improving intestinal health and bacterial structure.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disease characterized by Parkinsonism, ataxia, and autonomic nervous failure. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is the main feature of central vascular autonomic failure in MSA. The study aimed elucidate the effects of OH on cognitive function, disease milestones, and survival. A total of 444 patients with clinically established MSA were enrolled. Mild and severe OH were defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP)/diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >20/10 mmHg and SBP/DBP ≥30/15 mmHg, respectively. In this study, 215 MSA patients presented without OH, 88 had mild OH, and 141 had severe OH. The proportion of MSA-C in the severe OH subgroup was significantly higher than that in the subgroup without OH (95/46 vs. 113/102, p = 0.021). The UMSARS I score and the frequency of supine hypertension (SH) in patients with OH were significantly higher than those in patients without OH (16.22 vs. 16.89 vs. 14.60, p < 0.001; 77/64 vs. 29/59 vs. 32/183, p < 0.001). Factors related to the severity of OH included sex (OR, 0.65; p = 0.031), onset age (OR, 0.98; p = 0.029), and SH (OR, 0.21; p < 0.001). The median survival time of patients with severe OH was significantly lower than that of patients without OH (6.79 vs. 8.13 years, p = 0.001). Consistently, Cox survival analysis found that compared with patients without OH, patients with severe OH had a significantly increased risk of death (OR, 2.22; p < 0.001). Our large cohort study of MSA provides additional evidence for the negative impact of severe OH on survival.

Intrinsic disorder is instrumental for a wide range of protein functions, and its analysis, using computational predictions from primary structures, complements secondary and tertiary structure-based approaches. In this Tutorial, we provide an overview and comparison of 23 publicly available computational tools with complementary parameters useful for intrinsic disorder prediction, partly relying on results from the Critical Assessment of protein Intrinsic Disorder prediction experiment. We consider factors such as accuracy, runtime, availability and the need for functional insights. The selected tools are available as web servers and downloadable programs, offer state-of-the-art predictions and can be used in a high-throughput manner. We provide examples and instructions for the selected tools to illustrate practical aspects related to the submission, collection and interpretation of predictions, as well as the timing and their limitations. We highlight two predictors for intrinsically disordered proteins, flDPnn as accurate and fast and IUPred as very fast and moderately accurate, while suggesting ANCHOR2 and MoRFchibi as two of the best-performing predictors for intrinsically disordered region binding. We link these tools to additional resources, including databases of predictions and web servers that integrate multiple predictive methods. Altogether, this Tutorial provides a hands-on guide to comparatively evaluating multiple predictors, submitting and collecting their own predictions, and reading and interpreting results. It is suitable for experimentalists and computational biologists interested in accurately and conveniently identifying intrinsic disorder, facilitating the functional characterization of the rapidly growing collections of protein sequences.

Homozygous missense variants in PTRHD1have been identified to cause parkinsonism by segregation analysis in families. Further replication in the Parkinson’s disease (PD) population might provide additional insight. Here, we analyzed the rare variants in a Chinese PD cohort (Ncase = 1367, Ncontrol = 3298) with whole exome sequencing. We did not identify the variants described in previous studies, and no patient carried other homozygous or compound heterozygous variants of PTRHD1. Three rare variants were identified, but rare variants of PTRHD1were not enriched in PD. Genetic screening suggested rare variants of PTRHD1as disease cause were rare in PD in East Asians.

The hexagonal to orthorhombic (HO) transformation from β-Ni3Sn2(hexagonal) phase to α’-Ni3Sn2(orthorhombic) phase was confirmed in directionally solidified Sn–Ni peritectic alloys. It is shown that the remelting/resolidification process which is caused by both the temperature gradient zone melting (TGZM) and Gibbs−Thomson (G−T) effects can take place on secondary dendrites. Besides, the intersection angle between the primary dendrite stem and secondary branch (θ) is found to increase from π/3 to π/2 as the solidification proceeds. This is the morphological feature of the HO transformation, which can change the diffusion distance of the remelting/ resolidification process. Thus, a diffusion-based analytical model is established to describe this process through the specific surface area (SV) of dendrites. The theoretical prediction demonstrates that the remelting/resolidification process is restricted when the HO transformation occurs during peritectic solidification. In addition, the slope of the prediction curves is changed, indicating the variation of the local remelting/resolidification rates.

BackgroundA large number of new causative and risk genes for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been identified mostly in patients of European ancestry. In contrast, we know relatively little regarding the genetics of ALS in other ethnic populations. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the genetics of ALS in an unprecedented large cohort of Chinese mainland population and correlate with the clinical features of rare variants carriers.MethodsA total of 1587 patients, including 64 familial ALS (FALS) and 1523 sporadic ALS (SALS), and 1866 in-house controls were analysed by whole-exome sequencing and/or testing for G4C2 repeats in C9orf72. Forty-one ALS-associated genes were analysed.Findings155 patients, including 26 (40.6%) FALS and 129 (8.5%) SALS, carrying rare pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants of ALS causative genes were identified. SOD1was the most common mutated gene, followed by C9orf72, FUS, NEK1, TARDBPand TBK1. By burden analysis, rare variants in SOD1, FUSand TARDBPcontributed to the collective risk for ALS (p<2.5e-6) at the gene level, but at the allelic level TARDBPp.Gly294Val and FUSp.Arg521Cys and p.Arg521His were the most important single variants causing ALS. Clinically, P/LP variants in TARDBPand C9orf72were associated with poor prognosis, in FUSlinked with younger age of onset, and C9orf72repeats tended to affect cognition.ConclusionsOur data provide essential information for understanding the genetic and clinical features of ALS in China and for optimal design of genetic testing and evaluation of disease prognosis.

Genetic studies have indicated that variants in several lysosomal genes are risk factors for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the role of lysosomal genes in PD in Asian populations is largely unknown. This study aimed to analyze rare variants in lysosomal related genes in Chinese population with early-onset and familial PD. In total, 1,136 participants, including 536 and 600 patients with sporadic early-onset PD (SEOPD) and familial PD, respectively, underwent whole-exome sequencing to assess the genetic etiology. Rare variants in PD were investigated in 67 candidate lysosomal related genes (LRGs), including 15 lysosomal function-related genes and 52 lysosomal storage disorder genes. Compared with the autosomal dominant PD (ADPD) or SEOPD cohorts, a much higher proportion of patients with multiple rare damaging variants of LRGs were found in the autosomal recessive PD (ARPD) cohort. At a gene level, rare damaging variants in GBAand MAN2B1were enriched in PD, but in SCARB2, MCOLN1, LYST, VPS16, and VPS13Cwere much less in patients. At an allele level, GBAp. Leu483Pro was found to increase the risk of PD. Genotype-phenotype correlation showed no significance in the clinical features among patients carrying a discrepant number of rare variants in LRGs. Our study suggests rare variants in LRGs might be more important in the pathogenicity of ARPD cases compared with ADPD or SEOPD. We further confirm rare variants in GBAare involve in PD pathogenecity and other genes associated with PD identified in this study should be supported with more evidence.

Based on the self-made new iron–carbon micro-electrolytic packing, a composite packing was developed, coupled with a membrane bioreactor, and the simulation of low C/N urban sewage was used as the research object. Use anaerobic aerobic bioreactor, adopt intermittent cultivation, and then continuous cultivation, control hydraulic retention time (HRT) to 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 h by adjusting influent, PH of influent is 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, and 8.0. The high-efficiency start-up effect and optimized phosphorus removal characteristics of the composite-filled bioreactor were investigated. The results show that the intermittent start-up and continuous cultivation method can reduce the start-up time to 30 d, the film hanging effect is good; when the water inlet HRT = 7, PH = 7.5 ± 0.1, the total phosphorus removal rate reached 90.1%; biological phase observation, and scanning electron microscopy chart showed that iron–carbon micro-electrolytic materials have no segregation and passivation; comparison test it is proved that the composite filler reactor removes total phosphorus through iron–carbon micro-electrochemical physicochemical phosphorus removal and biological phosphorus removal, and the composite filler physical and chemical phosphorus removal plays a leading role in phosphorus removal.

AbstractWhile studies on pathological protein aggregation are largely limited to neurodegenerative disease, emerging evidence suggests that other diseases are also associated with pathogenic protein aggregation. For example, tumor suppressor protein p53, and its mutant conformers, undergo protein aggregation, exacerbating the cancer phenotype. These findings raise the possibility that inactivation of tumor suppressors via protein aggregation may participate in cancer and other disease pathologies. Since tumor suppressor protein PTEN has similar functions to p53, and is mutated in multiple diseases, we examined the aggregation propensity of PTEN wild-type and 1523 clinically relevant PTEN mutants. Applying computational tools to PTEN mutation databases revealed that PTEN wild-type protein can aggregate under physiological conditions, and 274 distinct PTEN mutants had increased aggregation propensity. To understand the mechanism underlying PTEN conformer aggregation, we analyzed the physicochemical properties of these 274 PTEN mutants and defined their aggregation potential. We conclude that increased aggregation propensity of select PTEN mutants may contribute to disease phenotypes. Our studies have built the foundation for interrogating the aggregation potential of these select mutants in cancers and in PTENopathies. Elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms associated with aggregation-prone PTEN conformers will aid in developing therapies that target PTEN-aggregates in multiple diseases.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Background: Recently, several rare variants of SPTLC1were identified as disease cause for juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by disrupting the normal homeostatic regulation of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT). However, further exploration of the rare variants in large cohorts was still necessary. Meanwhile, SPTLC2plays a similar role as SPTLC1in the SPT function. Methods: To explore the genetic role of SPTLC1and SPTLC2in ALS, we analyzed the rare protein-coding variants in 2011 patients with ALS and 3298 controls from the Chinese population with whole exome sequencing. Fisher’s exact test was performed between each variant and disease risk, while at gene level over-representation of rare variants in patients was examined with optimized sequence kernel association test (SKAT-O). Results: Totally 33 rare variants with minor allele frequency &lt; 0.01 were identified, including 17 in SPTLC1and 16 in SPTLC2. One adult-onset patient carried the variant p.E406K (SPTLC1) which was reported in previous study. Additionally, three adult-onset patients carried variants in the same amino acids as the variants identified in previous studies (p.Y509C, p.S331T, and p.R239Q in SPTLC1). At gene level, rare variants of SPTLC1and STPLC2were not enriched in patients. Conclusion: These results broadened the variant spectrum of SPTLC1and SPTLC2in ALS, and paved the way for future research. Further replication was still needed to explore the genetic role of SPTLC1in ALS.

Background: Recently, several rare variants of TP73were identified as potential disease cause for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the European population. However, further replication was still necessary, especially in cohorts with different ethnic backgrounds. Methods: To explore the genetic role of TP73in ALS in the Asian population, we analyzed the rare protein-coding variants in 2011 patients with ALS and 3298 controls with whole-exome sequencing. Fisher’s exact test was performed between each variant and disease risk, while at gene level over-representation of rare variants in patients was examined with optimized sequence kernel association test. Results: Totally 24 rare variants with minor allele frequency &lt; 0.01 were identified, among which nine were absent in controls. One variant p.P335T was previously reported, and another three variants were in the same amino acids as the variants reported in previous studies (p.R36Q, p.R414Q, p.R78C). At gene level, rare variants of TP73were not enriched in patients. Conclusions: Our findings did not support the genetic role of TP73in ALS in the Chinese population. Replication of specific variants identified in patients from different cohorts might provide additional insight. The current results also broadened the mutation spectrum of TP73and paved the way for further research.

Oceanic whitecaps, as a manifestation of the wind‐wave breaking process and the medium of air‐sea exchange, play an important role in sea surface research. The observational data of oceanic whitecap coverage are generally in situ photographs or videos. The use of spaceborne optical sensors to capture oceanic whitecaps could provide more spatial distribution and dynamic marine environment information. In this study, more than 100 Sentinel‐2 Multi‐Spectral Instrument (MSI) images and corresponding synchronous buoy wind speed data were collected to investigate oceanic whitecaps. A curvature image processing method was employed to successfully identify oceanic whitecaps in MSI images and the whitecap coverage was estimated based on the whitecap recognition results. We established a power‐law model of MSI‐estimated whitecap coverage (W) and whitecap number density with buoy‐measured wind speed at a height of 10 m above the sea surface (U10). In addition, the differences between the MSI‐derived model and in situ measurement‐derived models which are mainly caused by the scale effect of optical remote sensing, are discussed. The whitecap‐wind model demonstrates that MSI images can improve the quantification of sea surface wind speed with high spatial resolution. MSI images were used to estimate regional high‐spatial resolution (4 km) wind speeds, and the merged results (0.25°) were verified with the hourly wind products of the fifth generation European ECMWF (Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts) atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5). Moreover, the influence of sunglint on whitecap recognition and whitecap coverage was also analyzed. The reflectance of whitecap‐affected pixels in MSI images increased obviously with wind speed compared with background seawater in weak sunglint reflection area. These results indicated that the parameters of oceanic whitecaps derived from high‐spatial resolution optical images can be used to estimate wind speed and provide a new approach for monitoring marine dynamic environments in the future. Oceanic whitecaps are generated by wave breaking, which can be observed both in the field and from space. Here, we characterize whitecaps using high‐resolution Sentinel‐2 Multi‐Spectral Instrument (MSI) images and buoy‐based wind measurements. The effect of wind speed on satellite data‐derived whitecap coverage, whitecap number density, and reflectance of whitecap‐affected pixels was investigated in depth. MSI‐derived whitecap coverage and number density are both strongly correlated to wind speed, which also affects the whitecap strength or magnitude of the reflectance. In turn, MSI‐derived whitecaps can be used to estimate high‐ resolution (4 km) wind speeds with high accuracy, as confirmed by buoy measurements. Although the accuracy of the whitecap extraction is affected by sunglint and some uncertainties in the estimated wind speed are mainly caused by the scale effect of remote sensing, the study shows promise of high‐resolution optical images in monitoring sea surface winds. A remote sensing method is developed to characterize oceanic whitecaps from Sentinel‐2 Multi‐Spectral Instrument imageryWhitecap coverage, number density, and strength are all related to surface windsRemote sensed whitecaps can be used to estimate high‐resolution surface winds A remote sensing method is developed to characterize oceanic whitecaps from Sentinel‐2 Multi‐Spectral Instrument imagery Whitecap coverage, number density, and strength are all related to surface winds Remote sensed whitecaps can be used to estimate high‐resolution surface winds

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of drinking water alkaline mineral complex (AMC) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, inflammatory response, immunity, antioxidant defense system, and barrier functions in weaned piglets. In a 15-d trial, 240 weaned piglets (9.35 ± 0.86 kg) at 28 d of age (large white × landrace × Duroc) were randomly divided into two groups: the control (Con) group and the AMC group. Drinking water AMC supplementation improved (P< 0.01) final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) in weaned piglets compared to the Con group. Importantly, AMC reduced (P< 0.01) the feed-to-gain (F:G) ratio. AMC water improved the physical health conditions of piglets under weaning stress, as reflected by the decreased (P< 0.05) hair score and conjunctival score. Moreover, there was no significant (P> 0.05) difference in relatively small intestinal length, organ (liver, spleen, and kidney) indices, or gastrointestinal pH value in weaned piglets between the two groups. Of note, AMC significantly promoted the microvilli numbers in the small intestine and effectively ameliorated the gut morphology damage induced by weaning stress, as evidenced by the increased (P< 0.05) villous height (VH) and ratio of VH to crypt depth. Additionally, AMC lessened the levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, P< 0.01) and the contents of IL1β (P<0.05), and TNF-α (P<0.05) in the weaned piglet small intestine. Conversely, the gut immune barrier marker, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels in serum and small intestine mucosa were elevated after AMC water treatment (P< 0.01). Furthermore, AMC elevated the antioxidant mRNA levels of (P< 0.05) SOD 1-2, (P< 0.01) CAT, and (P< 0.01) GPX 1-2 in the small intestine. Likewise, the mRNA levels of the small intestine tight junction factors Occludin (P< 0.01), ZO-1 (P< 0.05), Claudin 2 (P< 0.01), and Claudin 5 (P<0.01) in the AMC treatment group were notably higher than those in the Con group. In conclusion, drinking water AMC supplementation has an accelerative effect on growth performance by elevating gut health by improving intestinal morphology, the inflammatory response, the antioxidant defense system, and barrier function in weaned piglets.The results of this study provide a new strategy for alleviating weaning stress and elevating the growth rate of weaned piglets and highlight the application potential of drinking water alkaline mineral complex supplementation in swine production.The piglet suffers vital physiological, environmental, and social challenges when it is weaned from the sow that can predispose the piglet to subsequent diseases and other production losses, and these challenges are responsible for serious economic losses to the swine industry. Weaning stress induces intestinal injury, decreased immunity, and digestive system dysfunction, which then reduces feed intake and inhibits the growth performance of piglets. It is well known that alternatives to antibiotics for preventing weaning stress in weaned farm animals are sorely needed. The biologically beneficial effects of alkaline mineral water are widely reported. Alkaline mineral complex (AMC), as an immunomodulator, is considered to have antistress effects in the swine industry. In addition, treatment through drinking water is considered to be an efficient and low-cost feasible disease control strategy. Drinking water AMC supplementation is expected to exert health benefits in pigs; however, the responses of weaned piglets to water supplemented with AMC have not been fully explored. Thus, this study explored the effects of drinking water AMC supplementation on growth performance and gut health in weaned piglets. Our results showed that AMC water supplementation conspicuously enhanced the growth performance by improving the gut health.

A narrowing channel rotiform carrier was designed and applied to treat rural domestic sewage. The performance of the carrier on carbon and nitrogen removal during start-up and under difference dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations were studied through numerical simulation and experiment. The microbial community structure and evolution on biofilms were studied by high-throughput sequencing. And the impact of carrier structure on biofilm morphology and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification was analyzed. The channel of the carrier facilitated the irreversible attachment of the microbe, which provided the reactor with a start-up period within ten days. Under the DO concentration of 1.7–2.3 mg/L, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN) removal rates of the carrier were higher than 88.4% and 67.8%, respectively. Both the experimental and sequencing results proved that simultaneous nitrification and denitrification occurred in the reactor, with Flavobacteriumand Hydrogenophagaas the key genera for denitrification. A filamentous biofilm which is rarely reported grew on the outer edge of the carrier, and its consumption of dissolved oxygen may be the main reason for the growth of denitrifying bacteria in the channel.

In the modern poultry industry, newly hatched chicks are unavoidably transported from the hatching to the rearing foster. Stress caused by multiple physical and psychological stressors during transportation is particularly harmful to the liver. Astragaluspolysaccharide (APS) possesses multiple benefits against hepatic metabolic disorders. Given that transport stress could disturb hepatic glucolipid metabolism and the role of APS in metabolic regulation, we speculated that APS could antagonize transport stress-induced disorder of hepatic glucolipid metabolism. Firstly, newly hatched chicks were transported for 0, 2, 4, and 8 h, respectively. Subsequently, to further investigate the effects of APS on transport stress-induced hepatic glucolipid metabolism disturbance, chicks were pretreated with water or APS and then subjected to transport treatment. Our study suggested that APS could relieve transport stress-induced lipid deposition in liver. Meanwhile, transport stress also induced disturbances in glucose metabolism, reflected by augmented mRNA expression of key molecules in gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. Surprisingly, APS could simultaneously alleviate these alterations via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α)/Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)/AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. Moreover, APS treatment regulated the level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), thereby alleviating transport stress-induced alterations of VLDL synthesis, cholesterol metabolism, lipid oxidation, synthesis, and transport-related molecules. These findings indicated that APS could prevent the potential against transport stress-induced hepatic glucolipid metabolism disorders via PGC-1α/SIRT1/AMPK/PPARα/PPARγ signaling system.Transport stress is harmful to the liver and could disrupt hepatic glucolipid metabolism homeostasis. Astragaluspolysaccharide (APS) may be a potential feed addition to antagonize the transport stress-induced hepatic glucolipid disorders in chicks through modulation of serum stress levels, lipid metabolism, gluconeogenesis, and glycogenolysis.In the modern poultry industry, newly hatched chicks are unavoidably transported from the hatching to the rearing foster. During transportation, chicks are frequently subjected to various physical and psychological stressors, which can lead to alterations in blood composition, hormones, metabolites, enzymes, and behavior. These alterations adversely affect animal health and welfare. Stress caused by transportation is especially harmful to liver, which can cause significant effects on liver function, and disturb hepatic lipid metabolism and glucose metabolic. The current study demonstrated that Astragaluspolysaccharide (APS) possesses multiple benefits against hepatic metabolic disorders. Administration of APS to chicks before transport could prevent transport-induced stress and hepatic glucolipid metabolism disorders.

In order to reveal the law of raw coal seepage at different gas pressures, the gravity constant load seepage experimental system was developed and used. The law of raw coal seepage at different gas pressures with He, N2and CO2was investigated. The results show that, in a given state of stress during the experiment, with the increase of gas pressure, the permeability of raw coal sample prone to outburst exhibits a significantly decrease, and then exhibits an increasing trend when reaching the extreme point. The law of Klingberg coefficient related to the stress state and the gas adsorption properties was also obtained. Under the same experimental conditions, the Klingberg coefficient of He is greater than that of N2; and the Klingberg coefficient of CO2has minimum value; so the stronger the gas adsorption is, the smaller the Klingberg coefficient of gas goes. Klinkenberg coefficient decreases with the increase of effective stress. Under the same conditions, the permeability of He is greater than that of N2; the permeability of CO2has minimum value; so the stronger the gas adsorption is, the lower the permeability of the coal sample goes. The results have important significance in revealing the mechanism of gas seepage, predicting coal mine gas disaster, and gas drainage and safety production.

In order to promote the efficiency of actual hydropower system operation under limited inflow forecast, an Implicit Stochastic Optimization method using Support Vector Machine (SVM) theory is proposed in this paper to derive long-term optimal operating rules. By applying the model to the Jinsha-Yangtze river system which is the largest hydropower base in China, fitting performance of operating rules is explained and evaluated. System simulation results are given and compared to deterministic optimal operation. Power output processes comparison shows that the average annual system power generation in two scenarios are 395TWh and 392TWh, and the overall operation processes are in well accordance with explicable inconsistency, which proves the efficiency of SVM in operating rules derivation for hydropower stations.

Protein complexes play important roles in integrating individual gene products to perform useful cellular functions. The increasing mount of protein-protein interaction (PPI) data has enabled us to predict protein complexes. In spite of the advances in these computational approaches and experimental techniques, it is impossible to construct an absolutely reliable PPI network. Taking into account the reliability of interactions in the PPI network, we have constructed a weighted protein-protein interaction (WPPI) network, in which the reliability of each interaction is represented as a weight using the topology of the PPI network. As overlaps are likely to have biological importance, we proposed a novel method named WN-PC (weighted network-based method for predicting protein complexes) to predict overlapping protein complexes on the WPPI network. The proposed algorithm predicts neighborhood graphs with an aggregation coefficient over a threshold as candidate complexes, and binds attachment proteins to candidate complexes. Finally, we have filtered redundant complexes which overlap other complexes to a very high extent in comparison to their density and size. A comprehensive comparison between competitive algorithms and our WN-PC method has been made in terms of the F-measure, coverage rate, and P-value. We have applied WN-PC to two different yeast PPI data sets, one of which is a huge PPI network consisting of over 6000 proteins and 200 000 interactions. Experimental results show that WN-PC outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. We think that our research may be helpful for other applications in PPI networks.

The fire protection method of steel space truss structures was researched. Fire protection methods of steel structures were listed. For steel space truss structures, the advantages and disadvantages of fire protection methods were introduced. The screen method was suitable for fire protection of steel space truss structures. One project of fire protection of steel space truss structure was shown as an example. The process of screen method was provided for fire protection of steel space truss structures. According to this project, the technology of fire protection of steel space truss structures was enriched. The research results could help to deal with fire protection of steel space truss structures.

Shear strength and stiffness of fire-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams were researched. The nonlinear finite element method (FEM) was developed to simulate shear strength of fire-damaged RC beams. Considering mechanical properties deterioration of concrete and steel reinforcing bar, the parameters of fire-damaged RC beams, including fire exposure time, shear span to depth ratios, concrete strength, diameters of stirrups and spacing of stirrups, were analyzed. Based on numerical analysis, the change of shear strength and stiffness of fire-damaged RC beams were identified. The results showed that shear strength and stiffness of fire-damaged RC beams changed under different parameters. With increase of fire exposure time or increase of shear span to depth ratio or decrease of concrete strength, shear strength and stiffness of fire-damaged RC beams descended obviously. With decrease of diameters of stirrups or increase of spacing of stirrups, shear strength of fire-damaged RC beams descended gradually, but stiffness of fire-damaged RC beams had little change.

1144 sample points were collected using PXRF from an area of 99 square kilometers soil area Zhehai town Huizhe county of Yunnan province to acquire their concentrations and possible sources, and characterize their spatial variability for risk assessment. SPSS16.0 was used to deal the raw date and eliminate the outfits and perform Multivariate analysis (correlation matrix, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis). It discriminate distinct groups of heavy metals. From the Range of the semi-variorum models, it obtained elements spatial structure and the contamination resource caused mainly by natural resource or anthropogenic activities. The result of risk assessment attained the percentage of pollution accounts for whole investigate region, which provides the reference to deal with the soil pollution.

Abstract: In this paper, we propose the principle, methods and calculating formulas for determining the certainty factors of earthquake precursory anomaly evidences CF(E). Based on the guidebooks for earthquake prediction, we give the methods of determining the CF values of 22 evidences (including seismic gap, belt,b-value,c-value, velocity ratio, strengthen of anomalous activities, quiet of anomalous activities, seismic window, earthquake swarm, earthquake sequence, coda wave, initial motion of P wave, stress drop, geoelectricity, geomagnetism, stress, ground tilt, ground water level, radon and hydrochemistry, gravity, space environment and macroscopic anomalies), and show three examples. The purposes are to use the Expert System for Earthquake Prediction (ESEP) further.

An 18-year-old man presented with recurrent lethargy without triggers for 6 months. Neurologic examinations showed bilateral pyramidal signs. Brain MRI showed bilateral symmetric lesions in the cingulate cortex (figure, A and B). Adult-onset type II citrullinemia was confirmed by hyperammonemia, citrullinemia, and the mutation of the SLC25A13gene.1He was treated with low-carbohydrate diets, arginine, and sodium pyruvate but the treatment failed. Finally, the patient underwent liver transplantation, and the symptoms and signs recovered dramatically 2 weeks later. A repeat brain MRI showed the previous lesions nearly resolved (figure, C and D).

Objectives. To explore the clinical correlates of nonmotor symptoms (NMS) in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and their differences from healthy controls and patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods. Twenty-seven PSP patients, 27 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC), and 27 age- and gender-matched PD patients were included for this case-control study. NMS were assessed using the Nonmotor Symptoms Scale (NMSS, including 9 domains). Results. All PSP patients reported NMS. The frequency and severity of “sleep/fatigue,” “mood/apathy,” “attention/memory,” “gastrointestinal,” “sexual dysfunction,” and “miscellaneous” domains in PSP group were significantly higher than those in HC group (P<0.05). The frequency of “mood/apathy,” “attention/memory,” and “sexual dysfunction” domains and the severity of “attention/memory” and “gastrointestinal” domains in PSP group were significantly higher than those in PD group (P<0.05). The “attention/memory” domain in PSP had a significant but weak-to-moderate correlation with age (R=0.387, P=0.046) and onset age (R=0.406, P=0.036). Conclusions. NMS are common in PSP patients. Patients with PSP seem to be subjected to more frequent and severe specific NMS compared to healthy aging subjects and PD patients. Older PSP patients and late-onset patients are likely to be subjected to cognitive decline.

Background. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) demonstrated a possible association between cervical dystonia (CD) and a sodium leak channel, nonselective (NALCN) gene. However, the association between NALCN and CD was largely unknown in Asian population. The present study was carried out to examine the associations between the two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1338041 and rs61973742 in the NALCN gene and CD in a Chinese population. Methods. In a cohort of 201 patients with isolated CD, we genotyped the two SNPs rs1338041 and rs61973742 using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). We also included 289 unrelated, age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) from the same region. Result. No significant differences were observed in either the genotype distributions or the minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of the two SNPs between the CD patients and the HCs. There were no significant differences between early-onset and late-onset CD patients, between patients with and without a positive family history of dystonia, or between patients with and without tremor or sensory tricks. Conclusion. Lack of association between the SNPs of NALCN and CD suggests that the SNPs of NALCN do not play a role in CD in a Chinese population.

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