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Two highly porous metal–organic frameworks are successfully constructed through the assembling of Co/Ni ions and mixed ligands. From the contribution of the uncoordinated tetrazolate N atoms of the ligand the two complexes show high CO2 adsorption capacities, serving as potential CO2 adsorption materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, aluminum nitride ( AlN) ceramics were first prepared by aqueous gelcasting. The effect of various parameters such as concentration of N, N-dimethylacrylamide ( DMAA, as monomers), N, N′-methylenbisacrylamide ( MBAM, as cross-linking agent), ammonium persulfate amount ( APS, as initiator), solid content and polymerization temperature on AlN ceramics was discussed for aqueous gelcasting system. Finally, drying methods of aqueous gelcasting AlN green bodies were investigated. Aqueous gelcasting AlN ceramics, sintered at 1850°C for 4 h, had homogeneous grain size and little grain boundary phase, and the relative density, flexural strength and thermal conductivity of aqueous gelcasting AlN ceramics were 99.9%, 333(±10) MPa, 136(±9) W/(m·K), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

4-{(R)-(3-Aminophenyl)[4-(4-fluorobenzyl)-piperazin-1-yl]methyl}-N,N-diethylbenzamide (AZD2327) is a highly potent and selective agonist of the δ-opioid receptor. AZD2327 and N-deethylated AZD2327 (M1) are substrates of cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A4) and comprise a complex multiple inhibitory system that causes competitive and time-dependent inhibition of CYP3A4. The aim of the current work was to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict quantitatively the magnitude of CYP3A4 mediated drug-drug interaction with midazolam as the substrate. Integrating in silico, in vitro and in vivo PK data, a PBPK model was successfully developed to simulate the clinical accumulation of AZD2327 and its primary metabolite. The inhibition of CYP3A4 by AZD2327, using midazolam as a probe drug, was reasonably predicted. The predicted maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) for midazolam were increased by 1.75 and 2.45-fold, respectively, after multiple dosing of AZD2327, indicating no or low risk for clinically relevant drug-drug interactions (DDI). These results are in agreement with those obtained in a clinical trial with a 1.4 and 1.5-fold increase in Cmax and AUC of midazolam, respectively. In conclusion, this model simulated DDI with less than a two-fold error, indicating that complex clinical DDI associated with multiple mechanisms, pathways and inhibitors (parent and metabolite) can be predicted using a well-developed PBPK model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions between dust and plasma-facing material (PFM) relate to the lifetime of PFM and impurity production. Series results have been obtained theoretically and experimentally but more detailed studies are needed. In present research, we investigate the evolution of kinetic, potential and total energy of plasma-facing material (PFM) in order to understand the dust/PFM interaction process. Three typical impacting energy are selected, i.e., 1, 10 and 100 keV/dust for low-, high- and hyper-energy impacting cases. For low impacting energy, dust particles stick on PFM surface without damaging it. Two typical time points exist and the temperature of PFM grows all the time but PFM structure experience a modifying process. Under high energy case, three typical points appear. The temperature curve fluctuates in the whole interaction process which indicates there are dust/PFM and kinetic/potential energy exchanges. In the hyper-energy case in present simulation, the violence dust/PFM interactions cause sputtering and crater investigating on energy evolution curves. We further propose the statistics of energy distribution. Results show that about half of impacting energy consumes on heating plasma-facing material meanwhile the other half on PFM structure deformation. Only a small proportion becomes kinetic energy of interstitial or sputtering atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of benzoyl diarylamine/ether derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their activity against human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) in MT-4 cells. Three compounds ( 3b, 5a, and 6a1) exhibited moderate activities against wild-type (wt) HIV-1 with EC50 values ranging from 11 to 56 μ m. Among them, compound 5a was the most potent inhibitor with a novel chemical skeleton, affording a new lead compound for further molecular optimization. An enzyme assay was also implemented to confirm the binding target of the active compounds represented by 6a1. Molecular simulation studies on compound 5a, 6a1, and 7a4 were carried out to understand their binding mode with wt HIV-1 reverse transcriptase ( RT) and provided useful information for further rational design of NNRTIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schisandra chinensis has been used as traditional medicine. The structures of isolate active compounds (schisandrin B, deoxyschisandrin, schisandrin C) from S. chinensis were characterized by physical and spectroscopic analyses. Active compounds were tested for their potential to act as anti-melanogenesis or skin-whitening agents by their abilities to inhibit tyrosinase activity in the cell-free mushroom tyrosinase assay and cellular tyrosinase derived from B16 melanoma cells. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was correlated to the inhibition of melanin productions in a-MSH-stimulated and unstimulated B16 cells. Cellular tyrosinase kinetics were analyzed and showed by Lineweaver- Burk plot. Schisandrin B was minimally cytotoxic (cell viability: 88.99% at 0.75 µM) and the IC value for suppression of mushroom tyrosinase activity was estimated as 0.6 µM. Zymography analysis demonstrated schisandrin B's concentration-dependent effects and the kinetic analysis indicated schisandrin B's noncompetitive-inhibitory action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugar beet pectin/soy glycinin (SBP/SG) double network (DN) gel was synthesized by a two-step enzymatic-induced sequential cross-linking strategy. Laccase and microbial transglutaminase (mTGase) were successively employed to the SBP/SG dispersion, so as to induce the formation of the covalent cross-links among the SBP and SG molecules. Uniaxial compression measurements indicated that the DN gels exhibited greater mechanical toughness than the gels with corresponding single network which was only cross-linked by mTGase. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation demonstrated that the phase separation behavior of the two biopolymers at different length scales resulted in the formation of a highly heterogeneous and hierarchical microstructure in the DN gel. The higher structural complexity and mechanical integrity derived from this architecture might be mainly responsible for the enhancement of the gel toughness. A significant decrease of the gel toughness and the disappearance of the hierarchical microstructure were observed in the DN gel prepared by SG and the modified SBP which was subjected to an acidic protease treatment to remove the protein components in SBP. This suggested that the amphiphilic property and the structural heterogeneity of SBP might be the dominant factor in the formation of the unique microstructure in the enzymatic cross-linked protein/polysaccharide DN gel system. These results suggested that the DN principle could widen the texture range of gel-like foods and offer food industry an attractive strategy for developing hierarchical gel architectures via manipulating complex phase separation behavior of protein and polysaccharide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical properties and fiber morphology of Fargesia fungosa at different culm ages and height portions were investigated. The variations in moisture, ash, SiO2, and toluene-alcohol extractive contents with culm ages were greater than they were with heights. The holocellulose varied neither significantly with age nor with height. The fiber length, width, length-to-width ratio, and wall thickness of F. fungosa increased with culm ages. Meanwhile, the middle portions of culms at all age classes had the highest values of fiber length and width. The lumen diameter decreased, whereas the wall-lumen ratio increased, with increasing bamboo ages and heights. The 3-year-old culms of F. fungosa are suitable for pulp and papermaking based on their fine chemical properties and fiber morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Polidocanol foam (PF), used clinically as a venous sclerosant, has recently been studied as a safe and inexpensive means for permanent contraception. Delivering the sclerosant to the fallopian tubes as a foam rather than a liquid increases the surface areas and thus enhances the desired epithelial disrupting activity of the agent. However, the foam is inherently unstable and degrades with time. Therefore, increasing foam stability and thus duration of the agent exposure time could increase epithelial effect while allowing reduction in agent concentration and potential toxicity. Materials and Methods We studied methods to improve foam properties that might improve safety and efficacy of PF for intrauterine application. Several types of microporous filters adapted to a syringe-based foaming device were used to study the effect of pore structures on the formation of PF. The foam drainage time and bubble size were characterized. The addition of benzalkonium chloride (BZK) to polidocanol was also investigated for its effects on foam characteristics. Results A syringe-based foaming device adapted with an inline filter produced smaller bubble PF with a longer foam drainage time. PF generated with a circular pore filter lasts longer than with a noncircular pore filter. The addition of 0.01% of BZK also improved the stability of PF. Conclusion The stability of PF is affected by the pore characteristics of the filter used for foam generation and enhanced by the presence of a small amount of BZK. The improved foam, if shown to be efficacious in animal models of contraception, could lead to a safe, simple and inexpensive method alternative to surgical contraception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wirries et al. [[1]] have written an interesting paper on the relationship between lateral joint space width (JSW) and later total hip arthroplasty (THA) after arthroscopically arthrotomy for treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Therefore, the success of a joint-preserving mini-open arthrotomy seems to be dependent on the status of the radiological JSW and the intra-operative cartilage status of the lateral edge. Technique". [Extracted from the article]

The isolated subclavian artery is a rare malformation of the aortic arch. Pathophysiologically, as the isolated subclavian artery is connected to the ipsilateral pulmonary artery through the ipsilateral ductus arteriosus and vertebral artery, blood is easily "stolen" from the subclavian artery. [Extracted from the article]

Background: We aimed to assess the value of dose distribution-based dosiomics and planning CT-based radiomics to predict radiation-induced temporal lobe injury (TLI) and guide individualized intensity-modulated radiotherapy.Materials and Methods: A total of 5599 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients were enrolled, including 2503, 1072, 988, and 1036 patients in the training, validation, prospective test, and external test cohorts, respectively. The concordance index (C-index) was used to compare the performance of the radiomics and dosiomics models with that of the QUANTEC and Wen's models. The predicted TLI-free survival rates of redesigned simulated plans with the same dose-volume histogram but different dose distributions for same patient in a cohort of 30 randomly selected patients were compared by the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test.Results: The radiomics and dosiomics signatures were constructed based on 30 selected CT features and 10 selected dose distribution features, respectively, which were important predictors of TLI-free survival (all P<0.001). However, the radiomics signature had a low C-index. The dosiomics risk model combining the dosiomics signature, D1cc, and age had favorable performance, with C-index values of 0.776, 0.811, 0.805, and 0.794 in the training, validation, prospective test, and external test cohorts, respectively, which were better than those of the QUANTEC model and Wen's model (all P<0.001). The dosiomics risk model can further distinguish patients in a same risk category divided by other models (all P<0.05). Conversely, the other models were unable to separate populations classified by the dosiomics risk model (all P>0.05). Two simulated plans with the same dose-volume histogram but different dose distributions had different TLI-free survival rates predicted by dosiomics risk model (all P≤0.002).Conclusion: The dosiomics risk model was superior to traditional models in predicting the risk of TLI. This is a promising approach to precisely predict radiation-induced toxicities and guide individualized intensity-modulated radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anesthesia and surgery can induce perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND). Mitochondrial dysfunction has been proposed to be one of the earliest triggering events in surgery-induced neuronal damage. Dexmedetomidine has been demonstrated to attenuate the impairment of cognition in aged rats induced by surgery in our previous study. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent hepatic apex resection under anesthesia with propofol to clinically mimic human abdominal surgery. The rats were divided into three groups: Control group, Model group and Dexmedetomidine (Dex) group. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Morris water maze (MWM), Open Field Test (OFT)and Novel object recognition task (NOR). Ultrastructural change in neuronal mitochondria was measured by transmission electron microscopy. Mitochondrial function was measured by mitochondrial membrane potential and activities of mitochondrial complexes. Neuronal morphology was observed with H&E staining and the activation of glial cells was observed by immunohistochemistry in the hippocampus. Protein levels were measured by Western blot (WB) and immunofluorescence at 3 and 7 days after surgery. Results: Surgery-induced cognitive decline lasts three days, but not seven days after surgery in the model group. Transmission electron microscope showed the mitochondrial structure damage in the model group, similar changes were not induced in the Dex group. Dexmedetomidine may reverse the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial complex activity. Compared with the Control group, the expression of cytochrome c was significantly increased in model group by Western blot and immunofluorescence on days 3, but not day 7. Rats from the Model group expressed significantly greater levels of Iba-1 and GFAP compared with the Control group and the Dex group. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine appears to reverse surgery-induced behavior, mitigate the higher density of Iba-1 and GFAP, reduce the damage of mitochondrial structure and function by alleviating oxidative stress and protect mitochondrial respiratory chain, thus increasing cytochrome c oxidase (COX) expression and downregulate the expression of cytochrome c protein in the hippocampus of rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multi-objective stratified optimization (MOSO) design for a permanent magnet linear synchronous machine (PMLSM) to obtain higher thrust and suppress the thrust ripple. MOSO can combine the advantages of different optimization methods and have fast and efficient optimization characteristics. Based on the parametric analysis of the influence of the auxiliary tooth size and the end-tooth width on the thrust performance, the sensitive variables are quickly filtered by using the Taguchi method. The response surface model (RSM) is built by adopting the central composite design (CCD) based on the sensitive variables. Moreover, the stratified optimization design of the PMLSM is completed by combining with the multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) to achieve a balance between local and global search. Finally, a prototype is manufactured, and experiments are implemented to verify the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced hierarchical hybrid nanostructures of polar, conductive and catalytic chemical traps/carbon with rationally tailored components, structures, and chemistries are important in determining the performance of lithium-sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Herein we propose a facile strategy to prepare 3D-structured CNF@graphene-CoSe (CNF@G L -CoSe) cable/sheath heterostructure with the in-situ formed CoSe as a catalyst for graphene-like carbon growth and Se as a catalyst promoter. The architecture integrates high electrical conductivity, effective ion transport, notable polysulfide entrapment, and polysulfide redox kinetics, availing lithium/sulfur conversion when applied as an interlayer in a Li–S battery. As expected, the battery delivered a low decay of 0.053% per cycle over 700 cycles at 1 C. The capacity even remained 649.4 and 524.5 mA h g−1 at 4 and 6 C, respectively. Furthermore, an areal capacity of about 3 mA h cm−2 at 0.1 C after long-term tests can still maintain with sulfur loading of 4.5 mg cm−2. A facile effective strategy to prepare 3D-structured CNF@graphene-CoSe cable/sheath heterostructure with the in situ formed CoSe as a catalyst for graphene-like carbon growth and Se as a catalyst promoter, achieving significant enhancement in electrochemical performance of Li–S batteries. [Display omitted] • In situ constructing CNF@graphene-CoSe cable/sheath heterostructure. • CoSe catalyzes the growth of graphene sheath and Se as a catalyst promoter. • Synergism of conductivity, absorption and catalysis. • Enabling excellent performance as an interlayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The pH effect of adhesion force of benzene on graphene is quantitatively studied. • The edge effect of adhesion force is confirmed by experiment. • The potential function method is used to reveal the mechanism of pH effect. • The edge effect is explained by the vdW and electrostatic interaction. Graphene materials, as drug carriers, play an important role in the specific drug delivery system. The drug molecules with aromatic structures can be adsorbed on the surface of graphene in vitro through π-π stacking interaction and released directionally at the lesion under special temperature and pH-value environment. This paper proposes a new experimental method and theoretical model for the purpose to study the effect and mechanism of environmental pH and edge of graphene on the adsorption mechanical properties between graphene and benzene. The experimental results based on atomic force microscope show that the acidic environment is more conducive to the adsorption of benzene on the surface of graphene than the alkaline environment. The adsorption performance of benzene at the center of graphene is better than that at the edge. Moreover, based on experimental results, mechanisms of pH effect and edge effect are revealed by potential function theory. The pH effect is influenced by the change of electrostatic interaction in different pH environments. In addition, edge effect is mainly dominated by van der Waals interaction. This study solves the problem of specific influence mechanism of pH on π-π stacking interaction using mechanical means for the first time, and shows that graphene as a drug carrier has strong pH response characteristics and great application potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current research, the moisture-resistant of Mg-MOF-74 was successfully improved by coating with two-dimensional (2-D) hexagonal boron nitride (h -BN) during the facile hydrothermal synthesis process. Both TEM and SEM results revealed that 2-D h -BN is coated on Mg-MOF-74's surface. The crystal structure, morphology, surface area, thermal stability and CH 4 uptake capacity of Mg-MOF-74 were not drastically influenced by coating with h -BN as examined by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM. Further, the coated Mg-MOF-74 demonstrated better stability than uncoated Mg-MOF-74, when being exposed to high humidity, in terms of surface area and CH 4 uptake capacity. It was observed that the coated Mg-MOF-74 with 1 ​wt % h -BN has reached to 1959 ​m2 ​g−1 surface area and CH 4 uptake capacity of 43 ​cm3 ​g−1 after exposure to high humidity for a duration of 1 month. Thus, this research work has opened a new window towards the improvement of the water stability of Mg-MOF-74. [Display omitted] • The water resistance capacity of Mg-MOF-74 could be improved by coating with two dimensional materials h -BN. • Application of h -BN as coating material of Mg-MOF-74. • h -BN coated Mg-MOF-74 provide high surface area and enhanced CH 4 uptake capacity. • The sample Mg-MOF-74@1 wt.% h -BN exhibited the highest water stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary driver of magmatism, crustal deformation and metallogeny of the North China Craton in the Jurassic remains actively debated, either attributed to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific (i.e., Izanagi) plate in the east or to the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean in the north. This issue is addressed here by examining temporal and spatial variation of the contemporary volcanic rocks (i.e., Tiaojishan Formation) of the Yanshan belt in the northern part of the craton. These rocks are mainly calc-alkaline and intermediate-felsic in composition and show a highly coherent geochemical composition and unradiogenic zircon Hf isotope, indicating that they have similar origins and formed in a subduction-related setting. The eruption age of the Jurassic volcanic rocks decreases westward (i.e., inland-ward) from Western Liaoning (166–153 Ma), through Pingquan-Chengde-Luanping (162–153 Ma) and Jingxi-Xuanhua (158–149 Ma), to Yuxian (157–142 Ma). This temporal and spatial variation is consistent with the motion of the subducted Paleo-Pacific plate over that time. In addition to the westward migration, the earliest volcanic rocks in the Yanshan belt formed earlier than those in the adjacent southern Great Xing'an Range in the north. These observations suggest that the southward subduction and closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk plate played a limited role in generation of these volcanic rocks. Two episodes of Middle-Late Jurassic volcanism (166–153 Ma and 150–139 Ma) are observed in the northern Great Xing'an Range. They are interpreted as results of closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean and subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate, respectively. Temporal-spatial variation of volcanic activity in the northern North China Craton and adjacent region demonstrates that the Paleo-Pacific subduction was the principal cause of the evolution of Eastern China during the late Mesozoic, whereas the Mongol-Okhotsk tectonic regime is largely confined to the northern Great Xing'an Range and the area north to it. • Age of Tiaojishan volcanic rocks decreases inlandward from east to west. • Subduction of Izanagi plate controlled Jurassic magmatism of Eastern China. • Mongol-Okhotsk tectonic regime is confined to northern GXAR in the Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In some existing ETC results, such as [25, 30, 31, 37], the relative or fixed threshold strategies have been investigated. In this paper, a novel dynamic ETC strategy is proposed, in which the threshold parameter is dynamically adjusted with the change of the virtual control signal. Therefore, the proposed dynamic triggering strategy is more flexible than those in [25, 30, 31, 37]. • For p -normal nonlinear time-delay systems like [22, 23], the growth constraint condition imposed on the delayed nonlinear function is required. To relax this condition, the adaptive NN and LKF techniques are used in this paper. Specifically, a modified LKF related to the system powers is constructed to handle time delay; radial basis function (RBF) NN and hyperbolic tangent function are introduced to deal with the time-delay residual terms. • An adaptive fault compensation control scheme is presented for a class of p -normal nonlinear systems. Compared with existing literature [16–18], the total number of actuator failures is allowed to be infinite, which expands the applications of the systems. Hence, the proposed adaptive NN compensation scheme is applicable to a wider class of nonlinear systems. This paper investigates the adaptive tracking control problem for a class of p -normal nonlinear time-delay systems with actuator failures via a dynamic event-triggered strategy. To deal with the time-varying delay, a modified Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) with the system powers is constructed. By using radial basis function neural networks and hyperbolic tangent function, the residual terms caused by the derivative of LKF can be handled. Then, to achieve better communication efficiency, a dynamic event-triggered strategy is proposed, in which the threshold parameter is dynamically adjusted with the change of the virtual control signal. With the help of the proposed adaptive controller, all states of the closed-loop system are bounded and a favorable tracking performance is ensured. Finally, two examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a process of cellular self-cannibalization, and provides an adaptive mechanism to protect cells against diverse pathological settings. Following peripheral nerve injury, autophagic process was changed in Schwann cells and spinal neurons and glial cells, implicating a vital role of autophagy in chronic pain. However, little is known about the role of autophagy in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in neuropathic pain. In the present study, we investigated the autophagic process in DRG and its effect on neuropathic pain induced by L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL). The level of microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-II, a general marker for autophagy, was increased in L5 DRG after SNL. Immunofluorescence staining showed that LC3-II puncta were observed in DRG neurons after SNL. Injection of autophagy inducer rapamycin into L5 DRG before or after SNL dose-dependently attenuated neuropathic pain. The expression of LC3 was enhanced in L5 DRG by rapamycin. These data suggest that the autophagy in L5 DRG neurons is a defensive reaction to L5 spinal nerve injury, and pharmacological enhancement of autophagy may be a potential treatment to prevent the onset and chronification of neuropathic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Negamycin exerts its antimicrobial activity by inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis and is efficacious in animal models of infection. In order to optimize negamycin exposure for therapeutic purposes, its pharmacokinetics in pre-clinical species were determined. 2. Negamycin has a dipeptide-like structure with log D7.4 < −1, causing low permeation into Caco-2 cells, low-oral bioavailability in rats of 6% and low-plasma protein binding of 10% in mouse, rat, dog and human plasma. Negamycin degradation rates in microsomes and hepatocytes predicted low-hepatic intrinsic clearance in pre-clinical species, which was confirmed in vivo where clearance varied between 3.4 and 11.5 mL/min/kg and virtually all negamycin was cleared unchanged renally. The similar behavior in multiple animal species allowed for the prediction of systemic clearance and volume of distribution in humans using multiple-scaling methods and physiological-based pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation. 3. Only 0.05-0.25% (mol/mol) of administered negamycin was recovered as 2-(1-methylhydrazinyl)acetic acid, a potential reactive metabolite, from rat and dog urine, respectively. 4. In summary, negamycin is a very polar molecule with low-plasma protein binding and low-oral bioavailability that is slowly and exclusively cleared into the urine. Its physicochemical properties make intravenous or intramuscular administration, or a derivative thereof, for therapeutic purposes most likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying communication signals under low SNR environment has become more difficult due to the increasingly complex communication environment. Most relevant literatures revolve around signal recognition under stable SNR, but not applicable under time-varying SNR environment. To solve this problem, we propose a new feature extraction method based on entropy cloud characteristics of communication modulation signals. The proposed algorithm extracts the Shannon entropy and index entropy characteristics of the signals first and then effectively combines the entropy theory and cloud model theory together. Compared with traditional feature extraction methods, instability distribution characteristics of the signals’ entropy characteristics can be further extracted from cloud model’s digital characteristics under low SNR environment by the proposed algorithm, which improves the signals’ recognition effects significantly. The results from the numerical simulations show that entropy cloud feature extraction algorithm can achieve better signal recognition effects, and even when the SNR is −11 dB, the signal recognition rate can still reach 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The development of the human embryonic spinal cord is very complicated, and many cell types are involved in the process. However, the morphological characteristics of neuronal and glial cells during the development of the human fetal spinal cord have not been described. We investigated the systemic distributions and expression pattern of the cell type-specific markers Neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) during the development of the human fetal spinal cord, in order to clarify the detailed developmental changes of neuronal and glial cells in chronological and spatial aspects. Methods: A total of 35 fetuses, aged 3 weeks to 8 months of gestation (E3W-E8M), were studied. The markers used for immunohistochemical study were NeuN and GFAP. Results: The intracellular makers NeuN and GFAP were widely detected expression in different structures and cells during the development of the human fetal spinal cord, including the following: central canal, neuroepithelial layer, internal limiting membrane, mantle layer, marginal layer, basal plate, alar plate, ependymal layer, gray matter, white matter, neuron, astrocytes, and nerve fibers. However, there was an absence of GFAP in astrocytes during early fetal spinal cord development until E9W, and the appearance of GFAP-positive reactivity was later than that of neurons. Conclusions: We consider that NeuN and GFAP can be used to identify neuronal and glial cells during the development of the human fetal spinal cord, and their distribution differs both chronologically and spatially. These characteristic expression patterns would give us a clue to better understand the developmental characteristics of the human spinal cord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human behaviour on the Internet has become a synchro-projection of real society. In this paper, we introduce the public concern derived from query volumes on the Web to empirically analyse the influence of information on commodity markets (e.g., crude oil, heating oil, corn and gold) using multivariate GARCH models based on dynamic conditional correlations. The analysis found that the changes of public concern on the Internet can well depict the changes of market prices, as the former has significant Granger causality effects on market prices. The findings indicate that the information of external shocks to commodity markets could be transmitted quickly, and commodity markets easily absorb the public concern of the information-sensitive traders. Finally, the conditional correlation among commodity prices varies dramatically over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new Cd(II) polymers [Cd 2 (L 240 ) 2 I 4 ] n ( 1 ), [Cd(L 240 )(SCN) 2 ] n ( 2 ), and [Cd(L 240 )(N 3 ) 2 ] n ( 3 ) have been synthesized via the reaction of 3-phenyl-5-(2-pyridyl)-4-(4-pyridyl)-4 H -1,2,4-triazole (L 240 ) with CdI 2 or in the presence of distinct pseudohalide anions (SCN − and N 3 − ). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction indicates that complex 1 features a 1D coordination chain and further forms a 2D supramolecular network extended via π⋯π stacking interactions. Complex 2 shows a 2D layered coordination network and complex 3 has a 3D diamond framework. In complexes 1 – 3 , the Cd II centers adopt the same octahedral geometry, whereas the L 240 ligands show distinct (μ 3 , η 2 ), (μ 4 , η 3 ), and (μ 2 , η 2 ) binding modes, respectively. These results reveal that such polymeric networks can be well modulated by the halide anion (I − ) and pseudohalide anions of SCN − and N 3 − . Thermal stability and fluorescence for complexes 1 – 3 have been studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery capacity fade occurs when battery capacity, measured in Ampere-hours, degrades over the number of charge/discharge cycles. This is a comprehensive result of various factors, including irreversible electrochemical reactions that form a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) in the negative electrode and oxidative reactions of the positive electrode. The degradation mechanism is further complicated by operational and environmental factors such as discharge rate, usage and storage temperature, as well as cell-level and battery pack-level variations carried over from the manufacturing processes. This research investigates a novel Bayesian method to model battery capacity fade over repetitive cycles by considering both within-battery and between-battery variations. Physics-based covariates are integrated with functional forms for modeling the capacity fade. A systematic approach based on covariate identification, model selection, and a strategy for prognostics data selection is presented. The proposed Bayesian method is capable of quantifying the uncertainties in predicting battery capacity/power fade and end-of-life cycles to failure distribution under various operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-chain alkanes obtained from the hydrodeoxygenation of plant oils are ideal substitutes for diesel. In this work, a new efficient catalytic system was established for the conversion of plant oil to long-chain alkanes under mild conditions with a bi-functional Ru/La(OH)3 catalyst. The hydrodeoxygenation of stearic acid was performed in an autoclave with Ru-based catalysts with different supports (HZSM-5, ZSM-5, SiO2–Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2, Mg(OH)2, La(OH)3, and La2O3). Among these catalysts, Ru supported on basic La(OH)3 showed a remarkable catalytic performance for the reaction. Over 98% of long-chain alkanes were obtained with 100% conversion of stearic acid at 200 °C and 4 MPa H2. When crude Jatropha oil was hydrogenated, about 80.7 wt% of long chain alkanes were obtained under the optimized conditions (200 °C, 4 MPa H2, 8 h). The high efficiency of the Ru/La(OH)3 catalyst could be due to a co-effect of the high hydrogenation activity of Ru and the basic La(OH)3 support which can attract the acidic raw material. Additionally, the Ru/La(OH)3 catalyst was recycled four times and maintained a good activity and stability. The reaction pathway was also explored by using stearic acid as a model compound. Hydrogenation–decarbonylation could be the main pathway to produce n-heptadecane, which has one carbon atom less than stearic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present research, the sputtering and reflection yield of self-bombardment of tungsten are investigated with the aid of molecular dynamics simulations. The source of sputtered and reflected atoms is detected by traced the original locations of sputtered and reflected atoms. Results show that for the reflected atoms no specific region exists which means cluster atoms are randomly reflected. But almost all of sputtered atoms are from a conical region under the landing point of cluster. So we can determine the sputtering yield by study the dimension of the sputtering region. Molecular dynamics shows the depth and radius of the conical are power functions of impacting energy. The effects of cluster size and temperature of target on sputtering and reflection rate are also preformed in present study. Both sputtering and reflection yield are proportion to cluster size in present cluster size, i.e. 66–2647 atoms. Higher target temperature can increase sputtering yield and deduce sputtering threshold energy, but little effect on reflection rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents closed-form solutions for the problem of long-term satellite relative motion in the presence of $$J_2$$ perturbations, and introduces a design methodology for long-term passive distance-bounded relative motion. There are two key ingredients of closed-form solutions.One is the model of relative motion; the other is the Hamiltonian model and its canonical solution of the $$J_2$$ -perturbed absolute motion. The model of relative motion makes no assumptions on the eccentricity of the reference orbit or on the magnitude of the relative distances. Besides, the relative motion model is concise with straightforward physical insight, and consistent with the Hamiltonian model. The Hamiltonian model takes into account the secular, long-periodic and short-periodic effects of the $$J_2$$ perturbation. It also remains separable in terms of spherical coordinates to ensure the application of the Hamilton-Jacobi theory to derive the canonical solution. When deriving the canonical solution, pseudo-circular and pseudo-elliptical orbits are treated separately and Carlson's method is employed to calculate elliptic integrals, which takes advantage of the symmetry of the integrand. These symmetry properties hold physical insights of the $$J_2$$ -perturbed absolute motion. To design the long-term distance-bounded relative motion, the nodal period and the drift of right ascension of the ascending node (RAAN) per nodal period are, respectively, matched non-instantaneously. Even though the nodal period and the drift of RAAN per nodal period can be obtained via the canonical solution, action-angle variables are used to obtain the frequency of the system without finding the complete solution to the perturbed orbital motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial inactivation using non-thermal gas discharge at atmospheric pressure has become a subject of significant research effort in the recent years. In this paper, we reviewed the different viewpoints proposed by various researchers, and discussed the reasons for arriving at these conclusions. We summarized some general rules, and offered a proposal to study the reasons behind their conclusions by building mathematical model for prediction of principle factors. The future prospects for the application of plasma are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify the pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients who develop an exercise induced venous-to-systemic shunt (EIS) by performing the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), analyse the changes of CPET measurements during exercise and compare the exercise physiology and resting pulmonary hemodynamics between shunt-PH and no-shunt-PH patients. Methods: Retrospectively, resting pulmonary function test (PFT), right heart catheterization (RHC), and CPET for clinical evaluation of 104 PH patients were studied. Results: Considering all 104 PH patients by three investigators, 37 were early EIS+, 61 were EIS-, 3 were late EIS+, and 3 others were placed in the discordant group. PeakVO2, AT and OUES were all reduced in the shunt-PH patients compared with the no-shunt-PH subjects, whereas VE/VCO2 slope and the lowest VE/VCO2 increased. Besides, the changes and the response characteristics of the key CPET parameters at the beginning of exercise in the shunt group were notably different from those of the no shunt one. At cardiac catheterization, the shunt patients had significantly increased mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), mean right atrial pressure (mRAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), reduced cardiac output (CO) and cardiac index (CI) compared with the no shunt ones (P<0.05). Resting CO was significantly correlated with exercise parameters of AT (r = 0.527, P<0.001), OUES (r = 0.410, P<0.001) and Peak VO2 (r = 0.405, P<0.001). PVR was significantly, but weakly, correlated with the above mentioned CPET parameters. In Conclusions: CPET may allow a non-invasive method for detecting an EIS and assessing the severity of the disease in PH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. (1 S)-1-phenyl-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanamine (lanicemine; AZD6765) is a low-trapping N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) channel blocker that has been studied as an adjunctive treatment in major depressive disorder. The metabolism and disposition of lanicemine was determined in six healthy male subjects after a single intravenous infusion dose of 150 mg [14C]-lanicemine. 2. Blood, urine and feces were collected from all subjects. The ratios of Cmax and AUC(0-∞) of lanicemine to plasma total radioactivity were 84 and 66%, respectively, indicating that lanicemine was the major circulating component with T1/2 at 16 h. The plasma clearance of lanicemine was 8.3 L/h, revealing that lanicemine is a low-clearance compound. The mean recovery of radioactivity from urine was 93.8% of radioactive dose. 3. In urine samples, 10 metabolites of lanicemine were identified. Among which, an O-glucuronide conjugate (M1) was the most abundant metabolite (∼11% of the dose in excreta). In plasma, the circulatory metabolites were identified as a para-hydroxylated metabolite (M1), an O-glucuronide (M2), an N-carbamoyl glucuronide (M3) and an N-acetylated metabolite (M6). The average amount of each of metabolite was less than 4% of total radioactivity detected in plasma or urine. 4. In conclusion, lanicemine is a low-clearance compound. The unchanged drug and metabolites are predominantly eliminated via urinary excretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analytically and numerically analyze the existence of various projective (projective-anticipatory, projective and projective-lag) synchronization between two different modulated time-delayed chaotic systems in this paper. The innovation of our work is that we report on projective-anticipatory and projective-lag synchronization of two different variable time-delayed chaotic systems, while other existing work only mentioned projective synchronization in such systems. Based on the theory of Krasovskii–Lyapunov stability, we derive the sufficient stability condition through theoretical analysis. Mackey–Glass and Ikeda models related to optical bistable or hybrid optical bistable devices are taken for examples to verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Ischaemic heart disease is a leading cause of mortality. After ischaemic injury, tissue hypoxia induces the activity of angiogenic factors that promote revascularization. Increased understanding of hypoxia-responsive genes and their role in angiogenesis will lead to new therapies for ischaemic injury. We delineated the function of Canopy 2 (CNPY2), a newly discovered, hypoxia-regulated gene. Methods and results We found CNPY2 in a screen for genes induced by low oxygen in human smooth muscle cells (SMCs). CNPY2 protein co-localized with the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi. Treatment with Brefeldin A, which destroys Golgi stacks, resulted in CNPY2 accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum. Secreted CNPY2 was detected in the blood of healthy mice and humans, and the medium of cultured SMCs. SMCs under hypoxia or treated with a prolyl-4-hydroxylase inhibitor stabilized HIF-1α protein and up-regulated CNPY2, while CNPY2 induction was lost after HIF-1α silencing. Chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that HIF-1α binds to a hypoxia response element (HRE-1157) upstream of the human CNPY2 promoter, which was verified by a luciferase reporter driven by HRE-1157-containing constructs. CNPY2 stimulation activated Cdc42, PAK1, and FAK in SMCs, resulting in enhanced proliferation and migration in vitro, and dramatic aortic ring sprouting ex vivo. CNPY2 significantly increased revascularization of the mouse retina after reperfusion injury. Conclusions CNPY2 is a HIF-1α-regulated, secreted angiogenic growth factor that promotes SMC migration, proliferation, and tissue revascularization. This new target may have a broader profile than currently available proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The poisoning of Pt-based catalyst occurs generally during methanol electro-oxidation. Though traditional electrochemical techniques have probed these issues intensively, it is amazing to find that the negative resistance presents in the intermediate potential zone during an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement. Based on the chemical reaction analysis, we establish an EIS model and make some numerical analyses, thus determining the specific EIS shapes and equivalent circuits relating to various potential zones. These results not only compensate the drawback for traditional electrochemical approaches, but also reveal the dynamic adsorption of CO and OH species on Pt surfaces, providing a chance for understanding bifunctional mechanism towards quantitative manners. Significantly, we clarify that the negative resistance begins from the maximum catalysis of methanol electro-catalysis and ends in the initial passive state on Pt surfaces, offering a tool for further improvement. Interestingly, our discovery for negative resistance is consistent with that in general electrochemical system, facilitating its extension and direction in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the slaughter, carcass, and meat quality characteristics of grazing Oula ram lambs slaughtered at different weights. Eight single-born ram lambs were slaughtered at each of five weights of 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 kg. Dressing percentages and carcass compactness indices increased with greater slaughter weight. The proportions of individual cuts varied with slaughter weight; skin ( P < 0.01), head ( P < 0.05) and testicle ( P < 0.01) percentages increased; whereas, lung ( P < 0.05), liver ( P < 0.05), spleen ( P < 0.01) and kidney ( P < 0.05) percentages decreased. GR, eye muscle area, tenderness, water-holding capacity, meat color, marbling, suet, attar and protein content did not vary significantly among the slaughter weight groups, although lambs slaughtered at 25 and 30 kg displayed the greatest postmortem decrease in pH in the semimembranosus muscule ( P < 0.05). Analyses of fatty acid content were carried out on the longissimus muscle of the 13th rib. Total unsaturated fatty acids content and n6/n3 ratio increased; whereas, cooking loss, saturated fatty acid content and pH fall in musculus longissimus dorsi decreased with greater slaughter weights ( P < 0.05). The atherogenic index and thrombogenic index showed a decreasing trend with increasing slaughter weight, but these trends were not statistically significant. These results provide a basic understanding of slaughter, carcass and meat quality characteristics of grazing Oula sheep production using an indigenous sheep breed in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. (2 R,4 S,4a S)-11-Fluoro-2,4-dimethyl-8-(( S)-4-methyl-2-oxooxazolidin-3-yl)-2,4,4a,6-tetrahydro-1H,1'H-spiro [isoxazolo[4,5-g][1,4]oxazino[4,3-a]quinoline-5,5′-pyrimidine]-2′,4′,6′(3′H)-trione (AZ11) is a novel mode-of-inhibition bacterial topoisomerase inhibitor that entered preclinical development for the treatment of Gram-positive bacteria infection. 2. The in vitro biotransformation studies of AZ11 using mouse, rat, dog and human hepatocytes showed low-intrinsic clearance in all species attributed to microsomal metabolism. 3. After a single intravenous administration of [14C]AZ11 in bile duct cannulated rats, the mean percentage of dose recovered in rat urine, bile and feces was approximately 18, 36 and 42%, respectively. Unchanged AZ11 recovered in rat urine and bile was less than 9% of the dose, indicating that AZ11 underwent extensive metabolism in rats. 4. The most abundant in vivo metabolite detected in urine and bile was M1 formed via ring opening on the piperidine and morpholine rings accounting for 20% of the administered dose. The major fecal metabolite was M5, which accounted for approximately 32% of administered dose. M5 was not formed when AZ11 incubated with rat intestinal microsomes and cytosol but was formed when incubated with fresh rat feces, suggesting that unchanged AZ11 was directly excreted into gut lumen where M5 formed as an intestinal microflora-mediated product. This process could have significant impact on bioavailability or exposure of AZ11 in rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to identify the grain size effect on the small fatigue crack initiation and growth mechanisms of nickel-based superalloy GH4169. Results showed that there was a transition of fatigue crack initiation mechanism between fine-grained material and coarse-grained material. Small fatigue crack growth rates were almost constant across a wide range of crack lengths. Once the surface crack length reached the critical size of 200 μm, the crack would propagate fairly quickly. At a given experimental condition, the scattering of fatigue lives of the parallel specimens was dependent on the crack initiation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil-related events have increased the uncertainty and complexity of the worldwide oil market. This paper investigates the effects of four types of oil-related events on world oil prices, using an event study methodology and an AR-GARCH model. The Internet information concerning these events, which is derived from search query volumes in Google, is introduced in an analytical framework to identify the magnitude and significance of the market response to oil-related events. The results indicate that world oil prices responding to different oil-related events display obvious differentiation. The cumulative abnormal returns, which reflect the influence of the global financial crisis, tend to drop first and then reverse and rise, while the cumulative abnormal returns induced by other oil-related events present a stronger persistent effect. The impact of the global financial crisis on oil price returns is significantly negative, while the impact of the Libyan war and hurricanes is significantly positive. However, the reactions of oil price returns to different OPEC production announcements are inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers a graphical model for ordinal variables, where it is assumed that the data are generated by discretizing the marginal distributions of a latent multivariate Gaussian distribution. The relationships between these ordinal variables are then described by the underlying Gaussian graphical model and can be inferred by estimating the corresponding concentration matrix. Direct estimation of the model is computationally expensive, but an approximate EM-like algorithm is developed to provide an accurate estimate of the parameters at a fraction of the computational cost. Numerical evidence based on simulation studies shows the strong performance of the algorithm, which is also illustrated on datasets on movie ratings and an educational survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) plays an important role in nonimmune cells and also in T cells and many other cells of the immune system, by regulating the expression of a variety of genes involved in the immune response, organ development, developmental apoptosis and angiogenesis. In the present study, the NFAT homology gene, PfNFAT, from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata was cloned and its genomic structure and promoter were analyzed. PfNFAT encodes a putative protein of 1226 amino acids, and contains a highly conserved Rel homology region (RHR) with DNA-binding specificity, and a regulatory domain (NFAT homology region, NHR) containing a potent transactivation domain (TAD). The PfNFAT gene consists of 12 exons and 11 introns, and its promoter contains potential binding sites for transcription factors such as NF-κB (Nuclear factor κB), STATx (signal transducer and activator of transcription), AP-1 (activator protein-1) and Sox-5/9 (SRY type HMG box-5/9), MyoD (Myogenic Differentiation Antigen) and IRF (Interferon regulatory factor). Comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that PfNFAT shows high identity with other invertebrate NFAT, and clusters with the NFAT5 subgroup. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed that PfNFAT is involved in the immune response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) stimulation and in the nucleus inserting operation. The study of PfNFAT may increase understanding of molluscan innate immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the effect of Ficus carica polysaccharide (FCP), isolated from the fruit of F. carica L., at 0%, 0.1%, 0.5% and 1.0% doses supplementation with feed on genes Interleukin 1-β (IL-1β), Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNF-α) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene expression in blood, humoral innate immune parameters and resistant to Flavobacterium columnare of grass carp at weeks 1, 2 and 3. The results revealed that administration of FCP significantly ( P < 0.05) up regulated IL-1β and TNF-α gene expression. HSP70 gene expression was significantly ( P < 0.05) lower in FCP-fed fish at the end of trial. The serum total protein, albumin and globulin did not significantly increased in any diet on the first week whereas it was significantly enhanced in 0.5% and 1.0% supplementation diets on weeks 2 and 3 when compared to control. The serum complement C3 was significantly ( P < 0.05) increased on weeks 1 and 2 when compared to control, however, no significant difference was found in this activity after 3 weeks of treatment. All diets significantly enhanced the serum lysozyme activity, bactericidal activity from weeks 1–2 as compared to control. Grass carp fed with FCP showed remarkably higher resistance against F. columnare (60% survival) compared to the control group (30% survival). These results confirm that FCP can up regulate immune related genes expression, stimulates immune response that per se enhances disease resistance in grass carp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laminar forced convective heat transfer is studied for the purpose of getting the best heat transfer performance with the least flow resistance increase. The variation calculus method is employed to establish the equations describing the optimized fluid velocity field and temperature field. Numerical solutions of the equations for a convective heat transfer process in a section-cut of a square duct indicate the optimized flow should have a transverse secondary swirl flow pattern consisting of multiple vortexes with identical swirl direction in the junction region of any two neighboring vortexes. We then propose the convective heat transfer enhancement method relying on excitation of transverse secondary swirl flow. To validate this method, we numerically study the heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics of laminar flows in tubes with four-reverse-vortex-generator (FRVG) inserts, four-homodromous-vortex-generator (FHVG) inserts, or a twisted tape insert. The calculated transverse secondary flow in the tube with the FRVG inserts approximately follows the optimized flow pattern and the tube is thus found to have the best thermo-hydraulic performance, validating the proposed convective heat transfer enhancement method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin B1 (thiamine pyrophosphate, TPP) is essential to all life but scarce in ocean surface waters. In many bacteria and a few eukaryotic groups thiamine biosynthesis genes are controlled by metabolite-sensing mRNA-based gene regulators known as riboswitches. Using available genome sequences and transcriptomes generated from ecologically important marine phytoplankton, we identified 31 new eukaryotic riboswitches. These were found in alveolate, cryptophyte, haptophyte and rhizarian phytoplankton as well as taxa from two lineages previously known to have riboswitches (green algae and stramenopiles). The predicted secondary structures bear hallmarks of TPP-sensing riboswitches. Surprisingly, most of the identified riboswitches are affiliated with genes of unknown function, rather than characterized thiamine biosynthesis genes. Using qPCR and growth experiments involving two prasinophyte algae, we show that expression of these genes increases significantly under vitamin B1-deplete conditions relative to controls. Pathway analyses show that several algae harboring the uncharacterized genes lack one or more enzymes in the known TPP biosynthesis pathway. We demonstrate that one such alga, the major primary producer Emiliania huxleyi, grows on 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (a thiamine precursor moiety) alone, although long thought dependent on exogenous sources of thiamine. Thus, overall, we have identified riboswitches in major eukaryotic lineages not known to undergo this form of gene regulation. In these phytoplankton groups, riboswitches are often affiliated with widespread thiamine-responsive genes with as yet uncertain roles in TPP pathways. Further, taxa with 'incomplete' TPP biosynthesis pathways do not necessarily require exogenous vitamin B1, making vitamin control of phytoplankton blooms more complex than the current paradigm suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the best ratio of females to males of an insect's natural enemy is important for maximising population increase and promoting population establishment of a natural enemy. In this study, copulation behaviour, fecundity, progeny fitness and rate of population increase for the flea beetle,Agasicles hygrophilaSelman & Vogt (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), were compared at different female percentage treatments (i.e., 80%, 66.7%, 50%, 33.3% and 20% females). The results showed that the copulation frequency and duration in males decreased, whereas those in females increased as the number of males increased. At 20%, 33.3% and 66.7% females, the rates of population increase were 3.4-, 2.17- and 0.79-fold higher than that at 50% females. Females at 20% and 33.3% were found to be optimal for mass rearing of the beetle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underactuated attitude control is supposed to be used on spacecraft when failure happens with onboard actuators. One main problem with existing underactuated attitude control designs is their limited capabilities against disturbances. In order to solve this problem, an approach based on the theory of H ∞ is proposed in this paper. Two propositions are derived from the H ∞ theory to improve the robustness of one popular underactuated attitude control design, which was presented by Tsiotras et al. It is proved mathematically that the controller satisfying these two propositions respectively can stabilize the underactuated attitude system locally or globally. The numerical simulations show that the improved controllers based on the H ∞ theory could provide higher pointing accuracy for small satellites against disturbances. This validates the effectiveness of the proposed H ∞ based approach to improve existing underactuated attitude control designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the issue of impulsive synchronization of a class of uncertain chaotic systems with parameters perturbation is investigated. Applying the impulsive theory and linear matrix inequality technique, some less conservative and easily verified criteria for impulsive synchronization of chaotic systems are derived. The proposed impulsive synchronization scheme is applied to the chaotic Murali–Lakshmanan–Chua circuit and hyperchaotic Chen and the corresponding synchronization conditions are derived. Moreover, the boundaries of the stable region are also estimated according to the equidistant impulse interval. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by the computer simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object must be selected manually and scale variation can't be handled with properly when using traditional algorithms. To overcome this problem, this paper proposed a new object tracking algorithm fused with optical flow detection and template matching. Firstly, it automatically detected and extracted object by combining the optical flow and the image segmentation results, accomplishing detection based tracking. It used the template matching technique for target locating when the result of the detection based tracking was unreliable, accomplishing matching based tracking. Finally, with the help of the template's auto update, adapted the target's changing in scale by the tracking window. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can not only adapt object's scale variation, but acquires stable tracking results. Compared with three other algorithms, the proposed method has advantages in automatic detection and scale self-adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canopy FGF signaling regulator 2 (CNPY2) is a FGF21-modulated protein containing a saposin B-type domain. In vitro studies have shown CNPY2 is able to enhance neurite outgrowth in neurons and stabilize the expression of low density lipoprotein receptor in macrophages and hepatocytes. However, no in vivo data are available on the normal expression of CNPY2 and information is lacking on which cell types express this protein in tissues. To address this, the present study examined CNPY2 expression at the mRNA and protein levels. Quantitative PCR and ELISA examination of mouse tissues showed that CNPY2 varies between organs, with the highest expression in the heart, lung and liver. Immunohistochemistry detected CNPY2 in a variety of cell types including skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle myocytes, endothelial cells and epithelial cells. CNPY2 was also detectable in mouse blood and human and mouse uteri. These data demonstrate CNPY2 is widely distributed in tissues and suggest the protein has biological functions that have yet to be identified. Using these new observations we discuss possible functions of the protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]