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In mammals, oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of granulosa cells is one of the major causes of follicular atresia, affecting ovarian physiological function. Protegrin-1 (PG-1) is an antimicrobial peptide with effective antimicrobial activity, immunomodulatory function, and porcine growth-promoting effects. PG-1 has been detected in porcine ovaries follicles. This study aimed to investigate the effect of PG-1 on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of porcine ovarian granulosa cells and the underlying molecular mechanism. Granulosa cells were obtained from porcine follicles and treated with H 2 O 2 to establish the oxidative stress model, and then treated with or without PG-1 (10 μg/mL). PG-1 significantly suppressed H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis in granulosa cells after 24 h of treatment. Furthermore, these results revealed that PG-1 increased the mRNA and protein expression of anti-apoptotic B cell lymphoma/leukemia 2 (BCL2) and the BCL2/Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) ratio while decreasing the expression of pro-apoptotic BAX and active caspase-3. Using Western blot analysis, it was found that PG-1 decreased the phosphorylation of RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) and the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) as well as the protein expression level of CCAAT enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), all of which were increased by H 2 O 2. Moreover, inhibitors against PERK and phospho-eIF2ɑ both suppressed the H 2 O 2 -induced granulosa cells apoptosis and enhanced the anti-apoptosis effect of PG-1. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that PG-1 inhibited porcine ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis from oxidative stress via the PERK/eIF2α/CHOP signaling pathway in vitro , which suggests the novel regulatory function of the antimicrobial peptide in the ovary. • PG-1 significantly inhibited H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis in porcine granulosa cells. • PG-1 significantly suppressed PERK/eIF2α/CHOP signaling pathway which was activated by H 2 O 2. • Inhibition of PERK/eIF2α signaling pathway enhanced the anti-apoptosis effect of PG-1 on porcine granulosa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heliostat field of tower solar thermal power station accounts for 40%–50% of the total cost, and influences the concentrating efficiency. Accordingly, it is necessary to optimize the layout of the heliostat field. Based on the optical efficiency model, an improved Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm is proposed to optimize the field parameters of the heliostats, improve the convergence factor and weight updating formula, and effectively avoid the local optimal problem. Then SolarPILOT software is used to simulate the heliostat field distribution. In order to reduce the shadow and shielding efficiency loss, improve the land utilization rate and atmospheric attenuation efficiency, the heliostat field is initialized by radial staggered arrangement, which is easy to be optimized. By using the optical efficiency model, the program of heliostat field optimization algorithm is developed, and a Delingha tower power station is used to verify the algorithm. After the improved GWO algorithm optimizing the heliostat field, the optical or concentrating efficiency of the heliostat field is increased by 8.2% compared with the GWO algorithm. The improved GWO algorithm reduces the heliostat number by 3.4% compared with the Gray Wolf algorithm, and that reducing the cost of the heliostat field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the zinc roasting process, the stability of the roasting temperature directly affects the product quality. However, the stabilizing control of the temperature inside a large-scale zinc roaster encounters complex process characteristics, fluctuating working conditions and delayed detection of product quality. The complex concentrate supply gives rise to fluctuations of zinc concentrate composition, which in turn affects the reaction atmosphere and working conditions. The trend of the roasting temperature, which contains abundant information on the potential change of working conditions, is underused in traditional controllers, leading to difficulties in stabilizing control of large-scale zinc roasters. In this work, a trend-based event-triggering fuzzy control strategy, incorporating qualitative trend analysis and an event-triggering mechanism in fuzzy control design, is proposed for the temperature stabilizing control of a large-scale zinc roaster. Qualitative trend analysis is adopted to extract the trend information of the roasting temperature. An embedded event-triggering mechanism can handle the underlying transition of working conditions timely. Hence, the fuzzy controller increases the utilization rate of the information contained in the temperature measurements. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed fuzzy controller. • A fuzzy controller incorporating qualitative trend analysis strategy and event-triggering mechanism is proposed. • The temperature trend is extracted by qualitative trend analysis strategy to provide a more comprehensive description of working conditions. • An event-triggering strategy combined with qualitative trend analysis is designed to handle the transition of working conditions in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive malignancy associated with unfavorable prognosis and for which no effective treatments are available. Its molecular pathogenesis is poorly understood. Genome-wide sequencing and high-throughput technologies have provided critical insights into the molecular basis of ICC while sparking a heated debate on the cellular origin. Cancer exhibits variabilities in origin, progression and cell biology. Recent evidence suggests that ICC has multiple cellular origins, including differentiated hepatocytes; intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells (IBECs)/cholangiocytes; pluripotent stem cells, such as hepatic stem/progenitor cells (HPCs) and biliary tree stem/progenitor cells (BTSCs); and peribiliary gland (PBG). However, both somatic mutagenesis and epigenomic features are highly cell type-specific. Multiple cellular origins may have profoundly different genomic landscapes and key signaling pathways, driving phenotypic variation and thereby posing significant challenges to personalized medicine in terms of achieving the optimal drug response and patient outcome. Considering this information, we have summarized the latest experimental evidence and relevant literature to provide an up-to-date view of the cellular origin of ICC, which will contribute to establishment of a hierarchical model of carcinogenesis and allow for improvement of the anatomical-based classification of ICC. These new insights have important implications for both the diagnosis and treatment of ICC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the low qualified rate in the blending of zinc concentrate caused by uncertainty of zinc concentrate composition in individual warehouses, we proposed a nonlinear stochastic optimization framework to handle uncertainties in the zinc concentrate blending problem. First, we obtained the distribution characteristics of uncertainty of zinc concentrate. Second, to minimize the pessimistic value of the objective function, we transformed the nonlinear stochastic optimization model into a nonlinear MiniMin chance-constrained programming model, which was easy to handle. Then, we used a hybrid intelligent optimization algorithm to solve the problem effectively. Finally, we verified the validity of the method using the actual production data of a zinc smelter's batching process. Compared with the deterministic optimization method, the model not only gave the probability that each component of the mixed zinc concentrate met the requirements but also achieved a higher qualified rate under the same conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]