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Silent information regulator (SIRT6)-deficient mice are small and at 2-3 weeks of age develop abnormalities that include profound lymphopenia, loss of subcutaneous fat, lordokyphosis, and severe metabolic defects, eventually dying at about 4 weeks. It is concluded that one function of SIRT6 is to promote normal DNA repair, and that SIRT6 loss leads to abnormalities in mice that overlap with aging-associated degenerative processes.

With the promotion of the electrical energy substitution, the electric heating in a larger scale tends to aggravate the peak load of grid. Such challenges could be solved by regenerative electric boiler, due to its advantages of transferring electric load to the valley. Furthermore, it is feasible to reduce the cost by combining the heat pumps and regenerative electric boilers. In order to obtain the optimization scheme of such integrated system, firstly, the heating load prediction model for an industrial community was established based on artificial neural network, and then, a fast-solving method was developed for engineering practice in this case study faced to operation optimization of regional heating system, by converting the multi-stage dynamic programming problem into linear programming problem. The time step of calculation loop is set as one-hour, and the start-stop signal of equipment could be obtained for the next 24 hours no more than one minute. A trade-off between calculation cost and accuracy can be achieved through proposed method or model, with a rapid response in design for such industrial community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate tire-pavement noise prediction model is highly needed by transportation agencies and pavement designers during the porous asphalt mixture design to reduce the tire-pavement noise which has been recognized as a dominant contributor to the overall traffic noise. In this paper, the surface texture level and distributions of porous asphalt mixture are acquired by a recently developed program named as 2-Dimensional Image Texture Analysis Method (2D-ITAM). The acoustic absorption coefficient of porous asphalt mixture is calculated using a proposed sound absorption model based on the micro-structure of porous asphalt mixture. Also, a prediction model correlating the tire-pavement noise level with macro-texture and short wavelength of mega-texture of pavement is established using a multivariate non-linear regression analysis. This prediction model is validated through laboratory experiment demonstrating its effectiveness of predicting the tire-pavement noise level. The model is anticipated to serve as an improved tool which could be considered by practitioners in an optimized porous asphalt mixture design incorporating the evaluation of noise produced by asphalt pavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chromosome 9p21 variants are among the most robust genetic markers for coronary artery disease (CAD), and previous studies have suggested that genetic effects of this locus might be modified by dietary factors. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which are the main dietary source of added sugar, has been shown to interact with genetic factors in affecting CAD risk factors such as obesity. Objective: We aimed to test whether SSB intake modified the association between chromosome 9p21 variants and CAD risk in Hispanics living in Costa Rica. Design: The current study included 1560 incident cases of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and 1751 population-based controls. Three independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the chromosome 9p21 locus were genotyped. SSB intake was assessed with the use of a food-frequency questionnaire and was defined as the frequency of intake of daily servings of sweetened beverages and fruit juice. Results: We showed a significant interaction between SSB intake and one of the 3 variants (i.e., rs4977574) on MI risk. The per-risk allele OR (95% CI) of rs4977574 for MI was 1.44 (1.19, 1.74) in participants with higher SSB consumption (>2 servings/d), 1.21 (1.00, 1.47) in those with average consumption (1-2 servings/d), and 0.97 (0.81, 1.16) in subjects with lower consumption (<1 serving/d; P-interaction = 0.005). A genetic risk score derived from the sum of risk alleles of the 3 SNPs also showed a significant interaction with SSB intake on MI risk (P-interaction = 0.03). Conclusion: Our data suggest that unhealthy dietary habits such as higher intake of SSBs could exacerbate the effects of chromosome 9p21 variants on CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Carthami Flos (CF) is a Chinese herb traditionally used for cardiovascular disease and bone injury in China with pharmacological effects on improving blood circulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the angiogenic potential of CF whole extract (extracted by boiling with water, followed by ethanol) and the underlying mechanisms in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) in vitro and in transgenic TG(fli1:EGFP)y1/ + (AB) zebrafish with transgenic endothelial cells expressing EGFP (Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein) in vivo. Methods: Effects of CF whole extract on cell proliferation, migration and tube formation in HMEC-1 cells in vitro were detected by MTT assay, wound healing assay and tube formation assay. Its angiogenic effect in zebrafish was investigated by monitoring the sprout number in the sub-intestinal vessel (SIV), and the underlying mechanisms were tested by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: CF whole extract increased cell proliferation, migration and tube formation in vitro in HMEC-1 cells. Its angiogenic effect was also confirmed in vivo in zebrafish by increasing the sprout number in the SIV. As determined by quantitative real-time PCR, CF whole extract up-regulated the expression of angiogenesis-related genes in zebrafish, including angiogenic and its associated growth factors and receptors (e.g. IGF1, CTGF, NRP2, and VEGFR3), transcription factor (e.g. HIF1A), matrix degradation and endothelial cell migration-related factors (e.g. MMP2, MMP9, TIMP2, PLG and PLAU), cell adhesion molecules (e.g. ITGAV, ITGB3, beta-catenin and PECAM1), tubule formation factors (e.g. ANGPT1, TIE-2, PDGFR-B, CDH5, S1PR1, FGF2, Shh, and TGFRB1), and blood vessel maturation/formation factor (e.g. Ephrin B2). Conclusions: CF whole extract increased angiogenesis in HMEC-1 cells in vitro and in zebrafish in vivo with multiple mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reported an efficient and accurate liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of seventeen mycotoxins in Puerariae lobatae radix, a frequently used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The effects of four different clean-up methods, including TC-M160, TC-T220, Mycosep 227, and QuEChERS method, on the recoveries of mycotoxins were investigated and compared. Finally, TC-M160 was chosen for better recovery and repeatability for mycotoxins analysis. The analytes were separated on an Agilent ZORBAX SB C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm particle size), and eluted with a mobile phase consisting of (A) water containing 0.1% formic acid and (B) acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. The separated compounds were detected by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in positive electrospray ionization with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The results of method validation accorded with the requirement of analytical method for mycotoxins in COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 401/2006. The developed method was successfully applied for determination of mycotoxins in seventeen batches of Puerariae lobatae radix collected from different provinces of China. Three batches of them were found with contamination of mycotoxins AFB1 at (0.751 ± 0.176) μg/kg, T-2 at (1.10 ± 0.01) μg/kg, and T-2 at (0.853 ± 0.044) μg/kg, respectively. The results demonstrated that the proposed method was suitable for monitoring mycotoxins residues in Puerariae lobatae radix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to bridge this gap by proposing a new calling approach based on deep learning, namely Cnngeno. Cnngeno converts sequencing texts to their corresponding images and classifies the genotypes of the images by Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Moreover, the convolutional bootstrapping algorithm is adopted, which greatly improves the anti-noisy label ability of the deep learning network on real data. [Display omitted] • Cnngeno can convert sequencing data into images and classifies the genotypes from these images using the convolutional neural network(CNN). • Cnngeno adopted the convolutional bootstrapping strategy to improve the anti-noisy label's ability. • The results show that Cnngeno performs better in terms of precision for calling genotype when compared with other existing methods. Genotype plays a significant role in determining characteristics in an organism and genotype calling has been greatly accelerated by sequencing technologies. Furthermore, most parametric statistical models are unable to effectively call genotype, which is influenced by the size of structural variations and the coverage fluctuations of sequencing data. In this study, we propose a new method for calling deletions' genotypes from the next-generation data, called Cnngeno. Cnngeno can convert sequencing data into images and classifies the genotypes from these images using the convolutional neural network(CNN). Moreover, Cnngeno adopted the convolutional bootstrapping strategy to improve the anti-noisy label's ability. The results show that Cnngeno performs better in terms of precision for calling genotype when compared with other existing methods. The Cnngeno is an open-source method, available at https://github.com/BRF123/Cnngeno. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Flow injection (FI) non-aqueous titrimetric methods for the determination of free fatty acids (FFA) in palm oil samples are described. Single-line and two-line FI manifolds using phenolphthalein (PHP) and bromothymol blue (BTB) as indicators were developed. The method is based on the monitoring of the changes of absorbance of the indicators used from basic–acidic–basic form (pink–colourless–pink for PHP, blue–yellow–blue for BTB) as a result of the neutralization of KOH that was used as carrier stream by the injected FFA sample. FI parameters such as carrier and reagent concentration, flow-rate, length of reaction coil, size of mixing chamber and injected volume were optimized. The single-line manifold with PHT as indicator is recommended for the determination of samples with acidity degree (a.d.) higher than 0.4, but the oil samples need to be diluted with 2-propanol before their injection. For lower acidities (a.d.<0.4), a two-line manifold with BTB as indicator is recommended. The two-line manifold allows direct injection of oil samples (no off-line dilution required). The optimized FIA method is linear over the range 0.4–10.0 a.d. (based on palmitic acid) for single-line manifold and 0.11–0.50 a.d. for the two-line manifold. Sample throughput of 35–74 and 21–46 samples h−1 for single-line and two-line manifolds, respectively, were achieved. Fifty different samples of palm oils were tested using the appropriate FIA manifolds, and results were compared with the standard PORIM procedure which involves manual titration. Good correlations between the two methods were obtained (r 2, at least 0.92) UV–VIS absorption spectra indicate that the absorption of these oil samples were minimum at the detection wavelengths (562nm for PHP and 627 for BTB), indicating that the method is negligibly interfered from the background colour of the samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology has a great potential for improving the engineering properties of recycled aggregates, but the major limitation is the inhomogeneous distribution of calcium carbonate precipitation resulting in the nonuniform modification of recycled aggregates. This paper proposed a spraying method to equally distribute the calcium carbonate, and discussed the influence of the new treatment on the physical and mechanical properties of the MICP modified recycled aggregates. The results showed that the water absorption of the coarse, medium and fine aggregates after seven cycles of treatment was greatly reduced by 58%, 26% and 46%, respectively. The shear strength, crushing value and California bearing ratio (CBR) were increased by the treatments, while the improvement was limited by the strength of the generated calcium carbonate precipitation. A significant decrease in the porosity and total pore volume was found after treatments, and the cubic and spherical calcium carbonate crystals were generated on the surface of the recycled aggregates. This indicated that the improvement of the physical and mechanical properties of the recycled aggregates was mainly attributed to the generated calcium carbonate filling the pores and reinforcing the surface. The MICP technology facilitates the high-value utilization of the recycled aggregates in pavement engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We review the recommendations currently employed for HBV subgenotyping. [•] We review the history of HBV subgenotyping. [•] We review the misclassifications in HBV subgenotyping. [•] Suggestions are made to correct the misclassifications. [•] Proposals are made to guide future HBV subgenotyping. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects a large proportion of the American population. The spectrum of disease ranges from bland steatosis without inflammation to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and cirrhosis. Bile acids are critical regulators of hepatic lipid and glucose metabolism and signal through two major receptor pathways: farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, and TGR5, a G protein-coupled bile acid receptor (GPBAR1). Both FXR and TGR5 demonstrate pleiotropic functions, including immune modulation. To evaluate the effects of these pathways in NAFLD, we treated obese db/db mice with a dual FXR/TGR5 agonist (INT-767) for 6 weeks. Treatment with the agonist significantly improved the histological features of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Furthermore, treatment increased the proportion of intrahepatic monocytes with the anti-inflammatory Ly6Clow phenotype and increased intrahepatic expression of genes expressed by alternatively activated macrophages, including CD206, Retnla, and Clec7a. In vitro treatment of monocytes with INT-767 led to decreased Ly6C expression and increased IL-10 production through a cAMP-dependent pathway. Our data indicate that FXR/TGR5 activation coordinates the immune phenotype of monocytes and macrophages, both in vitro and in vivo, identifying potential targeting strategies for treatment of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemistry of lanthanide chalcogenolate complexes has expanded dramatically in the recent years. This review summarized the syntheses and crystal structures of the lanthanide chalcogenolate complexes and their applications in organic chemistry. Four methods for the synthesis of lanthanide chalcogenolate complexes were outlined: protonolysis, metathesis, oxidation–reduction, and insertion reaction. The lanthanide chalcogenolate complexes were classified according to the ancillary ligands coordinated to lanthanide atoms and the number of lanthanide atoms, and some specific structures were briefly described. The reactivity and catalytical property of some lanthanide chalcogenolate complexes in organic and polymer synthesis along with their luminescent properties are highlighted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Performances of various high-modulus asphalt mixtures were evaluated. • Rubberized asphalt mixture was found to provide the best overall performance. • Three HMAMs were found to be good candidates for treating rutting problem. It is well known that rutting is one of the major distresses for asphalt pavements. To enhance the rutting resistance of asphalt pavements, different approaches have been developed, among which using high-modulus asphalt mixtures (HMAM) has been proved effective. The main objective of this study is to characterize and compare the performances of using hard binders, HMAM additives, and polyester fiber, in producing HMAM. To achieve this objective, the rheological properties of four hard binders, including rubberized bitumen, lake bitumen and SBS collectively modified asphalt binder, rock bitumen and SBS collectively modified asphalt binder, and hard-grade asphalt binder, were first tested. Then, three modulus parameters, namely resilient moduli, dynamic moduli and stiffness moduli, of seven mixtures, including four mixtures prepared with the four hard binders, one SBS modified mixture, one SBS modified mixture with an HMAM additive, PR.M., and one SBS modified mixture with polyester fiber, were measured and compared, followed by comprehensive laboratory performance tests, including rutting resistance, low-temperature cracking resistance, fatigue resistance, and moisture damage resistance tests, and binder-mixture performance correlation analysis. It was found that all the four hard binders can produce mixtures with high modulus as expected. Among different mixtures, rubberized asphalt mixture was provided best overall performance. For the purpose of rutting treatment, rubberized asphalt mixture, the mixture collectively modified by SBS and rock bitumen, and the SBS modified asphalt mixture with PR.M. additive are the better candidates in consideration of their superior rutting resistance and relatively more balanced performance properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better recycle the waste oil, it has been introduced into asphalt binder as a type of modifier. In this study, the effects of petroleum-based, re-refined, and bio-based oil modifiers on the rheological properties of asphalt binders at low, intermediate, and high service temperature ranges were evaluated. It is found that low temperature performance of asphalt can be improved significantly after adding oil modifiers, especially for re-refined oil modifier, through reducing the stiffness of binders at low temperatures. This effect was found to be oil-type dependent. The linear amplitude sweep test was deployed to evaluate fatigue resistance and damage tolerance of oil modified binders, especially with regards to the effect of aging. The Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery test was employed to evaluate the oil modifiers effect on rutting resistance as well as the possible nonlinearity implication of use of such oil modifiers in binders. Based on the observed trends, a prediction model for the effects of oil modifiers on rheological properties of asphalt was developed. A practical and efficient oil modification index (OMI) was proposed for classification of oil in terms of its effect on the binder performance grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Several studies have shown that soy isoflavones have estrogen-like activities and might constitute an alternative to hormone replacement treatment. The present study investigated the effects of soy isoflavones alone and combined with vitamin D3 on prevention of bone loss. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were sham-operated (n = 8) or ovariectomized (OVX; n = 40), and then the OVX rats were randomly assigned to five groups that were untreated or treated for 14 wk with vitamin D3, 17β-estradiol, soy isoflavone extract (SIE), or vitamin D3 plus SIE. The effects of the isoflavones and 1α,25(OH)2D3 on cultured osteoblasts and osteoclasts also were investigated. Results: In OVX rats, the bone mineral density and trabecular bone volume loss were improved by 17β-estradiol, SIE, or SIE plus vitamin D3 treatment. SIE treatment was more effective than vitamin D3 or 17β-estradiol in inhibiting increases in serum tumor necrosis factor-α levels and osteoblast osteoprotegerin expression. SIE plus vitamin D3 was more effective in increasing osterix expression than each alone. Bone cell cultures showed that the isoflavones induced preosteoblasts to differentiate into osteoblasts and increased osteoblast mineralization. Isoflavones inhibited preosteoclasts and osteoclast proliferation and decreased osteoclast resorption. The combination of isoflavones plus 1 α,25(OH)2D3 showed additive effects on the increase in cell proliferation of cultured preosteoblasts. Conclusion: Treatment with soy isoflavones might be an alternative to hormone replacement therapy in decreasing bone loss from postmenopausal estrogen deficiency. In addition, there are further effects on increasing transcription factor osterix expression and preosteoblast proliferation when these were combined with vitamin D3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactions of anhydrous lanthanide(III) trichloride (Ln = Nd, Sm, Eu, Ho, Yb) with one or two equiv. of LiN(SiMe3)2 in THF produced a family of lanthanide(III) bis(trimethylsilyl)amide chloride complexes: [ ((Me3Si)2N)2Nd(mu'-Cl)Li(THF)3 (mu-Cl)]2 (1), [ ((Me3Si)2N)2Ln(mu'-Cl)Li(THF)2 (mu3-Cl)]2 (Ln = Eu (2); Ln = Ho (3)), and [ (Me3Si)2NLn(mu'-Cl)2Li(THF)2 (mu-Cl)]2 (Ln = Nd (4); Ln = Sm (5); Ln = Eu (6); Ln = Ho (7); Ln = Yb (8)). On the other hand, reactions of the monosubstituted silylamido complexes [ (Me3Si)2NLn(mu'-Cl)2Li(THF)2 (mu-Cl)]2 (Ln = Nd (4); Sm (5); Eu (6); Ho (7)) with 2 equiv. of LiN(SiMe3)2 in THF afforded the corresponding disubstituted complexes [ ((Me3Si)2N)2Ln(mu'-Cl)Li(THF)3 (mu-Cl)]2 (Ln = Nd (1); Sm (9)), [ ((Me3Si)2N)2Ln(mu'-Cl)Li(THF)2 (mu3-Cl)]2 (Ln = Sm (9), Eu (2); Ho (3)). These complexes were characterized by melting point determination, elemental analysis and IR spectra. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed that these compounds are chloride-bridged dimers, in which Ln metals in 1-3 display a distorted trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometry while those in 5, 6 and 8 a distorted octahedral coordination geometry. Complexes 1-9 exhibited catalytic activity for the ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical process plant safety, production specifications, environmental regulations, operational constraints, and plant economics are some of the main reasons driving an upward interest in research and development of more robust methods for process monitoring and control. Principal component analysis (PCA) has long been used in fault detection by extracting relevant information from multivariate chemical data. The recent success of wavelets and multi-scale methods in chemical process monitoring and control has catalyzed an interest in the investigation of wavelets based methods for fault detection. In the present work, multi-scale principal component analysis (MSPCA) is used for fault detection and diagnosis. MSPCA simultaneously extracts both, cross correlation across the sensors (PCA approach) and auto-correlation within a sensor (wavelet approach). Using wavelets, the individual sensor signals are decomposed into approximations and details at different scales. Contributions from each scale are collected in separate matrices, and a PCA model is then constructed to extract correlation at each scale. The multi-scale nature of MSPCA formulation makes it suitable to work with process data that are typically non-stationary and represent the cumulative effect of many underlying process phenomena, each operating at a different scale. The proposed MSPCA approach is able to outperform the conventional PCA based approach in detecting and identifying real process faults in an industrial process, and yields minimum false alarms. Additionally, the advantage of MSPCA, over the traditional PCA approach for sensor validation, is also demonstrated on an industrial boiler data set. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study aims to investigate the protective effects of artemisinin (ATZ) on early renal damage in experimental diabetic rats and its probable mechanism. Models of diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats was established utilizing streptozotocin (STZ)-injection intraperitoneally (55 mg/kg) method. All rats were subsequently divided into normal control group, model group and ATZ (25, 50, 75 mg/kg) group randomly. Biochemical parameters including body weight, kidney index, blood glucose, 24 h UAER, Scr, BUN, T-SOD, GSH-Px and MDA were comprehensively determined after 8-week consecutive administrations. HE and PAS stainings were performed to observe the histopathological alterations of kidney. Western blot was conducted to detect the expressions of TGF-β1, Nrf2, HQ-1 and NQO1. ATZ at three concentrations in ATZ group significantly increased the body weight. Biochemical parameters altered significantly between model group and ATZ group. Moreover, ATZ inhibited TGF-β1 protein expression and activated the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Pathological histology results revealed the alterations including mesangial cells proliferation, thickness of glomerular capillary basement membrane, extracellular matrix (ECM) and the 24 h UAER. Western blot analysis demonstrated the increase of antioxidant proteins HO-1 and NQO1 and Nrf2-related proteins. ATZ could reduce early renal oxidative stress damage in DN rats by inhibiting TGF-β1 protein expression in kidney tissues as well as activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway and enhancing the expression of antioxidant proteins, thereby exerting the protective effects on DN kidney. The current study is the first report of ATZ on attenuating effects on kidney of DN rats, which could lay solid theoretical foundations on clinical application of ATZ to treat DN. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]