Search

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an active microwave remote sensing device used to obtain high-resolution SAR images.With the development of SAR, extremely high-resolution SAR (i.e. resolution reaching 0.1 m) plays an increasingly important role in applications such as target recognition. In extremely high-resolution spaceborne SAR, the variation of slant range history becomes extremely severe, resulting in echoes of interest overlapping with transmitted pulses and nadir echoes when transmitting the pulses at constant pulse intervals (PIs), further causing the loss of echo data. Although a continuously varying pulse interval (CVPI) system can expand the tolerance of slant range variation to some extent, overlap still occurs when the variation in slant range exceeds a certain threshold. Thus, this paper proposes segmented CVPI sequence design methods to solve the data acquisition problem in the situation of severe variation in slant range history. The timing diagram- and strip layering diagram-based segmented CVPI sequence design methods, which are suitable for the acquisition of spaceborne SAR data with any variation of slant range, are given. The characteristics of the two methods are analysed. Finally, several computer simulations indicate that the echoes generated by the proposed methods are not overlapped, which verifies the validity of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little information is available on the influence of the compound use of intercropping (IN) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) on Cd accumulation and the expression of Cd transporter genes in two intercropped plants. A pot experiment was conducted to study the influences of IN and AMF-Glomus versiforme on growth and Cd uptake of two intercropped plants-maize and Cd hyperaccumulator Sphagneticola calendulacea, and the expression of Cd transporter genes in maize in Cd-polluted soils. IN, AMF and combined treatments of IN and AMF (IN + AMF) obviously improved biomass, photosynthesis and total antioxidant capacities of two plants. Moreover, single and compound treatments of IN and AMF evidently reduced Cd contents in maize, and the greatest decreases appeared in the compound treatment. However, Cd contents of S. calendulacea in IN, AMF and IN + AMF groups were notably improved. Furthermore, the single and compound treatments of IN and AMF significantly downregulated the expression levels of Nramp1, HMA1, ABCC1 and ABCC10 in roots and leaves, and the largest decreases were observed in the combined treatment. Our work first revealed that the combined use of IN and AMF appeared to have a synergistic effect on decreasing Cd content by downregulating the expression of Cd transporter genes in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of paclitaxel analogs modified at C-3′-N and C-7 positions were synthesized from baccatin III and their structures were confirmed by1H-NMR,13C-NMR, HR-MS. Compound7eexhibited potent ability to decrease TNFα (tumor necrosis factor α) in the LPS-activated RAW264.7 murine macrophage-like cell line. The preliminary data indicated that the anti-inflammatory effects may be related to MD-2 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), rather than Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines Chinese consumers’ acceptance and price willingness to pay for organic fluid milk. We used questionnaire data gathered in 2014 to analyze the impact of price and milk knowledge, as well as consumer age, gender, education and income on organic milk choice. The results indicate that: 1) young females with a strong educational background have shown the strongest consumption desire for organic milk; 2) those who shop for the family tend to support organic milk and are willing to pay more for the milk; 3) shoppers with more disposable income are willing to pay a premium price for organic milk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China's rapidly expanding wealthy population has expressed a new desire for imported red wines. Using data collected in China's major red wine consumption region of Beijing, this study analyzes the impact of country of origin, price, wine age, and brand on consumer-derived utility and willingness to pay for red wines. Findings from a conditional logit model and a mixed logit model indicate that price remains the key factor in Chinese consumers' red wine choices. For gift purchases, consumers are willing to pay an additional $20 to move from a US wine to a French wine. For own consumption, French wines are preferable if their price is within a reasonable range of $13–20 above Chinese or US wines. Chinese consumers also strongly favor branded and matured red wines. China's rapid and sustainable economic growth and its stronger integration to the global economy have led to greater disposable income and the expanding consumer demand for luxury beverage of red wines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of education on Chinese consumers' willingness to pay for domestically produced and imported red wines. It uses a conjoint choice experiment and survey data gathered from China's major red wine market in Beijing. A conditional logit and a mixed logit model suggest that (1) Chinese consumers are sensitive to price change and they seek reasonably priced, aged, and branded wines; (2) high-end French wines are the most preferred wines; (3) if education is not considered, consumers are willing to pay a premium to switch from a Chinese wine to a California wine; (4) if education is considered, consumers prefer Chinese wines better than California wines; and (5) a group of job-preparing school graduates is willing to pay a premium for California wines. Our new data show that a new consumer segment with a weaker educational background is an emerging red wine consumption group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel silicone modified polyurethane (Si-PU) surfactants were successfully synthesized by using hydroxypropyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (HPMS), polyethylene glycol (PEG), dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA) and isophoronediisocyanate (IPDI). The chemical structure of the surfactant was confirmed by FTIR and1H-NMR. TEM photographs showed that the micelles of the Si-PU surfactants dispersed in aqueous solution were spherical with the particle size in the range of 100–400 nm. Surface tension measurements indicated that these surfactants had low surface tension to 29.9 mN·m−1and a definite critical micelle concentration to, approximately 5.0×10−4–7.5×10−4mol·L−1. When the content of HPMS was 20 wt%, the surfactant's, emulsifying performance was superior to the traditionally available Span80/Tween80 mixed emulsifiers. In addition to that, no phase transition temperature was detected from 20°C to 90°C by fluorescence probe and DSC measurements, confirming the high thermal stability of the micelles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for locally produced ground beef with an emphasis on the impacts of product attributes and the heterogeneity caused by rural consumers’ characteristics. We applied the choice-based conjoint technique to analyze data collected from a typical rural town in the Northern Great Plains. The results indicate that location associated product brand differences and leanness were dominant components affecting consumers’ WTP. The premium of locally produced ground beef for consumers with a close tie to local production is $0.48/lb. Cut difference, grass-fed, and organic were trivial factors in determining consumers’ WTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of polarization temperature on the chain segment motion and charge trapping and detrapping in polyamide 610 films has been investigated by means of thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). A small part of the amorphous phase of quenched polyamide 610 changes into the crystalline state with increasing polarization temperature. There are three current peaks (named α, ρ1, and ρ2 peak, respectively) in the TSDC spectra. The α peak corresponds to the glass transition, the ρ 1 peak is attributed to space charge trapped in the amorphous phase, and interphase between crystalline and amorphous phases, and the ρ 2 peak originates from space charge trapped in the crystalline phase. By analyzing the characteristic parameters of these peaks, it was found that the increase of polarization temperature induced a decrease of the chain segment mobility and promoted the creation of structural traps in polyamide 610. The decrease of the chain segment mobility in the amorphous phase made the intensity of the α peak weak and the activation energy increased. The higher the polarization temperature, the higher the degree of crystallinity and the more charge carriers trapped in the crystalline phase. So, the increase of polarization temperature made the intensity of the ρ 2 peak strong and increased the stability of trapped charge in the crystalline phase. The increase of polarization temperature also made the intensity of the ρ 1 peak strong and decreased the stability of trapped charge in the amorphous phase and interphase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense competition in China's dairy product market requires international marketers to identify focused segments and plan strategies to satisfy these segments' specific consumption needs. The college students group in large urban cities is an important growing market. This new consumer group accepts Western food culture, spends a majority of family income, and is willing to accept a relativly high price. Our study uses questionnaires collected from college students in Beijing in 2007 to analyze the impacts of family eating habits and dining at Western style fast food on students' consumption of milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. We found a significant and positive impact of family eating habits on dairy choices. Dining at Western style fast food restaurants reduces the likelihood of milk consumption but increases yogurt and ice cream consumption. College students' dairy consumption is affected by household size, gender, students' dairy product knowledge, health concerns, and distance to shopping centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate) [P(MMA/BA)] copolymers ( M η ∼⃒2×10 5 ) with different mass percentages of PMMA (100/0, 90/10, 81/19, and 75/25), were synthesized by the method of solution polymerization. In addition to the normal α and ρ peak, a third τ peak is observed in thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) spectra of the copolymers in the high temperature region. The α peak‐corresponds to the glass transition, the ρ peak originates from the detrapping of trapped carriers in the bulk amorphous structure related with flexible side groups, and the τ peak can be attributed to the charge detrapping related to the liquid–liquid transition of the copolymers. The three peaks all move to lower temperature with an increase of the BA component, indicating that the flexible side groups of butyl acrylate not only have an effect of plasticization on the glass transition and liquid–liquid transition, but also make the trap depth shallower and the detrapping process easier for the ρ and τ peaks. The experimental results confirm that TSDC analysis is very sensitive for investigating the liquid–liquid transition of polymers. The liquid–liquid transition temperature ( T LL ) of the copolymers follows a type of the Fox equation. Fitting the results gives a T LL of 102°C for polybutyl acrylate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of 8,541 majors of graduate student recruit students of 42 double first class universities found that departures from national requirements in the three dimensions of training type, study method, and discipline field affect the advancement of equal enrollment opportunities for Master's students nationwide in different ways, and the causes are all based on institutional partiality or discrimination against candidate origin. Therefore, we recommend that double first class universities comprehensively investigate majors with unequal recruitment and eliminate those that are not compliant or have unreasonable conditions while designing "impartial" graduate student recruitment institutions that uphold personnel and institutional views of equal opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender research shows excellent significance in the breeding and production of poultry, achieving the actual needs of poultry through targeted gender regulation could increase economic benefits. However, the mechanism of sex determination in poultry remains unclear. We respectively constructed HMGCS1 overexpression and interference vectors for lentivirus packaging. Vascular microinjection was performed when fertilized eggs developed to 2.5 days. qRT-PCR and ELISA results indicated that HMGCS1 could promote the expression of male germ-cell development-related genes (SOX9) and inhibit the expression of female germ-cell development-related genes (CYP19A1 and DMRT1). Furthermore, the synthesis of cholesterol and testosterone in the gonads were increased. In addition, the injection of lovastatin into chicken embryos, an inhibitor of cholesterol synthesis, showed a significant decrease in gonadal testosterone. This experiment revealed that HMGCS1 could regulate the synthesis of testosterone by affecting the content of cholesterol in gonads, and promote the differentiation of chicken gonads into males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autotrophic nitrogen removal couple process based on anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) has been applied to treat various high-ammonia and low-carbon wastewater for its advantageous ability to remove nitrogen. However, high concentrations of NO 3 − -N in the effluent is a drawback that prevents the total nitrogen from meeting the discharge standard. For this reason, coupling sulfur autotrophic denitrification (SADN) with Anammox for the advanced treatment of NO 3 − -N to achieve a completely autotrophic biological nitrogen removal process that is independent of organic matter has become a major focus of research in recent years. To reduce SO 4 2− -S in the SADN process, the short-cut SADN (SSADN) process was pioneered for controlling NO 3 − -N reduction in the NO 2 − -N phase. This method also serves as an efficient anaerobic autotrophic process that simultaneously removes biological nitrogen from wastewater containing NH 4 + -N and NO 3 − -N. This article reviews the control parameters of SSADN and the forms of coupling with Anammox, analyze the directional transformation of nitrogen and sulfur in the coupling process and the complex competition of substrates, and finally evaluate application bottlenecks that limit its industrialization, which are necessary to address for furthering the development of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitive detection of gizzerosine, a causative agent for deadly gizzard erosion in chicken feeds, is very important to the poultry industry. In this work, a new method was developed based on microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection for rapid analysis of gizzerosine, a biogenic amine in fish meals. The MCE separation was performed on a glass microchip using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as dynamic coating modifier. Separation conditions, including running buffer pH and concentration, SDS concentration, and the separation voltage were investigated to achieve fast and sensitive quantification of gizzerosine. The assay proposed was very quick and could be completed within 65 s. A linear calibration curve was obtained in the range from 0.04 to 1.8 μg ml–1gizzerosine. The detection limit was 0.025 μg ml–1(0.025 mg kg–1), which was far more sensitive than those previously reported. Gizzerosine was well separated from other endogenous components in fish meal samples. Recovery of gizzerosine from this sample matrix (n = 3) was determined to be 97.2–102.8%. The results from analysing fish meal samples indicated that the present MCE-LIF method might hold the potential for rapid detection of gizzerosine in poultry feeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep remission should be induced early in the disease course of Crohn's disease (CD), because it significantly prevents disease progression. Identifying predictors of deep remission before treatment is important to guide therapeutic strategy. Little is known about the predictors of infliximab-induced deep remission in treatment-naïve patients with isolated small bowel CD. We aimed to investigate the predictors of infliximab-induced deep remission in these patients. From January 2015 to December 2019, all consecutive treatment-naïve patients with isolated small bowel CD who started infliximab induction therapy (5 mg/kg at week 0, 2, and 6) and underwent capsule endoscopy (CE) at week 14 were retrospectively included. Deep remission was defined as clinical remission in combination with CE-identified mucosal healing. Logistic regression was used to investigate the predictors of 14-week deep remission. Ninety-one patients were included. At week 14 after infliximab induction therapy, deep remission was found in 42 patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a moderate-to-severe endoscopic disease [odds ratio (OR), 0.28; p =.01] and the presence of fibrofatty proliferation (OR, 0.26; p =.04) at baseline were independently associated with a decreased possibility of deep remission. In treatment-naïve patients with isolated small bowel CD, a moderate-to-severe endoscopic disease and the presence of fibrofatty proliferation at baseline reduce the possibility of infliximab-induced deep remission. Patients with such risk factors may need more aggressive treatment at the beginning of induction therapy to promote deep remission at an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate) [P(MMA/BA)] copolymers (Mη ∼2×105) with different mass percentages of MMA were synthesized by the method of solution polymerization. Thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) technique was used to investigate the effect of copolymerization on pendant group and chain segment motions. Three TSDC peaks were observed over the temperature range from 310 to 400 K. The highest temperature, ρ peak originates from the detrapping of trapped charge carriers. The lower temperature, α peak corresponds to the glass transition. The activation energy of the α relaxation decreases from 1.2 eV for PMMA to 0.98 eV for MMA(75)/BA(25). In the fitting process, another peak, β', is separated on the low temperature side. The apparent energy barrier of the β' for PMMA is 0.80 eV. The β' relaxation is thought to correspond to the motion of pendant groups including intra- and inter-molecular interactions. All three peaks move to lower temperatures with an increase in BA component, and the activation energy for the α and β' relaxations also decreases with the increase of BA component in copolymers, indicating that the flexible side groups of BA have an effect of plasticization on the glass transition and motion of pendent groups. The temperatures of the α and β' peaks of P(MMA/BA) copolymers follow the Fox equation. Fitting results gives the α peak at 238 K and β' peak at 225 K for polybutyl acrylate (PBA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of infliximab in treatment-naïve patients with stricturing small bowel Crohn's disease (CD) has not been well studied. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of infliximab in these patients. This was a retrospective study of all consecutive treatment-naïve patients with newly diagnosed CD with small bowel stricture who started regular infliximab therapy in Nanfang Hospital between January 2015 and December 2019. An effective infliximab therapy was defined as infliximab continuation without the use of steroids, new biologics, endoscopic interventions or intestinal surgery. Seventy-nine patients were included. After a median 38 months follow-up, an effective infliximab therapy was achieved in 37 patients. Long diagnostic delay (hazard ratio [HR] 0.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.19–0.78; p=.008), pre-stenotic dilatation (HR 0.17, 95%CI 0.09–0.35; p <.001), long segmental stricture (HR 0.20, 95%CI 0.10–0.41; p <.001), and penetrating disease (HR 0.22, 95%CI 0.10–0.49; p <.001) were negatively correlated with an effective infliximab therapy. Infliximab is effective in nearly 50% of treatment-naïve patients with CD with small bowel stricture, and an effective therapy is more likely to be achieved in patients without long diagnostic delay, pre-stenotic dilatation, long segmental stricture or penetrating disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differential steroid production in the theca and granulosa cells in ovary are resulted from unique enzyme expression profiles. Among them, c-fos, a downstream target of mitogen and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (MEK/ERK) signaling, takes part in this compartment. In this study, we investigated the effect of c-fos on the steady-state levels of CYP17 and CYP19 in human ovarian granulosa-like tumor cell line (KGN) by inhibiting MEK/ERK pathway with PD98059. As a result, our finding demonstrated the distinct distribution patterns of CYP17 and CYP19 in KGN. Moreover, the MEK/ERK pathway functions to inhibit the production of CYP17, while enhance the production of CYP19 in granulosa cells, probably involving a c-fos-dependent mechanism. In conclusion, factors such as c-fos may play a crucial role in the down-regulation of CYP17 and up-regulation of CYP19 in granulosa cells, thereby suppressing androstenedione synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]