Search

Background:Zornia diphylla (L.) Pers. (ZDP) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for several decades to treat patients with liver diseases. Whether ZDP is best administered as a single agent or adjunctive therapy has yet to be determined as does the mechanism whereby it exerts its effects on antagonizing acute liver injury (ALI).Aim of the study: To investigate the protective effects of ZDP on ALI induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and the potential underlying mechanisms.Materials and Methods: Sixty adult mice were randomized into six study groups (n = 10/group). Three groups were treated with different concentrations of ZDP (2.5, 1.25, 0.625 g/kg), one with bifendate (0.0075 g/kg) alone (positive control) and one with physiologic saline (normal, negative control). All groups were treated for 14 days. Two hours after the last administration, the normal group received an intraperitoneal injection of peanut oil, and the other five groups received an intraperitoneal injection of an equal dose of CCl4 peanut oil solution. At 24 h, the liver index, histology and serum or tissue levels and/or protein expression of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBIL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), Akt, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65), inhibitor of NF-κB α (IκB-α), interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), E-cadherin and vimentin were determined.Results: Compared to the model controls, the degree of inflammatory cell infiltration and hepatocyte injury of liver tissue was relieved in the bifendate and three ZDP groups; liver index in the ZDP (2.5, 1.25 g/kg) groups and serum liver function indices in the ZDP (2.5, 1.25 and 0.625 g/kg) groups were decreased; antioxidants SOD, CAT and GSH in liver tissue were increased but the lipid peroxidation index MDA was decreased; protein expression of inflammatory cytokines Akt, p-Akt, NF-κB p65, IκB-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the liver was ameliorated, and E-cadherin expression was increased. The results of liver histopathology also showed that ZDP had a significant effect on ALI.Conclusion: ZDP has obvious protective effects on CCl4-induced ALI as a single therapy and appears to act by inhibiting oxidation, reducing the release of inflammatory factors and promoting hepatocyte repair.

CD14-positive monocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more resistant to apoptosis, which promotes their persistence at the inflammatory site and thereby contributes crucially to immunopathology. We sought to elucidate one mechanism underlying this unique pathogenesis: resistance to apoptosis and the potential involvement of miR-29b in this process. CD14-positive peripheral blood monocytes (PBMs) from RA patients were observed to be resistant to spontaneous apoptosis compared to PBMs from healthy volunteers. Intriguingly, expression of miR-29b was significantly upregulated in PBMs from RA patients than those from healthy volunteers, and this upregulation was correlated with RA disease activity. Functionally, forced expression of the exogenous miR-29b in CD14-positive Ctrl PBMs conferred resistance to spontaneous apoptosis and Fas-induced death, thereafter enhancing the production of major proinflammatory cytokines in there cells. Following identification of the potential miR-29b target transcripts using bioinformatic algorithms, we showed that miR-29b could directly bind to the 3'-UTR of the high-mobility group box-containing protein 1 (HBP1) and inhibited its transcription in PBMs. Importantly, stable expression of the exogenous HBP1 in differentiated THP-1 monocytes effectively abolished miR-29b-elicited resistance to Fas-induced apoptosis. Finally, among patients with RA and good clinical responses to immunotherapy, expression levels of miR-29b were significantly compromised in those treated with infliximab (a TNF-α inhibitor) but not in those treated with tocilizumab (a humanized mAb against the IL-6 receptor), pointing to a potential association between miR-29b activation and TNF-α induction. The available data collectively suggest that TNF-α-elicited miR-29b potentiates resistance to apoptosis in PBMs from RA patients via inhibition of HBP1 signaling, and testing patients for miR-29b/HBP1 expression ratios may provide more accurate prognostic information and could influence the recommended course of immunotherapy.

A general Matlab program is designed to simulate the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns of a vortex beam through any apertures, which are usually used to compare with the experimental results in detecting the topological charge of a vortex beam. Two significant matrices are suggested in the above program: one related to the aperture, the other concerned with the field of vortex beam. Using the fast Fourier transform function provided within the Matlab software itself to process the dot product of the above two matrices, one obtains the field on the observation screen. The program is applied to a rectangular aperture and an annular triangle aperture. The results agree well with the computational analysis of previous references. This paper is to describe how Matlab can be used to perform complex mathematical calculations without bogging down the student with the details of the numerical methods and it may be particularly useful for graduate students who engage in the study of topological charge detection and identification.

As a new kind of active flow control technology, plasma flow control has a bright future, for its simple structure, fast response, and wide frequency band. The wind tunnel and flight tests were conducted with microsecond dielectric barrier discharge on a glider. For the tests, the microsecond pulse power supply and remote control system were designed and built. In the wind tunnel test, the flow separation on the glider wing surface can be controlled effectively, and static pressure at the leading edge pressure is decreases by 177%. The flow control effects under different pulse frequencies are compared, and the optimal pulse frequency for actuation is found to be 100 Hz. A significant hysteresis effect was observed with microsecond dielectric barrier discharge at small angle of attack (α ≤ 18°), which means the flow control effect can last more than 300 s after turning off the plasma actuation. In the flight test, the maximum roll angle decreases by 7.0°, and the maximum aileron deflection angle decreases by 9.4° with plasma actuation at both sides of the wing, which means the glider becomes more stable with microsecond dielectric barrier discharge. With unilateral actuation, the rolling moment generated by the plasma actuation is larger than that produced by the ailerons with the angle of attack within 12.94° ≤ α ≤ 29.77°, which shows strong rolling control ability of microsecond dielectric barrier discharge. The wind tunnel and flight tests results verified the flow control effect of microsecond dielectric barrier discharge, and paved the way for the plasma flow control technology to practical applications.

The turbine aero-thermal design expertise has not reached the ultimate level in comparison to compressor expertise which has evolved to high loading, high pressure ratio design with a limited number of stages. For high pressure turbine section, single highly loaded stages are typically representative of wide class of advanced aero engines. The transonic turbines significantly operate at higher pressure ratios with less number of stages but at an expense of relatively lower efficiencies.

A compact polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on a silicon waveguide-silver nanoribbon-silicon waveguide is proposed and demonstrated numerically by utilizing the evanescent coupling between a strip-nanowire and a nanoslot waveguide. Two-dimensional (2-D) FDTD simulations were performed to elucidate the properties of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in this device made from silicon-metal-silicon, and were found to agree well with the theoretical predictions. TE and TM polarized light are respectively separated into two different output ports of Y-shaped silicon waveguide in which the coupling efficiency is 62% and 45% for 1.55μm wavelength, respectively. The proposed PBS structure could be utilized to develop ultracompact optical polarization modulating device for large-scale photonic integration and optical information processing.

To explore the predictive factors of cardiorespiratory abnormality in nonsedated patients at high altitude (HA) during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE). The pulse and saturated oxygen (SaO2) levels of 993 patients undergoing nonsedated UGIE in Tibet were monitored. Bivariate correlation and logistic regression were used to identify predictive risk factors for hypoxemia. The basal and minimum SaO2 levels during UGIE of the Tibetan group were significantly higher than those of the non-Tibetan group. The minimum SaO2 and maximum pulse in the HA transient residents groups were significantly higher than those in the HA usual residents groups. The incidences of hypoxemia and severe hypoxemia in the Tibetan groups were significantly lower than those of the non-Tibetan groups. Bivariate correlation and logistic regression showed that race, age (≥40 years), residence time in HA (

In order to make new residential quarters’ parking mode selection and layout become more rational which can response to the parking pressure bring by the growing private car to the residential quarter.By analyzing the factors of affecting parking model and characteristics of parking demand, studying on the characteristics and applicability of various parking models, derive the method of parking mode selection and allocation according to parking land use. Layout of the parking based on the shape of land, so as to meet most of the parking demand. The results show that the method is feasible to mode selection and layout of parking.

BP neural network is currently the most widely used of neural network models in practical application in transformer fault diagnosis. BP algorithm is a local search algorithm which is easy to make the network into the local minimum values. Network training results are poor. It discusses PSO-BP algorithm which combines the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with the BP algorithm in this paper. It uses PSO algorithm to optimize the BP network’s weights and threshold. It is used in power transformer fault diagnosis. Experimental data results show that PSO-BP network fault diagnosis accuracy is higher than BP algorithm.

The Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system is more and more attractive to scientists of microbiology, molecular biology and crop genetics and breeding due to its unique advantages, which promote its development rapidly in the past decade. Great success has been achieved in the Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation system in maize (Zea mays L.), an important food-supply crop. This article highlights the advances of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system of maize and the major factors of the transformation process. Then, comments on the problems remained and the prospects of this transformation system are made.

We present a new method called the permutation matrix method to perform dense coding using Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states. We show that this method makes the study of dense coding systematically and regularly. It also has high potential to be realized physically.

Over the 14 years since economic reform began, and the restructuring of the economy to encourage international trade, a large number of township enterprises have been developed and put into operation in the Peoples Republic of China. From 1978 to 1991, the number of enterprises has increased 11.5 times; the number of employees has increased 2.4 times; the fixed assets have increased 13.7 times; and the value of the total output has increased 22.5 times. In this article, a report is given on a sample survey in 30 counties in 1990, which showed that 82.69% of rural industrial enterprises had at least one type of occupational hazard in their work environments. Workers engaged in at least one type of hazardous working environment accounted for 33.91% of the blue-collar workers. Physical examinations were performed for seven types of occupational diseases: silicosis, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, chronic lead poisoning, benzene analogs poisoning, chronic chromium poisoning, and noise-induced hearing loss. The total detectable rate of the seven types of occupational diseases was 4.4% among those workers. In addition, 11% had illnesses suspected of being (though not proven to be) caused by occupational exposures. Most township enterprises do not provide basic occupational health services. The coverage of five routine occupational health service activities provided for township enterprises were very limited, from 1.4 to 36%.

Pathophysiological characteristics of hemorrhagic shock at high altitude are different from that at plain which involve severe injury, high mortality, difficult treatment and compromised liquid tolerance. High-altitude pulmonary/cerebral edema and multiple-organ dysfunction render the conventional treatment ineffective. Herein, we evaluated the resuscitation effects of hyperoxia solution on high-altitude hemorrhagic shock in rats. For this purpose, a rat model of high-altitude (3,658 m) hemorrhagic shock was established on the plateau and hyperoxia solution (4 ml/kg) was infused through external jugular vein for resuscitation at 60 min post-hemorrhage. Blood pressure, blood gas, left and right ventricular pressure, lung and brain water content, survival time, survival rate at 2 h, levels of inflammatory cytokines and free oxygen radicals in blood and tissue were determined. After resuscitation with hyperoxia solution, blood pressure, arterial oxygen partial pressure, left and right ventricular systolic pressure, ±dp/dt max, survival time and rate were significantly increased. Lung and brain water content were unchanged, malondialdehyde activity in lung, brain and plasma and levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, and endothelin were significantly decreased. Besides, CGRP was elevated with reduced injury and improved lung and kidney functions. Concludingly, resuscitation with hyperoxia solution is feasible and more effective than other classical liquids, making it the first choice of treatment for high-altitude hemorrhagic shock.

In view of simulation result degree of confidence based on the NS2 network performance, proposed a new approach based on confidence interval, and through the analysis of an actual system and the simulation model, showed the simulation results are credible under the high confidence level, has provided a beneficial reference for the degree of simulation confidence research.

A hybrid KSVM categorization algorithm is proposed in this paper, due to the fact that SVM algorithm classifies some tested temples in error nearby the optimal hyper-surface. In the classifying phase, the algorithm computes the distance from the tested sample to the optimal hyper-surface of SVM in the feature space, and chooses different algorithms for different distances. Then we apply this algorithm to short text categorization. The experimental results show that this algorithm, compared with traditional algorithms, greatly improved the classification accuracy of short text.

Emotional states are part of the information that is conveyed in many forms of network reviews. This paper presents a new sentiment polarity recognition model based on linguistic structure of emotion states-fixed sentiment terms model. The proposed method uses three types of specific collocation pattern to construct the recognition algorithm based on fixed sentiment terms. These feature term sets are gradually updated by relevance feedbacks from the users which based on incremental tf-idf model. Comparison is done between the traditional method and fixed sentiment terms model. All tests showed the proposed method gets a higher efficiency and accuracy rate of the emotion classifier.

In this paper, an iterative algorithm, which is based on support vector machine (SVM), is proposed for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image segmentation. The proposed method considers the SAR image segmentation as the pixel classification. The pixels of the previous segmented image are regarded as the training samples for SVM, which is used to re-segment the image. These iterations are repeated until the convergence, which is determined by checking the relative change of the entropy between two consecutive segmented images. Experimental results show that compared with, the proposed algorithm can achieve much better segmented results than the Markov random field (MRF) algorithm, and the proposed method dramatically reduces the influence of initial segmentation on the final result.

Summary Objective To study the techniques of fractured cranial flap refixation (suture, wire and titanium clamps). Methods Twenty-four cadaver craniotomy flaps, sawn as fractured flap models, were divided into three groups, and every eight fractured flaps were reattached with sutures, wires and titanium clamps, respectively. Bone flap refixation was timed and measured for offset. For every fixation technique, load-bearing tests were performed on craniotomied skulls by applying an external force until the refixation system failed. The results were compared. Results The titanium clamp required significantly less time (142±16s) to fix than either suture (631±47s) or stainless steel wire (1104±48s). The titanium clamp also showed significantly smaller offset (average offset: 0.35±0.07mm) than either suture (average offset: 1.93±0.33mm) or stainless steel wire (average offset: 1.80±0.42mm). The titanium clamp (maximal force: 384.06±24.89N) was stronger than suture (maximal force 89.43±13.76N) and stainless steel wire (maximal force 285.51±10.46N). Conclusion The titanium clamp is a reasonable alternative method of fractured cranial flap refixation with respect to ease of use, time consumption, accuracy and strength.

With the development of the Internet, the Web has become an invaluable information source. In order to use this information for more than human browsing, Web pages in HTML must be converted into a format meaningful software programs. Wrappers have been a useful technique to convert HTML documents into semantically meaningful XML files. In this paper, we propose a data extraction approach based on the user pre-defined schema which generates automatically a wrapper to extract data from an HTML document, and produce an XML document conforming to given DTD. After the user define extraction data schema in the form of DTD, the wrapper is generated automatically with the induction and learning algorithm. The experiment indicates that the approach can extract the required data from the source document with high accuracy.

The detection of a one-dimensional radar signal is attempted by using the Gabor transform and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The Gabor transform scheme is a conjoint spatial/spectral transform, which provides a complete signal description in terms of locally windowed 1-D spectral coordinates. The neural network detector of a radar signal is quite effective because of its good learning properties and largely network connected weights. The purpose is to substitute the conventional discrete Fourier transform for the Gabor transform in a radar moving-target-detection (MTD) system and replace the constant-false-alarm-rate (CFAR) detector by using the artificial neural network detector, to obtain good detection performance. >