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Purpose In China, dabigatran and rivaroxaban are the only approved non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). The goal of this article was to assess the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran versus rivaroxaban for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in Chinese patients with AF from the perspective of the Chinese health care system. Methods A Markov model was constructed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran versus rivaroxaban. Clinical events were modeled for a lifetime horizon, based on clinical efficacy data from indirect treatment comparisons. The weighted average of the most recent prices of these 2 drugs was used as the drug acquisition cost. Other costs, including follow-up costs and event costs, were collected by using a survey from a panel of local experts. Utility inputs (health state utilities, clinical event disutilities, and event history utility) were obtained from published literature. Sensitivity analyses that included scenario analyses and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis were conducted to examine the robustness of the economic model. Findings Over a lifetime, patients treated with dabigatran experienced fewer ischemic strokes (2.14 dabigatran vs 2.61 rivaroxaban) and fewer intracranial hemorrhage (0.48 vs 0.94) per 100 patient-years. In the base case analysis, dabigatran had an incremental cost of ¥28,128 but with higher life years (10.38 vs 10.14) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) (7.95 vs 7.70). The resulting incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ¥112,910 per QALY gained and net monetary benefit of ¥12,214 versus rivaroxaban showed that dabigatran was a cost-effective alternative to rivaroxaban. Extensive sensitivity analyses indicated that the results were robust over a wide range of inputs. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that dabigatran was cost-effective in 84.2% of the 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations compared with rivaroxaban. Implications Dabigatran reduced the occurrence of clinical events and increased QALYs compared with rivaroxaban. The use of dabigatran for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism is a cost-effective option compared with rivaroxaban among patients with AF in China.

It's favorable to alter KRas mutation's location to endomembrane by interfering the binding of PDEδ (the prenyl-binding protein phosphodiesterase delta) to KRas. In the present work, the binding of four inhibitors (Deltarasin, allyl analogue, pyrazolopyridazinone derivative, and Deltazinone 1) to PDEδ is investigated with all-atom Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations. The binding free energy calculation results reveal that van der Waals (VDW) energy provides the major force for affinity binding. Moreover, the binding energy decomposition indicates that residues R61 and I129 provide important contributions to binding energies in all systems. The conserved hydrogen bonds play crucial roles in anchoring the inhibitors to the exact site for binding. The results for conformational analysis of PDEδ/free and PDEδ/inhibitors systems show that the structures are more stable after the inhibitors' binding to the PDEδ. It is also found that the most unstable system among four complexes is PDEδ/pyrazolopyridazinone derivative system whose α3-helix formed by the residues P113-Q116 disappears. This study may provide valuable information for the design of high potency PDEδ inhibitors. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Surface litter respiration is a major component of soil respiration in the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems, and studying the variation in the temperature sensitivity of surface litter respiration and its influencing factors is important for the accurate understanding of the regional soil carbon cycle. In a typical locust plantation (

Purpose Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are becoming the standard treatments for Chinese patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring an EGFR mutation. However, the economic impact is unclear yet in China. Materials and methods A decision-analytic model was developed to simulate 1-month patient transitions in a 10-year time horizon from Chinese heath care system perspective. The health and economic outcomes of four first-line strategies (pemetrexed plus cisplatin [PC], gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib) among NSCLC patients harboring EGFR mutations were estimated and assessed via indirect comparisons. Costs in the Chinese setting were estimated by using local hospital data and literatures. A 5% annual discount rate was applied to both costs and outcomes. The primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Sensitivity analyses were performed. Results Afatinib achieved additional 0.382, 0.216 and 0.174 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) with marginal $7930, $3680 and $2818 costs in comparison with PC, gefitinib and erlotinib, which resulted in the ICERs of $20,758, $17,693 and $16,197 per QALY gained, respectively. The hazard ratios (HR) of overall survival (OS) of afatinib against gefitinib, erlotinib and PC strategy had substantial influential parameters. Conclusions First-line afatinib is cost-effective compared with gefitinib, erlotinib and PC treatment for Chinese patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC.

The plants of Bletilla are one of the groups in Orchidaceae with the highest economic value. As the traditional Chinese medicinal material, Bletillae Rhizoma exhibits excellent efficacy in hemostatic, antibiosis, detumescent, anticancer activities and regenerating tissue to heal wound, which has great development potential. However, Bletillae Rhizoma is mainly collected from wild resources. At present, the quantity of wild resources of Bletilla plants has sharply decreased and is far from meeting the needs. Resource appraisal and breeding and cultivation of excellent germplasms of Bletilla plants are important for scientific utilization of the resources of the genus. This paper reviewed the following researches of Chinese Bletilla resources: species and distribution, genetic diversity, active ingredient evaluation, breeding, as well as seeding production and cultivation techniques. Suggestions were also provided in further researches on the resources evaluation, sustainable development and efficient utilization of Chinese Bletilla plants.

Ischemic brain injury is an important cause for seizure. Mild hypothermia of the brain or the whole body is an effective way to remit the post-stroke seizure. Our previous study revealed an implication of Notch 1 and 2 in the post-stroke seizure. This study further investigated the involvement of Notch 3 and 4 in post-stroke seizure and the effect of mild hypothermia on these two factors. A global cerebral ischemia (GCI) model was conducted in Sprague Dawley rats. Seizure activity was evaluated by the frequency of seizure attacks, seizure severity scores, and seizure discharges. Seizures were frequently occurred in the first and the second 24 h after GCI, however active whole-body cooling (mild hypothermia) and DAPT (Notch inhibitor) injection into the hippocampus, alone or in combination, alleviated seizure activity after GCI. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot assays revealed the up-regulation of Notch intracellular domain (NICD) 3 and 4 in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus following GCI, but mild hypothermia and DAPT inhibited the up-regulation of NICD 3 and 4. NF-κB, PPARα, PPARγ, cyclin D1, Sox2 and Pax6 are associated with the pathogenesis of diverse type of seizures. GCI induced NF-κB, cyclin D1, and Pax6 activity, but suppressed PPARγ. These effects of GCI were abolished by both mild hypothermia and DAPT treatment. This indicated the implication of Notch signaling in the effects of GCI. Collectively, mild hypothermia inhibits Notch 3 and Notch 4 activation and seizure after stroke in the rat model. This study adds to the further understanding of the pathogenesis of post-stroke seizures and the protective mechanism of mild hypothermia.

Stroke is considered an underlying etiology of the development of seizures. Stroke leads to glucose and oxygen deficiency in neurons, resulting in brain dysfunction and injury. Mild hypothermia is a therapeutic strategy to inhibit stroke-induced seizures, which may be associated with the regulation of energy metabolism of the brain. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and solute carrier family 2, facilitated glucose transporter member (GLUT)-1 are critical for energy metabolism. Furthermore, mTOR overactivation and GLUT-1 deficiency are associated with genetically acquired seizures. It has been hypothesized that mTOR and GLUT-1 may additionally be involved in seizures elicited by stroke. The present study established global cerebral ischemia (GCI) models of rats. Convulsive seizure behaviors frequently occurred during the first and the second days following GCI, which were accompanied with seizure discharge reflected in the EEG monitor. Expression of phosphor (p)-mTOR and GLUT-1 were upregulated in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, as evidenced by immunohistochemistry and western blot analyses. Mild hypothermia and/or rapamycin (mTOR inhibitor) treatments reduced the number of epileptic attacks, seizure severity scores and seizure discharges, thereby alleviating seizures induced by GCI. Mild hypothermia and/or rapamycin treatments reduced phosphorylation levels of mTOR and the downstream effecter p70S6 in neurons, and the amount of GLUT-1 in the cytomembrane of neurons. The present study revealed that mTOR is involved in stroke-induced seizures and the anti-seizure effect of mild hypothermia. The role of GLUT-1 in stroke-elicited seizures appears to be different from the role in seizures induced by other reasons. Further studies are necessary in order to elucidate the exact function of GLUT-1 in stroke-elicited seizures.

Background Lin28B and its paralog Lin28A are small RNA binding proteins that have similar inhibitory effects, although they target separate steps in the maturation of let-7 miRNAs in mammalian cells. Because Lin28B participates in the promotion and development of tumors mostly by blocking the let-7 tumor suppressor family members, we sought to explore the associated mechanisms to gain insights into how Lin28B might be decreased in human cancer cells to increase let-7 levels and reverse malignancy. Results We demonstrated that the histone acetyltransferase PCAF, via its cold shock domain, directly interacts with and subsequently acetylates Lin28B in lung adenocarcinoma-derived H1299 cells. RT-qPCR assays showed that both let-7a-1 and let-7g were increased in PCAF-transfected H1299 cells. Lin28B is acetylated by ectopic PCAF and translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in H1299 cells. Conclusions The effects of acetylated Lin28B on let-7a-1 and let-7g are similar to that of stable knockdown of Lin28B in H1299 cells. The new role of PCAF in mediating Lin28B acetylation and the specific release of its target microRNAs in H1299 cells may shed light on the potential application of let-7 in the clinical treatment of lung cancer patients.

As energy release plays an important role in engineering disasters such as rockburst, seismicity induced by deep rock mass excavation via drill and blast, energy changes caused by excavation have been studied for a long time. However, previous studies ignored the time factor and took the unloading of in-situ stress on the excavation boundary as a quasi-static process. In this paper, energy changes induced by quasi-static unloading of in-situ stress (QSUIS) and transient release of in-situ stress (TRIS) were analyzed for the case of circular excavation under the condition of in-situ hydrostatic stress. Results show that, different from energy changes caused by QSUIS, the dynamic adjustment of strain energy induced by TRIS which first decreases and then increases, is a transient process. With the propagation of the unloading stress wave from the excavation boundary to the far surrounding rock masses, energy is transmitted by the way of radial stress doing work from the far surrounding rock masses to the near ones which causes the transient aggregation of strain energy. Comparison based on the effects of energy changes on the damage range indicates that higher aggregation degree of strain energy causes larger damage range induced by TRIS than that induced by QSUIS. In addition, a practical application in Jinping II hydropower project was presented as a verification.

Monsanto’s Bt-cotton NC 33B, planted in northern China for more than one decade, effectively controls cotton bollworms and decreases the use of chemical insecticides. Because of the concern about undesirable ecological side-effects of transgenic Bt-cottons, it is important to assess Bt-cotton NC 33B’s effects on soil microorganisms in this zone. Microbial communities in the rhizosphere soil of Bt and non-Bt cottons were monitored under field conditions by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) fingerprints of eubacteria, fungi and actinomycetes at six growth stages after three-year cultivation. Results showed that the population sizes and community structures of eubacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in rhizosphere soil were markedly affected by natural variations in the environment related to cotton growth stages. However, there was no significant difference in eubacterial, fungal and actinomycete population size and community structures in rhizosphere soil between NC 33B and its non-transgenic parent. In general, Bt-cotton NC 33B did not show evident effects on microbial communities in the rhizosphere soil under field conditions after three-year cultivation. This study provides a theoretical basis for environmental impact monitoring of transgenic Bt cottons.

A new simple and efficient RP-HPLC-UV method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of isoflavonoids in Huangqi Gegen and its marketed formulations. Effective chromatographic separation of ten active components was achieved on a Kromasil C18 column (4.6×250 mm, i.d.; 5 μm) with gradient elution of methanol and 0.2% formic acid aqueous solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min in 60 min. Detection was performed at 250nm. The validation of the method included tests of linearity, sensitivity, precision, repeatability, stability and accuracy. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r>0.999) within test ranges. The established method showed good precision and accuracy with overall intra-day and inter-day variations of 0.77-1.81 % and 1.38-2.47 %, and overall recoveries of 96.64-103.96 % for the compounds analyzed. The developed method was successfully applied for the quantitative analysis of constituents in Huangqi gegen and its marketed formulations.

Hepatocarcinoma, a malignant cancer, threaten human life badly. It is a current issue to seek the effective natural remedy from plant to treat cancer due to the resistance of the advanced hepatocarcinoma to chemotherapy. Puerarin (Pue), a major active ingredient in the traditional Chinese medicine Gegen, has a wide range of pharmacological properties and is considered to have anti-hepatocarcinoma effects. However its low oral bioavailability restricts its wide application. In this report, Pue-nanosuspension (Pue-NS) composed of Pue and poloxamer 188 was prepared by high pressure homogenization technique. The in vitro anti-hepatocarcinoma effects of Pue-NS relative to efficacy of bulk Pue were evaluated. The particle size and zeta potential of Pue-NS were 218.5 nm and −18.8 mV, respectively. MTT assay showed that Pue-NS effectively inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells, and the corresponding IC50 values of Pue-NS and bulk Pue were 3.39 and 5.73 μg/ml. These results suggest that the delivery of Pue-NS is a promising approach for treating tumors.

a b s t r a c t Sand content is a textural property of soils closely related to soil quality. A fast determination of sand content at large scales is paramount importance for monitoring soil degradation to improve agricultural practices. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of the thermal infrared region (TIR) to estimate sand content of soils. Thermal infrared spectra obtained in the field from a Fourier Transform Spectrometer are used to develop a partial least square regression model (PLSR) that translates thermal emittance to soil texture properties. Our results show that the 9.435-9.473 m wavelength regions hold a great promise for prediction of sand content. Coefficient of determination R2 is 0.87 and standard error (SE) is 2.79. We also show that second derivative of thermal spectral profiles is very useful to detect kaolinite in sand dominated soils. The results of this study provide further insights for developing future thermal sensors aimed at predicting soil quality as indicated by the sand content and other textural properties.

2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) aerobic degrading granules were successfully developed in the sequencing batch airlift reactor. The key strategy used in cultivation of the granules was dosing glucose and acetate as co-substrates. After granulation, average concentrations of 2,4,6-TCP and COD in the effluent were less than 8 mg L −1 and 59 mg L −1 , respectively. The removal efficiencies of 2,4,6-TCP and COD were above 93% and 90%, respectively. The specific degradation rate of 2,4,6-TCP peaked at 61 mg 2,4,6-TCP g VSS −1 h −1 when inoculated at the concentration of 400 mg L −1 . The extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) contents of the 2,4,6-TCP aerobic degrading granules were decreased compared with the contents in seed sludge. Two peaks attributed to the protein-like fluorophores were identified by three-dimensional excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra. The decrease of fluorescence parameters, e.g., peak locations, intensities, indicated quenching effect of 2,4,6-TCP on the EPS fluorescence. Meanwhile, the shift of peak position indicated chemical changes of the EPS.

Second-order system of lacking damper was an alyzed and studied, and a kind of control strategy namei overlapping control was proposed to overcome the overshoo problem. By converting an input signal into two signals whicl have certain relationships on amplitude and phase to counterac the overshoot of the system, and the response speed can also b guaranteed. The parameters of overlapping control were obtaine by system identification. In order to improve the robustness o the system, a feedforward-feedback control scheme was give to solve this problem. Simulation results show that overlapping control has good control performance for second-order system of lacking damper.

In order to solve the poor dynamic characteristics and adjustment effect of traditional voltage filter control system of welding machine. In this paper, the mathematical model of the voltage filter control system of welding machine is established, and the fuzzy control rule is applied to the Voltage Control System, and two improved fuzzy control schemes including fuzzy-PID compound control and fuzzy adaptive control are proposed. Finally, the MATLAB software is used to compare the simulation of the three controllers. Simulation results show that fuzzy-PID compound control and Fuzzy adaptive control have better dynamic performance than traditional PID control; Compared with fuzzy-PID compound control, Fuzzy adaptive control has better steady-state performance and stronger anti-interference ability.

Seizure is a serious complication of stroke, indicating poor prognosis. Notch signaling is associated with neuronal activity. Inhibition of Notch signaling suppresses seizure activity induced by kainic acid. The present study investigated the effect of the Notch inhibitor, DAPT, alone or in combination with mild hypothermia, on post-stroke seizures. A global cerebral ischemia (GCI) model was performed in Sprague Dawley (SD) male rats. Seizure activity was evaluated by the frequency of seizure attacks, seizure severity scores, and seizure discharges. Without any intervention, seizures occurred intensively between 24h and 48h following GCI. Seizure activity was confirmed using EEG monitoring. The expression of Notch intracellular domains (NICD) 1 and 2 were up-regulated in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus following GCI. DAPT was injected into the hippocampus of the rats to inhibit local Notch signaling. Active whole-body cooling was performed to maintain the core temperatures of rats at 33.5°C (mild hypothermia). Mild hypothermia and DAPT synergistically inhibited NICD 1 and 2 up-regulation, and post-stroke seizures. GCI augmented excitatory synaptic neurotransmission by up-regulating glutamate receptor subunits (GluN2A, GluA1) and the cotransporter, NKCC1, but attenuated inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission by down-regulating gamma amino acid, butyric acid (GABA), and the cotransporter, KCC2. DAPT treatment normalized the homeostasis of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission, suggesting that aberrant activation of Notch signaling is involved in post-stroke seizures. The present study adds to the further understanding of the pathogenesis of post-stroke seizures and the improvement of the treatment provided with hypothermia.

Ebola virus (EBOV) is highly lethal due to virally encoded immune antagonists, and the combination of EBOV VP24 with karyopherin alpha (KPNA) will trigger anti-interferon (IFN) signaling. The crystal structure of VP24–KPNA5 has been proposed in recent studies, but the precise binding mechanisms are still unclear. In order to explore the VP24–KPNA5 protein binding micro-mechanisms, Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations and Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-GB/SA) energy calculation are performed. The obtained results show that EBOV VP24 binding to KPNA5 will rigidify their binding-face, and both proteins will be compacted during binding. According to the analyses of binding free energies of WT and the eight mutant systems, MUT3 makes the most effective contributions to the interaction; additionally MUT4, R398A and the double mutant have the second most effective influence. Hydrogen bond analysis demonstrates that inhibitors which can interfere with the formation of hydrogen bonds D480–T138, E483–R137 and D205–R396 will prevent the anti-IFN effect. Meanwhile, by combining the decomposition of binding free energies (DC) with computational alanine scanning (CAS) results, it is shown that VP24 residues R137 and T138 will be potential targets for EBOV VP24 inhibitors, and KPNA5 residues R396, R398, R480, Y477 and F484 will be potential targets to prevent KPNA5 binding to VP24, which will ultimately block anti-IFN signaling. Our investigations provide theoretical data to understand the binding modes of VP24–KPNA5. The precise binding mechanisms of the complex may shed light on the development of potential novel inhibitors against EBOV infection.

The vegetal pole cytoplasm represents a crucial source of maternal dorsal determinants for patterning the dorsoventral axis of the early embryo. Removal of the vegetal yolk in the zebrafish fertilised egg before the completion of the first cleavage results in embryonic ventralisation, but removal of this part at the two-cell stage leads to embryonic dorsalisation. How this is achieved remains unknown. Here, we report a novel mode of maternal regulation of BMP signalling during dorsoventral patterning in zebrafish. We identify Vrtn as a novel vegetally localised maternal factor with dorsalising activity and rapid transport towards the animal pole region after fertilisation. Co-injection of

The proposed method for measuring the liquid level focuses on the ultrasonic impedance and echo energy inside a metal wall, to which the sensor is attached directly, not on ultrasonic waves that penetrate the gas-liquid medium of a container. Firstly, by analyzing the sound field distribution characteristics of the sensor in a metal wall, this paper proposes the concept of an "energy circle" and discusses how to calculate echo energy under three different states in detail. Meanwhile, an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving circuit is designed to convert the echo energy inside the energy circle into its equivalent electric power. Secondly, in order to find the two critical states of the energy circle in the process of liquid level detection, a program is designed to help with calculating two critical positions automatically. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated through a series of experiments, and the experimental results indicate that the proposed method is effective and accurate in calibration of the liquid level outside a sealed metal container.

A novel Fibre Bragg grating displacement sensor based on the cantilever beam structure is designed in this paper. Two fiber gratings with different central wavelengths are symmetrically pasted on the both sides of the cantilever beam. When the free end of the cantilever beam is changed, the two fiber gratings are respectively subjected to tension and pressure, which lead to the drift of the gratings’ center wavelength to the opposite direction. At the same time, the problem of cross sensitivity between temperature and displacement is solved. In addition, a smart device using to change the measuring range of the sensor is designed and it is also easy to assemble and disassemble, so the whole sensor can be widely used. The experimental results show that when the range is 30mm, the average sensitivity of the displacement sensor is 92.4pm/mm and the correlation coefficient is 0.999. While the range is 60mm, the average sensitivity of the displacement sensor is 47.7pm/mm and the correlation coefficient is 0.998.

Ebola viruses (EBOV) will induce acute hemorrhagic fever, which is fatal to humans and nonhuman primates. The combination of EBOV VP35 peptide with nucleoprotein N-terminal (NPNTD) is proposed based on static crystal structures in recent studies, but VP35 binding mechanism and conformational dynamics are still unclear. This investigation, using Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation and Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-GB/SA) energy calculation, more convincingly proves the greater roles of the protein binding mechanisms than do hints from the static crystal structure observations. Conformational analysis of the systems demonstrate that combination with VP35 may lead to the conformational transition of NPNTD from “open” to “closed” state. According to the analyses of binding free energies and their decomposition, VP35 residue R37 plays a crucial role in wild type as well as mutant systems. Mutations of I29 and L33 to aspartate as well as M34 to proline affect binding affinity mainly through influencing electrostatic interaction, which is closely related to H-bonds formation. In addition, mutations mainly affect β-hairpin and loop regions, among which, M34P may have the greatest influence to the binding. This study may provide specific binding mechanisms between VP35 peptide and NPNTD, especially some important residues concerning binding.

Lecanicillium lecanii has been used in the biological control of several insects in agricultural practice. Since the gene manipulation tools for this entomopathogenic fungus have not been sufficiently developed, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) in L. lecanii was investigated in this study, using the wild-type isolate FZ9906 as a progenitor strain and the hygromycin B resistance (hph) gene as a selection marker. Furthermore, a field carbendazim-resistant (mrt) gene from Botrytis cinerea was expressed in L. lecanii FZ9906 via the ATMT system. The results revealed that the frequency of transformation surpassed 25transformants/10(6) conidia, most of the putative transformants contained a single copy of T-DNA, and the T-DNA inserts were stably inherited after five generations. All putative transformants had indistinguishable biological characteristics relative to the wild-type strain, excepting two transformants with altered growth habits or virulence. Moreover, the resistance of the putative transformants to carbendazim (MBC) was improved, and the highest one was 380-fold higher than the wild-type strain. In conclusion, ATMT is an effective and suitable system for L. lecanii transformation, and will be a useful tool for the basic and application research of gene functions and gene modifications of this strain.

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to compare the effects of a general dietary intervention and an intervention with low glycaemic load (GL) on glycaemic control, blood lipid metabolism and pregnancy outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.DesignParticipants were randomly assigned to two groups, receiving either an individualized general dietary intervention (Control group) or an intensive low-GL intervention (Low-GL group) every two weeks, from 24–26 weeks of gestation to delivery.SettingThe Center of Maternal Primary Care in Guangdong General Hospital, China.SubjectsNinety-five women with gestational diabetes mellitus were enrolled from June 2008 to July 2009.ResultsAfter the intervention, both groups significantly decreased their dietary intakes of energy, fat and carbohydrate. The Low-GL group had significantly lower values for GL (122 v. 136) and glycaemic index (50 v. 54) but greater dietary fibre intake (33 v. 29 g/d) than did the Control group (all Pv. −0·02 mmol/l, Pv. −2·51 mmol/l, Pv. 0·23 mmol/l) and TAG (0·41 v. 0·56 mmol/l) and a significantly lower decrease in HDL cholesterol (−0·01 v. −0·11 mmol/l) were also observed in the Low-GL group compared with the Control group (all PConclusionsThe low-GL targeted dietary intervention outperformed the general dietary intervention in glycaemic control and the improvement of blood lipid levels in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Two-phase flow exists widely in industrial production process. On-line intelligent identification of flow parameters plays an increasingly important role in the industrial production safety. Among flow parameters, the identification of flow regimes is especially important and valuable for industrial processes control. To satisfy the on-line identification, it is necessary to reduce time consuming in training and recognition phase. In the paper, the parameters measurements are implemented in Electrical resistance tomography (ERT), which is a process tomography technology based on electrical resistance sensing mechanism. A new identification method is proposed using PCA feature extraction and Extreme learning neural networks. Simulation was carried out for typical flow regimes core flow, laminar flow, circulation flow and trickle flow. The results show its feasibility. In order to prove its advantage in improving speed, running time using back propagation and support vector machine algorithms are compared with extreme learning machine. The experiments results indicate that this method significant reduces time consuming in training phase.

Two-phase flow measurement plays an increasingly important role in the real-time, on-line control of industrial processes including fault detection and system malfunction. Many experimental and theoretical researches have done in the field of tomography image reconstruction. However, the reconstruction process cost quite long time so that there are number of challenges in the real applications. An alternative approach to monitor two-phase flow inside a pipe/vessel is to take advantage of identification of flow regimes. This paper proposes a new identification approach for common two phase flow using LDA feature extraction and Support Vector Machine based on Electrical Tomography measurement. Simulation was carried out for typical flow regimes using the approach. The results show its feasibility, and the results indicate that this method is fast in speed and can identify these flow regimes correctly.

Rapid, low-cost, and user-friendly strategies are urgently needed for early disease diagnosis and timely treatment, particularly for on-site screening of pathogens in aquaculture. In this study, we successfully developed a real-time fluorogenic loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay integrated on a microfluidic disc chip (on-chip LAMP), which was capable of simultaneously detecting 10 pathogenic bacteria in aquatic animals, i.e., Nocardia seriolae, Pseudomonas putida, Streptococcus iniae, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio anguillarum, Vibrio fluvialis, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio rotiferianus, and Vibrio vulnificus. The assay provided a nearly-automated approach, with only a single pipetting step per chip for sample dispensing. This technique could achieve limits of detection (LOD) ranging from 0.40 to 6.42pg per 1.414μL reaction in less than 30 min. The robust reproducibility was demonstrated by a little variation among duplications for each bacterium with the coefficient of variation (CV) for time to positive (Tp) value less than 0.10. The clinical sensitivity and specificity of this on-chip LAMP assay in detecting field samples were 96.2% and 93.8% by comparison with conventional microbiological methods. Compared with other well-known techniques, on-chip LAMP assay provides low sample and reagent consumption, ease-of-use, accelerated analysis, multiple bacteria and on-site detection, and high reproducibility, indicating that such a technique would be applicable for on-site detection and routine monitoring of multiple pathogens in aquaculture.

Switching expansion reduction (SER) uses a switch valve instead of the throttle valve to realize electronically controlled pressure reduction for high pressure pneumatics. A comprehensive and interactive pneumatic simulation model according to the experimental setup of SER has been built. The mathematical model considers heat exchanges, source air pressure and temperature, environmental temperatures and heat transfer coefficients variations. In addition, the compensation for real gas effect is used in the model building. The comparison between experiments and simulations of SER indicates that, to compensate the real gas effect in high pressure discharging process, the thermal capacity of air supply container in simulation should be less than the actual value. The higher the pressure range, the greater the deviation. Simulated and experimental results are highly consistent within pressure reduction ratios ranging from 1.4 to 20 and output air mass flow rates ranging from 3.5 to 132 g/s, which verifies the high adaptability of SER and the validity of the mathematic model and the compensation method.

According to the demand of accuracy detection of the motor energy efficiency, the hardware of testing bench for motor based on torque-meter method was designed. A design emphasis on loading equipment and torque sensor was introduced in accordance with the requirements of torque meter method, realized the rapid response of the load, the low speed stability of the work and electrical energy reutilization. The proposed error modification method ensured the accuracy and reliability of test results.

The current structure of the world energy system is in transition, the traditional methods have been unable to meet human's requirements to energy, and the collection and utilization of new energy sources have become a very promising research directions, such as solar energy, tidal energy, wind energy, etc. China's energy structure exists many problems; therefore we must vigorously develop renewable energy technologies. This article briefly discusses the issues of China's energy structure and the potential of wave energy, also introduces an effective use of sea wave energy devices, and analyses its structure, working principle and efficiency.

Taking into consideration the lack of control precision of the hydraulic system of intelligent asphalt disperser, an internal model control method based on BP neural network was proposed. In this method, the ability of identification of complicated systems using neural network was combined with the feature that internal model control has low requirements on the model precision. In this way, the design of hydraulic controller of asphalt disperser can be achieved. The results show that this method has better robustness with regard to the systematic uncertainty and disturbance when compared with the PID control system, and the control effect is better, which provides a novel approach for the control of hydraulic system of intelligent asphalt disperser.

To evaluate the rationality of alcohol precipitation technology of Biqiu granule by investigating its effect on serum histamine, IgE, IL-4, IFN and TNF-α. The contents of cafferic acid and rosmarinic acid were used as the evaluation indexes, and some factors affecting index were firstly evaluated by Plackett-Burman design; then alcohol precipitation technology was further optimized by Box-Behnken design to determine the optimal alcohol precipitation conditions. The best alcohol precipitation conditions were as follows: the relative density of herb liquor was 1.15 (65 ℃); the concentration of alcohol was 70%, and standing time was 12 hours. Optimal alcohol precipitation technology of Biqiu granules determined by pharmacodynamic screening, Plackett-Burman and Box-Behnken design tests, was stable and feasible with good predictability, providing reliable basis for the industrialization production of Biqiu granules.

Multifunctional viral protein (VP35) encoded by the highly pathogenic Ebola viruses (EBOVs) can antagonize host double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) sensors and immune response because of the simultaneous recognition of dsRNA backbone and blunt ends. Mutation of select hydrophobic conserved basic residues within the VP35 inhibitory domain (IID) abrogates its dsRNA-binding activity, and impairs VP35-mediated interferon (IFN) antagonism. Herein the detailed binding mechanism between dsRNA and WT, single mutant, and double mutant were investigated by all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and binding energy calculation. R312A/R322A double mutations results in a completely different binding site and orientation upon the structure analyses. The calculated binding free energy results reveal that R312A, R322A, and K339A single mutations decrease the binding free energies by 17.82, 13.18, and 13.68 kcal mol

Near-infrared (NIR) brain imaging is one of the most promising techniques for brain research in recent years. As a significant supplement to the clinical imaging technique, such as CT and MRI, the NIR technique can achieve a fast, non-invasive, and low cost imaging of the brain, which is widely used for the brain functional imaging and hematoma detection. NIR imaging can achieve an imaging depth up to only several centimeters due to the reduced optical attenuation. The structure of the human brain is so particularly complex, from the perspective of optical detection, the measurement light needs go through the skin, skull, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), grey matter, and white matter, and then reverses the order reflected by the detector. The more photons from the Depth of Interest (DOI) in brain the detector capture, the better detection accuracy and stability can be obtained. In this study, the Equivalent Signal to Noise Ratio (ESNR) was defined as the proportion of the photons from the DOI to the total photons the detector evaluated the best Source and Detector (SD) separation. The Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation was used to establish a multi brain layer model to analyze the distribution of the ESNR along the radial direction for different DOIs and several basic brain optical and structure parameters. A map between the best detection SD separation, in which distance the ESNR was the highest, and the brain parameters was established for choosing the best detection point in the NIR brain imaging application. The results showed that the ESNR was very sensitivity to the SD separation. So choosing the best SD separation based on the ESNR is very significant for NIR brain imaging application. It provides an important reference and new thinking for the brain imaging in the near infrared.

A simple spectrophotometric assay of H2O2 and glucose using Ag nanoparticles has been carried out. Relying on the synergistic effect of H2O2 reduction and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, Ag nanoparticles with enhanced absorption signals were synthesized. H2O2 served as a reducing agent in the Ag nanoparticles formation in which Ag+ was reduced to Ag0 by O2− generated via the decomposition of H2O2 in alkaline media. On the other hand, photoreduction of Ag+ to Ag0 under UV irradiations also contributed to the nanoparticles formation. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, XPS, and XRD. The proposed method could determine H2O2 with concentrations ranging from 5.0 × 10−7 to 6.0 × 10−5 mol/L. The detection limit was estimated to be 2.0 × 10−7 mol/L. Since the conversion of glucose to gluconic acid catalyzed by glucose oxidase was companied with the formation of H2O2, the sensing protocol has been successfully utilized for the determination of glucose in human blood samples. The results were in good agreement with those determined by a local hospital. This colorimetric sensor thus holds great promises in clinical applications.

We present a high-dielectric polymer with a lateral fluorine group, and its dielectric constant exhibits larger than 20 at 1 kHz. This well-soluble polymer can solely stabilize blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) while reducing the operating voltage by 30% and increasing the Kerr constant by nearly 70.6%. The influence of the polymer's dielectric property on the operating voltage is investigated based on the potential distribution. The theoretical result predicts that the operation voltage can be further reduced by 50% when the dielectric constant of the chiral dopant is the same as the high-dielectric polymer. The potential application of high-dielectric materials for the improvement of BPLC devices is foreseeable.We present a high-dielectric polymer with a lateral fluorine group, and its dielectric constant exhibits larger than 20 at 1 kHz. This well-soluble polymer can solely stabilize blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) while reducing the operating voltage by 30% and increasing the Kerr constant by nearly 70.6%. The influence of the polymer's dielectric property on the operating voltage is investigated based on the potential distribution. The theoretical result predicts that the operation voltage can be further reduced by 50% when the dielectric constant of the chiral dopant is the same as the high-dielectric polymer. The potential application of high-dielectric materials for the improvement of BPLC devices is foreseeable.

A flexible system to multi-channel high frequency signal acquisition and transmission was designed. The system took FPGA as the center control logic unit. It could realize real-time acquisition, conditioning, modulus conversion to multi-channel high frequency signal and sent the converted digital signal to the storage device through FIFO. The system could also realize the real-time monitoring, data unpacking and analysis to storaged data by using computer software. FPGA software design adopted VHDL language. The experiment results show that this data acquisition and transmission system is stable and accurate.

Sarma method is used to calculate the slope and dam stability of widely used methods, wherein a spreadsheet is typically utilized to solve the safety coefficient. Spreadsheet calculation of safety factor in programming efficiency is significantly low, although some correction methods of Sarma use Newton iterative solution. However, the algorithm is extremely complicated for programming and engineering applications, thus making the work difficult to complete. Based on traditional Sarma method, this work uses defined derivatives in Newton iterative to determine the safety factor and obtain the corresponding derivation formula. Through programming and inputting a random initial value, the iterative solution can provide the slop safety factor. Examples also show that the convergence of iteration is rapid and the iteration can reach its required precise value in 2 to 4 steps. The results obtained using the classic examples of Sarma method are exactly the same. The method for calculating the safety factor of Newton method usage is suitable for people who are familiar with traditional Sarma method. The process is simple, direct, effective, and precise.

One of the most important ways to enhance the speed of state estimation is to establish the constant matrix Jacobian. This essay puts forward the state estimation method of the equivalent current transformation based on the Generalized Tellegen’s Theorem. This estimation method establishes the constant Jacobian matrix without neglecting the secondary factor making use of the Generalized Tellegen’s Theorem, solves the numerical stability problem caused by the establishment of the constant Jacobian matrix in the current state estimation, and has the advantages of a relatively rapid computing rate and an unparalleled astringency. The method put forward in this essay has been verified through IEEE-30 Node System, and the efficiency of it has been fully proved by the example results.

In the background of requirement which apply in aerospace remote measurement electronic equipment, a new requirement for the universal degree to the remote measurement system is proposed. This paper design communicating solutions of the multi-interface device, hardware circuit,FPGA as the core logic controller, coordinating RS-422 interface chip, Ethernet controller W5300,USB-FIFO,FT245 interface chip and other functional modules. The communication equipment has a variety of interfaces; achieve the reliability of transmission of high data rate. This has been applied for engineering practice and improves the efficiency of the design of the remote measurement equipment and maintenance.

Based on the assumption of plane section and linear elastic model, CFRP (carbon fibre-reinforced plastics) strengthening reinforced concrete beam stiffness and deflection have been analyzed in this paper. It is has been solved the problem of such beam’s deflection and stiffness problem in the serviceability limit state, that is can’t be properly calculated with present method, although bearing capacity for the ultimate limit state to this kind of beam is main design aspect. This paper’s calculation formula can guide the relevant components of the design and has been verified by the four root concrete beam’s test results.

We aimed to evaluate the expression of microRNA-182 (miR-182) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues and the TNBC cell line MDA-MB-231 and to investigate the effects of mirR-182 on the cellular behavior of MDA-MB-231 and the expression of the target gene profilin 1 (PFN1), thus providing new methods and new strategies for the treatment of TNBC. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was utilized to evaluate the expression of miR-182 in TNBC tissues, relatively normal tissues adjacent to TNBC and the TNBC cell line MDA-MB-231. Forty-eight hours after the MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected with the miR-182 inhibitor, qRT-PCR was utilized to detect the changes in miR-182 expression levels, and an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was utilized to determine the effects of miR-182 on cell viability. Flow cytometry was adopted to determine whether miR-182 affects the proliferation rates and apoptosis levels of the MDA-MB-231 cells. The transwell migration assay method was used to investigate the effects of miR-182 on the migration of the MDA-MB-231 cells. A luciferase reporter gene system was applied to validate that PFN1 was the target gene of miR-182. Western blot was used to measure the effects of miR-182 on the PFN1 protein expression levels in the cells. qRT-PCR results showed that compared with the relatively normal tissues adjacent to TNBC, miR-182 expression was significantly increased in the TNBC tissues and the MDA-MB-231 cells (p

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) on the proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion of triple-negative breast cancer and to provide an experimental basis for the future treatment of human triple-negative breast cancer. A pcDNA3.1-BTG2 eukaryotic expression vector was constructed and transfected into the MDA-MB-231 human triple-negative breast cancer cell line using lipofection. Then, relevant changes in the biological characteristics of the BTG2-expressing cell line were analyzed using MTT (tetrazolium blue), flow cytometry, and Transwell invasion chamber assays. Additionally, the effects of BTG2 expression on cyclin D1, caspase 3, and matrix metalloproteinases 1/2 (MMP-1/-2) expression were analyzed. Cell proliferation was significantly lower in the pcDNA3.1-BTG2-transfected group compared to the empty vector and blank control groups (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the empty vector and blank control groups. FCM results demonstrated that there were significantly more cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and fewer S phase cells in the pcDNA3.1-BTG2 group than in the empty vector and blank control groups (p < 0.05). Additionally, the proportion of cells that migrated across the membrane was significantly lower in the pcDNA3.1-BTG2 group than in the empty vector and blank control groups (p < 0.05). Cyclin D1 and MMP-1/-2 expression were significantly lower in MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-BTG2 as compared to the empty vector and blank control groups (p < 0.05). Caspase 3 expression was significantly higher in MDA-MB-231 cells from the pcDNA3.1-BTG2 group compared to the empty vector and blank control groups (p < 0.05). In conclusion, BTG2 may inhibit MDA-MB-231 proliferation and promote apoptosis. Additionally, BTG2 may also inhibit the invasion of MDA-MB-231 human triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Aiming at the damage of package caused by emergency rescue and other severe transportation environment, a multi-level cushioning packaging storage box is proposed in this paper, the precise instrument is fixed in the box, which achieves the box-instrument integration. At the moment when air-dropped box touches the ground, the impact force is absorbed and cushioned through plastic cork base, rubber absorber, box body, steel wire rope spring, hydraulic damper for five times, which could provide effective cushion protection for the precise instrument which fragility value is not less than 15G. Simulation airdrop tests are performed to the storage box with different cushion levels, and the test shows that the result of five-level cushion method proposed in the paper is the best, and overload values are all within 12G, which could provide enough cushion space for precise instrument to avoid touchdown damage.

Comparing to the common locking mechanisms, this paper designs a new type of rope locking device which applies the wedge self-locking principle and hydraulic force-amplifying mechanism. The dynamic simulation research on the locking rope device with the usage of the ANSYS/IS-DYNA, and the simulation shows that the locking rope device can realize the self-lock of the first rope; the force-amplifying mechanism can effectively improve the security and stability of the rope locking, and reduce the abrasion of the first rope. Meanwhile, the simulation results provide a theoretical basis for the design of the locking rope mechanism.

This paper presents a novel near-field source localization method based on the time-frequency sparse model. Firstly, the method converts the time domain data of array output into time-frequency domain by time-frequency transform; then constructs sparse localization model by utilizing the specially selected time-frequency points, and finally the greedy algorithms are chosen to solve the sparse problem to localize the source. When the coherent sources exist, we propose an additional iterative selection procedure to improve the estimation performance. The proposed method is suitable for uncorrelated and coherent sources, moreover, the improved estimation accuracy and the robustness to low signal to noise ratio (SNR) are achieved. Simulations results verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

In this paper, the working principle of negative pressure isolation evacuation equipments is analyzed, some classic foldable negative pressure isolation evacuation equipments for infectious disease patients at home and abroad are introduced, structural design of negative pressure isolator for infectious disease patients with multi-cavity gasbag structure are carried out, then human ergonomic evaluation about the micro-environment in the chamber is made. The result shows that this equipment can meet the requirement for transporting infectious disease patients, and provide relatively comfortable micro-environment.

CR6-interacting factor 1 (CRIF1) is ubiquitously expressed in human tissues. CRIF1 was first identified as a Gadd45γ (also known as CR6)-interacting protein, and it was also identified in a human colon cancer cell line stably transformed with p53. These results suggested that CRIF1 functions in the nucleus with p53 and Gadd45 family proteins in the suppression of cell growth and tumor development. Here, we found that CRIF1 could be recruited to a specific region in the promoter of the p53 gene, eliciting an increase in the mRNA and protein levels of p53 as well as p53 functional target genes. These functions required CRIF1 to interact with SNF5. CRIF1 was further recruited to the upstream promoter region of the p53 gene to suppress cell cycle progression in HCT116 cells. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence indicating that SNF5 is indispensable for CRIF1-enhanced p53 activity and its function in the suppression of cell cycle arrest in human cancer cells.

Cor pulmonale rat models were induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of monocrotaline(MCT), and the sham group received a single intraperitioneal injection of normal saline. After the model rats received intragastric administration of Qishen Yiqi droplet(QS) for 6 weeks, the contents of adenylate(ATP, ADP and AMP) in right myocardial tissues were measured by HPLC, and then the metabolism changes in myocardium of cor pulmonale rats with QS were investigated. The results showed that ATP, ADP, and AMP were well separated, with a good linearity within a certain range of concentration; and the recovery rates were within the range of 90%-108%. As compared with model group, the level of ATP was significantly elevated in high-dose treatment group; ADP contents showed an increasing trend and AMP contents showed a decreasing trend, indicating that QS could significantly improve energy metabolism system in myocardium. By using the HPLC, a qualitative and quantitative analysis method was given for the determination of ATP, ADP and AMP contents in myocardium, providing a method for energy metabolism measurement in biological samples.