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Abstract: Three new coordination polymers, [M1.5(stp)(bpe)(H2O)] (M=Mn(1), Cd(2), Zn(3)) have been prepared by hydro-/solvo-thermal reactions of 2-sulfoterephthalate (stp) and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (bpe) ligands with d-block Mn(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) salts. Complexes 1 and 2 are isomorphic except for the difference of the metal ions, while complexes 1–3 are polymorphic because of the different coordination modes that stp ligand adopts. The left- and right-handed helixes construct 2D layer from metal ions and stp ligands for 1–3, and the anti-bpe ligands as the pillars complete 3D structure. All the three complexes exhibit a new (2,3,4)-connected network with the Schläfli symbol {8;122}4{82; 12; 142; 16}{8}2 based on the different structural motifs. The magnetic properties of 1 reveal that there exists weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the Mn(II) ions. And the solid-state photoluminescence of 2 and 3 can be attributed to the intraligand π–π* transition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effect of radial basis function (RBF) kernel parameter δ on the mapped space was analyzed. A novel kernel parameter evaluating method was proposed, which is based on the inter-class mean distance (ICMD). The theoretical and experimental analyses were made for the proposed method. Two sets of parameter selection experiments were made in order to prove the validity of the proposed method. In the first set, the optimal parameter δ was chosen by the ICMD method, and then the optimal cost parameter C was obtained by the 10-folds cross validation, which is called "Two-Stage Method"; In the second set, the 10-folds cross validation-based grid search method was adopted. The results show that the "Two-Stage Method" can select the optimal parameters with significantly decreased time cost, which proves the validity of ICMD method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We analyze the magnetic properties through two-orbital Hubbard model with the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) interaction in the iron-based superconductors. With the help of the Ising approximation for the Hund’s coupling between the itinerant electrons and the localized spins, we give a self-consistent account of the various magnetic orders observed in pnictides and the pairing symmetry. We also calculate the local density of states (LDOS) of the vortex state when a magnetic field is applied. The LDOS without SOC shows no resonant peak at the vortex core center in the superconducting state, while it shows an obvious resonant peak when SOC is applied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Di-methyl phthalate (DMP), a typical endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), is ubiquitously distributed in aquatic environments; yet studies regarding its impact on gametes and the resulting effects on embryogenesis in marine gastropods are relatively scarce. In this study, the influences of DMP on the gametes and subsequent developmental process of abalone (Haliotis diversicolor supertexta, a representative marine benthic gastropod) were assessed. Newborn abalone eggs and sperm were exposed separately to different DMP concentrations (1, 10 or 100 ppb) for 60 min. At the end-point of exposure, the DMP-treated eggs and sperm were collected for analysis of their ultra-structures, ATPase activities and total lipid levels, and the fertilized gametes (embryos) were collected to monitor related reproductive parameters (fertilization rate, abnormal development rate and hatching success rate). Treatment with DMP did not significantly alter the structure or total lipid content of eggs at any of the doses tested. Hatching failures and morphological abnormalities were only observed with the highest dose of DMP (100 ppb). However, DMP exposure did suppress sperm ATPase activities and affect the morphological character of their mitochondria. DMP-treated sperm exhibited dosedependent decreases in fertilization efficiency, morphogenesis and hatchability. Relatively obvious toxicological effects were observed when both sperm and eggs were exposed to DMP. Furthermore, RT-PCR results indicate that treatment of gametes with DMP changed the expression patterns of physiologically-regulated genes (cyp3a, 17β-HSD-11 and 17β-HSD- 12) in subsequent embryogenesis. Taken together, this study proofed that pre-fertilization exposure of abalone eggs, sperm or both to DMP adversely affects the fertilization process and subsequent embryogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The preparation and application of overbased nanodetergents with excess alkaline calcium carbonate is a good example of nanotechnology in practice. The phase transformation of calcium carbonate is of extensive concern since CaCO3 serves both as an important industrial filling material and as the most abundant biomineral in nature. Industrially valuable overbased nanodetergents have been prepared based on calcium salts of heavy alkylbenzene sulfonate by a one-step process under ambient pressure, the carbonation reaction has been monitored by the instantaneous temperature changes and total base number (TBN). A number of analytical techniques such as TGA, DLS, SLS, TEM, FTIR, and XRD have been utilized to explore the carbonation reaction process and phase transformation mechanism of calcium carbonate. An enhanced understanding on the phase transformation of calcium carbonate involved in calcium sulfonate nanodetergents has been achieved and it has been unambiguously demonstrated that amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) transforms into the vaterite polymorph rather than calcite, which would be of crucial importance for the preparation and quality control of lubricant additives and greases. Our results also show that a certain amount of residual Ca(OH)2 prevents the phase transformation from ACC to crystalline polymorphs. Moreover, a vaterite nanodetergent has been prepared for the first time with low viscosity, high base number, and uniform particle size, nevertheless a notable improvement on its thermal stability is required for potential applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is devoted to the perturbation analysis for the matrix sign functions of the regular matrix pair. The first-order perturbation bounds and the global perturbation bounds are obtained. The results are illustrated by some numerical examples. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on abalone (Haliotis diversicolor supertexta) embryonic development were investigated by exposing the fertilized eggs to four different concentrations of BPA (0.05, 0.2, 2 and 10μgmL−1). Toxicity endpoints including the embryo development parameters, the physiological features and the expression profile of several reference genes (prohormone convertase 1, PC1; cyclin B, CB; and cyclin-dependent kinase 1, CDK1) were assessed. The results showed that BPA could markedly reduce embryo hatchability, increase developmental malformation, and suppress the metamorphosis behavior of larvae. The possible toxicological mechanisms hidden behind of these effects (i.e. disturbing the embryogenesis) might result from three aspects: (1) BPA disturbance the cellular ionic homeostasis and osmoregulation of abalone embryos by changing the Na+–K+-ATPase and Ca2+–Mg2+-ATPase levels; (2) BPA induced oxidative damage of embryos by significantly alterating the peroxidase (POD) activities and the malondialdehyde (MDA) production; and (3) the RT-PCR analysis further demonstrated that BPA perturbed the cellular endocrine regulation and cell cycle progression by down-regulating the PC1 gene, as well as over-expressing the CB and CDK1 genes. This is the first comprehensive study on the developmental toxicity of BPA to the marine abalone at morphological, physiological and molecular levels. The results in this study also indicated that the embryo tests can contribute to the ecological risk assessment of the endocrine disruptors in marine environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on an antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuation approximation, we study the superconducting gaps in Fe-based compound using two-band model. We find that our results are consistent with the previous work that concludes sign-reversal extended s-wave pairings between different Fermi surface sheets. The different superconducting gap magnitude around different Fermi surface sheets is probably due to the different density of states on them. This calculation can give insight to the recent angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments on these materials. To detect the phase variation of the superconducting gap over the Fermi surfaces, we propose a new method for measuring the particular wave vector phonon linewidth. In the case of the sign-reversal superconducting pairing, the linewidth shows continuities compared to the case of no phase variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A toxicity test was performed to investigate the possible harmful effects of tributyltin (TBT) on abalone (Haliotis diversicolor supertexta). Animals were exposed to TBT in a range of environmentally relevant concentrations (2, 10 and 50ng/L) for 30 days under laboratory conditions. TBT-free conditions were used as control treatments. The activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD), and malondialdehyde (MDA), along with levels of haemolymph metabolites, and hepatopancreas histopathology were analyzed. The results showed that TBT decreased SOD activity, and increased POD level and MDA production in a dose-dependent way, indicating that oxidative injury was induced by TBT. Haemolymph metabolite measurements showed that TBT increased alanine and glutamate levels, and decreased glucose content, which suggested perturbation of energy metabolism. Elevated levels of acetate and pyruvate in the haemolymph indicated partial alteration of lipid metabolism. A decrease in lactate and an increase in succinate, an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, indicated disturbance of amino acid metabolism. Hepatopancreas tissues also exhibited inflammatory responses characterized by histopathological changes such as cell swelling, granular degeneration, and inflammation. Taken together, these results demonstrated that TBT was a potential toxin with a variety of deleterious effects on abalone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the Bogoliubov de Gennes (BdG) equations, we study the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) states for d-wave superconductor in anisotropic triangular system self-consistently with a strong magnetic field applied parallel to its conducting planes. We find that the two-dimensional FFLO state transforms to one-dimensional FFLO state as the system frustrated. The calculated local density of states are suggested to distinguish these states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, much attention has been paid to develop meat and meat products with physiological functions to promote health conditions and prevent the risk of diseases. This review focuses on strategies to improve the functional value of meat and meat products. Value improvement can be realized by adding functional compounds including conjugated linoneleic acid, vitamin E, n3 fatty acids and selenium in animal diets to improve animal production, carcass composition and fresh meat quality. In addition, functional ingredients such as vegetable proteins, dietary fibers, herbs and spices, and lactic acid bacteria can be directly incorporated into meat products during processing to improve their functional value for consumers. Functional compounds, especially peptides, can also be generated from meat and meat products during processing such as fermentation, curing and aging, and enzymatic hydrolysis. This review further discusses the current status, consumer acceptance, and market for functional foods from the global viewpoints. Future prospects for functional meat and meat products are also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Micro-droplet deposition manufacture is a novel direct metal rapid prototyping for building the miniaturized parts. In this paper, the relationship between the droplet diameter and the operating parameters is investigated to obtain the optimal condition for the accurate droplet generation. The droplet generator is designed to adjust the parameters such as the infinitesimal disturbance and the jet velocity. Experiments with the different materials have been conducted to study the feasibility of the accurate droplet generation for the manufacturing. Spherical and uniform water micro-droplets within 2.4% variation are generated using an orifice diameter of 150 μm, and tin–lead alloy droplets are produced with an orifice diameter of 100 μm in the argon environment. The results show that the generator can produce accurate micro-droplets which meet the requirements of fabricating the miniaturized parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A backward error for inverse singular value problems with respect to an approximate solution is defined, and an explicit expression for the backward error is derived by extending the approach described in [J.G. Sun, Backward errors for the inverse eigenvalue problem, Numer. Math. 82 (1999) 339–349]. The expression may be useful for testing the stability of practical algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: N-cadherin is a cell–cell adhesion molecule and plays important roles in neural development. With conventionally used extracellular matrices (ECMs), maintenance of undifferentiated state of stem cells and regulation of their neural differentiation process is very difficult due to the colony formation through intercellular interactions. To overcome the above-mentioned problems, we developed a new artificial ECM to mimic N-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion. In this study, we constructed a chimeric protein (N-cadherin fused to IgG-Fc, abbreviated as N-cad-Fc), which contains extracellular domain of N-cadherin and Fc domain of IgG. We confirmed that N-cad-Fc can stably adsorb to hydrophobic surface. We checked maintenance of undifferentiated state and neural differentiation ability of stem cells cultured on N-cad-Fc-coated surface. Both P19 and MEB5 cells cultured on N-cad-Fc-coated surface showed scattering morphologies without colony formation and higher proliferating potency than conventional culture systems with maintenance of undifferentiated state. Both of two cell lines cultured on N-cad-Fc-coated surface differentiated into neural cells at a single cell level when induced with proper conditions. Furthermore, the expression of neuron-related gene Neurog1 in two cell lines cultured on N-cad-Fc-coated surface was promoted. Therefore, it will be expected that the constructed N-cad-Fc can be used as an artificial ECM for stem cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Changes in adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipases (HSL) in subcutaneous adipose tissue of Xuanwei ham at different ripening stages were studied. Green hams were salted for 40d and then ripened in a ventilated chamber for 15months. Adipose triglyceride lipase and HSL could be detected during the whole ripening period of Xuanwei ham, but their protein levels decreased as the ripening time increased. The decrease of lipase proteins could be attributed to the decrease in protein synthesis as ripening time progressed. The level of free fatty acids (FFAs) increased at the first stage but HSL protein remained constant indicating that HSL was more important than ATGL for adipose tissues lipolysis. The main FFAs produced during the ripening period of Xuanwei ham were oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid, suggesting that the triacylglycerols containing these three FFAs were preferential substrates for ATGL and HSL. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this research, hemagglutinating virus of Japan envelope (HVJ-E) was used to reprogram somatic cells by fusion with mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Neomycin-resistant mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were used as somatic cells. Nanog-overexpressing puromycin-resistant EB3 cells were used as mouse ES cells. These two cells were fused by exposing to HVJ-E and the generated fusion cells were selected by puromycin and G418 to get the stable fusion cell line. The fusion cells form colonies in feeder-free culture system. Microsatellite analysis of the fusion cells showed that they possessed genes from both ES cells and fibroblasts. The fusion cells were tetraploid, had alkali phosphatase activity, and expressed stem cell marker genes such as Pou5f1, Nanog, and Sox2, but not the fibroblast cell marker genes such as Col1a1 and Col1a2. The pluripotency of fusion cells was confirmed by their expression of marker genes for all the three germ layers after differentiation induction, and by their ability to form teratoma which contained all the three primary layers. Our results show that HVJ-E can be used as a fusion reagent for reprogramming of somatic cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Atopic diseases are known to co-exist and are interrelated. Their co-existence in a patient increases disease burden and morbidity. We sought to study the prevalence of co-existing atopic conditions over time and its associated risk factors among Singapore children. Data was collected from two respective The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood surveys conducted in 1994 and 2001. Data on asthma, rhinitis and eczema were obtained from the responses to questions about wheezing, exercise-induced wheezing, nocturnal cough, rhinitis symptoms, rash, and diagnoses of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in the last 12 months. Data on demographic and known risk factors were also obtained. The prevalence of children who have had more than one atopic disorder increased significantly from 6.0% in 1994 to 10.2% in 2001 (p < 0.001). Parental history of atopic disease, maternal educational level, male gender and smoke exposure were significantly associated with co-existent atopic symptoms in the child. Among Singapore schoolchildren, there was a significant prevalence of co-existent atopic disease and this prevalence was rising. The influences of both genetic and environmental factors were likely to have contributed to these observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the effects of biomass particle size (0.18–5.6mm) on the yield and composition of bio-oil from the pyrolysis of Australian oil mallee woody biomass in a fluidised-bed reactor at 500°C. The yield of bio-oil decreased as the average biomass particle size was increased from 0.3 to about 1.5mm. Further increases in biomass particle size did not result in any further decreases in the bio-oil yield. These results are mainly due to the impact of particle size in the production of lignin-derived compounds. Possible inter-particle interactions between bio-oil vapour and char particles or homogeneous reactions in vapour phases were not responsible for the decreases in the bio-oil yield. The bio-oil samples were characterised with thermogravimetric analysis, UV-fluorescence spectroscopy, Karl–Fischer titration as well as precipitation in cold water. It was found that the yields of light bio-oil fractions increased and those of heavy bio-oil fractions decreased with increasing biomass particle size. The formation of pyrolytic water at low temperatures (<500°C) is not greatly affected by temperature or particle size. It is believed that decreased heating rates experienced by large particles are a major factor responsible for the lower bio-oil yields from large particles and for the changes in the overall composition of resulting oils. Changes in biomass cell structure during grinding may also influence the yield and composition of bio-oil. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we present an algorithm to decompose ordinary non-linear difference polynomials with rational functions as coefficients. The algorithm provides an effective reduction of the decomposition of difference polynomials to the decomposition of linear difference polynomials over the same coefficient field. The algorithm is implemented in Maple for the constant coefficient case. Experimental results show that the algorithm is quite effective and can be used to decompose difference polynomials with thousands of terms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Succession patterns for insect fauna, spanning four seasons, on rabbit carcasses were studied in Guangzhou China from 2006 to 2008. A total of 49 taxa belonging to three orders and 15 families were collected and identified. Four decomposition stages were recognized: fresh, bloated, decay and dry stage. Taxa diversity was higher in bloated and decay stages than fresh and dry stages. Internal and ambient temperatures were measured. Maximum internal temperature arrived earlier in warmer seasons. The sequence of insect succession in this study follows the same general patterns: the Diptera peaked initially, and the Coleoptera peaked later. Chrysomya megacephala was the dominant species in four seasons. Its time point of different development stages on carrion could be the most important indicators for PMI (postmortem interval) estimation in Guangzhou. Yearly and seasonal differences in activities of insects were compared. Alpha diversity indices were calculated. There were no significant differences in Shannon-Wiener index, evenness ( J) and dominance ( C) between seasons and years. From the Jaccard similarity index, the highest similarity was between winter and spring, while the lowest was between summer and winter. Some species occurring exclusively in one season may be important to characterize different seasons. A list of the insect taxa associated with above-ground rabbit carrion during the four seasons was compiled, which can be used for estimating time since death in similar bio-climate areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present a complete numerical algorithm for isolating all the real zeros of a zero-dimensional triangular polynomial system . Our system is general, with no further assumptions. In particular, our algorithm successfully treats multiple zeros directly in such systems. A key idea is to introduce evaluation bounds and sleeve bounds. We also present a much more efficient algorithm for zero-dimensional triangular systems without multiple roots. We implemented our algorithms, and promising experimental results are shown. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Given a multivariate quadratic polynomial system in a finite field , the problem MAX-MQ is to find a solution satisfying the maximal number of equations. We prove that the probability of a random assignment satisfying a non-degenerate quadratic equation is at least , where is the number of the variables in the equation. Consequently, the random assignment provides a polynomial-time approximation algorithm with approximation ratio for non-degenerate MAX-MQ. For large , the ratio is close to . According to a result by Håstad, it is NP-hard to approximate MAX-MQ with an approximation ratio of for a small positive number . Therefore, the minimal approximation ratio that can be achieved in polynomial time for MAX-MQ is . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We prove several basic properties for difference ascending chains, including a necessary and sufficient condition for an ascending chain to be the characteristic set of its saturation ideal and a necessary and sufficient condition for an ascending chain to be the characteristic set of a reflexive prime ideal. Based on these properties, we propose an algorithm to decompose the zero set of a finite set of difference polynomials into the union of zero sets of certain ascending chains. This decomposition algorithm is implemented and used to solve the perfect ideal membership problem, and to prove certain difference identities automatically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lycorine is an alkaloid isolated from the bulb of the Amaryllidaceae Lycoris. Here, we report that treatment with lycorine resulted in survival inhibition and apoptosis induction in human leukemia cell lines. Lycorine induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells via intrinsic mitochondria pathway and caused a rapid-turnover of protein level of Mcl-1 which occurred before caspases activation. Furthermore, pronounced apoptosis accompanied by the down-regulation of Mcl-1 was also observed in blasts from patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Our findings suggest that lycorine may be a good candidate therapeutic agent against leukemia in worth of further evaluation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we generalize the results of Feng and Gao [Feng, R., Gao, X.S., 2006. A polynomial time algorithm to find rational general solutions of first order autonomous ODEs. J. Symbolic Comput., 41(7), 735–762] to the case of difference equations. We construct two classes of ordinary difference equations () whose solutions are exactly the univariate polynomial and rational functions respectively. On the basis of these and the difference characteristic set method, we give a criterion for an with any order and nonconstant coefficients to have a rational type general solution. For the first-order autonomous (constant coefficient) , we give a polynomial time algorithm for finding the polynomial solutions and an algorithm for finding the rational solutions for a given degree. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In terms of the generalized singular value decomposition, we define the generalized singular matrix sets and their backward errors. The explicit expressions of backward errors are derived, which extend a result of Sun [SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl., 22 (2000), pp. 323-341]. The results are illustrated by a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the value of preoperative computed tomography (CT) features including morphologic and quantitative features for predicting the Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67LI) of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).Methods: We retrospectively included 167 patients with gastric GISTs who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT. We assessed the morphologic features of preoperative CT images and the quantitative features including the maximum diameter of tumor, total tumor volume, mean total tumor CT value, necrosis volume, necrosis volume ratio, enhanced tissue volume, and mean CT value of enhanced tissue. Potential predictive parameters to distinguish the high-level Ki-67LI group (>4%, n = 125) from the low-level Ki-67LI group (≤4%, n = 42) were compared and subsequently determined in multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results: Growth pattern (p = 0.036), shape (p = 0.000), maximum diameter (p = 0.018), total tumor volume (p = 0.021), mean total tumor CT value (p = 0.009), necrosis volume (p = 0.006), necrosis volume ratio (p = 0.000), enhanced tissue volume (p = 0.027), and mean CT value of enhanced tissue (p = 0.004) were significantly different between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that lobulated/irregular shape (odds ratio [OR] = 3.817; p = 0.000) and high necrosis volume ratio (OR = 1.935; p = 0.024) were independent factors of high-level Ki-67LI.Conclusions: Higher necrosis volume ratio in combination with lobulated/irregular shape could potentially predict high expression of Ki-67LI for gastric GISTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The relative error in $$\delta=\frac{\hat{\alpha}-\alpha}{\alpha}.$$ In terms of this measurement we give a Hoffman–Wielandt type bound of singular values under additive perturbations and a Bauer–Fike type bound of eigenvalues under multiplicative perturbations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents thermodynamic and kinetic surveys on the specific recognition and catalysis by molecularly imprinted polymer catalysts. Using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as templates and 1-allylimidazole as functional monomers, the imprinted material was prepared. The prepared polymer catalyst shows a highly specific recognition and catalysis toward the imprint species. Kinetic analysis indicates that this specific behavior, in nature, can be a result of a preferential promotion. The specific imprint leads to a larger hydrolysis rate in the imprint species than in its analogue. Thermodynamic study also implies that the molecular induction generating from the imprint to NPA is larger than to its analogue, which thus makes the polymer capable of specifically alluring the imprint species to bind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the variations of both subunitary polar factors and Hermitian positive semidefinite polar factors in the polar decomposition are studied. New perturbation bounds of both polar factors are given without the restriction that A and its perturbed matrix à have the same rank. These improve recent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the production of crude bio-oil, char, and pyrolytic gases from the fast pyrolysis of mallee woody biomass in Australia. The feedstock was ground, sieved to several narrow particle size ranges, and dried prior to pyrolysis in a novel laboratory-scale fluidized-bed reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperature (350−600 °C), and biomass particle size (100−600 m), on the yields and composition of bio-oil, gas, and char are reported. In agreement with previous reports, the pyrolysis temperature has an important impact on the yield and composition of bio-oil, char, and gases. Biomass particle size has a significant effect on the water content of bio-oil. It is interesting to note that the temperature for maximum bio-oil yield, between 450 and 475 °C, resulted in an oil with the highest content of oligomers and, consequently, with the highest viscosity. Such observations suggest that the conventional viewpoint of pyrolyzing biomass at temperatures over 400 °C to maximize bio-oil yield needs to be carefully reevaluated, considering the final use of the produced bio-oil. The increases in oil yield with increasing temperature from 350 to 500 °C were mainly due to the increases in the production of lignin-derived oligomers insoluble in water but soluble in CH2Cl2. The yield and some fuel properties of the pyrolysis products were compared with those herein obtained for pine as well as those reported in the literature for other lignocellulosic feedstocks but using similar reactors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  In this paper, we present a complete algorithm to decompose nonlinear differential polynomials in one variable and with coefficients in a computable differential field $${\mathcal K}$$ of characteristic zero. The algorithm provides an efficient reduction of the problem to the factorization of LODOs over the same coefficient field. Besides arithmetic operations, the algorithm needs decomposition of algebraic polynomials, factorization of multi-variable polynomials, and solution of algebraic linear equation systems. The algorithm is implemented in Maple for the constant field case. The program can be used to decompose differential polynomials with thousands of terms effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Xijiang River is the major source of water for about 4.5 millions of urban population and 28.7 millions of rural population. The water quality is very important for the health of the rural population. The concentration and distribution of chlorobenzenes (CBs) in both water and waterweeds collected from 4 stations in the Xijiang River (Gangdong section) of the Pearl River in April and November were determined. The result showed that nearly every congener of CBs was detected. The total contents of CBs (ΣCBs) in the river water ranged from 111.1 to 360.0 ng/L in April and from 151.9 to 481.7 ng/L in November, respectively. The pollution level of CBs in the water in April was higher than that in November. The contents of ΣCBs in waterweeds ranged from 13.53×10 [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new evolutionary programming using non-uniform mutation instead of Gaussian, Cauchy and Lévy mutations is proposed. Evolutionary programming with non-uniform mutation (NEP) has the merits of searching the space uniformly at the early stage and very locally at the later stage during the programming. For a suite of 14 benchmark problems, NEP outperforms the improved evolutionary programming using mutation based on Lévy probability distribution (ILEP) for multimodal functions with many local minima while being comparable to ILEP in performance for unimodal and multimodal functions with only a few minima. The detailed theoretical analysis of the executing process of NEP and the expected step size on non-uniform mutation are given. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we consider the optimal well-constrained completion problem, that is, for an under-constrained geometric constraint problem, add automatically new constraints in such a way that the new constraint problem G is well-constrained and the set of equations to be solved simultaneously in order to solve G has the smallest size. We propose a polynomial time algorithm which gives a partial solution to the above problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrine, a low toxic alkaloid purified from the Chinese herb Kushen, has been reported to induce apoptosis in leukemia K562 cells. In this study, the mechanism underling this apoptotic event was investigated. Treatment of K562 cells with matrine resulted in inhibition of cell survival more significantly than treatment of non-cancer fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. When K562 cells were incubated with matrine in higher than 0.2 mg/ml doses for 48 hours, the apoptotic cells were increased and both poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and caspase-3 were cleaved in a dose dependent manner. General caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk) or caspase-3 inhibitor (z-DEVD-fmk) almost completely suppressed matrine-induced apoptosis. In addition, matrine increased proapoptotic protein bax and caused the release of cytochrome C. Taken together, the results suggest that matrine induces a cytochrome C-mediated, caspase-dependent apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We identify a class of monomial supports that are inherently improper because any surface rational parametrization defined on them is improper. A surface support is inherently improper if and only if the gcd of the normalized areas of the triangular sub-supports is non-unity. The constructive proof of this claim can be used to detect all and correct almost all improper surface parametrizations due to improper supports. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: DNA molecules may work as novel devices due to their interesting electronic transport properties. We here propose a theoretical method to deal with the temperature dependence of the transport behavior of a short DNA molecule, taking into account Coulomb interaction of electrons and the coupling between electrons and the two-level system in the DNA molecule. The nonlinear current–voltage curves are derived by using the Landauer formulae. We find that the voltage gap of the current–voltage curves is sensitive to the parameters of the two-level system. We also find that Coulomb blockade peaks can be controlled by varying the temperature, which relates to particular features of the DNA molecule. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We give a necessary and sufficient condition for an algebraic ODE to have a rational type general solution. For a first order autonomous ODE , we give an exact degree bound for its rational solutions, based on the connection between rational solutions of and rational parametrizations of the plane algebraic curve defined by . For a first order autonomous ODE, we further give a polynomial time algorithm for computing a rational general solution if it exists based on the computation of Laurent series solutions and Padé approximants. Experimental results show that the algorithm is quite efficient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Matrine is an alkaloid isolated from the medicinal plant Sophora flavescens Ait (Leguminosae) with various pharmacological and physiological effects. Here, we investigate its combined effects with imatinib, a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor used clinically against leukemia cells, on bcr/abl-positive leukemia K562 cells. The results indicate that matrine enhanced imatinib-induced apoptosis in K562 cells through downregulation of protein levels of bcr/abl and phospho-Erk1/2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a method which can be used to decompose a 2D or 3D constraint problem into a C-tree. With this decomposition, a geometric constraint problem can be reduced into basic merge patterns, which are the smallest problems we need to solve in order to solve the original problem in certain sense. Based on the C-tree decomposition algorithm, we implemented a software package MMP/Geometer. Experimental results show that MMP/Geometer finds the smallest decomposition for all the testing examples efficiently. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Matrine is an alkaloid obtained primarily from roots of Sophora flavescens Ait. (Leguminosae), an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a range of disease. So far, the underlying molecular mechanism for the therapeutic effects of matrine has been poorly understood. In this work, we investigated the effects of matrine on tyrosine protein phosphorylation in human cells through immunoblotting. In bcr/abl-positive K562 cells, tyrosine phosphorylations of several proteins are altered in both time-and dose-dependent manners. Such alternations are distinct from those induced by the bcr/abl-targeting inhibitor STI571 and can be blocked by the later. The treatment of bcr/abl-negative lymphocytic and myeloid cell lines by matrine produced different patterns. In Raji cells, the tyrosine phosphorylation was the only protein affected. In U937 cells, no changes were observed. The findings in this work protein the first piece of evidence that matrine can alter the cellular signal transduction network at a molecular level. The observed changes in tyrosine phosphorylation of specific proteins provide important clues for uncovering the molecular mechanism of the therapeutic effects of matrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the generalized Stewan-Gougli platform (GSP) consisting of two rigid bodies connected with six distance and/or angular constraints between six pairs of points, lines, and/or planes in the base and the moving platform, respectively. We prove that there exist 3850 possible forms of GSPs. We give the upper bounds for the number of solutions of the direct kinematics for all the GSPs. We also obtain closed-form solutions and the best upper bounds of real solutions of the direct kinematics for a class of 1120 GSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An algorithm is proposed to give a global approximation of an implicit real plane algebraic curve with rational quadratic B-spline curves. The algorithm consists of four steps: topology determination, curve segmentation, segment approximation and curve tracing. Due to the detailed geometric analysis, high accuracy of approximation may be achieved with a small number of quadratic segments. The final approximation keeps many important geometric features of the original curve such as the topology, convexity and sharp points. Our method is implemented and experiments show that it may achieve better approximation bound with less segments than previously known methods. We also extend the method to approximate spatial algebraic curves. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective To investigate the effects of early nutritional intervention on the serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3), intestinal development, and catch-up growth of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) rats by giving the IUGR new born rats different protein level diet. Methods IUGR rat model was built by starvation of pregnant female rats. Twenty-four IUGR pups and 8 normal pups were divided randomly into 4 groups: normal control group (C group); IUGR control group(S group), IUGR low-protein diet group (SL group), and IUGR high-protein diet group (SH group). Detected the serum IGF1, IGFBP3, body weight, body length, intestinal weight length, intestinal villi height (VH), crypt depth (CD), villi absorbing area (VSA), mucous thickness (MT), and disaccharidase at the 4th week. Results (1) The SH group showed the fastest catch-up growth, serum IGF1, IGFBP3, VH, and VSA were significantly higher than those of normal control group and IUGR control group. The intestinal weight and length, and the activities of lactase and saccharase, of the SH group also reached the normal control group level. (2) The SL group kept on small size, the serum IGF-1, IGFBP3, and most of intestinal histological indexes were all significantly lower than other groups. (3) IGF-1, IGFBP3 were positively correlated to intestinal VH, VSA, saccharase, body weight and length. Conclusions The serum IGF1 was a sensitive index to the catch-up growth. The early nutritional intervention of high-protein diet after birth is helpful for the catch-up growth of IUGR through promoting the intestinal development and the absorption of nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in the unitary polar factor under both multiplicative and additive perturbation are studied. A multiplicative perturbation bound and a new additive perturbation bound, in which a different measure of perturbation is introduced, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic idea of geometric constraint solving (GCS) is to decompose the constraint problem into smaller ones according to some basic configurations. In this paper, we find all spatial basic configurations involving points, lines, and planes containing up to six geometric primitives in an automated way. Many of these basic configurations still resist effective analytical solutions. We propose the locus intersection method (LIM) for GCS, a hybrid method based on geometric computation and numerical search that can be used to find all the solutions for a geometric constraint problem. We show that the LIM can be used to solve all the above basic configurations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For a partial differential parametric systemwhere Pi,Qj are differential polynomials in K{u1,…,ut,y1,…,yn} and uk are parameters, an algorithm to solve the parametric system is presented in this paper. The algorithm finds not just the values of the parameters uk such that the system has solutions, but also all solutions of this system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we propose algorithms for the following problems in the implicitization of a set of differential rational parametric equations P. (1) To find a characteristic set for the implicit prime ideal of P. (2) To find a canonical representation for the image of P. (3) To decide whether the parameters of P are independent, and if not, to re-parameterize P so that the new parametric equations have independent parameters. (4) To compute the inversion maps of P, and as a consequence, to decide whether P is proper. If the implicit variety is of dimension one and P is not proper, to find a proper re-parameterization for P. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we use two approaches to solve the Perspective-Three-Point (P3P) problem: the algebraic approach and the geometric approach. In the algebraic approach, we use Wu-Ritt's zero decomposition algorithm to give a complete triangular decomposition for the P3P equation system. This decomposition provides the first complete analytical solution to the P3P problem. We also give a complete solution classification for the P3P equation system, i.e., we give explicit criteria for the P3P problem to have one, two, three, and four solutions. Combining the analytical solutions with the criteria, we provide an algorithm, CASSC, which may be used to find complete and robust numerical solutions to the P3P problem. In the geometric approach, we give some pure geometric criteria for the number of real physical solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]