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Taurine has the advantages of being safe, highly efficient, chemically stabile, and biologically active, together with having versatile functions. Presently, it is employed as a veterinary feed additive in animal research. The tight junctions that constitute the intestinal epithelial cells are the most critical structures for ensuring regular and uninterrupted digestion and absorption of food by the intestinal mucosa, while at the same time resisting invasions by toxins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of taurine action on intestinal mechanical barrier function of piglets that were infected with LPS. The results showed that 0.3% taurine inhibits LPS-driven increase in intestinal permeability and intestinal mucosal injury, the rise in the ratio of villus length to crypt depth within the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, and the significant enhancement in the expression of tight junction protein-related genes. In summary, dietary taurine significantly reduces intestinal mucosal structural damage and intestinal mucosal permeability while increasing gene expression of tight junction proteins of the intestinal mucosa of piglets induced by LPS, thereby enhancing the effect of intestinal mucosal mechanical barriers.

This study employed taurine as a feed additive to explore the prophylactic effect of taurine on LPS-induced hepatic injury in piglets. The pathological shifts within hepatic tissue were observed by HE staining. Serum levels of ALT and AST together with SOD, CAT, GSH-PX activity, and MDA serum and liver levels were detected. TUNEL was used to detect apoptosis, while qPCR was employed to detect HO-1, Nrf-2, Bcl2, BAX, Caspase-3, and NF- κB p65 transcriptomic expression levels. TRL4, Caspase-3, Nrf-2, and NF- κB p-p65/NF- κB p65 were detected by Western blot. The results revealed that taurine reduces LPS-induced pathological damage of hepatic tissue and reduces the levels of ALT and AST in pig serum. The transcriptomic expression levels of HO-1 and Nrf-2 were upregulated, and proteomic expression of Nrf-2 was increased. SOD, CAT, and GSH-PX activity was elevated, while MDA content was reduced in serum and liver. The levels of mRNA of BAX and Caspase-3 were downregulated, but mRNA content of Bcl2 was increased, and the protein levels of TRL4, NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65, and Caspase-3 were diminished. Overall, the degree of hepatocyte apoptosis was also significantly reduced. In conclusion, taurine reduces LPS-induced injury of piglet liver, while reducing hepatocyte apoptotic levels. These data provide a scientific basis for the selection of animal feed additives and lay a foundation for the healthy and sustainable development of the porcine industry.

Lithium sulfur batteries (LSBs) have attracted tremendous attention owing to their high theoretical specific capacity and specific energy. However, their practical applications are hindered by poor cyclic life, mainly caused by polysulfide shuttling. The development of advanced materials to mitigate the polysulfide shuttling effect is urgently demanded. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been exploited as multifunctional materials for the decoration of separators owing to their high surface area, structural diversity, tunable pore size, and easy tailor ability. In this review, we aim to present the state-of-the-art MOF-based separators for LSBs. Particular attention is paid to the rational design (pore aperture, metal node, functionality, and dimension) of MOFs with enhanced ability for anchoring polysulfides and facilitating Li

The lateral spread response (LSR) is an electromyography feature of hemifacial spasm; intraoperative reduction in the LSR is associated with positive surgical outcomes. This study examined the effects of different minimum alveolar concentrations (MACs) and durations of sevoflurane inhalation on the LSR.Eighty patients undergoing microvascular decompression surgery for hemifacial spasm were randomly allocated to receive propofol-remifentanil total intravenous anesthesia alone or in combination with sevoflurane at 0.5, 0.75, or 1 MAC. The LSR and orbicularis oculi muscle wave were recorded before and at 15 and 30 minutes after the start of sevoflurane administration.Sevoflurane reduced the LSR amplitude in a dose-dependent and duration-dependent manner. The curve representing the LSR amplitude preservation ratio change according to sevoflurane concentration is best fitted by regression analysis using a cubic model, as the cubic equations had the largest coefficient of determination; at 15 minutes (R2=0.76, F=78.36, P0.05) and at 30 minutes (R2=0.882, F=189.94, P0.05). The inhibitory effect of sevoflurane on the LSR amplitude was greater in the first 15 minutes than in the second 15 minutes of sevoflurane administration. Sevoflurane at 1 MAC for 30 minutes mildly decreased the amplitude of the orbicularis oculi muscle wave. The latencies of the LSR and the orbicularis oculi muscle wave were not affected by sevoflurane at all MACs studied.The combination of intravenous propofol-remifentanil anesthesia with 0.5 MAC sevoflurane allows reliable intraoperative LSR monitoring in hemifacial spasm patients. Our findings support the central rather than peripheral hypothesis of the LSR.

Optical properties evolution of Bi1-xSex films with different compositions were investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). A significant dispersion of penetration depth of Bi0.38Se0.62 films was observed, which would lead to a varying carrier concentration with the different wavelength because of the topologically protected surface state. To describe the special properties of topological insulators, dispersive plasma energy was introduced into traditional dielectric function model. Optical properties of Bi0.38Se0.62 film were acquired by this modified model and the topologically protected surface state could be represented from the dispersion properties of free carrier concentration with the smaller plasma energy versus the deeper penetration depth. We demonstrated that SE is a useful tool for characterizing the properties of the topological insulators.

Highly transparent and superhydrophilic sapphire with surface antireflective subwavelength structures were prepared by wet etching using colloidal monolayer silica masks. The film thicknesses of the silica masks were adjusted by the volume concentrations of polystyrene spheres. The evolution of etching morphologies of sapphire was studied, and antireflective concave pyramid nanoarrays on sapphire substrates were designed by calculation and were then prepared. The transmission and wettability of as-obtained patterned sapphire substrates were also investigated. As for sapphire with optimum surface concave micropyramid arrays, average visible transmittance can reach 91.7%, which is apparently higher than that of flat sapphire (85.5%). Moreover, the concave pyramid arrays can significantly increase the surface hydrophilicity of sapphire, exhibiting a water contact angle of 12.6° compared with 62.7° of flat sapphire. The proposed method can be an excellent strategy for preparing antireflective and self-cleaning concave micropyramid subwavelength structures on sapphire without complicated equipment and expensive raw materials.

Objective: The plasma D-dimer has been regarded as a poor prognosis factor in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) patients, but the reason of elevated D-dimer level has not been revealed. In...

The damage production induced by swift heavy ion irradiation in bilayer graphene (BLG) is investigated. The radial dose distributions of delta rays produced by bismuth ions are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. The radial dose rapidly decreases with increasing the distance from the path center. An unusual phenomenon is found that the velocity effect is not suitable for BLG the same as in the single layer graphene (SLG). The energy deposited into the lattice due to electron-phonon coupling is simulated by molecular dynamics method. By given energy to a cylindrical region, the carbon chains even nanoholes can be produced, which depends on the electronic energy loss (dE/dx). For BLG, the threshold electronic energy loss is lower than 6.5 keV/nm, which is lower than for SLG of 8 keV/nm. Through the calculation of density changes, a low density core and a high density shell structure can be seen while the tracks radii are obtained. With increasing dE/dx values, the track radius is first increasing and then saturates. At the end, the analysis of defects indicates that only a small part of the defects can be recombined and the radiation damage in BLG is less severe than in SLG.

Size-dependent melting properties of nanometer-sized Indium particles with size ranging from 25.5 to 68.1 nm were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, and a critical size is found between 42.4 and 44.9 nm. The melting points of nanometer-sized Indium particles with size larger than critical size are almost the same as that of bulk indium, while no clear melting point was found for indium particles with size smaller than the critical size. A knee point defined as the average melting point was introduced to characterize the melting of these smaller size particles, and it depresses with decreasing size. The mechanism for size dependent melting of indium particles was discussed. This work shows that spectroscopic ellipsometry is an effective optical tool for characterizing the melting of nanometer-sized metal particles.

In1–xSnx (x = 0.06–0.51) alloy films were deposited on Si substrates by electron beam evaporation and characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The dielectric functions of the In1–xSnx alloy films were obtained in the energy range from 1.55 to 4.13 eV based on the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements, and it is believed that a solid–solid phase transitions led to changes in e. The phase diagram of nanometer-sized particles is different from that of the bulk material, and this phenomenon can be explained by the surface stress of the particles. The effects of alloying on the electronic band structure were studied from the perspective of first-principles calculations.

Compared with conventional anti-reflective film, an anti-reflective sub-wavelength surface structure provides an ideal choice for a sapphire optical window especially in harsh environments. However, it is still a challenge to obtain a sapphire anti-reflective surface microstructure because of its high hardness and chemical inertness. In this paper, combined with optical simulation, we proposed a facile method based on the anodic oxidation of aluminum film and following epitaxial annealing. Al thin film was deposited on a sapphire substrate by magnetron sputtering, and anodic oxidation was then performed to prepare surface pore-like structures on the Al film. Followed by two-step annealing, both the anodic oxidized coating and underlying unoxidized Al film were transformed totally into alumina. The parameters of anodic oxidation were analyzed to obtain the optimal pore-like structures for the antireflection in the mid-infrared and visible spectrum regions, respectively. Finally, the optimized surface sub-wavelength nanostructure on sapphire can increase the transmittance by 7% in the wavelength range of 3000–5000 nm and can increase 13.2% significantly for visible spectrum region, respectively. Meanwhile, the surface wettability can be also manipulated effectively. The preparation of surface pore-like sub-wavelength structure by the annealing of anodic oxidized aluminum film on sapphire is a feasible, economical and convenient approach and can find the applications for various optoelectronic fields.

The reaction of a variety of aldoximes with perfluoroalkanosulfonyl fluoride in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in dichloromethane smoothly generated the corresponding nitriles in 70%–95% yields.

The reaction of a variety of aldoximes with perfluoroalkanosulfonyl fluoride in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in dichloromethane smoothly generated the corresponding nitriles in 70%–95% yields.

To obtain reasonable subway vibration load is the key to many subway vibration problems. This paper uses a simplified method to determine subway vibration load in frequency domain analysis, based on ground vibration test induced by subway traveling and numerical simulation of soil-subway model. The operating steps are explained and one example for calculating subway vibration load is given. The result shows that this method is a certain degree of effective in analysis of ground vibration problems, since that it relies on ground vibration test. The operating steps of this method are simple, and also the method can reflect characteristic of randomness of subway vibration.

Two geotechnical centrifuge model tests of a soil-structure system with different burial depths are performed to investigate the interaction between soil and structure. The tests are performed at 50 gravitational centrifuge accelerations and the input motion is Kobe wave. This paper focuses on the accelerations and displacements in the soil-structures system. The peak accelerations and displacements along the axis of the structure and along the vertical line 17cm away from the axis are presented. The acceleration and displacement response due to the interaction between soil and structure are studied.

In the present study, we firstly compared rat intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitory activity by different ethanol-aqueous extractions from the dried fruits of Terminalia chebula Retz. The enzymatic assay showed that the 80% ethanol extract was more potent against maltase activity than both 50% and 100% ethanol extracts. By HPLC analysis, it was determined that the 80% ethanol extract had a higher content of chebulagic acid than each of 50% or 100% ethanol extract. Next, we investigated how efficiently chebulagic acid could inhibit sugar digestion by determining the glucose level on the apical side of the Caco-2 cell monolayer. The result showed that the maltose-hydrolysis activity was down-regulated by chebulagic acid, which proved to be a reversible inhibitor of maltase in Caco-2 cells. On the other hand, chebulagic acid showed a weak inhibition of sucrose-hydrolysis activity. Meanwhile, chebulagic acid did not have an obvious influence on intestinal glucose uptake and was not effective on glucose transporters. Further animal studies revealed that the oral administration of chebulagic acid (100 mg/kg body weight) significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose levels by 11.1% in maltose-loaded Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats compared with the control group, whereas the oral administration of chebulagic acid did not show a suppressive effect on postprandial hyperglycemia in sucrose- or glucose-loaded SD-rats. The results presented here suggest that chebulagic acid from T. chebula can be used to control blood glucose and manage type 2 diabetes, although clinical trials are needed.

In the present study, we firstly compared rat intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitory activity by different ethanol-aqueous extractions from the dried fruits of Terminalia chebula Retz. The enzymatic assay showed that the 80% ethanol extract was more potent against maltase activity than both 50% and 100% ethanol extracts. By HPLC analysis, it was determined that the 80% ethanol extract had a higher content of chebulagic acid than each of 50% or 100% ethanol extract. Next, we investigated how efficiently chebulagic acid could inhibit sugar digestion by determining the glucose level on the apical side of the Caco-2 cell monolayer. The result showed that the maltose-hydrolysis activity was down-regulated by chebulagic acid, which proved to be a reversible inhibitor of maltase in Caco-2 cells. On the other hand, chebulagic acid showed a weak inhibition of sucrose-hydrolysis activity. Meanwhile, chebulagic acid did not have an obvious influence on intestinal glucose uptake and was not effective on glucose transporters. Further animal studies revealed that the oral administration of chebulagic acid (100 mg/kg body weight) significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose levels by 11.1% in maltose-loaded Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats compared with the control group, whereas the oral administration of chebulagic acid did not show a suppressive effect on postprandial hyperglycemia in sucrose- or glucose-loaded SD-rats. The results presented here suggest that chebulagic acid from T. chebula can be used to control blood glucose and manage type 2 diabetes, although clinical trials are needed.

To obtain the seismic responses of typical subway stations in Beijing, a nonlinear analysis was conducted using a pushover method for seismic analysis and design of underground structures. The analysis mainly focuses on stress in columns and side walls and relative displacement between top and bottom slabs under 3 different levels of PGA (peak ground acceleration). From the analysis, the column shows good ductility due to its high ratio of reinforcement, and it has a good performance under strong motions. Compared with columns, side walls suffer from brittle failure and lose bearing capacity prior to column for its lower ratio of reinforcement. The calculated displacement indicates that the relative displacement between top and bottom slabs is linear proportional to peak ground relative displacement (PGRD). And compared with peak ground acceleration (PGA), PGRD is a more reliable design parameter of ground motion for underground structures. And the typical subway stations in Beijng can withstand the earthquake with design PGA up to 0.2 g.

Mongolian folk medicine resource is the origin of Mongolian medicine development, even more important of which is the specialized Mongolian folk medicine resources with regional and high medicine quality, it processes distinctive national characteristics with irreplaceable important position in traditional Mongolian medicine. Nevertheless, due to the serious destroy of ecological environment and sharp increase of demands, etc. A lot of specialized Mongolian folk medicine resources were endangered, and there still existed some problems in the protection and exploitation and utilization. This paper intends to provide comprehensive insight into the species protection and exploitation and utilization states of specialized Mongolian folk medicine resources. The application and protection status and the existing problems were reviewed, and the development strategies of Mongolian folk medicine resource were analyzed.

To explore a new method for identification of Mongolian patent medicine (MPM) by PCR amplification of specific alleles. Eight kinds of MPM were used to study the identification of "Digeda" raw materials. The total DNA of Lomatogonium rotatum and Corydalis bungeana samples were extracted through modified CTAB method, psbA-trnH sequence was amplified by PCR and sequenced directionally. Specific primer was designed. The DNA of 8 kinds of MPM also was extracted and purified by the commercial DNA purification kits. The rbcL and two pair of specific primers sequences were amplified. The specific amplified products were sequenced in forward directions. All specific sequences were aligned and were analyzed. The results indicated that L rotatum can be identified by specific primers from Digeda-4 Tang, Digeda-8 San, Digeda-4 San, and C. bungeana medicinal materials can be identified by specific primers from Li Dan Ba Wei San, Yi He Ha Ri-12 and A Ga Ri-35. PCR amplification of specific alleles can stably and accurately distinguish raw medicinal materials in MPM.

To study the identification of Gentianaceae Mongolian medicine Digeda with spectroscopy techniques, near infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry techniques were applied to study on the identification of 4 kinds of Gentianaceae Mongolian medicine Digeda, and characteristic spectrums obtained were systematically analyzed. In NIR study, the four species of Digeda exist some differences in 4 250-4 400 cm(-1) and 5 650-5 800 cm(-1) of one-dimensional spectra, and show significant differences in 4 100- 4 400 cm(-1), 4 401-4 900 cm(-1) and 5 400-5 800 cm(-1) of the second derivative spectra. DSC curves of them present distinct topological pattern, characteristic peak and peak temperature. Using near infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analysis can realize efficient and accurate identification of four kinds of Mongolian medicine Digeda, and provide scientific basis for the efficient and accurate identification of other Gentianaceae Mongolian medicine Digeda.

An approach extracting information of both optical monitoring signal and phase thickness of deposited layer on a trace diagram is proposed. Realtime fitting and calculation are performed to get both practical thickness and refractive index of deposited layer with the assist of quartz crystal monitoring for keeping steady rate of deposition. Monitoring error of thickness using this approach is analyzed. It was used to obtain the refractive indices and thickness of Ge layer and SiO layer in in situ measurement mode, and the results were compared with those of ex-situ spectral measurement using infrared spectrometer. The effectiveness of the proposed monitoring method was verified by fabricating narrow bandpass filter consisting of quarter-wave and non-quarter-wave layers.

Object. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the safety and efficacy of, and indications and outcome prognosis for endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in 58 patients with obstructive hydrocephalus. Methods. Between September 1999 and April 2003, 58 ETVs were performed in 58 patients with obstructive hydrocephalus (36 male and 22 female patients) at the authors' institution. The ages of the patients ranged from 5 to 67 years (mean age 35 years) and the follow-up period ranged from 3 to 41 months (mean duration of follow up 24 months). Patients were divided into four subgroups based on the cause of the obstructive hydrocephalus: 21 with intracranial tumors; 11 with intracranial cysts; 18 with aqueductal stenosis; and eight with intracranial hemorrhage or infection. Both univariate and multi-variate statistical analyses were performed to assess the prognostic relevance of the cause of the obstructive hydrocephalus, early postoperative clinical appearance, and neuroimaging findings in predicting the result of the ETV. The survival rate was 87% at the end of the 1st year and 84% at the end of the 2nd year post-ETV. One month after ETV an overall clinical improvement was observed in 45 (77.6%) of 58 patients. If we also consider the successful revision of ETV in two patients, a success rate of 78.3% (47 of 60 patients) was reached. The ETV was successful in 17 (81%) of 21 patients with intracranial tumors, nine (82%) of 11 with cystic lesions, 16 (88.9%) of 18 with aqueductal stenosis, and three (38%) of eight with intracranial hemorrhage or infection. A Kaplan—Meier analysis illustrates that the percentage of functioning ETVs stabilizes between 75 and 80% 1 year after the operation. In a comparison of results 1 year after ETV, the authors found that the aqueductal stenosis subgroup had the highest proportion of functioning ETV (89%). The proportions of the tumor and cyst subgroups were 84 and 82%, respectively, whereas the proportion was only 50% in the ventriculitis/intracranial hemorrhage subgroup (strata log-rank test: χ2 = 7.93, p = 0.0475). In the present study, ETV failed in eight patients (13.8%) and the time to failure after the procedure was a mean of 3.4 months (median 2 months, range 0–8 months). The logistic regression analysis confirmed an early postoperative improvement (within 2 weeks after ETV, significance [Sig] of log likelihood ratio [LLR] < 0.0001) and a patent stoma on cine phase—contrast magnetic resonance (MR) images (Sig of LLR = 0.0002) were significant prognostic factors for a successful ETV. The results demonstrated the multivariate model (B = − 53.7309, standard error = 325.1732, Wald = 0.0273, Sig = 0.8688) could predict a correct result in terms of success or failure from ETV surgery in 89.66% of observed cases. The Pearson chi-square test demonstrated that little reliance could be placed on the finding of a reduced size of the lateral ventricle (χ2 = 5.305, p = 0.07) on neuroimaging studies within 2 weeks after ETV, but it became a significant predictive factor at 3 months (χ2 = 8.992, p = 0.011) and 6 months (χ2 = 10.586, p = 0.005) post-ETV. Major complications occurred in seven patients (12.1%), including intraoperative venous bleeding in three, arterial bleeding in one, and occlusion of the stoma in three patients. The overall mortality rate was 10.3% (six patients). One of these patients died of pulmonary infection and another of ventriculitis. Four additional patients died of progression of malignant tumor during the follow-up period. Conclusions. The results indicate that ETV is a most effective treatment in cases of obstructive hydrocephalus that is caused by aqueductal stenosis and space-occupying lesions. For patients with infections or intraventricular bleeding, ETV has considerable effects in selected cases with confirmed CSF dynamic studies. Early clinical and cine phase—contrast MR imaging findings after the operation play an important role in predicting patient outcomes after ETV. The predictive value of an alteration in ventricle size, especially during the early stage following ETV, is unsatisfactory. Seventy-five percent of ETV failures occur within 6 months after surgery. A repeated ventriculostomy should be considered to be a sufficient treatment option in cases in which stoma dysfunction is suspected.

The applicability of gas chromatography–combustion–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC–C–IRMS) for the quantification of 13C enrichment of proteinogenic amino acids in metabolic tracer experiments was evaluated in this paper. We measured the 13C enrichment of proteinogenic amino acids in hydrolyzates using GC–C–IRMS from a series of parallel batch cultivations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which was cultured by mixtures of natural glucose and [1−13C] glucose, containing 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 % [1−13C] glucose, respectively. By decreasing the [1−13C] glucose content, kinetic isotope effects played an increasing role but could be corrected. The 13C metabolic algorithm and matrix algorithms were optimized in this study. The central metabolism of vivo fluxes were determined by the calculation method optimization. The obtained flux distribution was similar to published results, which obtained from GC–MS method using conventional high labeling (99 %). The GC–C–IRMS-based method involves low labeling (0.5 %) degree of expensive tracer substrate, and suits well for larger laboratory and industrial pilot-scale fermentations.

Seven compounds were isolated from the leaves of Panax japonicus var. major by chromatographic methods including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, ODS and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by their physical and chemical properties and spectral data analysis as 5, 7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyl flavone (1), ginsenoside Rs2 (2), quinquenoside R1 (3), ginsenoside Rs1 (4), notoginsenoside Fe (5), ginsenoside Rd2 (6) and gypenosiden IX (7). Among them, compound 1 was obtained from the Panax genus for the first time, and compounds 2-7 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

AIM To explore the feasibility and effectiveness of early microsurgical therapy for acute hydrocephalus resulting from a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty patients with Hunt-Hess grades II-III were assigned to group A; 27 patients with grades IV-V formed group B. The patients were also divided into 2 groups based on the time interval between the hemorrhage and surgery. Subjects in the early surgery group underwent aneurysm clipping within 3 days of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), followed by intraoperative lateral ventricle puncture and third ventriculostomy. Subjects in the late surgery group underwent aneurysm clipping within 10 days of SAH, after initial treatment with lateral ventricular drainage. Three months after surgery, we used the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) to compare the differences between the early and late surgery groups. RESULTS More patients benefited from early surgery than from late surgery in both groups: GOS4-5 was achieved by 75% and 73.3% of early-surgery patients compared to 37.5% and 25% of late-surgery patients from Groups A and B, respectively (both p < 0.05). Analysis of the relationship between surgical timing and outcomes with the Ridit method showed that outcomes of early surgery were better than those of late surgery (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Aneurysmal SAH with acute hydrocephalus requires early surgery.

Surveys about the breeding bird guild structure in karst forest of Nonggang Nature Reserve, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, were conducted successively in May-July 2010, 2011 and 2012. The feeding modes, foraging strata and foraging heights of 44 breeding bird species were analyzed by clustering and principal component method. The results indicated that the avian community could be divided into 6 guilds, including ground feeding guild, lower feeding guild, upper feeding guild, multilayer feeding guild, trunk feeding guild and air strike guild. Depending on the vegetation structure of Nonggang karst forest and feeding habits, middle layer, lower layer and multilayer feeding guilds were dominant in the karst monsoon forest. Data suggests that the birds tried to alleviate competition pressures by increasing niche breadth, so multilayer feeding guild was formed.于2010、2011和2012年5—7月在广西弄岗国家级自然保护区对喀斯特森林繁殖鸟类群落的集团结构进行了研究。对44种繁殖鸟类的取食方式、取食基层和取食高度进行聚类分析和主成分分析。其结果如下：(1)鸟类群落可分为6个取食集团，分别为地面取食集团、下层取食集团、上层取食集团、多层取食集团、树干取食集团和空中出击集团；(2)与其他森林类型的鸟类群落集团结构相比，喀斯特季节性雨林的鸟类群落以中、下层取食鸟类为主，多层取食集团次之。其原因可能是：弄岗喀斯特森林植被结构和鸟类食性特点形成了中下层取食的鸟类种数占优势的现象；鸟类以扩展各自生态位宽度方式来缓解竞争压力，从而形成了多层取食集团这一特点。

Although forest gap ecology is an important field of study, research remains limited. By plot setting and point counted observation, the response of birds to forest gaps in winter as well as bird distribution patterns in forest gaps and intact canopies were studied in a north tropical monsoon forest of southwestern China from November 2011 to February 2012 in the Fangcheng Golden Camellia National Nature Reserve, Guangxi. The regression equation of bird species diversity to habitat factor was Y1=0.611+0.002 X13+0.043 X2+0.002 X5-0.003 X8+0.006 X10+0.008 X1 and the regression equation of bird species dominance index to habitat factor was Y3=0.533+0.001 X13+0.019 X2+0.002 X3-0.017 X4+0.002 X1. There were 45 bird species (2 orders and 13 families) recorded in the forest gap, accounting for 84.9% of all birds (n=45), with an average of 9.6 species (range: 2-22). Thirty-nine bird species (5 orders and 14 families) were recorded in non-gap areas, accounting for 73.6% of all birds (n=39), with an average of 5.3 species (range: 1-12). These results suggested that gap size, arbor average height (10 m from gap margin), arbor quantity (10 m from gap margin), shrub quantity (10 m from gap margin), herbal average coverage (1 m from gap margin) and bare land ratio were the key forest gap factors that influenced bird diversities. On the whole, bird diversity in the forest gap was greater than in the intact canopy. Spatial distributions in the forest gaps were also observed in the bird community. Most birds foraged in the "middle" and "canopy" layers in the vertical stratification. In addition, "nearly from" and "close from" contained more birds in relation to horizontal stratification. Feeding niche differentiation was suggested as the main reason for these distribution patterns.林窗主要指由森林中老龄树死亡或其他偶然因素导致的成熟阶段优势树种死亡,从而造成在林冠层形成空隙的现象。2011年11月—2012年2月,于广西防城金花茶国家级自然保护区,采用定点观察法,就北热带季雨林冬季鸟类对林窗的响应特征及鸟类在林窗和非林窗的分布特征等进行了研究。在林窗记录到鸟类45种,占所有鸟类的84.9%,平均种数为9.6种;在非林窗记录到鸟类39种,占所有鸟类的73.6%,平均种数为5.3种。多元回归表明林窗面积、林窗外10 m乔木平均高度、林窗外10 m乔木数量、林窗外10 m灌木数量、林窗外1 m草本平均盖度和裸地比例是林窗影响鸟类多样性的关键因子。总体上,林窗鸟类多样性大于非林窗。另外,林窗对鸟类空间分布影响主要表现在：鸟类的垂直分布以林窗中层和林冠层为主,水平分布以近离和较近离为主,而这种空间分布格局主要是由鸟类取食生态位分化所造成。

Niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) films with different thicknesses were prepared using the electron beam evaporation method and then annealed at temperatures from 300 °C to 800 °C before being characterized by variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray diffraction, etc. The results showed that the optical constants and microstructures of Nb2O5 films exhibit a strong dependence on the annealing temperature. In the visible light region, the refractive indices show a positive correlation with the annealing temperature from 300 °C to 600 °C, but a negative correlation from 600 °C to 800 °C. The amorphous Nb2O5 film converts into TT- Nb2O5 (pseudo-hexagonal) after annealing at 500–600 °C, and into T-Nb2O5 (orthorhombic) after annealing at 700–800 °C.

Radix Astragalus has been identified to exert beneficial effects in preventing postmenopausal bone loss. However, the active ingredients and mechanism of action remain unknown. In this study, we examined the effect of Astragaloside II (AST II), which is a monomer of Astragalus saponin, on the viability, proliferation, differentiation and maturation of rat primary osteoblasts, as well as its relevant molecular mechanism. We found that AST II exhibits a significant induction of proliferation, differentiation and mineralization in primary osteoblasts. AST II stimulates osteoblast differentiation at various stages, from early to late stage of differentiated osteoblasts. Furthermore, induction of differentiation by AST II is associated with increased expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), activation of Smad1/5/8, ERK1/2 and p38, and increased expression of core-binding factor 1 (Cbfa1)/Runx2. BMP antagonist (Noggin) blocks the effect of AST II on cell differentiation, and Smad1/5/8, p38, Cbfa1 expression, but only partly decreases ERK1/2 activation. This indicates that BMP-2 is essential in AST II-mediated osteoblast differentiation and Smad1/5/8, p38, Cbfa1 activation, and is partly involved in ERK1/2 activation. In conclusion, although in vivo studies are required in the future, as a phyto-saponin of Radix Astragalus, AST II may become a novel candidate that is beneficial for stimulating the osteoblastic activity resulting in bone formation, which has not been recognized and reported previously.

CartoMerge has been widely used in guiding circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). However, the procedure of landmarks selection varies among operators according to their experience. Techniques have to be established to standardize this procedure. We propose that Overlay Ref could facilitate this procedure. This paper aimed to report our initial experience with CPVI guided by Overlay Ref and CartoMerge for the treatment of PAF.Fifty-nine patients with PAF were enrolled in this study. Using Overlay Ref technique, a reference image (inverted) was faded into the live fluoroscopic image. Landmarks of CartoMerge were selected from anatomic points of the top of superior pulmonary veins (PVs) and the bottom of inferior PVs guided by Overlay Ref image. Overlay Ref images were also used to guide the ablation procedure combining with CartoMerge.All patients were successfully mapped by CartoMerge guided by Overlay Ref. The distance between the mapping points and the CT surfaces was (1.42 +/- 0.67) mm for the patients as a whole. This led to a successful rate of 96% for isolation of pulmonary veins. Duration of ablation procedure was (92 +/- 17) minutes. And the total duration of procedure was (139 +/- 32) minutes. CartoMerge could also be performed just with 3 paries to 4 paries selected landmarks guided by Overlay Ref without a full anatomic model constructed by Carto. Then, the total duration of procedure could be shortened to (115 +/- 38) minutes.Overlay Ref technique can facilitate the catheter ablation of PAF and can help to standardize the procedure of landmarks selection.

Development of new coronary thrombolytic agents is hot in the market. A new drug, mutated recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rtPAm), is the product of mutation of tPA by changing binding loci with plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 to reduce the degradation. In vitro test has demonstrated that the activity of rtPAm is much higher than rtPA in the absence of PAI. The present study is to observe the efficacy of mutated recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rtPAm) in coronary thrombolytic therapy.A total of 30 adult beagles were equally divided into 5 groups after thrombi: vehicle group, urokinase group, rtPAm low-dose group, rtPAm medium-dose group, and rtPAm high-dose group. Thrombolytic effect and myocardial infarction were observed after thrombolytic therapy.In the urokinase group, time to reperfusion was (15.8±3.8) minutes. TIMI 2 flow was demonstrated in 4 beagles, TIMI 3 flow in 2, and re-occlusion in 4 after 90 minutes respectively. In the low-dose rtPAm group, time to reperfusion was (15±4.5) minutes; TIMI 2 flow was demonstrated in 2 beagles, TIMI 3 flow in 4, and re-occlusion in 2 after 90 minutes. In the high-dose rtPAm group, time to reperfusion was (7.5±2.6) minutes. None of the beagles showed re-occlusion after 90 minutes. The infarction areas were (2.1+0.9)% in the medium-dose rtPAm group and (0.7+0.4)% in the high-dose rtPAm group, which decreased significantly than those in the low-dose rtPAm group. The aggregation rate in the medium-dose and high-dose rtPAm groups decreased significantly than that in the urokinase group.rtPAm may serve as a thrombolytic agent with platelet-targeted fibrinolysis and antiplatelet aggregation activities.