Search

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of fatty acid composition in human milk with breast milk jaundice (BMJ) in neonates. METHODS: A total of 30 full-term neonates who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from October 2016 to October 2017 and were diagnosed with late-onset BMJ were enrolled as the BMJ group. Thirty healthy neonates without jaundice or pathological jaundice who were admitted to the confinement center during the same period of time were enrolled as the control group. Related clinical data were collected, including sex, mode of birth, feeding pattern, gestational age, birth weight, gravida, parity, and peak level of total serum bilirubin. Breast milk was collected from the mothers, and the MIRIS human milk analyzer was used to measure macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrate) and calorie. Gas chromatography was used to analyze the content of different fatty acids in breast milk. RESULTS: The control group had higher levels of macronutrients in human milk than the BMJ group, with significant differences in fat, dry matter, and calorie (P < 0.05). In addition, 25 fatty acids were detected in breast milk, including 9 saturated fatty acids, 6 monounsaturated fatty acids, and 10 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The comparison of the percentage composition of different fatty acids showed that compared with the control group, the BMJ group had significantly lower percentage compositions of C15:0, C16:0, C17:0, C18:0, C20:0, C18:1n9t, C20:1n9, C18:3n6, C22:2, and C22:6n3 (DHA) and higher percentage compositions of C10:0, C12:0, C14:0 in breast milk (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Some macronutrients and fatty acid composition in human milk may be associated with the pathogenesis of BMJ in neonates.

The whole root excavation method was used to examine root configuration of Juglans mandshurica, with the age of 5-6 years in three habitats (forest edge, gap, and canopy) in a secondary forest on the western part of Zhangguangcailing Mountains. Root structure and fine root function were measured. The root topological index, average joint length, cross-sectional area ratio before and after root branching were calculated and fine root chemical compositions were analyzed. Roots of J. mandshurica at forest edge tended to be dichotomous branch (Topological index:TI=0.68), that under the canopy were herringbone-like branch (TI=0.79), and the gap was between the two (TI=0.72). The average connection length of roots among the three habitats was not significant. The cross-sectional area ratio of roots before and after root branching in three habitats was 1.06, 1.04 and 1.07, respectively, which was not affected by root diameter, in accordance with the Leonardo da Vinci rule. For the same order fine root in different habitats, its length and specific surface area gradually increased from the edge of the forest to the canopy. The N content decreased first and then increased, while the C content and C/N increased first and then decreased. From the forest edge to the gap and to the under canopy, roots tended to move from the dichotomous branch to the herringbone-like branch by reducing the overlap between the secondary branches and roots, increasing specific root length, specific surface area and changing the contents of C and N to cope with environmental change and improve nutrient absorption efficiency.采用全根挖掘法对张广才岭西坡次生林林缘、林隙、林冠3种生境下5～6年生胡桃楸幼树根系构型及细根功能进行研究,分析根系拓扑指数、平均连接长度、根系分支前后横截面积比,以及细根化学成分,探索胡桃楸幼树根系构型对生境变化的响应。结果表明: 林缘下胡桃楸根系趋向于叉状分支(拓扑指数

Key establishment is the basic step for the wireless sensor network (WSN) security. The polynomial based key predistribution scheme of Blom and Blundo et al. has been the basic ingredient for the key establishment for WSNs. It is tempting to use many random and different instances of polynomial based key predistribution scheme for various parts of the WSN to enhance the efficiency of WSN key establishment protocols. This paper indicates that it is not secured in general to use many instances of Blom-Blundo et al. polynomial based key predistribution scheme in a WSN key establishment protocol. Thus the previously constructed group-based type WSN key predistribution schemes using polynomial based key predistribution scheme are insecure. We propose new generalized Blom-Blundo et al. key predistribution schemes. These new generalized Blom-Blundo et al. key predistribution schemes can be used many times in one WSN key establishment protocol with only a small increase of cost. The application to group-based WSN key predistribution schemes is given.

Self-assembly of CuCl2, NdCl3, 5-bromosalicylaldehyde and glycylglycine yields the ion-pair copper(II)–neodymium(III) complex, poly[[decaaquabis[μ3-2-({2-[(5-bromo-2-oxidobenzylidene)amino]acetyl}azanidyl)acetato]bis[μ2-2-({2-[(5-bromo-2-oxidobenzylidene)amino]acetyl}azanidyl)acetato]tetracopper(II)dineodymium(III)] bis{[2-({2-[(5-bromo-2-oxidobenzylidene)amino]acetyl}azanidyl)acetato]cuprate(II)} tetradecahydrate], {[Cu4Nd2(C11H8BrN2O4)4(H2O)10][Cu(C11H8BrN2O4)]2·14H2O}n. The anion is planar and mononuclear, showing an approximately square-planar coordination of the metal atom, while the cation is a hexanuclear centrosymmetric transition metal–lanthanide (Cu–Nd) heterometallic complex, with the independent copper cations in square-planar and square-pyramidal coordinations. The asymmetric unit comprises one half of this cation, one anion and seven solvent water molecules. The positions of the six metal centres in the cation reproduce a Chinese knot arrangement. The dipeptidic Schiff base releases three H atoms and can act as a tetradentate, a pentadentate or a hexadentate ligand. Longer interactions between the pentadentate ligands and the Jahn–Teller CuIIcation link the hexanuclear aggregates into cationic chains in the [010] direction in which 14- and 22-membered subloops occur. Extensive hydrogen bonding in three dimensions involves both the coordinated and the solvent water molecules.

The core displacement experiments show that displacement system containing chemical agent can enhance oil recovery by over 20% comparing to water flooding. Mechanisms by which chemical agent enhance oil recovery of heavy oil reservoir water flooding are: (1) improving mobility ratio by significantly decreasing viscosity of heavy oil, volumetric sweep efficiency is improved; (2) increasing capillary number by significantly decreasing oil-water interfacial tension, oil displacement efficiency is increased; (3) changing wettability of the rock surface from oil-wet to water-wet by significantly reducing the contact angle between displacement liquid and sandstone surface, capillary force is changed from the resistance force to the motive force, the residual oil is expelled from the small pores and the wall of pores, oil displacement efficiency is significantly increased.

Brucellosis is one of the most widespread zoonotic diseases, with the most frequent complication being osteoarticular changes. The aim of this study was to assess the changes of C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) in patients infected with brucellosis. A total of 84 brucellosis patients and 43 volunteers were selected and divided into brucellosis vs. control groups. Serum samples were subjected to serological tests for brucellosis, and CTX-II levels in all samples were measured simultaneously with ELISA. The results showed that serum CTX-II levels in human brucellosis were higher than those of healthy controls, without a statistically significant difference, but serum CTX-II levels in male patients were significantly higher than those of female patients (P0.05). This finding could indicate the biological changes in the cartilage and bone in human brucellosis.

From the motivation of algebraic attacks on stream and block ciphers, the concept of algebraic immunity (AI) of a Boolean function was introduced and studied extensively. High algebraic immunity is a necessary condition for resisting algebraic attacks. In this paper, we give some lower bounds on the algebraic immunity of Boolean functions. The results are applied to give lower bounds on the AI of symmetric Boolean functions and rotation symmetric Boolean functions. Some balanced rotation symmetric Boolean functions with their AI near the maximum possible value (n/2 (are constructed.

Several geometric sequences have very low linear complexities when considered as sequences over GF( p ), such as the binary sequences of period q n − 1 constructed by Chan and Games [1–2] ( q is a prime power p m , p is an odd prime) with the maximal possible linear complexity q n − 1 when considered as sequences over GF(2). This indicates that binary sequences with high GF(2) linear complexities LC 2 and low GF( p )-linear complexities LC p are not secure for use in stream ciphers. In this article, several lower bounds on the GF( p )-linear complexities of binary sequences is proved and the results are applied to the GF( p )-linear complexities of Blum-Blum-Shub, self-shrinking, and de Bruijn sequences. A lower bound on the number of the binary sequences with LC 2 > LC p is also presented.

Cumulative evidence suggests the up-regulation of interleukin (IL)-10 and T-regulatory (Treg) cells is implicated in anti-inflammatory effect of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Thus, we postulated that induction of HO-1 could augment IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta production and foxp3+CD4+CD25+ Treg cell function, thereby leading to attenuation of airway inflammation. In this study, CD4+CD25+ Treg cells isolated from mouse spleen were either transfected with a HO-1 expression vector (pcDNA3HO-1) or treated with a HO-1 inducer (hemin). Up-regulation of HO-1 enhanced foxp3 expression and IL-10 secretion in the Treg cells in vitro. Next, BALB/c, C57/B6.129, and IL-10-deficient B6.129P2-Il10tm1Cgn/J mice were challenged by ovalbumin to induce airway inflammation. Consistent with in vitro findings, hemin treatment resulted in induction of HO-1 and foxp3 and production of IL-10 and membrane-bound TGF-beta1 in vivo. This was further correlated with decrease of ovalbumin-specific immunoglobulin E level and eosinophil infiltration in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid from the asthmatic mice. Furthermore, hemin significantly enhanced the biological activity of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells. This protective effect was specifically blocked by Sn-protoporphyrin, a HO-1 enzymatic inhibitor. Finally, hemin failed to up-regulate the function of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells from IL-10-deficient mice. Our study indicates that HO-1 exerts its protective effect on asthma through a mechanism mediated by foxp3+CD4+CD25+ Treg cells, IL-10, and membrane-bound TGF-beta1.

We propose a novel beam model for radio pulsars based on the scenario that the broadband and coherent emission from secondary relativistic particles, as they move along a flux tube in a dipolar magnetic field, forms a radially extended sub-beam with unique properties. The whole radio beam may consist of several sub-beams, forming a fan-shaped pattern. When only one or a few flux tubes are active, the fan beam becomes very patchy. This model differs essentially from the conal beam models in the respects of beam structure and predictions on the relationship between pulse width and impact angle $\beta$ (the angle between line of sight and magnetic pole) and the relationship between emission intensity and beam angular radius. The evidence for this model comes from the observed patchy beams of precessional binary pulsars and three statistical relationships found for a sample of 64 pulsars, of which $\beta$ were mostly constrained by fitting polarization position angle data with the Rotation Vector Model. With appropriate assumptions, the fan beam model can reproduce the relationship between 10\% peak pulse width and $|\beta|$, the anticorrelation between the emission intensity and $|\beta|$, and the upper boundary line in the scatter plot of $|\beta|$ versus pulsar distance. An extremely patchy beam model with the assumption of narrowband emission from one or a few flux tubes is studied and found unlikely to be a general model. The implications of the fan beam model to the studies on radio and gamma-ray pulsar populations and radio polarization are discussed., Comment: 55 pages, 23 figures, 1 table. To be published in ApJ, 2014, Vol.789

A dinuclear Cu(II) complex, [Cu(2)(μ-IDA)(phen)(3)(NO(3))]NO(3)·4H(2)O (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, H(2)IDA = iminodiacetic acid), was found to potently and selectively inhibit T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase, and lead to the anti-proliferation and apoptosis of C6 glioma cells.

Inflammatory mechanisms had played an important role in the occurrence and prognosis of acute myocardial infarction, inflammatory mediators was associated with adverse outcomes of acute myocardial infarction. This study tested the hypothesis that in the acute phase of myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation, neutrophil count and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein are predictive of angiographic morphologic features that indicate thrombus formation in the infarct-related artery.This retrospective study included 182 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction and ST-segment elevation. Patients were assigned to a thrombus-formation group (n = 77) and a non-thrombus-formation group (n = 106). All patients had a Killip's classificationor= 3 and onset12 hours prior to presentation. All the cases were going to undergo coronary angiography, including primary percutaneous coronary intervention, simple coronary angiography, or thrombolysis in a coronary artery (or arteries) or coronary artery bypass graft(s). Blood samples for measurement of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and for routine blood laboratory studies were collected prior to coronary angiography.The levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total leukocyte counts, neutrophil counts, and neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratios were substantially higher in the thrombus-formation group than in the non-thrombus-formation group patients (for each, P0.05). Stepwise Logistic regression analyses identified high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, neutrophil count, and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio as independent predictors of thrombus formation in the infarct-related artery (for each, P0.05).In patients with acute myocardial infarction, higher neutrophil counts, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, and levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein are predictors to indicate thrombus formation.

Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is a common clinical condition caused mainly by the increased production and decreased excretion of bilirubin. Current treatment is aimed at reducing the serum levels of bilirubin. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a rate-limiting enzyme that generates bilirubin. In this study we intended to suppress HO-1 using the RNA interference technique. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-A, -B, and -C were designed based on human HO-1 (hHO-1) mRNA sequences. siRNA was transfected into a human hepatic cell line (HL-7702). hHO-1 transcription and protein levels were then determined. In addition, the inhibitory effect of siRNA on hHO-1 was assessed in cells treated with hemin or transfected with an hHO-1 plasmid. siRNA-C showed the most potent suppressive effect on hHO-1. This inhibition is dose and time dependent. Compared with control, both hemin and hHO-1 plasmids up-regulated hHO-1 expression in HL-7702 cells. However, the up-regulation was significantly attenuated by siRNA-C. Furthermore, the decrease in hHO-1 activity was coincident with the suppression of its transcription. Finally, siRNA-C was shown to reduce hHO-1 enzymatic activity and bilirubin levels. Thus, this study provides a novel therapeutic rationale by blocking bilirubin formation via siRNA for preventing and treating neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and bilirubin encephalopathy at an early clinical stage.

Transient lasting of double spontaneous snakes is observed in energy confinement improved plasma on the EAST tokamak. The destabilization of snakes with superb particle confinement can lower plasma energy confinement and slow plasma toroidal rotation. The non-monotonic q profile with double q = 1 surface, slightly above unity in central, is constructed. The prevailing harmonic modes are susceptible to the nearly zero magnetic shear. Finally, the role of anomalous particle transport and the formation of off-axis peaking electron profile on the excitation of double snakes are discussed.