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Objective: In order to optimize the process parameters of tobacco sheet of heated cigarette. Methods: 12 gradient grades of tobacco sheets with glycerol addition ratio of 5%~30% were prepared under laboratory conditions. The mass of moisture, nicotine and glycerol in heated cigarette smoke, filter condensation section and tobacco core section were detected by GC-TCD method. And the mass distribution characteristics of main components, release rate, filtration rate and transfer rate were analyzed. Results: When 5%~30% glycerol was applied to the heated cigarette tobacco sheets, the water release rate was 88.6%~92.3%, which was mainly distributed in the smoke and filter condensation section; The nicotine release rate was 25.5%~34.2%, which was mainly distributed in the filter condensing section and tobacco core section; The glycerol release rate was 13.9%~21.3%, which was mainly distributed in the tobacco core section. Conclusion: When 10%~18% glycerol was added to tobacco sheets, nicotine and glycerol in heated cigarettes had higher transfer rate and lower filtration rate.

Computer experiments often involve both qualitative and quantitative factors, posing challenges for efficient experimental designs. Strongly coupled designs (SCDs) are proposed in this paper to balance flexibility in run size and stratification properties between qualitative and quantitative factor columns. The existence and construction of SCDs are investigated. When s ⩾ 2 is a prime or a prime power, the constructed SCDs of λ s 3 runs can accommodate 2 s − 1 qualitative factors and a substantial number of quantitative factors. Furthermore, a series of SCDs with s u rows and (u − 3) s 3 columns of quantitative factors are constructed, where u ⩾ 4 , with certain columns of quantitative factors achieving stratification in two or higher dimensions. The proposed SCDs achieve stratification between any two qualitative factors and all quantitative factors, which is superior to MCDs. With the number of levels of the qualitative factors given as s 2 , DCDs have λ s 4 rows, while SCDs have only λ s 3 rows, offering more flexibility. Furthermore, in the designs constructed in this paper with fewer than 100 rows, in 11 out of 17 cases, SCDs have a larger number and higher levels of qualitative factors than DCDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the [Bmim]Cl reaction medium, five different acidic ionic liquids were used as catalysts to study the effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, system water content, catalyst dosage, microwave power, and other factors on cellulose hydrolysis under microwave irradiation. The results showed that in the [Bmim]Cl reaction system, using N-methylpyrrolidone methylsulfonic acid salt as a catalyst, controlling the microwave reaction time at 10 min, reaction temperature at 130 °C, catalyst dosage at 1 g/g (cellulose), water addition at 0.756 μL/g ([Bmim]Cl), and microwave power at 480 W, resulted in the best cellulose hydrolysis effect with a glucose yield of 74.49%. Compared to conventional heating, the glucose yield increased by 24% and the hydrolysis time was reduced by 77%. Microwave irradiation significantly enhances the cellulose hydrolysis process in an ionic liquid medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the dysregulated genes, pathways and networks involved in type 2 diabetes-derived brain dysfunctions via performing whole transcriptome sequencing on the cerebral cortex of db/db and wild-type (WT) mice. Methods Male db/db and WT mice were divided into two groups (n=9). The body weight and blood glucose were measured at week 8 and 24. The 24-week-old animals were sacrificed for cerebral cortex collection. RNA-sequencing and analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), GO functional enrichment, KEGG pathway enrichment and PPI network were performed. Results A total of 306 differential transcripts, including 178 up-regulated and 128 down-regulated ones were identified in the db/db mice as compared to WT ones. Among all differentially expressed genes, 43 genes (such as Clcnka and Trim17) were found to be up-regulated and 59 genes (such as Arih1 and Nectin-3) were down-regulated. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed with thirteen nodes as hub genes. All the nodes were down-regulated genes and majorly belonged to mitochondrially encoded families. The GO functional enrichment showed changes in various categories as compared to WT. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that target genes were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and the involved DEGs mainly regulate oxidative phosphorylation process. Conclusions The relationship between type 2 diabetes and central nervous system impairments, and the potentially related genes, pathways and networks are identified.

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of alginic acid oligosaccharides (AOS) added to drinking water on the growth performance, carcass weight, immune organ index, intestinal morphology and small intestinal digestive enzyme activity of broilers. A total of 360 one-day-old Cobb 500 broilers were randomly divided into two groups, with 18 replicates in each group and ten broilers in each replicate. The control group was feed a basal diet, and AOS group was feed a basal diet and added 200 mg/L alginic acid oligosaccharides to drinking water from 1 to 21 days of age. The experimental period was 42 days. The results showed that compared with the control group, the average daily gain of broilers in AOS group was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the feed to gain ratio was significantly decreased from 1 to 21 days (P<0.05). During the whole experiment period, the average daily gain of broilers in the AOS group was significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared to the control group, the carcass weight of broilers in the AOS group was significantly increased at 21 and 42 days (P<0.05), as well as the spleen index and the bursa of Fabricius index at 21 days (P<0.05). The villus height of the small intestine in the AOS group broilers was significantly higher at 21 and 42 days, along with a significant increase in the villus-to-crypt ratio and intestinal lipase activity at 21 days (P<0.05). Studies show that adding the 200 mg/L alginic acid oligosaccharides group to drinking water can improve the growth performance, immunity, intestinal development and digestion of broilers, thereby improving the economic benefits of breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a type of shallow foundation, a mudmat serves as the seabed support structure for subsea wells, pipeline manifolds, and pipeline terminations. The shallow foundations are usually designed with perforations to facilitate installation and removal, but the influence of these perforations has not been fully understood. This paper presents a method to analyze the bearing capacities of both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) perforated shallow foundations using finite element analysis. The soil was idealized as a Tresca material, with the undrained strength increasing linearly with depth. The outcome indicates that perforations have nonnegligible effects on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations. The bearing capacity decreases with increasing perforation ratio, R, and the degree of reduction increases with the increase of the dimensionless ratio kB/[S.sub.uo], where k is the shear strength gradient, B is the width of the foundation, and [S.sub.uo] is the shear strength at the mudline. For 2D shallow foundations, there exists a critical perforation ratio, [R.sub.c]; when the perforation ratio is lower than the critical perforation ratio, the perforated foundation does not lose its bearing capacity. For 3D shallow foundations, the bearing capacity decreases directly with the increase of perforation ratio, R. Key words: shallow foundation, clay, finite element analysis, perforation, bearing capacity. Comme une sorte de fondation superficielle, les patins servent de structure de support du fond marin pour les puits sous-marins, les collecteurs de pipeline et les terminaisons de pipeline. Les fondations peu profondes sont habituellement concues avec des perforations pour faciliter l'installation et l'enlevement, mais l'influence de ces perforations n'a pas ete entierement comprise. Cet article presente une methode pour analyser les capacites portantes des fondations peu profondes perforees en deux dimensions (2D) et trois dimensions (3D) en utilisant l'analyse par elements finis. Le sol a ete idealise en tant que materiau Tresca, avec la resistance non drainee augmentant lineairement avec la profondeur. Le resultat indique que la perforation a des effets non negligeables sur la capacite portante des fondations peu profondes. La capacite portante diminue avec l'augmentation du taux de perforation R, et le degre de reduction augmente avec l'augmentation du rapport sans dimension kB/[S.sub.uo]. Pour les fondations superficielles 2D, il existe un taux de perforation critique R, lorsque le taux de perforation est inferieur au taux de perforation critique, les fondations perforees ne perdent pas la capacite portante. Pour les fondations superficielles 3D, la capacite portante diminue immediatement avec l'augmentation du taux de perforation R. Mots-cles : fondation superficielle, argile, analyse des elements finis, perforation, capacite portante., 1. Introduction A mudmat is a type of shallow foundation that is usually designed with perforations to facilitate installation and removal. Many existing studies have concentrated on the bearing capacity [...]

(1) Background: Spermatozoa acquired motility and matured in epididymis after production in the testis. However, there is still limited understanding of the specific characteristics of sperm development across different species. In this study, we employed a comprehensive approach to analyze cell compositions in both testicular and epididymal tissues, providing valuable insights into the changes occurring during meiosis and spermiogenesis in mouse and pig models. Additionally, we identified distinct gene expression signatures associated with various spermatogenic cell types. (2) Methods: To investigate the differences in spermatogenesis between mice and pigs, we constructed a single-cell RNA dataset. (3) Results: Our findings revealed notable differences in testicular cell clusters between these two species. Furthermore, distinct gene expression patterns were observed among epithelial cells from different regions of the epididymis. Interestingly, regional gene expression patterns were also identified within principal cell clusters of the mouse epididymis. Moreover, through analysing differentially expressed genes related to the epididymis in both mouse and pig models, we successfully identified potential marker genes associated with sperm development and maturation for each species studied. (4) Conclusions: This research presented a comprehensive single-cell landscape analysis of both testicular and epididymal tissues, shedding light on the intricate processes involved in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation, specifically within mouse and pig models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]