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The stoichiometry characteristics of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) is an important indicator of soil quality and ecosystem nutrient limitations. Exploring the effects of land use type and soil depth on soil nutrient stoichiometry can clarify soil nutrient cycling. In this study, we collected soil samples from sites with five different land use types (irrigated cropland, rainfed cropland, sandy grassland, fixed dunes, and mobile dunes) in the Horqin Sandy Land, and evaluated the influences of land use type and soil depth on the contents and stoichiometry characteristics of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). We found that: 1) SOC (3.23 g·kg土壤碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)化学计量是衡量土壤质量及生态系统元素限制的重要指标,探讨土地利用和土层深度对土壤化学计量特征的影响有利于揭示科尔沁沙地土壤元素循环规律。本研究以科尔沁沙地5种土地利用类型(灌溉农田、旱作农田、沙质草地、固定沙丘、流动沙丘)土壤为对象,分析不同土地利用类型和不同土层土壤有机碳(SOC)、全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)含量及其化学计量特征。结果表明: 1)科尔沁沙地0～10 cm SOC(3.23 g·kg

With the fast development of transportation technology,the railway has become one of the main choices for people when they travel for business,vacation or visiting.As a result,the behavior of co-travel has become more and more common.Based on this co-travel relationship,people can construct a co-travel network,where each node represents a passenger and an edge indicates co-travel frequency between two passengers this edge connects,and the link prediction on the network such that persona-lized service and product can be provided even better.In light of this,this paper proposes a novel approach to predicting potential co-travel relationship.Specifically,we first propose two types of co-travel graph pattern association rules which are extended from their traditional counterparts,and can be used to predict new co-travel relationship and co-travel frequency,respectively.We then decompose this mining problem into three sub-problems,i.e.,frequent co-travel pattern mining,rules generation and association analysis,and develop parallel and centralized algorithms for these sub-problems.Extensive experimental studies on large real-life datasets show that our approach can predict potential co-travel relationship efficiently and accurately,with accuracies higher than 50% for two types of rules,and substantially superior to the traditional method (e.g.,Jaccard with accuracy 24%).

The time-domain balanced homodyne detector (TBHD) is critical component in continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD). The shot-noise-limited attribute of a TBHD depends on the whole spectrum of detector, in contrast to a frequency-domain balanced homodyne detector that focuses only on part of the spectrum. We propose a method for accurate calibration of the shot-noise-limited attribute of the TBHD by overlapping the gain lines of the TBHD and an integrated photodetector. The overlapping of two lines indicates that the detector is indeed shot noise limited, which is crucial to the security of CVQKD. Experimentally, we use this method to obtain a calibration error of ±1‰. Theoretical analysis showed that the CVQKD performance is very sensitive to calibration errors of shot noise, and proper countermeasures should be employed to eliminate this issue. The presented methods are expected to contribute to CVQKD security and TBHD standardization.

With the deepening of global change research, the applied problems such as global change risk and response for social sustainable development, temporal and spatial allocation of resources and environmental elements and impact assessment of ecosystem are becoming a new trend in the research field of global change. Based on the ecological framework, we focused on clarifying the connotations of resources and the environment and their components. Resources refer to all substances consumed by organisms in the process of producing organic matter from inorganic matter and transferring energy and matter among organisms. These include inorganic resources (随着全球变化研究的深入,面向社会可持续发展的全球变化风险与应对、全球变化对资源环境要素时空配置与生态系统的影响评估等应用性问题正成为全球变化领域的新趋势。基于生态学范畴,本文重点梳理了资源环境的涵义及其构成要素:资源是自养生物利用无机物制造有机物及能量和物质在生物间传递过程中所消耗的一切实体,包括无机资源(太阳辐射、CO

Elevated brain activation, or hyperexcitability, induces cognitive impairment and confers an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Blocking the overexcitation of the neural network may be a promising new strategy to prevent, halt, and even reverse this condition. Physical exercise has been shown to be an effective cognitive enhancer that reduces the risk of AD in elderly individuals, but the underlying mechanisms are far from being fully understood. We explored whether long-term treadmill exercise attenuates amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin-1 (PS1) mutation-induced aberrant network activity and thus improves cognition by altering the numbers and/or distribution of voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) in transgenic mice. APP/PS1 mice aged 2, 3.5, 5, 6.5, 8, and 9 months underwent treadmill exercise with different durations or at different stages of AD. The alterations in memory, electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, and expression levels and distributions of Nav functional members (Nav1.1α, Nav1.2, Nav1.6, and Navβ2) were evaluated. The results revealed that treadmill exercise with 12- and 24-week durations 1) induced significant improvement in novel object recognition (NOR) memory and Morris water maze (MWM) spatial memory; 2) partially reduced abnormal spike activity; and 3) redressed the disturbed cellular distribution of Nav1.1α, aberrant Navβ2 cleavage augmentation, and Nav1.6 upregulation. Additionally, APP/PS1 mice in the 24-week exercise group showed better performance in the NOR task and a large decrease in Nav1.6 expression, which was close to the wild-type level. This study suggests that exercise improves cognition and neural activity by altering the numbers and distribution of hippocampal Nav in APP/PS1 mice. Long-term treadmill exercise, for about 24 weeks, starting in the preclinical stage, is a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing AD and halting its progress.

Background Aggressive metastasis of tumor cells assumed a constructive role in strengthening chemoresistance of tumors, so this investigation was intended to elucidate if lncRNA CCAT2 sponging downstream miR-424 regulated chemotolerance of glioma cells by boosting metastasis of glioma cells. Methods One hundred and twenty-eight pairs of glioma tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues were resected from glioma patients during their operation, and we also purchased a series of glioma cell lines, including U251, U87, A172 and SHG44. Furthermore, pcDNA3.1-CCAT2, si-CCAT2, miR-424 mimic and miR-424 inhibitor were transfected into SHG44 and U251 cell lines, so as to evaluate impacts of CCAT2 and miR-424 on chemosensitivity of the glioma cells. Besides, proliferation, invasion and metastasis of the cells were determined through the implementation of colony formation assay, transwell assay and scratch assay. Results Glioma tissues and cells were monitored with higher CCAT2 expression and lower miR-424 expression than adjacent normal tissues and NHA cell line (P

Three-dimensional (3D) thin-film electrodes are promising solution to the volume change of active materials in lithium-ion batteries. As a conductive current collector, the 3D TiO2 nanotube array networks (TNAs) have a one-dimensional stable electronic conductive path and increase the adhesion between the current collector and raw material, thereby improving the cycle stability of active materials. In this study, a novel 3D-TNAs@Sb2S3 anode was fabricated by directly depositing natural stibnite onto 3D TNAs. The adhesion of Sb2S3 particles to the substrate was enhanced due to the large surface area provided by 3D-TNAs. Moreover, the porous layered structure composed of Sb2S3 nanoparticles relieved the stress generated during lithiation and adapted to the volume change of Sb2S3 during cycling. Therefore, the resulting composite anode exhibits high cycle and rate performance, reaching 0.36 mAh·cm−2 after 80 cycles at the galvanostatic rate of 1 mA·cm−2, with high coulombic efficiency of 98%.

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease showing multiple complex pathomechanism alterations, has affected the normal life of many old people. It is urgent to find an effective medicine for AD. Ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) is the main component of panax notoginseng saponins, a famous Chinese herbal medicine, and is expected to be a useful drug in the treatment of AD. This study mainly explored the potential effects of Rb1 in model of AD in vivo and in vitro, and investigated the possible mechanisms. Materials and methods: We studied the neuroprotective effect of Rb1 in transgenic mouse animal model and cell AD model in vitro. The cognitive function of APP/PS1 mice was measured in Morris water maze and Novel Object Recognition. Electrophysiological patch clamp recording and electrophysiology were used to nerve excitability. Further, the expression of proteins of Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 were used by Western blot. Results: We found that Rb1 treatment significantly improved the cognitive and memory loss, and reversed the hyperexcitability by altering the expressions of Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 of APP/PS1 mice. Further, Rb1 improved the hyperexcitability induced by Aβ1-42-injured neurons, which might be associated with alteration of the expressions of Nav1.2 and Nav1.6. As we expect, Rb1 attenuated Aβ1-42-induced injury in primary neurons. Conclusion: Our data showed that Rb1 played a critical role in improvement of the cognitive deficit and abnormal excitability of AD by regulating Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 expressions. Thus, Rb1 shows protective effects on AD models and may be a potential candidate for AD treatment.

The adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is deficient in intrinsic machineries to replace neurons lost in injuries or progressive degeneration. Various types of these neurons constitute neural circuitries wired to support vital sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. Based on the pioneer studies in cell lineage conversion, one promising strategy is to convert in vivo glial cells into neural progenitors or directly into neurons that can be eventually rewired for functional recovery. We first briefly summarize the well-studied regeneration-capable CNS in the zebrafish, focusing on their postinjury spontaneous reprogramming of the retinal Muller glia (MG). We then compare the signaling transductions, and transcriptional and epigenetic regulations in the zebrafish MGs with their mammalian counterparts, which perpetuate certain barriers against proliferation and neurogenesis and thus fail in MG-to-progenitor conversion. Next, we discuss emerging evidence from mouse studies, in which the in vivo glia-to-neuron conversion could be achieved with sequential or one-step genetic manipulations, such as the conversions from retinal MGs to interneurons, photoreceptors, or retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), as well as the conversions from midbrain astrocytes to dopaminergic or GABAergic neurons. Some of these in vivo studies showed considerable coverage of subtypes in the newly induced neurons and partial reestablishment in neural circuits and functions. Importantly, we would like to point out some crucial technical concerns that need to be addressed to convincingly show successful glia-to-neuron conversion. Finally, we present challenges and future directions in the field for better neural function recovery.

Cytochrome c oxidase subunit Va (COX5A) is involved in maintaining normal mitochondrial function. However, little is known on the role of COX5A in the development and progress of Alzheimer's disease (Martinez-Losa et al., 2018). In this study, we established and characterized the genomic profiles of genes expressed in the hippocampus of Senescence-Accelerated Mouse-prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, and revealed differential expression of COX5A among 12-month-aged SAMP8 mice and 2-month-aged SAMP8 mice. Newly established transgenic mice with systemic COX5A overexpression (51% increase) resulted in the improvement of spatial recognition memory and hippocampal synaptic plasticity, recovery of hippocampal CA1 dendrites, and activation of the BDNF/ERK1/2 signaling pathway in vivo. Moreover, mice with both COX5A overexpression and BDNF knockdown showed a poor recovery in spatial recognition memory as well as a decrease in spine density and branching of dendrites in CA1, when compared to mice that only overexpressed COX5A. In vitro studies supported that COX5A affected neuronal growth via BDNF. In summary, this study was the first to show that COX5A in the hippocampus plays a vital role in aging-related cognitive deterioration via BDNF/ERK1/2 regulation, and suggested that COX5A may be a potential target for anti-senescence drugs.

Background Infections still represent the main factors influencing morbidity and mortality following liver transplantation. This study is to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for infection and survival after liver transplantation. Methods We retrospectively examined medical records in 210 recipients who underwent liver transplantation between April 2015 and October 2017 in our center. Results During the median follow-up days of 214, the incidence of infection after liver transplantation was 46.7% (n=98): namely, pneumonia (43.4%), biliary tract infection (21.9%) and peritonitis (21.4%). Among the pathogens in pneumonia, the most frequently isolated was Acinetobacter baumanii (23.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (21.1%). For biliary tract infection, the first rank was Strenotrophomonas maltophilia (14.0%) and then Klebsiella pneumoniae (11.6%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Strenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Klebsiella pneumoniae accounted for 21.4%, 11.9% and 11.9% of pathogens in peritonitis, respectively. The independent risk factors for infection after liver transplantation are model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) or pediatric end-stage liver disease (PELD) score, total blood loss in operation and duration of drainage tube. All-cause mortality was 11.0% (n=23). The prognostic factors for postoperative infection in transplant recipients are infection, especially pneumonia within 2 weeks before transplantation, complication with impaired renal function and higher MELD or PELD score after 7 days of transplantation. Kaplan–Meier curves of survival showed that recipients with infection within 2 weeks before transplantation had a significantly lower cumulative survival rate compared with those without infection (66.7% vs 91.9%, HR=4.480, 95% CI, 3.377-47.85; p

Rho-kinase dimerization is essential for its kinase activity and biological function; disruption of the dimerization has recently been established as a new and promising therapeutics strategy for cerebrovascular malformation (CM). Based on Rho-kinase dimer crystal structure we herein combined in silico analysis and in vitro assay to rationally derive self-inhibitory peptides from the dimerization interface. Three peptides namely Hlp1, Hlp2 and Hlp3 were successfully designed that have potential capability to rebind at the dimerization domain of Rho-kinase. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that these peptides are helically structured when bound to Rho-kinase, but exhibit partially intrinsic disorder in unbound state. Binding free energy (BFE) analysis suggested that the peptides have a satisfactory energetic profile to interact with Rho-kinase. The computational findings were then substantiated by fluorescence anisotropy assays, conforming that the helical peptides can bind tightly to Rho-kinase with affinity KD at micromolar level. These designed peptides are considered as lead molecular entities that can be further modified and optimized to obtain more potent peptidomimetics as self-competitors to disrupt Rho-kinase dimerization in CM.

As one of the important pathways of material and energy flow between plant and soil system, litterfall plays a key role in the process of vegetation and soil restoration in ecologically fragile region. To explore the inter- and intra-annual dynamics of litter production and related regulatory factors at different habitats in sandy land ecosystem, we investigated the litter production during nine continuous growing seasons, while the air temperature and precipitation were measured over mobile dune, fixed dune, and grassland in Horqin Sandy Land. The results showed that annual litter production at different habitants were in the order of mobile dune (9.01 g·m凋落物是植被土壤系统之间重要的物质和能量通道之一,在生态脆弱区植被和土壤修复过程中发挥着特殊的功能和作用.以科尔沁沙地流动沙丘、固定沙丘和草地为对象,通过连续测定9个生长季凋落物量,并结合气温与降水量数据,研究沙地生态系统不同生境的凋落物年际和年内动态及其调控因子.结果表明:不同生境植被年凋落物大小依次为:流动沙丘(9.01 g·m

Transforming growth factor-b 1 (TGFb1) has a diverse role in astrogliosis and neuronal survival, but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated, especially in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Here, we show that the expression of TGFb1 was increased in the pericontusional region, accompanied with astrogliosis and neuronal loss in TBI rats. Moreover, TGFb1 knockdown not only reduced the number of neurons and inhibited astrogliosis but also resulted in a significant neurological dysfunction in rats with TBI. Subsequently, Smad3, a key downstream signal of TGFb1, was involved in pericontusional region after TBI. These findings therefore indicate that TGFb1 is involved in neuroprotection and astrogliosis, via activation of down stream Smad3 signal in the brain after injury. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) on neuroplasticity associated with the expressions of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) and their receptors in rats subjected to spinal cord transection (SCT). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 144 rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=48 per group): sham-operated group, SCT group, and EA (electro-acupuncture) group. Rats in SCT and EA groups received spinal cord transection at T10-T11 vertebral levels. Then, EA group rats received EA treatment. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect NTFs and receptors at the mRNA level. In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the expression of NTFs and their receptors. Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) scores and cortical somato-sensory evoked potentials (CSEP) were evaluated to assess the recovery of motor and sensory functions. We also measured BDA (Biotinylated dextran amine) axonal tracing, CGRP (Calcitonin gene-related peptide), GAP-43 (Growth-associated protein), and synaptophysin immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS EA treatment led to obvious improvement in hindlimb locomotor and sensory functions. CNTF, FGF-2, and TrkB mRNA were significantly upregulated, while NGF, PDGF, TGF-b1, IGF-1, TrkA, and TrkC mRNA were concomitantly downregulated in the caudal spinal segment (CSS) following EA. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated an increased number of CGRP fibers, GAP-43, and synaptophysin profiles in the CSS in the EA rats. CONCLUSIONS EA may promote the recovery of neuroplasticity in rats subjected to SCT. This could be attributed to the systematic regulation of NTFs and their receptors after EA.

The sparsity rating data is one of the main challenges of recommendation system. For this problem, we presented a collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm integrated into co-ratings impact factor. The method reduced the sparsity of rating matrix by filling the original rating matrix. It made the full use of rating information and took the impact on similarity of co-ratings between users into consideration when looking for the nearest neighbor so that the similarities were accurately computed. Experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm, to some extent, improved the recommendation accuracy.

CS used in MRI image reconstruction is a research hotspot recent year. For the problem that reconstruction rate slow in MRI image reconstruction based on CS .Type acceleration Bregman iterative regularization algorithm to solve the MRI imaging sparse model ,and use the accelerate gradient method and the Restring in processing . The simulation data express this algorithm effective enhance the reconstruction rate, It’s have positive meaning in MRI image reconstruction that have strict in time requirement.

To the problem of multiple dry-reed relays electromagnetic interference in application circuits, we present an effective method to reduce the electromagnetic interference in this paper. The method is alternating permutation matrix of dry-reed relays. The paper describes the cause of electromagnetic interference of dry-reed relays. Using the offset of electric polarity alternation principle, we put forward the method for reducing electromagnetic interference. The method is applied to a multi-functional physiotherapy instrument. By experiments, experimental result shows that the degree of electromagnetic interference is reduced along with the increase in the number of dry-reed relays.

To the disadvantages, such as high energy consumption and the energy consumption imbalance, we proposed an energy-efficient routing protocol on mobile sink (MSEERP) in this paper. In the MSEERP, the network is divided into several square virtual grids based on GAF, each grid is called a cluster, and the cluster head election method of GAF is improved. In addition, the MSEERP introduces a mobile sink in the network, the sink radios in limited number of hops and uses control moving strategy, namely the sink does not collect the information until it moves to a cluster with highest residual energy. We applied NS2 to evaluate its performance and analyze the simulation results by the energy model. Simulation results show that the MSEERP balances the energy consumption of the network, saves nodes energy and extends the network lifetime.

For efficient collection of speech recordings, the ability to search for spoken terms in the speech stream is an essential capability. Although the Chinese spoken term detection (STD) does not suffer the out-of-vocabulary (OOV) problem as English, it is still hard to retrieve the long spoken terms which contain four characters or more. In this paper, we details our approach for long Mandarin spoken term detection which combines the search on inverted index produced by speech recognizer and linear scan on syllable confusion network. First, we split the long spoken terms into syllables and search the syllables on the inverted index _le to get the segments which may contain the long spoken terms. Then we use a linear scan algorithm on syllable confusion networks (SCNs). On two Mandarin conversation telephone speech sets, we compare performance using the method proposed with that of the baseline syllable-based systems, and our approach gives satisfying performance gains over the others.

One of the challenges of augmented reality is a seamless combination of objects of the real and virtual worlds, for example light sources. We suggest a measurement and computation models for reconstruction of light source position. The model is based on the dependence of luminance of the small size diffuse surface directly illuminated by point like source placed at a short distance from the observer or camera. The advantage of the computational model is the ability to eliminate the effects of indirect illumination. The paper presents a number of examples to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

A number of the modern applications such as medical imaging, remote sensing satellites imaging, virtual prototyping etc use the High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI). Generally to obtain HDRI from ordinary digital image the camera is calibrated. The article proposes the camera calibration method based on the clear sky as the standard light source and takes sky luminance from CIE sky model for the corresponding geographical coordinates and time. The article considers base algorithms for getting real luminance values from ordinary digital image and corresponding programmed implementation of the algorithms. Moreover, examples of HDRI reconstructed from ordinary images illustrate the article.

This paper proposed a navigation algorithm based on indirect extended kalman filter. The algorithm adopted state error model based on sensor random walk and chose low frequency value of acceleration and angular velocity as observation. The extended kalman filter was used to calculate the optimal estimation of state error which can be used to correct the predicted value of state. IMU7200 and encoder provide acceleration, angular velocity and velocity for drill bit. Marine experiments in the East China Sea show that the proposed algorithm can successfully implement with an accurate and reliable performance.

This paper proposed a navigation algorithm based on indirect square root kalman filter. On the basis of rigorous argument about the sensor measurement error, we established state error equation based on sensor random walk model and deduced the relationship between state error and steady-state component of acceleration and angular velocity. Considered the divergence of kalman filter in the update stage, we used square root kalman filter to calculate the true value of state error which can be used to correct the predictive value of state. In order to provide acceleration, angular velocity and velocity for the proposed algorithm, we installed an imu7200 within the drill bit and mounted an encoder on the wheel of the delivery tube device. Marine experiments in the east china sea show that the proposed algorithm can implement accurate location and attitude tracking of drill bit.

Formal concept analysis and rough set theory provide two different methods for data analysis and knowledge processing. Knowledge reduct in this paper combines the two models. For an initial data sets described by formal context, look for absolute necessary attribute sets by applying rough set theory. The sets can image the concepts and hiberarchy structure completely. Then calculate the value cores of attributes values for all objects and delete redundant attributes. At last, delete repeated instances and get the minimum formal context. Construct the concept lattice of the minimum formal context can diminish the size of concept lattice of the initial table at a certain extent.

Stainless 2Cr13 is used as petroleum pipe material for its good performance in condition of high temperature, high pressure and corrosive environment. Buttress thread turning is a type of heavy machining, which has a great influence on the residual stress of workpiece. Residual stress is usually determined by cutting parameters and tool geometries. Experiments with different geometrical tools were carried out and a finite element model was used to study the influence of tool geometries on the residual stress. Experimental and simulated results showed that relatively bigger rake angle and smaller corner radius make a relatively lower tensile residual stress of workpiece surface in dry turning buttress thread.

This paper presents a disturbance rejection scheme for walking robots under unknown external forces and moments. The disturbance rejection strategy, which combines the inverse dynamics control with the acceleration projection onto the ZMP (zero moment point)-plane, can ensure the overall dynamic stability of the robot during tracking the pre-computed trajectories. Under normal conditions, i.e., the system is dynamically balanced, a primary inverse dynamics control is utilized. In the case that the system becomes unbalanced due to external disturbances, the acceleration projection control (APC) loop, will be activated to keep the dynamic stability of the walking robot through modifying the input torques. The preliminary experimental results on a robot leg demonstrate that the proposed method can actually make the robot keep a stable motion under unknown external perturbations.

This study evaluated the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on the NGF, BDNF and NT-3 expression in spared L6 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in cats subjected to bilateral removal of L1-L5 and L7-S2 DRG, using immunostaining, in situ hybridization and RT-PCR. The positive products of NGF, NT-3 protein and mRNA in the small and large neurons of spared L6 DRG in EA side increased greatly more than that of control side, while the increased BDNF was only noted in small and medium-sized neurons. RT-PCR demonstrated that the mRNA level for three factors was not influenced by EA in intact DRG, when a significant increase was seen in the spared L6 DRG of EA side. As it has been well known that DRG neurons project to the spinal cord wherein morphological plasticity has been present after DRG removal, the present results might have some bearing to the observed phenomenon.

The paper presents a detailed methodology for dynamic modeling of underwater snake-like robot using Kane’s dynamic equations. This methodology allows construction of the dynamic model simply and incrementally. The generalized active forces and the generalized inertia forces were deduced. The forces which contribute to dynamics were determined by Kane’s approach. The model developed in this paper includes gravity, control torques and three major hydrodynamic forces: added mass, profile drag and buoyancy. The equations of hydrodynamic forces were deduced. The methodology provides a direct method for incorporating external environmental forces into the model. The resulting model is obtained in closed form. It is computationally efficient and provides physical insight as to what forces really influence the system dynamics. The dynamic model provides a framework for modern model-based control schemes.

Neural stem cells (NSC) could promote the repair after spinal cord transection (SCT), the underlying mechanism, however, still keeps to be defined. This study reported that NSC grafts significantly improved sensory and locomotor functions in adult rats with SCT in acute stage after injury. NSC could survive; differentiate towards neurons or glia lineage in vitro and vivo. Biotin dextran amine (BDA) tracing showed that little CST regeneration in the injury site, while SEP was recorded in NSC engrafted rats. Immunohistochemistry and Real time PCR confirmed that engrafted NSC expressed BDNF and increased the level of BDNF mRNA in injured site following transplantation. The present data therefore suggested that the functional recovery following SCT with NSC transplantation was correlated with the expression of BDNF, indicating the usage of BDNF with NSC transplantation in the treatment of SCI following injury.

It is well known that platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B), a member of the neurotrophic factor family, is involved in normal physiological conditions, pathological changes, and neuroregulation following lesions. But the roles of endogenous PDGF-B in neuroregulation following spinal cord injury are far from being well known, especially in primates. This study explored the role of PDGF-B in the spinal cord and motor cortex in rhesus monkeys subjected to cord hemisection. Evaluation of the hindlimb motor function and the cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (CSEP) demonstrated a significant partial recovery from 30 days post-operation (dpo) to 90 dpo. Immunostaining revealed PDGF-B expression in neurons and scattered macrophages in the spinal cord. The number of PDGF-B immunoreactive neurons in the ventral horn of the spinal cord decreased significantly at the injury site at 14 dpo, followed by a rapid increase that surpassed the numbers in the control group at 30 dpo, and remained at these levels until 90 dpo. The protein levels of PDGF-B and platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta (PDGFR-beta) as assessed by Western blot, as well as the mRNA levels of PDGF-B as assessed by RT-PCR demonstrated a tendency similar to that seen with immunohistochemistry. PDGF-B antibody administration effectively decreased locomotor function in the hindlimbs, especially on the injured side. No PDGF-B immunoreactive cells were detected in the motor cortex. Taken together, the present findings indicate that intrinsic PDGF-B expressed in the spinal cord may play an essential role in neuroregulation in primates following cord hemisection.

This paper inquired into the technology of mining classification rules based on rough sets. Proposed a method of amalgamating classification rules from distributed database, by which all rules fitting for global data can be gotten. Then, experiment results were given to verify the completeness of these rules. At last, pruning strategy proposed for resolving the problem of over amalgamation.

The underlying mechanism for electroacupuncture (EA) associated functional improvement in patients suffering from spinal cord injury (SCI) is largely unknown. Collateral sprouting is one plausible factor, where the cord microenvironment may contribute greatly. The present study evaluated the effects of EA on collateral sprouting from spared dorsal root ganglion (DRG), sensory functional restorations, and differential gene expressions in spinal cord after partial DRG removal in the rat. Following EA, N1 waveform latencies for cortical somatosensory evoked potential significantly shortened. The densities of terminal sprouting from the spared DRG significantly increased on the EA versus the non-EA side. Microarray analysis revealed that several genes were upregulated on the acupunctured side at different time points; they were ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) at 1 day postoperation (dpo), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-1, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1 receptor, neuropeptide Y, and FGF-13 at 7 dpo, and CNTF and calcitonin gene-related polypeptide-alpha at 14 dpo, respectively. Meanwhile, five genes (CNTF, p75-like apoptosis-inducing death domain protein, IGF-1, transforming growth factor-beta 2, and FGF-4) were downregulated at 7 dpo. Furthermore, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction results supported the gene chip analysis. It was concluded that the EA induced sensory functional restorations following partial DRG ganglionectomies could be brought about by intraspinal sprouting from the spared DRG, as well as multiple differential gene expressions in the spinal cord. The results could have clinical application in EA treatment of patients after spinal injury.

Changes in the platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) in the spared dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and associated spinal dorsal horns were evaluated in cats subjected to unilateral removal of L1-L5 and L7-S2 DRG, sparing the L6 DRG. The number of PDGF immunopositive neurons and protein expression decreased significantly in the spared DRG and associated dorsal horns of the L3 and L6 cord segments at 3 days post-operation (dpo). It bottomed to the lowest level at 7 dpo in the DRG, then returned to the control level at 14 dpo; while in the L6 dorsal horn, it rapidly increased at 7 dpo and exceeded the control level at 14 dpo. This showed a significant upregulation in the spared DRG and associated spinal dorsal horns, especially in the L6 cord segment following a transient decrease. Meanwhile, a significant upregulation of PDGF mRNA was also seen in L6 DRG and L3 and L6 dorsal horns at 3 dpo. The upregulation of the endogenous PDGF in the said structures indicated a potential role of this factor in spinal cord plasticity after partial dorsal root ganglia removal in cats.