Supercritical Fluid Extract of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. Seeds Mitigates Fertility Impairment in a Zebrafish Model

Putrajeevak (Putranjiva roxburghii Wall.; synonym Drypetes roxburghii (Wall.) Hurus) seeds have been used since ancient times in the treatment of infertility in the Ayurvedic system of medicine in India. In this study, the oil component of Putrajeevak seeds (PJSO) was extracted using the supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) method using liquid CO₂ and the constituents were analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ionized detectorand high-performance thin-layer chromatography. PJSO contained trace amounts of β-sitosterol with oleic and linoleic acids as the major fatty acid constituents. Male and female zebrafish were mutagenized with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and fish that produced less than 20 viable embryos were selected for the study. SCFE oil extracts from the P. roxburghii seeds were used in this study to reverse fertility impairment. The mutant fish were fed with PJSO for a period of 14 days and the rates of fertility, conception, and fecundity were determined with wild-type healthy fish as a breeding partner. Treatment with PJSO increased the ovarian follicle count as well as the number of mature eggs, while reducing the number of ovarian cysts. Sperm count as well as sperm motility were greatly enhanced in the ENU-mutagenized male zebrafish when treated with PJSO. The results obtained in this study demonstrate the effectiveness of P. roxburghii seed oil in reversing impaired fertility in both male and female zebrafish models.     

Structural and immunogenicity analysis of reconstructed ancestral and consensus P48/45 for cross-species anti malaria transmission-blocking vaccine

The development of the anti-malaria vaccine holds a promising future in malaria control. One of the anti-malaria vaccine strategies known as the transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV) is to inhibit the parasite transmission between humans and mosquitoes by targeting the parasite gametocyte. Previously, we found that P48/45 included in the 6-Cysteine protein family shared by Plasmodium sp. We also detected vaccine properties possessed by all human-infecting Plasmodium and could be used as a cross-species anti-malaria vaccine. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of P48/45 through the ancestral and consensus reconstruction approach. P48/45 phylogenetic and time tree analysis was done by RAXML and BEAST2. GRASP server and Ugene software were used to reconstruct ancestral and consensus sequences, respectively. The protein structural prediction was made by using a psipred and Rosetta program. Each protein characteristic of P48/45 was analyzed by assessing hydrophobicity and Post-Translational Modification sites. Meanwhile, the Epitope sequence for B-cell, T-cell, and HLA was determined using an immunoinformatics approach. Lastly, molecular docking simulation was done to determine native binding interactions of P48/45-P230. The result showed a distinct protein characteristic of ancestral and consensus sequences. The immunogenicity analysis revealed the number of epitopes in the ancestral sequence is greater than the consensus sequence. The study also found a conserved epitope located in the binding site and consists of specific Post-Translational Modification sites. Hence, our research provides detailed insight into ancestral and consensus P48/45 efficacy for the cross-species anti-malaria vaccine.     

培养高阶思维和核心素养的高考有效复习——以“从海洋到餐桌上的碘”为例

选择学生比较熟悉的碘元素,结合海带提碘和精碘制碘酸钾工业生产情境展开复习教学,综合利用元素性质、反应原理探索含碘物质之间相互转化的最优路径,并对转化过程中的某些现象进行实验探究。通过设置有梯度的问题串引导学生在思考、分析、探究、归纳中完成综合型学习任务,实现知识规律化和体系化整合以及高阶思维培养。     

A review of Bayesian dynamic forecasting models: Applications in marketing

We briefly review the main developments of Bayesian dynamic models. The emphasis is on marketing applications. Typical examples in this area are discussed. The concepts of monitoring and intervention are carefully explained with illustrative examples and open source computational routines. We avoid algebraic developments and instead use graphical examples to illustrate theoretical aspects. Two real-world problems using Bayesian dynamic models are discussed. Finally, we describe recent developments and alternative proposals to formally address the dependence when dealing with the modeling of multiple time series.     

基于电磁振动上料的茶梗和昆虫异物近红外光谱和荧光图像在线检测研究

茶叶是大众青睐的健康饮品之一,但茶叶在机器采收和加工过程中,容易混入茶梗和昆虫异物,污染茶叶、影响其质量安全,是未来应防范和检测的重点。X射线成像技术,根据食品基质和异物的密度差实施检测,广泛适用于金属异物并延伸至高密度塑料,但对于茶梗、昆虫这类低密度有机异物尚不适用,所以迫切需要研发新型无损检测技术和方法。针对片状茶叶重叠、遮掩异物的问题,提出了电磁振动上料辅助近红外光谱和荧光图像的检测方案,进行绿茶中的内源性异物茶梗和外源性异物昆虫的在线检测研究。通过电磁振动上料辅助近红外光谱和荧光成像系统,采集了600～1 050 nm范围的近红外光谱600条和RGB-N四通道图像各65幅。采用451条光谱进行建模,其余149条光谱作为预测集,评估模型的性能,比较了去趋势(Detrending)、多元散射校正(MSC)、标准正态变换(SNV)、变权重正态变换(VSN)、迭代自适应加权惩罚最小二乘法(airPLS)、不对称最小二乘法(ALS)、光程估计与校正(OPLEC)等不同光谱预处理方法的处理效果,其中OPLEC能较好地消除散射效应,偏最小二乘判别分析(PLS-DA)模型的正确识别率由78%提...     

Recoverable deformation and morphology after uniaxial elongation of a polystyrene/linear low density polyethylene blend

The transient recoverable deformation ratio after melt elongation at various elongational rates and maximum elongations was investigated for pure polystyrene and for a 85 wt.% polystyrene/15 wt.% linear low density polyethylene (PS/LLDPE 85:15) blend at a temperature of 170 ^oC. The ratio p of the zero shear rate viscosity of LLDPE to that of PS is p = 0.059 ≈ 1:17. Retraction of the elongated LLDPE droplets back to spheres and end-pinching is observed during recovery. A simple additive rule is applied in order to extract the contribution of the recovery of the elongated droplets from the total recovery of the blend. In that way, the recoverable portion of the PS/LLDPE blend induced by the interfacial tension is determined and compared with the results of a theory based on an effective medium approximation. The effective medium approximation reproduces well the time scale of the experimental data. In addition, the trends that the recoverable deformation increases with elongational rate and maximum elongation are captured by the theoretical approach.     

Regime diagram of the development of long-wave near-wall disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer

A regime diagram of the development of slow near-wall disturbances induced by an unsteady self-induced pressure perturbation in a hypersonic boundary layer is constructed for a disturbance wavelength greater than the boundary layer thickness. It is shown that the main factors shaping the perturbed flow are the gas enthalpy near the body surface, the intensity of the viscous-inviscid interaction, and the nature (sub- or supersonic) of the main part of the boundary layer. Nonlinear boundary-value problems are formulated for regimes in which the near-wall boundary layer region plays a decisive role. Numerical and analytical solutions are obtained in the linear approximation. It is shown that intensification of the viscous-inviscid interaction or an increase in the role of the supersonic main region of the boundary layer impart generally supersonic properties to the main part of the boundary layer, i.e. the upstream propagation of the disturbances is damped and the disturbance growth downstream becomes more intense. Damping of the viscous-inviscid interaction and an increase in the role of the subsonic main part of the boundary layer have the opposite effect. Surface cooling increases the effect of the main part of the boundary layer on the formation of pressure disturbances and surface heating leads to an increase in the effect of the near-wall boundary layer region. It is also shown that for the regimes considered disturbances propagate in a direction opposite to that of the free stream from the turbulent flow region located downstream of the local disturbance development region.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, 2004, pp. 59–71. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Bogolepov and Neiland.     

Micromechanics of residual stress and texture development due to poling in polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramics

This paper presents micromechanics based analysis of elastic strain and changes in the texture of poled polycrystalline ferroelectric PZT ceramics for direct comparison with synchrotron X-ray measurements. The grains are modelled as spherical inclusions, to which transformation strains are assigned depending on the fractions of different ferroelectric domains. Eshelby's inclusion problem with the classical self-consistent method is applied to evaluate the elastic state of the grains. In particular, the elongation due to lattice elastic strain is calculated as a function of inclination Ψ relative to the polar axis. The ratio of diffraction peak intensities, corresponding to the domain fractions, is also expressed as a function of Ψ. This analysis identifies the special character of the reflection, for which the lattice strain along in the stress free state is independent of ferroelectric domain population and hence unaffected by poling. The elongation due to the lattice strain parallel to and peak intensity ratio are expressed in terms of the overall macroscopic strain of a poled specimen, each having a dependence.     

LY12铝疲劳裂纹在冲击载荷下的演化研究

对LY12铝合金在低周疲劳条件下的裂纹情况和随后进行的动态拉伸条件下裂纹的发展给予了观察和统计分析，发现裂纹的累积数密度分布在损伤演化过程中保持指数形式，用NAG模型对实验结果进行分析，得出该材料裂纹演化发展方程的各种参数。     

中国沿海地质环境与区域持续发展的若干问题探讨

本文分析了中国沿海岩石圈动力学的基础特征, 指出中国东部沿海地质环境与灾害存在南北分异的格局, 阐述了沿海区域工程地质环境的基本规律, 并通过全球及中国近百年海平面变化, 以及人类工程活动对河口海岸地质环境影响的分析, 对沿海地区未来的地质环境与灾害趋向做了初步评估, 并认为中国沿海21世纪的环境与发展将面临严峻的挑战, 特别是环渤海地区。最后, 对影响沿海区域发展的若干问题进行了初步探讨并提出了几点建议。