A DISCRETE AGE STRUCTURED SI MODEL OF TRACHEAL MITE (Acarapis woodi (RENNIE)) INFESTATION OF HONEY BEES (Apis mellifera L.) AT THE COLONY LEVEL

This paper presents a discrete age structured SI model of tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi (Rennie)) infestation of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) at the colony level. The model describes the elevated honey bee attrition during winter and predicts that winter brood rearing should promote colony survival by decreasing the colony's infestation and increasing the colony's population. The model also predicts that swarming and the artificial removal of part of the colony's forager honey bees should reduce the colony's infestation level.     

油菜花粉气味成分研究

为了提高气相色谱/质谱的检出灵敏度,采用进样新方法对油菜花粉气味组分进行分离测定,对下列11种成分作了鉴定:二甲二硫;正辛烷;1,3-二甲苯,异硫氰酸丙烯酯;1,4-二甲苯;1,2-二甲苯;3,4-二甲基庚烷;二甲三硫;2-甲基-5-已烯腈;萘;对-甲氧基苯丙烯。     

Use of NIRS technology with a remote reflectance fibre-optic probe for predicting major components in bee pollen

In the present work, we study the use of near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) technology together with a remote reflectance fibre-optic probe for determination of the major components in bee pollen. The method allows immediate control of the bee pollen without prior sample treatment or destruction through direct application of the fibre-optic probe to the sample.The regression method employed was modified partial least squares (MPLS). The calibration results obtained using 45 samples of bee pollen allowed the measurement of protein, moisture, ash, reducing sugars, and pH with multiple correlation coefficients (RSQ) and prediction corrected standard errors (SEPC) of 0.91, 0.56% for protein, of 0.78 and 0.49% for moisture; 0.92 and 0.049% for ash; 0.81 and 1.32 g of glucose/100 g of bee pollen; 0.84 and 0.15 for pH, respectively.The prediction capacity of the pattern was checked by applying it to samples of unknown pollen in external validation.     

SPORES AND POLLEN IN CRUDE OILS AND PETROLEUM SOURCE OF TARIM BASIN

One hundred and forty-seven species of spores and pollen referred to 77 genera found in the crudeoil samples taken from four petroliferous provinces of the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang Provincehave been studied in this paper. By means of these spore and pollen fossils, the geological ages anddistribution of the petroleum source rocks of the basin are judged. Also, the principles and methodsto judge the petroleum source of a petroleum province by spore/pollen and other microfossils in crudeoils are explained.     

一种自适应人工蜂群算法求解U型顺序相依拆卸线平衡问题

产品拆卸过程中零部件之间会相互干扰影响任务作业时间,基于该情形构建了多目标U型SDDLBP优化模型,并提出一种自适应ABC算法。所提算法设计了自适应动态邻域搜索方法,以提高局部开发能力;采用了轮盘赌与锦标赛法结合的分段选择法,以有效评价并选择蜜源进行深度开发;建立了基于当前最优解的变异操作,以提高全局探索能力快速跳出局部最优。最后,通过算例测试和实例分析验证算法的高效性。     

Bee Venom in Wound Healing

Bee venom (BV), also known as api-toxin, is widely used in the treatment of different inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis. It is also known that BV can improve the wound healing process. BV plays a crucial role in the modulation of the different phases of wound repair. It possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral, antimicrobial and analgesic properties, all of which have a positive impact on the wound healing process. The mentioned process consists of four phases, i.e., hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodeling. The impaired wound healing process constitutes a significant problem especially in diabetic patients, due to hypoxia state. It had been found that BV accelerated the wound healing in diabetic patients as well as in laboratory animals by impairing the caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 activity. Moreover, the activity of BV in wound healing is associated with regulating the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), vascular endothelial growth factor and increased collagen type I. BV stimulates the proliferation and migration of human epidermal keratinocytes and fibroblasts. In combination with polyvinyl alcohol and chitosan, BV significantly accelerates the wound healing process, increasing the hydroxyproline and glutathione and lowering the IL-6 level in wound tissues. The effect of BV on the wounds has been proved by numerous studies, which revealed that BV in the wound healing process brings about a curative effect and could be applied as a new potential treatment for wound repair. However, therapy with bee venom may induce allergic reactions, so it is necessary to assess the existence of the patient’s hypersensitivity to apitoxin before treatment.     

糖厂澄清工段生产指标建模及操作参数优化

针对亚法糖厂澄清工段清汁色值和清汁残硫量难以在线测量的问题,提出了一种基于人工蜂群优化的在线极限学习机软测量方法。先用核主元分析法确定影响清汁质量的关键参数,建立基于在线极限学习机的软测量模型。同时利用人工蜂群算法对在线极限学习机的隐层参数进行寻优,优化所建模型。最后,使用带约束的粒子群对软测量模型进行优化求解,得到典型工况下的最优操作设定值,为后续工况操作提供参考依据。仿真结果表明,基于人工蜂群优化的在线极限学习机模型能够准确地预测清汁色值和残硫量,同时基于此模型优化的操作参数设定值能够达到期望的指标。     

Uncertain multiobjective traveling salesman problem

Traveling salesman problem is a fundamental combinatorial optimization model studied in the operations research community for nearly half a century, yet there is surprisingly little literature that addresses uncertainty and multiple objectives in it. A novel TSP variation, called uncertain multiobjective TSP (UMTSP) with uncertain variables on the arc, is proposed in this paper on the basis of uncertainty theory, and a new solution approach named uncertain approach is applied to obtain Pareto efficient route in UMTSP. Considering the uncertain and combinatorial nature of UMTSP, a new ABC algorithm inserted with reverse operator, crossover operator and mutation operator is designed to this problem, which outperforms other algorithms through the performance comparison on three benchmark TSPs. Finally, a new benchmark UMTSP case study is presented to illustrate the construction and solution of UMTSP, which shows that the optimal route in deterministic TSP can be a poor route in UMTSP.     

Determination of Ascorbic Acid,Total Ascorbic Acid,and Dehydroascorbic Acid in Bee Pollen Using Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography-Ultraviolet Detection

Ascorbic acid (AA) is one of the essential nutrients in bee pollen, however, it is unstable and likely to be oxidized. Generally, the oxidation form (dehydroascorbic acid (DHA)) is considered to have equivalent biological activity as the reduction form. Thus, determination of the total content of AA and DHA would be more accurate for the nutritional analysis of bee pollen. Here we present a simple, sensitive, and reliable method for the determination of AA, total ascorbic acids (TAA), and DHA in rape (Brassica campestris), lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), and camellia (Camellia japonica) bee pollen, which is based on ultrasonic extraction in metaphosphoric acid solution, and analysis using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)-ultraviolet detection. Analytical performance of the method was evaluated and validated, then the proposed method was successfully applied in twenty-one bee pollen samples. Results indicated that contents of AA were in the range of 17.54 to 94.01 µg/g, 66.01 to 111.66 µg/g, and 90.04 to 313.02 µg/g for rape, lotus, and camellia bee pollen, respectively. In addition, percentages of DHA in TAA showed good intra-species consistency, with values of 13.7%, 16.5%, and 7.6% in rape, lotus, and camellia bee pollen, respectively. This is the first report on the discriminative determination between AA and DHA in bee pollen matrices. The proposed method would be valuable for the nutritional analysis of bee pollen.     

Apis mellifera syriaca Venom: Evaluation of Its Anticoagulant Effect,Proteolytic Activity,and Cytotoxicity along with Its Two Main Compounds—MEL and PLA2—On HeLa Cancer Cells

Bee venom (BV) is one of the most remarkable natural products that has been a subject of studies since ancient times. Recent studies have shown that Apis mellifera syriaca venom possesses antibacterial as well as cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines. The venom contains a variety of bioactive molecules—mainly melittin (MEL) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2), as well as other compounds that are not well characterized. In this work, we continue the biological characterization of A. mellifera syriaca venom by testing its anticoagulant effect on human plasma using the prothrombin time (PT) test, as well as assessing its proteolytic activity. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the crude venom—and of its two main components, MEL and PLA2—was tested on HeLa cancer cell lines for the first time. The results obtained showed the capacity of A. mellifera syriaca venom to increase clotting time, thereby proving its anticoagulant effect. Moreover, the venom did not demonstrate a significant proteolytic activity unless administrated at concentrations ≥ 5 mg/mL. Finally, we showed that crude A. mellifera syriaca venom, along with MEL, exhibit a strong in vitro cytotoxic effect on HeLa cancer cell lines, even at low concentrations. In summary, our findings could serve as a basis for the development of new natural-based drug candidates in the therapeutic field.