We report on the observation of new properties of secondary cosmic rays Li, Be, and B measured in the rigidity (momentum per unit charge) range 1.9 GV to 3.3 TV with a total of 5.4×10^{6} nuclei ...collected by AMS during the first five years of operation aboard the International Space Station. The Li and B fluxes have an identical rigidity dependence above 7 GV and all three fluxes have an identical rigidity dependence above 30 GV with the Li/Be flux ratio of 2.0±0.1. The three fluxes deviate from a single power law above 200 GV in an identical way. This behavior of secondary cosmic rays has also been observed in the AMS measurement of primary cosmic rays He, C, and O but the rigidity dependences of primary cosmic rays and of secondary cosmic rays are distinctly different. In particular, above 200 GV, the secondary cosmic rays harden more than the primary cosmic rays.
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A novel alkaline xylanase gene (
xyn
AI) from
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens
was highly expressed in
Pichia pastoris
, and the enzyme was purified and characterized. Sequence analysis indicated that ...XynAI belongs to xylanases family GH11 with 5 potential N-glycosylation sites and 3 salt bridges. The purified XynAI had molecular weight of 22 kDa, the optima temperature and pH of 55°C and pH 8.6, respectively. Furthermore, XynAI has high thermal (30–70°C) and pH (pH 5.0–10.0) stability.Mg
2+
, Ni
2+
, Ca
2+
and Fe
2+
at concentration of 1 mM enhanced the xylanase activity by 6.2, 6.5, 7.9 and 202.6%, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the
K
M
and
V
max
values of XynAI for beechwood xylan were 8 mg/mL and 83.3 µmol min
–1
mg of protein
–1
, respectively. In the culture supernatant, the maximal protein concentration and xylanase activity of XynAI reached 3.98 mg/mL and 292 U/mg, respectively. The biochemical properties of XynAI showed that it may be a promising candidate for industrial applications.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) participate in diverse physiological processes in insects, and HSP70 is one of the most highly conserved proteins in the HSP family. In this study, full-length cDNAs of ...three HSP70 genes (Lthsc70, Lthsp701, and Lthsp702) were cloned and characterized from Liriomyza trifolii, an important invasive pest of vegetable crops and horticultural crops worldwide. These three HSP70s exhibited signature sequences and motifs that are typical of the HSP70 family. The expression patterns of the three Lthsp70s during temperature stress and in different insect development stages were studied by real-time quantitative PCR. Lthsp701 was strongly induced by high- and low-temperature stress, but Lthsc70 and Lthsp702 were not very sensitive to temperature changes. All three Lthsp70s were expressed during insect development stages, but the expression patterns were quite different. The expression of Lthsc70 and Lthsp702 showed significant differences in expression during leafminer development; Lthsc70 was most highly expressed in female adults, whereas Lthsp702 was abundantly expressed in larvae and prepupae. Lthsp701 expression was not significantly different among leafminer stages. These results suggest that functional differentiation within the LtHSP70 subfamily has occurred in response to thermal stress and insect development.
Ephemeral gully erosion is widespread on the Loess Plateau of China. To provide theoretical support for constructing numerical models and soil-water conservation planning, the hydrodynamic ...characteristics of ephemeral gully flows were studied by laboratory experiments with a physical model. We firstly concluded that, with the influence of “step-slope-pool” (or “step-pool”) terrain on the bottom of gully channels, no obvious or consistent pattern changes were evident in the hydrodynamic parameters along the flow direction. Secondly the change of hydrodynamic parameters during erosion could be classified into an initially fast changing interval followed by a stable period, and the initial adjustment period would become shorter with increasing slope and rainfall intensity. Thirdly ephemeral gully erosion flows were turbulent and changed frequently in space and time between supercritical and subcritical flows. Throughout the experiment, the Reynolds number fluctuated and increased with time. With increasing rainfall intensity and gully slope, the frequency of larger Reynolds numbers increased. In addition, the Froude number also fluctuated, but decreased with time, and the mean Froude number eventually stabilized at ~
0.5 at different slope angles and rainfall intensities. Fourthly the distribution of erosional energy was influenced mainly by topography in loess slopes. In the case of 20° slopes, the inverse ratios of dissipation as soil erosion, sediment transport, and flow kinetic energy were relatively stable in time and space during ephemeral gully erosion. Moreover, flow velocity, shear stress, the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor, and the Manning coefficient were influenced by rainfall intensity to a lesser degree during erosion. In the stable interval, for 15° and 25° slopes, shear stress, the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor and Manning coefficient of ephemeral gully flow both increased with increasing rainfall intensity. Flow velocity on the 15° slope decreased initially then increased with increasing rainfall intensity, but flow velocity on the 25° slope decreased with increasing rainfall intensity. Finally the regularity seen in hydrodynamic parameters of ephemeral gully flows occurred despite disturbance from lateral confluences, gravity erosion of the channel bank, and changes in terrain. The sediment transport capacity of ephemeral gully flows increased with USP by a linear function (r
=
0.64, n
=
99, P
<
0.01).
This study is concerned with the understanding and modeling of the compressive response of open cell foams. The response starts with a nearly linear elastic regime which terminates into a limit load ...followed by an extensive load plateau. The plateau, which is responsible for the excellent energy absorption capacity of foams, is followed by a second stiff branch. Results from polyester urethane open cell foams with relative densities of about 0.025 are used to illustrate this behavior using experiments coupled with several levels of modeling. The experiments include characterization of the microstructure and the properties of the base material and measurement of the compressive response of the foams of various cell sizes.
A sequence of models for predicting the complete response of such foam is developed. The foam is idealized to be periodic using the space-filling Kelvin cell assigned the major geometric characteristics found in the foams tested. The cells are elongated in the rise direction, the ligaments are assumed to be straight, to have Plateau border cross-sections and nonuniform cross-sectional area distribution. The ligaments are modeled as shear-deformable extensional beams and the base material is assumed to be linearly elastic. Prediction of the initial elastic moduli are addressed in Part I. Closed form expressions for the material constants are presented as well as results using a FE model of the characteristic cell. Comparison between measurements and predictions is very favorable. The paper finishes with results from a limited parametric study of the elastic moduli. The results demonstrate that inclusion of the geometric complexities mentioned above is essential for successful prediction of the moduli of such foams. The nonlinear parts of the response including the foam crushing behavior are addressed in Part II.
Soil and water conservation is important for the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in China, and quantification of soil loss is a significant issue. In this study, two widely used models – the Water ...Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) – were applied to simulate runoff and sediment yield for the Zhangjiachong Watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. The models were run and the simulated runoff and sediment yield values were compared with the measured runoff and sediment yield values. In the calibration period, the model efficiency (
E
NS
) values for the WEPP and SWAT were 0.864 and 0.711 for runoff, and 0.847 and 0.678 for sediment yield, respectively. In the validation period, the
E
NS
values for WEPP and SWAT were 0.835 and 0.690 for runoff, and 0.828 and 0.818 for sediment yield, respectively. The results of
E
NS
and the other criteria indicate that the results of both models were acceptable. WEPP simulations were better than SWAT in most cases, and could be used with a reasonable confidence for soil loss quantification in the Zhangjiachong Watershed.
Summary
What is known and Objective: Clinical investigations into postoperative intravenous patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) have indicated interindividual differences in fentanyl consumption. ...Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is the main metabolism enzyme of fentanyl, and single nucleotide polymorphisms within the CYP3A4 gene may contribute to the variability of fentanyl analgesic efficacy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the most common genetic variation in Chinese, CYP3A4*1G, has an impact on the fentanyl consumption for intravenous PCA in Chinese Han women undergone abdominal total hysterectomy.
Methods: A total of 79 female patients (American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status I or II) scheduled to undergo elective abdominal total hysterectomy were enrolled. All patients received combined spinal–epidural anaesthesia with bupivacaine. Intravenous fentanyl PCA was provided postoperatively for satisfactory analgesia. The doses of fentanyl consumption were recorded 2, 4, 24 and 48 h after the initiation of PCA postoperatively. Pain at rest and adverse effects were measured with rating scales. CYP3A4*1G was screened by means of direct sequencing and further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP).
Results and Discussion: Forty‐six patients were GG homozygotes, 27 patients were GA heterozygotes, and six patients were AA homozygotes, respectively. The distribution of the CYP3A4*1G allele was consistent with Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0·05). At 2 and 4 h, the doses of fentanyl required for patients with GA/AA genotypes were 80·0 (45·0, 112·5) μg and 120·0 (80, 173·8) μg, respectively, and significantly lower than those for GG homozygotes 91·3 (80·0, 125·0) μg and 169·0 (112·5, 226·3) μg, respectively, P < 0·05. There was trend of decreasing fentanyl consumption at 24 and 48 h in patients with GA/AA genotypes, relative to GG homozygotes, but the difference was not statistical significant (P > 0·05).
What is new and Conclusions: CYP3A4*1G has an impact on the analgesic effect of fentanyl in Chinese Han subjects. Further validation of our results in a well‐powered study would be helpful.
This study evaluated the growth performance, immunity, and jejunum morphology of chicks hatched from laying breeder hens given dietary additive supplementation, as well as chicks receiving direct ...antibiotic supplementation in early life. Hy-line breeder hens were allotted to 2 groups with 3 replicates. A control group (CON) was fed a basal diet, and the treatment group (CCAB) received β-carotene, curcumin, allicin, and sodium butyrate in addition to basal diet for 5 wk. Breeder–hen eggs were collected and hatched. The chicks hatched from the CON group were assigned to 2 treatments: a chick control group (cCON) and a chick treatment group (Cipro) given ciprofloxacin lactate into drinking water; the cCON group, Cipro group, and the chicks hatched from the CCAB group (cCCAB) were fed the same diet for 4 wk. The results demonstrated that there were significant differences between the CON and CCAB groups in the serum levels of IgA, IgG, IgM (triple P < 0.01), lysozyme (P < 0.05), and β-defensin (P < 0.05). The body weights of the cCCAB group's chicks increased at 1, 7, and 28 D of age (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, P < 0.01, respectively), and those of the Cipro group's chicks increased at 7 and 21 D of age (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The tibial lengths of the cCCAB group's chicks increased at 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 D of age (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, triple P < 0.01), and the lengths in the Cipro group increased at 7 and 14 D of age (P < 0.01, P < 0.01). Intestinal development, including intestinal length, jejunum morphology, and IgA positive cells, helps to explain these results. The breeder eggs from the CCAB group had higher IgG (P < 0.05) and IgM (P < 0.05) levels in the egg whites and higher IgA, IgG, and IgM levels (triple P < 0.01) in the egg yolks. In conclusion, β-carotene, curcumin, allicin, and sodium butyrate supplementation of laying breeder hen diets produced more advantages in growth performance and intestinal development in offspring than in chicks directly supplemented with antibiotics.
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