Unusual Two-Step Assembly of a Minimalistic Dipeptide-Based Functional Hypergelator

Self-assembled peptide hydrogels represent the realization of peptide nanotechnology into biomedical products. There is a continuous quest to identify the simplest building blocks and optimize their critical gelation concentration (CGC). Herein, a minimalistic, de novo dipeptide, Fmoc-Lys(Fmoc)-Asp, as an hydrogelator with the lowest CGC ever reported, almost fourfold lower as compared to that of a large hexadecapeptide previously described, is reported. The dipeptide self-assembles through an unusual and unprecedented two-step process as elucidated by solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics simulation. The hydrogel is cytocompatible and supports 2D/3D cell growth. Conductive composite gels composed of Fmoc-Lys(Fmoc)-Asp and a conductive polymer exhibit excellent DNA binding. Fmoc-Lys(Fmoc)-Asp exhibits the lowest CGC and highest mechanical properties when compared to a library of dipeptide analogues, thus validating the uniqueness of the molecular design which confers useful properties for various potential applications.     

Pulmonary and allergy subspecialty care in adults with asthma. Treatment, use of services, and health outcomes

This study examined the relationship of several maternal variables to the duration of exclusive breast-feeding and the total duration of breast-feeding, along with attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about breast-feeding among women living in poor neighborhoods of Managua, Nicaragua. The field work was carried out in December 1992 and January 1993 using qualitative and quantitative methods. A structured questionnaire was administered in interviews with 556 mothers of children under 12 months of age, and meetings of four directed discussion groups were held, in which a total of 20 women participated. At one week of age, almost all the children of the mothers who were surveyed had been breast-fed, but only 45% had been exclusively breast-fed. At 12 weeks old, 30% were already completely weaned. The discussion groups revealed the coexistence of positive opinions about both breast-feeding and bottle-feeding. However, exclusive breast-feeding was considered harmful for the mother, and breast milk was not thought to be sufficient nourishment for the child. Previous experience was strongly related to the duration of exclusive breast-feeding and to total breast-feeding duration. Attitudes, social support, and work situation were important factors influencing the total length of time women breast-fed a child. In general, the results obtained through the interviews and in the discussion groups were in agreement and showed that the elements needed to promote exclusive breast-feeding were social support, a favorable community environment, and policies that dealt with problems faced by working mothers. The complementary research methods were useful for obtaining information about the relative importance of different factors that determine the duration of breast-feeding and for understanding that practice in greater depth from the mother's point of view.     

The Xcad-2 gene can provide a ventral signal independent of BMP-4

Patterning of the marginal zone in the Xenopus embryo has been attributed to interactions between dorsal genes expressed in the organizer and ventral-specific genes. In this antagonistic interplay of activities, BMP-4, a gene that is not expressed in the organizer, provides a strong ventralizing signal. The Xenopus caudal type homeobox gene, Xcad-2, which is expressed around the blastopore with a gap over the dorsal lip, was analyzed as part of the ventral signal. Xcad-2 was shown to efficiently repress during early gastrula stages the dorsal genes gsc, Xnot-2, Otx-2, XFKH1 and Xlim-1, while it positively regulates the ventral genes, Xvent-1 and Xvent-2, with Xpo exhibiting a strong positive response to Xcad-2 overexpression. Xcad-2 was also capable of inducing BMP-4 expression in the organizer region. Support for a ventralizing role for Xcad-2 was obtained from co-injection experiments with the dominant negative BMP receptor which was used to block BMP-4 signaling. Under lack-of-BMP-signaling conditions Xcad-2 could still regulate dorsal and ventral gene expression and restore normal development, suggesting that it can act downstream of BMP-4 signaling or independently of it. Xcad-2 could also inhibit secondary axis formation and dorsalization induced by the dominant negative BMP receptor. Xcad-2 was also shown to efficiently reverse the dorsalizing effects of LiCl. These results place Xcad-2 as part of the ventralizing gene program which acts during early gastrula stages and can execute its ventralizing function in the absence of BMP signaling.     

基于改进U-net和CNN的绝缘子自爆检测方法研究

针对绝缘子自爆故障人工检测效率低,成本高的问题,基于改进U-net和卷积神经网络（CNN）模型,提出一种可有效识别绝缘子自爆故障的双阶段目标检测算法。首先,在语义分割阶段使用改进U-net模型,通过翻倍提高图像分辨率的方法有效提高图像分割精度。其次,在图像分类阶段提出更适合所提问题且有效提高分类准确度的新型CNN模型。最后,使用无人机拍摄的绝缘子图片为实验数据进行实验。实验结果表明所提算法识别精度较高。     

基于网络文本数据挖掘的城市旅游形象感知研究——以合肥市为例

文章通过大数据挖掘技术,抽取游客对合肥市境内681个景点的29 348条网络评论,分析游客对合肥城市旅游形象感知分异,进而提炼旅游形象的核心要素.利用扎根理论分析发现:旅游体验、旅游环境与氛围、旅游服务与设施、旅游管理体制是其中4大负面情感感知.根据分析结果,从平衡地区旅游发展、历史文化类景点转型升级、创新旅游业态、延伸旅游产业链等方面,为合肥市旅游发展提供相关对策建议.     

镉质量浓度和鱼尺寸对罗非鱼积累和转移镉的影响

为研究尺寸和镉(Cd~(2+))质量浓度对罗非鱼积累和转移水环境中Cd~(2+)的影响,用室内培养的方法,选取4种尺寸的罗非鱼,设置不同质量浓度Cd~(2+)的暴露试验,分别测定其半致死率、Cd~(2+)积累量和对Cd~(2+)的转移系数以及罗非鱼的相对增长率.结果表明:不同尺寸的罗非鱼对Cd~(2+)的响应不同,其中,幼龄鱼的LC50浓度最低,体长为31.5±3.4 cm的罗非鱼LC50最高;低质量浓度Cd~(2+)(0.5 mg/kg)处理下,罗非鱼尺寸不同,相同鱼组织对Cd~(2+)的吸收积累量差异显著(P0.05),而高质量浓度Cd~(2+)处理时,不同尺寸罗非鱼的同一组织对Cd~(2+)的积累量无显著性差异;除体长27.4±2.9 cm罗非鱼外,相同尺寸的罗非鱼Cd~(2+)转移系数都是低质量浓度显著大于高质量浓度(P0.05);高质量浓度Cd~(2+)处理对各种尺寸罗非鱼质量增加的抑制率显著高于低质量浓度Cd~(2+)处理的抑制率.此外,不同Cd~(2+)质量浓度对相同尺寸的罗非鱼也产生不同的影响.因此,罗非鱼的尺寸和Cd~(2+)质量浓度都对罗非鱼积累和转移Cd~(2+)产生影响.     

A survey on offline scheduling with rejection

In classical deterministic scheduling problems, it is assumed that all jobs have to be processed. However, in many practical cases, mostly in highly loaded make-to-order production systems, accepting all jobs may cause a delay in the completion of orders which in turn may lead to high inventory and tardiness costs. Thus, in such systems, the firm may wish to reject the processing of some jobs by either outsourcing them or rejecting them altogether. The field of scheduling with rejection provides schemes for coordinated sales and production decisions by grouping them into a single model. Since scheduling problems with rejection are very interesting both from a practical and a theoretical point of view, they have received a great deal of attention from researchers over the last decade. The purpose of this survey is to offer a unified framework for offline scheduling with rejection by presenting an up-to-date survey of the results in this field. Moreover, we highlight the close connection between scheduling with rejection and other fields of research such as scheduling with controllable processing times and scheduling with due date assignment, and include some new results which we obtained for open problems.     

Towards a contingent approach of customer involvement in defence projects: An exploratory study

This paper reports the main results of an exploratory, multiple case study investigating customer involvement practices in system development projects in the Israeli defence industry. The study proposes and examines a theoretical contingency model regarding the effect of customer involvement modes on project success, moderated by project characteristics. It focuses specifically on the working mode of customers' representatives along the continuum between external supervision to full participation in project activities.