Polyphenol-rich longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-flower-water-extract attenuates nonalcoholic fatty liver via decreasing lipid peroxidation and downregulating matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9

Longan-flower-water-extract (LFWE) contains large amounts of phytochemicals where gentisic acid and epicatechin are the major compounds in phenolic acid and flavonoid compound, respectively. The objective of this study was to investigate if drinking LFWE could protect the liver from a hypercaloric dietary habit. Only rats fed the hypercaloric diet (HCD) with 25 g/L (w/v) LFWE solution (HCD_2X) group demonstrated lower (p < 0.05) serum triglyceride levels compared to those fed the HCD with normal distilled water (HCD_NDW) and HCD with 12.5 g/L (w/v) LFWE solution (HCD_1X) groups. However, drinking LFWEs decreased (p < 0.05) hepatic lipids in the HCD rats. Lower (p < 0.05) hepatic MDA levels, GOT and GPT values, and higher (p < 0.05) hepatic GSH levels were observed in HCD rats drinking LFWE. Besides, drinking LFWE downregulated (p < 0.05) gene expressions and activities of hepatic matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2/9) in HCD rats. In conclusion, polyphenol-rich LFWE displayed hepatoprotective characteristics against an energy-dense dietary habit.     

Genome-Wide Discovery of miRNAs with Differential Expression Patterns in Responses to Salinity in the Two Contrasting Wheat Cultivars

Salinity is a serious environmental issue. It has a substantial effect on crop yield, as many crop species are sensitive to salinity due to climate change, and it impact is continuing to increase. Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to salinity stress response in bread wheat. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms by which miRNAs confer salt tolerance in wheat are unclear. We conducted a genome-wide discovery study using Illumina high throughput sequencing and comprehensive in silico analysis to obtain insight into the underlying mechanisms by which small RNAs confer tolerance to salinity in roots of two contrasting wheat cvv., namely Suntop (salt-tolerant) and Sunmate (salt-sensitive). A total of 191 microRNAs were identified in both cultivars, consisting of 110 known miRNAs and 81 novel miRNAs; 181 miRNAs were shared between the two cultivars. The known miRNAs belonged to 35 families consisted of 23 conserved and 12 unique families. Salinity stress induced 43 and 75 miRNAs in Suntop and Sunmate, respectively. Among them, 14 and 29 known and novel miRNAs were expressed in Suntop and 37 and 38 in Sunmate. In silico analysis revealed 861 putative target mRNAs for the 75 known miRNAs and 52 putative target mRNAs for the 15 candidate novel miRNAs. Furthermore, seven miRNAs including tae-miR156, tae-miR160, tae-miR171a-b, tae-miR319, tae-miR159a-b, tae-miR9657 and novel-mir59 that regulate auxin responsive-factor, SPL, SCL6, PCF5, R2R3 MYB, and CBL-CIPK, respectively, were predicted to contribute to salt tolerance in Suntop. This information helps further our understanding of how the molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance are mediated by miRNAs and may facilitate the genetic improvement of wheat cultivars.     

Polarization-insensitive 3D conformal-skin metasurface cloak

Electromagnetic metasurface cloaks provide an alternative paradigm toward rendering arbitrarily shaped scatterers invisible. Most transformation-optics (TO) clo...     

An Anthranilate Derivative Inhibits Glutamate Release and Glutamate Excitotoxicity in Rats

The neurotransmitter glutamate plays an essential role in excitatory neurotransmission; however, excessive amounts of glutamate lead to excitotoxicity, which is the most common pathogenic feature of numerous brain disorders. This study aimed to investigate the role of butyl 2-[2-(2-fluorophenyl)acetamido]benzoate (HFP034), a synthesized anthranilate derivative, in the central glutamatergic system. We used rat cerebro-cortical synaptosomes to examine the effect of HFP034 on glutamate release. In addition, we used a rat model of kainic acid (KA)-induced glutamate excitotoxicity to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of HFP034. We showed that HFP034 inhibits 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-induced glutamate release from synaptosomes, and this inhibition was absent in the absence of extracellular calcium. HFP034-mediated inhibition of glutamate release was associated with decreased 4-AP-evoked Ca²⁺ level elevation and had no effect on synaptosomal membrane potential. The inhibitory effect of HFP034 on evoked glutamate release was suppressed by blocking P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels and protein kinase C (PKC). Furthermore, HFP034 inhibited the phosphorylation of PKC and its substrate, myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) in synaptosomes. We also observed that HFP034 pretreatment reduced neuronal death, glutamate concentration, glial activation, and the levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins, calpains, glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP 78), C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and caspase-12 in the hippocampus of KA-injected rats. We conclude that HFP034 is a neuroprotective agent that prevents glutamate excitotoxicity, and we suggest that this effect involves inhibition of presynaptic glutamate release through the suppression of P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels and PKC/MARCKS pathways.     

Multi-extremum-modified response basis model for nonlinear response prediction of dynamic turbine blisk

For the nonlinear dynamic analyses of complex mechanical components, it is necessary to apply efficient modeling framework to reduce computational burden. The accurate surrogate model for approximating the nonlinear responses of several failures is a vital issue to provide robust and safe design conditions in complex engineering applications. In this paper, two different Modified multi-extremum Response Surface basis Models (MRSM) are proposed for dynamic nonlinear responses of failure capacities for turbine blisk responses. The proposed MRSM is established using two regression processes including regressed the input variables by linear or exponential basis functions in first calibrating phase and regressed the second-order polynomial basis function using inputs data provided by first stage in second calibrating procedure. A sensitivity analysis using MRSM is proposed to consider the variation of input variables on the nonlinear responses. In the sensitivity analysis procedure, the effects of input variables are evaluated using the calibrating results given from the first regressed process. To evaluate the performance of the proposed MRSM, three multi-extremum failure modes including radial deformation of compressor blisk, maximum strain, and stress of compressor blade and disk are considered. the prediction of MRSM of nonlinear responses for Thermal-fluid–structure system with dynamical nonlinear finite-element analyses is compared with response surface method (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). The predicted results of modeling approaches showed that the sensitivity analysis based on MRSM accurately provided the effective degree for input variables. The gas temperature has the highest effects on nonlinear responses of turbine blisk which is followed by angular speed and material density. The MRSM combined with basic exponential function performs better than other models, while the MRSM coupled with linear function is more accurate than ANN and RSM. The proposed MRSM models have illustrated the accurate and efficient framework for approximating dynamic structural analysis of complex components.

     

嵌入式双目立体视觉测距系统

设计和研究了一种基于S3C2440硬件平台和嵌入式Linux双目立体视觉测距系统.该系统通过使用两个USB摄像头同步采集图像数据,并利用OpenCV对采集的两幅图像的数据进行处理,计算目标物在两幅图像中的像素偏差,进而算出目标物到摄像头平面的距离,在论文中以车牌作为目标物.同时该系统用Qt/Embedded实现LED实时显示图像和数据.整个系统建立在嵌入式架构上,能独立完成图像采集,数据处理,实时显示等功能.只要改变定位算法,则能测出任意目标物的距离.     

基于多视频的虚实融合系统

提出了一种基于多视频的虚实融合可视化系统的构建方法,旨在将真实世界中的图像和视频融合到虚拟场景中,用视频图像中的纹理和动态信息去丰富虚拟场景,提高虚拟环境的真实性,得到一种增强的虚拟环境.利用无人机采集图像来重建虚拟场景,并借助图像特征点的匹配来实现视频图像的注册.然后利用投影纹理映射技术,将图像投影到虚拟场景中.视频中的动态物体由于在虚拟环境中缺失对应的三维模型,直接投影,当视点发生变化时会产生畸变.首先检测和追踪这些物体,然后尝试使用多种显示方式来解决畸变问题.此外,系统还考虑有重叠区域的多视频之间的融合.实验结果表明,所构造的虚实融合环境是十分有益的.     

The LLSGIV stretch of the N-terminal region of HIV-1 gp41 is critical for binding to a model peptide, T20

A number of peptides and peptide analogs derived from the membraneproximal region of gp41 ectodomain are found to be effectiveinhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-mediatedfusion events. One of them, T20 (aa 638–673), was founddisordered and sparingly soluble in water, but became solubleupon mixing with selected, structured peptides from the aminoterminal heptad repeat (HR1) region of gp41 using a simple andsensitive method of reduction in the scattering of T20 suspension.From the results on mapping the locus of interaction with T20by employing partially overlapping peptides derived from HR1,it was concluded that the LLSGIV segment was a critical dockingsite for the C-terminal peptide of gp41 in its putative inhibitoryaction consistent with a previous fluorescence study. It wasalso found that peptides capable of solubilizing T20 dispersionhave a high content of helix, as well as ß-strand,conformation in aqueous solution. Specificity of T20/HR1-derivedpeptide binding was ascertained by using a scrambled sequenceof a T20-active peptide and a plateau in scattering reductionof T20 suspension with variation in the concentration of a T20-activeHR1 peptide. Implications on the mechanism of T20 inhibitionand the sequence of folding of the gp41 core structure are discussed.     

Practical design of a proxy agent to facilitate adaptive video streaming service across wired/wireless networks

Thanks to the growing of the wireless networks, the video streaming application becomes a ubiquitous joyful service. In a wireless communication network environment, the service traffic spans across the wired and wireless domains. In this article, we propose a practical design of a proxy agent - SPONGE (Stream Pooler Over a Network Graded Environment) sitting between the wireless User Equipments (UEs) and the video streaming server to facilitate the adaptive video streaming service across wired/wireless networks. To make the wireless streaming service more efficient, an input video session would be encoded as multiple qualities of video streams so that UEs with a similar receiving condition can share streams with the same service quality via SPONGE. SPONGE can alleviate the direct load on the original stream broadcasting server. Meanwhile, it can make each UE get an adaptive streaming service according to the network conditions of the UE by a reduced network condition feedback latency. Our theoretical analysis and simulation results show that SPONGE can help wireless streaming users get a smooth and better playback quality by a quick and accurate reaction to the network condition.