Microglial Cell Activation Increases Saturated and Decreases Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Content,but Both Lipid Species are Proinflammatory

Neuroinflammation is a component of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. Saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids are bioactive molecules that may play different extrinsic and intrinsic roles in neuroinflammation, serving as exogenous ligands for cellular receptors, or endogenous components of cell structural, energetic and signaling pathways. We determined the fatty acyl profile of BV2 microglial cells before and after acute activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We also investigated the effect of SFA and MUFA pretreatment on the production of an invasive, neurotoxic phenotype in BV2 cells. Acute activation of BV2 microglia resulted in an increase in the relative content of SFA (12:0, 16:0, 18:0, 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 increased significantly), and a relative decrease in the content of MUFA (16:1n7, 18:1n7, 18:1n9, 20:1n9, 24:1n9 decreased significantly). In agreement, the major stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) isoform in BV2 cells, SCD2, was significantly down-regulated by LPS. We next treated cells with SFA (16:0 or 18:0) or MUFA (16:1n7 or 18:1n9), and found that levels of secreted IL6 were increased, as was secreted MMP9-mediated proteolytic activity. To test the functional significance, we treated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells with conditioned medium from BV2 cells pretreated with fatty acids, and found a small but significant induction of cell death. Our findings suggest differential intrinsic roles for SFA and MUFA in activated microglial cells, but similar extrinsic roles for these fatty acid species in inducing activation. Expansion of SFA is important during microglial cell activation, but either supplemental SFA or MUFA may contribute to chronic low-grade neuroinflammation.     

Global stabilization of linear discrete-time systems with bounded feedback

This paper deals with the problem of global stabilization of linear discrete time systems by means of bounded feedback laws. The main result proved is an analog of one proved for the continuous time case by the authors, and shows that such stabilization is possible if and only if the system is stabilizable with arbitrary controls and the transition matrix has spectral radius less than or equal to one. The proof provides in principle an algorithm for the construction of such feedback laws, which can be implemented either as cascades or as parallel connections (“single hidden layer neural networks”) of simple saturation functions.     

Vertical Vibration of a Flexible Plate with Rigid Core on Saturated Ground

In this paper, the vertical vibration of a flexible plate with rigid core resting on a semi-infinite saturated soil is studied analytically. The behavior of the soil is assumed to follow Biot’s poroelastodynamic theory with compressible soil skeleton and pore water, and the response of the time-harmonic excited plate is governed by the classical thin-plate theory. By virtue of the Hankel transform technique, the fundamental solutions of the skeleton displacements, stresses, and pore pressure are derived, and a set of dual integral equations associated with the relaxed boundary and completely drained condition at the soil-foundation contact interface are also developed. These governing integral equations are further reduced to the standard Fredholm integral equations of the second kind and solved by numerical procedures. Comparison with existing solutions for a rigid permeable plate on saturated soil confirms the accuracy of the present solution. Selected numerical results are presented to show the influence of the permeability, the size of the rigid core, and the plate flexibility on the dynamic interaction between the elastic plate with rigid core and the underlying saturated soil.     

Postfailure Mechanics of Landslides: Laboratory Investigation of Flowslides in Pyroclastic Soils

Of all landslides, subaerial flowslides are the most dangerous. According to the literature, flowslides in saturated granular deposits are caused by static liquefaction induced by loss of stability. However, the catastrophic flowslides that occurred on steep slopes in Campania (southern Italy) in 1998, 1999, and 2005 were triggered by rainwater infiltration into shallow deposits of pyroclastic soils, which were initially unsaturated. Starting from the experience collected during the investigations of some of these landslides, the writers consider flowslide evolution as a result of a mechanical chain process characterized by saturation increase due to rainwater infiltration, mechanical degradation, volumetric collapse, and static liquefaction, culminating in complete fluidization of the soil. In the paper this chain process is investigated through wetting tests both in suction controlled triaxial apparatuses and in a well-equipped small scale slope model.     

小浪底库区坡地不同利用方式入渗规律与产流产沙特征研究

坡耕地水土流失已成为小浪底库区生态环境和农业可持续性发展所面临的一个重大问题。通过饱和入渗和模拟降雨试验,对不同退耕利用方式(撂荒坡地、造林幼林地、林草间作、农林间作)和传统坡耕地利用方式(坡耕地翻耕休闲、坡耕地翻耕后种植玉米)入渗规律与产流、产沙特征做了研究。结果表明:(1)退耕后坡面饱和入渗率均高于传统方式,其四种方式平均饱和入渗率是传统利用方式的1.48倍;撂荒坡地的饱和入渗率最高;同一坡面,坡底饱和入渗率高于坡中、上部。(2)初始产流时间,撂荒坡地、造林幼林地、林草间作、农林间作分别比翻耕种玉米延迟26.16min、14.89min、13.48min、6.01min,两种传统方式差别不大。持续产流时间退耕方式也长于传统方式。(3)传统方式径流总量是上述四种退耕方式的2~5倍,平均产流速率明显高于退耕方式;产沙总量是退耕方式的3~50倍左右,平均产沙速度是其的1.72~9.4倍;产沙、产流总量和与产流降雨历时密切相关。     

Effective dimensions and relative frequencies

Consider the problem of calculating the fractal dimension of a set X consisting of all infinite sequences S over a finite alphabet Σ that satisfy some given condition P on the asymptotic frequencies with which various symbols from Σ appear in S. Solutions to this problem are known in cases where

(i)

the fractal dimension is classical Hausdorff or packing dimension (by work of Volkmann and Olsen), or

(ii)

the fractal dimension is effective (even finite-state) and the condition Pcompletely specifies an empirical distribution π over Σ, i.e., a limiting frequency of occurrence for every symbol in Σ.

In this paper, we show how to calculate the finite-state dimension (equivalently, the finite-state compressibility) of such a set X when the condition P only imposes partial constraints on the limiting frequencies of symbols. Our results automatically extend to less restrictive effective fractal dimensions (e.g., polynomial-time, computable, and constructive dimensions), and they have the classical results (i) as immediate corollaries. Our methods are nevertheless elementary and, in most cases, simpler than those by which the classical results were obtained.     

Internet访问时间的混沌性解析

以CAIDA组织授权的海量数据为样本空间,利用相空间重构技术以及G-P算法,对时间维的Internet访问时间进行相空间重构,得到其混沌吸引子饱和关联维数为2.8308,证实Internet访问时间的演化过程具有混沌特征.在此基础上,根据关联维数及奇怪吸引子在相空间混沌轨道运动的特性,提出了三维微分方程组的Internet访问时间长期预测模型.     

A modified Kozeny–Carman equation for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity of compacted bentonite in confined condition

Kozeny–Carman (KC) equation is a well-known relation between hydraulic conductivity and pore properties in porous material. The applications of KC equation to predicting saturated hydraulic conductivities of sands and non-expansive soils are well documented. However, KC equation is incapable of predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity of expansive soil (e.g. bentonite) well. Based on a new dual-pore system, this study modified KC equation for improving the prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivities of bentonites. In this study, an assumption that inter-layer space (micropore) has limited effect on fluid flow performance of compacted bentonite was adopted. The critical parameters including total porosity and total tortuosity in conventional KC equation were replaced by macroporosity and tortuosity of macropore, respectively. Macroporosity and microporosity were calculated by basal spacing of compacted bentonite, which was estimated by assuming that specific surface area is changeable during saturation process. A comprehensive comparison of bentonite's saturated hydraulic conductivity predictions, including modified KC equation proposed in this study, conventional KC equation, and prediction method based on diffuse double layer (DDL) theory, was carried out. It was found that the predicted saturated hydraulic conductivity of bentonites calculated using modified KC equation fitted the experimental data better than others to a certain extent.     

纺织厂空压机余热用于对车间空气补充加热的分析

通过对空压机发热量的分析,计算得空压机实际可被回收的余热量;以湖北某纺织厂为例,对机织车间中部分冬季缺热车间进行了热量的分析,并计算出车间所需补充加热的热量。认为可以将空压机的废热通过空压余热回收系统用来制取50℃~60℃热水作为锅炉预热水和生活用水;通过比较预热前水(20℃)、预热后水(60℃)及所供饱和蒸汽(0.3 MPa,130℃)的焓值,分析了采用锅炉预热水制取蒸汽对空气进行补充加热的节能效果。得出结论:在冬季,使用锅炉预热水制取蒸汽对车间空气进行补充加热可节省费用10万元左右。     

套管钢在饱和盐水中的腐蚀机理研究

饱和盐水溶液是深探井试油完井液的主要成分，对套管具有极强的腐蚀性。利用挂片腐蚀试验定性地研究了套管钢在饱和盐水中的腐蚀机理。试验采用与现场相同的腐蚀试件，具体分析了两种温度状态下P—110和N-80套管钢在饱和盐水中的腐蚀速度和腐蚀形态。研究结果表明，在常温状态下，饱和盐水对套管钢腐蚀较轻；但随着温度的升高，它对套管钢的腐蚀性急剧增大，腐蚀形态以点蚀为主；在高温条件下，P-110套管钢的耐蚀性优于N-80套管钢。这些都是由套管钢的化学组分所决定的。