The effect of chemical functionalisation on nanoporous energy absorption system

The mechanism of water infiltration into a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) was investigated based on the molecular dynamics simulation. The influence of chemical functionalization treatment on unsaturated carbon atoms at the entrance of a SWCNT was explored. The chemical functionalisation treatment with hydroxyl groups can effectively reduce the critical pressure barrier and facilitate water molecules to invade a SWCNT. Conversely, the hydrogen groups can intensify the non-wetting ability of a SWCNT. In addition, the hydrogenated entrance system is of higher recovery performance under dynamic loading, while the system with hydroxylated entrance shows poor performance. The observed unique mechanisms provide a possible method in energy absorption and conversion.     

集中式负压系统的维护与改进

分析了引起集中式负压系统发生故障和抽空效率下降的诸多因素，提出了一些改进措施和平时维护需注意的几个环节。     

Role of iron-ATP complex in lymphocyte proliferation and infiltration

The roles of sodium-ATP (NaATP) and ferric-ATP complex (FeATP) on the proliferation and infiltration of lymphocytes have been studied by evaluation of the hypertrophy and histopathologic examination of spleen and liver, as well of the modifications in the elemental balance of iron, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. The results showed that in the implicated biochemical processes, calcium and magnesium have a principal role. An in vitro study on a cell model has permited one to evaluate the effects of deferoxamine, a known iron chelator and inhibitor of human lymphocyte proliferation, on FeATP-modified cellular calcium fluxes. These findings showing a reduced ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake in the presence of deferoxamine appear to indicate that in vivo the chelation of blood-borne iron by ATP might play a key role in proliferation and infiltration of lymphocytes, leading to lymphoma development.     

浙江安吉主要林地类型土壤渗透性

对浙江安吉县龙王山地区主要植被类型的土壤渗透性进行了研究.结果表明,不同土地利用类型的土壤渗透性存在很大差别.根据土壤渗透能力可将8种植被类型分为4类：第1类,落叶阔叶林,土壤渗透能力极强;第2类,草地、松林、灌木林和茶园,土壤渗透能力强;第3类,毛竹林和常绿阔叶林,土壤渗透较强;第4类,裸露地,土壤较紧实,土壤结构较差,土壤通透性不佳,渗透能力弱.经主分量分析,得到表征渗透性能综合参数α和表征根系特征的综合参数β,构建了回归方程：α=0.1708e^β-0.3122.土壤理化性质、植被根系显著地影响土壤渗透性能.植被根系提高土壤入渗性能的实质是≤1 mm细根能有效地改善土壤性状.     

Vacuuming tarnished plant bug on strawberry: a bench study of operational parameters versus insect behavior

A vacuum apparatus was used in a test bench environment to determine the effects of two operational parameters on vacuuming efficacy for an insect pest. Nymphs and adults of tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolarisP. de. B. (Hemiptera: Miridae), marked with fluorescent powder, were positioned on strawberry plants according to three height classes. Three speeds of inlet passage (i.e., 2, 4 and 6 km h^–1) and two heights (passage at 2/3 and 3/3 of the canopy) of inlet relative to the top canopy of the plants were investigated. After vacuuming the marked insects remaining on the plants were then found using a UV light and the class height of their position on the plant and the substrate (i.e., soil, leaf, stem or fruit/flower) were noted. The efficacy of the vacuum was optimal when the inlet was passed at 4 km h^–1with the inlet at a height of 2/3 of the strawberry canopy. Nymphs were usually vacuumed more efficiently than adults. Most (64.5%) individuals that were not vacuumed did not change position after inlet passage. Most (85.9%) individuals that changed position after inlet passage experienced vertical, mostly downward, movements.     

Stereological and Flow Cytometry Characterization of Leukocyte Subpopulations in Models of Transient or Permanent Cerebral Ischemia

Microglia activation, as well as extravasation of haematogenous macrophages and neutrophils, is believed to play a pivotal role in brain injury after stroke. These myeloid cell subpopulations can display different phenotypes and functions and need to be distinguished and characterized to study their regulation and contribution to tissue damage. This protocol provides two different methodologies for brain immune cell characterization: a precise stereological approach and a flow cytometric analysis. The stereological approach is based on the optical fractionator method, which calculates the total number of cells in an area of interest (infarcted brain) estimated by a systematic random sampling. The second characterization approach provides a simple way to isolate brain leukocyte suspensions and to characterize them by flow cytometry, allowing for the characterization of microglia, infiltrated monocytes and neutrophils of the ischemic tissue. In addition, it also details a cerebral ischemia model in mice that exclusively affects brain cortex, generating highly reproducible infarcts with a low rate of mortality, and the procedure for histological brain processing to characterize infarct volume by the Cavalieri method.     

A ‘NanoSuit’ surface shield successfully protects organisms in high vacuum: observations on living organisms in an FE-SEM

Although extremely useful for a wide range of investigations, the field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) has not allowed researchers to observe living organisms. However, we have recently reported that a simple surface modification consisting of a thin extra layer, termed ‘NanoSuit’, can keep organisms alive in the high vacuum (10⁻⁵ to 10⁻⁷ Pa) of the SEM. This paper further explores the protective properties of the NanoSuit surface-shield. We found that a NanoSuit formed with the optimum concentration of Tween 20 faithfully preserves the integrity of an organism''s surface without interfering with SEM imaging. We also found that electrostatic charging was absent as long as the organisms were alive, even if they had not been coated with electrically conducting materials. This result suggests that living organisms possess their own electrical conductors and/or rely on certain properties of the surface to inhibit charging. The NanoSuit seems to prolong the charge-free condition and increase survival time under vacuum. These findings should encourage the development of more sophisticated observation methods for studying living organisms in an FE-SEM.     

3,5-Dicaffeoyl-4-malonylquinic acid reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in a experimental model of inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of 3,5-dicaffeoyl-4-malonylquinic acid (CA1), extract from Centella Asiatica, in rats subjected to experimental colitis.

Results: Colitis was induced in rats by intracolonic instillation of dinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (DNBS). CA1 was administered daily orally (0.2 or 2 mg/kg). Four days after DNBS administration, treatment with CA1 significantly reduced the appearance of diarrhoea and the loss of body weight. This was associated with a significant reduction in colonic MPO activity. CA1 also reduced NF-κB activation, the pro-inflammatory cytokines release, the appearance of I-NOS, nitrotyrosine, PARP and proMMP-9 and -2 activity in the colon and reduced the up-regulation of ICAM-1 and the expression of P-Selectin.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that administration of CA1 may be beneficial for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.     

Evolution of complex life cycles in trophically transmitted helminths. I. Host incorporation and trophic ascent

Links between parasites and food webs are evolutionarily ancient but dynamic: life history theory provides insights into helminth complex life cycle origins. Most adult helminths benefit by sexual reproduction in vertebrates, often high up food chains, but direct infection is commonly constrained by a trophic vacuum between free‐living propagules and definitive hosts. Intermediate hosts fill this vacuum, facilitating transmission to definitive hosts. The central question concerns why sexual reproduction, and sometimes even larval growth, is suppressed in intermediate hosts, favouring growth arrest at larval maturity in intermediate hosts and reproductive suppression until transmission to definitive hosts? Increased longevity and higher growth in definitive hosts can generate selection for larger parasite body size and higher fecundity at sexual maturity. Life cycle length is increased by two evolutionary mechanisms, upward and downward incorporation, allowing simple (one‐host) cycles to become complex (multihost). In downward incorporation, an intermediate host is added below the definitive host: models suggest that downward incorporation probably evolves only after ecological or evolutionary perturbations create a trophic vacuum. In upward incorporation, a new definitive host is added above the original definitive host, which subsequently becomes an intermediate host, again maintained by the trophic vacuum: theory suggests that this is plausible even under constant ecological/evolutionary conditions. The final cycle is similar irrespective of its origin (upward or downward). Insights about host incorporation are best gained by linking comparative phylogenetic analyses (describing evolutionary history) with evolutionary models (examining selective forces). Ascent of host trophic levels and evolution of optimal host taxa ranges are discussed.     

旱地小麦休闲期覆盖保水与产量构成因素的关系

为探索旱地小麦休闲期覆盖保水、增产技术途径,于2011—2012年在山西省闻喜县进行了前茬小麦收获后30 d或60 d深翻后进行地面全覆盖、半覆盖、不覆盖的大田试验,研究休闲期覆盖时间和覆盖方式对土壤水分和小麦产量形成的影响。结果表明:休闲期覆盖后,播种-孕穗期土壤蓄水量显著提高,尤其播种期140~200 cm,越冬期和返青期160~300 cm,拔节期80~160 cm,孕穗期0~120 cm、200~300 cm土层效果明显,且以前茬小麦收获后30 d采用全覆盖效果较好;覆盖后,越冬-孕穗期群体分蘖数增加,成熟期植株干物质量显著提高,穗数显著提高(3%~14%),产量显著提高(171~815 kg·hm-2);全覆盖处理成穗率、经济系数、产量及其构成因素均高于半覆盖,且以麦收后30 d覆盖效果较好;播种期土壤水分与穗数、穗粒数和产量关系密切,尤其是深层土壤水分,且直至孕穗期200~300 cm土壤水分与干物质量、穗数和产量关系仍密切;休闲期提早覆盖有利于蓄保休闲期降水于深层,且至孕穗期300 cm深处土壤水分仍有提高;有利于构建合理群体,主要通过提高穗数实现增产,且以全覆盖效果最好。