Analysis of the control strategy of range extender system on the vehicle NVH performance

With focus on NVH performance, this paper studies the range extender system control strategy such as the initial start speed, operating points, speed up and down control method between operating points of the range extender, etc. At the same time, the confirmation of the operating points of the range extender based on the full vehicle frequency distribution and vibration and noise level of key points (seat rail, driver’s inner ear) was performed. Finally, we conducted objective test and compared the test data with benchmark vehicles

Molecular and morphological evidence support a new species of Rosaceae Prunus subg. Cerasus from Wuyishan National Park, southeast China

Prunus tongmuensis, a new species of cherry blossom, is described and illustrated from Wuyishan National Park, southeast China. This species is characterized by its tubular to nearly bottle-shaped receptacles and dark purple drupes. It can be distinguished from other wild cherry trees by its flowers and leaves, reddish brown young leaves, presence of 1–2 glands at the base of leaves, petioles densely covered with yellowish brown villi, longer pedicels (0.6–2.5 cm), villous pistil, and dark purple drupes. In the present study, we conducted a comprehensive morphological study based on specimens of the new species and its morphologically close species, field observations, and examination of pollen morphology. In addition, our phylogenetic analysis based on the complete plastid genome sequences further confirms the status of the new species and indicates that it is closely related to Prunus clarofolia, however, it notably differs in leaf shape, size, petiole villus color, gland location, timing of flower and leaf openings, and reflexed or spread sepals, as well as drupe color

Single-nucleotide resolution analysis of the transcriptome structure of Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 using RNA-Seq

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Clostridium beijerinckii </it>is an important solvent producing microorganism. The genome of <it>C. beijerinckii </it>NCIMB 8052 has recently been sequenced. Although transcriptome structure is important in order to reveal the functional and regulatory architecture of the genome, the physical structure of transcriptome for this strain, such as the operon linkages and transcript boundaries are not well understood.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we conducted a single-nucleotide resolution analysis of the <it>C. beijerinckii </it>NCIMB 8052 transcriptome using high-throughput RNA-Seq technology. We identified the transcription start sites and operon structure throughout the genome. We confirmed the structure of important gene operons involved in metabolic pathways for acid and solvent production in <it>C. beijerinckii </it>8052, including <it>pta</it>-<it>ack</it>, <it>ptb</it>-<it>buk</it>, <it>hbd</it>-<it>etfA</it>-<it>etfB</it>-<it>crt </it>(<it>bcs</it>) and <it>ald</it>-<it>ctfA</it>-<it>ctfB</it>-<it>adc </it>(<it>sol</it>) operons; we also defined important operons related to chemotaxis/motility, transcriptional regulation, stress response and fatty acids biosynthesis along with others. We discovered 20 previously non-annotated regions with significant transcriptional activities and 15 genes whose translation start codons were likely mis-annotated. As a consequence, the accuracy of existing genome annotation was significantly enhanced. Furthermore, we identified 78 putative silent genes and 177 putative housekeeping genes based on normalized transcription measurement with the sequence data. We also observed that more than 30% of pseudogenes had significant transcriptional activities during the fermentation process. Strong correlations exist between the expression values derived from RNA-Seq analysis and microarray data or qRT-PCR results.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Transcriptome structural profiling in this research provided important supplemental information on the accuracy of genome annotation, and revealed additional gene functions and regulation in <it>C. beijerinckii</it>.</p

Hedgehog-interacting protein (Hhip) as a candidate Foxn1 target in the thymus

The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ that supports the development of functional T cells through its unique stromal architecture. The most important and abundant component of this microenvironment are thymic epithelial cells, or TECs. TEC development, function and maintenance are critically dependent on the expression of the master transcription factor Foxn1. The Hedgehog-Interacting Protein (Hhip) was identified as a novel candidate target of Foxn1-mediated gene expression. Hhip is an inhibitor of Hedgehog (Hh) signalling, an embryonic developmental pathway which is also vital for normal T cell development. I first provided evidence that Foxn1 indirectly modulated the Hh signalling pathway via hhip. To identify a role for Hhip in thymus biology, I investigated the consequences of a constitutive deficiency for hhip expression in embryonic and neonatal mice, and demonstrated that loss of hhip resulted in an upregulation of Hh signalling via the coreceptors Gas1 and Boc, affecting the relative frequencies of cortical and medullary TECs in a dose-dependent manner and favouring medullary TEC development. I also generated a novel transgenic mouse model with a targeted loss of hhip in Foxn1-expressing cells, to specifically delineate the role of Hhip in TECs. This approach additionally circumvented the limitation of neonatal lethality in constitutive hhip-deficient mice. TEC-targeted loss of hhip expression not only impacted TEC sublineage decisions, but also affected the ability of TECs to perform positive thymocyte selection, resulting in the generation of T cells with reduced TCR signal strength which were less responsive to mitogenic stimuli. In aggregate, the experimental data here presents the first evidence that Hhip plays an important role in regulating TEC differentiation and function.</p

Dual-Channel Probe of Carbon Dots Cooperating with Lanthanide Complex Employed for Simultaneously Distinguishing and Sequentially Detecting Tetracycline and Oxytetracycline

Tetracycline (TC) and oxytetracycline (OTC) are the most widely used broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents in tetracycline drugs, and their structures and properties are very similar, so it is a great challenge to distinguish and detect these two antibiotics with a single probe at the same time. Herein, a dual-channel fluorescence probe (SiCDs@mMIPs-cit-Eu) was developed by integrating two independent reaction sites with SiCDs-doped mesoporous silica molecular imprinting group and europium complex group into a nanomaterial. The synergistic influence of inner filter effect and &ldquo;antenna effect&rdquo; can be guaranteed to solve the distinction between TC and OTC. Moreover, this novel strategy can also sequentially detect TC and OTC in buffer solution and real samples with high sensitivity and selectivity. This method revealed good responses to TC and OTC ranging from 0 to 5.5 &mu;M with a detection limit of 5 and 16 nM, respectively. Combined with the smartphone color-scanning application, the portable and cheap paper-based sensor was designed to realize the multi-color visual on-site detection of TC and OTC. In addition, the logic gate device was constructed according to the fluorescence color change of the probe for TC and OTC, which provided the application possibility for the intelligent detection of the probe

A study of the factors influencing knowledge management within inter-organizational projects

Presented at the GLOBELICS 6th International Conference 2008 22-24 September, Mexico City, Mexico.Modern management theories agree that the effective use of knowledge management (KM) is one of the key determinants in the performance of a business organization. KM permits a firm to accurately measure its adaptability and competencies and predict its survival in the market place. There are two types of KM: one that focuses upon measuring the performance of a single organization (known as "internal KM") and another that measures performance across organizational boundaries (known as "cross-organizational KM"). This research deals only with cross-organizational KM, a topic that has received scant attention in prior studies. The research focuses upon the factors that are measured to produce a statistical analysis of performance in cross-organizational collaborations. The study concludes that four clusters of factors have the greatest influence on the success of interorganizational projects. These clusters relate to: knowledge reserve, corporate culture/institution, communication and cooperation, and the characteristics of the specific project

Heavy Metal Complexation of Thiol-Containing Peptides from Soy Glycinin Hydrolysates

Many thiol-containing molecules show heavy metal complexation ability and are used as antidotes. In this study, the potential function associated with thiol-containing peptides (TCPs) from soy protein hydrolysates as natural detoxicants for heavy metals is reported. TCPs enriched by Thiopropyl-Sepharose 6B covalent chromatography had different molecular weight distributions as well as different numbers of proton dissociable groups, depending on the proteases and degree of hydrolysis. The major contribution of sulfhydryl groups was confirmed by the largest pH decrease between 8.0 and 8.5 of the pH titration curves. The complexation of TCPs with heavy metals was evaluated by stability constants (βn) of TCP-metal complexes whose stoichiometry was found to be 1:1 (ML) and 1:2 (ML2). TCPs from degree of hydrolysis of 25% hydrolysates gave high affinities towards Hg2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ (giving similar or even bigger lgβ values than that of glutathione). A significantly positive correlation was found between the logarithm of stability constants for ML2 (lgβ2) and the sulfhydryl group content. Molecular weight distribution of TCPs affected the complexation with Pb2+ notably more than Hg2+ and Cd2+. These results suggest that soy TCPs have the potential to be used in the formulation of functional foods to counteract heavy metal accumulation in humans