Analysis of the Influence of Fish Behavior on the Hydrodynamics of Net Cage

In net cage hydrodynamic analysis, drag force of net is dependent on the physical dimensions of the net cage, the Solidity ratio, the Reynolds number and the projected area of the net, which is illustrated in numerous previous researches. However, rare studies attempt to investigate the effect of fish behavior. Thus a net-fluid interaction model and a simplified fish model were proposed for analyzing the effects of fish behavior on the net cage. A series of physical model tests were conducted to validate the numerical model, which indicates models can simulate the stocked net cage in the current accurately. The simulation results indicate that circular movement of fish leads to a low pressure zone at the center of net cage, which causes a strong vertical flow along the center line of the net cage. The drag force on the net cage is significantly decreased with the increasing fish stocking density

RNAi technology extends its reach: Engineering plant resistance against harmful eukaryotes

RNA interference (RNAi) is a homology-dependent gene silencing technology that is initiated by double stranded RNA (dsRNA). It has emerged as a genetic tool for engineering plants resistance against prokaryotic pathogens such as virus and bacteria. Recent studies broaden the role of RNAi, and many successful examples have described the application of RNAi for engineering plant resistance against a range of eukaryotic organisms. Expression of dsRNA directed against suitable eukaryotic pathogens target genes in transgenic plants has been shown to give protection against harmful eukaryotic species, including nematodes, herbivorous insects, parasitic weeds and fungi. This review addresses the progress of RNAi-based transgenic plant resistance against these four class eukaryotic pests, as well as future challenges and prospects.Key words: dsRNA, RNAi, crop resistance, biotechnology, nematode, insect, parasitic weed, fungus

Cinnamic aldehyde treatment alleviates chronic unexpected stress-induced depressive-like behaviors via targeting cyclooxygenase-2 in mid-aged rats

Ethnopharmacological relevance: COX-2 has been considered as a potent molecular target for prevention and therapy of depression. However, a recent study showed that COX-2 inhibitor does not improve depressive symptoms in persons aged 70 and over. Therefore, whether treatments targeting COX-2 have a clinical efficacy in depression, especially elderly individuals, remains unclear. Cinnamic aldehyde is a major constituent of Cinnamomum cassia, which has exhibited excellent anti-inflammatory activities as a COX-2 inhibitor. To investigate the potential antidepressant effect of cinnamic aldehyde in mid-aged rats

The extended BLMSSM with a 125 GeV Higgs boson and dark matter

To extend the BLMSSM, we not only add exotic Higgs superfields $(\Phi_{NL},\varphi_{NL})$ to make the exotic lepton heavy, but also introduce the superfields($Y$,$Y^\prime$) having couplings with lepton and exotic lepton at tree level. The obtained model is called as EBLMSSM, which has difference from BLMSSM especially for the exotic slepton(lepton) and exotic sneutrino(neutrino). We deduce the mass matrices and the needed couplings in this model. To confine the parameter space, the Higgs boson mass $m_{h^0}$ and the processes $h^0\rightarrow \gamma\gamma$, $h^0\rightarrow VV, V=(Z,W)$ are studied in the EBLMSSM. With the assumed parameter space, we obtain reasonable numerical results according to data on Higgs from ATLAS and CMS. As a cold dark mater candidate, the relic density for the lightest mass eigenstate of $Y$ and $Y'$ mixing is also studied