BIOMECHANICS TRENDS IN GRIP AND PINCH STRENGTH IN TWO AGE GROUPS OF CHINESE

Hands are one of the most complex and useful systems of the human body with grip and pinch strength being the most important biomechanics factor to assess the hand functions. Many diseases including malfunction of nervous systems and osteoarthritis may lead to weakness or abnormality of hand grip and pinch strength. The measurement of grip and pinch strength could be used to assess the degree of injury degree, treatment effect and recovery, thus making it necessary to build a biomechanics normative database of grip and pinch strength for use by researchers (such as doctors and sport researchers) from different fields (i.e. professional injury assessment, ergonomics and product design). The database is expected to provide detailed features of grip and pinch strength of the Chinese people

Multi-scale Analysis based Image Fusion

Image fusion provides a better view than that provided by any of the individual source images. The aim of multi-scale analysis is to find a kind of optimal representation for high dimensional information expression. Based on the nonlinear approximation, the principle and ways of image fusion are studied, and its development, current and future challenges are reviewed in this paper.The 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Image Processing 2014 (ICISIP2014), September 26-29, 2014, Nishinippon Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japa

Multi-scale Analysis based Image Fusion

The 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Image Processing 2014 (ICISIP2014), September 26-29, 2014, Nishinippon Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, JapanImage fusion provides a better view than that provided by any of the individual source images. The aim of multi-scale analysis is to find a kind of optimal representation for high dimensional information expression. Based on the nonlinear approximation, the principle and ways of image fusion are studied, and its development, current and future challenges are reviewed in this paper

Preparation and characterization of simvastatin/DMβCD complex and its pharmacokinetics in rats

Simvastatin is poorly bioavailable because it is practically insoluble in water and shows dissolution rate-limited absorption. Solubilizing effects of several β-cyclodextrin （βCD） derivatives such as HPβCD, SBEβCD and DMβCD on simvastatin in aqueous solution were investigated using the phase solubility technique. The solubility diagram of simvastatin with each βCD derivative could be classified as AL-type, indicating soluble complex formation of 1:1 stoichiometry. Among the above βCD derivatives DMβCD was found to be the ideal complexing agent for improving drug solubility. The simvastatin complex with DMβCD was prepared using the co-evaporation method and was then characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and in vitro dissolution. Dissolution and pharmacokinetic studies indicated that the simvastatin/DMβCD complex exhibited an increased dissolution rate, rapid absorption, and improved bioavailability in rats compared to free drug. Maximum plasma concentration (cmax) and the time to reach it (tmax) were 21.86 µg mL–1 and 1.4 h for the drug complex, 8.25 µg mL–1 and 3.0 h for free drug, respectively. Main pharmacokinetic parameters such as tmax, cmax were significantly different (p < 0.01) between the simvastatin complex and free drug. Bioavailability of the simvastatin complex relative to free drug was up to 167.0 %

Optimizing plant transporter expression in Xenopus oocytes

BACKGROUND: Rapid improvements in DNA synthesis technology are revolutionizing gene cloning and the characterization of their encoded proteins. Xenopus laevis oocytes are a commonly used heterologous system for the expression and functional characterization of membrane proteins. For many plant proteins, particularly transporters, low levels of expression can limit functional activity in these cells making it difficult to characterize the protein. Improvements in synthetic DNA technology now make it quick, easy and relatively cheap to optimize the codon usage of plant cDNAs for Xenopus. We have tested if this optimization process can improve the functional activity of a two-component plant nitrate transporter assayed in oocytes. RESULTS: We used the generally available software (http://www.kazusa.or.jp/codon/; http://genomes.urv.es/OPTIMIZER/) to predict a DNA sequence for the plant gene that is better suited for Xenopus laevis. Rice OsNAR2.1 and OsNRT2.3a DNA optimized sequences were commercially synthesized for Xenopus expression. The template DNA was used to synthesize cRNA using a commercially available kit. Oocytes were injected with cRNA mixture of optimized and original OsNAR2.1 and OsNRT2.3a. Oocytes injected with cRNA obtained from using the optimized DNA template could accumulate significantly more NO(3)(-) than the original genes after 16 h incubation in 0.5 mM Na(15)NO(3). Two-electrode voltage clamp analysis of the oocytes confirmed that the codon optimized template resulted in significantly larger currents when compared with the original rice cDNA. CONCLUSION: The functional activity of a rice high affinity nitrate transporter in oocytes was improved by DNA codon optimization of the genes. This methodology offers the prospect for improved expression and better subsequent functional characterization of plant proteins in the Xenopus oocyte system

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Abstract The advent of multi-core/many-core chip technology offers both an extraordinary opportunity and a profound challenge. In particular, computer architects and system software designers are faced with a unique opportunity to introducing new architecture features as well as adequate compiler technologytogether they may have profound impact. This paper presents a case study (using the 1D Stencil computation) of compiler-amendable performance optimization techniques on a many-core architecture Godson-T. Godson-T architecture has several unique features that are chosen for this study: (1) chip-level global addressable memory -in particular the scratchpad memories (SPM) local to the processing cores; (2) fine-grain memory based synchronization (e.g. full-empty bit for fine-grain synchronization). Leveraging state-of-the-art performance optimization methods for 1-D stencil parallelization (e.g. timed tiling and variants), we developed and implement a number many-core based optimization for Godson-T. Our experimental study show good performance improvements in both execution time speedups and scalability, validated the value of globally accessed SPM and fine-grain synchronization mechanism (full-empty bits) under the Godson-T, and provide some useful guidelines for future compiler technology of many-core chip architectures

Physiological dynamics as indicators of plant response to manganese binary effect

IntroductionHeavy metals negatively affect plant physiology. However, plants can reduce their toxicity through physiological responses. Broussonetia papyrifera is a suitable candidate tree for carrying out the phytoremediation of manganese (Mn)-contaminated soil.MethodsConsidering that Mn stress typically exerts a binary effect on plants, to reveal the dynamic characteristics of the physiological indexes of B. papyrifera to Mn stress, we conducted pot experiments with six different Mn concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mmol/L) for 60 days. In addition to the chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline (PRO), soluble sugar, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), the absorption and transfer characteristics of Mn, and root structure were also measured.ResultsPhytoremedial potential parameters such as the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) displayed an increasing trend with the increase of Mn concentration. At lower Mn concentrations (&lt;0.5 mmol/L), the TF value was &lt;1 but crossed 1 when the Mn concentration exceeded 100 mmol/L. The Mn distribution in various tissues was in the following order: leaf &gt; stem &gt; root. The root structure analysis revealed that low-level concentrations of Mn (1 mmol/L) promoted root development. Mn concentration and stress duration had significant effects on all measured physiological indexes, and except soluble sugar, Mn concentration and stress time displayed a significant interaction on the physiological indexes.DiscussionOur study demonstrates that the physiological indexes of B. papyrifera display dynamic characteristics under Mn stress. Thus, during the monitoring process of Mn stress, it appears to be necessary to appropriately select sampling parts according to Mn concentration

Hydrophobic functionalization of jute fabrics by enzymatic-assisted grafting of vinyl copolymers

We report an eco-friendly approach to improve the hydrophobicity of jute fabrics via horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed covalent grafting of butyl acrylate (BA) and 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate (HFBMA). Hydrophobic vinyl monomers were grafted onto the exposed lignin molecules of the jute surface by free-radical polymerization in the presence of a HRP/H2O2/acetylacetone (ACAC) system. Coupling onto the lignin-jute surface was demonstrated by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (solid-state 19F NMR), elemental analyses, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of modified jute fabrics was estimated in terms of contact angle and wetting time. The results indicated that it was essential to attain vinyl monomers grafting polymerization onto jute surfaces in a HRP/H2O2/ACAC system. Moreover, the grafting of vinyl monomers led to hydrophobicity increases of 53.86% and 61.03% in the contact angle of grafted jute fabrics with BA and HFBMA when compared with unmodified jute fabrics, respectively. Both vinyl monomers demonstrated high propensity to be polymerized by HRP in the presence of H2O2, and acquired the ability to act as high-performance composites with hydrophobic resins.This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51673087, 51603087), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP51717A), the Programme for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Teams at University (IRT_15R26), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio