5,971 research outputs found
Increased Levels of C1q in the prefrontal cortex of adult offspring after maternal immune activation: Prevention by 7,8-dihydroxyflavone
Objective: Prenatal infection is implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia. The objective of this paper is to study the role of complement protein C1q in the psychosis of adult offspring after maternal immune activation (MIA). In addition, effect of 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF: A tropomyosin receptor kinase B [TrkB] agonist) was also examined.
Methods: Western blot analysis of C1q in the brain regions from adult offspring after prenatal poly(I:C) (5.0 mg/kg/day from E12 to E17) exposure was performed. 7,8-DHF or vehicle was given from 4 to 8-weeks old.
Results: Expression of C1q in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of adult offspring from poly(I:C)-Treated pregnant mice was significantly higher than that of control group. Early treatment with 7,8-DHF during juvenile and adolescent stages could prevent an increase of C1q in the PFC of adult offspring after MIA.
Conclusion: Therefore, it is likely that increased C1q expression in the frontal cortex may play a role in the behavioral abnormalities of adult offspring after MIA. Furthermore, supplementation with a TrkB agonist such as 7,8-DHF during the prodromal stage may have prophylactic effects on the behavioral abnormalities after MIA
Bearing fault diagnosis based on Shannon entropy and wavelet package decomposition
A new feature extraction method based on WPD and Entropy is proposed in this paper. Firstly, WPD is utilized to decompose the signal into different frequency bands to obtain different frequency sub-signal. Secondly, root-mean-squire (RMS) value, kurtosis (K) and peak factor (PF) parameters are extracted from each sub-signal to obtain the fault feature vector. Thirdly the Entropy of each feature vector is calculated to realize the bearing fault diagnosis. Finally, experimental results indicate that the bearing fault diagnosis method proposed in this paper is effective
Testing general relativity with TianQin: the prospect of using the inspiral signals of black hole binaries
In this paper, we carry out a systematic study of the prospect of testing
general relativity with the inspiral signals of black hole binaries that could
be detected with TianQin. The study is based on the parameterized
post-Einsteinian (ppE) waveform, so that many modified gravity theories can be
covered simultaneously. We consider black hole binaries with total masses
ranging from and ppE corrections at
post-Newtonian (PN) orders ranging from PN to PN. Compared to the
current ground-based detectors, TianQin can improve the constraints on the ppE
phase parameter by orders of magnitude. For example, the improvement at
the PN and PN orders can be about and orders of magnitude
(compared to the results from GW150914), respectively. Compared to future
ground-based detectors, such as ET, TianQin is expected to be superior below
the PN order, and for corrections above the PN order, TianQin is
still competitive near the large mass end of the low mass range . Compared to the future space-based detector
LISA, TianQin can be competitive in the lower mass end as the PN order is
increased. For example, at the PN order, LISA is always superior for
sources more massive than about , while at the PN order,
TianQin becomes competitive for sources less massive than about . We also study the scientific potentials of detector networks
involving TianQin, LISA and ET, and discuss the constraints on specific
theories such as the dynamic Chern-Simons theory and the Einstein-dilaton
Gauss-Bonnet theory
Multivariate adaptive regression splines for estimating riverine constituent concentrations
Regression-based methods are commonly used for riverine constituent concentration/flux estimation, which is essential for guiding water quality protection practices and environmental decision making. This paper developed a multivariate adaptive regression splines model for estimating riverine constituent concentrations (MARS-EC). The process, interpretability and flexibility of the MARS-EC modelling approach, was demonstrated for total nitrogen in the Patuxent River, a major river input to Chesapeake Bay. Model accuracy and uncertainty of the MARS-EC approach was further analysed using nitrate plus nitrite datasets from eight tributary rivers to Chesapeake Bay. Results showed that the MARS-EC approach integrated the advantages of both parametric and nonparametric regression methods, and model accuracy was demonstrated to be superior to the traditionally used ESTIMATOR model. MARS-EC is flexible and allows consideration of auxiliary variables; the variables and interactions can be selected automatically. MARS-EC does not constrain concentration-predictor curves to be constant but rather is able to identify shifts in these curves from mathematical expressions and visual graphics. The MARS-EC approach provides an effective and complementary tool along with existing approaches for estimating riverine constituent concentrations
Toxicological evaluation of precocene II isolated from Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae) in Sprague Dawley rats
Precocene II (6,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl-2-chromene) was the main constituent isolated from Ageratum
conyzoides L. and reportedly possessed antifungal activity. The study investigated the isolation,
purification and toxicological effects of precocene II from A. conyzoides in Sprague Dawley rats.
Precocene II was isolated from the petroleum ether fraction of the plant and the structure was
determined by 1H-,13C-,DEPT-NMR and MS spectral techniques. Three groups of eight rats per group
were used for the study. While groups B and C were respectively administered with 25 and 50 mg/kg of
precocene II in 0.25% CMC-Na for 11 days by gastric intubation, group A was administered with 0.25%
CMC-Na and served as the control group. After the last treatment, animals were fasted overnight and on
the 12th day, they were injected intravenously with 0.2 ml/kg body weight of phenobarbital. Animals
were subsequently dissected from the abdominal region; blood was collected from the pulmonary vein
into EDTA anti-coagulated and non anti-coagulated tubes. The liver, kidney and spleen tissues were
extracted into separate bottles for histopathological examinations. Results from hematological study
indicated that the white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), plateletcrit (PCT) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin count (MCHC) were significantly higher across the treated groups. Biochemical result showed that serum glucose level was significantly reduced in the treated groups. No apparent damage was noticed in the liver, kidney and spleen tissues. The result therefore suggests that precocene II
possesses hypoglycemic property and could alter some hematopoietic elements but was not toxic to the liver, kidney and spleen tissues
Laser mimicking mosquito bites for skin delivery of malaria sporozoite vaccines
Immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites (RAS) via mosquito bites has been shown to induce sterile immunity against malaria in humans, but this route of vaccination is neither practical nor ethical. The importance of delivering RAS to the liver through circulation in eliciting immunity against this parasite has been recently verified by human studies showing that high-level protection was achieved only by intravenous (IV) administration of RAS, not by intradermal (ID) or subcutaneous (SC) vaccination. Here, we report in a murine model that ID inoculation of RAS into laser-illuminated skin confers immune protection against malarial infection almost as effectively as IV immunization. Brief illumination of the inoculation site with a low power 532 nm Nd:YAG laser enhanced the permeability of the capillary beneath the skin, owing to hemoglobin-specific absorbance of the light. The increased blood vessel permeability appeared to facilitate an association of RAS with blood vessel walls by an as-yet-unknown mechanism, ultimately promoting a 7-fold increase in RAS entering circulation and reaching the liver over ID administration. Accordingly, ID immunization of RAS at a laser-treated site stimulated much stronger sporozoite-specific antibody and CD8+IFN-Ī³+ T cell responses than ID vaccination and provided nearly full protection against malarial infection, whereas ID immunization alone was ineffective. This novel, safe, and convenient strategy to augment efficacy of ID sporozoite-based vaccines warrants further investigation in large animals and in humans
A review of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in Chinese soils
Ammonia (NH3) oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, is a key step in the global Nitrogen (N) cycle. Major advances have been made in recent years in our knowledge and understanding of the microbial communities involved ammonia oxidation in a wide range of habitats, including Chinese agricultural soils. In this mini-review, we focus our attention on the distribution and community diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) in Chinese soils with variable soil properties and soil management practices. The niche differentiation of AOB and AOA in contrasting soils have been functionally demonstrated using DNA-SIP (stable isotope probing) methods, which have shown that AOA dominate nitrification processes in acidic soils, while AOB dominated in neutral, alkaline and N-rich soils. Finally, we discuss the composition and activity of ammonia oxidizer in paddy soils, as well as the mitigation of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and nitrate leaching via inhibition of nitrification by both AOB and AOA
Theoretical and experimental investigation of an absorption refrigeration and pre-desalination system for marine engine exhaust gas heat recovery
Absorption-refrigeration-cycle-based exhaust gas heat recovery technology is effective in improving the thermal efficiency and fuel economy of marine diesel engines. However, the absorption refrigeration system is inflexible in the startāstop operation, and this cannot fulfil the fluctuating demand of refrigeration. This paper presents both the theoretical and experimental investigations of an absorption refrigeration and freezing pre-desalination-based marine engine exhaust gas heat recovery system. The energy storage subcycle is introduced to overcome the energy underutilisation and balance the excessive refrigerating output of the absorption refrigeration cycle. Seawater is utilised as the phase-change material and it is pre-desalinated in the energy storage subcycle. A mathematical model of the system is established and experimental investigation is conducted. Furthermore, the theoretical and experimental performances are compared, and an economic analysis of seawater desalination is performed to evaluate its economy. The results show that the total refrigeration output of the system ranges from 6.1āÆkW to 9.9āÆkW, and the system COP (Coefficient of Performance) can reach 16% under the experimental operating conditions. Additionally, the salinity of pre-desalinated seawater can be reduced to below 10 ppt. Moreover, the cost of RO (Reverse Osmosis) seawater desalination can be reduced by 26% through the pre-desalination process of seawater
3D-Aware Neural Body Fitting for Occlusion Robust 3D Human Pose Estimation
Regression-based methods for 3D human pose estimation directly predict the 3D
pose parameters from a 2D image using deep networks. While achieving
state-of-the-art performance on standard benchmarks, their performance degrades
under occlusion. In contrast, optimization-based methods fit a parametric body
model to 2D features in an iterative manner. The localized reconstruction loss
can potentially make them robust to occlusion, but they suffer from the 2D-3D
ambiguity.
Motivated by the recent success of generative models in rigid object pose
estimation, we propose 3D-aware Neural Body Fitting (3DNBF) - an approximate
analysis-by-synthesis approach to 3D human pose estimation with SOTA
performance and occlusion robustness. In particular, we propose a generative
model of deep features based on a volumetric human representation with Gaussian
ellipsoidal kernels emitting 3D pose-dependent feature vectors. The neural
features are trained with contrastive learning to become 3D-aware and hence to
overcome the 2D-3D ambiguity.
Experiments show that 3DNBF outperforms other approaches on both occluded and
standard benchmarks. Code is available at https://github.com/edz-o/3DNBFComment: ICCV 2023, project page: https://3dnbf.github.io
Is the Development of 15-min Commercial Circle a Boon or Bane? Exploring its implications on Citizen's Quality of Life in Zhengzhou, China
Rapid urbanization in China has led to the emergence of the 15-minute commercial circle, but more research is needed on its impact on residents' quality of life. This study aimed to propose construction plans and explore the circle's influence on residents' quality of life in Zhengzhou. Semi-structured interviews with 15 community residents were analyzed using NVivo software. Results indicated positive economic impacts but negative environmental and social impacts. The 15-minute commercial circle plays a dual role, requiring future sustainable and inclusive practices that address income inequality and environmental protection. Limitations include a small sample size and a focus on Zhengzhou.
Keywords: 15-minute Commercial Circle; Resident Quality of Life; Urbanization; ZhengzhouĀ
eISSN: 2398-4287 Ā© 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peerāreview under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i24.463
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