Ghost Dog

The single crystal of the extra-large pore zeolite, ITQ-33, was obtained and used to explore its crystal structure details. The ITQ-33 structure was found to be disordered with the columnar periodic building unit, explaining the morphology changes upon the different Si/Ge ratio, and the formation of the hierarchical structure from assembling of ITQ-33 nanofibers

First detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in red-bellied tree squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus) in China

Cryptosporidium spp. are opportunistic pathogens that cause diarrhea in a variety of animal hosts. Although they have been reported in many animals, no information has been published on the occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. in red-bellied tree squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus). A total of 287 fecal specimens were collected from Sichuan province in China; the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp., measured by nested-PCR amplification of the partial small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene, was 1.4% (4/287). Three different Cryptosporidium species or genotypes were identified: Cryptosporidium parvum (n = 1), Cryptosporidium wrairi (n = 1), and Cryptosporidium rat genotype II (n = 2). The present study is the first report of Cryptosporidium infection in red-bellied tree squirrels in China. Although there is a relatively low occurrence of Cryptosporidium, the presence of C. parvum and C. wrairi, which were previously reported in humans, indicates that red-bellied tree squirrels may be a source of zoonotic cryptosporidiosis in China

Sodium Fluoride Arrests Renal G2/M Phase Cell-Cycle Progression by Activating ATM-Chk2-P53/Cdc25C Signaling Pathway in Mice

Background/Aims: Excessive fluoride intake can induce cytotoxicity, DNA damage and cell-cycle changes in many tissues and organs, including the kidney. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of fluoride-induced renal cell-cycle changes are not well understood at present. In this study, we used a mouse model to investigate how sodium fluoride (NaF) induces cell-cycle changes in renal cells. Methods: Two hundred forty ICR mice were randomly assigned to four equal groups for intragastric administration of NaF (0, 12, 24 and 48 mg/kg body weight/day) for 42 days. Kidneys were taken to measure changes of the cell-cycle at 21 and 42 days of the experiment, using flow cytometry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot methods. Results: NaF, at more than 12 mg/kg body weight, induced G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest in the renal cells, which was supported by the finding of significantly increased percentages of renal cells in the G2/M phase. We found also that G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest was accompanied by up-regulation of p-ATM, p-Chk2, p-p53, p-Cdc25C, p-CDK1, p21, and Gadd45a protein expression levels; up-regulation of ATM, Chk2, p53, p21, and Gadd45a mRNA expression levels; down-regulation of CyclinB1, mdm2, PCNA protein expression levels; and down-regulation of CyclinB1, CDK1, Cdc25C, mdm2, and PCNA mRNA expression levels. Conclusion: In this mouse model, NaF, at more than 12 mg/ kg, induced G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest by activating the ATM-Chk2-p53/Cdc25C signaling pathway, which inhibits the proliferation of renal cells and development of the kidney. Activation of the ATM-Chk2-p53/Cdc25C signaling pathway is the mechanism of NaF-induced renal G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest in this model

Altered fecal microbiome and correlations of the metabolome with plasma metabolites in dairy cows with left displaced abomasum

Left displaced abomasum (LDA) in postpartum dairy cows contributes to significant economic losses. Dairy cows with LDA undergo excessive lipid mobilization and insulin resistance. Although gut dysbiosis is implicated, little is known about the role of the gut microbiota in the abnormal metabolic processes of LDA. To investigate the functional links among microbiota, metabolites, and disease phenotypes in LDA, we performed 16S rDNA gene amplicon sequencing and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) of fecal samples from cows with LDA (n = 10) and healthy cows (n = 10). Plasma marker profiling was synchronously analyzed. In the LDA event, gut microbiota composition and fecal metabolome were shifted in circulation with an amino acid pool deficit in dairy cows. Compared with the healthy cows, salicylic acid derived from microbiota catabolism was decreased in the LDA cows, which negatively correlated with Akkermansia, Prevotella, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), and β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) levels. Conversely, fecal taurolithocholic acid levels were increased in cows with LDA. Based on integrated analysis with the plasma metabolome, eight genera and eight metabolites were associated with LDA. Of note, the increases in Akkermansia and Oscillospira abundances were negatively correlated with the decreases in 4-pyridoxic acid and cytidine levels, and positively correlated with the increases in NEFA and BHBA levels in amino acid deficit, indicating pyridoxal metabolism-associated gut dysbiosis and lipolysis. Changes in branched-chain amino acids implicated novel host-microbial metabolic pathways involving lipolysis and insulin resistance in cows with LDA. Overall, these results suggest an interplay between host and gut microbes contributing to LDA pathogenesis

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Study on the Supply Efficiency of Rural Public Service in China Based on Three-stage DEA Model

Improving the supply efficiency of rural public service is an important way to solve the severe shortage of rural public service. In this article, we use three-stage DEA model to carry out empirical research of the supply efficiency of rural public service in 31 provinces and regions of China. The results show that if without control over exogenous environment variables and random brunt, the classic DEA method will overestimate the rural public service efficiency; after controlling the impact of the external environmental factors, the mean of supply efficiency of rural public service in 31 provinces and regions of China is 0.697; the improved rural per capita income, population density, population size and the educational level of residents, is a significantly favorable factor for enhancing the supply efficiency of rural public service, while the increase in the proportion of fiscal spending on rural public service to GDP plays no significant role in improving the rural public service efficiency; according to their efficiency type, the provinces and regions should adopt some measures, such as improving the management level or expanding the supply scale, to improve the supply efficiency

Factors Influencing the Supply Efficiency of Basic Public Service at County Level

In this paper, we use DEA-Tobit model to conduct empirical study on the governmental supply efficiency of public service in Chongqing's 38 counties and the influencing factors during the period 2008-2011. The results show that the supply efficiency of basic public service at county level is generally low, and there is significant regional differences and strong volatility; per capita GDP, population density and population size, and level of education of the residents, are significantly correlated with the supply efficiency of basic public service at county level, but traffic density, urbanization level, and the proportion of government spending on public service to total fiscal expenditure, have no significant effects on the efficiency of basic public service at county level. Based on this, we propose some policy recommendations for enhancing the level of local economic development and the level of education, and reasonably guiding the residents' agglomeration

Metoda przetwarzania sygnału drganiowego i identyfikacji typu obciążenia młyna na podstawie ACMD-SVD

Green mine construction is the main melody of mining development and problems such as safe production, energy saving and consumption reduction need to be solved urgently. The working conditions of the mill are complex in the process of grinding. Aiming at the problems existing in the feature extraction and load prediction of the mill, a signal-processing method based on adaptive chirp mode decomposition (ACMD) and a standardized variable distance classifier (SVD) is proposed. Firstly, the recursive framework of the ACMD method is used to obtain the initial frequency of mill vibration signals. Secondly, the initial frequency is used to reconstruct the high-resolution component of the mill vibration signal through the iterative frame in the ACMD method. The frequency corresponding to the frequency domain peak of the reconstructed signal is then selected as the mill load feature vector. Finally, with consideration to the influence of standard deviation and standardized variable factors on the feature vectors, a standardized variable distance classifier is proposed. The feature vectors of the mill load are input into the SVD model for training, and the state types of the mill load are obtained. The method is applied to the grinding experiment and the results show that the frequency-domain features obtained by the mill vibration signal-processing method based on ACMD-SVD are obvious, which has high accuracy in the identification of mill load types, and provides a new idea for the extraction of mill load features and prediction of the mill load.Budowa zielonej kopalni jest główną melodią rozwoju górnictwa, a problemy takie jak: bezpieczna produkcja, oszczędność energii i redukcja zużycia wymagają pilnego rozwiązania. Warunki pracy młyna w procesie mielenia są złożone. Mając na celu rozwiązanie problemów występujących w ekstrakcji cech i przewidywaniu obciążenia młyna, zaproponowano metodę przetwarzania sygnału opartą na dekompozycji w trybie adaptacyjnym ACMD (Adaptive Chirp Made Decomposition) i znormalizowanym klasyfikatorze zmiennej odległości SVD (Variable Distance Classifier). Po pierwsze, rekurencyjna struktura metody ACMD jest wykorzystywana do uzyskania początkowej częstotliwości sygnałów drgań młyna. Po drugie, częstotliwość początkowa jest wykorzystywana do rekonstrukcji wysokorozdzielczej składowej sygnału drgań młyna poprzez ramkę iteracyjną w metodzie ACMD. Częstotliwość odpowiadająca pikowi w dziedzinie częstotliwości rekonstruowanego sygnału jest następnie wybierana jako wektor cech obciążenia młyna. Na koniec, biorąc pod uwagę wpływ odchylenia standardowego i standaryzowanych czynników zmiennych na wektory cech, zaproponowano standaryzowany klasyfikator odległości o zmiennej długości. Wektory cech obciążenia młyna są wprowadzane do modelu SVD w celu uczenia i uzyskiwane są typy stanu obciążenia młyna. Metodę zastosowano w eksperymencie mielenia, a wyniki pokazują, że cechy w dziedzinie częstotliwości uzyskane za pomocą metody przetwarzania sygnału drgań młyna opartej na ACMD-SVD są oczywiste, co ma wysoką dokładność w identyfikacji typów obciążeń młyna i zapewnia nowy pomysł na ekstrakcję cech obciążenia młyna i predykcję obciążenia młyna