Accurate Stress Analysis on Steel Box Girder of Long Span Suspension Bridges Based on Multi-Scale Submodeling Method

This is the published version. Copyright 2010 Multi-Science PublishingThe streamline flat steel box girder is broadly used in long span cable-supported bridges all over the world. As one of the most important part of the bridges, its stress level and distribution under various dynamic loads are especially concerned. However, it is difficult to obtain the accurate stress of the steel box girder by common finite element (FE) calculation. The Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB) is taken as an example. To increase the accuracy of results, a 3-dimensional FE full model for the RSB is created by ANSYS and a spatial submodel of the steel box girder is particularly built with greater detail. Submodeling method is then employed as a connection technique to link different scale models. After the global analysis and connecting process, the local stress of the steel box girder under various vehicle loads is obtained by submodel analysis. The composite action between the full model and the submodel is analyzed, and the reasonable mesh size for the submodel is specially investigated. The numerical results are proved to be accurate by the field test results. This study demonstrates the reliability and efficiency of the submodeling method; and can provide references for accurately analyzing and designing the steel box girders of other long span bridges

Gut microbiome and bile acids in obesity-related diseases

Dysbiosis has been implemented in the etiologies of obesity-related chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, NAFLD and cardiovascular diseases. Bile acids, a class of amphipathic steroids produced in the liver and extensively modified by the microbiome, are increasingly recognized as actors in onset and progression of these diseases. Indeed, human obesity is associated with altered bile acid metabolism. Bile acids facilitate intestinal fat absorption but also exert hormone-like functions through activation of nuclear and membrane-bound receptors and thereby modulate glucose, lipid and energy metabolism, intestinal integrity and immunity. Bile acid signaling pathways have thus been identified as potential pharmacological targets for obesity-related diseases. Interfering with micro biome composition may also be considered, as liver-and microbiomederived bile acid species have different signaling functions. This review summarizes recent developments in this rapidly expanding field of research and addresses potential clinical prospects of interference with bile acid signaling pathways in human diseases. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Multilayer brain network combined with deep convolutional neural network for detecting major depressive disorder

Acknowledgements This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants Nos. 61922062 and 61873181.Peer reviewedPostprin

Intracavity biosensor based on the Nd:YAG waveguide laser: tumor cells and dextrose solutions

[EN]This work demonstrates the Nd:YAG waveguide laser as an efficient platform for the bio-sensing of dextrose solutions and tumor cells. The waveguide was fabricated in an Nd:YAG crystal with the cooperation of ultrafast laser writing and ion irradiation. The laser oscillation in the Nd:YAG waveguide is ultrasensitive to the external environment of the waveguide. Even a weak disturbance leads to a large variation of the output power of the laser. According to this feature, an Nd:YAG waveguide coated with graphene and WSe2 layers is used as substrate for the microfluidic channel. When the microflow crosses the Nd:YAG waveguide, the laser oscillation in the waveguide is disturbed and induces fluctuation of the output laser. According to the fluctuation, the microflow is detected with a sensitivity of 10 mW/RIU.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (11535008, 11775136); Young Scholars Program of Shandong University (SDU) (2015WLJH20)

Actividad antioxidante, fenoles totales y flavonoides totales en extractos de tallos de Jasminum nervosum Lour

Guangxi traditional Chinese Medical University Universidad de Medicina Tradicional China de Guangxi This study evaluated the antioxidant activities of the extracts of Jasminum nervosum Lour. stems along with the effects of different extract solvents on total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), and antioxidant potential. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was assessed using the following methods: DPPH, ABTS+ both free radicals scavenging assays, and reducing assays. TP and TF were detected by spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. In former methods, the highest amount of TP content was ethy lacetate extract (EAE), expressed as gallic acid equivalents. The greatest TF content was in the n-butanol extract (BE), expressed as lutin equivalents. No significant difference was observed in the TP/TF content between these two extracts. The antioxidant activity and TP/TF content of three extracts seemed to follow the same trend. This implied that there is a good correlation between antioxidant activities and TP/TF content. But in HPLC methods, EAE contained the highest content of lutin and gallic acid, which decreased in the same order of EAE > BE > PE, the rank order of TP/TF content of EAE and BE were different according to antioxidant ability. The overall results showed that the EAE and BE were richer in phenolics and flavonoids than petroleum ether extract (PE), and may represent a good source of antioxidants.Este estudio evaluó las actividades antioxidantes de extractos de tallos de Jasminum nervosum Lour., y el efecto de diferentes disolventes de extracción en los fenoles totales (TP) y flavonoides totales (TF), y su potencial antioxidante. La actividad antioxidante de los extractos fue evaluada usando los siguientes métodos: DPPH, ABTS+ y ensayos reductores. TP y TF fueron detectados por métodos espectroscópicos y por HPLC. Con el primer método, el contenido más alto de TP se obtuvo en el extracto con acetato de etilo (EAE), expresado como equivalentes de ácido gálico. Por su parte, el mayor contenido de TF se obtuvo en el extracto con n-butanol (BE), expresado como equivalentes de luteína. No se observaron diferencias significativas en la relación TP/TF entre los dos extractos. La actividad antioxidante y la relación TP/TF de los tres extractos parecen seguir el mismo comportamiento. Esto implica que hay una buena correlación entre las actividades antioxidantes y la relación TP/TF. Con el método de HPLC, el extracto EAE contenía los más altos contenidos de luteína y ácido gálico, que decrecieron en el mismo orden de EAE > BE > PE, el orden de la relación TP/TF de EAE y BE fueron diferentes de acuerdo a su capacidad antioxidante. En conjunto, los resultados muestran que los extractos de EAE y de BE fueron más ricos en compuestos fenólicos y flavonoides que el extracto de éter (PE), y pueden representar una buena fuente de antioxidantes

Short-term obeticholic acid treatment does not impact cholangiopathy in Cyp2c70-deficient mice with a human-like bile acid composition

Cyp2c70-/- mice with a human-like bile acid (BA) composition, lacking hydrophilic muricholic acids (MCAs), have been reported to display cholangiopathy and biliary fibrosis with female preponderance that can be reversed by ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Obeticholic acid (OCA), a steroidal BA-like FXR agonist, has been shown to improve liver function in patients with primary biliary cholangitis and is approved as second-line treatment for patients with an inadequate response or intolerance to UDCA. Here, we investigated the impact of OCA on BA hydrophobicity and cholangiopathy in Cyp2c70-/- mice. Male and female wild-type (WT) and Cyp2c70-/- mice were fed a chow diet with or without 10 mg/kg/day OCA for 4 weeks. OCA accounted for 1-5% of biliary BAs, with larger enrichments in Cyp2c70-/- than in WT mice. In WT mice, OCA induced a more hydrophilic, MCA-rich BA pool. In Cyp2c70-/- mice, however, BA pool became more hydrophobic with a larger proportion of chenodeoxycholic acid, attributable to a reduction of BA 12α-hydroxylation. OCA treatment reduced fecal BA excretion, indicating repression of hepatic BA synthesis in both WT and Cyp2c70-/- mice. OCA did, however, not impact on markers of liver (dys)function in plasma nor did it ameliorate cholangiopathy and fibrosis in male or female Cyp2c70-/- mice. OCA treatment also did not affect the expression of genes involved in fibrosis, inflammation and cellular senescence. In conclusion, 4 weeks of OCA treatment oppositely modulates the hydrophobicity of the BA pool in WT and Cyp2c70-/- mice, but does not improve or worsen the characteristic sex-dependent liver pathology in Cyp2c70-/- mice

Analysis of weighted co-regulatory networks in maize provides insights into new genes and regulatory mechanisms related to inositol phosphate metabolism

Sub-network 1 and 2 of “magenta2”, node annotation. (XLSX 10 kb

Reference Gene Selection for qRT-PCR Analysis in the Sweetpotato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

BACKGROUND: Accurate evaluation of gene expression requires normalization relative to the expression of reliable reference genes. Expression levels of classical reference genes can differ, however, across experimental conditions. Although quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) has been used extensively to decipher gene function in the sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci, a world-wide pest in many agricultural systems, the stability of its reference genes has rarely been validated. RESULTS: In this study, 15 candidate reference genes from B. tabaci were evaluated using two Excel-based algorithms geNorm and Normfinder under a diverse set of biotic and abiotic conditions. At least two reference genes were selected to normalize gene expressions in B. tabaci under experimental conditions. Specifically, for biotic conditions including host plant, acquisition of a plant virus, developmental stage, tissue (body region of the adult), and whitefly biotype, ribosomal protein L29 was the most stable reference gene. In contrast, the expression of elongation factor 1 alpha, peptidylprolyl isomerase A, NADH dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase complex subunit A and heat shock protein 40 were consistently stable across various abiotic conditions including photoperiod, temperature, and insecticide susceptibility. CONCLUSION: Our finding is the first step toward establishing a standardized quantitative real-time PCR procedure following the MIQE (Minimum Information for publication of Quantitative real time PCR Experiments) guideline in an agriculturally important insect pest, and provides a solid foundation for future RNA interference based functional study in B. tabaci