Role of glycosphingolipids in formation and function of lipid rafts

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

The implement of plastic oval tags for mark-recapture in juvenile Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) on the northeast coast of Shandong Province, China

As part of the stock enhancement research project of Shandong Province, China, plastic oval tags (POTs) were used to mark juvenile Japanese flounder for release, Paralichthys olivaceus (70 to 133 mm total length, TL), in 2009 and 2010. Optimal tag placement locations, retention, tagging rates, and mortality were initially evaluated. Mark–recapture experiments were carried out in the coastal waters of Weihai City to study their migratory movements: 21,202 individuals in July 2009 at Beihai and 18,350 individuals in July 2010 at Lidao. The number of recaptured individuals were 434 (2.05% recapture rate) in 2009 and 620 (3.38% recapture rate) in 2010. A radiative movement from the release site was observed in the 2009 experiment; however, the tagging experiment showed a predominantly northward dispersal of tagged flounder from the release site in 2010. The mean movement speed of the released fish was calculated as 0.46 km day-1 in 2009 and 1.05 km day-1 in 2010. Furthermore, in 2009, the average TL and wet mass increments were 36.3 ± 8.4 mm month-1 and 27.13 ± 16.09 g month-1, respectively 1 to 6 months after releasing; however, the increments were 14.7 ± 8.8 mm month-1 and 5.65 ± 4.17 g month-1, respectively in 2010.Key words: Paralichthys olivaceus, plastic oval tag, mark–recapture, movement, growth

Metastable state of gas hydrate during decomposition: a novel phenomenon

Natural gas hydrates are solid compounds with cage-like structures formed by gas and water. An intriguing phenomenon that gas hydrates can dissociate at a low rate below the ice freezing point has been viewed as the metastability of hydrate. The mechanisms of hydrate metastability have been widely studied, and many mechanisms were proposed involving the self-preservation effect, supercooled water-gas-hydrate metastable equilibrium, and supersaturated liquid–gas-hydrate system etc. The metastable state of hydrate could be of crucial significance in the kinetics of hydrate formation and decomposition, heat and mass transfer during gas production processes, and the application of hydrate-based technique involving desalination, energy storage and transportation, and gas separation and sequestration. Few researches have systematically considered this phenomenon, and its mechanism remains unclear. In this work, various mechanisms and hypothesis explaining the metastable state of gas hydrates were introduced and discussed. Further studies are still required to reveal the intrinsic nature of this metastable state of gas hydrate, and this work could give some implications on the existing theory and current status of relevant efforts

Small Interference RNA Targeting TLR4 Gene Effectively Attenuates Pulmonary Inflammation in a Rat Model

Objective. The present study was to investigate the feasibility of adenovirus-mediated small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene in ameliorating lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced acute lung injury (ALI). Methods. In vitro, alveolar macrophages (AMs) were treated with Ad-siTLR4 and Ad-EFGP, respectively, for 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h, and then with LPS (100 ng/mL) for 2 h, and the function and expression of TLR4 were evaluated. In vivo, rats received intratracheal injection of 300 μL of normal saline (control group), 300 μL of Ad-EGFP (Ad-EGFP group), or 300 μL of Ad-siTLR4 (Ad-siTLR4 group) and then were intravenously treated with LPS (50 mg/kg) to induce ALI. Results. Ad-siTLR4 treatment significantly reduced TLR4 expression and production of proinflammatory cytokines following LPS treatment both in vitro and in vivo. Significant alleviation of tissue edema, microvascular protein leakage, and neutrophil infiltration was observed in the AdsiTLR4-treated animals. Conclusion. TLR4 plays a critical role in LPS-induced ALI, and transfection of Ad-siTLR4 can effectively downregulate TLR4 expression in vitro and in vivo, accompanied by alleviation of LPS-induced lung injury. These findings suggest that TLR4 may serve as a potential target in the treatment of ALI and RNA interfering targeting TLR4 expression represents a therapeutic strategy

Perception of Misalignment States for Sky Survey Telescopes with the Digital Twin and the Deep Neural Networks

Sky survey telescopes play a critical role in modern astronomy, but misalignment of their optical elements can introduce significant variations in point spread functions, leading to reduced data quality. To address this, we need a method to obtain misalignment states, aiding in the reconstruction of accurate point spread functions for data processing methods or facilitating adjustments of optical components for improved image quality. Since sky survey telescopes consist of many optical elements, they result in a vast array of potential misalignment states, some of which are intricately coupled, posing detection challenges. However, by continuously adjusting the misalignment states of optical elements, we can disentangle coupled states. Based on this principle, we propose a deep neural network to extract misalignment states from continuously varying point spread functions in different field of views. To ensure sufficient and diverse training data, we recommend employing a digital twin to obtain data for neural network training. Additionally, we introduce the state graph to store misalignment data and explore complex relationships between misalignment states and corresponding point spread functions, guiding the generation of training data from experiments. Once trained, the neural network estimates misalignment states from observation data, regardless of the impacts caused by atmospheric turbulence, noise, and limited spatial sampling rates in the detector. The method proposed in this paper could be used to provide prior information for the active optics system and the optical system alignment.Comment: The aforementioned submission has been accepted by Optics Express. We kindly request any feedback or comments to be directed to the corresponding author, Peng Jia ([email protected]), or the second corresponding author, Zhengyang Li ([email protected]). Please note that Zhengyang is currently stationed in the South Antarctica and will not be available until after February 1st, 202

Vortex-lattice melting in magnesium diboride in terms of the elastic theory

In the framework of elastic theory, we study the vortex-lattice melting transitions in magnesium diboride for magnetic fields both parallel and perpendicular to the anisotropy axis. Using the parameters from experiments, the vortex-lattice melting lines in the H-T diagram are located systematically by various groups of Lindemann numbers and the anisotropic parameters. It is observed that the theoretical result for the vortex melting with parallel and perpendicular fields agrees well with the experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Evaluation of the Ecological Quality of the Taishan Region Based on Landsat Series of Satellite Images

The deterioration of ecological environment has seriously restricted regional sustainable development. Taishan region is one of the ecological protection and restoration of life community of mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands in China. Its ecological quality changes are directly related to the overall layout of ecological restoration and protection projects. In this study, the Taishan region of China was taken as study area, and the grade change, spatial distribution, and spatial temporal fluctuation of the ecological environment quality were quantified. Based on the ENVI platform, the Landsat series of three images of the Taishan region in 2005, 2013, and 2017 serve as the data source, and the remote sensing ecological index model (RSEI) was used. According to the change characteristics of land use types, the driving factors of ecological environmental quality change were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) The area ratio of the ecological environment quality above the middle level was in order from large to small: 2005 (97.37%) > 2017 (91.46%) > 2013 (84.64%). (2) The overall quality of the ecological environment declined during the period of 2005-2013. (3) The overall change ranges from 2013 to 2017 are smaller than those from 2005 to 2013. The area of the deteriorating area decreased by 44.90%, and the area of the constant area and the area of the area that improved increased by 16.17% and 28.72%, respectively. During 2013-2017, the general trend is getting better and better. The improved areas were mainly concentrated in the main urban areas (Taishan District, Daiyue District), eastern Ningyang County, and western Xintai City. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the scientific evaluation of the ecological environment quality during the development and construction of the region, and have important value in the design and application of the ecological environment quality optimization path