Effects of Dietary Carbohydrates with Different Molecular Complexity on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, and Metabolic Responses of Juvenile Turbot Scophthalmus maximus

A 9 week study was conducted to evaluate the ability of juvenile turbot Scophthalmus maximus (initial body weight: 8.06 ± 0.08 g) to utilize carbohydrates of different molecular complexity (glucose, sucrose and dextrin) diets. Triplicate groups of fish were hand-fed each of the diets in a re-circulated water system. Results showed that weight gain rate and feed efficiency of fish fed dietary dextrin and the control diets were higher than those fed dietary glucose and sucrose diets (P dextrin > sucrose with the lowest occurring in fish fed dietary sucrose. Lipid content in muscle and liver was significantly higher in fish fed the control diet, and muscle glycogen was significantly highest (P sucrose > dextrin > control. Insulin was significantly highest (P<0.05) in fish fed dietary dextrin plasma. In fish fed the control diet total cholesterol in plasma was highest (P<0.05), and triacylglycerols in plasma of fish fed the control and dietary dextrin diets were significantly highest (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present study suggests that turbot can utilize dextrin more efficiently than glucose and sucrose

The SNP rs961253 in 20p12.3 Is Associated with Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study and a Meta-Analysis of the Published Literature

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs961253 located in 20p12, was firstly described to be associated with the increased risk of CRC in a genome-wide association study; however, more recent replication studies yielded controversial results. Methodology/Principal Findings: A hospital-based case-control study in a Chinese population was firstly performed, and then a meta-analysis combining the current and previously published studies were conducted to explore the real effect of rs961253 in CRC susceptibility. In the Chinese population including 641 cases and 1037 controls, per-A-allele conferred an OR of 1.60 (95 % CI = 1.26–2.02) under additive model. In the meta-analysis including 29859 cases and 29696 controls, per-Aallele have an OR of 1.13 (95 % CI = 1.09–1.18) under a random-effects model due to heterogeneity (P = 0.019). Nevertheless, the heterogeneity can be totally explained by ethnicity, with the tau 2 reduced to 0 after including ethnicity in metaregression model. In stratified analysis by ethnicity, per-A-allele had ORs of 1.34 (95 % CI = 1.20–1.50) and 1.11 (95% CI = 1.08–1.14) for Asian and European, respectively, without heterogeneity. Modest influence of each study was observed on overall estimate in sensitive analysis, and evident tendency to significant association was seen in cumulative analysis over time, together indicating the robust stability of the current results

Research on Current Drive System of Magnetorheological Damper Based on Fuzzy PI Control

Magnetorheological dampers (MRD) are increasingly used in smart structural damping systems due to their good damping properties. In practical applications, as a nonlinear device, the parameters of the internal excitation coil of the magnetorheological damper will change during operation under the influence of the temperature and external environment, deteriorating the dynamic performance of the output current of the driver and reducing the damping effect of the system. Therefore, the current driver needs to be optimized for this phenomenon in order to ensure accurate current output. In this paper, a mathematical model of the buck circuit combined with the MRD equivalent circuit is established, and after analyzing the model, the parameters of the PI controller are rectified to lay the foundation for the design of the adaptive law. Then, with the help of the fuzzy control method, a fuzzy PI control strategy for MRD current driver is established, which enables the current driving system to adjust the control parameters adaptively when the MRD parameters change and ensure the accurate driving current output. The experimental results demonstrate that the fuzzy PI control strategy has a stronger robustness in the face of parameter changes of the control object compared with the traditional PI control at a system parameter change rate of 40%

Experimental Vortex Flow Patterns in the Primary and Secondary Pump Intakes of a Model Underground Pumping Station

In order to provide specific references and suggestions for the design and operation of underground pumping stations, in this paper, an experimental model of an underground pumping station, including 4 pumps and 2 pump intakes (primary and secondary), was obtained through similitude of fluid mechanics. The phase diagrams of various vortices, in terms of different dimensionless numbers are presented, which can reveal their appearance and evolution process. Three specific cases with different vortex flows were analyzed. The experiment results may provide a reference for the current design guidelines for underground pumping stations

Multi-Physics Simulation and Experimental Verification of Magnetorheological Damper with Additional Stiffness

Single-rod magneto-rheological dampers (MRD) have the advantages of a simple mechanism, high reliability, and broad application range. They are widely used in various semi-active vibration control fields. However, their working mode requires a compensating mechanism to perform volume compensation on the rod, leading to additional stiffness for the system. Ignoring this point makes it tough to establish an accurate mechanical model to describe its performance in the design stage, affecting its application. To address this issue, this study proposes a multi-physics simulation model based on gas compensation for single-rod MRD to characterize their mechanical performance accurately. Firstly, the mechanism and mechanical model of the single-rod gas compensation MRD are introduced. Secondly, considering that its performance is affected by the coupling effect of multiple physical fields, including magnetic, flow, and solid mechanics fields, the control equations and boundary conditions of each field are analyzed separately, and a multi-physics coupling simulation model is established by COMSOL. In particular, the gas compensation unit is considered in the multi-physics simulation model. The effect of the compensating mechanism on the mechanical performance of the damper under different excitation speeds, currents, and initial pressures is analyzed. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed method is verified through the demonstration power test. The results show that the simulation can describe the additional stiffness in the damper. The average error between experimental value and simulation value is 7%. This demonstrates the degree of agreement between the experiment and simulation

Effective Components of Panax quinquefolius

Both oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) have been implicated in carcinogenesis and neurological diseases, while there are few reports about the mechanisms of them in the progression of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study examined oxidative stress and ERS in a rat model of AMI and evaluated their role in therapy by metoprolol and effective components of Panax quinquefolius and Corydalis tuber (EPC). In the present study a rat model of AMI was established by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. After oral administration of metoprolol or low-to-high doses of EPC for 2 weeks, serum malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to examine mRNA and protein expressions of the hallmarks of ERS-glucose-regulated protein-78 (GRP78) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP). We confirmed that both metoprolol and moderate-to-high dose of EPC decreased 8-iso-PGF2α serum level and downregulated the mRNA and protein expressions of GRP78 and CHOP in myocardium, while EPC also increased SOD serum level. These results indicated that metoprolol and EPC protect the myocardium by attenuating oxidative stress and ERS induced by myocardial infarction, highlighting the ERS pathways as potential therapeutic targets for AMI

Effect of Sand Mulches of Different Particle Sizes on Soil Evaporation during the Freeze–Thaw Period

Reducing ineffective evaporation is a feasible means to improve water use efficiency in agriculture, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. A field experiment assessed the impact of sand mulches (1-cm thickness) with a particle size of 0.5&ndash;1.5 mm (XS) and 1.5&ndash;2.0 mm (CS) on soil evaporation during winter in Northern China. Results showed that CS and XS increased by at least 11.93% and 14.92% compared to bare soil (LD), respectively. However, the sand mulches showed significant distinctions in soil evaporation at different stages. Soil evaporation was the highest in LD, while CS evaporated the least in the unstable freezing stage (P1) and stable freezing stage (P2); in the thawing stage (P3), XS evaporated the most, while LD evaporated the least. Ten factors affecting evaporation were analyzed using the principal component analysis method to elaborate the mechanisms of soil evaporation. Mean soil moisture at depths from 0 to 15 cm was a factor that affected the evaporation of XS and CS in the test. Soil moisture was evaporated by vapor when the frost penetration was dense and the frost impeded the vapor movement. The evaporation rates were steady and weak in this period, and soil moisture had slight impact on soil evaporation, especially XS and CS treatment with higher water content at the surface. The research is significant for preventing evaporation and the improvement of water-use efficiency

A Novel Method for Speech Acquisition and Enhancement by 94 GHz Millimeter-Wave Sensor

In order to improve the speech acquisition ability of a non-contact method, a 94 GHz millimeter wave (MMW) radar sensor was employed to detect speech signals. This novel non-contact speech acquisition method was shown to have high directional sensitivity, and to be immune to strong acoustical disturbance. However, MMW radar speech is often degraded by combined sources of noise, which mainly include harmonic, electrical circuit and channel noise. In this paper, an algorithm combining empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and mutual information entropy (MIE) was proposed for enhancing the perceptibility and intelligibility of radar speech. Firstly, the radar speech signal was adaptively decomposed into oscillatory components called intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by EMD. Secondly, MIE was used to determine the number of reconstructive components, and then an adaptive threshold was employed to remove the noise from the radar speech. The experimental results show that human speech can be effectively acquired by a 94 GHz MMW radar sensor when the detection distance is 20 m. Moreover, the noise of the radar speech is greatly suppressed and the speech sounds become more pleasant to human listeners after being enhanced by the proposed algorithm, suggesting that this novel speech acquisition and enhancement method will provide a promising alternative for various applications associated with speech detection

The Ecological Healthcare Benefits and Influences of Plant Communities in Urban Wetland Parks

Plant communities in urban wetland parks (UWP) have significant eco-healthcare benefits in terms of regulating the climate and improving the human living environment. However, factors influencing the regulation of eco-healthcare benefits are unclear. Taking Huaxi Ten Mile Beach National Urban Wetland Park as an example, the urban wetland park comprehensive healthcare index (UPCHI) was constructed based on an outdoor survey and indoor analysis to evaluate the UWP’s eco-healthcare benefits. Pathway analysis was used to investigate how climatic, geographic, and plant factors interact to affect the UPCHI. The results show that, over the whole year, tree–shrub–herb showed the best performance in terms of reducing PM2.5, PM10, and noise, as well as raising negative air ion concentrations; however, human comfort performed the worst. The UPCHI was generally beyond level Ⅲ (0.49–0.58) in the spring and summer, indicating that there are eco-healthcare benefits. Overall, the deciduous tree–shrub–herb community had the highest annual mean UPCHI, and more than half of the plant communities’ eco-healthcare benefits were class Ⅱ, which is very beneficial for eco-healthcare. The main direct factors on UPCHI were illumination intensity (0.68) and tree height (0.90), while canopy height (0.64–0.59) and tree crown radius/canopy height (0.72–0.14) directly or indirectly influenced UPCHI. The distance from the edge of the mountain (−0.39–−0.322) had a direct negative, but minor, effect on UPCHI. This study will assist residents with selecting suitable times and places for wetland recreation and healthcare activities, and it offers a valuable reference for the future planning and design of UWP plant communities