Tight Junction-Related Barrier Contributes to the Electrophysiological Asymmetry across Vocal Fold Epithelium

Electrophysiological homeostasis is indispensable to vocal fold hydration. We investigate tight junction (TJ)-associated components, occludin and ZO-1, and permeability with or without the challenge of a permeability-augmenting agent, histamine. Freshly excised ovine larynges are obtained from a local abattoir. TJ markers are explored via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Paracellular permeabilities are measured in an Ussing system. The gene expression of both TJ markers is detected in native ovine vocal fold epithelium. Luminal histamine treatment significantly decreases transepithelial resistance (TER) (N = 72, p<0.01) and increases penetration of protein tracer (N = 35, p<0.001), respectively, in a time-, and dose-dependent fashion. The present study demonstrates that histamine compromises TJ-related paracellular barrier across vocal fold epithelium. The detection of TJ markers indicates the existence of typical TJ components in non-keratinized, stratified vocal fold epithelium. The responsiveness of paracellular permeabilities to histamine would highlight the functional significance of this TJ-equivalent system to the electrophysiological homeostasis, which, in turn, regulates the vocal fold superficial hydration

Design of Robust Sensing Matrix for UAV Images Encryption and Compression

The sparse representation error (SRE) exists when the images are represented sparsely. The SRE is particularly large in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) images due to the disturbance of the harsh environment or the instability of its flight, which will bring more noise. In the compressed sensing (CS) system, the projected SRE in the compressed measurement will bring a significant challenge to the recovery accuracy of the images. In this work, a new SRE structure is proposed. Following the new structure, a lower sparse representation error (LSRE) is achieved by eliminating groups of sparse representation. With the proposed LSRE modeling, a robust sensing matrix is designed to compress and encrypt the UAV images. Experiments for UAV images are carried out to compare the recovery performance of the proposed algorithm with the existing related algorithms. The results of the proposed algorithm reveal superior recovery accuracy. The new CS framework with the proposed sensing matrix to address the scenario of UAV images with large SRE is dominant

An Efficient Algorithm for Learning Dictionary under Coherence Constraint

Dictionary learning problem has become an active topic for decades. Most existing learning methods train the dictionary to adapt to a particular class of signals. But as the number of the dictionary atoms is increased to represent the signals much more sparsely, the coherence between the atoms becomes higher. According to the greedy and compressed sensing theories, this goes against the implementation of sparse coding. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to learn the dictionary that minimizes the sparse representation error according to the training signals with the coherence taken into consideration. The coherence is constrained by making the Gram matrix of the desired dictionary approximate to an identity matrix of proper dimension. The method for handling the proposed model is mainly based on the alternating minimization procedure and, in each step, the closed-form solution is derived. A series of experiments on synthetic data and audio signals is executed to demonstrate the promising performance of the learnt incoherent dictionary and the superiority of the learning method to the existing ones

Impact of Agricultural Labor Transfer and Structural Adjustment on Chemical Application: Comparison of Past Developments in the Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones of China and Their Future Implications

Reducing the application of agricultural chemicals is a key point in promoting the construction of an ecological civilization and the green development of the agricultural sector. Based on statistical yearbook data from provinces which became the first national ecological civilization pilot zones in China, this paper quantitatively analyzes the impact of labor transfers and structural adjustment of agriculture on the application of agricultural chemicals by using comparative analysis and a panel data model. The results show that the amplitude of the agricultural labor force in Fujian, Guizhou, and Jiangxi decreases successively. The planting structure adjustment for grain crops is slowest in Jiangxi, while the sown area of cash crops, such as vegetables, increases at the fastest rate in Guizhou. The increase of horticultural plants, such as orchards is the most obvious in Jiangxi. The application of agricultural chemicals grows quickly. The influence of the agricultural labor force scale on the application of fertilizers and pesticides is statistically significantly negative. The ratio of the sown area of non-grain crops to the total sown area has a positive effect on the application of fertilizers and pesticides. In the context of the continuing agricultural labor transfer in China, combining the structural adjustment of agriculture and the supply of high-quality agricultural products, the government should actively guide and support new agricultural business entities in applying organic manure. Additionally, it should accelerate the development of smaller agricultural machinery that can be used for smaller land areas and by elderly people to reduce the application of chemical fertilizer and pesticide

Comprehensive genetic study on Chinese carps [Chinese language]

Some text in Englis

Cadmium pollution status and assessment of potential risk to human health of commercial aquatic products

Objective To understand the cadmium pollution in aquatic products of fish, shellfish, shrimp and crab, analyze the seasonal difference of cadmium content in the above aquatic products, classify the level of cadmium pollution and assess the health risks. Methods Totally 1 554 samples of commercial aquatic products were collected and the cadmium content in aquatic products was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The difference of cadmium concentration between seasons were compared through descriptive analysis. Pollution index (Pi) methodology was employed to evaluate the pollution level of aquatic products. The provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI) of cadmium was taken as the reference value to assess the health risks of aquatic products. Results The average concentration of cadmium in 1 554 aquatic products was 0.116 4 mg/kg. The total detection rate was 45.56% (708/1 554), including 86.26% (496/575) of shellfish, 66.43% (93/140) of crabs, 32.48% (102/314) of shrimps and 3.24% (17/525) of fish. The total violation rate was 1.74% (27/1 554), of which crabs were 7.86% (11/140), shrimps were 2.87% (9/314), shellfish were 1.22% (7/575), fish were 0.00% (0/525). The result of pollution index indicated that crabs were lightly polluted in autumn (Pi=0.36), moderately polluted in spring and winter (Pi were 0.70 and 0.89 respectively), and the other aquatic products were clean in each season. The result of health risk assessment showed that at the general intake level, the maximum percentage of estimated monthly intake (EMI) in PTMI of various aquatic products in different seasons was 0.35%, while at the high intake level, the maximum percentage was 49.33%. Conclusion There were some differences of the violation rate of cadmium in aquatic products between seasons. The cadmium pollution was the lightest in summer. Except for crabs, which had light or moderate pollution level, the other kinds of aquatic products were clean. Either at the general level or high level of intake, the health risks of cadmium exposure caused by taking aquatic products was relatively low