Effects of dietary supplementation with peony pollen on growth, immune-related gene expression, and antioxidant status of Cyprinus carpio

Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) is both ornamental flower and Chinese herbal medicine in China. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary peony pollen on growth performance and immune status of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Five different diets with 0% (control group), 1%, 2%, 3% and 4 % of peony pollen were designed to feed the fish for 6 weeks. The results indicated that the dietary peony pollen has beneficial effects on growth performance of common carp. In addition, evaluation of the liver antioxidant enzymes activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in 3% peony pollen group, showed significant increase in carps fed peony pollen (P < 0.05), except the malondialdehyde (MDA) activity. The genes expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and interleukin-1-β (IL1β) in the carps fed peony pollen were obviously decreased compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The expression levels of heat shock protein-70 (Hsp70) were up-regulated significantly in carps fed peony pollen (P < 0.05). Our observations suggest that peony pollen supplementation in the diets has the potential to improve the immune response by activating carp's cellular antioxidant activity and regulating the expression of immune -related genes, which may lead to increased carp tolerance to adverse conditions. Further research is needed on the use of peony pollen to improve disease resistance in fisheries

A novel real-time traffic information system based on wireless mesh networks

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Analysis of time- and space-domain sampling for probe vehicle-based traffic information system

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Two-pion interferometry for the granular sources in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions

We investigate the two-pion interferometry in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions in the granular source model of quark-gluon plasma droplets. The pion transverse momentum spectra and HBT radii of the granular sources agree well with the experimental data of the $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV Au-Au and $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV Pb-Pb most central collisions. In the granular source model the larger initial system breakup time may lead to the larger HBT radii $R_{\rm out}$, $R_{\rm side}$, and $R_{\rm long}$. However, the large droplet transverse expansion and limited average relative emitting time of particles in the granular source lead to small ratios of the transverse HBT radii $R_{\rm out}/R_{\rm side}$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Co-benefits and trade-offs of environmental pressures: A case study of Zhejiang’s socio-economic evolution

Our societies are continuously grappling with how to achieve rapid economic growth while minimizing the challenges of environmental sustainability. In this avenue, numerous studies have contributed towards investigating socio-economic factors and developing policies targeting environmental pressures (EPs). While previous studies have tended to focus on the individual driving forces of EPs, the consideration of the co-benefits and trade-offs among different EPs and policies have been considerably overlooked. In China, previous studies have mostly engaged these issues at the national level and have overlooked the regional socio-economic characteristics – this presents a mismatch between regional policy applications and average national level research findings. Towards this end, this study examines the co-benefits and trade-offs of eight EPs in Zhejiang during the 2007–2015 period. Our findings revealed strict co-benefits in reductions of all eight EPs due to intensity changes as well as trade-offs due to changes in final demand structure and final demand composition. Sectoral results show that only the Non-Ferrous Metal Ores sector has strict co-benefits among all EPs from the production perspective, while eight sectors have strict co-benefits from the consumption perspective mainly including the Mining and Washing of Coal, Ferrous Metal Ores, Electric Power and Heat Power sectors. Our findings suggest important policy implications associated with utilizing co-benefits and avoiding trade-offs for EP mitigation: making full use of all driving forces, strengthening intersectoral coordination, and establishing a joint evaluation mechanism among different sectors

Emitter-Active Shell in NaYF₄:Yb,Er/NaYF₄:Er Upconversion Nanoparticles for Enhanced Energy Transfer in Photodynamic Therapy

To realize the potential of near-infrared (NIR) upconversion nanosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of cancer, upconversion luminescence and energy transfer (ET) efficiency from emitter donors to photosensitizer acceptors need to be improved. In the current work, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with a core/emitter-active shell structure were constructed to enhance not only the upconversion emission but also the ET from the nanoparticles to surface-anchored photosensitizers. The emitter was doped into the shell to bridge the migration of upconverted energy to the surface. NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Er UCNPs and rose bengal (RB) photosensitizer were employed as an example. The upconversion emission was lifted by up to ∼81 times of the core counterpart. The bridge effect of the emitter-doped shell was obvious for the constructed nanophotosensitizer. The emission of the RB photosensitizer was up to ∼36 times that of the core counterpart. The NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Er UCNPs also endow the RB photosensitizers with the most efficient reactive oxygen species production capability under NIR irradiation. In vitro photodynamic tests on glioma cells were conducted to validate the efficacy of the NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Er/RB agent. Therefore, this work can facilitate the development of ET-based upconversion nanosystems

Spin Switching and Magnetization Reversal in Single-Crystal NdFeO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

We report an experimental and computational study of single-crystal NdFeO3, which features two inequivalent magnetic sublattices, namely, Fe and Nd sublattices that are coupled in an antiparallel fashion. This paper reveals that a strong interaction between 3d and 4f electrons of the two sublattices along with a spin-lattice coupling drives an extremely interesting magnetic state that is highly sensitive to the orientation and history of weak magnetic field. The following phenomena are particularly remarkable: (1) sharply contrasting magnetization M(T) along the a and c axes; (2) a first-order spin switching along the a axis below 29 K when the system is zero-field-cooled; and (3) a progressive magnetization reversal when the system is field-cooled. The intriguing magnetic behavior is captured in our first-principles density functional theory calculations

Anomalous gtt couplings in the Littlest Higgs Model with T-parity

In this work we calculate the leading electroweak (EW) corrections to the anomalous $gt\bar{t}$ coupling in the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT), by applying the Goldstone boson equivalence theorem. In the LHT model, such electroweak corrections arise from the loop diagrams of heavy fermions and the ``would-be'' Goldstone bosons. We further examine the EW corrections in the top quark pair production via the quark annihilation process at the LHC. The negative EW corrections in the Standard Model are partially canceled by the positive EW corrections from the loops of the new heavy particles, and the latter dominates in the large invariant mass of the top quark pair.Comment: version appeared in PR