Advantages of the multinucleon transfer reactions based on 238U target for producing neutron-rich isotopes around N = 126

The mechanism of multinucleon transfer (MNT) reactions for producing neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N = 126 is investigated within two different theoretical frameworks: dinuclear system (DNS) model and isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. The effects of mass asymmetry relaxation, N=Z equilibration, and shell closures on production cross sections of neutron-rich heavy nuclei are investigated. For the first time, the advantages for producing neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N = 126 is found in MNT reactions based on 238U target. We propose the reactions with 238U target for producing unknown neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N = 126 in the future.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Effect of insulin pump infusion on comprehensive stress state of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis

Purpose: To assess changes in the comprehensive stress state of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) following treatment with insulin infusion pump.Methods: A total of 240 patients suffering from DKA who received treatment at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from Feb. 2011 to Feb. 2014 were selected randomly and divided into a control group (120 cases), administered continuous intravenous insulin, and a treatment group (120 cases), administered insulin with an infusion pump. Relevant diabetes-associated serum indices, oxidative stress and stress hormone levels were compared between the groups at different time points.Results: Levels of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbAlc), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and anion gap (AG) were lower (p < 0.05) in the treatment group than in the control group at various time points. Carbon dioxide combining power (CO2-CP) and C-reactive peptide levels in the treatment group were higher (p < 0.05) than those of the control group at different time points. Except for the level of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA), the values of other oxidative stress indices were higher (p < 0.05) in the treatment group than in the control group at various time points. Moreover, the treatment group had lower serum cortisol (Cor) and noradrenalin (NA) levels and higher levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) than those of (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Insulin pump infusion effectively relieves the comprehensive stress state of patients suffering from DKA, and its therapeutic effect is superior to that of continuous instillation of low-dose insulin.Keywords: Diabetic ketoacidosis, Insulin pump, Comprehensive stress state, Blood glucose, Carbon dioxide combining power, C-reactive peptid

cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of heat shock protein 70 gene in blood clam Tegillarca granosa against heavy metals challenge

In this study, the full-length heat shock protein 70 of Tegillarca granosa was cloned from cDNA library by rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE). The open reading frame (ORF) of heat shock protein 70 was 1968 bp, and it encoded a protein of 655 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 71.48 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.25. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis showed that the heat shock protein 70 of T. granosa shared high similarity with other species, supporting that it is a new member of heat shock protein family. Western blot analysis revealed that the generated polyclonal antibodies could specially detect native protein from whole cell lysate of T. granosa. The spatial distribution confirmed that the heat shock protein 70 was abundant in visceral mass, gill and haemocytes, and weakly in foot, mantle and adductor. Heavy metal pollutes such as lead (Pb2+), cadmium (Cd2+) and copper (Cu2+) could induce the gene expression in similar manners by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The present results indicate that heat shock protein 70 of T. granosa may be involved in environmental pollution challenges and should be considered as one of T. granosa promising molecular marker candidates.Keywords: Tegillarca granosa, heat shock protein 70, heavy metals, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2341-235