17 research outputs found
Research and Practice on Green Development of Cultural Tourism Integrated Industry Clusters
This paper focuses on the green development of cultural tourism integrated industry clusters, discussing case studies such as Longquanyi District, Bazhong Guangwushan, and Shuangliu District. It examines from various perspectives the impact factors, development models, and core issues of green development evaluation in cultural tourism integration within industry clusters. Under the guidance of industrial cluster theory, industry integration theory, and sustainable development theory, a research approach is constructed: “Cultural Tourism Integration - Business Model Innovation - Industry Cluster - Green Development Evaluation - Policy Recommendations”. This study deeply analyzes the formation conditions, new business model development, level of green development, and existing problems of cultural tourism integrated industry clusters in different regions, and proposes corresponding policy recommendations. By combining theory with practice, this study provides useful references for promoting the integration and sustainable development of cultural, ecological, and tourism resources
The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens
Background The Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function. Results Here, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory. Conclusion We conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.Peer reviewe
The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens
BackgroundThe Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function.ResultsHere, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory.ConclusionWe conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.</p
A Numerical Study on Modeling Ship Maneuvering Performance Using Twin Azimuth Thrusters
A methodology of mathematical testing is proposed for a ship with twin azimuth thrusters based on numerical calculations. An unmanned surface vessel (USV) powered by two azimuth thrusters is considered, which is a model-scale configuration. The Ship Maneuvering Mathematical Model Group (MMG) model is introduced to describe forces on the hull and propellers. A set of captive tests (planar motion mechanism (PMM) and open-water tests) were simulated using STAR-CCM+ (16.06.008-R8) software to obtain hull hydrodynamic derivatives and azimuth thruster hydrodynamic coefficients. A maneuvering test of the model-scale ship with two azimuth thrusters is built based on numerical results, and numerical results are compared with the model-scale experimental data to validate the feasibility of numerical methods. The findings show that the usability of the developed mathematical test in predicting the maneuvering ability of ships with two azimuth thrusters is confirmed through numerical calculations
Influence of Surface Roughness on Biodegradability and Cytocompatibility of High-Purity Magnesium
High-purity magnesium (Mg) is a promising biodegradable metal for oral and maxillofacial implants. Appropriate surface roughness plays a critical role in the degradation behavior and the related cellular processes of biodegradable Mg-based metals. Nevertheless, the most optimized surface roughness has been questionable, especially for Mg-based oral and maxillofacial implants. Three representative scales of surface roughness were investigated in this study, including smooth (Sa 2.0 µm). The results indicated that the degradation rate of the Mg specimen in the cell culture medium was significantly accelerated with increased surface roughness. Furthermore, an extract test revealed that Mg with different roughness did not induce an evident cytotoxic effect. Nonetheless, the smooth Mg surface had an adversely affected cell attachment. Therefore, the high-purity Mg with a moderately rough surface exhibited the most optimized balance between biodegradability and overall cytocompatibility
Probing Thermal Transport on a Suspended Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> MXene Film via a Photothermally Actuated Resonator
Two-dimensional
(2D) Ti3C2Tx MXene
materials show great potential in electrochemical and
flexible sensors due to their high electrical conductivity, good chemical
stability, and special delaminated structure. However, their thermal
properties were rarely studied, which remarkably affect the stability
and safety of various devices. Here, we fabricated a suspended MXene
drum resonator photothermally driven by a sinusoidally modulated laser,
measured the thermal time constant by demodulating the thermomechanical
motion, and then calculated the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity
of the MXene film. Experiments show the thermal conductivity of the
film increases from 3.10 to 3.58 W/m·K while the thermal diffusivity
from 1.06 × 10–6 to 1.22 × 10–6 m2/s when temperature increases from 300 to 360 K. We
also confirm the film thermal conductivity is mainly contributed by
phonon transport rather than electron transport. Furthermore, the
relationship between the mechanical and thermal properties of the
MXene films was disclosed. The thermal conductivity decreases when
film strain increases, caused by enhanced phonon scattering and softening
of high-frequency phonons. The measurements provide a noninvasive
method to analyze the thermal characteristics of suspended MXene films,
which can be further extended to the thermal properties of other 2D
materials
Microbiological identification and analysis of waterfowl livers collected from backyard farms in southern China
Exosomes Derived from BMMSCs Mitigate the Hepatic Fibrosis via Anti-Pyroptosis Pathway in a Cirrhosis Model
Researchers increasingly report the therapeutic effect of exosomes derived from rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (Exos-rBMMSC) on liver disease, while the optimal dose of Exos-rBMMSC in liver cirrhotic treatment has not been reported. In this study, we aimed to explore the efficacy and dose of Exos-rBMMSC in a hepatic cirrhosis rat model. The therapeutic effects of a low dose, medium dose and high dose of Exos-rBMMSC were assessed by liver function tests and histopathology. After four-weeks of Exos-rBMMSC therapy, pyroptosis-related expression levels in the medium dose and the high dose Exos-rBMMSC groups were significantly decreased compared to those in the liver cirrhosis group (p < 0.05). The hepatic function assay and histopathology results showed significant improvement in the medium dose and the high dose Exos-rBMMSCs groups. The localization of PKH67-labeled Exos-rBMMSC was verified microscopically, and these particles were coexpressed with the PCNA, NLRP3, GSDMD and Caspase-1. Our results demonstrated that Exos-rBMMSC accelerated hepatocyte proliferation and relieved liver fibrosis by restraining hepatocyte pyroptosis. More importantly, we confirmed that the high dose of Exos-rBMMSC may be the optimal dose for liver cirrhosis, which is conducive to the application of Exos-rBMMSC as a promising cell-free strategy