Finite-/fixed-time synchronization of leakage and discrete delayed Hopfield neural networks with diffusion effects

In this paper, the problem on finite-/fixed-time synchronization (FFTS) is investigated for a class of diffusive Hopfield neural networks with leakage and discrete delays. Some new and useful criteria independent on time delays but dependent on the diffusion coefficients are established to guarantee the FFTS for the addressed network model under a unified framework. In sharp contrast to the existed results which can only finite-timely or fixed-timely synchronize the systems with both diffusion effects and leakage delays, the theoretical results of this paper are more general and practical. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control methods

Effect of beraprost sodium on renal function and p38MAPK signaling pathway in rats with diabetic nephropathy

Purpose: To investigate the effect of beraprost sodium (BPS) on renal function and P38MAPK pathway in diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats.Methods: Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (n = 30) were randomly divided into three groups, viz, normal control (NC), diabetic nephropathy (DN) and beraprost sodium (BPS). Creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and fasting blood glucose (FBG), were determined by Hitachi 7020 automatic biochemical analyzer, while low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) were measured by Olympus 400 automatic biochemical analyzer. Western blot analysis was performed to examine protein expression. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), hs-CRP, and TNF-α levels were evaluated using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: After 8 weeks of treatment, renal function indices (urine output, KW/BW, UAlb/24 h, Cr and BUN), blood lipid indices (FBG, LDL-C, TG and TC) and inflammatory factors levels (IL-6, hs-CRP and TNF-α) in DN group were higher than NC group (p < 0.05). In BPS group, renal function and blood lipid indices and inflammatory factor levels decreased when compared to DN group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, BPS inhibited the protein expression of p-P38MAPK, TGF-β1 and COX-2.Conclusion: Beraprost sodium improves renal function in DN rats by inhibiting P38MAPK signalingpathway

Morpho-physiological adaptations to drought stress in nitrogen-fixing and non-nitrogen-fixing plants

Drought profoundly affects the morpho-physiological responses of desert plants in dryland. To scrutinize the morpho-physiological responses of nitrogen (N)-fixing legumes (Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, Caragana korshinskii), N-fixing non-legumes (Elaeagnus angustifolia, Hippophae rhamnoides), and non-N-fixing plants (Nitraria tangutorum, Haloxylon ammodendron) under varied drought stress levels (75%, 50%, 25% and 5% of soil water holding capacity), a pot experiment was conducted in greenhouse. Following prolonged water deficit, carbon (C) and N stoichiometry, metabolic rates, plant growth, and biomass distribution of unstressed and stressed plants were recorded. Intensified drought significantly reduced stem, root and whole-plant biomass, with no significant changes observed in leaf dry-fresh mass ratio, specific leaf area, intrinsic water use efficiency and root to shoot ratio. However, other traits were impacted differently, reflecting distinct adaptive strategies to drought among three plant functional types (PFTs). Patterns of trait-soil water content (SWC) relationships varied across different PFTs, with N-fixing non-legumes followed by N-fixing legumes displayed greater sensitivity to SWC variations than non-N-fixing plants. This resulted in a shift from a stronger trait-SWC relationship in N-fixing non-legumes and N-fixing legumes to a less correlated relationship in non-N-fixing plants. The diverse responses to drought among PFTs suggest a shift from N limitation to water limitation as SWC decreases

Characterization and comparative genomics analysis of RepA_N multi-resistance plasmids carrying optrA from Enterococcus faecalis

IntroductionThis research aimed to investigate the antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus faecalis from swine farms in Zhejiang Province and the prevalence and transmission mechanism of oxazolidone resistance gene optrA.MethodA total of 226 Enterococcus faecalis were isolated and their resistance to 14 antibiotics was detected by broth microdilution. The resistance genes were detected by PCR.ResultsThe antibiotic resistance rate of 226 isolates to nearly 57% (8/14) of commonly used antibiotics was higher than 50%. The resistance rate of tiamulin was highest (98.23%), that of tilmicosin, erythromycin, tetracycline and florfenicol was higher than 80%, and that of oxazolidone antibiotic linezolid was 38.49%. The overall antibiotics resistance in Hangzhou, Quzhou and Jinhua was more serious than that in the coastal cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou. The result of PCR showed that optrA was the main oxazolidinone and phenicols resistance gene, with a detection rate of 71.68%, and optrA often coexisted with fexA in the isolates. Through multi-locus sequence typing, conjugation transfer, and replicon typing experiments, it was found that the horizontal transmission mediated by RepA_N plasmid was the main mechanism of optrA resistance gene transmission in E. faecalis from Zhejiang Province. Two conjugative multi-resistance plasmids carrying optrA, RepA_N plasmid pHZ318-optrA from Hangzhou and Rep3 plasmid from Ningbo, were sequenced and analyzed. pHZ318-optrA contain two multidrug resistance regions (MDR), which contributed to the MDR profile of the strains. optrA and fexA resistance genes coexisted in IS1216E-fexA-optrA-ferr-erm(A)-IS1216E complex transposon, and there was a partial sequence of Tn554 transposon downstream. However, pNB304-optrA only contain optrA, fexA and an insertion sequence ISVlu1. The presence of mobile genetic elements at the boundaries can possibly facilitate transfer among Enterococcus through inter-replicon gene transfer.DiscussionThis study can provide theoretical basis for ensuring the quality and safety of food of animal origin, and provide scientific guidance for slowing down the development of multi-antibiotic resistant Enterococcus

Inversion of soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the Yellow River Wetland of Shaanxi Province using field in situ hyperspectroscopy

Soil nitrogen and phosphorus are directly related to soil quality and vegetation growth and are, therefore, a common research topic in studies on global climate change, material cycling, and information exchange in terrestrial ecosystems. However, collecting soil hyperspectral data under in situ conditions and predicting soil properties, which can effectively save time, manpower, material resources, and financial costs, have been generally undervalued. Recent optimization techniques have, however, addressed several of the limitations previously restricting this technique. In this study, hyperspectral data were taken from surface soils under different vegetation types in the wetlands of the Shaanxi Yellow River Wetland Provincial Nature Reserve. Through in situ original and first-order differential transformation spectral data, three prediction models for soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents were established: partial least squares (PLSR), random forest (RF), and Gaussian process regression (GPR). The R2 and RMSR of the constructed models were then compared to select the optimal model for evaluating soil content. The soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus content models established based on the first-order differential had a higher accuracy when modeling and during model validation than those of other models. Moreover, the PLSR model based on the original spectrum and the Gaussian process regression model had a superior inversion performance. These results provide solid theoretical and technical support for developing the optimal model for the quantitative inversion of wetland surface soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus based on in situ hyperspectral technology

Association of solute carrier family 30 A8 zinc transporter gene variations with gestational diabetes mellitus risk in a Chinese population

BackgroundThe solute carrier family 30 A8 zinc transporter (SLC30A8) plays a crucial role in insulin secretion. This study aimed to investigate the impact of SLC30A8 gene polymorphisms on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).MethodsThe research objective was to select 500 patients with GDM and 502 control subjects. Rs13266634 and rs2466293 were genotyped using the SNPscan™ genotyping assay. Statistical tests, such as the chi-square test, t-test, logistic regression, ANOVA, and meta-analysis, were conducted to determine the differences in genotypes, alleles, and their associations with GDM risk.ResultsStatistically significant differences were observed in age, pregestational BMI, SBP, DBP, and parity between individuals with GDM and healthy subjects (P < 0.05). After adjusting for these factors, rs2466293 remained significantly associated with an increased risk of GDM in overall subjects (GG+AG vs. AA: OR = 1.310; 95% CI: 1.005-1.707; P = 0.046, GG vs. AA: OR = 1.523; 95% CI: 1.010-2.298; P = 0.045 and G vs. A: OR = 1.249; 95% CI: 1.029-1.516; P = 0.024). Rs13266634 was still found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of GDM in individuals aged ≥ 30 years (TT vs. CT+CC: OR = 0.615; 95% CI: 0.392-0.966; P = 0.035, TT vs. CC: OR = 0.503; 95% CI: 0.294-0.861; P = 0.012 and T vs. C: OR =0.723; 95% CI: 0.557-0.937; P = 0.014). Additionally, the haplotype CG was found to be associated with a higher risk of GDM (P < 0.05). Furthermore, pregnant women with the CC or CT genotype of rs13266634 exhibited significantly higher mean blood glucose levels than those with the TT genotype (P < 0.05). Our findings were further validated by the results of a meta-analysis.ConclusionThe SLC30A8 rs2466293 polymorphism was found to be associated with an increased risk of GDM, while rs13266634 was associated with a decreased risk of GDM in individuals aged ≥ 30 years. These findings provide a theoretical basis for GDM testing

Aridity-driven shift in biodiversity–soil multifunctionality relationships

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-01-07, accepted 2021-08-12, registration 2021-08-25, pub-electronic 2021-09-09, online 2021-09-09, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001809; Grant(s): 31770430Abstract: Relationships between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions (that is, ecosystem multifunctionality) are context-dependent. Both plant and soil microbial diversity have been reported to regulate ecosystem multifunctionality, but how their relative importance varies along environmental gradients remains poorly understood. Here, we relate plant and microbial diversity to soil multifunctionality across 130 dryland sites along a 4,000 km aridity gradient in northern China. Our results show a strong positive association between plant species richness and soil multifunctionality in less arid regions, whereas microbial diversity, in particular of fungi, is positively associated with multifunctionality in more arid regions. This shift in the relationships between plant or microbial diversity and soil multifunctionality occur at an aridity level of ∼0.8, the boundary between semiarid and arid climates, which is predicted to advance geographically ∼28% by the end of the current century. Our study highlights that biodiversity loss of plants and soil microorganisms may have especially strong consequences under low and high aridity conditions, respectively, which calls for climate-specific biodiversity conservation strategies to mitigate the effects of aridification

Experimental study and performance analysis of a thermoelectric cooling and heating system driven by a photovoltaic/thermal system in summer and winter operation modes

This paper presents theoretical and experimental investigations of the winter operation mode of a thermoelectric cooling and heating system driven by a heat pipe photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) panel. And the energy and exergy analysis of this system in summer and winter operation modes are also done. The winter operation mode of this system is tested in an experimental room which temperature is controlled at 18 degrees C. The results indicate the average coefficient of performance (COP) of thermoelectric module of this system can be about 1.7, the electrical efficiency of the PV/T panel can reach 16.7%, and the thermal efficiency of this system can reach 23.5%. The energy and exergy analysis show the energetic efficiency of the system in summer operation mode is higher than that of it in winter operation mode, but the exergetic efficiency in summer operation mode is lower than that in winter operation mode, on the contrary. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mediastinal high-grade vasculogenic mesenchymal tumour with seminoma: a case report and literature review

Abstract Germ cell tumours with somatic-type solid malignancy (GCT-STM) are a rare disease of the mediastinum. Recently, a cohort of vasculogenic mesenchymal tumour (VMT)-nonseminoma cases with different prognoses were recognized and reported. Here, we report a case of mediastinal high-grade VMT with a seminoma. A 16-year-old male had a fever, chest tightness and fatigue. Chest CT showed a 7.5 cm×5.3 cm solid mass in the right anterior mediastinum. The serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were within the normal range. Tumorectomy was performed. The tumour was irregular, and no capsule was found. The cut surface was greyish white and greyish brown with medium consistency. There were foci of bleeding and necrosis. Microscopic histology showed prominent vascular proliferation, which was lined by mildly atypical endothelial cells in a cellular stroma with significant cytologic atypia. The vascular spectrum varied from crevice-like or antler-like thin- to thick-walled vessels. Beyond the tumour area, inside the remnant thymus tissues, there were small clusters of polygonal tumour cells with clear cytoplasm, distinct cell membranes, and round to polygonal nuclei with prominent nucleoli that were positive for Oct4, PLAP, SALL4 and CD117. The patient did not receive any treatments pre- or postoperation, and his condition was stable without progression after 14 months of follow-up evaluation. Here, we added a new entity of GCT-STM of the mediastinum composed of VMT and seminoma. A better understanding of the pathological features of GCT-VMT could help pathologists improve their awareness of these rare diseases

Coping with giant panda nature reserve protection dilemmas in China: Social capital’s role in forest conservation

Understanding the role of social capital is crucial to cope with the cooperation dilemma of forest conservation. This study examined the impact of rural households’ social capital on forest conservation behaviors based on 669 rural household data around 17 giant panda Nature Reserves (NRs) in Shaanxi Province and Sichuan Province, China. Probit model and Ordered Probit model were used, the results show that: (1) Social capital plays a crucial role in rural households’ forest conservation behaviors; in particular, it makes up for formal institutions in surrounding NRs. (2) Social trust is core to social capital. It positively affects rural households’ forest conservation participation outside NRs as well as in experimental and buffer areas with strict regulation. In addition, it has a significant effect on both low-cost and high-cost forest conservation behaviors, such as reforestation. (3) Social capital enhances rural households understanding of NRs’ policies and develops environmental protection awareness thus promoting forest conservation participation. The above conclusions help illuminate the influencing mechanism of rural households’ forest conservation behaviors and improve the protection effects of NRs