A Spatial Investigation of ƒÐ-Convergence in China

Using techniques of spatial econometrics, this paper investigates ƒÐ-convergence of provincial real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in China. The empirical evidence concludes that spatial dependence across regions is strong enough to distort the traditional measure of ƒÐ-convergence. This study focuses on the variation of per capita GDP that is dependent on the development processes of neighboring provinces and cities. This refinement of the conditional ƒÐ-convergence model specification allows for analysis of spatial dependence in the mean and variance. The corrected measure of ƒÐ-convergence in China indicates a lower level of dispersion in the economic development process. This implies a smaller divergence in real per capita GDP, although convergence across regions is still a challenging goal to achieve in the 2000s.ƒÐ-Convergence, Moran's index, spatial dependence, spatial lag

Dynamical Properties of Environmental High-Performance Composites with Calcined Clay

Concrete structures may be exposed to dynamic loadings within short periods such as earthquakes and vehicles load, resulting in substantial damage to human life and property because of the collapse of concrete structures. The research achievements on dynamic properties of high-performance composites with LC3 (HPC-LC3) are limited, although dynamic loadings are commonly encountered in infrastructure. The study aims to develop a new-green concrete product (HPC-LC3) with high dynamical properties and promote its mass use in a vibration service environment by investigating dynamical properties of HPC-LC3. Dynamical properties of structure can be promoted at material level by means of enhancing the inherent ability of cement-matrix materials to passively absorb the vibrational energy. Dynamic properties of traditional HPC may be improved by incorporated LC3 because of excellent mechanical properties. The fiber pull-out, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), (nuclear magnetic resonance) NMR, and microstructure test were used to reveal the enhanced mechanism of dynamic properties in the HPC with LC3 (HPC-LC3), and the economic efficiency of HPC is also evaluated to promote its mass application. The results indicate that the dynamic properties of HPC-LC3 increased by 47% in damping capacity, 102% in storage modulus, 16% in energy dissipation, in comparison with the reference (HPC-OPC). Meanwhile, compared with the reference, the compressive and flexural strengths of LC3-50 increased by 14% and 27%. TGA and NMR results indicate that LC3-50 shows better hydration characteristics, longer alumina-silicate chain length (from 3.9 to 8) than HPC-OPC. The proposed composites reduced embodied energy, embedded CO2 emissions, and costs of HPC by up to 33%, 45%, and 7%, respectively. Thus, the green product (HPC-LC3) with 30%–40% calcined clay, high dynamic properties and more sustainable, will be recommended to mass use in a vibration service environment

Effect of Buyanghuangwu recipe on exhausted mice skeletal muscle mitochondrial ultrastructure and function

目的  通过建立小鼠游泳运动疲劳模型，探讨补阳还五汤（BYHWT）对运动性疲劳小鼠骨骼肌线粒体超微结构及蛋白AMPK表达的影响。方法  实验选用健康雄性清洁级SD小鼠48只，随机均分为对照组和补阳还五汤低、中、高剂量组，每组12只。常规饲料喂养外，BYHWT低、中、高剂量组分别给予12.5ｇ/kg、25.0ｇ/kg、50.0ｇ/kg的BYHWT灌胃，对照组给予等量生理盐水，连续给药7天，采用负重游泳实验建立小鼠力竭模型。用透射电镜观察骨骼肌细胞线粒体超微结构，Real-time PCR法测定骨骼肌AMPK蛋白表达。结果  运动性疲劳小鼠骨骼肌线粒体数量明显减少，线粒体空泡样变，嵴断裂显著，核染色质浓缩边集、核缩小、核膜增厚，而补阳还五汤药物干预后，骨骼肌线粒体形态趋于正常；模型组大鼠骨骼肌组织AMPK蛋白表达水平较正常对照组、补阳还五汤组明显降低，差异有显著性（P＜0.05），而正常对照组和补阳还五汤组间差异无显著性（P＞0.05）。结论  补阳还五汤具有一定的抗运动性疲劳作用，其机制可能与其减少线粒体损伤，增强线粒体功能，增加骨骼肌AMPK蛋白表达有关。Objective: Discusses the influence that Buyanghuangwu recipe for exercise-induced fatigue mice skeletal muscle mitochondrial ultrastructure and the influence of AMPK protein expression, by establishing mice swimming exercise fatigue model. Methods: 48 SD mice of healthy male at clean level were chose to do experiments, randomly divided into control group and BYHWR low, medium and high group, each group of 12. Regular feed, BYHWR low, medium and high group were given 12.5g/kg, 25.0g/kg, 50.0g/kg for BYHWR to fill the stomach, the control group given amount of normal saline, administered continuously for 7d, weight loading swimming experiment is adopted to establish the mice model of exhaustion. Skeletal muscle cells are observed by transmission electron microscope mitochondria ultrastructure, Real-time PCR method skeletal muscle AMPK protein expression. Results: The number of mitochondria in skeletal muscle of exercise-induced fatigue mice decreased significantly, mitochondrial vacuole degeneration, rupture of mitochondria were obvious, nucleus chromatin concentrated edge set, nucleus contracted and nuclear membrane thickened. After intervention of BYHWR, skeletal muscle The expression of AMPK protein in the skeletal muscle of the model group was significantly lower than that of the normal control group and the group of BYHWR group (P<0.05). The expression of AMPK protein in the normal control group and BYHWR group was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: BYHWR group has certain resistance exercise fatigue, and its mechanisms potentially increase AMPK protein expression in skeletal muscle, reduce mitochondrial damage, and strengthen the function of mitochondria

Structure characterization and antioxidant properties of proteins extracted from the larva of Bombyx mori L.

Purpose: To explore the structural characteristics and antioxidant properties of proteins extracted by salt extraction and ammonium sulfate precipitation (SEAP) from the larvae of Bombyx mori L. (PLB) that died due to infection with Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill.Methods: The extraction yield of PLB was measured, and protein patterns were examined by SDSPAGE. The amino acid composition of PLB was analyzed using an automatic amino acid analyzer while the structural characteristics of PLB were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV techniques. In addition, the antioxidant properties of PLB were investigated in vitro.Results: The extraction yield of PLB was 2.16 ± 0.04 %. PLB protein was mainly present in 10 – 20 and 25 – 35 kDa fractions. PLB consisted of 15 types of amino acids. Glu (12.45 ± 0.06), Ala (6.87 ± 0.11) and Val (4.55 ± 0.11) contents of PLB were significantly (p < 0.05) higher relative to that of other amino acids. PLB exhibited the FT-IR and UV spectra characteristics of proteins. In addition, PLB exhibited significant antioxidant effects (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The results indicate that PLB exhibits significant antioxidant effects and may be suitable for development into antioxidant drugs.Keywords: Bombyx mori L., Proteins, Structural characteristics, Antioxidant, Beauveria bassian

Mid-infrared Spectral Compression of Soliton Pulse in an Adiabatically Suspended Silicon Waveguide Taper

Spectral compression (SPC) can be used for generating narrow bandwidth and wavelength-tunable light sources, which have important applications in optical communication system, spectroscopy, and nonlinear microscopy. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate the high-degree SPC of the chirp-free femtosecond pulse at wavelength 2.4 μm in a 6-cm long adiabatically suspended silicon waveguide taper. The silicon waveguide taper is designed with a dispersion-increasing profile along the propagation distance z. Simulation results show that the SPC factor can be up to 10.9, along with the brightness-enhanced factor of 8.0 and negligible sidelobe. The impacts of the higher-order dispersion, higher-order nonlinearity, losses (including linear and nonlinear loss), and variation of Kerr nonlinear coefficient along z on the SPC are also investigated. It is found that variation of Kerr nonlinear coefficient γ(z) and linear loss are the dominant perturbation to the degradation of the SPC performance

A novel strategy for rapid identification of the fruits of Illicium verum and Illicium anisatum using electronic nose and tongue technology

Purpose: To develop an effective and rapid strategy for the identification of fruits of I. verum and I. anisatum based on their odor and taste.Methods: Electronic nose (E-nose) and electronic tongue (E-tongue) technology was used to identify the fruits of I. verum (FIV) and I. anisatum (FIA). Samples of FIA, FIV, and FIA : FIV mixtures in different proportions (1 : 3, 1 : 1, and 3 : 1) were prepared to evaluate the identification abilities of E-nose and Etongue methods. Samples were powdered and sifted through a standard sieve (aperture size 355 ± 13 μm) for E-nose analysis. Each sample was refluxed with water for 1 h before E-tongue analysis. The acquired data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant factor analysis (DFA).Results: Based on the signals acquired by E-nose and E-tongue analyses, a total of 90 data points each were used for PCA. The three principal component values for E-nose analysis were PC1 = 93.89 %, PC2 = 6.08 %, and PC3 = 0.03 %, and those for E-tongue analysis were PC1 = 98.72 %, PC2 = 0.68 %, and PC3 = 0.57 %. The sample data were significantly divided into two groups representing FIV and FIA. Furthermore, E-nose and E-tongue assessments combined with PCA and DFA analyses effectively identified FIV, FIA and their mixtures.Conclusion: The use of E-nose and E-tongue technology is an effective and rapid strategy to identify the fruits of I. verum and I. anisatum and their mixtures. This strategy may also offer an effective method for detection of adulterants.Keywords: Illicium verum, Illicium anisatum, Discrimination, Electronic nose, Electronic tongue, Safety, Principal component analysis, Discriminant factor analysi

Self-similar Pcosecond Pulse Compression for Supercontinuum Generation at Mid-infrared Wavelength in Silicon Strip Waveguides

Self-similar pulse compression has important application in highly coherent supercontinuum (SC) generation. In this paper, we numerically present the mid-infrared self-similar picosecond pulse compression in a tapered suspended silicon strip waveguide, which is designed with exponentially decreasing dispersion profile along the direction of propagation. When the variation of the Kerr nonlinear coefficient ��(z), linear and nonlinear losses, higher-order nonlinearity, and higher-order dispersion are taken into consideration, the simulation result shows that a 1 ps input pulse centered at wavelength 2.8 μm could be self-similarly compressed to 47.06 fs in a 3.9-cm waveguide taper, along with a compression factor ��c of 21.25, quality factor ��c of 0.78, and negligible pedestal. After that, the compressed pulse is launched into a uniform silicon strip waveguide, which is used for the generation of SC. We numerically demonstrate that the coherence of the generated SC by the compressed pulse can be significantly improved when compared to that generated directly by the picosecond pulse. The simulation results can be used to realize on-chip mid-infrared femtosecond light source and highly coherent supercontinuum, which can promote the development of on-chip nonlinear optic

Validation of a Chinese version of disease specific quality of life scale (HFS-36) for hemifacial spasm in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background and object</p> <p>There was no Chinese questionnaire to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS). In this study, we aimed to validate a new disease-specific HRQoL scale for HFS (HFS-36) in Chinese version, and compared it to SF-36, a generic HRQoL scale.</p> <p>Patients and Methods</p> <p>The HFS-36 Chinese version was modified from English version of HFS-30, including subscales of mobility, activities of daily living (ADL), emotional well-being, stigma, social support, cognition, bodily discomfort, and communication. All the items were scored on the 5-point scales, ranging from 0(never) to 4(always). Patients with HFS were asked to answer HFS-36 and SF-36 questionnaires on the same day before and 6-8 weeks after Botulinum toxin (BTX) injections, respectively. The reliability and validity of HFS-36 scale were evaluated statistically.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Totally, 103 patients (68 females; 35 males) were recruited in this study, with a mean age of 57.6 ± 11.5 years and a mean duration of HFS for 7.6 ± 5.8 years. The intra-class correlation (ICC) and Cronbach's α were over 0.7 in the majority of items. HFS-36 showed a good correlation to HFS severity before BTX treatment and a significant improvement of subscale scoring after BTX treatment. HFS-36 also had a significant correlation to the mental health of SF-36.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Chinese version of HFS-36 demonstrated a good reliability and validity in subscales of motility, ADL, emotion well-being, stigma and bodily discomfort. The HRQoL was significantly improved after BTX treatment assessed by HFS-36 or SF-36. Compared to SF-36, HFS-36 scale was more sensitive and specific to evaluate the HRQoL in HFS.</p

Truncated KCNQ1 mutant, A178fs/105, forms hetero-multimer channel with wild-type causing a dominant-negative suppression due to trafficking defect

AbstractWe identified a novel mutation Ala178fs/105 missing S3–S6 and C-terminus portions of KCNQ1 channel. Ala178fs/105-KCNQ1 expressed in COS-7 cells demonstrated no current expression. Co-expression with wild-type (WT) revealed a dominant-negative effect, which suggests the formation of hetero-multimer by mutant and WT. Confocal laser microscopy displayed intracellular retention of Ala178fs/105-KCNQ1 protein. Co-expression of the mutant and WT also increased intracellular retention of channel protein compared to WT alone. Our findings suggest a novel mechanism for LQT1 that the truncated S1–S2 KCNQ1 mutant forms hetero-multimer and cause a dominant-negative effect due to trafficking defect