Study on the Rheological Properties and Constitutive Model of Shenzhen Mucky Soft Soil

In order to obtain the basic parameters of numerical analysis about the time-space effect of the deformation occurring in Shenzhen deep soft-soil foundation pit, a series of triaxial consolidated-undrained shear rheology tests on the peripheral mucky soft soil of a deep foundation pit support were performed under different confining pressures. The relations between the axial strain of the soil and time, as well as between the pore-water pressure of the soil and time, were achieved, meanwhile on the basis of analyzing the rheological properties of the soil, the relevant rheological models were built. Analysis results were proved that the rheology of Shenzhen mucky soft soil was generally viscous, elastic, and plastic, and had a low yield stress between 90 and 150 kPa. The increase in pore-water pressure made the rheological time effect of the mucky soft soil more remarkable. Thus, the drainage performance in practical engineering should be improved to its maximum possibility extent to decrease the soft-soil rheological deformation. Lastly, a six-component extended Burgers model was employed to fit the test results and the parameters of the model were determined. Findings showed that the extended Burgers model could satisfactorily simulate the various rheological stages of the mucky soft soil. The constitutive model and the determination of its parameters can be served as a foundation for the time-space effect analysis on the deformation of deep soft-soil foundation pits

N-amidothiourea based PET chemosensors for anions

Neutral N-amidothiourea based PET anion sensors bearing a pyrene fluorophore, 1-3, were synthesized and their fluorescent response toward anions was assessed. The anion quenching and binding constants were found to be much higher than those of the corresponding PET sensors bearing a simple thiourea receptor despite a higher oxidation potential of the electron donor and a relatively longer spacer (CH2)(3) between the signal reporter and binding receptor in 1-3. This was explained in terms of a much more substantial increase in the electron donating ability of amidothiourea upon anion binding

Učinak glicerola i glukoze na povećanje biomase, udjela lipida i topljivih ugljikohidrata u miksotrofnoj kulturi alge Chlorella vulgaris

Biodiesel-derived glycerol is a promising substrate for mixotrophic cultivation of oleaginous microalgae, which can also reduce the cost of microalgal biodiesel. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of using glycerol and glucose as a complex carbon substrate to produce microalgal biomass and biochemical components, such as photosynthetic pigments, lipids, soluble carbohydrates and proteins by Chlorella vulgaris. The results show that C. vulgaris can utilize glycerol as a sole carbon substrate, but its effect is inferior to that of the mixture of glycerol and glucose. The effect of glycerol and glucose could enhance the algal cell growth rate, biomass content and volumetric productivity, and overcome the lower biomass production on glycerol as the sole organic carbon source in mixotrophic culture medium. The utilization of complex organic carbon substrate can stimulate the biosynthesis of lipids and soluble carbohydrates as the raw materials for biodiesel and bioethanol production, and reduce the anabolism of photosynthetic pigments and proteins. This study provides a promising niche for reducing the overall cost of biodiesel and bioethanol production from microalgae as it investigates the by-products of algal biodiesel production and algal cell hydrolysis as possible raw materials (lipids and carbohydrates) and organic carbon substrates (soluble carbohydrates and glycerol) for mixotrophic cultivation of microalgae.Glicerol dobiven iz biodizela može se upotrijebiti za uzgoj miksotrofnih mikroalgi iz kojih se proizvodi ulje, te za smanjenje troškova proizvodnje biodizela. Svrha je ovoga rada bila ispitati mogućnost primjene glicerola i glukoze u složenoj hranjivoj podlozi za uzgoj alge Chlorella vulgaris, te proizvodnju biomase i biokemijskih sastojaka, kao što su fotosintetski pigmenti, lipidi, topljivi ugljikohidrati i proteini. Rezultati potvrđuju da se alga Chlorella vulgaris može uzgojiti na glicerolu kao jedinom izvoru ugljika, iako su bolji rezultati postignuti uzgojem na podlozi s glicerolom i glukozom. Stopa rasta, prinos biomase i volumetrijska produktivnost alge povećani su primjenom podloge s glicerolom i glukozom, u usporedbi s podlogom koja sadržava samo glukozu kao organski izvor ugljika. Uporabom složene hranjive podloge može se ubrzati biosinteza lipida i topljivih ugljikohidrata (sirovina za proizvodnju biodizela i bioetanola), te usporiti sinteza fotosintetskih pigmenata i proteina. U radu je ispitana mogućnost primjene nusproizvoda dobivenih proizvodnjom biodizela i hidrolizom algi te podloga s organskim izvorima ugljika (topljivi ugljikohidrati i glicerol) kao sirovina (izvor lipida i ugljikohidrata) za proizvodnju miksotrofnih mikroalgi, radi smanjenja ukupnih troškova proizvodnje biodizela i bioetanola

Essential role of microglia in the fast antidepressant action of ketamine and hypidone hydrochloride (YL-0919)

Introduction: Intracerebral microglia play a vital role in mediating central immune response, neuronal repair and synaptic pruning, but its precise role and mechanism in fast action of antidepressants have remained unknown. In this study, we identified that the microglia contributed to the rapid action of antidepressants ketamine and YL-0919.Methods: The depletion of microglia was achieved with the diet containing the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor PLX5622 in mice. The tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST) and novelty suppressed feeding test (NSFT) were employed to evaluate the rapid acting antidepressant behavior of ketamine and YL-0919 in the microglia depletion model. The number of microglia in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) was assayed by the immunofluorescence staining. The expressions of synaptic proteins (synapsin-1, PSD-95, GluA1) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the PFC were tested by Western blot.Results: The immobility duration in FST and the latency to feed in NSFT were shortened 24 h after an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of ketamine (10 mg/kg). The microglial depletion of PLX3397 blocked the rapid antidepressant-like effect of ketamine in mice. In addition, the immobility time in TST and FST as well as latency to feed in NSFT were reduced 24 h after the intragastric (i.g.) administration of YL-0919 (2.5 mg/kg, administered for 5–6 consecutive days), and the rapid antidepressant effect of YL-0919 was also blocked by the microglial depletion using PLX5622. About 92% of microglia in the prefrontal cortex was depleted in PLX5622 diet-fed mice, while both ketamine and YL-0919 promoted proliferation on the remaining microglia. YL-0919 significantly increased the protein expressions of synapsin-1, PSD-95, GluA1 and BDNF in the PFC, all of which could be blocked by PLX5622.Conclusion: These results suggested the microglia underlying the rapid antidepressant-like effect of ketamine and YL-0919, and microglia would likely constitute in the rapid enhancing impact of synaptic plasticity in the prefrontal cortex by YL-0919

Mature cystic extragonadal teratoma in Douglas’ pouch: Case report and literature review

Teratomas often occur in the gonads, while Extragonadal mature cystic teratomas are reported occasionally, with the most common site being the omentum. Teratoma in the Douglas sac is extremely rare. we report a rare case of mature cystic Teratoma in the Douglas sac in a 71-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic surgery. A cyst with a diameter of approximately 6 cm from Douglas was found during surgery, and the mass was separated from both ovaries. Microscopically, the cyst was a mature cystic teratoma that did not originate from the ovary

Transcriptome profiling and digital gene expression by deep-sequencing in normal/regenerative tissues of planarian Dugesia japonica

AbstractPlanarians exhibit an extraordinary ability to regenerate lost body parts which is attributed to an abundance of pluripotent somatic stem cells called neoblasts. In this article, we report a transcriptome sequence of a Planaria subspecies Dugesia japonica derived by high-throughput sequencing. In addition, we researched transcriptome changes during different periods of regeneration by using a tag-based digital gene expression (DGE) system. Consequently, 11,913,548 transcriptome sequencing reads were obtained. Finally, these reads were eventually assembled into 37,218 unique unigenes. These assembled unigenes were annotated with various methods. Transcriptome changes during planarian regeneration were investigated by using a tag-based DGE system. We obtained a sequencing depth of more than 3.5million tags per sample and identified a large number of differentially expressed genes at various stages of regeneration. The results provide a fairly comprehensive molecular biology background to the research on planarian development, particularly with regard to its regeneration progress

N-(ferrocamido)thiourea-based anion receptors

We extended our research on N-benzamidothiourea based anion receptors to N-ferrocamidothioureas and synthesized N-feffocamido-N'-(substituted phenyl)thioureas (3a similar to 3e, substituent X =p-OCH3, p-CH3, H, m-Br, and m-CF3). In 3a similar to 3e an electrochemically active ferrocene moiety was employed as an aromatic counterpart of phenyl and -NH- was a spacer linking ferrocene signal reporter and the thiourea binding-site. Cyclic voltammetric experiments carried out in acetonitrile indicated that the half-wave potentials of 3a similar to 3e of 0.31 V vs. Ag/AgNO3 were independent of the substituent at N'-phenyl ring. It was found that the H-1 NMR chemical shifts of the aromatic protons at ferrocene moiety and the amido -NH proton in 3 did not, whereas those of the M-phenyl aromatic protons and the thioureido -NH protons did vary when the N'-phenyl substituent was changed. The azino N-N bond was hence concluded to be twisted that blocked the electronic communication between the ferrocene moiety and thiourea anion-binding site. Yet we experimentally observed that the oxidation potentials of 3a similar to 3e shifted by ca. -200 mV in the presence of anions such as CH3CO2- and F- in acetonitrile and the chemical shifts of the ferrocene aromatic protons shifted to high field upon anion binding to the thiourea moiety in 3a similar to 3e. A conformation change in the N-N bond was hence assumed for 3a similar to 3e upon anion binding. Absorption titrations indicated that anion binding to 3a similar to 3e resulted in-a new absorption band at ca. 315 nm with a spectral red-shift of 5820 cm(-1) irrespective of the substituent. The spectral red-shift, anion affinity of 10(6) mol(-1).L orders of magnitude for CH3CO2- and F-, and substituent effect on the anion affinity of 3a similar to 3e were found much higher than those of the corresponding traditional N,N'-diphenylthiourea counterparts (1). It was concluded that anion binding induced conformational change in 3a similar to 3e led to enhanced anion affinity and substituent effect on the anion affinity, information indicative of allosteric character of the receptors and instructive for designing N-arylamido-N'-arylthiourea based anion receptors. Results reported here further supported the advantages of the" NH-" spacer in N-benzamidothiourea-based anion receptors