Justice Monologues in War Films on Anti-Terrorism—Taking DagII As an Example

In a broad sense, anti-terrorism war films have always been closely related to the “anti-war spirit”, emphasizing how the war honed and devastated the humanity, and considering that anti-terrorism war is an unnecessary war. However, on the basis of ethnic relations and historical factors, Turkey’s anti-terrorism war films brought forward a unique view, and it has gradually received more attention. This thesis will take the anti-terrorism movie Da? II as an example, briefly analyze the unique expression of Turkey’s anti-terrorism war films’ positive attitude to the anti-terrorism war as well as the aesthetic presentation in the field of art and aesthetics from three aspects: the historical background of Turkey’s anti-terrorism war films, the construction of characters and visual appreciation

The relationships of inflammation with brain structures in older individuals as revealed by multimodal magnetic resonance imaging techniques

Inflammation plays important roles in ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. Although studies have shown the association of increased inflammatory markers with brain structural and functional degeneration in ageing, the implication for clinical practice is often restricted by the examination of selected inflammatory markers and inconsistent findings across different studies. This Ph.D. thesis aims to examine the impacts of inflammation on ageing brains in community-based older individuals aged 70-90 years, using multimodal MRI data. In order to assess how inflammation associates with ageing brains, I first examined age-related brain structural changes over two years in the study sample. The findings showed widespread atrophy across brain grey (GM) and white matter (WM), which is comparable to previous longitudinal studies in similar age range. Next, all inflammatory markers available to the study sample (n = 11) were examined for their associations with brain structural indices. The results showed that higher macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1/GDF15) levels were associated with lower GM and WM volumes. The inflammatory markers were then categorised into cytokine, acute phase and vascular factors using principal component analysis. Higher levels of the acute phase factor were associated with heavier WM hyperintensity (WMH) burdens, whereas higher levels of the vascular factor were linked to greater GM and WM atrophy. The relationship of MIC-1/GDF15 levels with brain was then investigated in more details using multimodal MRI data in both cross-sectional and longitudinal settings. The findings indicated that higher MIC-1/GDF15 serum levels were associated with GM and WM deterioration, and decline in WM microstructural integrity. Over two years, individuals with more increase in MIC-1/GDF15 levels had greater atrophy in cortices and subcortical structures. In conclusion, this thesis started with examining the association of eleven inflammatory markers with ageing brains, and then focused on MIC-1/GDF15 in relation to various brain structural measures. It identified an inverse relationship between MIC-1/GDF15 and integrity of the ageing brains. The findings have practical implications for using MIC-1/GDF15 as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for age-related brain degeneration

Xylitol production from xylose mother liquor: a novel strategy that combines the use of recombinant Bacillus subtilis and Candida maltosa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Xylose mother liquor has high concentrations of xylose (35%-40%) as well as other sugars such as L-arabinose (10%-15%), galactose (8%-10%), glucose (8%-10%), and other minor sugars. Due to the complexity of this mother liquor, further isolation of xylose by simple method is not possible. In China, more than 50,000 metric tons of xylose mother liquor was produced in 2009, and the management of sugars like xylose that present in the low-cost liquor is a problem.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We designed a novel strategy in which <it>Bacillus subtilis </it>and <it>Candida maltosa </it>were combined and used to convert xylose in this mother liquor to xylitol, a product of higher value. First, the xylose mother liquor was detoxified with the yeast <it>C. maltosa </it>to remove furfural and 5-hydromethylfurfural (HMF), which are inhibitors of <it>B. subtilis </it>growth. The glucose present in the mother liquor was also depleted by this yeast, which was an added advantage because glucose causes carbon catabolite repression in <it>B. subtilis</it>. This detoxification treatment resulted in an inhibitor-free mother liquor, and the <it>C. maltosa </it>cells could be reused as biocatalysts at a later stage to reduce xylose to xylitol. In the second step, a recombinant <it>B. subtilis </it>strain with a disrupted xylose isomerase gene was constructed. The detoxified xylose mother liquor was used as the medium for recombinant <it>B. subtilis </it>cultivation, and this led to L-arabinose depletion and xylose enrichment of the medium. In the third step, the xylose was further reduced to xylitol by <it>C. maltosa </it>cells, and crystallized xylitol was obtained from this yeast transformation medium. <it>C. maltosa </it>transformation of the xylose-enriched medium resulted in xylitol with 4.25 g L^-1·h^-1volumetric productivity and 0.85 g xylitol/g xylose specific productivity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, we developed a biological method for the purification of xylose from xylose mother liquor and subsequent preparation of xylitol by <it>C. maltosa</it>-mediated biohydrogenation of xylose.</p

Impact damage behavior of lightweight CFRP protection suspender on railway vehicles

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impact damage behavior of a carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) protection suspender, a component on the railway vehicles that can prevent the falling joist and bolster from touching the rails and to avoid the derailment of trains. A three-dimensional impact model of CFRP protection suspender which considers the bolt preloads was established in ABAQUS/Explicit

Sex Differences in 6-Year Progression of White Matter Hyperintensities in Non-Demented Older Adults: Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

Objectives: To examine sex differences in the associations between vascular risk factors and 6-year changes in the volume of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and between changes in WMH volumes and changes in cognitive performance, in a cohort of non-demented older adults. Methods: WMH volumes at 3 time-points (baseline, and 2- and 6-year follow-up) were automatically quantified in participants of Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (N = 605; age range = 70-92 years; 54.78% female). Linear mixed models were applied to examine the effects of vascular risk factors and cognitive consequences of the progression of WMH, as well as the sex moderation effects in the associations. Results: Total (TWMH), periventricular (PVWMH), and deep (DWMH) WMH volumes increased by 9.47%, 7.70%, and 11.78% per year, respectively. No sex differences were found in WMH progression rates. After Bonferroni correction, increases in PVWMH volumes over time were associated with decline in global cognition, especially in visuospatial and memory domains. Men with more increases in PVWMH volumes over time had greater declines in visuospatial abilities. Moreover, higher average TWMH volumes across time-points were associated with poorer average performance in processing speed and executive function domains across time. Higher average PVWMH volumes across time-points were also associated with worse average performance in the executive function domain over time, among women but not men. Conclusion: The findings highlighted sex differences in the associations between WMH progression and cognition decline over time, suggesting sex-specific strategies in managing WMH accumulations in ageing. Keywords: Cerebral small vessel disease, white matter hyperintensities, sex differences, brain ageing, cognitive decline