Enhancement of Optical Nonlinearity Through Anisotropic Microstructures

We investigate the polarization dependence of optical nonlinearity enhancement for a uniaxial anisotropic composite of metal nanocrystals in a dielectric host. Three cases are distinguished depending on whether the polarization is parallel, perpendicular or unpolarized with respect to the axis of anisotropy. For the parallel polarization, the results show that the 3D results are qualitatively similar to the 2D case reported recently. For the perpendicular polarization, the results are markedly different from the parallel counterpart: In contrast to the absorption, the enhancement factor actually increases with the anisotropy. Thus the separation of the absorption and enhancement peaks becomes even more pronounced than the parallel polarization case. These results indicate a strong polarization dependence of the nonlinear optical response.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX format, 9 figures, preliminary results were Reported in the 2nd Tohwa University International Meeting on Statistical Physics held on November 4-7, 1997, accepted for publication by Optics Communications on 7 November 199

Rotective effect of Fengliao-Changweikang extracts, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula,on mucosa in rat with chronic gastritis

Background: Fengliao-Changwei-Kang(FCK), the Chinese patent drug, is a famous traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula. It has a significant effect on the clinic treatment of gastrointestinal diseases  including gastritis, enteritis and diarrhea for many years. However, there is few research on the  protective effects of FCK on the gastric mucosa of chronic gastritis (CG) model rat. Objective: The present study aimed to explore the effects of FCK extract on mucosa in rats with Chronic Gastritis.Materials and Methods: 50 SD mice were randomly divided into 5 groups with 10 in each group（five per sex). The groups are respectively control group, model group, low, middle and high FCK extracts (FCK I, II and III) group. The CG rat model was induced by synthetic methods. FCK I, II and III group were  administrated with FCK extracts at 2.16g• kg, 4.32g• kg, 8.94g• kg once per day for 21 consecutive  days, and the control group and model group were administrated the same volume of distilled water at 10mL/kg once per day. 16 hours after the last administration, the rats were anesthetized and their blood and stomach were drawn from vena cava and abdominal cavity. The serum levels of EGF was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) method, the expression of growth factor receptor (EGFR) in gastric mucosa was detected by immunohistochemical method, and the mRNA expressions of NF-κB p65 was detected in-situ hybridization.Results: The inflammation grades and the expressions of NF-κB p65 mRNA in gastric mucosa of the model group were markedly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The inflammation grades of gastric mucosa and the expressions of NF-κB p65 mRNA in gastric mucosa the FCK extract group are significantly lower than those of the model group, and the FCK extract group at 8.64g/kg could greatly increase the serum levels of EGF and the expressions of EGFR in gastric mucosa. High EGF level was found in FCK extract group at 4.32g/kg, but low in FCK extract groups at 2.16g/kg. There were no marked differences among the rats from control group, model group and FCK extract group on ratio of Ll/L2 (P>0.05).Conclusions: FCK extract could alleviate mucosal inflammation by down regulating the expressions of NF-κB p65 mRNA and promote tissue repair by up regulating EGFR expression in gastric mucosa cell.Keywords: chronic gastritis; fengliao-changwei-kang extract; epidermal growth factor receptor; nuclear factor kappa B

Involvement of AmphiREL, a Rel-like gene identified in Brachiastoma belcheri, in LPS-induced response: Implication for evolution of Rel subfamily genes

AbstractRel/NF-κB family genes are important transcriptional factors regulating vital activities of immunity response, but no Rel/NF-κB gene has been identified in amphioxus. In this study, we have not only identified and characterized a Rel-like gene from Brachiastoma belcheri, but also extensively studied the evolution of Rel gene subfamily. We found that: 1) the amphioxus genome contains an AmphiREL gene encoding a Rel/NF-κB homolog, and AmphiREL gene was involved in the innate immune response of LPS stimulation in amphioxus. 2) Gene synteny comparison and structure comparison suggested that AmphiREL is an orthologous gene of human RELB, and is a paralogous gene of human RELA and REL. 3) Structural changes of Rel subfamily proteins are diverse during the evolution process, and imply their functional diversity. 4) The Rel subfamily genes have undergone very strong purifying selection. Together, our results provide important clues for understanding the evolution and function of Rel subfamily genes

Polarization bandgaps and fluid-like elasticity in fully solid elastic metamaterials

Elastic waves exhibit rich polarization characteristics absent in acoustic and electromagnetic waves. By designing a solid elastic metamaterial based on three-dimensional anisotropic locally resonant units, here we experimentally demonstrate polarization bandgaps together with exotic properties such as 'fluid-like' elasticity. We construct elastic rods with unusual vibrational properties, which we denote as 'meta-rods'. By measuring the vibrational responses under flexural, longitudinal and torsional excitations, we find that each vibration mode can be selectively suppressed. In particular, we observe in a finite frequency regime that all flexural vibrations are forbidden, whereas longitudinal vibration is allowed-a unique property of fluids. In another case, the torsional vibration can be suppressed significantly. The experimental results are well interpreted by band structure analysis, as well as effective media with indefinite mass density and negative moment of inertia. Our work opens an approach to efficiently separate and control elastic waves of different polarizations in fully solid structures.G.M., C.F., and P.S. acknowledge the support of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (Grant No. AoE/P-02/12). Y.L. and G.W. thank the State Key Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2014CB360505, No. 2012CB921501), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11374224, No. 61671314), and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). J.C. acknowledges the support from the European Research Council (ERC) through the Starting Grant 714577 PHONOMETA

Numerical Simulation and Flow Behaviors of Taylor Flow in Co-Axial Rotating Cylinder

This work uses the incense as the trace of flow to perform flow visualization of Taylor-Couette flow. The test section was made of a rotational inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder. Two modes of inner cylinder were employed. One had a smooth wall, and the other had an annular ribbed wall. Clear and complete Taylor vortices were investigated in both smooth and ribbed wall of co-axial rotating cylinder. Besides, a steady-state, axis-symmetrical numerical model was provided to simulate the present flow field. The Taylor vortices could be also successfully predicted. However, the assumption of steady-state flow might reduce some flow perturbations, resulting in an over-predicted critical Taylor number. A transient simulation is suggested to be performed in the future

Seasonal variation of total carotenoids content in the tissues of male and female golden noble scallops Chlamys nobilis

The noble scallop Chlamys nobilis is an economically important edible marine bivalve that has been cultivated in the Southern Sea of China since the 1980s. Noble scallops, particularly the golden scallops, are rich in carotenoids, are of interest for their potential beneficial uses in human healthcare, food processing and pharmaceuticals. However, very little is known about the seasonal variation of total carotenoids content (TCC) in the golden scallops. Therefore, present study was conducted to determine the seasonal variation of TCC in the tissues of male and female of golden scallops. The results of present study revealed that the TCC in adductor, mantle and gonads of golden scallops were ranged from 16.79 to 138.86 μg/ g, 92.86 to 312.98 μg/ g, and 71.5 to 750.0 μg/ g, respectively. Generally, the gonads of golden scallops contain the highest TCC, followed by the mantle and adductor. In comparison of male and female scallops, TCC in the same tissue (except for gonad) was not statistically significant. However, female gonads contain much higher TCC than male gonads. The temporal variation of the TCC in golden scallops showed the highest in March to April and the lowest in October. The findings of current study can be very useful for scallop farmers and industry to determine the best harvest time to obtain the highest quality of golden scallops with high TCC

Risk of liver dysfunction and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases in people with hidradenitis suppurativa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of real-world evidences

BackgroundTo date, evidences with high evidence-level evaluating the association between liver diseases and hidradenitis suppurativa was lacking. Given that inconsistency exists in some of the previous observational studies, evaluating the prevalence of liver diseases in HS patients could potentially serve as a reference of future guidelines for HS comorbidity screening. The aim of the current study was to evaluate potential association between hidradenitis suppurativa and liver diseases and provide integrated evidences.MethodsA search in PubMed, Web of Science and Embase based on the syntaxes ‘‘hidradenitis suppurativa’’ or ‘‘acne inversa’’ with “comorbidities”, “liver diseases”, “fatty liver” or “hepatitis” was performed. Observational studies evaluating epidemiological association between hidradenitis suppurativa and the risk of all liver diseases, including specific diseases as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C were targeted to be extracted in this systematic review and meta-analysis.ResultsWithin the initial 702 records, there were finally 8 real-world observational studies extracted. Results suggest that patients with HS are associated with all liver diseases (OR= 1.50; 95% CI, 1.27, 1.76), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (OR= 1.78; 95% CI, 1.28, 2.48) and hepatitis B (OR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.12, 1.94), but not hepatitis C (OR= 1.27; 95% CI, 0.78, 2.07). HS patients were associated with significantly increased risk of liver diseases, especially the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatitis B.ConclusionsClinicians should be alert to the clinical relationship while caring people with hidradenitis suppurativa and the screening of liver function should be recommended to HS patients. Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022296034