Beneficial effects of protocatechuic acid on diabetic retinopathy in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats

·AIM:To determine the effects of protocatechuic acid(PCA)on streptozocin-induced diabetic retinopathy(DR)in rats.·METHODS:Wistar rats were given a 50 mg/kg intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin to induce diabetes.Animals were assigned randomly one of four groups(8 rats per group):control,diabetic,diabetic plus PCA(25 mg/kg·d),and diabetic plus PCA(50 mg/kg·d).After inducing diabetes,treatments were started one week later and continued for eight weeks.After the experiment,the rats were sacrificed,and their retinas were taken for biochemical and molecular analysis.·RESULTS:PCA administration diminished the blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin levels relative to the diabetic group.In diabetic rats,PCA lowered elevated levels of advanced glycosylated end products(AGEs)and receptor for AGEs(RAGE).In the retina of diabetic rats,PCA effectively decreased inflammatory cytokine,nuclear factor-κB,tumour necrosis factor-α,interleukin-1β,and vascular endothelial growth factor,and increased antioxidant markers glutathione,superoxide dismutase,and catalase.·CONCLUSION:The protective benefits of PCA against DR may be attributable to its suppression of the AGEs and RAGE and its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Geometrical shape of in-plane inclusion characterized by polynomial internal stress field under uniform eigenstrains

The internal stress field of an inhomogeneous or homogeneous inclusion in an infinite elastic plane under uniform stress-free eigenstrains is studied. The study is restricted to the inclusion shapes defined by the polynomial mapping functions mapping the exterior of the inclusion onto the exterior of a unit circle. The inclusion shapes, giving a polynomial internal stress field, are determined for three types of inclusions, i.e., an inhomogeneous inclusion with an elastic modulus different from the surrounding matrix, an inhomogeneous inclusion with the same shear modulus but a different Poisson＇s ratio from the surrounding matrix, and a homogeneous inclusion with the same elastic modulus as the surrounding matrix. Examples are presented, and several specific conclusions are achieved for the relation between the degree of the polynomial internal stress field and the degree of the mapping function defining the inclusion shape.

Modal analysis of subway tunnel in soft soil during operation

Modal parameters are of great significance in civil engineering because they can characterize the properties of structures and be used for vibration control and structural health monitoring.Subway tunnels are long linear truss structures combined with the mutual cou-pling of the surrounding soil.Therefore,the operational modal analysis of a mutual coupling tunnel is complicate,as is the modal iden-tification of shield tunnels in a time–frequency domain,and these are hot civil engineering topics.Using the shield tunnel of Shanghai metro line No.12 project as a case study,we carried out the vibration response monitoring of a subway tunnel during operation and presented methods to identify structural modal parameters.The modal parameters of lower vibration modes were estimated using response measurements.Modal frequencies and shapes were identified with high precision and accuracy using the orthogonal polynomial clustering algorithm under hammer excitation conditions and the autoregressive-moving-average model under ambient excitation con-ditions.The dynamic behavior of a mutual coupling tunnel presented obvious low frequency characteristics,and the first 9th order mode frequencies were less than 100 Hz.The diagonal values of the modal assurance criteria were all greater than 0.85.The modal parameters can be used for the health monitoring of operational subway tunnels.

海南热带雨林国家公园不同植被类型的大型真菌多样性

为揭示海南热带雨林国家公园大型真菌多样性及不同植被类型对真菌群落的影响,本研究于2020年和2021年湿季对海南热带雨林国家公园内7个管理局辖区开展了大型真菌多样性调查,比较了不同植被类型(山地雨林、低地雨林、低地雨林次生林、人工林)的大型真菌生活型(共生型、腐生型)组成差异。从设置的58条1 km长的样带内采集到1,869份子实体标本,根据子实体形态与ITS rDNA序列分析,从中鉴定出562种真菌,涉及17目64科174属,其中80%以上的物种由伞菌目、牛肝菌目、红菇目、多孔菌目、鸡油菌目、锈革孔菌目和炭角菌目构成。大型真菌的营养型以腐生型(占48.2%物种)和共生型(44.8%)为主。每条样带的平均物种丰富度和多度以中海拔的山地雨林最高,分别为28±5种和33±6个,而人工林最低,分别为11±1种和11±2个。植被类型主要影响共生型大型真菌物种丰富度(P=0.026)和子实体多度(P=0.019)及Shannon-Wiener多样性(P=0.028),但对腐生型大型真菌的影响并不显著。多响应置换过程(multiple response permutation procedure,MRPP)检验结果表明,不同植被类型对共生型与腐生型大型真菌群落物种组成均有显著影响(腐生型:P=0.004,共生型:P=0.041)。冗余分析(redundancyanalysis,RDA)的结果表明,植被类型对腐生型和共生型真菌群落物种组成差异的解释度均较低(共生型:R^(2)=0.068,P=0.004;腐生型:R^(2)=0.067,P=0.004)。海拔仅对腐生型真菌群落物种组成产生微弱影响(R^(2)=0.029,P=0.001),而对共生型真菌影响不显著(R^(2)=0.024,P=0.072)。在不同保护地之间,共生型(R^(2)=0.148,P=0.001)与腐生型(R^(2)=0.123,P=0.002)真菌物种组成均具显著差异;基于样带-真菌矩阵的网络图显示,海南热带雨林国家公园内尖峰岭、霸王岭、五指山等国家级自然保护区的山地雨林是共生型大型真菌多样性较高区域,应作为共生型真菌与宿主的优先保护区域。

Age-related macular degeneration: Epidemiology, genetics, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and targeted therapy

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex eye disorder and is the leading cause of incurable blindness worldwide in the elderly. Clinically, AMD initially affects the central area of retina known as the macula and it is classified as early stage to late stage (advanced AMD). The advanced AMD is classified into the nonexudative or atrophic form (dry AMD) and the exudative or neovascular form (wet AMD). More severe vision loss is typically associated with the wet form. Multiple genetic factors, lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and aging, play a role in the etiology of AMD. Dysregulation in genetic to AMD is established to 46%–71% of disease contribution, with CFH and ARMS2/HTRA1 to be the two most notable risk loci among the 103 identified AMD associated loci so far. Chronic cigarette smoking is the most proven consistently risk living habits for AMD. Deep learning algorithm has been developed based on image recognition to distinguish wet AMD and normal macula with high accuracy. Currently, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is highly effective at treating wet AMD. Several new generation AMD drugs and iPSC-derived RPE cell therapy are in the clinical trial stage and are promising to improve AMD treatment in the near future.

Multi-objective optimization design of wheat centralized seed feeding device based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm

In order to solve the problem of interaction between multiple evaluation indexes of seed metering performance under multiple factors of centralized seed feeding device,a multi-objective optimization of structure based on particle swarm optimization(PSO)algorithm was proposed in this paper.The wheat centralized seed feeding device was taken as the research object,and the experimental factors were cone angle of type hole,working speed and seed filling gap.The working process of wheat centralized seed feeding device was simulated by discrete element method(DEM).The average seed number of type hole,the variation coefficient of the average seed number of type hole,and the maximum tangential force between seed and seed feeding mechanism were selected as the evaluation indexes.Through the variance analysis of the evaluation indexes by the experimental factors,the optimization objective function was constructed.Using PSO algorithm,the multi-objective optimization was carried out for the wheat centralized seed feeding device.The optimization results show that the best structural combination parameters of the wheat centralized seed feeding device are the hole cone angle of 31.6°and the seed filling gap of 4.6 mm.The validity of the method was verified by simulation and field test.The results show that the PSO algorithm multi-objective optimization method proposed in this paper can provide a reference for the structural improvement and optimal design of the centralized seed feeding device.

Comparative numerical and experimental study of two combined wind and wave energy concepts

With a successful and rapid development of offshore wind industry and increased research activities on wave energy conversion in recent years,there is an interest in investigating the technological and economic feasibility of combining offshore wind turbines(WTs)with wave energy converters(WECs).In the EU FP7 MARINA Platform project,three floating combined concepts,namely the spar torus combination(STC),the semi-submersible flap combination(SFC)and the oscillating water column(OWC)array with a wind turbine,were selected and studied in detail by numerical and experimental methods.This paper summarizes the numerical modeling and analysis of the two concepts:STC and SFC,the model tests at a 1:50 scale under simultaneous wave and wind excitation,as well as the comparison between the numerical and experimental results.Both operational and survival wind and wave conditions were considered.The numerical analysis was based on a time-domain global model using potential flow theory for hydrodynamics and blade element momentum theory(for SFC)or simplified thrust force model(for STC)for aerodynamics.Different techniques for model testing of combined wind and wave concepts were discussed with focus on modeling of wind turbines by disk or redesigned small-scale rotor and modeling of power take-off(PTO)system for wave energy conversion by pneumatic damper or hydraulic rotary damper.In order to reduce the uncertainty due to scaling,the numerical analysis was performed at model scale and both the numerical and experimental results were then up-scaled to full scale for comparison.The comparison shows that the current numerical model can well predict the responses(motions,PTO forces,power production)of the combined concepts for most of the cases.However,the linear hydrodynamic model is not adequate for the STC concept in extreme wave conditions with the torus fixed to the spar at the mean water level for which the wave slamming on the torus occurs and this requires further investigation.Moreover,based on a preliminary comparison of the displacement,the PTO system as well as the wind and wave power production,the STC concept will have a lower cost of energy as compared to the SFC concept.However,the cost of energy of either the STC or the SFC concept is higher than that of a pure floating wind turbine with the same floater.