Serum proteins differentially expressed in gestational diabetes mellitus assessed using isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation proteomics

BACKGROUND As a well-known fact to the public,gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM)could bring serious risks for both pregnant women and infants.During this important investigation into the linkage between GDM patients and their altered expression in the serum,proteomics techniques were deployed to detect the differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)of in the serum of GDM patients to further explore its pathogenesis,and find out possible biomarkers to forecast GDM occurrence.METHODS Subjects were divided into GDM and normal control groups according to the IADPSG diagnostic criteria.Serum samples were randomly selected from four cases in each group at 24-28 wk of gestation,and the blood samples were identified by applying iTRAQ technology combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Key proteins and signaling pathways associated with GDM were identified by bioinformatics analysis,and the expression of key proteins in serum from 12 wk to 16 wk of gestation was further verified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).RESULTS Forty-seven proteins were significantly differentially expressed by analyzing the serum samples between the GDMgravidas as well as the healthy ones. Among them, 31 proteins were found to be upregulated notably and the rest16 proteins were downregulated remarkably. Bioinformatic data report revealed abnormal expression of proteinsassociated with lipid metabolism, coagulation cascade activation, complement system and inflammatory responsein the GDM group. ELISA results showed that the contents of RBP4, as well as ANGPTL8, increased in the serumof GDM gravidas compared with the healthy ones, and this change was found to initiate from 12 wk to 16 wk ofgestation.CONCLUSION GDM symptoms may involve abnormalities in lipid metabolism, coagulation cascade activation, complementsystem and inflammatory response. RBP4 and ANGPTL8 are expected to be early predictors of GDM.

Measurement and Analysis of Vibration Effect of Free-falling Corner Cube Driving Mechanism in Free Fall Absolute Gravimeter

The vibration interference of the reference corner cube runs through the free flight process of the free-falling corner cube,which is superimposed on the whole laser interference fringes.Thus,it is necessary to solve the interference fringes with the entire fringe to analyze the quantitative influence of vibration on gravity measurements.

The chemical characteristics of different sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetate sources and their relative bioavailabilities for broilers fed with a conventional corn‑soybean meal diet

Background Our previous studies demonstrated that divalent organic iron(Fe)proteinate sources with higher complexation or chelation strengths as expressed by the greater quotient of formation(Qf)values displayed higher Fe bioavailabilities for broilers.Sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetate(NaFeEDTA)is a trivalent organic Fe source with the strongest chelating ligand EDTA.However,the bioavailability of Fe when administered as NaFeEDTA in broilers and other agricultural animals remains untested.Herein,the chemical characteristics of 12 NaFeEDTA products were determined.Of these,one feed grade NaFeEDTA(Qf=2.07×10^(8)),one food grade NaFeEDTA(Qf=3.31×10^(8)),and one Fe proteinate with an extremely strong chelation strength(Fe-Prot ES,Qf value=8,590)were selected.Their bioavailabilities relative to Fe sulfate(FeSO_(4)·7H_(2)O)for broilers fed with a conventional corn-soybean meal diet were evaluated during d 1 to 21 by investigating the effects of the above Fe sources and added Fe levels on the growth performance,hematological indices,Fe contents,activities and gene expressions of Fe-containing enzymes in various tissues of broilers.Results NaFeEDTA sources varied greatly in their chemical characteristics.Plasma Fe concentration(PI),transferrin saturation(TS),liver Fe content,succinate dehydrogenase(SDH)activities in liver,heart,and kidney,catalase(CAT)activity in liver,and SDH mRNA expressions in liver and kidney increased linearly(P<0.05)with increasing levels of Fe supplementation.However,differences among Fe sources were detected(P<0.05)only for PI,liver Fe content,CAT activity in liver,SDH activities in heart and kidney,and SDH mRNA expressions in liver and kidney.Based on slope ratios from multiple linear regressions of the above indices on daily dietary analyzed Fe intake,the average bioavailabilities of Fe-Prot ES,feed grade NaFeEDTA,and food grade NaFeEDTA relative to the inorganic FeSO_(4)·7H_(2)O(100%)for broilers were 139%,155%,and 166%,respectively.Conclusions The bioavailabilities of organic Fe sources relative to FeSO_(4)·7H_(2)O were closely related to their Qf values,and NaFeEDTA sources with higher Qf values showed higher Fe bioavailabilities for broilers fed with a conventional corn-soybean meal diet.

Optimal investment based on relative performance and weighted utility

This paper studies the optimal portfolio allocation of a fund manager when he bases decisions on both the absolute level of terminal relative performance and the change value of terminal relative performance comparison to a predefined reference point. We find the optimal investment strategy by maximizing a weighted average utility of a concave utility and an Sshaped utility via a concavification technique and the martingale method. Numerical results are carried out to show the impact of the extent to which the manager pays attention to the change of relative performance related to the reference point on the optimal terminal relative performance.

Impacts of high temperature,relative air humidity,and vapor pressure deficit on the seed set of contrasting maize genotypes during flowering

Heat stress is a major constraint to current and future maize production at the global scale.Male and female reproductive organs both play major roles in increasing seed set under heat stress at flowering,but their relative contributions to seed set are unclear.In this study,a 2-year field experiment including three sowing dates in each year and 20 inbred lines was conducted.Seed set,kernel number per ear,and grain yield were all reduced by more than 80%in the third sowing dates compared to the first sowing dates.Pollen viability,silk emergence ratio,and anthesis-silking interval were the key determinants of seed set under heat stress;and their correlation coefficients were 0.89^(***),0.65^(***),and-0.72^(***),respectively.Vapor pressure deficit(VPD)and relative air humidity(RH)both had significant correlations with pollen viability and the silk emergence ratio.High RH can alleviate the impacts of heat on maize seed set by maintaining high pollen viability and a high silk emergence ratio.Under a warming climate from 2020 to 2050,VPD will decrease due to the increased RH.Based on their pollen viability and silk emergence ratios,the 20 genotypes fell into four different groups.The group with high pollen viability and a high silk emergence ratio performed better under heat stress,and their performance can be further improved by combining the improved flowering pattern traits.

Euler Product Expressions of Absolute Tensor Products of Dirichlet L-Functions

In this paper, we calculate the absolute tensor square of the Dirichlet L-functions and show that it is expressed as an Euler product over pairs of primes. The method is to construct an equation to link primes to a series which has the factors of the absolute tensor product of the Dirichlet L-functions. This study is a generalization of Akatsuka’s theorem on the Riemann zeta function, and gives a proof of Kurokawa’s prediction proposed in 1992.

Relative orbit determination algorithm of space targets with passive observation

Angles-only relative orbit determination for space non-cooperative targets based on passive sensor is subject to weakly observable problem of the relative state between two spacecraft. Previously, the evidence for angles-only observability was found by using cylindrical dynamics, however, the solution of orbit determination is still not provided. This study develops a relative orbit determination algorithm with the cylindrical dynamics based on differential evolution. Firstly, the relative motion dynamics and line-of-sight measurement model for nearcircular orbit are established in cylindrical coordinate system.Secondly, the observability is qualitatively analyzed by using the dynamics and measurement model where the unobservable geometry is found. Then, the angles-only relative orbit determination problem is modeled into an optimal searching frame and an improved differential evolution algorithm is introduced to solve the problem. Finally, the proposed algorithm is verified and tested by a set of numerical simulations in the context of highEarth and low-Earth cases. The results show that initial relative orbit determination(IROD) solution with an appropriate accuracy in a relative short span is achieved, which can be used to initialize the navigation filter.

Relative peripheral refraction in school children with different refractive errors using a novel multispectral refraction topographer

AIM:To compare relative peripheral refraction(RPR)in Chinese school children with different refractive errors using multispectral refraction topography(MRT).METHODS:A total of 713 eyes of primary school children[172 emmetropia(E),429 low myopia(LM),80 moderate myopia(MM),and 32 low hypermetropia(LH)]aged 10 to 13y were analyzed.RPRs were measured using MRT without mydriasis.MRT results showed RPR at 0-15°(RPR 0-15),15°-30°(RPR 15-30),and 30°-45°(RPR 30-45)annular in the inferior(RPR-I),superior(RPR-S),nasal(RPR-N),and temporal(RPR-T)quadrants.Spherical equivalent(SE)was detected and calculated using an autorefractor.RESULTS:There were significant differences of RPR 15-30 between groups MM[0.02(-0.12;0.18)]and LH[-0.13(-0.36;0.12)](P<0.05),MM and E[-0.06(-0.20;0.10)](P<0.05),and LM[-0.02(-0.15;0.15)]and E(P<0.05).There were also significant differences of RPR 30-45 between groups MM[0.45(0.18;0.74)]and E[0.29(-0.09;0.67)](P<0.05),and LM[0.44(0.14;0.76)]and E(P<0.001).RPR values increased from the hyperopic to medium myopic group in each annular.There were significant differences of RPR-S between groups MM[-0.02(-0.60;0.30)]and E[-0.44(-0.89;-0.04)](P<0.001),and LM[-0.28(-0.71;0.12)]and E(P<0.05).There were also significant differences of RPR-T between groups MM[0.37(0.21;0.78)]and LH[0.14(-0.52;0.50)](P<0.05),LM[0.41(0.06;0.84)]and LH(P<0.05),and LM and E[0.29(-0.10;0.68),P<0.05].A Spearman’s correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between RPR and SE in the 15°-30°(P=0.005),30°-45°(P<0.05)annular(P=0.002),superior(P<0.001),and temporal(P=0.001)quadrants.CONCLUSION:Without pupil dilation,values for RPR 15-30,30-45,RPR-S,and T shows significant differences between myopic eyes and emmetropia,and the differences are negatively correlated with SE.

Relative peripheral refractive errors in Chinese children with myopic anisometropia

AIM:To compare relative peripheral refractive errors(RPREs)in Chinese children with and without myopic anisometropia(MAI)and to explore the relationship between RPRE and myopia.METHODS:This observational cross-sectional study included 160 children divided into two groups according to the interocular spherical equivalent refraction(SER)difference≥1.0 D in the MAI group(n=80)and<1.0 D in the non-MAI group(n=80).The MAI group was further divided into two subgroups:ΔSER<2.0 D group and ΔSER≥2.0 D group.Basic ocular biometric parameters of axial length(AL),average keratometry(Ave K),cylinder(CYL),surface regularity index(SRI),and surface asymmetry index(SAI)were recorded.In addition,multispectral refraction topography was performed to measure RPRE,and the parameters were recorded as total refraction difference value(TRDV),refraction difference value(RDV)0-10,RDV10-20,RDV20-30,RDV30-40,RDV40-53,RDV-superior(RDV-S),RDV-inferior(RDV-I),RDV-temporal(RDV-T)and RDV-nasal(RDV-N).RESULTS:In the non-MAI group,the interocular differences of all parameters of RPRE were not significant.In the MAI group,the interocular differences of TRDV,RDV10-53,RDV-S,RDV-I,RDV-T,and RDV-N were significant.In subgroup analysis,the interocular differences of TRDV,RDV30-53,RDV-I,and RDV-T were significant in ΔSER<2.0 D group and ΔSER≥2.0 D group,but the interocular differences of RDV10-30,RDV-S and RDV-N were only significant in the ΔSER≥2.0 D group.In correlation analysis,ΔTRDV,ΔRDV 10-53,ΔRDV-S,and ΔRDV-N were negatively correlated with ΔSER but positively correlated with ΔAL.CONCLUSION:The more myopic eyes have larger hyperopic RPRE in Chinese children with MAI in certain retinal range,and partialΔRPRE is closely associated with ΔSER and ΔAL.

Absolute Wall Thickness Measurement of Conducting Plates Using Pulsed Eddy Currents

The method using pulsed eddy currents to determine the thickness of a conduction plate is extended to enable the simultaneous measurement of the plate thickness and material properties. For optimal performance, a probe must be designed depending on the thickness range that should be accessible. The need for a calibration of the material properties of a conducting plate to enable the measurement of its thickness has been removed. All that is needed is a probe with known dimensions and suitable hardware to create a current pulse and measure a transient magnetic induction.

An Experimental Study on the Effect of a Nanofluid on Oil-Water Relative Permeability

The low porosity and low permeability of tight oil reservoirs call for improvements in the current technologies for oil recovery.Traditional chemical solutions with large molecular size cannot effectively flow through the nanopores of the reservoir.In this study,the feasibility of Nanofluids has been investigated using a high pressure high temperature core-holder and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR).The results of the experiments indicate that the specified Nanofluids can enhance the tight oil recovery significantly.The water and oil relative permeability curve shifts to the high water saturation side after Nanofluid flooding,thereby demonstrating an increase in the water wettability of the core.In the Nanofluid flooding process the oil recovery was enhanced by 15.1%,compared to waterflooding stage.The T2 spectra using the NMR show that after Nanofluid flooding,a 7.18%increment in oil recovery factor was gained in the small pores,a 4.9%increase in the middle pores,and a 0.29%increase in the large pores.These results confirm that the Nanofluids can improve the flow state in micro-sized pores inside the core and increase the ultimate oil recovery factor.

A Novel Inverse-Free Neurodynamic Approach for Solving Absolute Value Equations

We propose a novel inverse-free neurodynamic approach (NIFNA) for solving absolute value equations (AVE). The NIFNA guarantees global convergence and notably improves convergence speed by achieving fixed-time convergence. To validate the theoretical findings, numerical simulations are conducted, demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed NIFNA.

Relative Efficiencies of Optimal Designs in Four Dimensions Constructed Using Balanced Incomplete Block Designs

Experimentally, the best design gives estimates of the desired effects and contrasts with maximum precision. Efficiency as a discriminating factor enables comparison of designs. The goal of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is the determination of the best settings of the in-put variables for a maximum (or a minimum) response within a region of interest, R. This calls for fitting a model that adequately represents the mean response since such a model, is then used to locate the optimum. D-, A-, E- and T-Optimal designs of a rotatable design of degree two in four dimensions constructed using balanced incomplete block designs (BIBD) when the number of replications is less than three times the number of pairs of treatments occur together in the design and their relative efficiencies to general designs are presented. D-optimal design had 88 runs after replicating the factorial part twice and the axial part thrice with an optimal variance of 0.6965612 giving an efficiency of 97.7% while for A- and T-optimal designs they are formed with 112 runs each obtained by replicating the factorial part two times and axial part six times. Their optimal variances are 0.05798174 and 1.29828 respectively, with efficiency of 71.8% for A-optimal and 87.5% for T-optimal design. E-optimal design was found to be the most efficient design with an only 32 runs comprising only of the factorial part and with an optimal variance of 0.4182000, attaining an efficiency of approximately 1%. This study proposes the adoption of the E-optimal design in estimating the parameters of a rotatable second-order degree model constructed using BIBD for less costs and time saving.

Prediction of Low Heating Value of Sugar Cane Bagasse as a Fuel for Industrial Boilers in the High Relative Humidity Region: Case of Cameroon

Many attempts have been made to estimate calorific value of bagasse using mathematical equations, which were created based on data from proximate, ultimate, physical and chemical analysis. Questions have been raised on the applicability of these equations in different parts of the globe. This study was initiated to tackle these problems and also check the most suited mathematical models for the Law Heating Value of Cameroonian bagasse. Data and bagasse samples were collected at the Cameroonian sugarcane factory. The effects of cane variety, age of harvesting, source, moisture content, and sucrose on the LHV of Cameroon bagasse have been tested. It was shown that humidity does not change within a variety, but changes from the dry season to the rainy season;the sugar in the rainy season is significantly different from that collected in the dry season. Samples of the same variety have identical LHV. LHV in the dry season is significantly different from LHV in the rainy season. According to the fact that this study was done for cane with different ages of harvesting, the maturity of Cameroonian sugarcane does not affect LHV of bagasse. Tree selected models are much superior tool for the prediction of the LHV for bagasse in Cameroon compared to others. The standard deviation of these validated models is around 200 kJ/kg compared to the experimental. Thus, the models determined in foreign countries, are not necessarily applicable in predicting the LHV of bagasse in other countries with the same accuracy as that in their native country. There was linear relationship between humidity, ash and sugar content in the bagasse. It is possible to build models based on data from physical composition of bagasse using regression analysis.

Identification of protein targets for the antidepressant effects of Kai-Xin-San in Chinese medicine using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation

Kai-Xin-San consists of Ginseng Radix, Polygalae Radix, Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma, and Poria at a ratio of 3:3:2:2. Kai-Xin-San has been widely used for the treatment of emotional disorders in China. However, no studies have identified the key proteins implicated in response to Kai-Xin-San treatment. In this study, rat models of chronic mild stress were established using different stress methods over 28 days. After 14 days of stress stimulation, rats received daily intragastric administrations of 600 mg/kg Kai-Xin-San. The sucrose preference test was used to determine depression-like behavior in rats, while isobaric tags were used for relative and absolute quantitation-based proteomics to identify altered proteins following Kai-Xin-San treatment. Kai-Xin-San treatment for 2 weeks noticeably improved depression-like behaviors in rats with chronic mild stress. We identified 33 differentially expressed proteins: 7 were upregulated and 26 were downregulated. Functional analysis showed that these differentially expressed proteins participate in synaptic plasticity, neurodevelopment, and neurogenesis. Our results indicate that Kai-Xin-San has an important role in regulating the key node proteins in the synaptic signaling network, and are helpful to better understand the mechanism of the antidepressive effects of Kai-Xin-San and to provide objective theoretical support for its clinical application. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Research from the Chinese PLA General Hospital(approval No. X5-2016-07) on March 5, 2016.

Different protein expression patterns in rat spinal nerves during wallerian degeneration assessed using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation proteomics profiling

Sensory and motor nerve fibers of peripheral nerves have different anatomies and regeneration functions after injury. To gain a clear understanding of the biological processes behind these differences, we used a labeling technique termed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation to investigate the protein profiles of spinal nerve tissues from Sprague-Dawley rats. In response to Wallerian degeneration, a total of 626 proteins were screened in sensory nerves, of which 368 were upregulated and 258 were downregulated. In addition, 637 proteins were screened in motor nerves, of which 372 were upregulated and 265 were downregulated. All identified proteins were analyzed using the Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis of bioinformatics, and the presence of several key proteins closely related to Wallerian degeneration were tested and verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses. The differentially expressed proteins only identified in the sensory nerves were mainly relevant to various biological processes that included cell-cell adhesion, carbohydrate metabolic processes and cell adhesion, whereas differentially expressed proteins only identified in the motor nerves were mainly relevant to biological processes associated with the glycolytic process, cell redox homeostasis, and protein folding. In the aspect of the cellular component, the differentially expressed proteins in the sensory and motor nerves were commonly related to extracellular exosomes, the myelin sheath, and focal adhesion. According to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, the differentially expressed proteins identified are primarily related to various types of metabolic pathways. In conclusion, the present study screened differentially expressed proteins to reveal more about the differences and similarities between sensory and motor nerves during Wallerian degeneration. The present findings could provide a reference point for a future investigation into the differences between sensory and motor nerves in Wallerian degeneration and the characteristics of peripheral nerve regeneration. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, China(approval No. 2016-x9-07) in September 2016.

Estimation of peak relative velocity and peak absolute acceleration of linear SDOF systems

In the seismic analysis and design of structures, the true velocity and absolute acceleration are usually approximated by their corresponding pseudo-values. This approach is simple and works well for structures with small damping （say, less than 15%）. When the damping of a structure is enhanced for the purpose of response reduction, it may result in large analysis and design errors. Based on theory of random vibration and the established mechanism of seismic response spectra analysis, a method is developed （1） to predict the relative velocity spectra with any damping ratio level directly from the 5% standard pseudo-acceleration spectrum; and （2） to estimate the peak absolute acceleration. The accuracy of both is validated by using two selected ensembles of ground motion records.

Estimation of peak relative velocity and peak absolute acceleration of linear SDOF systems

We have found some mistakes in the article by Jianwei Song et al. （2007）. The revisions are given below：

Super Antibiotics, Part IV. Hyperforin, Relative and Absolute Stereochemistry Elucidated by Gas-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry with Supersonic Molecular Beams

Relative and absolute stereochemistry for hyperforin has been proposed by Brondz et al. was supported and new isomer of hyperforin-perforatrin has been discovered. Relative and absolute stereochemistry for perforatrin was proposed and elucidated by using gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry with supersonic molecular beams (SMB). The possibility of the existence of ambiguities in chirality as a hypothesis for the existence, and a new understanding, of chiral substances with shifting chirality is presented.

A New Vectorial Order Approach Based on the Classification of Tuples Attribute and Relative Absolute Adaptive Referent: Applications to Multicomponent Images

In this paper, we are presenting a new vector order, a solution to the open problem of the generalization of mathematical morphology to multicomponent images and multidimensional data. This approach uses the paradigm of P–order. Its primary principle consists, first in partitioning the multi-component image in the attribute space by a classification method in different numbers of classes, and then the vector attributes are ordered within each class (intra-order-class). And finally the classes themselves are ordered in turn from their barycenter (inter-class order). Thus, two attribute vectors (or colors) whatever, belonging to the vector image can be compared. Provided with this relation of order, vectors attributes of a multivariate image define a complete lattice ingredient necessary for the definition of the various morphological operators. In fact, this method creates a strong close similarity between vectors in order to move towards an order of the same principle as defined in the set of real numbers. The more the number of classes increases, the more the colors of the same class are similar and therefore the absolute adaptive referent tends to be optimal. On the other hand, the more the class number decreases or equals two, the more our approach tends towards the hybrid order developed previously. The proposed order has been implemented on different morphological operators through different multicomponent images. The fundamental robustness of our approach and that relating to noise have been tested. The results on the gradient, Laplacian and Median filter operators show the performance of our new order.