Sexual differences of the effects of prenatal stress on the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinaseas in the hippocampus of offspring rats

BACKGROUND： Prenatal stress has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus and hippocampus, reduce hippocampal volume, and cause neuronal loss and oxidative damage in the hippocampus of offspring rats, but the sexual difference of the effects on offsprings is seldom referred to. OBJECTIVE： To observe the effect of prenatal stress to adult pregnant rats on expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinases （ERK） in hippocampus of the offspring rats of different genders. DESIGN ： A randomized and control animal experiment.SETTING： Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Xi＇an Jiaotong University. MATERIALS ： The experiments were carried out in the Key Laboratory of Environment and Gene Related Diseases （Xi＇an Jiaotong University）, Ministry of Education between October 2005 and March 2006. Fifteen female and five male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were adopted. Female rats weighing 230-250 g and male rats weighing 280-350 g were used. METHODS： The virgin female rats were placed overnight with adult male rats （3：1） for mating. A total of twelve pregnant rats were randomly assigned to prenatal stress group （PNS group, n=6） and control group （n=6）. The pregnant rats of the PNS group were exposed to restraint stress on days 14-20 of pregnancy three times a day, 45 minutes for each time . The restraint device was a transparent plastic tube （6.8 cm in diameter） with air holes for breathing and closed end. The length could be adjusted to accommodate the size of the animals. To prevent habituation of animals to the daily procedure, restraint periods were randomly shifted within certain time periods （8：00-11：00, 11：00-14：00, and 16：00-19：00）. After birth, offsprings of all groups were culled to 8-10 litters in each group and housed in the same animal room, and kept together with their biologic mothers. The pregnant rats of the control group were left undisturbed. On day 21, after all the offspring were weaned, male and female pups were separated and housed four in each cage respectively until test at 30 days of age. At the end of postnatal day 30, one male and female offspring rats from the same dam were selected with a random choice and a total of 24 animals from 12 different dams were used. The experimental rats were sacrificed by decapitation under anesthesia. Bilateral hippocampal tissues were isolated and homogenized in cold condition. Alkaline carbonate buffer （BCA） method was used to detect the concentration of extracellular signal-regulated kinases （ERK）, then mixed with loading buffer, the constant voltage was 100 V. Finally, BCIP/NBT staining and electrDphoresis were performed, the absorbance （A） value for the bands was detected with the Bandscan analytical software, and the expression of ERK in hippocampus of offspring rats of different genders in each group was quantitatively analyzed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The level of ERK expression in hippocampus of offspring rats of different genders in each group was observed.RESULTS： All the 24 offspring rats were involved in the analysis of results. ① The staining results of ERP activity in the extract of brain tissue detected with Western blotting technique and specific antibody analysis showed that the ERP in hippocampus of offspring rats had two subtypes of ERK-1 and ERK-2, and the latter was the main type.② Standardized by the average A value in the control group, the quantitative data of the general A value of total ERK showed that the expression of ERK-2 in hippocampus of female offspring rats was obviously higher in the PNS group than in the control group （A value： 126±6.76,100±4.89,P〈 0.01）. ③The expression of ERK-2 had no obvious difference between the female and male offspring rats in the control group.④ The expression of ERK-2 in hippocampus of male offspring rats was a little higher in the PNS group than in the control group （A value： 104±6.27,102±5.48,P 〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION ： PNS significantly affects the increase of ERK expression in hippocampus of female offspring rats, but has no obvious influence on that of male ones.

Protein changes in rice seedlings during the enhancement of chilling resistance by different stress pretreatment

The changes of proteins in the rice (Oryzasativa L.) Tesanai 2 seedling under salt (NaCl,4 g/L), heat shock (42℃, 3h ), and cold(14℃, 3d ) pretreatments were compared toexplore the mechanism of the cross adaptationto different environmental stresses. The chill-ing resistance of rice seedling after 1℃, 150pmol·msPFD(photo flux density) for 2d was enhanced distinctly by salt, heat shock,

Finite Element Analysis of Large Size Chromium Oxide Green Bodies During Firing

To prevent dense chromium oxide covers from cracking during firing,such as internal cracking,surface cracking and fracture,the firing process of dense chromium oxide products was simulated,and the performance parameters at several specific temperatures before and after densification of chromium oxide green bodies were tested.The temperature difference and the stress difference of chromium oxide green bodies were calculated by Finite Element Software at heating and cooling rates of 10,20,30 and 40℃·h^(-1),respectively.The results show that large temperature difference and thermal stress difference are the main causes of internal cracking,surface cracking and fracture of the brick.Suitable heating rates reduce or avoid internal cracking of the brick.When the heating rate is 30℃·h^(-1) below 1450℃and 10℃·h^(-1) above 1450℃,the temperature difference and the thermal stress difference in the brick are below 4℃and 4 MPa,respectively,and there is no internal crack in the brick after firing.The initial cooling stage is the key stage that causes cracking or fracture of bricks.When the cooling rate is 20℃·h^(-1) above 1450℃,the thermal stress difference in the brick is less than 4 MPa,which can significantly reduce the surface cracks and fracture of the brick.

Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracture propagation in tight oil reservoirs by volumetric fracturing

Volumetric fracturing is a primary stimulation technology for economical and effective exploitation of tight oil reservoirs. The main mechanism is to connect natural fractures to generate a fracture network system which can enhance the stimulated reservoir volume. By using the combined finite and discrete element method, a model was built to describe hydraulic fracture propagation in tight oil reservoirs. Considering the effect of horizontal stress difference, number and spacing of perforation clus- ters, injection rate, and the density of natural fractures on fracture propagation, we used this model to simulate the fracture propagation in a tight formation of a certain oil- field. Simulation results show that when the horizontal stress difference is lower than 5 MPa, it is beneficial to form a complex fracture network system. If the horizontal stress difference is higher than 6 MPa, it is easy to form a planar fracture system; with high horizontal stress differ- ence, increasing the number of perforation clusters is beneficial to open and connect more natural fractures, and to improve the complexity of fracture network and the stimulated reservoir volume （SRV）. As the injection rate increases, the effect of volumetric fracturing may be improved; the density of natural fractures may only have a great influence on the effect of volume stimulation in a low horizontal stress difference.

Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracture propagation in laminated shale reservoirs

The main area of the Jiaoshiba anticline of the Fuling shale gas field was taken as the research object,laboratory rock mechanical experiments and direct shear experiments were conducted to clarify the mechanical anisotropy characteristics and parameters of rock samples with rich beddings.Based on the experimental results,a 3D fracture propagation model of the target reservoir taking mechanical anisotropy,weak bedding plane and vertical stress difference into account was established by the discrete element method to analyze distribution patterns of hydraulic fractures under different bedding densities,mechanical properties,and fracturing engineering parameters(including perforation clusters,injection rates and fracturing fluid viscosity).The research results show that considering the influence of the weak bedding plane and longitudinal stress difference,the interlayer stress difference 3–4 MPa in the study area can control the fracture height within the zone of stress barrier,and the fracture height is less than 40 m.If the influence of the weak bedding plane is not considered,the simulation result of fracture height is obviously higher.Although the opening of high-density bedding fractures increases the complexity of hydraulic fractures,it significantly limited the propagation of fracture height.By reducing the number of clusters,increasing the injection rate,and increasing the volume and proportion of high-viscosity fracturing fluid in the pad stage,the restriction on fracture height due to the bedding plane and vertical stress difference can be reduced,and the longitudinal propagation of fractures can be promoted.The fracture propagation model was used to simulate one stage of Well A in Fuling shale gas field,and the simulation results were consistent with the micro-seismic monitoring results.

Prediction of the Favorable Area for the Development of Fracture in Mud-Shale of Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation in Jiaoshiba Area, Sichuan Basin

The main reservoir stratum of shale gas in the Jiaoshiba area, Sichuan basin is Wufeng-Longmaxi Formations. This paper calculates the tectonic difference stress values of JY1 well in different depths and numerically simulates the shale gas reservoir by elasto-plastic incremental method. The results of tectonic difference stress value suggest that the present tectonic stress values distribute strippedly in plane. The areas in favor of the development of fractures are stripped and mostly distributed in the northeast, middle and southwest of Jiaoshiba area, where the shale gas is concentrated.

The Effect of Particle Shape on the Structure and Rheological Properties of Carbon-based Particle Suspensions

The structure and rheological properties of carbon-based particle suspensions, i.e., carbon black（CB）, multi-wall carbon nanotube（MWNT）, graphene and hollow carbon sphere（HCS） suspended in polydimethylsiloxane（PDMS）, are investigated. In order to study the effect of particle shape on the structure and rheological properties of suspensions, the content of surface oxygen-containing functional groups of carbon-based particles is controlled to be similar. Original spherical-like CB（fractal filler）, rod-like MWNT and sheet-like graphene form large agglomerates in PDMS, while spherical HCS particles disperse relatively well in PDMS. The dispersion state of carbon-based particles affects the critical concentration of forming a rheological percolation network. Under weak shear, negative normal stress differences（ΔN） are observed in CB, MWNT and graphene suspensions, while ΔN is nearly zero for HCS suspensions. It is concluded that the vorticity alignment of CB, MWNT and graphene agglomerates under shear results in the negative ΔN. However, no obvious structural change is observed in HCS suspension under weak shear, and accordingly, the ΔN is almost zero.