Effect of land-use changes on chemical and physical properties of soil in western Iran(Zagros oak forests)

The consequence of land-use change from forest to agriculture and other uses has become one of the world’s greatest concerns.The soil,one of the most important components of forests and containing all the required plant nutrients as soluble ions,is highly impacted by these changes.Because vast areas of the Zagros forests in western Iran have changed in use during the last few decades,the present study investigated the effects of landuse changes of forest area to agriculture,orchard,and agroforestry on soil chemical and physical properties.Soil was sampled at four land-use areas:less-disturbed forest areas(control)and agricultural,orchard,and agroforestry areas.Among each of the two forest-use areas(agroforestry and orchard),we selected five trees with similar-sized crowns and sampled under each tree crown at 0-15 and>15-30 cm depths.Five soil samples also were taken in agriculture area at each depth.The findings indicated that during land-use changes,soil sand particles decreased,and clay and silt particles of soil increased,resulting in a fine soil texture.Moreover,the amount of nitrogen(N),phosphorus(P),organic carbon(OC),and electrical conductivity(EC)of soil decreased at both depths due to the decrease in organic matter.Soil pH and magnesium(Mg)level rose during land-use change at both depths except at agricultural sites.Soil potassium(K)content decreased during agricultural use due to the elimination of tree cover.The level of K decreased only at the depth of 0-15 cm because of K dependency on parent materials.Generally,most soil nutrients were affected by plant removal in the conversion.Forest and agricultural soil are distinguishable by their properties,while land-uses such as agroforestry-orchard separated from the others.Soil nutrients were severely affected by the decrease and elimination of tree cover,plowing,and continuous harvesting,resulting in a decline in soil quality and fertility.

Current pharmacological therapies for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH) is considered to be a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, and its incidence is rapidly increasing worldwide. It is currently the most common chronic liver disease. NASH can progress to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and may result in liver-related death. Currently, the principal treatment for NAFLD/NASH is lifestyle modification by diet and exercise. However, pharmacological therapy is indispensable because obese patients with NAFLD often have difficulty maintaining improved lifestyles. The pathogenesis of NAFLD/NASH has not been completely elucidated. However, insulin resistance, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress are thought to be important in the development and/or progression of the disease. Currently, insulin sensitizers(thiazolidinediones) and antioxidants(vitamin E) seem to be the most promising therapeutic agents for NAFLD/NASH, and lipid-lowering drugs, pentoxifylline, angiotensin receptor blockers, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids also have promise. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the most effective and appropriate pharmacotherapy for NAFLD/NASH. Animal experiments suggest that herbal medicines and natural products may be promising therapeutic agents for NAFLD/NASH, but their efficacy and safety are yet to be investigated in human studies. In this paper, we review the existing and potential pharmacological therapies for NAFLD/NASH.

Solid Acid Used as Highly Efficient Catalyst for Esterification of Free Fatty Acids with Alcohols

Anovel solid acid catalyst, which was prepared from sodium alginate (SA) and metal chlorides and characterized with XRD and FT-IR spectrometry, was used for the preparation of biodiesel via esterification reaction. The study results showed that the aluminum-alginate complex prepared in a cheap and easy way exhibited high catalytic activity, and a 92.6% conversion of methyl oleate was obtained in the presence of 4m% of catalyst dosage upon refluxing for 3h of methanol and acid mixed in a molar ratio of 10:1. It should be noted that the catalyst can be applied to the esterification reaction of fatty acids with various carbon chain length on methanol or different short chain alcohols, indicating that the catalyst is suitable for the preparation of biodiesel from waste oils with a high acid value.

Variational Calculus With Conformable Fractional Derivatives

Invariant conditions for conformable fractional problems of the calculus of variations under the presence of external forces in the dynamics are studied. Depending on the type of transformations considered, different necessary conditions of invariance are obtained. As particular cases, we prove fractional versions of Noether's symmetry theorem. Invariant conditions for fractional optimal control problems, using the Hamiltonian formalism, are also investigated. As an example of potential application in Physics, we show that with conformable derivatives it is possible to formulate an Action Principle for particles under frictional forces that is far simpler than the one obtained with classical fractional derivatives.

NON-INSTANTANEOUS IMPULSIVE FRACTIONAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH STATE DEPENDENT DELAY AND PRACTICAL STABILITY

Nonlinear delay Caputo fractional differential equations with non-instantaneous impulses are studied and we consider the general case of delay,depending on both the time and the state variable.The case when the lower limit of the Caputo fractional derivative is fixed at the initial time,and the case when the lower limit of the fractional derivative is changed at the end of each interval of action of the impulse are studied.Practical stability properties,based on the modified Razumikhin method are investigated.Several examples are given in this paper to illustrate the results.

Potential Areas for Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Eastern Lower Jordan Valley Area

The article deals with the feasibility of using the recent geological formations in the eastern Jordan Valley for water storage through artificial recharge due to water scarcity and water needs in this area. Water storage in surface reservoirs in arid and semi-arid areas is afflicted with a variety of issues such as high evaporation, eutrophication processes and exposure to contamination and accidents. Dams to capture all rare-event floods are, generally, big and expensive structures. Artificially recharging aquifers and storing the water in the underground offer a competing alternative. In this study, hydrogeological, geological, geophysical and hydrochemical investigations were carried out to study the potentials of the eastern side of the Lower Jordan Valley for artificial recharge. The results reveal that relatively extended areas on the eastern side of the Lower Jordan Valley have the potential to accommodate large amounts of recharge water and that the impacts of artificially storing the water in aquifers are to be judged very positive compared to surface storage, especially when the amounts of available recharge water can quantitatively be accommodated in recharge facilities. In addition, the study shows, the advantages of underground water storage compared to surface storage in dams. The potential storage capacities in the different parts of the Lower Jordan Valley are quantified based on rechargeable aquifer volumes and porosities. The potential uses of the recharged water are also elaborated on depending on recharge and aquifer water qualities.

Morphological and Molecular Identification of Curvularia geniculata Associated with Leaf Spot Disease of Banana in China

[Objectives]The paper was to identify the causal agent of leaf spot of banana in Hainnan,China.[Methods]Fungus isolates were isolated from the diseased tissues,and morphological characteristics of colony and spore were observed.Furthermore,phylogenetic analyses and pathogenicity test were conducted to confirm the pathogen.[Results]The fungus isolates from the diseased tissues was identified as Curvularia geniculata.[Conclusions]C.geniculata is a new pathogen causing leaf spot of banana in Hainan,China.This finding will help to broaden the distribution and host range of C.geniculata,indicating that it poses potential damage to banana in China.

A Matrix Inequality for the Inversions of the Restrictions of a Positive Definite Hermitian Matrix

We exploit the theory of reproducing kernels to deduce a matrix inequality for the inverse of the restriction of a positive definite Hermitian matrix.

Prenatal programing of motivated behaviors:can innate immunity prime behavior?

Prenatal programming during pregnancy sets physiological outcomes in the offspring by integrating external or internal stimuli.Accordingly,pregnancy is an important stage of physiological adaptations to the environment where the fetus becomes exposed and adapted to the maternal milieu.Maternal exposure to high-energy dense diets can affect motivated behavior in the offs p ring leading to addiction and impaired sociability.A high-energy dense exposure also increases the pro-inflammatory cytokines profile in plasma and brain and favors microglia activation in the offspring.While still under investigation,prenatal exposure to high-energy dense diets promotes structural abnormalities in selective brain regions regulating motivation and social behavior in the offspring.The current review addresses the role of energy-dense foods programming central and peripheral inflammatory profiles during embryonic development and its effect on motivated behavior in the offspring.We provide preclinical and clinical evidence that supports the contribution of prenatal programming in shaping immune profiles that favor structural and brain circuit disruption leading to aberrant motivated behaviors after birth.We hope this minireview encourages future research on novel insights into the mechanisms underlying maternal programming of motivated behavior by central immune networks.

Optimization of Cognitive Radio System Using Enhanced Firefly Algorithm

The optimization of cognitive radio(CR)system using an enhanced firefly algorithm(EFA)is presented in this work.The Firefly algorithm(FA)is a nature-inspired algorithm based on the unique light-flashing behavior of fireflies.It has already proved its competence in various optimization prob-lems,but it suffers from slow convergence issues.To improve the convergence performance of FA,a new variant named EFA is proposed.The effectiveness of EFA as a good optimizer is demonstrated by optimizing benchmark functions,and simulation results show its superior performance compared to biogeography-based optimization(BBO),bat algorithm,artificial bee colony,and FA.As an application of this algorithm to real-world problems,EFA is also applied to optimize the CR system.CR is a revolutionary technique that uses a dynamic spectrum allocation strategy to solve the spectrum scarcity problem.However,it requires optimization to meet specific performance objectives.The results obtained by EFA in CR system optimization are compared with results in the literature of BBO,simulated annealing,and genetic algorithm.Statistical results further prove that the proposed algorithm is highly efficient and provides superior results.

Efficient catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into 5-ethoxymethylfurfural over MIL-101-based sulfated porous coordination polymers

In this work, a series of MIL-101-SO3H(x) polymeric materials were prepared and further used for the first time as efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the conversion of fructose-based carbohydrates into 5-ethoxymethylfurfural(EMF) in a renewable mixed solvent system consisting of ethanol and tetrahydrofuran(THF). The influence of –SO3H content on the acidity as well as on the catalytic activity of the porous coordination polymers in EMF production was also studied. High EMF yields of 67.7% and 54.2% could be successively obtained from fructose and inulin in the presence of MIL-101-SO_3H(100) at 130 °C for 15 h.The catalyst could be reused for five times without significant loss of its activity and the recovery process was facile and simple. This work provides a new platform by application of porous coordination polymers(PCPs) for the production of the potential liquid fuel molecule EMF from biomass in a sustainable solvent system.

Anticancer effect of the extracts from Polyalthia evecta against human hepatoma cell line(HepG2)

Objective:To investigate the anticancer activity of Polyalthia evecta(P.evecta)(Pierre) Finet & Gagnep against human hepatoma cell line(HepG2).Methods:The anticancer activity was based on(a) the cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cells(HepG2) assessed using a neutral red assay and(b) apoptosis induction determined by evaluation of nuclei morphological changes after DAP1 staining.Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the crude extract was assessed by HPLC analysis.Results:The 50% ethanol-water crude leaf extract of P.evecta(EW-L) showed greater potential anticancer activity with high cytotoxicity[IC_(50)=(62.8±7.3)μg/mL]and higher selectivity in HepG2 cells than normal Vero cells[selective index(SI)=7.9].The SI of EW-L was higher than the positive control,melphalan(SI=1.6) and the apoptotic cells(46.4±2.6)%induced by EW-L was higher than the melphalan(41.6±2.1)%(P<0.05).The HPLC chromatogram of the EW-L revealed the presence of various kinds of polyphenolics and flavonoids in it.Conclusions: P.evecta is a potential plant with anticancer activity.The isolation of pure compounds and determination of the bioactivity of individual compounds will be further performed.

Synergistic anticancer effect of the extracts from Polyalthia evecta caused apoptosis in human hepatoma(HepG2)cells

Objective:To evaluate the anticancer activity of the extract fraction of Polyalthia evecta(P. evecta)(Pierre) Finet & Gagnep and the synergistic anticancer effect of the extracts from P.evecta by using the ATR/FT-IR spectroscopy.Methods:The 50%ethanol-water crude leaf extract of P.evecta(EW-L) was prepared and was further fractionated to isolate various fractions.The anticancer activity was investigated from cytotoxicity against HepG2 using a neutral red assay and apoptosis induction by evaluation of nuclei morphological changes after DAPI staining. Synergistic anticancer effects of the extracts from P.evecta were performed using the ATR/FTIR spectroscopy.Results:The result showed that the EW-L showed higher cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction in HepG2 cells than its fractionated extracts.The hexane extract exhibited higher cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction than the water extracts,but less than the EW-L. The combined water and hexane extracts apparently increased cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction.The%apoptotic cells induced by the extract mixture were increased about 2-fold compared to the single hexane extract Conclusions:The polar extract fraction is necessary for the anticancer activity of the non-polar extract fraction.The ATR/FT-IR spectra illustrates the physical interaction among the constituents in the extract mixture and reveals the presence of polyphenolic constituents in the EW-L,which might play a role for the synergistic anticancer effect.

Amplification of chromosome 21q22.3 harboring trefoil factor family genes in liver fluke related cholangiocarcinoma is associated with poor prognosis

瞄准：在 cholangiocarcinoma (CCA ) 包括翘摇因素家庭基因(TFF ) 在染色体区域 21q22-qter 上决定突变而产生之遗传的不平衡病人和分析在突变而产生之遗传的不平衡和 clinicopathological 参数之间的关联。方法：量的 PCR 扩大用一条标准曲线和格林·西布尔在四个微卫星标记和翘摇因素家庭基因(TFF1， TFF2，和 TFF3 ) 上被执行我染料方法。相对拷贝数字被测试地点的 DNA 拷贝数字决定引用地点。当由有正常参考的比较的删除或扩大变化，相对拷贝数字被解释。在突变而产生之遗传的不平衡和 CCA 病人的 clinicopathological 参数之间的协会被 chi (2 ) 评估测试。Kaplan-Meier 方法被用来分析幸存。结果：在 D21S1890， D21S1893，和 TFF3 的扩大的频率分别地是 32.5% ， 30.0% ，和 28.7% 。在盖住 D21S1893， D21S1890，和 TFF 的区域有扩大的病人显示出差的预后，而有删除的病人显示出有利预后(平均数：51.7 wk 对 124.82 wk， P = 0.012 ) 。穆尔蒂瓦里伊特·考克斯回归分析表明 D21S1893， D21S1890 和 TFF，血管侵略，和阶段的那扩大与差的预后被联系。结论：D21S1893-D21S1890 区域可以特别怀有候选人基因 TFF 和丝氨酸朊酶家庭，它可能涉及肿瘤侵略和转移贡献穷人幸存。在这个区域的扩大可以在 CCA 病人的治疗被用作一个预示的标记。

Prognostic significance of microsatellite alterations at 1p36 in cholangiocarcinoma

瞄准：在 cholangiocarcinoma (CCA ) 在染色体区域 1p36 磅上调查杂合现象(LOH ) 和微卫星不稳定性(MSI ) 的损失病人并且决定在微卫星改变和 clinicopathological 参数之间的协会。方法：十个多态的微卫星标记用 GS-3000 胶化扫描碎片自动分析器为 LOH 和 MSI 被决定。结果：68 在至少一部位从 90 个案例(75.6%) 显示出 LOH。LOH 最经常被发现在 D1S199 (40.0%) ， D1S507 (34.6%) ， D1S2845 (30.5%) ，和 D1S2734 (30.1%) 。MSI 在至少一部位在 90 个案例(37.8%) 中的 34 个中被发现。在 1p36 的好印射显示出普通损失的二个特殊区域，它是在 D1S507 和 D1S2734 之间的 D1S2845 和 25.5 厘米的区域，显示通常认为的肿瘤的存在压制或对可能的基因在 CCA 的发展起重要作用。有在 D1S234 的 LOH 的病人显示出不太淋巴的侵略(P = 0.017 ) ，而没有，有在 D1S2676 的 LOH 的病人比那些展出了更淋巴的侵略(P = 0.031 ) 。在 D1S2845 的 LOH 与神经侵略显示出重要关联(P = 0.029 ) 。而且，在 D1S228 表明了 MSI 的病人显示出差的预后(P = 0.0026 ) 。结论：突变而产生之遗传的损失在染色体 1p36 在微卫星改变起一个主要作用，它可以贡献肝吸虫的致癌作用和致病相关 CCA 和这些改变能为 CCA 病人被用作分子的预示的指示物。

护士能否在高科技未来继续发挥作用

不断加速出现的技术突破,正在使人类的健康和健康照护发生彻底的变革。技术进步极大地改变了医疗卫生行业的结构和组织。据麦肯锡全球研究院估计,到2030年底,全世界有8亿人工可以被机器人取代。在医疗保健领域已经发生了机器人革命,使用机器人使医疗工作程序和结果更加有效和安全。Locsin和Ito陈述了护士被类人机器人所取代对护理实践的威胁。常规护理工作有规定的程序和任务指标,使用机器将会完成得更好。在技术高度发展的将来,护理工作的未来发展将不仅仅局限于为达到预期结果实施的护理活动,人类护土如何作为护理的从业人员发挥作用?护士应该参与决定他们职业范围内的哪些方面能够使用技术来改进。护士应该时刻关注自动化技术和人工智能在护理行业的发展,使护理工作更好地在新的体系中延续普遍层面的人文关怀。护理教育和护理研究将围绕专业护理实践的差异化需求发生改变,在实践工作中,机器人只是作为辅助工具而不是主体。

改良搅拌摩擦焊修复汽车保险杠

本文研究了改良搅拌摩擦焊(MFSW)修复热塑性汽车保险杠。聚酰胺(PA6)复合材料常被用于改良搅拌摩擦焊中连接丙烯腈丁二烯苯乙烯(ABS)复合材料。为保证有效范围内的熔体流动特性,对不同的热塑性塑料进行了处理。然后,通过螺杆挤压制备了用于熔融沉积建模(FDM)过程的原料长丝。最后,为改良搅拌摩擦焊制备了基于PA6的3D打印耗材快速模具(RT),并对制备的接头进行了弯曲、硬度、形态和热性能测试。结果表明,在1400 r/min、50 mm/min横向速度和3 mm深度下焊接的样品力学强度最大,在1000 r/min、30 mm/min横向速度和2 mm深度下焊接的样品力学强度最小,该结果与热成像和显微结果一致。

Protective effect of luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide against oxygenglucose deprivation-induced H9C2 cardiomyocytes injury

OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect and mechanisms of luteolin-7-O-β-dglucuronide(LGU) on oxygen glucose deprivation(OGD)-induced H9C2 cardiomyocytes injury.METH.ODS The protective effect of LGU on OGD-induced H9C2 cardiomyocytes death were investigated by MTT assay.The microfilament change of H9C2 cardiomyocytes was detected by phalloidin staining and the lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) leakage rate was also detected by LDH kit.In order to explore the possible mechanisms of LGU,ATP content,intracellular Ca^(2+) fluorescent intensity and concentra.tion,mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP)and the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins were detected by ATP kit,CLSM(Fluo-3/AM probe),Ca^(2+) kit,CLSM(JC-1 probe) and western blotting meth.od,respectively.RESULTS The inhibition of H9C2 cardiomyocyte survival rate inducedby OGD was improvedby pretreated with LGU in a concentrationdependent manner.The microfilaments injury as well as the increase of LDH leakage rate were also improvedby pretreated with LGU.The ATP content was significantly decreased,intracellular Ca^(2+) fluorescent intensity and concentration were significantly increased and the MMP was significantly decreased 4 hafter OGD.LGU significantly reversed the de.crease of intracellular ATP content,the increase of Ca^(2+) fluorescent intensity and concentration and the decrease of MMP.The release of cytochrome C,the expressionsof caspase-9 and caspase-3 in H9C2 cardiomyocytes were increased 16 h after OGD.LGUsignificantly inhibited the changes of these apop.tosis-related proteins.CONCLUSION LGU has a significant protective effect against OGD-induced H9C2 cardiomyocytes injury through inhibiting calcium overload,increasing ATP content,improving mi.tochondrial function and inhibiting apoptosis.

Synthesis of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas L. seed oil using artificial zeolites loaded with CH3COOK as a heterogeneous catalyst

An environmentally benign process was devel-oped for the transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil with methanol using artificial zeolites loaded with potassium acetate as a heterogeneous catalyst. After calcination for 5 h at 823 K, the catalyst loaded with 47 wt.% CH3COOK exhibited the highest efficiency and best catalytic activity. The easily prepared cata-lysts were characterized by means of X-ray dif-fraction and IR spectroscopy, as well as Hammett indicator titration. The results revealed a strong dependence of catalytic activity on ba-sicity. The optimum reaction conditions for transesterification of J. curcas oil were also in-vestigated. The methyl ester content in the bio-diesel product exceeded 91% after 4h reaction at reflux temperature in the presence of 2% solid catalyst and no water washing process is needed during workup.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: A Case Study on Experiences of Healthy Behaviors by Clients in Psychiatric Care

The aim of the study was for the first time to investigate patients’ own experiences of developing healthy behavior in connection with their participation in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Healthy behaviors were defined as those which aimed to improve the individual’s well-being and physical function. Two women, diagnosed with bipolar illness or depressive episodes, were recruited from a group of clients in psychiatric care who both had been treated according to MBCT. The two clients shared their views of what changes they experienced during the treatment in semi structured interviews. Data analysis was performed according to the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological (EPP) method. The analysis generated five main themes which were shown to create a causal chain where paths to healthy behavior contributed to a process of change which was mirrored in comprehensive distancing, which in turn facilitated a reduced tendency of illness-identity and the acquiring of new proficiencies which could be generalized to different situations in daily life which led to insights about healthier behavior.