Ultimate capacity and failure surface position of uplift piles are dependent on soil parameters. In this paper, the horizontal slice method is used to discuss the relation among the ultimate uplift capacity, the failure surface position, and soil parameters with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. According to the limit equilibrium analysis, the ultimate uplift capacity is calculated by dividing soil around the pile into slices with considering the potential failure surface as a group of several sectional planes. Then the multivariate function used to calculate ultimate capacity is established and optimized by the sequential quadratic programming. Through the numerical calculation and comparison with the previous research, the results show that the method is reasonable and effective and can be used to determine the failure surface and the magnitude of the ultimate capacity of uplift piles.

The fabrication of the micro-channel array through micro-embossing on an ultrafine-grained (UFG) LZ91 Mg-Li alloy was investigated in this paper. Micro-embossing tests indicated that the depth of the channels increase with increasing temperatures. Micro-array channels with widths ranging from 50 m to 200 m were performed with an applied force of 2 kN at 423 K, following by a dwell time of 60 s on the UFG LZ91 Mg-Li alloy. The surface topography indicates that embossed micro-channels for UFG LZ91 Mg-Li with all widths are clearly printed well with good geometrical transferability and no obvious defects. The comparison filling behavior of UFG and the CG LZ91 Mg-Li alloy reveals that grain sizes mainly affect the filling quality of micro-embossing. The results indicate a potential application of the UFG Mg-Li alloy in the mass fabrication of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) components.

Scaling behavior of NbCr2 Laves phase alloys was investigated at 1200 degrees C in air. The specimens were prepared by hot pressing at 1250 degrees C for 30 min from mechanically alloyed (MA, 20 h) powders. The scale morphology was observed by SEM and scale compositions were studied by EDS and scale phases were determined by XRD. It was found that the oxide scale had a structure of two layers: the outer layer was a porous, loosely adherent Cr2O3 layer with 8-10 mu m; the inner layer consisted of CrNbO4 with 50 mu m. And there were one or more breakdowns and wrinkling whereas no spallation in the scale during air cooling to room temperature. TEM analysis indicated that the grain size of the as-HPed NbCr2 Laves phase was 90-200 nm, which enhanced the metal ion diffusion outward and oxygen ion diffusion inward. The results of the present study form a theoretical and technical basis for the further research. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We demonstrate an anonymous quantum communication (AQC) via the non-maximally entanglement state analysis (NESA) based on the dining cryptographer problem (DCP). The security of the present AQC is ensured due to the quantum-mechanical impossibility of local unitary transformations between non-maximally entanglement states, which provides random numbers for the secure AQC. The analysis shows that the DCP-based AQC can be performed without intractability through the NESA in the multi-photon entangled quantum system.

Although we have found that protease-treated royal jelly (pRJ) benefit for the skeletal muscle mass and strength in the aged animals, the potential beneficial effects have not been evaluated in humans. The aim of this study was to determine whether pRJ intake had beneficial effects on muscle strength in elderly nursing home residents. One hundred and ninety-four subjects enrolled into this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Subjects received either placebo(Group 1), pRJ 1.2 g/d(Group 2), or 4.8 g/d(Group 3). Data through 1 year are reported for 163 subjects. The primary outcome measure is handgrip strength. Secondary outcomes include several physical performance tests (six-minute walk test, timed up and go test, and standing on one leg with eyes closed). The dropout rate was 16.0%. The means (95% confidence interval) of change in handgrip strength for placebo, low-dose, and high-dose groups are -0.98(-2.04,0.08), 0.50(-0.65,1.65) and 1.03(-0.37,2.44) kg (P =3D 0.06, P for trend =3D 0.02), respectively. No significant effects of the interventions were observed for physical performances. These findings suggest that pRJ treatment might not improve, but rather attenuate the progression of decrease in muscle strength in elderly people. In addition, we have not found that pRJ intervention can achieve improvement or attenuating the decrease in physical performance.

Background: The hormone prolactin (PRL) plays a crucial role for the initiation and maintenance of maternal behavior, and is also associated with the etiology of mood disorders in women, especially for depression. The present study aimed to determine whether maternal peripheral prolactin would be associated with newborn behavior disorders following maternal perinatal depressive symptoms, and further to explore the efficacy of the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) in improving newborn social interactive behavior. Methods: Interview and the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) were used to assess the hospitalized pregnant women waiting for delivery at 37-42weeks of gestation. A total of 255 subjects were recruited, diagnosed with depression (n=3D135), and control group (n=3D120). Within 2 weeks postpartum, mothers were asked to fill with Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI) to measure maternal care. Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) were used to evaluate newborn behavior. The depressed mother-newborns dyad was randomly assigned to NBO intervention and control group. Serum prolaction in mothers and cortisol in mothers and newborns were measured. Results: The newborns of mothers exposed to maternal perinatal depressive symptoms displayed the reduced newborn social interactive behavior accompanied by decreased maternal serum PRL as well as increased maternal and neonatal serum cortisol. The NBO could be an effective intervention tool. Limitations: Our study could not be double-blind. The mothers knew which group their infant were in. Conclusions: Maternal peripheral PRL had the potential to be a mediator in reduced social interactive behavior in newborn infants following maternal perinatal depressive symptoms.

Forest musk deer (FMD) is an endangered species, and its population size has dropped dramatically. In this study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of a FMD. The genome was 16,353 bp long, and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one control region. Most PCGs were distributed on the heavy strand except ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which were encoded on the light strand. The nucleotide composition was asymmetric, with an overall A+T content of 62.1%. Comparison with one previously described mitochondrial genome revealed 94.4% sequence homology and 1128 nucleotide mutation sites, which represents a substantial difference. A phylogenetic tree based on Cytb genes of eight closely related musk deer species showed that our sample clustered with two FMD subspecies from Yunnan, China. These results provide novel molecular information that can potentially be used for genetic diversity conservation of this species.

Ghrelin is a peptide hormone that plays an important role in promoting appetite, regulating distribution and rate of use of energy, cognition, and mood disorders, but the relevant neural mechanisms of these function are still not clear. In this study, we examined the effect of ghrelin on voltage-dependent potassium (K+) currents in hippocampal cells of 1-3 days SD rats by whole-cell patch-clamp technique, and discussed whether NO was involved in this process. The results showed that ghrelin significantly inhibited the voltage-dependent K+ currents in hippocampal cells, and the inhibitory effect was more significant when L-arginine was co-administered. In contrast, N-nitro- L-arginine methyl ester increased the ghrelin inhibited K+ currents and attenuated the inhibitory effect of ghrelin. While D-arginine (D-AA) showed no significant impact on the ghrelin-induced decrease in K+ current. These results show that ghrelin may play a physiological role by inhibiting hippocampal voltage dependent K+ currents, and the NO pathway may be involved in this process. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether earthquake-related maternal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with impaired development of infants. Participants included 86 women who were pregnant during or after the earthquake in Ningqiang county, and their children. Data were collected from February to March of 2012. PTSD questionnaire (PTSD Checklist, Civilian Version (PCL-C)) was used to measure the effect of the earthquake on mothers, and that the scores greater than 50 were used to indicate presence of PTSD. Each child was assessed using the mental Developmental Screening Test (DST) according to age. Among the 86 women, PTSD scores equal to or greater than 50 accounted for 20.93%. Among the 86 children, 25.60% of development quotient (DQ) scores and 19.80% of mental index (MI) scores were less than 85. The correlation coefficient analysis showed that PTSD scores were inversely related to DQ and MI scores. Maternal PTSD following earthquake exposure is associated with relatively lower intellectual development in children age 0 - 3 years. Further research is needed to assess the persistent effects of this influence on offspring of mothers exposed to earthquake.

UNLABELLED: The prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) among people with a family history of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is unclear. Serum samples were collected from 747 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative people with a family history of HBV infection and 579 HBsAg-negative volunteer blood donors. The presence of HBV DNA was evaluated using nested PCR with primers specific for the X, S, and C regions of HBV. The Pre-S1/Pre-S2/ S region PCR products for the OBI group and their family members with chronic HBV infection (control group) were sequenced and compared. The prevalence of OBI was 8.0% (60/747) among HBsAg-negative people with a family history of chronic HBV infection, compared to 2.6% (15/579) among the blood donors (P < 0.05). The prevalence of HBV genotype B infection was lower in the OBI group than in the control group (P =3D 0.031). The substitution rates in the major hydrophilic region and the "a" determinant seemed to be higher in the OBI group (0.893 vs. 0.507; 1.042 vs. 0.403, respectively), and stop codon mutations more frequent in the OBI sequences (OBI: 2/26, 7.7% vs.; CONTROL: 0/31, 0%). However, none of these differences was statistically significant (P =3D 0.237, 0.199, 0.201, respectively). In summary, the prevalence of OBI among HBsAg-negative people with a family history of chronic HBV infection was significantly higher than that in Chinese blood donors. However, S region mutations and the escape mechanism are not likely to be the major causes of increased prevalence of OBI. =C2=A9 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Attention is drawn, to the fact that, while four different correlations for condensation in microchannels are in fair agreement for the case of R134a (on which the empirical constants in the correlations are predominately based) they differ markedly when applied to other fluids such as ammonia. A wholly theoretical model is compared with the correlations for both R134a and ammonia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.