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.

The excessive pumping of fines in saturated roadbed surface layer, which is induced by the fluid-solid interaction under dynamic loads from high-speed train, is a special form of high-speed railway subgrade defect reported recently. This can deteriorate the interface between nonballasted track structure bottom layer and roadbed surface layer and therefore lead to associated contact variation with the moving of trains. According to the dynamic Biot's equations known as u-p formulation and the vehicle-track coupling dynamics theory, a vertical vehicle-slab track-subgrade coupling vibration model is developed to investigate the aforementioned contact variation-induced dynamic behavior of the whole system considering the fluid-solid interaction. Dynamic measurements from a field case study are adopted to verify the computation model proposed. Based on the numerical model validated, the effects of three contact variation statuses (continuous contact, vibrating contact, and contact loss) on dynamic responses of track subsystem and subgrade subsystem, such as dynamic pore-water pressure, vertical accelerations, and dynamic displacements both in time and frequency domains, are investigated. Also, a sensitivity analysis involving rail speeds and lengths of contact loss zone is performed, and the critical length of contact loss zone is suggested.

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.

Alginate oligosaccharides (AlgO), agarose oligosaccharides (AO), and kappa-carrageenan oligosaccharides (KCO) were obtained by specific enzymatic hydrolysis method. The molecular weight distributions of the three oligosaccharides were 1.0=E2=81=BB5.0 kDa, 0.4=E2=81=BB1.4 kDa, and 1.0=E2=81=BB7.0 kDa, respectively. The culture medium was supplemented with the three oligosaccharides and fermented by pig fecal microbiota in vitro, for 24 h. Each oligosaccharide was capable of increasing the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyric acid, and altering the microbiota composition. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis results showed that the opportunistic pathogenic bacteria Escherichia, Shigella, and Peptoniphilus, were significantly decreased in AlgO supplemented medium. AO could improve the gut microbiota composition by enriching the abundance of Ruminococcaceae, Coprococcus, Roseburia, and Faecalibacterium. Besides, KCO could increase the abundance of SCFA microbial producers and opportunistic pathogenic flora. Therefore, these results indicate that AlgO and AO can be used as gut microbial regulators and can potentially improve animal/human gastrointestinal health and prevent gut disease, whereas the physiological function of KCO needs further evaluation.=20

A fundamental question regarding autophagosome formation is how the shape of the double-membrane autophagosomal vesicle is generated. Here we show that in mammalian cells assembly of an actin scaffold inside the isolation membrane (the autophagosomal precursor) is essential for autophagosomal membrane shaping. Actin filaments are depolymerized shortly after starvation and actin is assembled into a network within the isolation membrane. When formation of actin puncta is disrupted by an actin polymerization inhibitor or by knocking down the actin-capping protein CapZ beta, isolation membranes and omegasomes collapse into mixed-membrane bundles. Formation of actin puncta is PtdIns(3) P dependent, and inhibition of PtdIns(3)P formation by treating cells with the PI(3)K inhibitor 3-MA, or by knocking down Beclin-1, abolishes the formation of actin puncta. Binding of CapZ to PtdIns(3)P, which is enriched in omegasomes, stimulates actin polymerization. Our findings illuminate the mechanism underlying autophagosomal membrane shaping and provide key insights into how autophagosomes are formed.

A hybrid process combining hot micro-embossing process with subsequent surface modification was proposed to realize an economic, environmental-friendliness and reusable sustainable production of superhydrophobic surfaces on ultrafine-grained (UFG) pure aluminum substrate. Hot micro-embossing was executed using a silicon die at 523 K with the force of 4.5 kN, where an array of micro hexagonal pillar patterns was formed with feature side length ranging from 75 urn to 165 gm. The embossed micro array structures were clearly printed well, with a good geometric transitivity and no obvious disfigurement. After surface modification, the water contact angle of the embossed surface, following by immersed in boiling water with micro/nano hierarchical structures, reached similar to 160 degrees which increased by 142% compared with original UFG pure aluminum. Moreover, the mechanism of the obtained super hydrophobic surface with high adhesive force was analyzed, which would be attributed to the Cassie impregnating wetting regime. The research indicates that there is a potential application by using hot micro-embossing process in the mass and sustainable production of superhydrophobic surfaces with excellent adhesive property without pollution. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-speed trains can induce significant amplification of dynamic responses of components in railway tracks especially when the train travels at the so-called 'critical speed'. Based on a critical literature review, most previous studies with respect to train-track-soil interactions have merely been focused on the simplified natural ground vibrations. Accordingly, there exists no investigation into the influences of piles on the ground responses despite the fact that the pile-reinforced ground improvement has been widely adopted in soft soil regions for high-speed railway with slab track systems. In order to highlight the influences of piles on ground vibrations, a 3D fully coupled train-track-soil model has been developed based on the multi-body simulation principle, finite element theory, and perfectly matched layers method using LS-DYNA, in which the dynamic material properties of slab tracks have been adopted. This model has been validated by comparing its results of ground vibrations and train-track interactions with field-test results. This is thus the world's first to investigate the critical speeds of slab-track railway with natural and pile-reinforced ground improvement. The dynamic displacements, vibration velocities, and dynamic stresses of soils with natural and pile-reinforced grounds have then been evaluated under normal and critical train speeds. The accelerations of car body and dynamic impact factors with the increasingly train speed have also been presented. The piles influences on the wave propagations in the soils have been highlighted. The novel insight from this study provides a new and better understanding of ground vibrations in high-speed railway systems using slab tracks in practice.

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.

The effective preparation of photoresponsive polymers with precisely controlled location and number of photolabile units in the main chain is essential for their applications. In this study, a series of photocleavable well-defined triblock copolymers with the photocleavable middle block of poly(phenyl vinyl ketone) (PPVK) were readily synthesized by RAFT polymerization. The chain structure and chemical composition of copolymers were characterized by (HNMR)-H-1, FTIR and GPC. The well-controlled molecular weights and low polydispersity (<1.30) demonstrated the excellent controllability and living characteristics of the RAFT process for the polymerization of PVK. Then the photocleavage mechanism and kinetics of PPVK-functionalized copolymers were systematically investigated by tracking, fractionating and quantifying the photolysis products using gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC). The results not only confirmed the rapid photocleavability of PPVK-based polymers, but also firstly provided direct evidence for the proposed Norrish type reaction mechanism of the chain scission of PPVK. Moreover, the investigation of the effect of the PPVK chain on the photolysis kinetics demonstrated that the photodegradation rate of PPVK-based polymers can be controlled by adjusting the PPVK chain length in block copolymers. As a preliminary application study, the self-assembled micelles of the obtained PPVK-based amphiphilic polymers under light irradiation were found to undergo photo-triggered rapid disassembly and exhibited photo-controllable emulsifiability. In sum, the incorporation of the highly photolabile PPVK into block copolymers by RAFT polymerization provides a promising strategy for the construction of complex polymeric architectures or nanostructures with controllable photocleavability.

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.

Background & aims: Soy food has been proven to have multiple positive effects on human health, however, no study has yet investigated the association between habitual intake of soy food and depressive symptoms in general population. The objective of this study was to examine this association. Methods: In a cross-sectional analysis, we studied a sample of 13,760 adults (mean age 43.5 years) in Tianjin, China. The Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) was used to assess depressive symptoms, with four cut-off points (SDS >=3D 40, 45, 48 or 50) indicating increased level of depressive symptoms. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess dietary intake. Results: In the total population, the prevalence of increased depressive symptoms was 7.2% (SDS >=3D 50). Comparing to the group with lowest intake frequency of soy food (=3D twice/day. Associations remained when other cut-off points (SDS >=3D 40, 45 or 48) were used as a definition of increased depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Findings from this study suggested a J-shaped association between intake frequency of soy food and incidence of depressive symptoms among adults. For the first time, the study provides evidence that light-to-moderate intake of soy food may reduce the incidence of depressive symptoms, while relatively high (>=3D twice/day) intake may generate the opposite effect. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

alpha-, beta-, and gamma-Na2TiO3 were prepared from rutile TiO2 and molten NaOH. Three models of beta-Na2TiO3 with space groups of R (3) over bar, P (1) over bar, and P (3) over bar were proposed, and the R (3) over bar model was refined from the experimental data by using the Rietveld method. The structure of beta-Na2TiO3 is a superstructure of alpha-Na2TiO3 and supposedly contains Ti6O19 clusters. The structures of Na2TiO3 were mainly determined by the particle sizes of rutile and the reaction temperatures. alpha-Na2TiO3 could be prepared from fine rutile particles (D(50) < 25.8 mu m) and molten NaOH at 500 degrees C or quenching the melt of Na2TiO3 at 1000 degrees C quickly. gamma- and beta-Na2TiO3 were the thermodynamically stable phases of Na2TiO3 at around 500 degrees C and above 800 degrees C, respectively. alpha-Na2TiO3 was formed far beyond the thermodynamically stable state. The Na+ in alpha-Na2TiO3 was easier to exchange with H+ in water than that in beta or gamma phases. They all converted to amorphous phases after the 2nd, 6th, and 4th water washings at 25 degrees C, respectively. beta-Na2TiO3 followed similar paths of ion exchange as alpha-Na2TiO3, which was different from that of gamma-Na2TiO3.

When measuring the phase fraction of oil-water two-phase flow with the ultrasound attenuation, the phase distribution and fraction have direct influence on the attenuation coefficient. Therefore, the ultrasound propagation at various phase fractions and distributions were investigated. Mechanism models describing phase fraction with the ultrasound attenuation coefficient were established by analyzing the interaction between ultrasound and two-phase flow by considering the scattering, absorption and diffusion effect. Experiments were performed to verify the theoretical analysis, and the test results gave good agreement with the theoretical analysis. When the dispersed phase fraction is low, the relationship between ultrasound attenuation coefficient and phase fraction is of monotonic linearity; at higher dispersed phase fraction, ultrasound attenuation coefficient presents an irregular response to the dispersed phase fraction. The presented mechanism models give reasonable explanations about the trend of ultrasound attenuation.