SUMMARY: Biomechanical factors are important factors in inducing intervertebral disc degeneration, in this paper, the nonlinear viscoelastic mechanical properties of degenerated intervertebral discs were analyzed experimentally. Firstly, the loading and unloading curves of intervertebral discs before and after degeneration at different strain rates were compared to analyze the changes of their apparent viscoelastic mechanical properties; The internal stress/strain distribution of the disc before and after degeneration was then tested by combining digital image technology and fiber grating technology. The results show that the intervertebral disc is strain-rate- dependent whether before or after degeneration; The modulus of elasticity and peak stress of the degenerated disc are significantly reduced, with the modulus of elasticity dropping to 50 % of the normal value and the peak stress decreasing by about 55 %; Degeneration will not change the distribution of the overall internal displacement of the intervertebral disc, but has a greater impact on the superficial and middle AF; The stress in the center of the nucleus pulposus decreases, and the stress in the outer AF increases after degeneration. Degeneration has a great impact on the nonlinear viscoelastic mechanical properties of intervertebral disc, which has reference value for the mechanism, treatment and prevention of clinical degenerative diseases.

RESUMEN: Los factores biomecánicos son importantes en la inducción de la degeneración del disco intervertebral. En este estudio se analizaron experimentalmente las propiedades mecánicas viscoelásticas no lineales de los discos intervertebrales degenerados. En primer lugar se compararon las curvas de carga y descarga de los discos intervertebrales, antes y después de la degeneración, a diferentes velocidades de deformación para analizar los cambios aparentes de sus propiedades mecánicas viscoelásticas. La distribución interna de tensión/deformación del disco antes y después de la degeneración se probó luego combinando tecnología de imagen digital y tecnología de rejilla de fibra. Los resultados mostraron que el disco intervertebral depende de la velocidad de deformación antes o después de la degeneración; El módulo de elasticidad y la tensión máxima del disco degenerado se reducen significativamente, cayendo el módulo de elasticidad al 50 % del valor normal y la tensión máxima disminuyendo en aproximadamente un 55 %; La degeneración no cambiará la distribución del desplazamiento interno general del disco intervertebral, pero tiene un mayor impacto en la FA superficial y media; El estrés en el centro del núcleo pulposo disminuye y el estrés en el FA externo aumenta después de la degeneración. La degeneración tiene un gran impacto en las propiedades mecánicas viscoelásticas no lineales del disco intervertebral, que tiene valor de referencia para el mecanismo, tratamiento y prevención de enfermedades clínicas degenerativas.

Abstract Adipocyte tissue inflammation orchestrates the occurrence and development of diseases induced by obesity. Here, the effects of Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers total flavonoids (LTF) on TNF-α-induced insulin resistance (IR) and inflammatory response in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and underlying mechanisms were studied. Cell glucose uptake test confirmed that TNF-α could induce IR in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The sensitivity of 3T3-L1 adipocytes to insulin was increased by LTF treatment. The phosphorylation of IRS1 and Akt in TNF-α-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes was markedly restored by LTF treatment. The results revealed that interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA expression was elevated in TNF-α-administered 3T3-L1 adipocytes, whereas the mRNA expression of adiponectin (ADPN) was considerably decreased. When treated with 50 μg/mL LTF, the IL-6 and MCP-1 mRNA expression levels were drastically reduced, and the ADPN mRNA expression level was significantly raised. Moreover, the concentration of IL-6 in the supernatant of the medium was decreased after LTF treatment compared with the model group. Western blotting results showed that the phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways and IкB of NF-кB signaling pathway were inhibited. It suggested that LTF improves TNF-α-induced IR and inflammatory response in 3T3-L1 adipocytes via inhibiting MAPK and NF-кB signaling pathways.

RESUMO A extração de componentes eficazes da Pueraria lobata tem importante valor para a qualidade músculoesquelética e para a expressão genética. O efeito da melhoria do tradicional treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade na estrutura músculoesquelética não tem sido óbvio, e é difícil garantir as propriedades de alguns voláteis. Com base nisso, este estudo analisa o efeito do treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade na qualidade músculoesquelética e na expressão genética na Pueraria lobata. Com base num breve resumo da extração da Pueraria lobata, resumiu-se o andamento das pesquisas sobre os componentes farmacêuticos da Pueraria lobata. Diferentes amostras de Pueraria lobata foram selecionadas como objeto de pesquisa, e formulou-se o processo do treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade. O treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade, a extração de solventes e a extração de solventes à base de água foram combinadas para conceber o sistema de extração contínua de leito fixo. De acordo com a influência da Pueraria lobata na qualidade músculoesquelética, analisou-se a influência do treino intervalado na qualidade músculoesquelética. Os resultados da extração mostraram que a Pueraria lobata, combinada com treino intervalado de alta intensidade, pode melhorar, de maneira eficaz, o teor músculoesquelético e garantir a expressão eficaz da expressão genética do músculoesquelético.

ABSTRACT Extraction of effective components from Pueraria lobata has important value for skeletal muscle quality and gene expression. The improvement effect of traditional high-intensity intermittent training on skeletal muscle has not been obvious, and it is difficult to guarantee the properties of some volatiles. Based on this, this paper analyzes the effect of high-intensity intermittent training on skeletal muscle quality and gene expression in Pueraria lobata. Based on a brief summary of extraction of Pueraria lobata, status of research on the pharmaceutical components of Pueraria lobata was summarized. Different specimens of Pueraria lobata were selected as research objects, and the process of high-intensity intermittent training was designed. High-intensity intermittent training, solvent extraction and water solvent extraction were combined together to design the fixed-bed continuous extraction scheme. According to the influence of Pueraria lobata on skeletal muscle quality, the influence of intermittent training on skeletal muscle quality was analyzed. The extraction results showed that Pueraria lobata combined with high-intensity intermittent training can effectively improve the content of skeletal muscle and ensure the effective expression of skeletal muscle gene.

RESUMEN La extracción de componentes eficaces de la Pueraria lobata tiene un importante valor para la calidad músculoesquelética y para la expresión genética. El efecto de la mejora del tradicional entrenamiento intercalado de alta intensidad en la estructura músculoesquelética no ha sido obvio, y es difícil garantizar las propriedades de algunos volátiles. Basándose en eso, este estudio analiza el efecto del entrenamiento intercalado de alta intensidad en la calidad músculoesquelética y en la expresión genética en la Pueraria lobata. Basándose en un breve resumen de la extracción de la Pueraria lobata, se resumió el andamiento de las investigaciones sobre los componentes farmacéuticos de la Pueraria lobata. Diferentes muestras de Pueraria lobata fueron seleccionadas como objeto de investigación, y se formuló el proceso del entrenamiento intercalado de alta intensidad. El entrenamiento intercalado de alta intensidad, la extracción de solventes y la extracción de solventes a base de agua fueron combinadas para concebir el sistema de extracción continua de lecho fijo. De acuerdo con la influencia de la Pueraria lobata en la calidad músculoesquelética, se analizó la influencia del entrenamiento intercalado en la calidad músculoesquelética. Los resultados de la extracción mostraron que la Pueraria lobata, combinada con entrenamiento intercalado de alta intensidad, puede mejorar, de manera eficaz, el tenor músculoesquelético y garantizar la expresión eficaz de la expresión genética del músculoesquelético.

ABSTRACT We propose a segmentation algorithm for raisin extraction. The proposed approach consists of the following aspects. Deep learning is used to predict the number of raisins in each connected region, and the shape features such as the roundness, area, X-axis value for the centroid, Y-axis value for the centroid, axis length and perimeter of each region will be used to establish the prediction model. Morphological analysis, based on edge parameters including the polar axis, polar angle and angular velocity, is applied to search for the suitable break points that are useful for identifying the dividing lines between two adjacent raisins. To make our segmentation more accurate, some machine-learning algorithms such as the random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and deep learning (deep neural network, DNN) are applied to predict the number of raisins and to decide whether the raisins need more segmentation. The performance of the three models is compared, and the DNN is the most accurate.

The Mn2+ and Mg2+ (or Zn2+) co-doped Li2Fe0.8-xMn0.2MxSiO4 (x = 0.05 and 0.1) are synthesized by a solid-state reaction route. Compared with the single doped Li2Fe0.8Mn0.2SiO4, the co-doped samples show improved cycling performance. The capacity retention can stay above 50% after 50 cycles, which is significantly higher than 30.4% for Li2Fe0.8Mn0.2SiO4. This phenomenon could be attributed to the increased structural stability caused by the incorporation of the electrochemically inactive M2+ ions. However, except for Li2Fe0.75Mn0.2Mg0.05SiO4, the other samples show decreased capacities, especially in the case of the Mn/Zn co-doping. Further tests indicate that the promotion of Li+ diffusivity may be a key reason for the improved rate and cycling performances. By contrast, the incorporation of Zn2+ impaired the cell performances such as increased internal polarization, hindered charge transfer, decreased Li+ diffusivity. In this work, the Mg2+ with smaller radius seems to be a better choice as the co-doping element at Fe sites than Zn2+.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the natural prevalence of variants of tyrosine-methionine-aspartic acid-aspartic acid (YMDD) motif in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and to explore its relation with demographic and clinical features, hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes, and HBV DNA levels. METHODS: A total of 1,042 antiviral treatment naïve CHB patients (including with lamivudine [LAM]) in the past year were recruited from outpatient and inpatient departments of six centers from December 2008 to June 2010. YMDD variants were analyzed using the HBV drug resistance line probe assay (Inno-Lipa HBV-DR). HBV genotypes were detected with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) microcosmic nucleic acid cross-ELISA, and HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was quantitated with real-time PCR. All serum samples underwent tests for HBV, HCV, and HDV with ELISA. RESULTS: YMDD variants were detected in 23.3% (243/1042) of CHB patients. YMDD mutation was accompanied by L180M mutation in 154 (76.9%) patients. Both wild-type HBV and YMDD variant HBV were present in 231 of 243 patients. Interestingly, 12 patients had only YIDD and/or YVDD variants without wild YMDD motif. In addition, 27.2% (98/359) of HbeAg-positive patients had YMDD mutations, which was higher than that in HbeAg-negative patients (21.2%, 145/683). The incidence of YMDD varied among patients with different HBV genotypes, but the difference was not significant. Moreover, the incidence of YMDD in patients with high HBV DNA level was significantly higher than that in those with low HBV DNA level. CONCLUSION: Mutation of YMDD motif was detectable at a high rate in CHB patients in this study. The incidence of YMDD may be correlated with HBeAg and HBV DNA level.

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNx)/carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions were prepared by a simple continuous chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method at 650 °C. The catalyst was obtained by calcination of a layered double hydroxide precursor containing Fe and Mg. By switching between hexane and ethylenediamine repeatedly in the CVD process, multiple intramolecular junctions composed of CNx with a bamboo-like structure and empty hollow carbon nanotubes were observed, and such different structures at both sides of the junctions indicated some interesting properties and offered potential applications for future nanodevices.

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNx) were synthesized by the catalytic chemical vapour deposition of ethylenediamine with layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing iron, cobalt or nickel as catalyst precursors at 650 °C. The catalytically active metal particles were obtained by calcination of LDHs followed by reduction. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the structures of the precursors and their calcined products. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the grown CNx. The results show that the CNx grown with Mg2 Fe-LDH as catalyst precursor have abamboo-like morphology and large diameter, while hollow tubes are obtained with CoMgAl- and NiMgAl-LDH as catalyst precursors. The CNx grown with CoMgAl-LDH have the highest N-doped content and the CNx grown with NiMgAl-LDH have the highest degree of graphitization among these three products.