5,252 research outputs found
Site-directed mutagenesis evidence for a negatively charged trypsin inhibitory loop in sweet potato sporamin.
No full textCurrent concepts on oxidative/carbonyl stress, inflammation and epigenetics in pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Full text linkChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health problem. The current therapies for COPD are poorly effective and the mainstays of pharmacotherapy are bronchodilators. A better understanding of the pathobiology of COPD is critical for the development of novel therapies. In the present review, we have discussed the roles of oxidative/aldehyde stress, inflammation/immunity, and chromatin remodeling in the pathogenesis of COPD. An imbalance of oxidants/antioxidants caused by cigarette smoke and other pollutants/biomass fuels plays an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD by regulating redox-sensitive transcription factors (e.g., NF-κB), autophagy and unfolded protein response leading to chronic lung inflammatory response. Cigarette smoke also activates canonical/alternative NF-κB pathways and their upstream kinases leading to sustained inflammatory response in lungs. Recently, epigenetic regulation has been shown to be critical for the development of COPD because the expression/activity of enzymes that regulate these epigenetic modifications have been reported to be abnormal in airways of COPD patients. Hence, the significant advances made in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD as described herein will identify novel therapeutic targets for intervention in COPD
The vehicle routing problem with underground logistics: Formulation and algorithm
No full textRecognizing the pressure on urban logistics and the overcapacity of urban public transportation systems during off-peak hours, this study investigates a subway-assisted delivery model. This is a system in which part of the goods to be delivered into a city can be transferred to specific subway stations in advance (e.g., during the night) using underground logistics. During the day, vehicles can then be replenished at these subway stations. In our study, we investigate how a system of this kind affects the decisions to be made by a logistics service provider. We introduce the vehicle routing problem with underground logistics to model how to find the best vehicle routes and goods transfer plan in this system. First, we formulate this problem as a mixed integer linear model. Then, we propose a problem-customized adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic algorithm to solve it. Numerical experiments demonstrate that our methodology performs well in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Additionally, we discuss the resulting schedules and include a sensitivity analysis of the transfer prices to provide information that can be used in strategic and tactical decision making in a subway-assisted delivery system
Up-regulation of tumor interleukin-8 expression by infliltrating macrophages: its correlation with tumor angiogenesis and patient survival in non-small cell lung cancer.
No full textScymnus (Parapullus) tsugae Yu and Yao
No full text4. Scymnus (Parapullus) tsugae Yu and Yao (Figs. 13, 33– 37) Scymnus (Parapullus) tsugae Yu et Yao, 2000: 168; Pang et al., 2004: 82; Kovář, 2007: 584. Diagnosis. This species closely resembles S. (P.) alishanensis in general appearance, but can be distinguished from it by the penis. The tegmens are also diagnostic. Description. TL: 2.40–2.48 mm, TW: 1.35–1.43 mm, TH: 1.05–1.10 mm, TL/TW: 1.73–1.78, PL/PW: 0.48– 0.54, EL/EW: 1.22–1.43. Body oval, moderately convex, dorsum surface with fine, white pubescence (Fig. 13). Head, antennae and mouthparts yellowish brown. Pronotum, scutellum and elytra reddish brown. Underside fuscous except metaventrite reddish brown. Head small, 0.58 × of pronotal width (HW/PW= 0.70 / 1.20). Punctures on head densely and evenly, separated by 1–2 diameters, with white pubescence. Eyes small, the widest interocular distance 0.43 × of head width. Pronotum 0.88 × of elytral width (PW/EW= 1.20 / 1.35), pronotal punctures fine and larger than those on head, 1–2 diameters apart. Surface of elytra with densely punctures, separated by 1–2.5 diameters. Prosternal carinae extending to anterior margin, slightly convergent anteriorly. Prosternal process trapezoid, length 4.5 times of width at the base. Abdominal postcoxal lines incomplete, slightly recurved toward the base of ventrite (Fig. 33). Area surrounded by the line evenly punctured, relatively smooth along the line. Male genitalia: Penis slender, with a developed penis capsule (Fig. 34), apex of penis simple (Fig. 35). Tegmen stout, penis guide slightly constricted near middle and converging gradually to a pointed tip in ventral view (Fig. 37). Parameres broad, distinctly shorter than penis guide, apex with two groups long and uniform setae (Fig. 36). Female genitalia unknown. Types. Holotype male, (26.8 N, 100.2 E), Lijiang, Yunnan, IV. 1996, Guoyue Yu Leg / No. 970722 - 3 / Scymnus (Parapullus) tsugae Yu & Yao, sp. n. (red label). Paratype: 1 male with same data as holotype. / No. 10 / Scymnus (Parapullus) tsugae Yu & Yao, sp. n. (yellow label) Distribution. China (Yunnan).Published as part of Chen, Xiao-Sheng, Ren, Shun-Xiang & Wang, Xing-Min, 2012, Revision of the subgenus Scymnus (Parapullus) Yang from China (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), pp. 22-34 in Zootaxa 3174 on page 29, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.27989
Pholcus chiangmaiensis Yao & Li, sp. nov.
No full textPholcus chiangmaiensis Yao & Li sp. nov. Figs 21–22 Type material. Holotype: male, PL 36 Cave (19 ° 21.027 ′N, 99 °01.698′E, elevation 474 m), Chiangmai, Thailand, 29 June 2014, S. Li leg. Paratypes: 1 male and 2 females, same data as holotype. Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality; adjective. Diagnosis. This species resembles P. n am ou Huber, 2011 (see Huber 2011: 298, figs 1378 –1379, 1409–1410, 1471– 1475) in having similar male chelicerae (Fig. 22 D), uncus (Fig. 22 C), and female external genitalia (Fig. 22 A) but can be distinguished by the absence of dorsal apophyses subdistally on the procursus (Figs 21 C–D), by the presence of a large angular branch proximally and a small angular branch subdistally on the appendix (arrows in Fig. 22 C), and by the nearly rounded pore plates of the vulva (Fig. 22 B). Description. Male (holotype): Total length 4.61 (4.87 with clypeus), carapace 1.33 long, 1.19 wide, opisthosoma 3.28 long, 1.17 wide. Leg I: 48.11 (11.67 + 0.62 + 11.86 + 22.12 + 1.84), leg II: 31.22 (8.53 + 0.64 + 7.82 + 13.14 + 1.09), leg III: 18.43 (5.45 + 0.53 + 4.55 + 7.05 + 0.85), leg IV: 25.81 (7.50 + 0.55 + 6.41 + 10.26 + 1.09); tibia I L/d: 95. Distance PME-PME 0.38; diameter PME 0.11; distance PME-ALE 0.03; distance AME- AME 0.05; diameter AME 0.05. Sternum wider than long (0.90 / 0.63). Habitus as in Figs 22 E–F. Carapace yellowish, with nearly triangular brown marks; ocular area brown; sternum yellowish, with brown marks. Legs yellowish, patellae, distal parts of femora and tibiae, and proximal parts of metatarsi dark brown, darker rings absent. Opisthosoma pale grey, with brown and whitish marks. Ocular area elevated; each eye triad on top of a short, laterally directed eye-stalk (as in P. hinsonensis sp. nov., cf. Fig. 31 C). Thoracic furrow absent. Chelicerae as in Fig. 22 D, with a pair of proximo-lateral apophyses, a pair of black distal apophyses with three teeth each. Pedipalps as in Figs 21 A–B; trochanter with a long ventral apophysis, and an angular branch subproximally; femur with a dorsal apophysis proximally; procursus long, weakly sclerotized distally; uncus large, with a scaly edge; appendix with a large angular branch proximally and a small angular branch subdistally; embolus weakly sclerotized. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 6.6 %; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi; without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with approximately 15 distinct pseudosegments. Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 22 G–H. Total length 4.97 (5.12 with clypeus), carapace 1.41 long, 1.13 wide, opisthosoma 3.56 long, 1.70 wide; tibia I: 9.29; tibia I L/d: 63. Distance PME-PME 0.25; diameter PME 0.11; distance PME-ALE 0.04; distance AME-AME 0.03; diameter AME 0.05. Sternum wider than long (0.96 / 0.70). Carapace with V-pattern posteriorly. Ocular area yellowish, without eye-stalks. External genitalia (Fig. 22 A) with a small knob. Vulva (Fig. 22 B) with a sclerotized anterior arch and two nearly rounded pore plates. Distribution. Thailand (Chiangmai, type locality; Fig. 32). Natural history. The species was found in the entrance zone of the cave.Published as part of Dong, Tingting, Zheng, Guo, Yao, Zhiyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2016, Fifteen new species of the spider genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Southeast Asia, pp. 201-246 in Zootaxa 4136 (2) on page 230, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4136.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/26070
The FM and PL Libraries Documentation
No full textBuilding complex SPMD code in an ecient and portable way is nowadays a challenge, especially when there is no uniformity of tools and libraries across platforms. The Fast Messages (FM) and the Portability Library (PL) where both designed to provide the basis of an abstract enough framework for C, so that problems can be coded and ported to any supported platform with no more than a few changes in the makeles and a recompilation. The FM library provides a message passing communications library built around the Berkeley Active Messages library. The PL library provides the primitives for host to node communication for problem initialization and results collection, as well as other miscellaneous and potentially non-portable primitives. This technical report contains the documentation for both libraries.Technical report LCSR-TR-25
Increasing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills using Project Lead the Way
Full text linkIncludes bibliographical references
Introduction to Urban Science: Evidence and Theory of Cities as Complex Systems
No full textLuís Bettencourt provides a timely, comprehensive, and rigorous treatment of urban space, by contributing to the
advancement of knowledge in the field of urban science. The author develops a valuable scientific guide for researchers,
policymakers, practitioners, and students interested in understanding cities as complex systems. Today, more than half of
world's population lives in urban areas, and, according to theWorld Bank data, by 2045, urban citizens will increase up to
6 billion. Cities of different sizes will play a pivotal role in the postpandemic recovery and, most importantly, they will
make the green transition of our economies and societies really work in coming years. Therefore, understanding “how
each city and every one of its people is the result of the aggregation of many choices, accidents, and influences from
their compounded joint history” (p. xxi) becomes crucial to manage present and future local and global challenges
Derivation, characterization and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells: comparing serum-containing versus serum-free media and evidences of germ cell differentiation.
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