ABSTRACT To mitigate the large demand for safflower picking labour and the low efficiency of manual picking, a safflower picking robot that is based on a parallel manipulator is designed. The whole robot mainly consists of a walking device, parallel manipulator device, vision device, picking device, filament collection device, control system, and motor drive system. The forward and inverse kinematics analysis of the parallel manipulator is analysed via a geometric method, the kinematics model is established, and the computational analysis of the parallel manipulator working speed is based on the Jacobi matrix. For driving angle errors of 0.001∼0.005°, the moving platform's motion accuracy is 0.2174–0.9387 mm, which meets the position accuracy requirements of the test stage. Based on MATLAB software, the Monte Carlo method is employed to solve the working space of the parallel manipulator, which is approximately an equilateral triangle with a side length of 0.35 m, which satisfies the safflower growth space picking conditions. The prototype is constructed, and safflower picking experiments are carried out under laboratory conditions. The average picking period of each flower bulb was 16 s, and the average net picking rate of the filaments was 87.91%. The experimental results verified the applicability of the safflower picking robot.

Abstract Background: LincRNAs have been revealed to be tightly associated with various tumorigeneses and cancer development, but the roles of specific lincRNA on tumor-related angiogenesis was hardly studied. Here, we aimed to investigate whether linc-OIP5 in breast cancer cells affects the angiogenesis of HUVECs and whether the linc-OIP5 regulations are involved in angiogenesis-related Notch and Hippo signaling pathways. Methods: A trans-well system co-cultured HUVECs with linc-OIP5 knockdown breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 was utilized to study the proliferation, migration and tube formation abilities of HUVECs and alterations of related signaling indicators in breast cancer cells and their conditioned medium through a series of cell and molecular experiments. Results: Overexpressed linc-OIP5, YAP1, and JAG1 were found in breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 and the expression levels of YAP1 and JAG1 were proportional to the breast cancer tissue grades. MDA-MB-231 cells with linc-OIP5 knockdown led to weakened proliferation, migration, and tube formation capacity of co-cultured HUVECs. Besides, linc-OIP5 knockdown in co-cultured MDA-MB-231 cells showed downregulated YAP1 and JAG1 expression, combined with a reduced JAG1 level in conditioned medium. Furthermore, a disrupted DLL4/Notch/NRP1 signaling in co-cultured HUVECs were also discovered under this condition. Conclusion: Hence, linc-OIP5 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells may act on the upstream of the YAP1/Notch/NRP1 signaling circuit to affect proliferation, migration, and tube formation of co-cultured HUVECs in a non-cellular direct contact way through JAG1 in conditioned medium. These findings at least partially provide a new angiogenic signaling circuit in breast cancers and suggest linc-OIP5 could be considered as a therapeutic target in angiogenesis of breast cancers.

ABSTRACT In this paper, a systematic method to synthesize parallel mechanisms for feed support mechanisms based on screw theory is proposed. First, the motion requirement of the feed support mechanism is studied. Then, a class of parallel mechanisms having a translational motion with different degrees of freedom is synthesized based on the constraint-synthesis method. Then, these parallel mechanisms are modified based on the specificities of deployable mechanisms, and two kinds of mechanisms are selected as the unit for the feed support mechanism. Finally, the deployment ratio of two kinds of mechanisms is optimized. The configurations obtained in this paper can enrich the types of feed support mechanisms.

Os efeitos dos métodos de impregnação (co-impregnação e impregnação sequencial) e das condições de secagem (ar e vácuo) sobre estrutura e o comportamento catalítico de catalisadores Ni-W suportados em MCM-41 foram investigados. Os catalisadores foram caracterizados por difratometria de raios X de pó (XRD), espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FT-IR), espectroscopia de absorção no UV-Vis por refletância difusa (DRS), espectroscopia Raman, espectroscopia fotoeletrônica de raios X (XPS) e espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho após adsorção de piridina (Py-IR). Eles foram testados para hidrodesnitrogenação (HDN) de quinolina nas temperaturas de 300-400 ºC. Os resultados de HDN mostraram que os catalisadores preparados por co-impregnação foram mais ativos do que aqueles preparados por impregnação sequencial, e que os catalisadores preparados por secagem sob vácuo foram mais ativos do que aqueles secados ao ar. A caracterização revelou que o método de co-impregnação e a secagem sob vácuo promoveram a dispersão de W, a formação de fases ativas e a formação de sítios ácidos na superfície dos catalisadores.

The effects of impregnation methods (co-impregnation and sequential impregnation) and drying conditions (air and vacuum) on the structure and catalytic behavior of MCM-41 supported Ni-W catalysts were investigated. The catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), diffuse reflectance UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy (DRS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and pyridine adsorbed infrared spectroscopy (Py-IR) techniques. They were tested for hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of quinoline at temperatures of 300-400 ºC. The HDN results showed that the catalysts prepared by co-impregnation were more active than the catalysts prepared by sequential impregnation and the catalysts prepared by drying under vacuum were more active than the catalysts dried in air. Characterization revealed that the co-impregnation method and drying under vacuum promoted the dispersion of W, the formation of the active phases, and the formation of acidic sites on the catalysts.

Bordetella bronchiseptica causes acute and chronic respiratory infections in diverse animal species and occasionally in humans. In this study, we described the establishment of a simple, sensitive and cost-efficient loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of B. bronchiseptica. A set of primers towards a 235 bp region within the flagellum gene of B. bronchiseptica was designed with online software.. The specificity of the LAMP assay was examined by using 6 porcine pathogens and 100 nasal swabs collected from healthy pigs and suspect infected pigs. The results indicated that positive reactions were confirmed for all B. bronchiseptica and no cross-reactivity was observed from other non-B. bronchiseptica. In sensitivity evaluations, the technique successfully detected a serial dilutions of extracted B. bronchiseptica DNA with a detection limit of 9 copies, which was 10 times more sensitive than that of PCR. Compared with conventional PCR, the higher sensitivity of LAMP method and no need for the complex instrumentation make this LAMP assay a promising alternative for the diagnosis of B. bronchiseptica in rural areas and developing countries where there lacks of complex laboratory services.

Zeólitas SAPO-11 foram sintetizadas com sucesso utilizando três diferentes direcionadores orgânicos (dietilamina (DEA), di-n-propilamina (DPA) e di-isopropilamina (DIPA)) e um conteúdo variável de DPA (nDPA/Al2O3 = 0,8, 1,2, 1,6 e 2,0) sob condições hidrotérmicas. As amostras foram caracterizadas por difratometria de raios X de pó (XRD), microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM), adsorção-dessorção de N2, dessorção de amônia a temperatura programada (NH3-TPD) e ressonância magnética nuclear (NMR) de29 Si com rotação no ângulo mágico (MAS). As amostras foram também avaliadas com relação à metilação do naftaleno com metanol para obtenção de 2,6-dimetil-naftaleno (2,6-DMN). Resultados de difratometria de raios X indicaram que o efeito direcional das diferentes aminas sobre a estrutura AEL (Aluminophosphate-ELeven) decresceram segundo a ordem DPA > DEA > DIPA e o conteúdo de DPA mais adequado foi nDPA/Al2O3 = 1,2. Resultados da adsorção-dessorção de N2 mostraram que SAPO-11(DPA,1.2) exibiu a distribuição de poros mais ampla, a área superficial específica BET mais elevada e o volume de poro maior dentre todas as amostras SAPO-11. SAPO-11(DPA,1.2) exibiu também um elevado desempenho catalítico na metilação de naftaleno devido às suas elevadas cristalinidade e superfície externa e à ampla distribuição de tamanho de poro. A estrutura de poros da zeólita SAPO-11, ao invés de sua acidez, desempenhou um papel importante na obtenção de elevado desempenho catalítico na metilação de naftaleno com metanol.

SAPO-11 zeolites were successfully synthesized by using three different templates (diethylamine (DEA), di-n-propylamine (DPA) and di-isopropylamine (DIPA)) and varying DPA contents (nDPA/Al2O3 = 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0) under hydrothermal conditions. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and29 Si magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The samples were also evaluated towards the methylation of naphthalene with methanol to produce 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene (2,6-DMN). XRD results indicated that the directing effect of the different templates for AEL (Aluminophosphate-ELeven) structure decreased in the order DPA > DEA > DIPA and the most suitable DPA content was nDPA/Al2O3 = 1.2. N2 adsorption-desorption results showed that SAPO-11(DPA,1.2) exhibited the broadest pore size distribution, the highest BET specific surface area and the largest pore volume among all the SAPO-11 samples. SAPO-11(DPA,1.2) exhibited high catalytic performances in the methylation of naphthalene due to its high crystallinity, high external surface and broad pore size distribution. The pore structure of SAPO-11 zeolite, rather than its acidity, played an important role in achieving high catalytic performances in the methylation of naphthalene with methanol.

The impact of dietary 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio) butyric acid isopropyl ester (HMBi) on rumen fermentation in cashmere goats was investigated to determine the effect of this ester on cashmere production. Four healthy castrated Liaoning cashmere goats with permanent rumen cannulas were assayed for four periods. In each period, goats were fed a different diet: control diet (containing 0% MetaSmart (an HMBi product)), diet I (containing 0.85% MetaSmart), diet II (containing 1.27% MetaSmart) or diet III (containing 1.70% MetaSmart). Rumen pH, ammonia-N concentration, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations and total protein concentration were determined after feeding in each period. Results showed that rumen pH significantly increased and rumen ammonia-N concentration significantly decreased when the diet was supplemented with 0.85%, 1.27% and 1.70% MetaSmart. Diets with 1.27% and 1.70% MetaSmart increased rumen total VFA concentration, and 3 hours post feeding all three HMBi diets increased acetic acid concentration. Rumen total protein concentration significantly increased in the goats fed 1.27% or 1.70% MetaSmart. Thus, diets supplemented with HMBi significantly affected rumen pH, ammonia-N concentration, VFA concentrations and total protein content. Dietary HMBi can promote rumen fermentation in cashmere goats.

This paper reports on the development and validation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (LAMP) for the rapid and specific detection of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae). A set of six primers were designed derived from the dsbE-like gene of A.pleuropneumoniae and validate the assay using 9 A. pleuropneumoniae reference/field strains, 132 clinical isolates and 9 other pathogens. The results indicated that positive reactions were confirmed for all A. pleuropneumoniae strains and specimens by LAMP at 63ºC for 60 min and no cross-reactivity were observed from other non-A.pleuropneumoniae including Haemophilus parasuis, Escherichia coli, Pasteurella multocida, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Streptococcus suis, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), and Pseudorabies virus. The detection limit of the conventional PCR was 10² CFU per PCR test tube, while that of the LAMP was 5 copies per tube. Therefore, the sensitivity of LAMP was higher than that of PCR. Moreover, the LAMP assay provided a rapid yet simple test of A. pleuropneumoniae suitable for laboratory diagnosis and pen-side detection due to ease of operation and the requirement of only a regular water bath or heat block for the reaction.