Abstract The nutritional profile, especially amino acid profile, determines the quality and commercial value of insect protein products. Multiple previous studies have used spectroscopy technologies and machine learning algorithms to predict essential amino acid content in various foods and feeds. However, these approaches were not applied for predicting essential amino acid content in insects before. In this study, 200 insect samples containing 9 commercial insect species were collected. Machine learning methods were applied to build the prediction models to predict amino acid content using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) raw spectra and first derivative. For all amino acids, partial least square regression, decision tree and radial basis artificial neural network exhibited high performances to predict essential amino acids. Model performances were improved for some amino acids using first derivative than using raw spectra. The highest performance (coefficient of determination: 0.97, root mean square error of prediction: 0.05 g/100 g and ratio of performance: 4.07) was achieved for phenylalanine prediction using radial basis artificial neural network modeling. The high model performance indicates the potential of applying FTIR and subsequent machine learning modeling for fast and non-destructive prediction of amino acid of insect products.

OBJECTIVES: Leukoaraiosis is described as white matter lesions that are associated with cognitive dysfunction, neurodegenerative disorders, etc. Myelin depletion is a salient pathological feature of, and the loss of oligodendrocytes is one of the most robust alterations evident in, white matter degeneration. Recent studies have revealed that claudin proteins are aberrantly expressed in leukoaraiosis and regulate oligodendrocyte activity. However, the roles of claudin-1 and claudin-3 in oligodendrocytes and leukoaraiosis are still not well-defined. METHODS: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of claudin-1 (CLDN1), claudin-3 (CLDN3), and myelinogenesis-related genes such as myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP), oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 (OLIG2), and SRY-box transcription factor 10 (SOX10) in leukoaraiosis patients (n=122) and healthy controls (n=122). The expression of claudin-1 and claudin-3 was either ectopically silenced or augmented in Oli-neu oligodendrocytes, and colony formation, apoptosis, and migration assays were performed. Finally, the expression of myelin proteins was evaluated by western blotting. RESULTS: Our results revealed that in addition to SOX10, the expression levels of claudin-1, claudin-3, and myelinogenesis-related proteins were prominently downregulated in leukoaraiosis patients, compared to those in healthy controls. Furthermore, the growth and migration of Oli-neu cells were downregulated upon silencing claudin-1 or claudin-3. However, the overexpression of claudin-1 or claudin-3 resulted in the reduction of the degree of apoptosis in Oli-neu cells. In addition, claudin-1 and claudin-3 promoted the expression of MBP, OLIG2, PLP, and SOX10 at the translational level. CONCLUSION: Our data has demonstrated that the abnormal expression of claudin-1 and claudin-3 regulates the pathological progression of leukoaraiosis by governing the viability and myelination of oligodendrocytes. These findings provide novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying the roles of claudin-1 and claudin-3 in leukoaraiosis.

Abstract Bird-strike failure of fan blades is one of the basic challenges for the safety of aircraft engines. Simplified slender blade-like plates are always used to evaluate the impact-induced damage mechanism at design stage. One undesirable issue is the failure at the root of clamped slender plates, which cannot recover the real case of twisted blades. For this purpose, three different strategies were exploited to obtain desirable deformation and stress responses, namely the impact location, additional weight, and the boundary condition. Numerical models of the simplified slender blade and the bird projectile were constructed by using finite element method (FEM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) approaches. The impact deformations and stress distributions were comparatively investigated in detail. The numerical results show that changing the boundary condition is the most effective way to obtain preferable impact responses for further failure analysis of real fan blades. Present results will be useful to future experimental design of simplified bird-strike testing.

Resumo Um plano instável para o desenvolvimento de currículos e questões de apoio na educação física (PE) criou confusão entre os profissionais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar os fatores percebidos como importantes no desenvolvimento da educação física de qualidade (QPE) por profissionais de países da América Latina (AL). Um questionário composto por 24 itens com base no QPE foi respondido por 468 profissionais coletados em 6 cidades da América Latina. Uma análise fatorial exploratória dos 24 itens usando extração ML e rotação obliminar direta foram aplicados, e os 17 itens retidos foram agrupados em uma solução de três fatores denominada Elementos de Desenvolvimento e Suporte para QPE na Escola (DSFQPE) (α = 0,935), Valor essencial do QPE (CVPE) (α = 0,890) e Arranjo Curricular das Atividades Físicas (CAPA) (α = 0,850). Os itens retidos indicaram propriedades excelentes e o referencial básico percebido pelos profissionais de EF em países da América Latina como importante na investigação do PEQ.

Abstract An unsteady plan for curriculum development and supportive issues in physical education (PE) has created confusion among professionals. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors perceived as important in the development of quality physical education (QPE) by professionals in Latin American (LA) countries. A questionnaire consisting of 24 items based on QPE was responded by 468 professionals collected from 6 LA cities. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 24 items using ML extraction and direct oblimin rotation were applied, and the retained 17 items were clustered in a three factor solution referred to as, Development and Supportive Elements for QPE in School (DSFQPE) (α = .935), Core Value of QPEtabl (CVPE) (α = .890), and Curriculum Arrangement of Physical Activities (CAPA) (α = .850). The retained items indicated excellent properties and the basic framework as perceived by professionals from PE in LA countries as important in the investigation of QPE.

Resumen Un plan inestable para el desarrollo curricular y aspectos de apoyo para la educación física (EF) han creado confusión entre los profesionales. El propósito de esta investigación es investigar los factores percibidos como importantes en el desarrollo de la educación física de calidad (EFC) por profesionales en países de América Latina (AL). Un cuestionario que consta de 24 ítems basados en EFC fue respondido por 468 profesionales recolectados en 6 ciudades de LA. Se aplicó un Análisis factorial exploratorio de los 24 ítems que utilizan extracción ML y rotación oblicua directa, y los 17 ítems retenidos se agruparon en una solución de tres factores denominada Elementos de desarrollo y de apoyo para EFC en la escuela (EDAEFC) (α = 0,935); Valor principal de EFC (CVPE) (α = 0,890) y Arreglo del plan de actividades físicas (CAPA) (α = 0,850). Los ítems retenidos indicaron excelentes propiedades y el marco básico es percibido por los profesionales de EF en los países de AL como importante en la investigación de EFC.

Abstract The present study investigated the effects of curcumin (Cur) on growth of human cervical cancer xenograft in nude mice and underlying mechanism. The nude mice modeled with human cervical cancer HeLa cell xenograft were treated with normal saline (control), 3 mg/kg Cisplatin, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg Cur, respectively. The animal body weight and growth of tumor were measured. The expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, p53, p21, HIF-1α, VEGF and MIF protein in tumor tissue were determined. Results showed that, after treatment for 20 days, the tumor mass and tumor volume in 100 and 200 mg/kg Cur group were significantly lower than control group (P < 0.05). The expressions of Bax, p53 and p21 protein in tumor tissue in 200 mg/kg Cur group were significantly higher than control group (P < 0.05), and the expressions of Bcl-2, HIF-1α, VEGF and MIF protein in tumor tissue in 200 mg/kg Cur group were significantly lower than control group (P < 0.05). Cur can inhibit the growth of HeLa cell xenograft in nude mice. The possible mechanism may be related to its up-regulation of Bax, p53 and p21 protein expression in tumor tissue, and down-regulation of Bcl-2, HIF-1α, VEGF and MIF protein expression.

Organic pollutant and nitrogen removal performance of subsurface wastewater infiltration systems (SWISs) with and without intermittent aeration, and operated under different organic pollutant loadings, was investigated. The intermittent aeration strategy not only significantly increased removal rates of organic pollutants and NH4+-N, but also successfully created aerobic conditions at a depth of 50 cm and did not change anoxic or anaerobic conditions at a depth of 80 and 110 cm, resulting in high TN removal. Increasing organic pollutant loading did not affect the removal of organic pollutants and nitrogen in intermittent aerated SWISs. High removal rates of COD (98.0%~98.4%), NH4+-N (93.8%~98.1%) and TN (84.5%~94.0%) were simultaneously obtained in intermittent aerated SWISs for organic pollutant loadings ranging from 7.4 to 29.1 g COD/(m²∙d), and these removal rates were significantly higher than for non-aerated SWISs. The results suggest that intermittent aeration is a reliable option to achieve high nitrogen removal in SWISs, especially with high organic pollutant loading.

Human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein B (gB) represents a target for diagnosis and treatment in view of the role it plays in virus entry and spread. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, rare detection of a gB antigen has been reported in transplant patients and limited information is available about diagnostic gB monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Our aim was to develop gB mAbs with diagnostic potential. Hydrophilic gB peptides (ST: amino acids 27-40, SH: amino acids 81-94) of favorable immunogenicity were synthesized and used to immunize BALB/c mice. Two mAbs, named ZJU-FH6 and ZJU-FE6, were generated by the hybridoma technique and limited serial dilution and then characterized by indirect ELISA, Western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and immunohistochemical staining. The mAbs displayed high titers of specific binding affinities for the ST and SH synthetic peptides at an mAb dilution of 1:60,000 and 1:240,000, respectively. Western blotting and immunoprecipitation indicated that these mAbs recognized both denatured and native gB of the Towne and AD169 strains. The mAbs, when used as the primary antibody, showed positive staining in cells infected with both Towne and AD169 strains. The mAbs were then tested on patients submitted to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The gB antigen positivity rates of the patients tested using ZJU-FH6 and ZJU-FE6 were 62.0 and 63.0%, respectively. The gB antigen showed a significant correlation with the level of pp65 antigen in peripheral blood leukocytes. In conclusion, two potential diagnostic gB mAbs were developed and were shown to be capable of recognizing gB in peripheral blood leukocytes in a reliable manner.