Genetic Variation of H-FABP Gene and Association with Intramuscular Fat Content in Laiwu Black and Four Western Pig Breeds

Zeng, Y.Q.,Wang, G.L.,Wang, C.F.,Wei, S.D.,Wu, Y.,Wang, L.Y.,Wang, H.,Yang, H.L. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.1

This study was performed to detect genetic variation of the heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) gene by PCRRFLPs approach and its association with intramuscular fat (IMF) content. Data from 223 individuals, including one Chinese native pig breed and four western pig breeds, were analyzed. The results showed that for the H-FABP gene, there was one polymorphic HinfI site in the 5'-upstream region, whereas there were one HaeIII and one HinfI (marked as $HinfI^*$) polymorphic site in the second intron, respectively. The three PCR-RFLPs were present in all breeds tested. The allele frequencies, however, revealed significant differences between them (p<0.05). Furthermore, the allele frequency distribution of HinfI in the Laiwu Black and that of $HinfI^*$ in the Hampshire breed were at disequilibrium, which might be the result of selective breeding. Results also indicated that for HinfI, HaeIII and $HinfI^*$ HFABP RFLP, significant (p<0.05) contrasts of 0.78%, -0.69% and 0.72% were detected in the least square means of IMF content between the homozygous genotype HH and hh, DD and dd, BB and bb classes, respectively. It implied that the HHddBB genotype had the highest IMF content in this experimental population and these H-FABP RFLPs could serve, to some extent, as genetic markers for use in improvement of IMF content.

Planar Alignment of Columnar Discotic Liquid Crystals by Isotropic Phase Dewetting on Chemically Patterned Surfaces

Bramble, Jonathan P.,Tate, Daniel J.,Revill, Derek J.,Sheikh, Khizar H.,Henderson, James R.,Liu, Feng,Zeng, Xiangbing,Ungar, Goran,Bushby, Richard J.,Evans, Stephen D. WILEY‐VCH Verlag 2010 Advanced Functional Materials Vol.20 No.6

<P><B>Abstract</B></P>10.1002/adfm.200902140.abs<P>A novel method of creating planar aligned columnar discotic liquid crystals (cDLCs) on surfaces, which also gives control over the azimuthal angle, is presented. Surfaces are chemically patterned with stripes via microcontact printing of organothiol self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold, or via deep UV patterning of organosilane SAMs on silicon. These are then used to isolate long droplets of cDLCs by dewetting in the isotropic phase. Upon cooling from the isotropic into the hexagonal columnar phase, polarizing microscopy reveals that the cDLC aligns in a planar orientation. Results for three triphenylene derivatives (HAT‐6, HHTT, H7T) and for a phthalocyanine derivative (8H<SUB>2</SUB>Pc) are presented. H7T and HAT‐6 are found to align with the director perpendicular to the stripe direction, but HHTT and 8H<SUB>2</SUB>Pc align parallel to the stripe direction. This relatively simple new method for creating planar aligned columnar phases of DLCs gives control over the azimuthal angle: a condition required for organic field‐effect transistor applications of cDLCs.</P>

Finite-time control for networked switched linear systems with an event-driven communication approach

Wang, Shun,Zeng, Ming,Park, Ju H.,Zhang, Lixian,Hayat, Tasawar,Alsaedi, Ahmed Taylor Francis 2017 International Journal of Systems Science Vol.48 No.2

<P>This paper is concerned with the network-based finite-time controller design problems for a class of switched linear systems with sampled-data control approach, the quantisation errors are also taken into account. A novel event-driven communication scheme is developed which can be seen as the extension of time-driven communication cases. By invoking an input-delay approach, the networked switched control systems are firstly modelled as a kind of switched time-delay systems with time-varying delays, upon which a set of mode-dependent controllers are then designed such that the reformulated switched system with time-varying delays is finite-time bounded and has a guaranteed noise attenuation performance in the finite-time H-infinity sense. Moreover, a co-design algorithm of mode-dependent control and event-driven communication is presented to find the optimal event-driven strategy for reducing transmission loads. Finally, a numerical example and an application to F-18 aircraft are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the developed results.</P>

Oxidation as A Means to Remove Surface Contaminants on Cu Foil Prior to Graphene Growth by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Pang, Jinbo,Bachmatiuk, Alicja,Fu, Lei,Yan, Chenglin,Zeng, Mengqi,Wang, Jiao,Trzebicka, Barbara,Gemming, Thomas,Eckert, Juergen,Rummeli, Mark H. American Chemical Society 2015 The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C Vol.119 No.23

<P>One of the more common routes to fabricate graphene is by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). This is primarily because of its potential to scale up the process and produce large area graphene. For the synthesis of large area monolayer Cu is probably the most popular substrate since it has a low carbon solubility enabling homogeneous single-layer sheets of graphene to form. This process requires a very clean substrate. In this work we look at the efficiency of common pretreatments such as etching or wiping with solvents and compare them to an oxidation treatment at 1025 °C followed by a reducing process by annealing in H<SUB>2</SUB>. The oxidation/reduction process is shown to be far more efficient allowing large area homogeneous single layer graphene formation without the presence of additional graphene flakes which form from organic contamination on the Cu surface.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/jpccck/2015/jpccck.2015.119.issue-23/acs.jpcc.5b03911/production/images/medium/jp-2015-03911k_0007.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/jp5b03911'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Effects of Dietary Lysine Levels on Apparent Nutrient Digestibility and Serum Amino Acid Absorption Mode in Growing Pigs

Zeng, P.L.,Yan, H.C.,Wang, X.Q.,Zhang, C.M.,Zhu, C.,Shu, G.,Jiang, Q.Y. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2013 Animal Bioscience Vol.26 No.7

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of different dietary lysine levels on the apparent nutrient digestibility, the serum amino acid (AA) concentration, and the biochemical parameters of the precaval and portal vein blood in growing pigs. In Experiment 1, 15 noncannulated pigs received diets with different lysine densities (0.65%, 0.95%, and 1.25% lysine) for 13 d. A total collection digestion test was performed, and blood samples were collected from the precaval vein at the end of the experiment. In Experiment 2, four cannulated pigs were fed the same diets of Experiment 1. The experiment used a self-control experimental design and was divided into three periods. On d 5 of each period, at 0.5 h before feeding and hourly up to 8 h after feeding, single blood samples were collected from catheters placed in the portal vein. In Experiment 1, some serum AAs (including lysine), serum urinary nitrogen (SUN), and total protein (TP) concentrations were significantly affected by the dietary lysine levels (p<0.05). Moreover, the 0.65% lysine treatment showed a significant lower apparent digestibility of gross energy, dry matter, crude protein, and phosphorus than the other treatments (p<0.05). In Experiment 2, serum lysine, histidine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, isoleucine (p = 0.0588), triglyceride, and SUN (p = 0.0572) concentrations were significantly affected by the dietary lysine levels (p<0.05). Additionally, almost all of the determined serum AA and total AA concentrations reached their lowest values at 0.5 h before feeding and their highest values at 2 h after feeding (p<0.05). These findings indicate that the greatest absorption of AA occurred at 2 h after feeding and that the dynamic profile of serum AA is affected by the dietary lysine levels. Moreover, when the dietary lysine content was 0.95%, the growing pigs achieved a better nutrient digestibility and serum metabolites levels.

Further results on dissipativity analysis of neural networks with time-varying delay and randomly occurring uncertainties

Zeng, H. B.,Park, J. H.,Xia, J. W. Springer Science + Business Media 2015 Nonlinear dynamics Vol.79 No.1

DYNAMICS OF AN ACTIVELY GUIDED TRACK INSPECTION VEHICLE

Zeng, C.C.,Bao, J.H.,Zhang, J.W.,Li, X.H. The Korean Society of Automotive Engineers 2006 International journal of automotive technology Vol.7 No.7

The lateral dynamic behaviours of a track inspection vehicle with laterally guided system are studied for the safety and comfort. A 10-DOF dynamic model is proposed counting for lateral and yaw motions. The equations for motions of the vehicle running on curved tracks at a constant speed are presented. It is shown by simulation that lateral guiding forces applied to the guiding wheels on the inner side of the track increase in a larger scale in comparison with those on the outer side when the vehicle passes through curved tracks with cant, and the front guiding spring forces is larger than the rears. Lateral vibrations due to yaw motions of the vehicle take place when the vehicle runs through curved tracks. Finally, effect of the lateral guidance on the vehicle dynamics is also examined and advantages of such a guiding system are discussed in some details. An optimal guided control is applied to restrain the lateral and yaw motions. The comparisons between the active and passive guidance explain the effect of the active control approaches.

Improved delay-dependent stability criteria for T-S fuzzy systems with time-varying delay

Zeng, H.B.,Park, J.H.,Xia, J.W.,Xiao, S.P. Elsevier [etc.] 2014 Applied mathematics and computation Vol.235 No.-

This paper is concerned with the robust stability of uncertain T-S fuzzy systems with time-varying delay. A novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is established by employing the idea of combining delay-decomposition with state vector augmentation. Then, by employing some integral inequalities and the reciprocally convex approach, some less conservative delay-dependent stability criteria are obtained. The proposed stability conditions are formulated in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be solved efficiently with Semi-Definite Programming (SDP) solvers. Finally, four numerical examples are provided to show that the proposed conditions are less conservative than existing ones.

Hyperoside protects primary rat cortical neurons from neurotoxicity induced by amyloid β-protein via the PI3K/Akt/Bad/Bcl_XL-regulated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Zeng, K.W.,Wang, X.M.,Ko, H.,Kwon, H.C.,Cha, J.W.,Yang, H.O. North-Holland ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2011 european journal of pharmacology Vol.672 No.1

Amyloid β-protein (Aβ), which is deposited in neurons as neurofibrillary tangles, is known to exert cytotoxic effects by inducing mitochondrial dysfunction. Additionally, the PI3K/Akt-mediated interaction between Bad and Bcl<SUB>XL</SUB> plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial integrity. However, the application of therapeutic drugs, especially natural products in Alzheimer's disease therapy via PI3K/Akt/Bad/Bcl<SUB>XL</SUB>-regulated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway has not aroused extensive attention. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of hyperoside, a bioactive flavonoid compound from Hypericum perforatum, on Aβ<SUB>25-35</SUB>-induced primary cultured cortical neurons, and also examined the potential cellular signaling mechanism for Aβ detoxication. Our results showed that treatment with hyperoside significantly inhibited Aβ<SUB>25-35</SUB>-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis by reversing Aβ-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, including mitochondrial membrane potential decrease, reactive oxygen species production, and mitochondrial release of cytochrome c. Further study indicated that hyperoside can activate the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, resulting in inhibition of the interaction between Bad and Bcl<SUB>XL</SUB>, without effects on the interaction between Bad and Bcl-2. Furthermore, hyperoside inhibited mitochondria-dependent downstream caspase-mediated apoptotic pathway, such as that involving caspase-9, caspase-3, and poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). These results demonstrate that hyperoside can protect Aβ-induced primary cultured cortical neurons via PI3K/Akt/Bad/Bcl<SUB>XL</SUB>-regulated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, and they raise the possibility that hyperoside could be developed into a clinically valuable treatment for Alzheimer's disease and other neuronal degenerative diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Further results on sampled-data control for master–slave synchronization of chaotic Lur’e systems with time delay

Zeng, H. B.,Park, J. H.,Xiao, S. P.,Liu, Y. Springer Science + Business Media 2015 Nonlinear dynamics Vol.82 No.1

<P>This paper is concerned with the problem of sampled-data control for master-slave synchronization of chaotic Lur'e systems with time delay. The sampling periods are assumed to be arbitrary but bounded. A new Lyapunov functional is constructed, in which the information on the nonlinear function and the actual sampling pattern have been taken fully into account. By employing the Lyapunov functional and a tighter bound technique to estimate the derivative of the Lyapunov functional, a less conservative exponential synchronization criterion is established by analyzing the corresponding synchronization error systems. Furthermore, the derived condition is employed to design a sampled-data controller. The desired controller gain matrix can be obtained by means of the linear matrix inequality approach. Simulations are provided to show the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed approach.</P>