New results on system of generalized quasi-Ky Fan inequalities with set-valued mappings in topological semilattice spaces

Under new assumptions, this paper obtains some extended versions of Ky Fan type inequality for a family of C-continuous set-valued mappings in the setting of topological semilattices. The obtained results are new and different from the corresponding known results in the literature. Some special cases of the main result are also discussed. Some examples are given to illustrate the results.     

偶联剂对HDPE基竹塑复合材料性能的影响

以高密度聚乙烯(HDPE)、竹粉(BF)为原料,马来酸酐接枝聚丙烯(MAH-g-PP)作为偶联剂,通过混炼、平板热压成型制备竹粉/HDPE复合材料,研究了马来酸酐接枝聚丙烯添加量(0、2%、5%、8%)对竹粉/HDPE复合材料吸湿性、吸水性、弯曲强度、拉伸强度以及抗冲击强度等性能的影响。结果表明:MAH-g-PP能显著改善竹粉/HDPE复合材料的吸湿、吸水性能,明显提高复合材料的力学性能; 当MAH-g-PP添加量为5%时,复合材料的吸湿、吸水率最低,静曲强度与弹性模量分别提高68%和30.4%,拉伸强度与抗冲击强度分别增长53.7%和75%; 而当MAH-g-PP添加量为8%时,复合材料的力学性能在一定程度上有所降低。红外光谱(FTIR)分析显示,添加MAH-g-PP后竹粉的游离羟基与马来酸酐之间发生了酯化反应。     

TspanC8 tetraspanins differentially regulate the cleavage of ADAM10 substrates,Notch activation and ADAM10 membrane compartmentalization

The metalloprotease ADAM10 mediates the shedding of the ectodomain of various cell membrane proteins, including APP, the precursor of the amyloid peptide Aβ, and Notch receptors following ligand binding. ADAM10 associates with the members of an evolutionary conserved subgroup of tetraspanins, referred to as TspanC8, which regulate its exit from the endoplasmic reticulum. Here we show that 4 of these TspanC8 (Tspan5, Tspan14, Tspan15 and Tspan33) which positively regulate ADAM10 surface expression levels differentially impact ADAM10-dependent Notch activation and the cleavage of several ADAM10 substrates, including APP, N-cadherin and CD44. Sucrose gradient fractionation, single molecule tracking and quantitative mass-spectrometry analysis of the repertoire of molecules co-immunoprecipitated with Tspan5, Tspan15 and ADAM10 show that these two tetraspanins differentially regulate ADAM10 membrane compartmentalization. These data represent a unique example where several tetraspanins differentially regulate the function of a common partner protein through a distinct membrane compartmentalization.     

Practical Contributions of the Systems-Based Evolutionary Learning Laboratory to Knowledge and Stakeholder Management

This paper reports on a case study on improving the quality of life for women smallholder farmers in Vietnam, using the systems-based Evolutionary Learning Laboratory (ELLab) approach. The study aims to provide evidence of practical contributions of the ELLab to project stakeholder and knowledge management through the case study. A transformative learning framework was developed to provide initial reflections on the planning phase of the project. Practical contributions of the ELLab process to stakeholder identification and management, and knowledge creation during project planning and implementation are discussed. Strong evidence was found of transformations in awareness and perspectives amongst project actors that subsequently led to systemic and executable action plans. This clearly proved the value of the ELLab approach in informal transformative learning.     

Rapid removal of Chernobyl fallout from Mediterranean surface waters by biological activity

The sinking of particulate organic matter from the euphotic zone is an important pathway for the vertical transport of many elements and organic compounds in the sea. Many natural and artificial radionuclides in surface waters are readily adsorbed onto suspended particles and are presumably scavenged and removed to depth on time scales commensurate with both particle sinking rate and retention time of the radionuclide on the particle. Previously, abyssal benthic organisms from the northeast Pacific were found to contain short-lived fission products which entered the sea surface as fallout from nuclear testing. The presence of these radionuclides at great depth could not be explained by Stokesian settling of small fallout particles and it was hypothesized that zooplankton grazing in the surface layers packaged these particle-reactive radionuclides into large, relatively dense faecal pellets which rapidly sank to depth. We report here data from a time-series sediment trap experiment and concomitant zooplankton collections which show conclusively that Chernobyl radioactivity, in particular the rare earth nuclides 141Ce and 144Ce, entering the Mediterranean as a single pulse, was rapidly removed from surface waters and transported to 200 m in a few days primarily by zooplankton grazing.