Alternative splicing and expression of the insulin-like growth factor （IGF-1） gene in osteoblasts under mechanical stretch

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) promotes osteoblasts differentiation and bone formation, and its expression is induced by mechanical stretch, thus IGF-1 has been considered an effector molecule that links mechanical stimulation and local tissue responses. In this study, a mechanical stretching device was designed to apply physiological level static or cyclic stretching stimulation to osteoblasts. Different isoforms of IGF-1 mRNA were amplified by RT-PCR from the cells using respective primers and these amplified products were sequenced. An iso-form of IGF-1 splicing product was found to be selectively produced by osteoblasts under stretching stimulation. This IGF-1 isoform had identical sequence with the mechano growth factor (MGF) which was originally identified in muscle cells. Regulations of the expression of the liver-type IGF (L.IGF-1) and MGF in osteoblasts under stretch stimulation were further studied using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Stretch stimulation was found to promot the expression of IGF-1 (L.IGF-1 and MGF), and for both isoforms expression was more effectively stimulated by cyclic stretch than static stretch. MGF was detected only in osteoblasts subjected to mechanical stretch, suggesting MGF was a stretch sensitive growth factor. Expression of MGF peaked earlier than that of L.IGF-1, which was similar to their regulation in muscle and suggested similar roles of MGF and L.IGF-1 in bone as in muscle cells. The functions of MGF and LIGF-1 in osteoblasts shall be established by further experimental studies.     

Experimental liver fibrosis induced in rats receiving high doses of alcohol and alternating between regular and vitamin-depleted diets

Liver fibrosis was induced in rats by simulating human alcoholic eating and drinking patterns. Alcohol addiction was established by gradually increasing the ethanol concentration in the drinking water; salts were added at the terminal stage. The hepatocytes of rats receiving alcohol concentrations exceeding 50% (v/v) (similar to vodka) exhibited alcoholic hyaline (Mallory bodies). Alcoholic liver fibrosis was induced by alternating between regular and autoclaved (vitamin-depleted) diets, simulating the irregular eating habits of human alcoholics. In the livers of rats receiving 70% (v/v) ethanol (comparable to absinthe) with 25% saline and fed the alternating diets, pericellular fibrosis was induced. No significant difference in calorie intake between control and alcohol rats was detected except when rats underwent drinking bouts (heavy drinking phase). This indicates that neither a high-fat diet nor a choline-depleted diet is necessary to induce the alcoholic fibrosis seen in human alcoholics.     

玻璃熔窑燃料的综合评价方法

平板玻璃工业是国民经济中重要的基础工业,在国民经济建设和城乡人民生活中起着十分重要的作用。大力发展玻璃工业,是现代化建设的需要,也是改善人民生活的需要。在平板玻璃的生产中,玻璃的熔制是在玻璃窑中接近1600℃的高温下进行的,要消耗大量的热量。这些热能占玻璃生产总耗能量     

Robust regression in biological assay: application to the evaluation of alternative experimental techniques

Summary Robust Huber type regression and testing of linear hypotheses are adapted to statistical analysis of parallel line and slope ratio assays. They are applied in the evaluation of results of several experiments carried out in order to compare and validate alternatives to animal experimentation based on embryo and cell cultures. Computational procedures necessary for the application of robust methods of analysis used the conversational statistical package ROBSYS. Special commands for the analysis of parallel line and slope ratio assays have been added to ROBSYS.     

Fuel design real-time to control HCCI combustion

In order to achieve lower emissions and extensive load in the homogeneous charge com- pression ignition (HCCI) engine system, a novel fuel design concept that high-octane number fuel and high-cetane number fuel are mixed real-time to con- trol HCCI combustion is proposed in this study. HCCI combustion fueled with iso-octane/n-heptane mix- tures controlled real-time on a single-cylinder HCCI combustion engine is studied. The test results show that the equivalence ratio of n-heptane in mixtures decides ignition and controls the combustion phase of HCCI combustion. The addition of iso-octane ex- tends knocking limit in equivalence ratio somewhat, but knocking occurrence mainly depends on the total concentration of mixture. Although operating range in equivalence ratio becomes narrow with the increas- ing proportion of iso-octane, the maximum load of HCCI combustion fueled with iso-octane/n-heptane mixtures controlled real-time is increased about 80% more than that of pure n-heptane. When iso-octane/ n-heptane mixtures are controlled in optimized method, it is proved that the load of HCCI combustion can be fully extended and emissions can be de- creased remarkably, while at the same time the higher indicated thermal efficiencies are obtained over the extensive operation range.     

液化石油气代替汽车燃料的应用现状及性能分析

本文对国内外用液化石油气作为车用燃料的应用状况作以介绍；对双燃料汽车的性能进行了分析。     

21世纪的绿色燃料--二甲醚

介绍了二甲醚作为一种新型清洁燃料的开发利用状况，探讨了山西省发展煤基合成二甲醚进行煤炭深加工的必要性和现实性。     

Fitting of growth curves over time when the data are obtained from a single realization

This paper focuses on the general problem of forecasting the maximum value of a time series which by the nature of the data must approach an asymptotic value. Examples of such series include the growth of organisms, the concentration of a chemical reagent during a reaction occurring over time or the amount of a fossil fuel resource which has been discovered or produced as a function of time. The approach taken below differs from the usual models for this type of data in that it assumes that an unobserved time series is actually driving the process, and that the observed data series is a function of the unobserved process. In the case of fossil fuels the unobserved series might be a measure of the exploratory drilling, the number of production days in a given time period or even the amount of fiscal resources devoted to exploratory activities. A maximum likelihood method is developed for estimating the parameters of the process, especially the maximum S, and the covariance structure of the estimators is developed. The methodology is illustrated on an example of oil production. Finally, methods are developed for forecasting the data into the near future.