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Pericardial effusion (PE) due to secondary metastasis has rarely been reported in dogs.

Case description:

This case describes clinical signs and further diagnostics regarding metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary origin (CUP) in refractory PE of a dog. Findings/treatment and outcome: A nine-year-old, castrated male Shih Tzu dog was referred for evaluation of cough and dyspnea. On presentation, tachypnea, intermittent cough, and muffled heart sounds were noted. Thoracic radiography, electrocardiography, and echocardiography confirmed a PE. No mass lesion was detected at the heart base, aorta, or right atrium (RA). Analysis of the PE showed hemorrhagic cytology, and an idiopathic hemorrhagic PE was tentatively diagnosed. The dog responded to conservative treatment with steroid and diuretics, but the clinical sign recurred. Further evaluation with multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) was non-diagnostic. The dog died 457 days after initial presentation. Necropsy and histopathology revealed metastatic CUP origin.

This case illustrated a rare cause of recurrent PE in dogs.

To investigate the characteristics of the bubbles trapped in liquid cross flow, air was injected into flowing water circulated in a closed loop. High speed photography was used to record bubble images instantaneously. An image-processing code was specifically developed to identify bubbles in the images and to calculate bubble parameters. Effects of the water velocity and the flow rate of the injected air on bubble patterns were investigated. The results indicate that the inclination of bubble trajectory relative to the nozzle axis is enhanced as the water velocity rises. Meanwhile, bubble size varies inversely with the water velocity. The bubble profile tends to be rounded as the water velocity increases. Fluctuations of the bubble velocity are intensified as the water velocity decreases. As the balance between the external forces exerted on the bubble is reached, an approximately linear relationship between the velocities of the bubble and the water is manifested. For a given equivalent bubble diameter, the bubble terminal velocity is higher than that associated with quiescent water. At small Eötvös number, the consistency of the bubble aspect ratio in the liquid flow and quiescent water is revealed. The range of Eötvös number is extended considerably due to the flowing water. Values of Weber number are accumulated in a range within which high bubble aspect ratio is associated with relatively high water velocity.

Nanofluids are metallic or nonmetallic,nanometer-sized particles dispersed in liquid. They can be used in various fields to increase heat transfer rates,as the thermal conductivity of nanofluids can be increased significantly. Nanofluids may be used as a good alternative coolant in spray cooling applications. This study conducted experiments to compare spray characteristics,such as droplet diameters,velocities,between water,alumina nanofluid sprays. The mass ratio of alumina nanoparticles was varied from 0.2 to 0.5 weight percentages (wt.%),the spray injection pressure was varied between 0.2,0.3 MPa. The local distributions of droplet sizes,velocities along the spray axial,radial directions were measured by a laser doppler instrument. Generally,the spray characteristics of nanofluid sprays is significantly different from that of water sprays. The average droplet diameters of the fluids tested increased in an approximately linear manner with the increase in the mass ratio of nanoparticles up to 0.4 wt.%,whereas the average droplet velocities decreased. In the case of the nanofluid spray of 0.5 wt.%,the increase in droplet diameters,the decrease in droplet velocities were much more marked,departing from the linear relationship. This unusual behavior could also be observed in the local distributions of droplet diameters,velocities along the axial,radial directions. Further research studies are required to reveal how the addition of nanoparticles affects the atomization mechanism of nanofluids. The difference in the spray characteristics of nanofluid sprays from that of water sprays should be taken into consideration when the cooling effectiveness of nanofluids,water in spray cooling is compared.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a multi-purpose quality assurance (QA) phantom for pretreatment verification of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The QA phantom was constructed with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to perform relative dosimetry using EBT3 film and MapCHECK, as well as absolute dosimetry using an ionization chamber. The QA phantom was constructed to perform relative dosimetry using EBT3 film and MapCHECK, as well as the absolute dosimetry using ionization chamber. In order to verify the pretreatment plans, 25 patients treated with VMAT were selected. The pretreatment plans were calculated in the Eclipse treatment planning system using the Acuros XB dose calculation algorithm and CT images for the QA phantom, with the same beam setup and monitor units (MUs) as those for patient treatment. All plans were delivered to the Varian TrueBeam accelerator equipped with a high-definition multi-leaf collimator. The multi-purpose QA phantom is developed for convenient VMAT dose verification. By using the QA phantom, all 25 cases passed ±3% acceptability criteria in absolute dosimetry with an ionization chamber for pretreatment verification. The relative dosimetry using EBT3 film and MapCHECK system also showed high agreement of more than 90% for 2%/2-mm and 3%/3-mm criteria. The results of this study demonstrated the good multi-purpose capabilities of the phantom for the absolute and relative dosimetry. Therefore, the developed multi-purpose QA phantom was applied in our institution for routine VMRT dose verification.

This study aimed to elucidate the influence of environment pH on survival, growth, energy allocation and oxidative damage of juvenile Scophthalmus maximus (19.89±0.25 g). Six pH treatments (6.3±0.2, 6.8±0.2, 7.3±0.2, 7.8±0.2, 8.3±0.2, 8.8±0.2) lasting for eight weeks were included. Measurements of survival (SR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), weight gain rate (WGR), energy allocation, liver superoxide dismutase activity (SOD), catalase activity (CAT), and malondialdehyde concentration (MDA) were done. Results show that SR did not vary from pH 6.3 to 7.8, but reduced then significantly (p<0.05); FCR raised remarkably (p<0.05) while SGR and WGR decreased pronouncedly (p<0.05). Most of the food energy was used in metabolism, followed by growth, feces loss and nitrogenous excretion. Energy deposited for growth showed a decreasing tendency when pH raised; while for metabolism showed a reverse trend. SOD showed insignificant difference from pH 6.3 to 7.8, but the activities then elevated obviously (p<0.05) though a slight decrease was found from pH 8.3 to 8.8 (p>0.05). CAT kept stable between pH 6.3 and 7.3, then sharply increased (p<0.05), but no significant differences were found between pH 8.3 and 8.8 (p>0.05). Subsequent decrease in MDA was found from pH 6.3 to 8.3 then the concentration smoothly increased. Overall, our results indicate that a pH in the range of 6.8 to 7.8 is recommended in the growth environment in cultivation of juvenile turbot.

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of chronic gamma irradiation on growth and biochemical characteristics of wheat. Wheat plants were exposed to a 60Co gamma rays at doses ranging from 10 to 150 Gy for 3 weeks. Our results indicate that irradiation at 10–15 Gy enhanced plant growth as compared to non-irradiated wheat, while at high doses (>20 Gy) a significant decrease in wheat height was recorded. APX and CAT transcript levels were higher in plant irradiated at 12.5 Gy than in the controls. Also, the enzyme activities of APX and CAT and POD were increased by 12.5 Gy gamma irradiation. Chronic irradiation caused an increase in the total anthocyanin content. To assess whether anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes were involved in the response to chronic gamma irradiation in wheat plants, we examined their expression under different doses of gamma rays. Levels of F3H, DFR, ANS transcripts increased due to chronic gamma irradiation, whereas CHS and CHI expression decreased. Total anthocyanin contents significantly increased after chronic irradiation. Furthermore, Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) revealed that cyanidin 3-glucoside, one of the anthocyanin compounds, rapidly increased in wheat plants after chronic gamma irradiation. This study demonstrated that the growth of wheat plants and markers of biochemical activity were negatively influenced by chronic gamma irradiation in a dosedependent manner, although low-dose radiation showed stimulatory effects. Results from this study are very useful for future chronic gamma irradiation studies for the improvement of wheat varieties.

Quercen has been reported to modulate cell proliferaon and apoptosis. The present study aimed at idenfying whether treatment of ionizing radiaon (IR) combined with quercen induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells.
HepG2 cells were plated at an appropriate density according to each experimental scale and irradiated with 1, 5 and 10 Gy gamma-rays from a 60Co source at room temperature. Cell viability, SOD and CAT were assessed by using commercial assay kits. Western blot analyses were done on apoptosis related proteins. The cells were treated with various concentraons of quercen alone or in combinaon with IR.
The cell viability was decreased in a concentraon-dependent manner 24 h a3er treatment of quercen. It was significantly lowered a3er the combined treatment of quercen with IR than that of the cells treated with quercen alone. Moreover, quercen increased the expression of p53 levels in a dosedependent manner. Combined treatment of quercen with IR significantly increased the levels of pro-apoptoc proteins, cleaved caspase-3 and caspase -7, and Bax. Cell cycle analyses indicated a drasc increase in the Sub G1 populaon a3er quercen treatment combined with IR. The acvity of caspase-3 increased coincidently with apoptosis. The combined treatment of quercen with IR decreased catalase and superoxide dismutase acvies, as well.
Quercen made the radio-resistant HepG2 cells undergo apoptosis by acvang p53. These results suggest that the combined treatment of quercen with IR may provide an effecve therapeuc strategy to improve the radiotherapy efficacy.

Decisions, about product acceptance or rejection, based on technical measurement report in ultra-precise and high-tech manufacturing environment is highly challenging as product reaches nal stage after high value-added processes. Moreover, the role of technical personnel in decision making process for inventory models with focus on group-technology manufacturing setup has been considered relatively less. Most of the literature assumes that decisions are perfect and error free. However, in reality, human errors exist in making such decisions based on measurement reports. This paper incorporates human errors into the decision making process focusing on group-technology inventory model, where high value-added machining processes are involved. Therefore, a mathematical model is developed for the optimal lot size considering human errors in the decision making process and the imperfect production process with focus on work-inprocess inventory. Lot size is optimized based on average cost minimization by incorporating human error Type I and human error Type II. Numerical examples are used to illustrate and compare the proposed model with the previously developed models for group-technology high-tech manufacturing setups. The proposed model is considered more flexible as it incorporates imperfection in process with human errors in decision making process.

The effects of two water regimes (well-watered condition or drought stress) on root length, root surface area and root volume were tested on two peanut genotypes (the drought resistant variety HuaYu 22 (HY22) and the drought-sensitive variety HuaYu 23 (HY23)), measured 101 days after sowing. The roots were sampled from the upper (0–40 cm) and deeper (40 100 cm) soil layers. Root diameter was measured to the nearest 0.5 mm in describing its distribution. Total dry weight and pod yield were measured at harvest. The drought tolerance index of pod yield and the harvest index in HY22 were higher than those in HY23. The total root length density (RLD), total root surface area and volume were significantly higher for HY22 than HY23. The RLD in the deeper soil layer was lower for HY23 than HY22. Under drought stress, the percent RLD in the deeper layers increased in both genotypes. Compared to well watered condition, the total root surface area and root volume in the upper soil layer were lower under drought stress and root traits in deeper soil layers were higher. Drought stress had no impact on very fine roots (diameter

This study was conducted to assess the accuracy of dose calculation near the air-phantom interface of a heterogeneous phantom for Acuros XB (AXB) and Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) algorithm of a 6-MV flattening-filter-free beam, compared with film measurements.
A phantom included air gap was specially manufactured for this study. In order to evaluate the dose near air gap-phantom interface, Eclipse treatment planning system equipped both AXB and AAA was used for the dose calculations. Measurements in this region were performed with radiochromic film. The central-axis dose (CAD) and off-axis dose (OAD) between calculations and measurements were analyzed for various field sizes and air gaps. The root-mean-square-error (RMSE) was used to evaluate the difference between the calculated and measured OAD. In order to quantify agreement between the calculated and measured dose distributions, the gamma analysis was performed with the 2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm criteria.
For all fields traveling through 1 and 3 cm air gap, the maximum difference in the calculated CAD was -5.3% for AXB and 214.8% for AAA, compared to the measured CAD. For the RMSE between the calculated and measured OAD, the calculated OAD using AXB showed interval in the RMSE (from 4.4 to 12.7) while using AAA indicated broad (from 7.7 to 101.0). In addition, the gamma passing rates showed that AXB was higher agreement than AAA.
This study demonstrated that AXB was more accurate in heterogeneous media near air-phantom interface than AAA when comparing the measured data.

Accurate estimation of leaf stomatal conductance (gs) is important in predicting carbon and water cycles of terrestrial ecosystem. To estimate gs on field-grown soybean and maize under water-stressed condition accurately, a modified optimal stomatal conductance (OSCM) model was established based on the relationship between marginal water cost of carbon gain and soil water content by introducing a water stress factor (f(θv)). f(θv) had same form with that in Jarvis and Ball-Berry-Leuning (BBL) models. The OSCM model was evaluated and compared with the original optimal stomatal conductance (OSC), Jarvis and BBL models by comparing observed and estimated gs of three-year data on soybean and four-year data on maize in an arid region of northwest China. Results show that the OSCM and OSC models were more steady and accurate than the Jarvis and BBL models for estimating gs on soybean and maize at the different years. Moreover, the OSCM model performed better than the OSC model because of considering the effect of water stress. Compared with the OSC, Jarvis and BBL models, the OSCM model improved the accuracy of estimating gs on soybean and maize on average by 7%, 25% and 35% and reduced the RMSE by 19%, 56% and 43%, respectively. As for estimating diurnal change of gs on soybean and maize under both well-watered and water-stressed conditions, the OSCM model also performed better than the OSC, Jarvis and BBL models. Under water-stressed condition, only the OSCM model is recommended due to its high accuracy, conservative and accessible parameter, which can provide a more accurate and convenient tool in predicting water and carbon fluxes of terrestrial ecosystem in the arid area.

The trabecular bone changes in the tibia of C3H/HeN mice were measured 12 weeks after whole body irradiation with various doses of fast neutrons (0-2.4 Gy) or 137Cs-generated gamma-rays (0-6 Gy). Serum calcium, phosphorus, estradiol concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity were measured. Tibiae were analyzed using microcomputed tomography. Biomechanical property and osteoclast surface level were measured. There was a significant relationship between the loss of bone architecture and the radiation dose, and the best-fitting dose-response curves were linear-quadratic. Mean relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values (Ref. gamma) of 2.05 and 2.33 were estimated for fast neutron irradiation in trabecular bone volume fraction and bone mineral density, respectively. There was a substantial reduction in osteoclast surface level in tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-stained histological sections of tibial metaphyses in irradiated mice with high dose of neutrons. There was a significant relationship between the loss of bone architecture and the radiation dose. The difference of osteoclastic bone resorption may represent a contributor to the low RBE in high dose of irradiation level relative to that of low dose level.

In this paper, we mainly investigate the uniqueness of the entire function sharing a small entire function with its high difference operators. We obtain one results, which can give a negative answer to an uniqueness question relate to the Bruck conjecture dealt by Liu and Yang. Meanwhile, we also establish a difference analogue of the Bruck conjecture for entire functions of order less than 2, which improves some results obtained by Liu and Yang.

miR-125b has been identified as a tumor suppressor in many tumors, but its role in giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone remains poorly understood. The current study aimed to investigate the potential role and mechanism of miR-125b in GCT. Expression levels of miR-125b in GCT tissues were determined using RT-PCR. The cell proliferation was surveyed by direct cell counting, MTS and CCK-8, and the apoptotic cells were evaluated by Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodine staining assay. The target gene expression was determined using RT-PCR and western blot. Parathyroid hormone 1 receptor (PTH1R) 3’-UTR was cloned into luciferase reporter plasmid to confirm direct targeting. We found that miR-125b was significantly down-regulated in GCT tissues. Using both gain- and loss-of-function analyses, we further revealed that miR-125b suppressed GCT stromal cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, we revealed that PTH/PTHrP type 1 receptor is a direct and functional target of miR-125b. Our results suggest that miR-125b acts as a tumor suppressor through suppression of the PTH1R/RANKL signaling pathway. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-125b in GCT.

In this paper we consider the second order nonlinear neutral delay partial difference equation Δ n Δ m (x m,n +a m,n x m−k,n−l)+f(m,n,x m−τ,n−σ)=b m,n, m≥m 0, n≥n 0. Under suitable conditions, by making use of the Banach fixed point theorem, we show the existence of uncountably many bounded positive solutions for the above partial difference equation. Three nontrivial examples are given to illustrate the advantages of our results.

Biochemical leaf photosynthesis models are evaluated by laboratory results and have been widely used at field scale for quantification of plant production, biochemical cycles and land surface processes. It is a key issue to search for appropriate model structure and parameterization, which determine model uncertainty. A leaf photosynthesis model that couples the Farquhar-von Caemmerer-Berry (FvCB) formulation to four different leaf temperature models is used to investigate the photosynthetic characteristics across a range of temperature gradients using both light (A-Q) and CO2 response curves (A-Ci). We used the Bayesian approach to fit the model to trial data of C3 crop plants (soybean, wheat) in the North China Plain and estimated key photosynthetic parameters, such as the maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (Vcmax25), the potential electron transport rate (Jmax25), leaf dark respiration in the light (Rd25), mesophyll conductance (gm25) and the kinetic parameter of Rubisco (Г*25) at a reference temperature of 25 °C. The results showed that 1) the model with moderate complexity showed the best goodness of fit, while conversely the simpler and more complex models were under and over fitting with their corresponding data, respectively; 2) the nonpeaked Arrhenius temperature response, which including both light and CO2 responses data gave the best estimates for the key parameters among the four models; and 3) the temperature gradient used to verify the model has greatly improved the estimation of six key parameters (Jmax25, Vcmax25, Rd25, Г*25, Kc25, g 25) with relatively more narrow confidence intervals (CIs) and showing regular variation on temperature gradient. Overall, this method offers an accurate basis for estimating leaf photosynthesis parameters and may enhance the accuracy of canopy, ecosystem and even global vegetation models.

Degraded soils in Northwest China are mostly nonproductive due to imbalanced nutrient and inadequate water supply. The effects of manure application at three different rates (7.5, 15.0, and 22.5 t ha–1) combined with chemical fertilizers on soil water and Water-Use Efficiency in maize [compared with chemical fertilizers (control)], under semi-arid conditions in dark Loessial soil and over a period of four years were studied to provide scientific support for water management. High manure application significantly reduced soil water evaporation throughout the fallow period as compared with control. It significantly increased soil water storage capacity at the big trumpet growth stage of the crop, and with the fertilization application years continued (P< 0.05). Manure application improved soil water holding capacity at the tasseling and grain filling stages. It decreased evapotranspiration at the jointing–big trumpet and tasseling–grain filling stages. It as well improved Water-Use Efficiency by 16.67 to 295.42% at the jointing–big trumpet stage vs. 9.38-68.96% at the tasseling-grain filling stage and 8.51 to 36.58% for the whole growth period of the crop maize. With a continuation of the fertilizer application years, water-use efficiency at the tasseling-grain filling stage was significantly improved with increasing manure application rates (P< 0.05). Medium and High Manure application rates significantly increased water-use efficiency at the big trumpet–tasseling and grain filling-maturity stages as compared with control (P< 0.05). With manure application years continued, soil nutrient was no longer the major factor limiting the crop’s water-use efficiency. The most promising manure application rate adopted to improve water-use efficiency was recorded as 15.0 t ha–1.

This study was conducted to identify emission characteristics of certain hazardous substances contained in the plastic of used home electrical and electronic appliances keeping in view compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive and to estimate the possibility of safe recycling practices. According to the results, the concentration of cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium were found below than Maximum Concentration Value (MCV) of RoHS, while the concentration of total bromine (T-Br) was exceeded the standard limitations in the samples of plastic from e-waste. Over 90% of the plastics used in housing cover of display electronic products were composed of Polystyrene (PS) 53.9% and PS-flame retardants 36.4%.Peak of each hazardous substance in total samples also showed higher values of bromine, cadmium and lead. In order to enhance cleaner recycling of waste electronic appliances in accordance with the allowance of RoHS Directive, the use of brominated flame retardants in plastic and chrominated synthetic resins should be restricted and applications of metal surface finishing such as coating and painting of high molecules synthetic resins should be minimized.

This study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antifungal efficacy of essential oil and extracts derived from the flower and leaves of Magnolia liliflora, respectively, against plant pathogenic fungi. The oil (750 μg disc-1) and various leaf extracts such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol (1,500 μg disc-1) revealed promising antifungal effects against Botrytis cinerea KACC 40573, Colletotrichum capsici KACC 40978, Fusarium oxysporum KACC 41083, Fusarium solani KACC 41092, Phytophthora capsici KACC 40157, Rhizoctonia solani KACC 40111 and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum KACC 41065 as radial growth inhibition percentages of 38 to 65.6% and 7.6 to 57.3%, respectively along with their respective MIC and MFC values ranging from (125 to 500 and 125 to 100 μg mL-1) and (500 to 4,000 and 500 to 8,000 μg mL-1). The oil had a strong detrimental effect on spore germination of all tested plant pathogens as well as concentration and time-dependent kinetic inhibition of P. capsici KACC40157. Also the oil displayed potent in vivo antifungal effect against one of the selected plant pathogens P. capsici KACC 40157 on greenhouse-grown pepper plants. The results of this study indicate that the flower oil and leaf extracts of M. liliflora could be used as natural alternatives to synthetic fungicides to control the in vitro and in vivo growth of certain important plant pathogenic fungi.

In this paper, we introduce environmental systems engineering (ESE) and describe some of its applications combined with process systems engineering (PSE) to problems related to environmental systems. These systems—the water cycle and ecosystem cycles—are complex and highly dynamic, with an uncertainty level comparable to that of chemical systems. To illustrate the challenges of applying PSE to ESE, some novel approaches and examples of the latter are shown for water and wastewater systems. The challenges associated with the modeling, control and optimization of environmental systems provide fascinating opportunities. These opportunities for PSE researchers, as well as the challenges, are the goals of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to establish an easy and reliable biodosimeter protocol to evaluate the biological effects of proton beams. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were irradiated using proton beams (LET: 34.6 keV μm−1), and the chromosome aberrations induced were analyzed using cytokinesis-blocked (CB) micronucleus (MN) assay. To determine the efficiency of MN assay in estimating the doses received by 50MeV proton beams and to monitor predicted dose of victims in accidental exposure, here we have evaluated the performance of MN analysis in a simulated situation after exposure with proton beams. Peripheral lymphocytes were irradiated by 50MeV proton beams up to 6Gy and analyzed by Giemsa staining of CB MN assay. The detected MN was found to be a significant dose-effect curve in the manner of dose-dependent increase after exposure with proton beams in vitro. When plotting on a linear scale against radiation dose, the line of best fit was Y=0.004+(1.882x10-2±9.701x10-5) D+(1.43x10-3±1.571x10-5)D2. Our results show a trend towards increase of the number of MN with increasing dose. It was linear-quadratic and has a significant relationship between the frequencies of MN and dose (R2= 0.9996). The number of MN in lymphocyte that was observed in control group is 5.202±0.04/cell. Hence, this simple protocol will be particularly useful for helping physicians to decide medical therapy for the initial treatment of victims with rapid and precise dose estimation after accidental radiation exposure. Also it has potential for use as a valuable biomarker to evaluate the biological effectiveness for cancer therapy with proton beams.