Protective effects of C-phycocyanin on alcohol-induced acute liver injury in mice

Excessive alcohol consumption leads to liver disease. Extensive evidence suggests that C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a chromophore phycocyanobilin derived from Spirulina platensis, exerts protective effects against chemical-induced organ damage. In this study, we investigated whether C-PC could protect against ethanol-induced acute liver injury. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (CHOL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), liver homogenate malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) content were measured, and pathological examination of liver sections were examined. C-PC showed obvious inhibitory effects on serum ALT, AST, TG, CHOL, LDL and MDA, and SOD content significantly increased in the liver. The structure of hepatic lobules was clear, liver sinus returned to normal, and liver cell cords were arranged in neat rows. Cloudiness, swelling, inflammatory cell infiltration and spotty necrosis of liver cells were significantly reduced. Therefore, C-PC can significantly protect against ethanol-induced acute liver injury.     

Variation of Thornthwaite moisture index in Hengduan Mountains,China

The Thornthwaite moisture index, an index of the supply of water(precipitation) in an area relative to the climatic demand for water(potential evapotranspiration), was used to examine the spatial and temporal variation of drought and to verify the influence of environmental factors on the drought in the Hengduan Mountains, China. Results indicate that the Thornthwaite moisture index in the Hengduan Mountains had been increasing since 1960 with a rate of 0.1938/yr. Annual Thornthwaite moisture index in Hengduan Mountains was between –97.47 and 67.43 and the spatial heterogeneity was obvious in different seasons. Thornthwaite moisture index was high in the north and low in the south, and the monsoon rainfall had a significant impact on its spatial distribution. The tendency rate of Thornthwaite moisture index variation varied in different seasons, and the increasing trends in spring were greater than that in summer and autumn. However, the Thornthwaite moisture index decreased in winter. Thornthwaite moisture index increased greatly in the north and there was a small growth in the south of Hengduan Mountains. The increase of precipitation and decrease of evaporation lead to the increase of Thornthwaite moisture index. Thornthwaite moisture index has strong correlation with vegetation coverage. It can be seen that the correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) and Thornthwaite moisture index was positive in spring and summer, but negative in autumn and winter. Correlation between Thornthwaite moisture index and relative soil relative moisture content was positive in spring, summer and autumn, but negative in winter. The typical mountainous terrain affect the distribution of temperature, precipitation, wind speed and other meteorological factors in this region, and then affect the spatial distribution of Thornthwaite moisture index. The unique ridge-gorge terrain caused the continuity of water-heat distribution from the north to south, and the water-heat was stronger than that from the east to west part, and thus determined the spatial distribution of Thornthwaite moisture index. The drought in the Hengduan Mountains area is mainly due to the unstable South Asian monsoon rainfall time.     

Analysis of phenotypic and genetic parameters for growthrelated traits in the half smooth tongue sole, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynoglossus semilaevis</Emphasis>

Phenotypic and genetic parameters for growth-related traits in the half-smooth tongue sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis, were estimated in 22 full-sib families produced by normal and neo-male breeding stocks. As phenotypic males with female genotypes, neo-males are harmful in C. semilaevis aquaculture because they reduce overall production. The present study evaluated the difference in the growth-related traits: total length (TL), body weight (BW) and square root of body weight (SQ_BW) at the age of 570 days between normal and neo-male offspring (neo-males used as male parents). The difference in the proportion of females between normal and neo-male offspring was also assessed. Based on the linear mixed model, restricted maximum likelihood (REML) and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) were used to estimate various (co)variance components and estimated breeding values (EBVs) of growth-related traits. As a result, all the mean values of the three studied traits were significantly larger in normal offspring than in neo-male offspring. Additionally, the female proportion was significantly larger in normal offspring than in neo-male offspring. Heritability was 0.128±0.066 2 for TL, 0.128±0.065 5 for BW and 0.132±0.062 9 for SQ_BW, all of which were low level heritabilities. The correlation coefficients of EBVs and phenotypic values of the target traits were 0.516 for TL, 0.524 for BW and 0.506 for SQ_BW, all of which were highly significant (P <0.01). Genetic correlations among TL, BW and SQ_BW were positive high (0.921–0.969) and higher than those of phenotype (0.711–0.748), both of which had low standard errors (0.063–0.123 for genotype, and 0.010–0.018 for phenotype). Compared with normal offspring, neo-male offspring have lower breeding values for each studied trait through EBVs comparison. Therefore, neo-male offspring should not be used as broodstock in a C. semilaevis breeding programs.     

Characterizing groundwater/surface-water interactions in the interior of Jianghan Plain,central China

Hydrogeology Journal - Quantifying groundwater/surface-water interactions is essential for managing water resources and revealing contaminant fate. There has been little concern on the exchange...     

A non-hydrostatic model for the numerical study of landslide-generated waves

This paper proposes and demonstrates a two-layer depth-averaged model with non-hydrostatic pressure correction to simulate landslide-generated waves. Landslide (lower layer) and water (upper layer) motions are governed by the general shallow water equations derived from mass and momentum conservation laws. The landslide motion and wave generation/propagation are separately formulated, but they form a coupled system. Our model combines some features of the landslide analysis model DAN3D and the tsunami analysis model COMCOT and adds a non-hydrostatic pressure correction. We use the new model to simulate a 2007 rock avalanche-generated wave event at Chehalis Lake, British Columbia, Canada. The model results match both the observed distribution of the rock avalanche deposit in the lake and the wave run-up trimline along the shoreline. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate the importance of accounting for the non-hydrostatic dynamic pressure at the landslide-water interface, as well as the influence of the internal strength of the landslide on the size of the generated waves. Finally, we compare the numerical results of landslide-generated waves simulated with frictional and Voellmy rheologies. Similar maximum wave run-ups can be obtained using the two different rheologies, but the frictional model better reproduces the known limit of the rock avalanche deposit and is thus considered to yield the best overall results in this particular case.     

Numerical analysis of effect of baffle configuration on impact force exerted from rock avalanches

In mountainous areas, channelized rock avalanches swarm downslope leading to large impact forces on building structures in residential areas. Arrays of rock avalanche baffles are usually installed in front of rigid barriers to attenuate the flow energy of rock avalanches. However, previous studies have not sufficiently addressed the mechanisms of interaction between the rock avalanches and baffles. In addition, empirical design approaches such as debris flow (Tang et al., Quat Int 250:63–73, 2012), rockfall (Spang and Rautenstrauch, 1237–1243, 1988), snow avalanches (Favier et al., 14:3–15, 2012), and rock avalanches (Manzella and Labiouse, Landslides 10:23–36, 2013), which are applied in natural geo-disasters mitigation cannot met construction requirements. This study presents details of numerical modeling using the discrete element method (DEM) to investigate the effect of the configuration of baffles (number and spacing of baffle columns and rows) on the impact force that rock avalanches exert on baffles. The numerical modeling is firstly conducted to provide insights into the flow interaction between rock avalanches and an array of baffles. Then, a modeling analysis is made to investigate the change pattern of the impact force with respect to baffle configurations. The results demonstrate that three crucial influencing factors (baffle row numbers, baffle column spacing, and baffle row spacing) have close relationship with energy dissipation of baffles. Interestingly, it is found that capacity of energy dissipation of baffles increases with increasing baffle row numbers and baffle row spacing, while it decreases with increasing baffle column spacing. The results obtained from this study are useful for facilitating design of baffles against rock avalanches.     

Cyclic degradation and non-coaxiality of soft clay subjected to pure rotation of principal stress directions

Foundation soils are often under non-proportional cyclic loadings. The deformation behaviour and the mechanism of non-coaxiality under continuous pure principal stress rotation for clays are not clearly investigated up to now. In order to study the effect of pure principal stress rotation, a series of cyclic undrained tests on Shanghai soft clay subjected to cyclic rotation of principal stress directions keeping the deviatoric stress constant under the pure rotation condition were conducted using hollow cylinder apparatus. Based on this, the evolutions of excess pore pressure and strains during cyclic loading were investigated, together with the effects of the intermediate principal stress parameter and the deviatoric stress level on stress–strain stiffness and non-coaxiality. The result can provide an experimental basis for constitutive modelling of clays describing the behaviour under non-proportional loadings.     

Soil column infiltration tests on biomediated capillary barrier systems for mitigating rainfall-induced landslides

Rainfall-induced landslide is a common geohazard in tropical and humid regions. Capillary barrier system (CBS) is a popular and widely studied mitigating measure for rainfall-induced landslides. However, several previous studies have shown that the performance of the conventional CBS under intense rainfalls has not been particularly convincing. This paper aims to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a newly proposed system, known as “biomediated capillary barrier system” (B-CBS) in minimizing water infiltration into soil. A one-dimensional soil column was used to investigate the infiltration characteristics of the proposed system. The results showed that the B-CBS of biomediated residual soil overlying original residual soil (Test IV) could effectively control the infiltration into soil by taking advantage of the less-permeable biomediated soil cover. The B-CBS of biomediated residual soil overlying gravelly sand (Test V) and the three-layered B-CBS of fine sand overlying gravelly sand and biomediated residual soil (Test VI) showed the best performance in terms of minimizing the water infiltration. A suction of about 5 kPa still remained in the soil column after 60 min of infiltration from the ponded water on the soil surface.