Het tijdskrediet eindeloopbaan : verlengt het de beroepsloopbaan?

In deze studie onderzoeken we hoe deeltijds werk gekoppeld aan tijdskrediet in de private sector de kans beïnvloedt om op het einde van de loopbaan aan het werk te blijven . We houden rekening met selecte deelname aan het tijdskrediet door te controleren voor een uitgebreide set van individuele kenmerken en indicatoren van de volledige arbeidsgeschiedenis van werknemers. We vinden dat het tijdskrediet de kans om aan het werk te blijven gedurende de eerste twee (vier) jaar significant verhoogt. Wanneer de begunstigden van het tijdskrediet recht krijgen op een vervroegd pensioen, keert dit positieve effect echter en treden de begunstigden vroeger uit de arbeidsmarkt dan wanneer ze geen tijdskrediet hadden opgenomen. Deze resultaten suggereren dat het tijdskrediet initieel de balans tussen werk en vrije tijd herstelt, maar dat het uiteindelijk de hechting met de arbeidsmarkt doet verliezen. Deeltijds gaan werken op het einde van de loopbaan verlaagt ook licht de kans op ziekteverzuim, maar dit effect is statistisch niet significant verschillend van nul. Een kosten-baten analyse geeft aan dat de maatschappelijke kosten over het algemeen groter zijn de baten voor de samenleving

A Novel Tomato Volume Measurement Method based on Machine Vision

Density is one of the auxiliary indicators for judging the internal quality of tomatoes. However, in the density measurement process, it is often difficult to measure the volume of the tomatoes accurately. To solve this problem, first, this study proposed a novel tomato volume measurement method based on machine vision. The proposed method uses machine vision to measure the geometric feature parameters of tomatoes, and inputs them into the LabVIEW software to convert the calculation of irregular tomato volume into a BP neural network (BPNN) model that calculates the plane pixel area and pixel volume, thereby realizing the modeling, analysis, design and simulation of tomato volume; then, an experimental platform was constructed to compare the results of the proposed method with the results predicted by the 3D wireframe model. When the number of photos taken was n = 5, the average error of the tomato volume prediction results of the 3D wireframe model was 8.22%, and the highest accuracy was 92.93%; while the average error of the tomato volume prediction results of the BPNN was 4.60%, and the highest accuracy was 95.60%. Increasing the number of orthographic projections can improve the accuracy of the model, but when the number of photos was more than 7, the accuracy improvement was not significant. Also, increasing the number of nodes in the hidden layer can improve the accuracy of the model, however, considering that increasing the number of nodes will increase the host operating cost, it is suggested to choose a node number of 12 for the tomato volume measurement. In the end, the final experimental results showed that the proposed method achieved better measurement results. However, the volume measured by the two models is larger than the real volume of tomatoes. For this reason, we added a correction coefficient to the BPNN model, and its highest accuracy has increased by 1.3%

A Chinese Medicine Formula “Xian-Jia-Tang” for Treating Bladder Outlet Obstruction by Improving Urodynamics and Inhibiting Oxidative Stress through Potassium Channels

The aim of this study is to investigate efficacy of a traditional Chinese medicine formula (named Xian-Jia-Tang, XJT) on bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in rats and explore its mechanisms. Total 80 BOO model rats were established and randomly divided into 4 groups: physiological saline, XJT, Cesium Chloride (CC), and XJT and CC groups. Meanwhile, 12 rats were used as normal control. Bladder weight and urodynamics were measured. Oxidative stress level and mRNA expressions of potassium channels gene were detected in detrusor. The mRNA and protein levels of hypoxia inducible factor-α (HIF-α) in detrusor were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. BOO model rats showed significantly higher bladder weight and abnormal urodynamics. XJT significantly improved the abnormal urodynamics and inhibited the oxidative stress and changes of mRNA levels of potassium channels genes in detrusor of BOO model rats. Moreover, KATP and SK2/3 mRNA were overexpressed in BOO model rats treated by XJT. Besides, the significantly increased levels of HIF-α mRNA and protein were also inhibited by XJT. However, these inhibition effects of XJT were weakened by CC. XJT could effectively improve the urodynamics and inhibit the oxidative stress caused by hypoxia through suppressing the role of potassium channels in BOO model rats

Four novel variants identified in the ACADVL gene causing very-long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency in four unrelated Chinese families

Background: The biochemical and genetic characteristics of four very-long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCADD) patients, clarifying their pathogenic genetic factors and evaluating the application value of genetic diagnosis in the early diagnosis of VLCADD, are reported and discussed in this article.Methods: Patients underwent blood tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), urine gas chromatography (GC/MS), and high-throughput sequencing technology. New variants were analyzed for pathogenicity using bioinformatics software. Swiss-PdbViewer software was used to predict the effect of variants on the structure of the very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) protein.Result: A total of four VLCADD patients were diagnosed. They revealed elevated levels of C14, C14:1, C14:2, C14:1/C2, C14:1/C10, and C14:1/C12:1. Two patients were early-onset neonatal cases and died during infancy and the neonatal period, respectively. Seven kinds of variants were detected, including four novel variants. Bioinformatics software revealed that the variants were harmful, and the Swiss-PdbViewer results suggest that variation affects protein conformation.Conclusion: This study identified four novel ACADVL gene variants. These findings contribute to the understanding of the genetic basis and pathogenesis of VLCADD. Meanwhile, the study enriches the genetic mutation spectrum and the correlation between genotypes and phenotypes of VLCADD, indicating that genetic diagnosis plays an essential role in the early diagnosis and treatment of VLCADD

A network for long-term monitoring of vegetation in the area of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island

Climate warming has become evident in the maritime Antarctic over the past decades, and has already influenced the growing season and the population size of two native vascular plants in Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. Both vascular plant species are therefore regarded as good bioindicators of regional warming in west Antarctica. To carry out long-term monitoring of vegetation (mainly using D. antarctica) and build a comprehensive research platform for multi-disciplinary study (including botany, microbiology, ecology, and environmental science) for Chinese scientists, 13 permanent plots were established in January and February of 2013–2015 in the area of Fildes Peninsula (King George Island). Here we present the benchmark data of the first observations from these plots, including site characteristics, and the population and associates of D. antarctica in each plot. The basic data are important to understand the vegetation change, distribution range, and expansion of D. antarctica in Antarctica under future climate change scenarios

Changes in physical architecture and lipids compounds in skeletal muscle from Pekin duck and Liancheng white duck.

peer reviewedAs a complex food, meat displays various biochemical properties that are determined to a great extent by physical architecture and lipid metabolites. Pekin duck and Liancheng white duck are elite breeds with distinct characteristics. Here, we explored the development of the muscle fibers from embryonic stage to 10-wk after birth, and muscle fibers grow slowly after 8-wk. We investigated the meat quality, ultrastructure, lipidomics profiling, and lipids spatial distribution of skeletal muscle at 8 wk. Pekin duck has lower Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) (P < 0.05), high intramuscular fat (IMF) (P < 0.01), longer and wider sarcomere, and higher mitochondrial density (P < 0.001). Liancheng white duck with tighter collagen architecture. A total of 950 lipids from 6 lipid classes identified with lipidomics were analyzed, the levels of GP, GL, and PR were significantly higher in Pekin duck (P < 0.05), SL and ST were significantly higher in Liancheng white duck (P < 0.05). There were 333 significantly different lipids (|log2(Fold Change)| ≥ 1 and FDR < 0.05) screened, most lipids distributed in the muscle tissue were uniform, but some specifically distributed in connective tissue. To some extent, the results demonstrate the high lipid deposition capacity of Pekin duck and the high medicinal function of Liancheng white duck. Our study provides new insights into the relationship between skeletal muscle architecture and meat toughness, which increased the knowledge of lipidomic characteristics and provide a basis for duck meat authentication

Apoptosis resistance downstream of eIF4E: posttranscriptional activation of an anti-apoptotic transcript carrying a consensus hairpin structure

Aberrant activation of the translation initiation machinery is a common property of malignant cells, and is essential for breast carcinoma cells to manifest a malignant phenotype. How does sustained activation of the rate limiting step in protein synthesis so fundamentally alter a cell? In this report, we test the post transcriptional operon theory as a possible mechanism, employing a model system in which apoptosis resistance is conferred on NIH 3T3 cells by ectopic expression of eIF4E. We show (i) there is a set of 255 transcripts that manifest an increase in translational efficiency during eIF4E-mediated escape from apoptosis; (ii) there is a novel prototype 55 nt RNA consensus hairpin structure that is overrepresented in the 5′-untranslated region of translationally activated transcripts; (iii) the identified consensus hairpin structure is sufficient to target a reporter mRNA for translational activation under pro-apoptotic stress, but only when eIF4E is deregulated; and (iv) that osteopontin, one of the translationally activated transcripts harboring the identified consensus hairpin structure functions as one mediator of the apoptosis resistance seen in our model. Our findings offer genome-wide insights into the mechanism of eIF4E-mediated apoptosis resistance and provide a paradigm for the systematic study of posttranscriptional control in normal biology and disease

Identification of gene mutations in six Chinese patients with maple syrup urine disease

Background: Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is a rare autosomal recessive amino acid metabolic disease. This study is to identify the pathogenic genetic factors of six cases of MUSD and evaluates the application value of high-throughput sequencing technology in the early diagnosis of MUSD.Methods: Clinical examination was carried out for patients and used blood tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), urine gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and the application of high-throughput sequencing technology for detection. Validate candidate mutations by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)—Sanger sequencing technology. Bioinformatics software analyzed the variants’ pathogenicity. Using Swiss PDB Viewer software to predict the effect of mutation on the structure of BCKDHA and BCKDHB proteins.Result: A total of six MSUD patients were diagnosed, including four males and two females. Nine variants were found in three genes of six MSUD families by high-throughput sequencing, including four missense mutations: c.659C&gt;T(p.A220V), c.818C&gt;T(p.T273I), c.1134C&gt;G(p.D378E), and c.1006G&gt;A(p.G336S); two non-sense mutations: c.1291C&gt;T(p.R431*) and c.331C&gt;T(p.R111*); three deletion mutations: c.550delT (p.S184Pfs*46), c.718delC (p.P240Lfs*14), and c.795delG (p.N266Tfs*64). Sanger sequencing’s results were consistent with the high-throughput sequencing. The bioinformatics software revealed that the mutations were harmful, and the prediction results of Swiss PDB Viewer suggest that variation affects protein conformation.Conclusion: This study identified nine pathogenic variants in the BCKDHA, BCKDHB, and DBT genes in six MSUD families, including two novel pathogenic variants in the BCKDHB gene, which enriched the genetic mutational spectrum of the disease. High-throughput sequencing is essential for the MSUD’s differential diagnosis, early treatment, and prenatal diagnosis

In-situ Grown SnS2 Nanosheets on rGO as an Advanced Anode Material for Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries

SnS2 nanosheets/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite was prepared by reflux condensation and hydrothermal methods. In this composite, SnS2 nanosheets in-situ grew on the surface of rGO nanosheets. The SnS2/rGO composite as anode material was investigated both in lithium ion battery (LIB) and sodium ion battery (SIB) systems. The capacity of SnS2/rGO electrode in LIB achieved 514 mAh g−1 at 1.2 A g−1 after 300 cycles. Moreover, the SnS2/rGO electrode in SIB delivered a discharge capacity of 645 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1; after 100 cycles at 0.25 A g−1, the capacity retention still keep 81.2% relative to the capacity of the 6th cycle. Due to the introduction of rGO in the composite, the charge-transfer resistance became much smaller. Compared with SnS2/C electrode, SnS2/rGO electrode had higher discharge capacity and much better cycling performance