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With the acceleration of the global economic integration process, the global manufacturing division is more refined, the logistics industry, especially the water transportation industry, has revitalized, and the development of port economy has also ushered in new opportunities. This paper summarizes the concept of logistics cluster effect and the concept and characteristics of port economy, and finds that there is a mutual promotion relationship between the two; By combining the theoretical basis of the Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) model with the logistics cluster effect and the characteristics of port economy, this paper constructs a complete process and framework of the GRA model; With this model, the paper analyzes the role of logistics cluster effect in a city port in China, concludes the ranking of relevant indicators of logistics cluster effect on port economy indicators, and discovers key factors that play a major role in the development of port economy. The research results of this paper can provide certain advice and suggestions for the economic development of port cities at home and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): The aim of this study was to observe the impact of sirolimus on proteinuria in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Rats were given a single injection of STZ to induce diabetic rat model. Rats' 24 hr urine was collected to test, urinary and the kidney tissues were harvested at the 8th and 20th weeks, respectively. Podocyte morphological changes were examined by electron microscopy and the ZO-1, podocin expressions in kidneys were detected by immunohistochemistry; the protein levels of Raptor and pS6 were measured by Western blot assay. Results: In the early stage of diabetic nephropathy (DN), sirolimus reduced the proteinuria significantly (P<0.05); but in the advanced stage of DN, sirolimus worsened proteinuria (P<0.05). Electron microscopy test suggested that sirolimus could reduce the injury of podocyte at the early DN, but increased the injury at the late DN podocyte. Immunohistochemistry results indicated that sirolimus increased the expressions of podocin and ZO-1 at the early DN (P<0.05), but reduced the expressions of ZO-1 and podocin (P<0.05) at the advanced DN. In the different periods of DN, the expression levels of Raptor and pS6 in sirolimus-treated groups were significantly lower than in the DN control groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Sirolimus can reduce proteinuria and alleviate the early DN podocyte injury in diabetic rat model by inhibiting the activity of mTORC1; but in the advanced stage of DN, sirolimus can increase podocyte injury and urine protein level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a continuation of our previous study in which the basic data about the NH4Cl-CaCO3-H2O ternary system was measured, the solubility and physical properties (density, viscosity, and refractive index) of calcium carbonate in ammonium sulfate aqueous solution at (298.15, 323.15, and 348.15) K have been investigated by using the isothermal dissolution method in this work. The results showed that the solubility of calcium carbonate increased as the molality of ammonium sulfate aqueous solutions and temperature increased. The solubility of calcium carbonate in ammonium sulfate aqueous solutions and the viscosity of aqueous solutions were correlated with the second-order polynomial equation and semiempirical exponential model equation, respectively. By comparing the calculated values with experimental data, the second-order polynomial equation and semiempirical exponential model equation provide accurate mathematical representations of the experimental results. The obtained experimental data in this work could provide available data for the industrial production of calcium carbonate products and further theoretical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balanced control of stem cell proliferation and differentiation underlines tissue homeostasis. Disruption of tissue homeostasis often results in many diseases. However, how endogenous factors influence the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) under physiological and pathological conditions remains poorly understood. Here, we find that the evolutionarily conserved endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein complex (EMC) negatively regulates ISC proliferation and intestinal homeostasis. Compromising EMC function in progenitors leads to excessive ISC proliferation and intestinal homeostasis disruption. Mechanistically, the EMC associates with and stabilizes Hippo (Hpo) protein, the key component of the Hpo signaling pathway. In the absence of EMC, Yorkie (Yki) is activated to promote ISC proliferation due to Hpo destruction. The EMC-Hpo-Yki axis also functions in enterocytes to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Importantly, the levels of the EMC are dramatically diminished in tunicamycin-treated animals, leading to Hpo destruction, thereby resulting in intestinal homeostasis disruption due to Yki activation. Thus, our study uncovers the molecular mechanism underlying the action of the EMC in intestinal homeostasis maintenance under physiological and pathological conditions and provides new insight into the pathogenesis of tunicamycin-induced tumorigenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the last decade, several mouse models that manifest characteristic features of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) with antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs) and immune-mediated biliary duct pathology have been reported. Here, the authors discuss the current findings on two spontaneous (nonobese diabetic autoimmune biliary disease [NOD.ABD] and dominant negative transforming growth factor-β receptor II [dnTGFβRII]) and two induced (chemical xenobiotics and microbial immunization) models of PBC. These models exhibit the serological, immunological, and histopathological features of human PBC. From these animal models, it is evident that the etiology of PBC is multifactorial and requires both specific genetic predispositions and environmental insults (either xenobiotic chemicals or microbial), which lead to the breaking of tolerance and eventually liver pathology. Human PBC is likely orchestrated by multiple factors and hence no single model can fully mimic the immunopathophysiology of human PBC. Nevertheless, knowledge gained from these models has greatly advanced our understanding of the major immunological pathways as well as the etiology of PBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aporphine alkaloids from the leaves of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn are substances of great interest because of their important pharmacological activities, particularly anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-oxidant, and anti-HIV's activities. In order to produce large amounts of pure alkaloid for research purposes, a novel method using high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed. Without any initial cleanup steps, four main aporphine alkaloids, including 2-hydroxy-1-methoxyaporphine, pronuciferine, nuciferine and roemerine were successfully purified from the crude extract by HSCCC in one step. The separation was performed with a simple two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-acetonitrile-water (5:3:3:2.5:5, v/v/v/v/v). In each operation, 100 mg crude extracts was separated and yielded 6.3 mg of 2-hydroxy-1-methoxyaporphine (95.1% purity), 1.1 mg of pronuciferine (96.8% purity), 8.5 mg of nuciferine (98.9% purity), and 2.7 mg of roemerine (97.4%) respectively. The chemical structure of four aporphine alkaloids are identified by means of electrospray ionization MS (ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. Moreover, the effects of four separated aporphine alkaloids on insulin-stimulated glucose consumption were examined in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The results showed that 2-hydroxy-1- methoxyaporphine and pronuciferine increased the glucose consumption significantly as rosiglitazone did. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMAs), the serological hallmark of primary biliary cirrhosis, are directed against the lipoyl domain of the E2 subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC-E2). However, comprehensive analysis of the amino acid residues of PDC-E2 lipoyl β-sheet with AMA specificity is lacking. In this study, we postulated that specific residues within the lipoyl domain are critical to AMA recognition by maintaining conformational integrity. We systematically replaced each of 19 residue peptides of the inner lipoyl domain with alanine and analyzed these mutants for reactivities against 60 primary biliary cirrhosis and 103 control sera. Based on these data, we then constructed mutants with two, three, or four replacements and, in addition, probed the structure of the substituted domains using thiol-specific spin labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of a 5Ile→Ala and 12Ile→Ala double mutant. Single alanine replacement at 5Ile, 12Ile, and 15Glu significantly reduced AMA recognition. In addition, mutants with two, three, or four replacements at 5Ile, 12Ile, and 15Glu reduced AMA reactivity even further. Indeed, EPR reveals a highly flexible structure within the 5Ile and 12Ile double-alanine mutant. Autoreactivity is largely focused on specific residues in the PDC-E2 lipoyl domain critical in maintaining the lipoyl loop conformation necessary for AMA recognition. Collectively, the AMA binding studies and EPR analysis demonstrate the necessity of the lipoyl β-sheet structural conformation in anti–PDC-E2 recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through computational simulations performed for a 50* sweep delta wing at low Reynolds numbers Re = 8.7 x 10³ - 4.0 x 104, this paper presents the features of the flow structures over the delta wing including the separated vortical flow, the onset of vortex breakdown, surface flow features, and dual vortex phenomena. At the lowest Reynolds number Re = 8.7 x 10³, no dual vortex structures are observed. As the Reynolds number is increased the dual vortex structures are developed, and the spanwise location of the vortex core is moved toward outboard without obvious variation of the vortex core vertical location above the wing leeward surface. At the lower Reynolds numbers investigated, the vortex breakdown location moves upstream as the Reynolds number increases. The primary reattachment lines move outboard toward the leading edge with the increasing Reynolds number, and simultaneously the start point of the secondary separation moves forward toward the tip of delta wing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the aerodynamic performance of the gliding flight of butterflies. The experiments tested simplified models derived from Papilio ulysses and Danaus plexippus with different wing shapes. The lift coefficient with angle of attack and drag coefficient of Papilio ulysses and Danaus plexippus are observed.

The article presents a study which examines the role of actinin-like protein (AcnA) in filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. It identifies and characterizes the function of AcnA through analyzing the effect of its deletion in the apical dominance in cells and its localization with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Thus, results suggest the significant role of AcnA in cytokinesis and apical dominance of cells through actin-dependent polarization maintenance and medial ring establishment.

Activation of initiator and effector caspases and Bid cleavage are apoptotic characteristic features. They are associated with cell alkalization or acidification in some models of apoptosis. The alteration of culture conditions such as extracellular pH value and the overexpression of Bid plasmids may induce cell apoptosis. In present report, we used fluorescence confocal imaging and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) techniques based on green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) to monitor the spatio-temporal dynamics of Bid translocation and caspase-3 activation in real time in living human lung adenocarcinoma (ASTC-a-1) cells under neutral (pH 7.4) and alkaline (pH 8.0) conditions. The cells transfected with Bid-CFP plasmid did not show apoptotic characteristics for 96 hours under an atmosphere of 95% air, 5% CO2 at pH 7.4 and 37°C, implying that the overexpression of Bid-CFP plasmid does not induce cell apoptosis. However, all the cells underwent apoptosis after being placed in the alkaline culture (pH 8.0). The dynamic results in single living cell showed that the alkaline condition at pH of 8.0 induced Bid cleavage and tBid translocation to mitochondria at about 1.5 hour, and then induced the caspase-3 activation and cell apoptosis. These results show that the alkaline sondition (pH=8.0) induces cell apoptosis by activating caspase-8, which cleaves Bid to tBid, tBid translocation to mitochondria, and then activating the caspase-3 in the ASTC-a-1 cells. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that ideal dialogue', which is free from power, is unattainable and unrealistic, and power is inherent in all dialogues. It focuses on the exploration of questions as a possible means to exercise power in both casual conversation and institutional dialogue. Comparatively speaking, power tends to be overt in institutional dialogue and covert in casual conversation and questions exercise power in different ways in both forms of verbal interaction respectively. On the basis of data analysis, it is pointed out that the immediate allocation of turn-taking and the temporary topic control result in the latency of questions as a powerful means in casual conversation. The prominence of questions as a powerful means centers on three factors, that is, notably unequal distribution of questions producing the unequal allocation of turn-taking, dominant questions controlling both local and global topics, and Yes/No questions and Wh-questions exercising power in different degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visualization experiments show that a new flow structure of two pairs of leading-edge vortices exists on the upper surface of the 75-deg sweptback delta wings with leeward and symmetrical beveled leading edges. The wind-tunnel force measurement results indicate this new structure contributes much to the aerodynamic performance of the wing. Some discussion about this new observation is presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determines the influences of mounting angles and mounting locations on the lift-enhancing effects of Gurney flaps. Description of the Gurney flap; Features of the 0012 airfoil model of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics; Analysis of the different mounting angles for the Gurney flap; Comparison between the lift-to-drag ratio and lift coefficient.

Deals with a study which determined the effects of riblets and Gurney flaps on a 40-degree aircraft delta wing. Experimental setup; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

Focuses on the effect of an apex flap on aerodynamic characteristics of the delta wings. Variation of lift-to-drag ratio; Angle of attack; Drag coefficient; Rolling moment coefficient.

Unsuccessful prediction of particle tribocharging in tribocharger is partly due to the complexity of tribocharging process. In this work, computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) modeling approach has been used to investigate particle charge in a cyclone tribocharger. Then particle image velocimetry (PIV) method is used to calculate the particle charge-to-mass ratio. The CaCO 3 particle charge in a cyclone tribocharger is simulated and predicted under different gas velocities, particle sizes and moving distances. The simulation results carry out the quantitative and qualitative relationship between different parameters. At the same time, the charge-to-mass ratio between the particle simulation and the experimental results under different gas velocities is compared, and the results are all in the magnitude of 10−4. Experimental results in terms of particle charge-to-mass ratio are thus obtained. The CFD-DEM model is verified by comparison with the experimental results [Display omitted] • CFD-DEM gas-solid two-phase flow coupling method is used to predict particle charge. • Insight the particle tribocharging under different particle sizes, airflow rates and moving distances is investigated. • Resolve the mechanism of particle tribocharge in a cyclone tribocharger. • Experimental results verify the accuracy of the simulation under the same condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turbulent boundary layer flow measured by two-dimensional time-resolved particle image velocimetry is analyzed using the discrete orthogonal wavelet method. The Reynolds number of the turbulent boundary layer based on the friction velocity is Reτ=235. The flow field is decomposed into a number of wavelet levels which have different characteristic scales. The velocity statistics and coherent structures at different wavelet levels are investigated. It is found that the fluctuation intensities and their peak locations differ for varying scales. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of different wavelet components reveals a cascade of scales of coherent structures, especially the small-scale ones that are usually difficult to be identified in POD modes of the undecomposed flow field. The interactions among the scales are investigated in terms of large-scale amplitude modulations of the small-scale structures. In previous studies the velocity fluctuations are separated into two parts, the large scale and the small scale, divided usually by the boundary layer thickness. In the present study, however, the scales smaller than the boundary layer thickness are further separated. Therefore, the modulation analysis is a refined investigation that differentiates the modulation effects on separated small scales. The results reveal that the modulation effects vary among the small scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a frequent and serious cardiovascular complication in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of PH and its associated factors in patients with ESRD on maintenance dialysis and predialysis patients.Methods: The medical records of ESRD patients who underwent kidney transplantation between January 2011 and December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic and clinical characteristics including echocardiographic findings before joining the waiting list for transplantation were evaluated and compared among groups divided according to dialysis or not and dialysis types. The results of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography were used to determine the pulmonary artery pressure. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as a systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) greater than 35 mmHg. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to investigate factors associated with PH.Results: Data from 35 pre-dialysis patients with ESRD, 72 maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and 34 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients were analysed. Pulmonary hypertension was 20.69% in pre-dialysis patients, 16.7% in HD patients and 14.7% in PD patients (P=0.957). There were negative correlations between sPAP and calcium (r=-0.230, P=0.012), Ca×P(r=-0.210, P=0.021), hemoglobin (r=-0.243, P=0.008) and a positive correlation between sPAP and cardiac output (r=0.481, P=0.000). Cardiac output (CO) was an independent risk factor of sPAP (B=1.431, confidence interval [CI] 95%: 0.687 to 2.175, P=0.000).Conclusion: Incidence of PH was not statistically different in ESRD patients on dialysis and pre-dialysis patients. Uremia may play a major role in the pathogenesis of PH in patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral dust suspended in the atmosphere has significant effects on radiative balance and climate change. Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is generally considered as a main sources of Asian dust aerosol. After being lifted by wind, dust particles with various size distributions can be transported for different distances. In this study, original loess sample was collected from Luochuan, which is centrally located at CLP, and two samples with different size distributions were obtained after then. Pristine loess was used to represent dust that only affect source regions, part of pristine loess was milled to finer milled loess that can be transported for long distance. Light scattering matrices for these two samples were measured at 532 nm wavelength from 5° to 160° angles. Particle size distribution, refractive index, chemical component, and microscopic appearance were also measured for auxiliary analyses. Results showed that discrepancies in angular behaviours of matrix elements for pristine loess and milled loess cannot be ignored. Given that the effective radii of these two loess samples differ by more than 20 times, it is reasonable to conclude that the difference in size distributions plays a major role in leading to different matrices, while refractive index and micro structure have relatively small impacts. Analyses of numerical simulation results about irregular particles also variety this conclusion. At last, synthetic scattering matrices for both pristine loess and milled loess were calculated over 0°–180°, and the previous average scattering matrix for loess dust was updated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to observe the long-term prognostic value of early interventional therapy for lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (LDVT). In total, 85 patients diagnosed with LDVT for the first time were consecutively selected (identified course of disease was <3 months), and were divided into the control group with 43 cases and the observation group with 42 cases according to different therapeutic methods. The control group received anticoagulation therapy and thrombolysis, or integrated surgical thrombectomy, a conventional open operation, while the observation group received comprehensive treatment, combining endovascular catheter-directed thrombolysis and thrombectomy. The therapeutic effects were compared. After treatment, the differences in circumference of the thigh and shank between the affected and unaffected extremities, and vein dysfunction score of the two groups were decreased compared with before treatment. In addition, the above indexes of the observation group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05). The clinical effective rate and effective extent of the observation group were higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The occurrence rate of post-thrombotic syndrome in the observation group was lower than that of the control group, and there was no difference in comparison of grading. The recurrence rate and restenosis rate of the observation group were lower than in the control group, while the patency rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). In conclusion, early catheter-directed invention of thrombolysis with thrombectomy for LDVT has good clinical effect in the short-term and long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of knowledge management on a firm's Innovation capability. Knowledge acquisition and innovation are particularly examined for their impacts on innovation capability in high technology firms in China and the effect of innovation capability on long-term corporate growth is also assessed. Results show that the innovation capability of high technology firms is significantly related to knowledge acquisition and innovation in these firms. The innovation capability also has been shown to positively contribute to long-term corporate growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve understanding of property measurements in heterogeneous media, an energy-based weighting function concept is developed. In (assumed) homogeneous media, the instrument spatial weighting function (ISWF) depends only on the energy dissipation distribution set up by the measurement procedure and it reduces to simply inverse sample volume (uniform weighting) for 1-D parallel flow case (ideal permeameter). For 1-D transient flow in homogeneous media, such as with slug tests, the ISWF varies with position and time, with 95% of the total weighting contained within 115 well radii, even late in the test. In the heterogeneous case, the determination of the ISWF is connected to the problem of determining an equivalent hydraulic conductivity (K), where the criterion for equivalence is based on equal energy dissipation rate rather than equal volume discharge. The discharge-based equivalent K (KE) and the energy-based equivalent K in heterogeneous media (Keh) are not equal in general, with Keh typically above the nodal arithmetic mean K. The possibly more fundamental problem is that as one makes K measurements in heterogeneous media at different locations or on different cores of heterogeneous materials, the ISWF will be heterogeneity dependent, implying that the averaging process resulting in the equivalent K value also varies with position. If the testing procedure is transient, then the averaging process varies with time. This suggests a fundamental ambiguity in the interpretation of hydraulic conductivity measurements in heterogeneous media that may impact how we approach modeling and prediction in a practical sense (Molz 2003). Further research is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To detect the risk factors for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients after neurosurgery. Methods: Three hundred and seventy-six patients treated in the department of neurosurgery of our hospital from February 2013 to November 2015 were reviewed retrospectively. The clinical data including age, gender, hospital stay, operation time, occupation type, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, smoking status, drinking status, postoperative exercises, malignant tumor, and postoperative hormone or dehydrating agent were collected. Results: In this study, 52 patients were included in the DVT group and 295 patients in the Non-DVT group. There was significant difference in age, hypertension, occupation type, malignant tumors, operation time, smoking status, and postoperative exercises between the two groups (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in gender, drinking status, coronary heart disease, diabetes, hospital stay, and postoperative hormone or dehydrating agent (p>0.05). In multivariate analysis, age, malignant tumor, hypertension were independent risk factors, while physical labour and postoperative exercises were protective factor for DVT. Conclusion: The postoperative patients with older age, malignant tumor or hypertension should be paid high attention to prevent DVT, and postoperative exercises should be selected as precautionary measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Esophageal varices are a dangerous complication of liver cirrhosis. The development of cost effective, noninvasive means for prediction of large esophageal varices could reduce the use of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in variceal screening and also provide an alternative way to confirm the results of conventional endoscopic diagnosis. Previously proposed predictive models are neither sensitive nor specific. Methods: A retrospective study based on a group of 104 liver cirrhosis patients was performed. Multiple statistical approaches were used to evaluate the association of large esophageal varices with 20 individual and six compound clinical laboratory variables. A new predictive model was developed. Results: Univariate analysis suggested that eight out of 26 variables were significantly associated with large esophageal varices. Further stepwise logistic regression eventually identi- fied three variables (hemoglobin level, portal vein diameter and the ratio of platelet count/spleen diameter) that contributed significantly to the final regression model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that this new regression model achieved 77.8% and 72% of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, respectively, for the prediction of large esophageal varices. In our study group, its diagnostic accuracy (AUROC=0.814) was found to be significantly higher than six predictive models previously published. Conclusions: No single variable offers self-suficient predictive function for large esophageal varices. A comprehensive model using multiple variables significantly improves the predictive accuracy in screening the most at risk patients with potential variceal hemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Video Fire Smoke Detection Using Motion and Color Features" is presented.

Background: The citrus red mite is a worldwide citrus pest and a common sensitizing allergen of asthma and rhinitis. It has developed strong resistance to many registered acaricides, However, the molecular mechanisms of resistance remain unknown. we therefore used next generation sequencing technology to investigate the global transcriptomes between resistant strains and susceptible strains. Results: We obtained 34,159, 30,466 and 32,217 unigenes by assembling the SS reads, RS reads and SS&RS reads respectively. There are total 17,581 annotated unigenes from SS&RS reads by BLAST searching databases of nr, the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) with an E-value ≤ 1e-5, in which 7,075 unigenes were annotated in the COG database, 12, 712 unigenes were found in the KEGG database and 3,812 unigenes were assigned to Gene ontology (GO). Moreover, 2,701 unigenes were judged to be the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) based on the uniquely mapped reads. There are 219 pathways in all annotated unigenes and 198 pathways in DEGs that mapped to the KEGG database. We identified 211 metabolism genes and target genes related to general insecticide resistance such as P450 and Cytochrome b, and further compared their differences between RS and SS. Meanwhile, we identified 105 and 194 genes related to growth and reproduction, respectively, based on the mode of action of Hexythiazox. After further analyses, we found variation in sequences but not in gene expression related to mite growth and reproduction between different strains. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first comparative transcriptome study to discover candidate genes involved in phytophagous mite resistance. This study identified differential unigenes related to general pesticide resistance and organism growth and reproduction in P. citri. The assembled, annotated transcriptomes provide a valuable genomic resource for further understanding the molecular basis of resistance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used path analysis to examine relationships between knowledge management (knowledge innovation and integration), new product creativity, timeliness, and performance among high technology firms in China. The results indicated that knowledge innovation was significantly related to new product creativity. In addition, knowledge integration was related to new product timeliness, which contributed positively to the new product financial performance. Managerial implications and future research also were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heritability of resistance has an important bearing on the management of pest resistance, especially for evaluating the sustainability of a chemical on a particular pest population. The susceptibility of pests to insecticides may change depending on the selection pressure of these compounds on populations. Tetranychus cinnabarinus , a very important mite pest of many crops in China, was continuously selected with methrin, abamectin, pyridaben and mixtures of pyridaben and abamectin (pyidaben:abamectin = 7.4:0.1 m/m), and methrin and abamectin (methrin:abamectin = 8.9:0.1 m/m). After 16 generations, the resistance increased to 25.8-, 3.7-, 1.3-, 4.0- and 2.5-fold to methrin, abamectin, pyridaben, pyridaben + abamectin and methrin + abamectin, respectively. The more generations selected, the higher was the resistance level, except in the case of the strain selected with pyridaben. The realized heritabilities of resistance to methrin, abamectin, pyridabe, pyridaben + abamectin and methrin + abamectin were: 0.20, 0.15, 0.03, 0.18 and 0.08, respectively. Higher values of heritability occurred during the second eight generations selected than through the first eight generations except in the case of the strain selected with the mixture pyridaben + abamectin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The permutation entropy and the statistical complexity are employed to study the boundary-layer transition induced by the surface roughness. The velocity signals measured in the transition process are analyzed with these symbolic quantifiers, as well as the complexity-entropy causality plane, and the chaotic nature of the instability fluctuations is identified. The frequency of the dominant fluctuations has been found according to the time scales corresponding to the extreme values of the symbolic quantifiers. The laminar-turbulent transition process is accompanied by the evolution in the degree of organization of the complex eddy motions, which is also characterized with the growing smaller and flatter circles in the complexity-entropy causality plane. With the help of the permutation entropy and the statistical complexity, the differences between the chaotic fluctuations detected in the experiments and the classical Tollmien-Schlichting wave are shown and discussed. It is also found that the chaotic features of the instability fluctuations can be approximated with a number of regular sine waves superimposed on the fluctuations of the undisturbed laminar boundary layer. This result is related to the physical mechanism in the generation of the instability fluctuations, which is the noise-induced chaos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]