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The fall armyworm (FAW) poses a significant threat to global crop production. Here we showed that overexpression of jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) protein GhJAZ24 confers resistance to cotton bollworm and FAW, while also causing sterility in transgenic cotton by recruiting TOPLESS and histone deacetylase 6. We identified the NGR motif of GhJAZ24 that recognizes and binds the aminopeptidase N receptor, enabling GhJAZ24 to enter cells and disrupt histone deacetylase 3, leading to cell death. To overcome plant sterility associated with GhJAZ24overexpression, we developed iJAZ (i, induced), an approach involving damage-induced expression and a switch from intracellular to extracellular localization of GhJAZ24. iJAZ transgenic cotton maintained fertility and showed insecticidal activity against cotton bollworm and FAW. In addition, iJAZ transgenic rice, maize and tobacco plants showed insecticidal activity against their lepidopteran pests, resulting in an iJAZ-based approach for generating alternative insecticidal proteins with distinctive mechanisms of action, thus holding immense potential for future crop engineering.

Phosphorus (P) is essential for living plants, and P deficiency is one of the key factors limiting the yield in rapeseed production worldwide. As the most important organ for plants, root morphology traits (RMTs) play a key role in P absorption. To investigate the genetic variability of RMT under low P availability, we dissected the genetic structure of RMTs by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), linkage mapping and candidate gene association studies (CGAS). A total of 52 suggestive loci were associated with RMTs under P stress conditions in 405 oilseed rape accessions. The purple acid phosphatase gene BnPAP17was found to control the lateral root number (LRN) and root dry weight (RDW) under low P stress. The expression of BnPAP17was increased in shoot tissue in P-efficient cultivars compared to root tissue and P-inefficient cultivars in response to low P stress. Moreover, the haplotype of BnPAP17Hap3was detected for the selective breeding of P efficiency in oilseed rape. Over-expression of the BnPAP17Hap3could promote the shoot and root growth with enhanced tolerance to low P stress and organic phosphorus (Po) utilization in oilseed rape. Collectively, these findings increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying BnPAP17-mediated low P stress tolerance in oilseed rape.

A second-order coupled resonator decoupling network (CRDN) with source-load coupling is proposed in this article. Based on the characteristic analysis of different types of coupled antennas, a general decoupling theory from the network point of view for the CRDN with source-load coupling is developed, in which the coupling coefficients of all couplings in the CRDN can be analytically obtained. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed theory, two design examples are elaborated. Two identical triangular sheet antennas of the same frequency, as well as two monopoles operating in adjacent frequency bands, are decoupled by a CRDN with the source-load coupling realized by coupled microstrip lines. Two prototypes and their counterparts in which antennas are strongly coupled without CRDNs are fabricated and measured. The measurement results show that in both cases, the CRDN with the source-load coupling can suppress the mutual couplings between antennas to below −20 dB within the band of interest while maintaining key performances such as matching, radiation patterns, total efficiencies as well as envelope correlation coefficients (ECCs) and available throughput in a given propagation channel. The proposed decoupling design shows great potential to be applied to antenna coexistence problems with broader bandwidth demand.

In this paper, two non-uniform partially reflective decoupling layers (PRDLs) are applied to dual-polarized rectangular antenna arrays. By analyzing the coupled waves of the reference array and the reflected wave introduced by the PRDL, two-layer PRDLs are designed step-by-step. Compared to the array with only one-layer PRDL, the array with two-layer PRDLs can not only suppress various types of couplings but also improve the radiation performance. These PRDLs, which both have high dielectric constants in the two-dimensional plane, are composed of non-uniform artificial unit cells that are capable of reducing the cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) of the antennas while reducing the mutual coupling effectively. Simulated and measured results show that the isolation between antennas can be improved from 12 dB to more than 21 dB in the 1.71–2.2 GHz band, while the reflection coefficient remains below −15 dB. Compared with the reference array with no decoupling measures, the radiation pattern of the proposed array remains stable and the realized gain is increased. The proposed method is quite suitable for decoupling large-scale rectangular 5G MIMO arrays.

In edge computing scenarios, due to the wide distribution of devices, complex application environments, and limited computing and storage capabilities, their authentication and access control efficiency is low. To address the above issues, a secure trusted authentication scheme based on semantic Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and blockchain is proposed for IoT applications. The attribute-based access control model is optimized, combining blockchain technology with access control models, effectively improving the robustness and credibility of access control systems. Semantic LSTM is used to predict environmental attributes that can further restrict user access and dynamically meet the minimum permission granting requirements. Experiments show that when the number of certificates is 60, the computational overhead of the proposed method is only 203s, which is lower than other state-of-the-art methods. Therefore, the performance of the proposed schema in information security protection in IoT environments shows promise as a scalable authentication solution for IoT applications.

Development of high-performance materials for the capture and separation of CO2from the gas mixture is significant to alleviate carbon emission and mitigate the greenhouse effect. In this work, a novel structure of C9N7slit was developed to explore its CO2adsorption capacity and selectivity using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Among varying slit widths, C9N7with the slit width of 0.7 nm exhibited remarkable CO2uptake with superior CO2/N2and CO2/CH4selectivity. At 1 bar and 298 K, a maximum CO2adsorption capacity can be obtained as high as 7.06 mmol/g, and the selectivity of CO2/N2and CO2/CH4was 41.43 and 18.67, respectively. In the presence of H2O, the CO2uptake of C9N7slit decreased slightly as the water content increased, showing better water tolerance. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of highly selective CO2adsorption and separation on the C9N7surface was revealed. The closer the adsorption distance, the stronger the interaction energy between the gas molecule and the C9N7surface. The strong interaction between the C9N7nanosheet and the CO2molecule contributes to its impressive CO2uptake and selectivity performance, suggesting that the C9N7slit could be a promising candidate for CO2capture and separation.

Atomically precise gold clusters play an important role in the development of high-Z-element-based radiosensitizers, due to their intriguing structural diversity and advantages in correlating structures and properties. However, the synthesis of gold clusters with both water-solubility and single-crystal structure remains a challenge. In this study, atomically precise Au25(S-TPP)18clusters (TPP-SNa = sodium 3-(triphenylphosphonio)propane-1-thiolate bromide) showing both mitochondria-targeting ability and water-solubility were obtained via ligand design for enhanced radioimmunotherapy. Compared with Au25(SG)18clusters (SG = glutathione), Au25(S-TPP)18exhibited higher radiosensitization efficiency due to its mitochondria-targeting ability, higher ROS production capacity, and obvious inhibition upon thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). In addition, the enhanced radiotherapy-triggered abscopal effect in combination with checkpoint blockade displayed effective growth inhibition of distant tumors. This work reveals the ligand-regulated organelle targeting ability of metal clusters by which feasible strategies to promote their application in precise theranostics could be realized.

Levonorgestrel protected Pt2Cu4clusters were assembled with a polymer to prepare nanobeads (NBs) with intense red fluorescence. An immunofluorescence sensor based on Pt2Cu4NBs was established for the rapid and sensitive detection of interleukin-6 (IL-6) owing to its significance in inflammatory diseases, with a limit of detection of 42.66 pg mL−1. IL-6 spiked in serum was also accurately detected.

A method to miniaturize the aperture of a dual-polarized quadruple-folded-dipole (QFD) antenna by bending its arms downward or upward is proposed in this letter. Two practical prototypes called downward-bending-arm (DBA) antenna and upward-bending-arm (UBA) antenna are presented and elaborated. Both the DBA and UBA antennas have four pairs of arms bent downward or upward along the four edges of the planar QFDs, respectively, which enable the aperture of the DBA and UBA antennas to shrink to around $0.24{\lambda }_0 \times 0.24{\lambda }_0$ (${{\rm{\lambda }}}_{0}$ is the free-space wavelength at 2 GHz). Both antennas can achieve relatively small apertures while ensuring good matching, isolation, and radiation performances within the band of interest. Especially, the DBA antenna has a lower profile than the UBA antenna while the UBA antenna outperforms the DBA antenna in realized gain by approximately 1 dB. Meanwhile, the UBA antenna has narrower half-power beam width, which will be beneficial in compact massive multiple-input–multiple-output antenna arrays for improved radiation patterns.

Streptococcus thermophilusis a fast-growing lactic acid bacterium (LAB) used in yoghurt and cheese manufacturing. Recently, we reported how this bacterium could serve as a cell catalyst for hydrolyzing lactose when permeabilized by nisin A. To enhance the lactose hydrolyzing activity of S. thermophilus, we mutated a dairy strain and screened for variants with elevated β-galactosidase activity. Two isolates, ST30-8 and ST95, had 2.4-fold higher activity. Surprisingly, both strains were able to hydrolyze lactose when used as whole-cell lactase catalysts without permeabilization, and ST30-8 hydrolyzed 30 g/L lactose in 6 h at 50 °C using 0.18 g/L cells. Moreover, both strains hydrolyzed lactose while growing in milk. Genome sequencing revealed a mutation in l-lactate dehydrogenase, which we believe hampers growth and increases the capacity of S. thermophilusto hydrolyze lactose. Our findings will allow production of sweet lactose-reduced yoghurt without the use of costly purified lactase enzymes.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is linked to various malignancies and autoimmune diseases, posing a significant global health challenge due to the lack of specific treatments or vaccines. Despite its crucial role in EBV infection in B cells, the mechanisms of the glycoprotein gp42 remain elusive. In this study, we construct an antibody phage library from 100 EBV-positive individuals, leading to the identification of two human monoclonal antibodies, 2B7 and 2C1. These antibodies effectively neutralize EBV infection in vitroand in vivowhile preserving gp42’s interaction with the human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA-II) receptor. Structural analysis unveils their distinct binding epitopes on gp42, different from the HLA-II binding site. Furthermore, both 2B7 and 2C1 demonstrate potent neutralization of EBV infection in HLA-II-positive epithelial cells, expanding our understanding of gp42’s role. Overall, this study introduces two human anti-gp42 antibodies with potential implications for developing EBV vaccines targeting gp42 epitopes, addressing a critical gap in EBV research.

With the rapid popularity and increasing numbers of E-cigarette (EC) users, debates on possible health risks and regulation of EC products have attracted attention in public. As a useful means to help assessing the risks of EC consumers, puffing topography studies have come to be an important tool globally. In this paper, a cross-sectional epidemiological study on puffing topography of 511 EC consumers in four cities of China was conducted in January 2018. Data acquisition was based on a questionnaire and a Clinical Research Support System (CReSS) Pocket device for the smoking behavior recording. The results showed that EC consumers in the four cities were mainly young males, most of whom preferred tank systems with zero or low nicotine concentrations (1–5 mg/mL) in the liquid. The average puff volume, puff duration and inter-puff interval (IPI) were 87.2 mL, 1.97 s and 22.0 s, respectively. The factors that may have affected puffing topography such as product type, nicotine concentration, using time, smoking status and battery power were studied. The results suggest that the EC product type and the concentration of nicotine in EC liquids were the main factors that affected the puffing topography of the users. This study was the first study on the puff topography of Chinese EC consumers with a large number of participants. The results may not only help to more deeply understand smoking behavior and to better assess the potential risks for the EC users, but they may also supply useful information for the development of smoking machine regimes for ECs.

The use of electronic cigarettes (ECs) has grown exponentially over the past few years in China. To obtain the basic information of Chinese EC users, a questionnaire survey was performed to collect the data that describe characteristics of study populations, including daily usage, consumption preference, and risk perception. Volunteers were recruited from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen cities of China. In total, among the 511 participants that were included in the analysis, 491 participants (95%) used refillable ECs in the past 3 months. There was a strong association between EC use and traditional cigarette smoking. The majority of participants were dual users and the number of cigarettes smoked decreased with the use of ECs. After using an EC, 20.7% of conventional cigarette smokers attempted to quit smoking. Young people were the primary users across all geographic locations. Specifically, the daily usage for the participants who were 18–39 years old, was higher than those over 40 years old. The majority of participants (59.9%) preferred fruit flavors and 57.8% of them used 1–5 mg/mL nicotine-concentration liquids. Most EC users are motived to quit smoking, and 74.6% claimed that the ECs had no irritant effect on the oral cavity. A total of 50.5% of family members of the study participants reported an improvement of health status while the participants used ECs instead of traditional cigarettes. Overall, the results of this Chinese survey indicate that the per-day cigarette consumption of the dual users decreased whereas their proportion of smokers of low-“tar” cigarettes increased.

Byline: Nina. Jia, Shengli. Dong, Ge. Zhao, Hong. Gao, Xueqing. Li, Huanhu. Zhang Background: Clinical significance of chloride intracellular channel 1 (CLIC1) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) remains largely unknown. [...]

The controllability of mining is a key factor affecting the commercial application of methane hydrates, and the addition of chemical additives can significantly accelerate the mining process. However, the effect of additive concentration on hydrate decomposition is not yet well understood. In this study, we systematically investigate the effect of ethanol concentration on the decomposition of methane hydrate under varying thermodynamic conditions using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. To quantitatively characterize the decomposition process and mechanism of methane hydrates, the combination of angular order parameter (AOP), radial distribution function (RDF), mean square displacement (MSD), diffusion coefficients and system energy was for the first time used. The results showed that the addition of ethanol contributed to the formation of methane bubbles and accelerated the decomposition of hydrates. The mass transfer effect of ethanol molecules and the reconstruction of the hydrogen bond network of water molecules determined the stability of hydrates. From 0 to 40 mol% ethanol concentration, the hydrate decomposition increased with increasing the concentration of ethanol. Both increasing the temperature and decreasing the pressure are beneficial to the decomposition of the hydrate system. These results provide the selection of optimal ethanol concentration for the decomposition of methane hydrate and reveal its decomposition mechanism, and shed important light for the controllable production of gas hydrates.

Nisin is commonly used as a biopreservative in foods. For industrial production, nisin-producing Lactococcus lactisstrains are usually grown to high cell densities to achieve the highest possible nisin titer. However, accumulation of lactic acid eventually halts production, even in pH-controlled fermentations. Here, we describe a nisin-producing L. lactisstrain Ge001, which was obtained after transferring the nisin gene cluster from L. lactisATCC 11454, by conjugation, into the natural mutant L. lactisRD1M5, with low lactate dehydrogenase activity. The ability of Ge001 to produce nisin was tested using dairy waste as the fermentation substrate. To accommodate redox cofactor regeneration, respiration conditions were used, and to alleviate oxidative stress and to reduce adsorption of nisin onto the producing cells, we found it to be beneficial to add 1 mM Mn2+and 100 mM Ca2+, respectively. A high titer of 12 084 IU/mL nisin could be reached, which is comparable to the highest titers reported using expensive, rich media. Summing up, we here present a 100% natural, robust, and sustainable approach for producing food-grade nisin and acetoin from readily available dairy waste.

NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which can be triggered by reactive oxygen species (ROS), contributes to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progression. Exercise is an effective therapeutic strategy for NASH. However, whether exercise prevents NLRP3 activation in NASH has not been investigated. Here, we investigated the effect of exercise on NLRP3 inflammasome in mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced or methionine and choine-deficient (MCD) diet-induced NASH and explored whether adropin, a metabolic peptide hormone shown to inhibit inflammation, mediates an exercise-induced benefit against NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Exercise alleviated diet-induced hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. Importantly, exercise significantly reduced the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components, decreased Caspase-1 enzymatic activity, normalized IL-1β production, and suppressed ROS overproduction in HFD-fed and MCD diet-fed mice. The exercise-elicited NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition was accompanied by increased adropin levels. Moreover, serum adropin levels were negatively correlated with serum IL-1β levels. We further explored the effect of adropin on the NLRP3 inflammasome in palmitic acid (PA)-treated hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. Although adropin treatment did not significantly decrease the levels of all inflammasome components, it reduced the active Caspase-1 level, decreased Caspase-1 activity and downregulated IL-1β expression in hepatocytes and Kupffer cells (KCs) treated with PA. Moreover, ROS levels in PA-stimulated hepatocytes and Kupffer cells were reduced upon adropin treatment. In summary, we demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of exercise on NLRP3 inflammasome activation was associated with adropin induction, resulting in NASH improvement.

Exercise has been recommended as an important strategy to improve glucose metabolism in obesity. Adipose tissue fibrosis is associated with inflammation and is implicated in glucose metabolism disturbance and insulin resistance in obesity. However, the effect of exercise on the progression of adipose tissue fibrosis is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether exercise retarded the progression of adipose tissue fibrosis and ameliorated glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese mice. To do so, obesity and adipose tissue fibrosis in mice were induced by high-fat diet feeding for 12 weeks and the mice subsequently received high-fat diet and exercise intervention for another 12 weeks. Exercise alleviated high-fat diet-induced glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Continued high-fat diet feeding exacerbated collagen deposition and further increased fibrosis-related gene expression in adipose tissue. Exercise attenuated or reversed these changes. Additionally, PPARγ, which has been shown to inhibit adipose tissue fibrosis, was observed to be increased following exercise. Moreover, exercise decreased the expression of HIF-1α in adipose fibrosis, and adipose tissue inflammation was inhibited. In conclusion, our data indicate that exercise attenuates and even reverses the progression of adipose tissue fibrosis, providing a plausible mechanism for its beneficial effects on glucose metabolism in obesity.

Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have been proposed for water treatment. GO can be used to prepare membranes that remove organic molecules, such as model dyes from contaminated wastewater. In practical applications, wastewater is often acidic or alkaline. The physico-chemical properties of GO are only weakly affected by pH, and this can lead to poor membrane performance for the removal of positively charged model compounds. In this work, we used pH-responsive poly (methacrylic acid) (PMAA) to prepare GO-PMAA materials through chemical crosslinking. GO-PMAA materials with different compositions were used to prepare membranes via physical intercalation. The membranes were tested for removal of five different dyes of different sizes and valency (including those that are positively charged, negatively charged, and neutral at neutral pH). We identify a membrane composition that works well for the removal of negatively charged methyl orange and Evans blue under acidic conditions (with 73.1% and 99.7% rejection, respectively) with improved water permeance compared to membranes prepared with GO alone. In addition, we evaluated the long-term stability of the nanofiltration membrane. After continuous operation for 20 h, the rejection rate of MnB by 5p-nGOM was about 85.37%, and the water permeance relatively stable, while the rejection rate of MnB by nGOM was about 26.59%, and the water permeance changed greatly. These findings indicate that GO membranes modified with pH-responsive polymers can achieve superior performance with respect to separation, water permeance, long-term operation, and pressure resistance, compared to GO membranes.

Smoking is mainly sustained by nicotine dependence (ND), which varies across ethnic groups principally due to genetic as well as environmental factors. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and biomarkers of tobacco exposure are two important approaches to assess ND. However, the relationship between ND and FTND of Chinese smokers has not been studied. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between FTND scores and nicotine, cotinine, 3′-hydroxycotinine (3HC) and nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR, the concentration ratio of 3HC to cotinine) in Chinese smokers. FTND was carried out and general characteristics were collected using a self-administered smoking questionnaire with 289 smokers. Nicotine, cotinine and 3HC in urine were simultaneously determined by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The concentrations of nicotine, cotinine and 3HC in the urine of smokers with a high FTND score were higher than in the urine of those with a low FTND score. There were significant correlations between urinary biomarker and FTND scores. Except for FTND item 2 (difficulty to refrain), the other items showed significant associations with the urinary biomarkers. No relationship was found between the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR, 3′-hydroxycotinine/cotinine) and FTND scores or general characteristics of the participants. In conclusion, biomarkers of tobacco exposure levels are significantly associated with FTND scores. However, FTND Item 2 and NMR were not found to be associated with nicotine dependence in Chinese smokers.

Byline: Xi. Li, Ge. Zhao, Yinghou. Wang, Jian. Zhang, Zhiquan. Duan, Shijie. Xin Objectives: To study the expression status of Ras-association domain family 7 (RASSF7) and Ras-association domain family 8 [...]

The demonstration of salt dissolution incorporated within laser powder-bed fusion fabrication processes has allowed the creation of complex porous structures without the need for sophisticated design algorithms. This serves to simplify the process, for porous structure creation in powder-bed fabrication techniques, creating a new opportunity for the realisation of optimised structures. A new methodology is presented here in which modulation of the energy density while using a single feedstock material enables three-dimensional control of porosity, ranging from 20 % to 49 %. Through structured experimentation, the response of the material to varying the process parameters in selective laser melting is evaluated and nested structures of distinct densities and morphologies are created. Correlation of the process parameters with modulus and ultimate compressive stress are established. A simple-assembly algorithm was used to generate complex parts consisting of locally assigned porosities having characteristic properties.

Porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated a great potential in proton conduction and luminescence sensing due to functionalized nodes, ligands and channels, or pores. Herein, we prepared a hydrothermally stable Eu-MOF that also resisted acid and base using a bifunctional organic ligand containing carboxylic acid groups, which are easily coordinated to Eu ions, and Eu-phobic tetrazolyl groups as potential proton-hopping sites. The hydrogen bond network, which was constructed by the uncoordinated anionic tetrazolium and the coordinated and free water molecules, endowed this Eu-MOF with the highest proton conductivity of 4.45 × 10–2S/cm at 373 K and 93% relative humidity. The proton conductivity of the Nafion membrane containing this Eu-MOF increased 1.74 times. More interestingly, the hybrid membrane displayed luminescence pH sensing because the changeable protonation levels of uncoordinated tetrazolium groups along with the pH tuned the emission of embedded Eu-MOFs. Such a dual-functional MOF-based hybrid membrane including proton conduction and pH sensing is reported for the first time, which could open an avenue to the more practical application for functional MOFs.

Many large-flow fires need sustained and stable water supplies, which are often challenging because of the complex fire ground. To analyze the causes and influencing factors of pressure fluctuation in the process of switching water sources, an experimental setup and a simulation model were established. The basic hydraulics principle is that pressure drop occurs during the switching between two channels. The pressure drop magnitude in the main pipe was studied for various resistance values of the main pipe, switching time of the control valve in the channel, the number of parallel channels, and the diameter of the clustered pipe. The results show that three key parameters affect the magnitude of the pressure drop: a longer switching time, less pipe resistance, and more parallel channels can minimize the pressure drop magnitude of the mine pipe. This study provides fire equipment designer with information about the influence of different variables on the pressure drop magnitude of the main pipe and basic design criteria to minimize these effects. Meanwhile, a simple scheme is proposed to minimize the large pressure fluctuation, and the pressure fluctuation can be decreased and even eliminated to some extent.

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It was reported that the main obstacle of Li2ZrO3as high-temperature CO2absorbents is the very slow CO2sorption kinetics, which are ascribed to the gradual formation of compact zirconia and carbonate shells along with inner unreacted lithium zirconate cores; accordingly, the “sticky” Li+and O2–ions have to travel a long distance through the solid shells by diffusion. We report here that three-dimensional interconnected nanoporous Li2ZrO3exhibiting ultrafast kinetics is promising for CO2sorption. Specifically, nanoporous Li2ZrO3(LZ-NP) exhibited a rapid sorption rate of 10.28 wt %/min with an uptake of 27 wt % of CO2. Typically, the k1values of LZ-NP (kinetic parameters extracted from sorption kinetics) were nearly 1 order of magnitude higher than the previously reported conventional Li2ZrO3reaction systems. Its sorption capacity of 25 wt % within ∼4 min is 2 orders of magnitude faster than those obtained using spherical Li2ZrO3powders. Furthermore, nanoporous Li2ZrO3exhibited good stability over 60 absorption–desorption cycles, showing its potential for practical CO2capture applications. CO2adsorption isotherms for Li2ZrO3absorbents were successfully modeled using a double-exponential equation at various CO2partial pressures.

The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between the thymic‐thoracic ratio and cardiac axis in healthy fetuses. The fetal thymic‐thoracic ratio and cardiac axis were measured in 220 healthy fetuses. The normal ranges of the fetal thymic‐thoracic ratio and cardiac axis for each gestational week were established. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to analyze the relationship between the thymic‐thoracic ratio and cardiac axis. The mean fetal thymic‐thoracic ratio increased slightly throughout the pregnancy, from 0.33 at 17 weeks' gestation to 0.37 at 37 weeks. No statistically significant correlation was found between the thymic‐thoracic ratio and cardiac axis in healthy fetuses. In healthy fetuses, the thymus occupies an increasingly larger portion of the upper mediastinum when the pregnancy advances. The cardiac axis is not affected by the thymic‐thoracic ratio in healthy fetuses.

We report a new flexible switchable dielectric composite film toward practical application in devices based on β-phase-dominated PVDF modified with single-protonated 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane fluoborate (DabcoHBF4). Our study suggested that incorporating polar molecular filler (DabcoHBF4) into β-phase-dominated PVDF is an effective method to fabricate switchable dielectric thin film, which could avoid sophisticated operation in cultivating bulk crystals of molecular materials. The composite film with 40% of DabcoHBF4(0.40BF) could exhibit large dielectric change between high and low dielectric states comparable to that of pure DabcoHBF4at phase-transition temperature. We postulated that the excellent switchable dielectric property of 0.40BF was attributed to the induced orientation alignment of β-phase-dominated PVDF and dielectric confinement effect.

An aluminum matrix composite reinforced by TiC and Al2O3 particles was synthesized using TiO2, C, and Al powder by the in-situ reaction. The effects of deformation parameters on the microstructure of the TiC-Al2O3/Al composite were investigated using XRD, SEM and TEM. The result shows that the strain rate and deformation temperature influence the size, styles, and distribution of the second phase. Reinforcements are dispersed in a distribution with increasing deformation temperature and strain rate. However, broken Al3Ti exhibits redissolution phenomenon. The new precipitated Al3Ti phase will precipitate from the strain-induced solid solution when the total strain increases to a certain degree at a high deformation temperature.

In robust nonparametric kernel regression context, we prescribe method to select trimming parameter and bandwidth. Through solving estimating equations, we control outlier effect through combining weighting and trimming. We show asymptotic consistency, establish bias, variance properties and derive asymptotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic resonance (SR) in the bistable system can reduce the noise level, reveal the waveform’s outline prominently, and improve the quality of the system output. Under the support of SR techniques, the extraction accuracy of the civil aero-engine rotor vibration information is lifted, especially when treating the signals contaminated by heavy noise. Results indicate that the SR signal preprocessing method via tuning the relative parameters is effective to reflecting the real vibration of the aero-engine rotor. It can also monitor the short-term failure phenomenon in the sampling data.

Aim:Recent evidence suggests that the essential amino acid leucine may be involved in systemic cholesterol metabolism. In this study, we investigated the effects of leucine supplementation on the development of atherosclerosis in apoE null mice.Methods:ApoE null mice were fed with chow supplemented with leucine (1.5% w/v) in drinking water for 8 week. Aortic atherosclerotic lesions were examined using Oil Red O staining. Plasma lipoprotein-cholesterol levels were measured with fast protein liquid chromatography. Hepatic gene expression was detected using real-time PCR and Western blot analyses.Results:Leucine supplementation resulted in 57.6% reduction of aortic atherosclerotic lesion area in apoE null mice, accompanied by 41.2% decrease of serum LDL-C levels and 40.2% increase of serum HDL-C levels. The body weight, food intake and blood glucose level were not affected by leucine supplementation. Furthermore, leucine supplementation increased the expression of Abcg5 and Abcg8 (that were involved in hepatic cholesterol efflux) by 1.28- and 0.86-fold, respectively, and significantly increased their protein levels. Leucine supplementation also increased the expression of Srebf1, Scd1 and Pgc1b (that were involved in hepatic triglyceride metabolism) by 3.73-, 1.35- and 1.71-fold, respectively. Consequently, leucine supplementation resulted in 51.77% reduction of liver cholesterol content and 2.2-fold increase of liver triglyceride content. Additionally, leucine supplementation did not affect the serum levels of IL-6, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-12, but markedly decreased the serum level of MCP-1.Conclusion:Leucine supplementation effectively attenuates atherosclerosis in apoE null mice by improving the plasma lipid profile and reducing systemic inflammation.

The effect of Gd modification on the microstructure and mechanical properties of A356 aluminum alloys was investigated using the metallurgical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction and mechanical testing. The addition of 0.2 wt.%–0.4 wt.% Gd had an excellent refining effect on primary α-Al grains and a modification effect on Si phases in its as-cast state. The needle-like Si phases were adjusted into fine particles and uniformly distributed in the matrix by the T6 treatment, especially for the 0.2 wt.% Gd-modified alloy. The Gd additions introduced the Fe-containing GdAl2Si2compounds, which precipitated in the forms of flakes and bulks. The GdAl2Si2and β-Al5FeSi phases were also refined by the T6 treatment. The mechanical properties of the Gd-modified alloys were very poor in as-cast state; however, the highest strength and elongation were obtained for the 0.2 wt.% Gd-modified alloy by the T6 treatment.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with perineural invasion (PNI) is an important inconspicuous finding. We report a case of a common tumor with an uncommon finding. A 57-year-old white man presented with paresthesias and a new lesion at the site of a previously resected squamous cell carcinoma. At the time of case review, present deep in the dermis, were large hyalinized tumor nodules. These nodules could have easily have been dismissed as sclerotic tumor nodules or fibrotic in-transit metastases. With the clinical history in mind, these nodules were further investigated by immunohistochemistry and reviewed in conjunction with the Mohs frozen section slides. These nodules were subsequently diagnosed as significant peri- and intraneural invasion. This extremely unusual presentation of PNI is a potential diagnostic pitfall that is potentially under-recognized by dermatopathologists but crucial for determining patient management.

An Al2O3P/Al composite was successfully synthesized using a displacement reaction between 80 wt% Al and 20 wt% CuO powders at a heating rate of 5 °C/min. Two different sizes CuO particles were used, and all the experiments were conducted under an argon atmosphere. To analyze the microstructural evolution during synthesis, the Al–20 wt% CuO samples were heated to the temperatures selected according to the differential scanning calorimetry curve and then immediately quenched with water. The phase composites and microstructure of the water-quenching samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometry. The results indicate that the CuO particle size has a significant effect on the microstructural evolution of the samples during the heating stage and on the microstructure of synthesized composites. Smaller CuO particles can decrease the reaction temperature, narrow the reaction temperature range at the different reaction stages during the heating stage and make the size and distribution of in situ Al2O3particles more uniform. The reaction between Al and CuO can be complete as the temperature rises to 900 °C. The size of the in situ Al2O3particles is approximately 5 μm when the size of the CuO particles is less than 6 μm. This sample has a relatively high Rockwell hardness of 60 HRB.

Al2O3p–Al composites were synthesized using an in-situ reaction in the 80%Al–20%CuO (mass fraction) system. The effects of the CuO particle size on the synthesis temperature and microstructure of the composites were investigated by various methods. The results indicate that the CuO particle size has a significant effect on the temperature at which the complete reaction in the Al–CuO system occurs: the temperature is 200 °C lower in the Al–CuO system containing CuO particles with sizes less than 6 μm than that containing CuO particles with sizes less than 100 μm. The interfacial bonding between Al2O3particles and Al is not complete when the temperature is below a critical value. The morphology of the Al2O3particles varies from ribbon-like shape to near spherical shape when the temperature is above a critical value. These two critical temperatures are affected by the particle size of CuO, and the critical temperature of the sample containing CuO particles with sizes less than 6 μm is 100 °C lower than that of the sample containing CuO particles with sizes less than 100 μm.

The intermediate-acidic intrusive rocks in Tongling area of Anhui province can be divided into two magmatic series, namely the shoshonitic series and the high-potassium(K) calc-alkaline series. The shoshonitic series is characterized by an association of pyroxene monzodiorites + monzodiorites + quartz monzonites, and high Rittmann indices. This series has common association with gold deposits. The high-potassium(K) calc-alkaline series is characterized by an association of diorite + quartz monzodiorites + granodiorites. It has lower Rittmann indices and REEs than the shoshonitic series and is associated with copper deposits. Results obtained from the studies show that the former is derived from the differentiation of the alkaline basic magma in mantle and the later is mixture between the differentiated mantle magma and crustal magma. The chronology of intermediate-acidic intrusive rocks is about 140Ma.

A 3300V/50A NPT-IGBT was designed by process simulation, which had an internal transparent collector and a planner cell structure. The Static characteristics were studied. The simulation results show that the threshold voltage of the device can be adjusted by changing the injection dose of the p-well. The saturation voltage of the device can be adjusted by changing injection dose of the p-well or the internal transparent collector. This device was fabricated using a self-aligned process, the test results show that the breakdown voltage is more than 4300V, the saturation voltage is between 3.4V and 3.7V and the threshold voltage is between 5.2V and 6.5V, which are similar with the simulation results.

New covalently tethered CO2adsorbents are synthesized through the in situ polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) of l-alanine from amine-functionalized three-dimensional (3D) interconnected macroporous silica (MPS). The interconnected macropores provide low-resistant pathways for the diffusion of CO2molecules, while the abundant mesopores ensure the high pore volume. The adsorbents exhibit high molecular weight (of up to 13058 Da), high amine loading (more than 10.98 mmol N g–1), fast CO2capture kinetics (t1/2< 1 min), high adsorption capacity (of up to 3.86 mmol CO2g–1in simulated flue gas and 2.65 mmol CO2g–1in simulated ambient air under 1 atm of dry CO2), as well as good stability over 120 adsorption–desorption cycles, which allows the overall CO2capture process to be promising and sustainable.

Significance:The incidence, cost, morbidity, and mortality associated with non-healing of chronic skin wounds are dramatic. With the increasing numbers of people with obesity, chronic medical conditions, and an increasing life expectancy, the healthcare cost of non-healing ulcers has recently been estimated at $25 billion annually in the United States. The role played by bacterial biofilm in chronic wounds has been emphasized in recent years, particularly in the context of the prolongation of the inflammatory phase of repair.Recent Advances:Rapid high-throughput genomic approaches have revolutionized the ability to identify and quantify microbial organisms from wounds. Defining bacterial genomes and using genetic approaches to knock out specific bacterial functions, then studying bacterial survival on cutaneous wounds is a promising strategy for understanding which genes are essential for pathogenicity.Critical Issues:When an animal sustains a cutaneous wound, understanding mechanisms involved in adaptations by bacteria and adaptations by the host in the struggle for survival is central to development of interventions that favor the host.Future Directions:Characterization of microbiomes of clinically well characterized chronic human wounds is now under way. The use of in vivomodels of biofilm-infected cutaneous wounds will permit the study of the mechanisms needed for biofilm formation, persistence, and potential synergistic interactions among bacteria. A more complete understanding of bacterial survival mechanisms and how microbes influence host repair mechanisms are likely to provide targets for chronic wound therapy.

Ex-vivoliver resection is a procedure in which the liver is completely removed, perfused and after bench surgery, the liver is autotransplanted to the original site. Ex-vivoliver resection is an important treatment for unresectable liver tumors. This surgical procedure requires long operation time, during which blood flow must be carefully maintained to avoid venous congestion. An effective veno-venous bypass (VVB) may meet this requirement. The present study was to test our new designed VVB device which comprised one heparinized polyvinylchloride tube and three magnetic rings. The efficacy of this device was tested in five dogs. A VVB was established in 6–10 minutes. There was no leakage during the procedure. Hemodynamics was stable at anhepatic phase, which indicated that the bypass was successful. This newly-developed VVB device maintained circulation stability during ex-vivoliver resection in our dog model and thus, this VVB device significantly shortened the operation time.

Purpose To investigate whether the clinical characteristics of stromal herpetic simplex keratitis (HSK) are associated with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) antigens distribution in the pathologic cornea.Materials and Methods Pathologic corneal buttons from 8 eyes were obtained during keratoplasty at the Shandong Eye Institute from 2006 to 2009. Immunohistochemical examination was performed to detect the distribution of HSV-1 antigens, including position, depth, and load in the cornea.Results Each of the 8 pathologic corneal buttons was positive for HSV-1 antigen by immunohistochemical staining, and HSV-1 antigen was detected in the corneal stroma but not in the corneal epithelium or endothelium. Combined with the clinical characteristics, it was found that the distribution depth of HSV-1 antigen in the cornea was partly related to the disease course, and the load was related to the delay time for treatment. Furthermore, HSK could be effectively cured by deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK).Conclusions The distribution characteristics of HSV-1 in HSK corneal stroma supports the theory of HSV-1 latency in the cornea and guides the selection of DALK, rather than penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), for clinical stromal HSK treatment.

Stereo matching methods often use rank transform to deal with image distortions and brightness differences prior to matching but a pixel in the rank transformed image may look more similar to its neighbor, which would cause matching ambiguity. We tackle this problem with two proposals. Firstly, instead of using two values 0 and 1,we increase the discriminative power of the rank transform by using a linear, smooth transition zone between 0 and 1 for intensities that are close together. Secondly, we propose a new Bayesian stereo matching model by not only considering the similarity between left and right image pixels but also considering the ambiguity level of them in their own image independently. We test our algorithm on both intensity and color images with brightnesss differences. Corresponding 2D disparity maps and 3D reconstruction results verify the effectiveness of our method.

By using DiaionHP-20 and SephadexLH-20 to isolated and purify the pigment of Rhododendron simsii, a high concentration of fluorescent substances from plant organs was obtained, and then study on the anti-counterfeit marking test was carried out. The result reveals that though extracting the pigment in the petals by SephadexLH-20, 5 different fluorescence regions can be clearly seen, of which the yellow-green region was the most obvious one. Fluorescent pigment from plant organs is plant secondary organic metabolites which have non-toxic, non-radiation matters to human. Thus the deeper research of the fluorochrome from plant organ could not only be used in the antibacterial activity of fresh food preservation aiming at preventing the abuse of chemical preservation substance, but also develop a new type of anti-counterfeit printing materials---natural water-based fluorescent ink, and the result brings business opportunities to the new industry of “green anti-counterfeit printing”.

To upgrade the proteome reference map of Shigella flexneri2a 2457T, the protein expression profiles of log phase and stationary phase cells grown at 30 and 37 °C were thoroughly analyzed using multiple overlapping narrow pH range (between pH 4.0 and 11.0) two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A total of 723 spots representing 574 protein entries were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, including the majority of known key virulence factors. 64 hypothetical proteins and six misannotated proteins were also experimentally identified. A comparison between the four proteome maps showed that most of the virulence-related proteins were up-regulated at 37 °C, and the differences were more notable in stationary phase cells, suggesting that the expressions of these virulence factors were not only controlled by temperature but also controlled by the nutrients available in the environment. The expression patterns of some virulence-related genes under the four different conditions suggested that they might also be regulated at the post-transcriptional level. A further significant finding was that the expression of the protein ArgT was dramatically up-regulated at 30 °C. The results of semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that expression of argTwas not regulated at the transcriptional level. Therefore, we carried out a series of experiments to uncover the mechanism regulating ArgT levels and found that the differential expression of ArgT was due to its degradation by a periplasmic protease, HtrA, whose activity, but not its synthesis, was affected by temperature. The cleavage site in ArgT was between position 160 (Val) and position 161 (Ala). These results may provide useful insights for understanding the physiology and pathogenesis of S. flexneri.