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Glutaredoxin (Grx) is a class molecule oxidoreductase, which plays a key role in maintaining redox homeostasis and regulating cell survival pathways. However, the expression pattern and function of Grx remain unknown in the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain). In the present study, a novel full-length of Grx 5 from the mud crab (designated as Sp-Grx 5) was cloned and characterized. The open reading frame of Sp-Grx 5 was 441 bp, which encoded a putative protein of 146 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of Sp-Grx 5 contained a typical C-G-F-S redox active motif and several GSH binding sites. Sp-Grx 5 widely existed in all tested tissues with a high-level expression in hepatopancreas. Subcellular localization showed that Sp-Grx 5 was located in the cytoplasm and nucleus. The expression of Sp-Grx 5 was significantly up-regulated after Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection and cadmium exposure, suggesting that Sp-Grx 5 was involved in innate immunity and detoxification. Furthermore, overexpression of Sp-Grx 5 could improve cells viability after H more...

To evaluate the current evidence of pregnancy outcomes among couples with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) with abnormal karyotypes vs. those with normal karyotypes and among couples with RPL and abnormal karyotypes after receiving expectant management vs. preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).Systematic review and meta-analysis.Academic medical centers.Pregnancy outcomes in 6,301 couples with RPL who conceived without medical intervention in 11 studies were analyzed. However, only 2 studies addressed the outcomes of couples with RPL and abnormal karyotypes after expectant management (75 cases) vs. PGD (50 cases).None.The pregnancy outcomes in couples with RPL with abnormal and normal karyotypes across included studies were evaluated.Compared with those with a normal karyotype, a significantly lower first pregnancy live birth rate (LBR) was found in couples with RPL with abnormal karyotypes (58.5% vs. 71.9%; odds ratio [OR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.46-0.65; ICouples with RPL and abnormal karyotypes had a higher miscarriage rate than couples with normal karyotypes but achieved a noninferior accumulated LBR through multiple conception attempts. In couples with RPL and abnormal karyotypes, PGD treatment did not increase the accumulated LBR but markedly reduced miscarriage rate compared with expectant management. more...

Phosphofructokinase (PFK), the key enzyme of glycolysis, can catalyze the irreversible transphosphorylation of fructose-6-phosphate forming fructose-1, 6-biphosphate. In the present study, a PFK gene from the mud crab Scylla paramamosain, named SpPFK, was cloned and characterized. The full length of SpPFK contained a 5'untranslated region (UTR) of 249 bp, an open reading frame of 2,859 bp, and a 3'UTR of 1,248 bp. The mRNA of SpPFK was highly expressed in the gill, followed by the hemocytes and muscle. The expression of SpPFK was significantly up-regulated after mud crab dicistrovirus-1 (MCDV-1) infection. Knocking down SpPFK in vivo by RNA interference significantly reduced the expression of lactate dehydrogenase after MCDV-1 infection. Furthermore, silencing of SpPFK in vivo increased the survival rate of mud crabs and decreased the MCDV-1 copies in the gill and hepatopancreas after MCDV-1 infection. All these results suggested that SpPFK could play an important role in the process of MCDV-1 proliferation in mud crab. more...

This study investigated the propagation behaviors of quasi-detonations in a round tube filled with repeated perforated plates. Stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen mixtures at different initial pressures were tested. Photodiodes and soot foil were used to record detonation velocity and cellular structure between two adjacent perforated plates. The orifice diameter ( d ), hole spacing ( l ) of the perforated plate and the obstacle spacing ( S ) were varied. The results show that the ratio of the overall jet diameter ( D 0 , defined as the diameter of the circumcircle of the orifices) to the detonation cell size ( λ ) is in the range of 12–14 for the occurrence of Chapman-Jouguet detonations. The combustion regimes are affected by l / d , i.e., smaller l / d results in higher combustion velocity. At the detonation propagation limits, the results confirm the criterion L / λ > 7, in which L = ( S + D ) / [ 2 ( 1 − 1 − B R ) ] , D and B R are, respectively, the tube diameter and blockage ratio of the perforated plate. more...

Chansu has demonstrated adverse side effects in clinical settings, which is associated with its toxicity and limits its clinical applications. But there are methodological limitations of drug safety evaluation. In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, lipidomic profiling, and molecular docking were used to systemically assess Chansu-induced acute inflammatory irritation and further identify the underlying drug targets. Compared with the EtOAc extraction, Chansu water fraction comprised of indolealkylamines which caused obvious acute inflammatory irritation in rats, including acute pain (spontaneous raising foot reaction), and inflammation (paw edema). At the molecular level, lipids analysis revealed significantly higher levels of pro-inflammatory mediators of the COX and LOX pathways. However, anti-inflammatory mediators from the CYP 450, ALA, and DHA pathways were markedly decreased following exposure to the Chansu water fraction. Moreover, four indolealkylamines from Chansu showed a high theoretical affinity to a known irritation target, 5-HT2AR. These results suggest that Chansu-induced inflammatory irritation is related to the distinct dysregulation of inflammatory lipids, and peripheral 5-HT2AR is a potential target for irritation therapy. The strategy used in this study can be a crucial technology in the safety evaluation of Natural medicinal substances. more...

In this study, we report the explosion characteristics of H2/N2O mixtures at fuel-lean side and stoichiometric condition in a 113 L cylindrical vessel. Experiments were performed at different sub-atmospherical pressures ( P 0 =10 kPa–40 kPa). Explosion pressure traces were obtained by a pressure transducer mounted on the wall. Meanwhile, the flame morphology was recorded using schlieren visualization. The maximum explosion pressure ( P max ) and maximum pressure rise rate ( ( d p / d t ) max ) were derived and discussed. Results show that two competitive effects (i.e., the adiabatic flame temperature and the molecular number) make the maximum P max occurring at φ =0.5—0.6. Linear correlations were found between P max and P 0 . Except the adiabatic flame temperature and flame propagation speed, the flame instability was found to participate in dominating the maximum pressure rise rate. For increased initial pressure, the equivalence ratio of the maximum ( d p / d t ) max switches to the lean side due to the enhanced flame instability. Depending on different equivalence ratios, both linear and quadratic correlations were found between ( d p / d t ) max and P 0 . more...

Biochar supported nickel (Ni/BC) has been widely studied as a cheap and easy-to-prepare catalyst with potential applications in tar reforming during the gasification of low-rank fuels, such as brown coal and biomass. However, the role and behaviors of inherent K species, especially their interactions with Ni particles and the biochar support, are not well understood yet. In this work, three Ni/BC catalysts with varying K amount were prepared from raw, water-washed, and acid-washed biomass. They were used in steam reforming of toluene as a tar model compound to elucidate the effects of inherent K on the catalytic activity and stability. Detailed characterization indicated that K enhanced water adsorption due to its hydroscopicity and lowered the condensation and graphitization degrees of biochar, but the alteration to the electronic state of Ni was not observed. These effects together led to a temperature-dependent role of K. That is, at relatively low temperatures of 450 and 500 °C, toluene conversion was increased in the presence of K, due to the increased concentration of adsorbed water around Ni particles. By contrast, at relatively higher temperatures of 550 and 600 °C, although initial high activity was achieved, Ni/BC with K deactivated rapidly because of the accelerated consumption of the biochar support. more...

Natural product bufotenine (5) which could be isolated from Venenum Bufonis, has been widely used as a tool in central nervous system (CNS) studies. We present here its quaternary ammonium salt (6) which was synthesized with high yields using 5-benzyloxyindole as raw materials, and we firstly discover its analgesic effects in vivo. The analgesic evaluation showed that compounds 5 and 6 had stronger effects on the behavior of formalin induced pain in mice. Moreover, the combination of compound 6 and morphine has a synergistic effect. We intended to explain the molecular mechanism of this effect. Therefore, 36 analgesic-related targets (including 15 G protein-coupled receptors, 6 enzymes, 13 ion channels, and 2 others) were systemically evaluated using reverse docking. The results indicate that bufotenine and its derivatives are closely related to acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) or α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). This study provides practitioners a new insight of analgesic effects. more...

The column bioleaching of copper flotation tailings was comparatively investigated using layered heap construction method (LM), agglomerate heap construction method (AM), and pellets-sintering heap construction method (PM). The bacterial communities of free, attached, weakly-attached, and strongly-attached microbes in the later bioleaching stage were investigated. In AM group, the addition of lump sulphide ore resulted in the low leachate pH, high ferric iron concentration, and rapid microbial adsorption, which obtained the maximum copper extraction (60.1%) compared with LM (54.6%) and PM (43.9%) groups. The relative abundance of dominant genera and microbial communities of different microbiota underwent changes in three heap construction methods. The alpha-diversity indexes of attached, weakly-attached, and strongly-attached microbes were different, while no significant change was observed in free bacteria. The variation of whole bacterial community was significantly associated with solution pH, total iron, and ferric iron concentrations. Pearson correlation analysis and partial least square path model both indicated that attached bacteria made larger contribution to the copper extraction of tailings. more...

Objective To compare the clinical effect differences between western medication, acupuncture, and acupuncture combine with western medication in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Methods Ninety-three patients were randomized into western medication group, acupuncture group, and combination group, with 31 cases in each. The patients in western medication group were treated with lipoic acid injection and mecobalamin injection/ tablets. The patients in acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture, and the acupoints were selected according to the symptoms. The needles were retained for 30 min, once a day. The patients in combination group were treated with both western medication and acupuncture, specific methods as the above. The treatments were for 18 days in succession in all of three group. The motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) of median nerve and common peroneal nerve, as well as the changes of symptoms and signs of patients were observed before and after treatment. The clinical effect was evaluated. Results After treatment, the median nerve MNCV in the three groups, the median nerve SNCV and common peroneal nerve MNCV in acupuncture group and combination groups, and the common peroneal nerve SNCV in acupuncture group were all higher than those of before treatment, with significantly statistical differences (all P Conclusion Acupuncture combined with western medication in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy can improve the nerve conduction velocity and improve the symptoms and signs of diabetic patients, with a better effect than those of western medication and simple acupuncture. more...

Supercritical flows are ubiquitous in natural environments; however, there is rare 3D anatomy of their deposits. This study uses high-quality 3D seismic datasets from the world’s largest submarine fan, Bengal Fan, to interpret 3D architectures and flow processes of Pliocene undulating bedforms that were related to supercritical flows. Bengal undulating bedforms as documented in this study were developed in unconfined settings, and are seismically imaged as strike-elongated, crescentic bedforms in plan view and as rhythmically undulating, upstream migrating, erosive, discontinuous reflections in section view. Their lee sides are overall 3 to 4 times steeper (0.28° to 1.19° in slope) and 3 to 4 times shorter (117 to 419 m in length) than their stoss flanks and were ascribed to faster (high flow velocities of 2.70 to 3.98 m/s) supercritical flows (Froude numbers of 1.53 to 2.27). Their stoss sides, in contrast, are overall 3 to 4 times gentler (0.12° to 0.27° in slope) and 3 to 4 times longer (410 to 1139 m in length) than their lee flanks and were related to slower (low velocities of 2.35 to 3.05 m/s) subcritical flows (Froude numbers of 0.58 to 0.97). Bengal wave-like features were, thus, created by supercritical-to-subcritical flow transformations through internal hydraulic jumps (i.e., cyclic steps). They have crests that are positive relative to the surrounding region of the seafloor, suggesting the predominant deposition of draping sediments associated with net-depositional cyclic steps. Turbidity currents forming Bengal wave-like features were, thus, dominated by deposition, resulting in net-depositional cyclic steps. Sandy deposits associated with Bengal net-depositional cyclic steps are imaged themselves as closely spaced, strike-elongated high RMS-attribute patches, thereby showing closely spaced, long and linear, strike-elongated distribution patterns. more...

Cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), a heme-containing monooxygenase, is of particular importance for human health because of its vital roles in the metabolic activation of pro-carcinogenic compounds to the carcinogens. Deciphering the relevance of CYP1A1 to human diseases and screening of CYP1A1 modulators require reliable tool(s) for probing this key enzyme in complex biological matrices. Herein, a practical and ultrasensitive fluorescence-based assay for real-time sensing CYP1A1 activities in biological systems has been developed, via designing an isoform-specific fluorogenic sensor for CYP1A1 (CHPO). The newly developed fluorogenic substrate for CYP1A1 has been carefully investigated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, precision, quantitative linear range and the anti-interference ability. The excellent selectivity, strong anti-interference ability and fast response kinetics, making the practicability of CHPO-based CYP1A1 activity assay is better than that of most reported CYP1A1 activity assays. Furthermore, CHPO has been successfully used for imaging CYP1A1 activities in living cells and human tissues, as well as for high-throughput screening of CYP1A1 inhibitors using tissue preparations as enzyme sources. Collectively, this study provided a practical fluorogenic sensor for real-time sensing CYP1A1 in complex biological systems, which would strongly facilitate the investigations on the relevance of CYP1A1 to human diseases and promote high-throughput screening of CYP1A1 modulators for biomedical applications. more...

Mirco-beam isotopic analyses of zircon have increased dramatically with applications for providing multi-isotopic information. As small as 2–5 μm spot size could be used by secondary ion mass spectrometry for in-situ isotope analysis of zircon with high precision and accuracy. However, this lateral spatial resolution is still difficult to measure more...

Future electricity consumption may increase due to climate change, but the amplitude depends on the interaction between many uncertain mechanisms. Based on the linear model and policy model, the residential and commercial electricity consumption in Jiangsu province are projected under the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). The linear model considers climate and socioeconomic factors, and the policy model also takes policy factors into account. We find that the cooling degree days (CDD) coefficient is about 3 times of heating degree days (HDD), which reflects that the cooling demand is much larger than heating, and also shows in the projection. The results of the policy model are generally lower than the linear model, which is the impact of policy factors. For example, the SSP1 and SSP2 of the policy model are 320 TW h and 241.6 TW h lower than the linear model in 2100, respectively. At the end of the 21st century, the residential and commercial electricity consumption in Jiangsu province will reach 107.7–937.9 TW h per year, 1.3–11.6 times of 2010. The SSP1 scenario under the policy model is based on feasible assumptions, and can be used as the target scenario for policymakers to establish energy intensity reduction targets. more...

The formation and separation behaviors of tandem EFPs are studied by the combination of experiments and simulations. The results show that different formation and separation processes can be obtained by adjusting the double-layer liners, and simulations agree with experiments well. Then, the interaction process between the two liners is discussed in details, and the formation and separation mechanism are revealed. It can be found that there are four phases in the formation and separation processes, including impact phase, propulsion phase, slide phase and free flight phase. During the impact phase, the velocities of two liners rise in turns with kinetic energy exchange. In the propulsion phase, the axial impact becomes insignificant, but the radial interaction between two liners influences the appearance of tandem EFPs. Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that the inner surface of foregoing EFP remains to be in contact with the outer surface of following EFP in the propulsion phase, and the following one would continue to push the foregoing one for about 10μ to 20 μs, causing the velocities of following and foregoing EFPs gradually decreasing and increasing respectively. In the slide phase, an obvious relative movement occurs between the two EFPs, and there would be barely kinetic energy exchange. Then, the two EFPs separate gradually and get into the phase of free flight. Generally, if the outer and inner liners have the same thickness, the outer copper-inner copper liners form two long EFPs, the outer copper-inner steel liners become a foregoing short steel EFP and a following long copper EFP, and the outer steel-inner copper liners produce a foregoing long copper EFP and a following conical steel EFP. In addition, thickness match also has an important impact on formation appearance and separation process for both outer copper-inner copper liners and outer steel-inner copper liners. With the thickness ratio of outer liner to inner liner decreasing, the length and length-diameter ratio of both foregoing and following EFPs increase gradually. more...

The effect of rapid thermal annealing treatments on the microstructure, surface morphology, and optical characteristics of zinc tin oxide (ZTO) films produced by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition was investigated. The ZTO films were annealed in oxygen atmosphere for 2 min at four selected temperatures from 500 to 800 °C. The X-ray diffraction showed that the annealing temperature has a great influence on the crystalline characteristics of ZTO films. The film shows complete amorphous structure for as-deposited ZTO film. Meanwhile, the spinel zinc stannate Zn2SnO4 was obtained for the samples annealed from 500 to 800 °C, which shows polycrystalline nature. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy proved that the annealing process in oxygen gas can effectively can reduce the oxygen vacancy defects in the films. In addition, the photoluminescence spectroscopy manifests an ultraviolet emission with a broad peak range from 345 to 385 nm. Moreover, the ultraviolet luminescence intensity increases continuously with the increase of annealing temperature. Spectroscopic ellipsometry analyses demonstrate that the refractive index of annealed films increases as the increase of annealing temperature, while the extinction coefficient decreases gradually with the increase of annealing temperature in the visible light range. more...

Development of high-performance ammonia (NH3) sensor is imperative for monitoring NH3 in the living environment. In this work, to obtain a high performance NH3 gas sensor, structurally well-defined WO3@SnO2 core shell nanosheets with a controllable thickness of SnO2 shell layer have been employed as sensing materials. The prepared core shell nanosheets were used to obtain a miniaturized gas sensor based on micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS). By tuning the thickness of SnO2 layer via atomic layer deposition, a series of WO3@SnO2 core-shell nanosheets with tunable sensing properties were realized. Particularly, the sensor base on the fabricated WO3@SnO2 nanosheets with 20-nm SnO2 shell layer demonstrated superior gas sensing performance with the highest response (1.55) and selectivity toward 15 ppm NH3 at 200 °C. This remarkable enhancement of NH3 sensing ability could be ascribed to the formation of unique WO3-SnO2 core-shell heterojunction structure. The detailed mechanism was elucidated by the heterojunction-depletion model with the help of specific band alignment. more...

Since the consecutive discovery of several gas fields from 2004 to present, the Rakhine Basin has been an active area for petroleum exploration in the Bay of Bengal. High-resolution 3D seismic data and well data from blocks AD1, AD6 and AD8 offshore northwest Myanmar are used to study the Miocene–Pleistocene depositional architecture and sedimentary evolution in the Rakhine Basin. Analysis of seismic facies and seismic attributes indicates that deep-water architectural elements include submarine canyons, confined slope channel complex systems, aggradational channel–levee complexes, isolated channels, frontal splays and mass-transport complexes, which have variable characters (shape, dimension, sedimentary architecture) within predominantly background deep-water slope-basin floor facies. Most of the sediments are interpreted to be sourced from the Ganges–Brahmaputra fluvio-deltaic system to the north with only minor lateral input from the Indo-Myanmar Ranges to the east. Investigation of the depositional evolution and architectural elements transformation during the filling history of the Rakhine Basin suggests the Rakhine Basin experienced rapid progradation during the Oligocene–Middle/Upper Miocene, gradual retrogradation during the Middle/Upper Miocene–Early Pliocene and gradual progradation during the Early Pliocene–Pleistocene. Published exploration results indicate that the main reservoirs of the discoveries in blocks A1 and A3 are Pliocene frontal splays and channel–levee fills, dominated by fine and very fine-grained sandstones, in structural and structural–stratigraphic traps. Analytic results from seismic characters and several exploration wells indicate that channel complexes and associated overbanks and frontal splays with fine-grained sandstones and siltstones trapped by the four-way closures are primary reservoir targets. more...

In this paper, experiments were conducted in a cylinder vessel at room temperature ( 293 K ) and initial pressure 100 KPa to study the effect of a crimped-ribbon plate on the explosion behaviors of methane, propane, ethylene, and hydrogen in air. The research gap of using crimped-ribbon plate obstacles to reduce explosion hazard was filled by testing the change of explosion pressure ( P m a x ), explosion time ( θ ) and maximum rate of pressure rise ( d p / d t ) m a x . The experimental results showed that a crimped-ribbon plate existence resulted in a drop in maximum explosion pressure due to the remarkable heat loss. With the growing activity (or decreasing MESG) of fuels, the effect of the crimped-ribbon plate on explosion pressure reduced. For hydrogen-air mixtures, the explosion time increased when a crimped-ribbon plate present. But for propane-air mixtures and ethylene-air mixtures, there was no obvious variation trend in the explosion time. The maximum pressure rise rate was decreased when the crimped-ribbon plate was introduced for the more sensitive mixtures (i.e., propane-air, ethylene-air and hydrogen-air mixtures). Two stages appeared when the flame quenched in the slit. The first was the extinguishment of the flame, and the second was that the temperature of the inert gas jet got lowered. After the flammable gas reached a certain concentration, it could no longer pass through the slit channel, because of the speed decrease. The smaller the critical speed for the more active gas. more...

This paper addresses the consensus problem for general linear multi-agent systems with switching directed network topologies. A novel distributed event-triggered communication mechanism is developed to reduce some unnecessary data exchange among agents and the update frequency of the actuator. Different from the previous related works, the threshold parameters in the developed event-triggered conditions can be adaptively adjusted according to the sampled-data errors. Moreover, a distributed output-feedback consensus control protocol is presented. By applying an input delay approach, the considered consensus problem is transformed into the stability problem of linear time-delay system. Then, a sufficient condition for designing both the desired consensus controllers and the parameters of event-triggering conditions is derived. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical examples. more...

An experimental study was performed in a rectangular duct to investigate the detonation diffraction process in stoichiometric methane-oxygen mixtures. A wedge was placed in the duct to form two channels between the wedge and the channel walls, i.e., an upper channel and a divergence channel. The upper channel heights were 27 mm, 47 mm and 67 mm, and the deviation angles ( α ) were 60 ° and 30 ° . On the bottom wall and side wall, soot foils were placed to record the cellular structure evolution. For the larger deviation angle ( α =60 ° ), the re-initiation mechanisms can be varied, which are affected by the upper channel height. Two overdriven detonation regions are generated behind the wedge on the bottom wall as well as the side wall for more sensitive mixtures (characterized by smaller detonation cell sizes). However, for insensitive mixtures, the re-initiation process seems to be more complicated. More regions containing finer cells can be observed on the foils. In case of α =30 ° , the detonation re-initiates at the divergence wall and propagates toward the side wall. Universally, the re-initiation is facilitated as the upper channel height increases, and equivalently, the re-initiation distance is reduced. more...