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Abstract Hydrology education for hydrological professionals is an important field due to the complex and multifaceted water issues that hydrologists face. Currently, hydrology education at Chinese universities is mainly focused on hydrological engineering, which leads to inadequate scientific and professional training from the perspective of an interdisciplinary educational framework. In this context, the knowledge and skills of future hydrologists cannot be systematically prepared. In this study, we explore the challenges and constraints that hinder the advancement of hydrology education at Chinese universities by conducting an inductive analysis in which we compare the hydrology education that occurs in China with that of the United States. The result suggests that a lack of adequate financial support is the main constraint and that it leads to inevitable problems such as a high student-teacher ratio, insufficiently qualified educators, and poor teaching materials and equipment. To address this issue, financial support for this program should be increased. In addition, collaborative programs based on online learning can effectively resolve the inadequacy of teaching resources. Assessing the hydrological education system in American universities carries a certain significance for Chinese universities in creating a reasonable interdisciplinary hydrological educational system by emulating traditional engineering hydrological education.

The mechanisms underlying the influence of the surface chemistry of inorganic materials on polymer structures and fracture behaviours near adhesive interfaces are not fully understood. This study demonstrates the first clear and direct evidence that molecular surface segregation and cross-linking of epoxy resin are driven by intermolecular forces at the inorganic surfaces alone, which can be linked directly to adhesive failure mechanisms. We prepare adhesive interfaces between epoxy resin and silicon substrates with varying surface chemistries (OH and H terminations) with a smoothness below 1 nm, which have different adhesive strengths by ~13 %. The epoxy resins within subnanometre distance from the surfaces with different chemistries exhibit distinct amine-to-epoxy ratios, cross-linked network structures, and adhesion energies. The OH- and H-terminated interfaces exhibit cohesive failure and interfacial delamination, respectively. The substrate surface chemistry impacts the cross-linked structures of the epoxy resins within several nanometres of the interfaces and the adsorption structures of molecules at the interfaces, which result in different fracture behaviours and adhesive strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New 2D cobalt(II) coordination polymer {[Co3(μ3-dppa)2(4,4'-bipy)2(H2O)4]·7H2O}n (1) was constructed hydrothermally using H3dppa, 4,4'-bipy (H3dppa is 5-(3,4-dicarboxylphenyl) picolinic acid, 4,4'-bipy is 4,4'-bipyridine), and cobalt acetate. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that compound 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/c. The adjacent Co(II) ions are bridged by μ3-dppa ligands forming a Co(II) chain subunit. These chain subunits are further linked by 4,4'-bipy ligands into 2D coordination polymers, which are connected through O–H···O hydrogen bonds to form an overall 3D supramolecular structure. Magnetic studies for compound 1 revealed an antiferromagnetic coupling between the adjacent Co(II) centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bond film on the surface of the CO2 sodium silicate used sands is not easy to decompose, therefore, it is difficult to reclaim used sands. A new reclamation method of CO2 sodium silicate used sands was developed by steam leaching, which can reduce the water consumption of reclamation and improve the removal effect of sodium silicate bond film. Firstly, the leaching effect of the sodium silicate sands after 20/200/400/600/800/1,000 °C heat preservation treatment was simulated. Furthermore, the influence of the leaching time on the removal effect of the sodium silicate bond film was studied. Finally, the casting properties of the reclaimed sands after the leaching reclamation treatment were tested. The results show for simulated used sands after 30 min of steam leaching, the removal ratio of the alkali exceeds 84.1%, the removal ratio of silicate is 86.2%, and the removal ratio of carbonate is 93.6%. The removal rate of alkali, silicate and carbonate is relatively low in the leaching time of 30-50 min. Considering the reclamation effect and cost, the leaching time is controlled in 30 min. Water consumption is only 60% of the mass of used sands for 30 min steam leaching, while it is 200% for wet reclamation. Morphological analysis shows that most of the hazardous substances in the used sands are removed in 30 min steam leaching, and the reclaimed sands surface after steam leaching in 50 min is as smooth as new sands. After 30 min of steam leaching, the alkali removal effect of the factory used sands can reach 81.5%, the water consumption by the steam leaching reclamation is 58% of the mass of the used sand, which is similar to the result of simulated used sands. The performance of reclaimed sands obtained after 30 min steam leaching is better than that of new sands when the amount of sodium silicate added is 6% of the mass of the reclaimed sands and the CO2 blowing time is 15 s: the 24 h ultimate compressive strength of reclaimed sands is 5.6 MPa (equated with new sands), and the collapsibility compressive strength is 5.2 MPa, which is lower than the collapsibility compressive strength of new sands (7.7 MPa). This indicates that the reclamation of CO2 sodium silicate used sands by steam leaching is a feasible method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of multiple noise interference when tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology is used for gas concentration detection, the principles of Kalman, moving average, wavelet transform, and singular value decomposition four filtering algorithm principles and system noise sources are analyzed. MATLAB simulation software is used to simulate the relationship curve of thermal noise, shot noise, relative intensity noise of lasers, and the characteristic value of harmonic signals. Four filtering algorithms are used to process the noise, and the best filtering algorithm is selected. Moreover, a TDLAS experimental system with ethylene gas as the detection object is designed in this paper. The experimental results show that the singular value decomposition method among the four filtering algorithms has the best effect in removing thermal noise, shot noise, and laser noise. After filtering is performed, the accuracy of the continuous detection of the system is improved, and the purpose of reducing or even eliminating system noise can be achieved. After processing occurs, the signal-to-noise ratio of the detected signal of the system is improved by 57 dB, and the noise removal rate of the system reaches 66.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy cows usually face negative energy balance and disorders of normal organ function due to a mismatch between energy intake and energy demand. Negative energy balance directly affects liver function and blood metabolites because the liver is used as source of energy supply and a center of metabolic activity. This study was aimed to determine the effect of pre-calving energy density and rumen-protected lysine on blood metabolites and biomarkers of liver functions in the dairy cows during the transition period. Forty 3rd lactation Holstein cows going to enter their 4th lactation were randomly allocated to one of the four dietary treatments (high energy with rumen-protected lysine (HERPL) = 1.53NEL plus 40 g Lys, high energy without lysine (HECK) = 1.53NEL, low energy with rumen-protected lysine (LERPL) = 1.37NEL plus 40 g Lys, and low energy without lysine (LECK) = 1.37NEL arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Blood samples were collected during the transition period, and concentrations of blood metabolites and biomarkers of liver function were measured. Interaction between pre-calving high-energy diet and rumen-protected lysine tended to increase plasma albumin, numerically increased glucose, decreased triglyceride, total bilirubin, and aspartate aminotransferase concentrations. The result revealed that pre-calving high-energy density increased insulin, albumin and decreased blood urea nitrogen and total bilirubin concentrations and substantial favor liver functions during the transition period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling organic waste and converting them into renewable energy are a promising route for environment protection and effective biochemical reactions suitable for industrial hydrogen synthesis. This study targeted to isolate a pure anaerobic culture with potential to hydrolyze different biomass and production of biohydrogen. For this, a sample of full-scale anaerobic digester, fed with a multicomponent solid, was inoculated on Reinforced Clostridial Medium (RCM) in strict anaerobic conditions. An anaerobic Clostridium butyricum CBT-1 strain was isolated, identified from morphological and 16S rRNA sequence. The CBT-1 culture expressed amylase, cellulase and peroxidases activities. The strain exhibited visual decolorization of both Azure B and crystal violet dyes. In batch fermentation experiment, the CBT-1 produced highest of 3.06, 2.67 and 2.46 mol/mol H2 yield from glucose, starch and cellulose respectively, whereas, the CBT-1 showed low 0.43 mol H2/mol of substrate from untreated rice straw due to lignin in compact structure and comparatively high H2 yield of 1.91 and 2.01 mol H2/mol of substrate rice straw hydrolysate and kitchen food waste (KFWS) respectively. The cumulative volumetric yield of H2 was 358.15, 300.8 and 294.5NmL/gSub from glucose, starch and cellulose respectively. Similarly, the cumulative H2 volume was 76.7, 184.4, 237.2 NmL/gVS from untreated rice straw, rice straw hydrolysate and kitchen food waste. This study emphasizes the prospects to find similar robust anaerobic culture for hydrolyzing complex biomass. Such strains could be used as standard co-inoculum for biohydrogen obtaining and as the biocatalyst for commercial scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiCf/Ti composite owns the attractive advantages of lightweight and excellent high-temperature performance, which make it have great significance to the development of aerospace industry. However, the complicated fabrication route and novel architecture of SiCf/Ti composite bring about more difficulties for controlling its microstructure. In this work, the method of regulating the structure and performance of the composite matrix by adjusting the characteristics of the precursor wire was explored. The physical vapor deposition (PVD) method was applied to fabricate precursor wires. Ti6242 coatings with bamboo leaf-shaped grains and chrysanthemum-shaped grains were deposited on SiC fibers by changing the PVD condition. It is found that the original structure of the Ti6242 coating of precursor wire has significant impact on the microstructure of the composite matrix after hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The matrix transformed from the Ti6242 coating with bamboo leaf-shaped grains exhibits equiaxed grain structure. While the other matrix has a columnar crystal structure, and the inside of the columnar crystal inherits the original chrysanthemum-shaped structure. The columnar crystal matrix has lower hardness and modulus than the equiaxed grain matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel non-sinusoidal oscillation waveform function was proposed to control the maximum acceleration, which had the advantages of continuity, no rigid impact and flexible impact, and good dynamics characteristics. Because the maximum acceleration of non-sinusoidal oscillation is larger, which makes the inertial force bigger and affects the mold movement smoothness. Thus, during the waveform function constructed, the maximum acceleration was taken in to account to ensure the dynamic characteristics of the oscillation waveform. And the oscillation waveform function was verified by the mechanical oscillator. The rotating rules of servomotor to realize this waveform function was determined. The experiment results show that the waveform function can be obtained well, the inertia forces of different directions for oscillation table is smaller and the oscillator runs smoothly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen-sulfur quantum dot co-modified graphene nanosheets composites (NSG) were fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method as a high performance metal-free catalyst for methyl orange (MO) degradation. Physical-chemical properties of the obtained samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, EDX, TGA, BET, and UV–Vis DRS technologies. Compared with RGO, NSG exhibited much better photocatalytic performance for MO degradation under visible light, especially, NSG(30) showed the best photocatalytic degradation rate of 100% within 180 min. XRD, TG, and UV–Vis DRS results demonstrated that the addition of N and S can enhance the stability of oxygen containing functional groups to supply more adsorption active centers for organic contaminant molecular, adjust the band gap to a certain extent and increase the number of photogenerated electrons, improve the visible light utilization rate of the material and thus improve the photocatalytic degradation performance of the NSG composites. The degradation activity of the catalyst remained above 90% after 3 recycles. Finally, a possible photodegradation mechanism of MO on the obtained NSG sample was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Sialylated milk oligosaccharides (SMOs) have a multifunctional health benefit, yet the molecular details underlying their potential role in modulating intestinal maturation remains unknown. To test the hypothesis that sialyllactose (SL) may mediate intestinal maturation and function through controlling neuronal function, studies were carried out where the diet of postnatal piglets was supplemented with a mixture of 3′- and 6′-sialyllactose from postnatal day 3 to 38. Gene transcription pathways regulating enteric nervous system function, polysialic acid (polySia) synthesis, and cell proliferation were quantified. Our new findings show that SL intervention: (1) upregulated the level of gene and protein expression of the glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in the ileum; (2) upregulated phosphorylation of the cAMP responsive element-binding protein (CREB), the downstream target of GDNF signaling pathway; (3) promoted cell proliferation based on an increase in the number and density of Ki-67 positive cells in the crypts; (4) increased the crypt width in the ileum by 10%, while gene markers for the functional cells were not affected; (5) upregulated mRNA expression level of ST8Sia IV, a key polysialyltransferase responsible for synthesis of polySia-NCAM; (6) reduced the incidence and severity of diarrhea. These results show that SL promotes intestinal maturation in neonatal piglets by upregulating GDNF, synthesis of polySia and CREB-interactive pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of N-doped graphene oxide materials were prepared via a simple one-step hydrothermal method using graphene as a raw material, acetonitrile, ethylenediamine, N,N-dimethylformamide as nitrogen sources. Their photocatalytic degradation performance was investigated using Methyl orange (MO) as the model compound. The chemical physical properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet spectrophotometry (UV–Vis). The photocatalytic degradation test showed that N-graphene (1 : 40) obtained from N,N-dimethylformamide exhibited the best performance and could be completely degraded within 300 min. The degradation rate still remained above 90% even after three cycles demonstrated N-GO(D) has a good stability. The characterization results confirm that N-doping can stabilize the oxygen functional groups on graphene oxide surface, and also broaden the band gap and expand the photoresponse range of graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AgNPs doped graphene nanosheets (Ag@GNs) nanocomposites were prepared using an environment-friendly one-pot hydrothermal method. The performance in the removal of anionic dye methyl orange (MO) onto graphene-based materials, such as graphene oxide (GO), graphene nanosheets (GNs) and Ag@GNs were investigated extensively. Ag@GNs displays a relative high adsorption capacity of 75.87 mg g–1 at 318 K, and can be easily recycled from liquid-phase owing to the hydrophobicity of GNs. On the base of XRD, FTIR and UV–Vis analysis, the excellent ability of Ag@GNs to MO is mainly due to the high dispersion of AgNPs, which can result in strong π–π interactions, electrostatic interactions between the dye molecules and GNs. Furthermore, SEM results show that the doped AgNPs effectively avid the aggregation of GNs, which is necessary for the adsorption of MO molecules. Finally, the kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics results demonstrate that the adsorption of MO on Ag@GNs are mainly controlled by chemisorption and endothermic in nature, which matches well with Langmuir isotherm model and kinetic data reveal a good correlation to a pseudo-second-order equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being relatively simple and practical, Drosophila transgenic RNAi is the technique of top priority choice to quickly study genes with pleiotropic functions. However, drawbacks have emerged over time, such as high level of false positive and negative results. To overcome these shortcomings and increase efficiency, specificity and versatility, we develop a next generation transgenic RNAi system. With this system, the leaky expression of the basal promoter is significantly reduced, as well as the heterozygous ratio of transgenic RNAi flies. In addition, it has been first achieved to precisely and efficiently modulate highly expressed genes. Furthermore, we increase versatility which can simultaneously knock down multiple genes in one step. A case illustration is provided of how this system can be used to study the synthetic developmental effect of histone acetyltransferases. Finally, we have generated a collection of transgenic RNAi lines for those genes that are highly homologous to human disease genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromia/alumina (Cr2O3/γ-Al2O3) catalysts with addition of chelating agents (citric acid or oxalic acid) were prepared by the incipient impregnation method. The resulting catalysts with different citric acid (CA) or oxalic acid (OA) contents were applied to the dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutene. The influence of chelating agents on the catalysts was investigated by means of BET, SEM, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, and TG-DTG. The results showed that the Cr2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalysts with addition of CA or OA exerted slightly increase on specific surface area. The addition of the chelating agents as expected, determined a general decrease in the surface acidity. The catalysts with CA or OA have a better anti-coking ability by inhibiting the side reaction of cracking and carbon formation. The addition of CA or OA for preparing these catalysts resulted in a beneficial effect on the reducibility of the Cr species to diminish the reduction temperature. The appropriate content of chelating agents could improve dispersion of metal species in the γ-Al2O3 support. The catalytic activity showed an important enhancement when the metal species was impregnated in the presence of CA or OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nanoporous carbon material was synthesized by heating potassium citrate without using a template or an activating agent. It is shown to represent a viable coating for use in solid-phase microextraction. The material is thermally stable and mainly consists of amorphous sheets of sp2-bonded carbon. It has an extensive pore structure and a surface area as large as 1236 m²⋅g-1. The nanoporous carbon was deposited on the surface of steel wires, and the resulting fibers were applied to the extraction of trace levels of chlorobenzenes in water samples. Following extraction by absorbing, the chlorobenzenes were quantified by gas chromatograph in combination with electron capture detection. Extraction temperature and time, and desorption temperature were optimized (80 °C, 10 min and 310 °C). Under optimized conditions, the calibration plots are linear in the following concentration ranges: 2.5 to 100 ng⋅g-1 (pentachlorobenzene), 5 to 200 ng⋅g-1 (1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene), 10 to 100 ng⋅g-1 (hexachlorobenzene) and 10 to 500 ng⋅g-1 (1,2,3-trichlorobenzene, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene). Other figures of merit include (a) high enrichment factors (8324 to 9920), (b) low limits of detection (0.10-1.03 ng⋅g-1), and (c) good reproducibility (relative standard deviations including intra-day and inter-day with a single fiber and fiber-to-fiber were below 6.4% at a mixed concentration level of 2.5, 5, and 10 ng⋅g-1 respectively in ultra-water). This method was successfully applied to the determination of chlorobenzenes in (spiked) lake waters where it gave recoveries between 82.3% and 104.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) is highly expressed in various types of human cancers, displaying yet unknown molecular mechanisms underlying their oncogenic potential. Here, we found that L1CAM expression was significantly increased in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC; n = 157) lesions compared with non-cancerous tissues. High tumorous L1CAM expression significantly correlated with reduced overall survival. Experimentally, L1CAM knockdown led to decreased cell growth, migration, and invasiveness in vitro, whereas overexpression of L1CAM showed the opposite effect. In nude mice, L1CAM depletion attenuated tumorigenesis and ability to penetrate the tissues surrounding ESCC cells. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and SubpathwayMiner analysis on gene expression profiles (microarray data on ESCC tissues, GSE53625; cDNA microarray data on L1CAM-knockdown ESCC cell line, GSE86268) suggested that L1CAM-co-expression genes were related to cell motility, cell proliferation, and regulation of actin cytoskeleton, validating the above experimental findings. Further mechanistical analysis showed that L1CAM upregulated the expression of the cytoskeletal protein ezrin via activating integrin β1/MAPK/ERK/AP1 signaling and thus led to the malignant phenotypes of ESCC cells. Together, our findings suggest that L1CAM may be employed as a valuable prognosis marker and a therapeutic target for ESCC patients and that L1CAM promotes ESCC tumorigenicity by upregulating ezrin expression. Key messages: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure of Arabidopsis leaves to cadmium (Cd) stress led to an increase in the level of extracellular ATP (eATP). And, Cd stress also caused significant increases in lipid peroxidation and the activities of lipoxygenase (LOX) and antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), and catalase (CAT). Treatment of Arabidopsis leaves with β,γ-methyleneadenosine 5'-triphosphate (AMP-PCP), which serves as a competitive inhibitor of eATP, dampened the Cd-induced increases of lipid peroxidation and the activities of LOX and antioxidant enzymes. Under Cd stress, the leaves of dorn 1-3 mutant showed lower levels of lipid peroxidation and activities of LOX and antioxidant enzymes compared with those of wild type plants. These results suggest that the changes in lipid peroxidation and activities of LOX and antioxidant enzymes under Cd stress could be associated with eATP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) integrate the processing of RNAs into post-transcriptional gene regulation, but the direct contribution of them to myeloid cell specification is poorly understood. Here, we report the first global RBP transcriptomic analysis of myeloid differentiation by combining RNA-seq analysis with myeloid induction in CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells. The downregulated expression of the KH-Type Splicing Regulatory Protein (KSRP) during monocytopoiesis and up-regulated expression during granulopoiesis suggests that KSRP has divergent roles during monocytic and granulocytic differentiation. A further comparative analysis of miRNA transcripts reveals that KSRP promotes the biogenesis of miR-129, and the expression patterns and roles of miR-129 in myeloid differentiation are equivalent to those of KSRP. Finally, miR-129 directly blocks the expression of Runt Related Transcription Factor 1 (RUNX1), which evokes transcriptional modulation by RUNX1. Based on our findings, KSRP, miR-129, and RUNX1 participate in a regulatory axis to control the outcome of myeloid differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amino acid-dependent activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is mediated by Rag GTPases, which are recruited to the lysosome by the Ragulator complex consisting of p18, MP1, p14, HBXIP and C7orf59; however, the molecular mechanism is elusive. Here, we report the crystal structure of Ragulator, in which p18 wraps around the MP1-p14 and C7orf59-HBXIP heterodimers and the interactions of p18 with MP1, C7orf59, and HBXIP are essential for the assembly of Ragulator. There are two binding sites for the Roadblock domains of Rag GTPases: helix α1 of p18 and the two helices side of MP1- p14. The interaction of Ragulator with Rag GTPases is required for their cellular colocalization and can be competitively inhibited by C17orf59. Collectively, our data indicate that Ragulator functions as a scaffold to recruit Rag GTPases to lysosomal membrane in mTORC1 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1) ensures B-cell differentiation into the plasma cell stage, and its instability constitutes a crucial oncogenic element in certain aggressive cases of activated B cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL). However, the underlying degradation mechanisms and their possible therapeutic relevance remain unexplored. Here, we show that N-terminal misfolding mutations in ABC-DLBCL render Blimp-1 protein susceptible to proteasome-mediated degradation but spare its transcriptionregulating activity. Mechanistically, whereas wild-type Blimp-1 metabolism is triggered in the nucleus through PML-mediated sumoylation, the degradation of lymphoma-associated mutants is accelerated by subversion of this pathway to Hrd1-mediated cytoplasmic sequestration and ubiquitination. Screening experiments identifies the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) that selects Blimp-1 mutants for Hrd1 association, and HSP70 inhibition restores their nuclear accumulation and oncorepressor activities without disrupting normal B-cell maturation. Therefore, HSP70-Hrd1 axis represents a potential therapeutic target for restoring the oncorepressor activity of unstable lymphoma-associated Blimp-1 mutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G9a, a H3K9 methyltransferase, shows elevated expression in many types of human cancers, particularly breast cancer. However, the tumorigenic mechanism of G9a is still far from clear. Here we report that G9a exerts its oncogenic function in breast cancer by repressing hephaestin and destruction cellular iron homeostasis. In the case of pharmacological inhibition or short hairpin RNA interference-mediated suppression of G9a, the expression and activity of hephaestin increases, leading to the observed decrease of intracellular labile iron content and the disturbance of breast cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. We also provide evidence that G9a interacts with HDAC1 and YY1 to form a multi-molecular complex that contributes to hephaestin silencing. Furthermore, high G9a expression and low hephaestin expression correlate with poor survival of breast cancer are investigated. All these suggest a G9a-dependent epigenetic program in the control of iron homeostasis and tumor growth in breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removal of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from a cycled adsorption-desorption and decomposition system was studied at ambient temperature, which allows low concentration and high flow rate emissions. This system exhibited excellent recyclability and showed high performance through repeated cycling, with 85.4% NO conversion after eight cycles. Different metal oxide supports on activated carbon were used to remove NO by nonthermal plasma assisted catalytic adsorption-decomposition. The Cu/AC showed a large adsorption capacity, and copper ions increased the decomposition of NO, resulting in high energy efficiency. FTIR and TPD results showed that NO adsorption on the catalyst surface states is mainly as nitrate. The textural characteristics of catalysts for cyclic operation were investigated, and the catalytic activity relied on O atoms, Cu atoms and Cu2+ on the catalyst surface. The discharge voltages and several frequencies of the electric source were also investigated. As injection power energy increased, the reactor plasma chemical reaction process was increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National geoparks are studied to classify and zone Chinese geoheritage resources. The results are as follows. (1) According to 'cause of formation-protection' attributes, a new geoheritage classification method is proposed based on previous works. Geoheritage resources in China can be divided into seven categories based on the new classification method. Geomorphological landscape is the largest category, accounting for 68.35 %. (2) Based on geoheritage distribution, main geological features and the local characteristics of socioeconomic development, 218 national geoparks can be divided into eight districts. These districts include the desert-steppe district; dry grassland district; mountains of Northeast China and Songnen Plain district; North China Plain; Liao River Plain; mountains of Shanxi and Hebei Provinces; Liaodong Peninsula district; Shanxi and Gansu Loess Plateau district; hills and mountains of East China, middle South China and the islands district; and Sichuan Basin and hills, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau district and alpine desert-steppe district of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. (3) The spatial distribution of national geoparks is extensive, and geopark distribution coincides with the tectonic zone of geological structure features. Coupling relationships are obvious between spatial distributional patterns and natural and geological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusion reactors like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) are generally complex systems, which demand reliability analysis. Common-Cause Failures (CCF) are increasingly important in the reliability analysis of these systems because of the widespread redundancy or similar components in them. However, despite the wide research in CCF, there has been little research on the handling of asymmetries of CCF that is inevitable in ITER. A concept of Multi-Common-Cause Failures (MCCF) and its key assumptions are discussed in this paper. On the basis of MCCF and the assumptions, a transition method named Common-Cause Breakdown Structure (CCBS) was designed to manage the asymmetrical CCF. The CCBS method can be easily applied to most fault tree analysis codes because the CCF treated by CCBS can be handled by traditional CCF models. A redundant system example was modeled and calculated in the reliability and probabilistic safety analysis program RiskA developed by FDS Team. The analysis results for water pumps redundant system applied in Tokamak cooling water system show that CCBS method is adequate and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Cu-based catalysts were prepared and employed in the N-ethylation of ethylenediamine with ethanol in a fixed-bed reactor. Satisfying results were obtained using Cu-Zn-La/Al2O3 as a catalyst. In addition, Cu-Zn-La/SiO2, Cu-Zn-La/Al2O3 and Cu-Zn-La/HZSM-5 were characterized by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET), H2- temperature program reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopic measurements (TEM) and NH3-temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD) in order to investigate the influence of supports on their catalytic performance. It was found that both the BET surface area and the acidity of the support are key factors in the catalytic performance. Moreover, reaction parameters including temperature, hydrogen pressure and liquid hourly space velocity were optimized. Under optimal conditions, a 73.3 % conversion of ethylenediamine and a 71.2 % selectivity of N-ethylethylenediamine were achieved. Finally, the lifetime of the catalysts was evaluated and the reaction proceeded continuously for over 200 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elemental content of fish scales is known to be a reliable biogeochemical tag for tracing the origin of fishes. In this study, this correlation is further confirmed to exist on the surface of fish scales using a novel environmental analytical method, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), which bypasses several complicated sample preparation procedures such as acid digestion and pre-concentration. The results suggest that the elemental ratios of Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, and Mn/Ca on the surface of fish scales are strongly correlated with the geochemical environment of their original habitat. This correlation is further demonstrated to be sensitive to variation of water in the habitat due to the adsorbed inorganic ions. In this sense, the limitation of fish scales as a biogeochemical tag is the sensitivity of LA-ICP-MS toward the studied elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vibrating electrode method was proposed in the electro-slag remelting (ESR) process in this paper, and the effect of vibrating electrode on the solidification structure of ingot was studied. A transient threedimensional (3D) coupled mathematical model was established to simulate the electromagnetic phenomenon, fluid flow as well as pool shape in the ESR process with the vibrating electrode. The finite element volume method is developed to solve the electromagnetic field using ANSYS mechanical APDL software. Moreover, the electromagnetic force and Joule heating are interpolated as the source term of the momentum and energy equations. The multi-physical fields have been investigated and compared between the traditional electrode and the vibrating electrode in the ESR process. The results show that the drop process of metal droplets with the traditional electrode is scattered randomly. However, the drop process of metal droplets with the vibrating electrode is periodic. The highest temperature of slag layer with the vibrating electrode is higher than that with the traditional electrode, which can increase the melting rate due to the enhanced heat transfer in the vicinity of the electrode tip. The results also show that when the amplitude and frequency of the vibrating electrode increase, the cycle of drop process of metal droplets decreases significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of N doping on the crystal structure, electronic, and optical properties of α-Bi2O3 and β-Bi2O3 has been studied in detail based with first principle calculations. The crystallographic features of Bi2O3 polymorphs are not substantially changed through N doping, whereas charge transfer from Bi to N results in large variations of charge density distribution. N-doped β-Bi2O3 exhibits improved thermal stability due to stronger Bi-N covalent bonds and lower defect formation energy, and the convenient preparative access agrees well with experimental observations. Calculated band structures and optical properties indicate that N doping does not induce major band gap narrowing, but leads to the presence of isolated bands above the VBM induced by N 2p for both α-Bi2O3 and β-Bi2O3 which induce large red-shifts of their visible light absoprtion properties. These isolated bands act as acceptor levels and facilitate electron transition under visible light illumination through introduction of steps between VB and CB, thereby rendering the materials quite promising for photocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly developed high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method allowed for the differentiation of QiYi capsules from 10 batches due to their characteristic fingerprints, proving to be a well-suited method for characterization and assignment of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) preparation. The method was validated for repeatability, intra-precision, and inter-precision. The result was acceptable, with the reference of myotonin, because relative standard deviation (% RSD) was 3.9% in reproducibility test and less than 3.44% in inter- or intra-plate precisions. HPTLC fingerprinting of the extracts showed several peaks with different RF values. Eleven peaks were selected as the common peaks to evaluate the similarities of 10 different samples with RF values ranging from 0.10 to 0.87 according to fingerprint. The similarities of 10 batches of QiYi capsules were more than 0.940; it indicated that the different batches of QiYi capsules were stable and reliable in quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was to explore whether auricular acupressure (AA) can relieve anxiety during the period from trans-vaginal oocyte retrieval to the embryo transfer in IVF treatment and whether AA can improve the outcomes of IVF. 305 infertile patients with tubal blockage who were referred for IVF were included. The women were randomized into a control group with 102 cases, a Sham-AA group with 102 cases and an AA group with 101 cases. The anxiety levels were rated with Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale. Data of clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), implantation rate (IR) and live birth rate (LBR) were obtained. The levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) in the follicular fluids were detected with ELISA. After treatment, in AA group, the levels of state anxiety, preoperative anxiety and need-for-information were significantly lower, whereas CPR, IR, LBR and NPY levels in the follicular fluids were markedly higher than Sham-AA group and control group. We concluded that AA could help to reduce anxiety levels associated with IVF and improves the outcomes of IVF partly through increasing the levels of NPY in the follicular fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in situ TLC/FTIR technique has tremendous potential in the analysis of complex mixtures, the conventional stationary phase, such as silica gel, used for TLC/FTIR analysis, has strong absorption in IR region and thus brings about severe interference in the obtained FTIR spectra of the separated samples. In this work, we propose to use lanthanum fluoride fine particles as a new stationary phase of a TLC plate. The average size of LaF3 particles is around 100 nm. FTIR spectrum of the LaF3 particles has no interfering absorption. Preliminary TLC experiments show that mixtures of rhodamine B and methylene blue mixture can be successfully separated by this new TLC plate using LaF3 fine particles as a stationary phase. Methylene blue and rhodamine B from separated spot can be clearly detected by using in situ FTIR spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have designed a novel hybrid nanostructure by coating Fe2O3 nanoparticles with multi-walled carbon nanotubes to enhance the lithium storage capability of Fe2O3. The strategy to prepare Fe2O3@MWCNTs involves the synthesis of Fe nanoparticles wrapped in MWCNTs, followed by the oxidation of Fe nanoparticles under carbon dioxide. When used as the anode in a Li-ion battery, this hybrid material (70.32 wt% carbon nanotubes, 29.68 wt% Fe2O3) showed a reversible discharge capacity of 515 mAhg-1 after 50 cycles at a density of 100 mAg-1 and the capacity based on Fe2O3 nanoparticles was calculated as 1147 mAhg-1, Three factors are responsibile for the superior performance: (1) The hollow interiors of MWCNTs provide enough spaces for the accommodation of large volume expansion of inner Fe2O3 nanoparticles, which can improving the stability of electrode; (2) The MWCNTs increase the overall conductivity of the anode; (3) A stable solid electrolyte interface film formed on the surface of MWCNTs may reduce capacity fading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]