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The secondary mining movement in non-pillar coal extraction causes significant overrun damage to flexible formwork concrete walls, leading to extensive deformation of roadway roof and bottom plates. This adversely affects working face efficiency and safety. The engineering context focuses on the non-pillar gob-side retaining walls in the 1315 working face of Zhaozhuang Coal Mine and the 23107 working face of Xiegou Coal Mine. Through on-site investigation, numerical simulation, theoretical analysis, and testing, we explore the stress migration law and destabilizing mechanism of the flexible formwork concrete wall influenced by the secondary mining movement of the coal-free pillar along the hollow wall. The research results showed that: (1) During the mining back process, the concrete wall formed with flexible formwork may experience stress concentration, leading to excessive damage and compromising mining safety. (2) Developing a predictive stress model for the concrete wall with flexible formwork is essential. If the stress surpasses the ultimate compressive strength during mining back, reinforcement becomes necessary.3) The length of damage overrun in the flexible formwork concrete wall exhibits two distinct stages as the distance back to mining increases. The first stage shows nearly linear growth, while the second stage indicates a decreasing growth rate, ultimately stabilizing. The application of Z6 concrete reinforcing agent effectively strengthens the flexible formwork concrete wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From June 2008 to August 2013, approximately 67 kt of CO2 was injected into a deep saline formation at the Ketzin pilot CO2 storage site. During injection, 3D seismic surveys have been performed to monitor the migration of sequestered CO2. Seismic monitoring results are limited by the acquisition and signal-to-noise ratio of the acquired data. The multiphysical reservoir simulation provides information regarding the CO2 fluid behavior, and the approximated model should be calibrated with the monitoring results. In this work, property models are delivered from the multiphysical model during 3D repeated seismic surveys. The simulated seismic data based on the models are compared with the real data, and the results validate the effectiveness of the multiphysical inversion method. Time-lapse analysis shows the trend of CO2 migration during and after injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the predictive value of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) in differentiating small-duct (SD) and large-duct (LD) types of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 110 patients with pathologically confirmed ICC lesions who were subject to preoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) examinations between January 2022 and February 2023. Patients were further classified according to the subtype: SD-type and LD-type, and an optimal predictive model was established and validated using the above pilot cohort. The test cohort, consisting of 48 patients prospectively enrolled from March 2023 to September 2023, was evaluated. Results: In the pilot cohort, compared with SD-type ICCs, more LD-type ICCs showed elevated carcinoembryonic antigen (p < 0.001), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (p = 0.004), ill-defined margin (p = 0.018), intrahepatic bile duct dilation (p < 0.001). Among DCE-US quantitative parameters, the wash-out area under the curve (WoAUC), wash-in and wash-out area under the curve (WiWoAUC), and fall time (FT) at the margin of lesions were higher in the SD-type group (all p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the mean transit time (mTT) and wash-out rate (WoR) at the margin of the lesion were higher in the LD-type group (p = 0.041 and 0.007, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that intrahepatic bile duct dilation, mTT, and WoR were significant predictive factors for predicting ICC subtypes, and the AUC of the predictive model achieved 0.833 in the test cohort. Conclusions: Preoperative DCE-US has the potential to become a novel complementary method for predicting the pathological subtype of ICC. Critical relevance statement: DCE-US has the potential to assess the subtypes of ICC lesions quantitatively and preoperatively, which allows for more accurate and objective differential diagnoses, and more appropriate treatments and follow-up or additional examination strategies for the two subtypes. Key Points: Preoperative determination of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) subtype aids in surgical decision-making. Quantitative parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced US (DCE-US) allow for the prediction of the ICC subtype. DCE-US-based imaging has the potential to become a novel complementary method for predicting ICC subtypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In order to ensure adequate radiation protection of critical groups such as staff, caregivers and the general public coming into proximity of nuclear medicine (NM) patients, it is necessary to consider the impact of the radiation emitted by the patients during their stay at the hospital or after leaving the hospital. Current risk assessments are based on ambient dose rate measurements in a single position at a specified distance from the patient and carried out at several time points after administration of the radiopharmaceutical to estimate the whole-body retention. The limitations of such an approach are addressed in this study by developing and validating a more advanced computational dosimetry approach using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in combination with flexible and realistic computational phantoms and time activity distribution curves from reference biokinetic models. Results: Measurements of the ambient dose rate equivalent Ḣ*(10) at 1 m from the NM patient have been successfully compared against MC simulations with 5 different codes using the ICRP adult reference computational voxel phantoms, for typical clinical procedures with 99mTc-HDP/MDP, 18FDG and Na131I. All measurement data fall in the 95% confidence intervals, determined for the average simulated results. Moreover, the different MC codes (MCNP-X, PHITS, GATE, GEANT4, TRIPOLI-4®) have been compared for a more realistic scenario where the effective dose rate Ė of an exposed individual was determined in positions facing and aside the patient model at 30 cm, 50 cm and 100 cm. The variation between codes was lower than 8% for all the radiopharmaceuticals at 1 m, and varied from 5 to 16% for the face-to face and side-by-side configuration at 30 cm and 50 cm. A sensitivity study on the influence of patient model morphology demonstrated that the relative standard deviation of Ḣ*(10) at 1 m for the range of included patient models remained under 16% for time points up to 120 min post administration. Conclusions: The validated computational approach will be further used for the evaluation of effective dose rates per unit administered activity for a variety of close-contact configurations and a range of radiopharmaceuticals as part of risk assessment studies. Together with the choice of appropriate dose constraints this would facilitate the setting of release criteria and patient restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop a multi-parameter intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) scoring system and compare its diagnostic performance with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) liver imaging reporting and data system M (LR-M) criteria for differentiating ICC from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 62 high-risk patients with ICCs and 62 high-risk patients with matched HCCs between January 2022 and December 2022 from two institutions. The CEUS LR-M criteria was modified by adjusting the early wash-out onset (within 45 s) and the marked wash-out (within 3 min). Then, a multi-parameter ICC scoring system was established based on clinical features, B-mode ultrasound features, and modified LR-M criteria. Result: We found that elevated CA 19-9 (OR=12.647), lesion boundary (OR=11.601), peripheral rim-like arterial phase hyperenhancement (OR=23.654), early wash-out onset (OR=7.211), and marked wash-out (OR=19.605) were positive predictors of ICC, whereas elevated alpha-fetoprotein (OR=0.078) was a negative predictor. Based on these findings, an ICC scoring system was established. Compared with the modified LR-M and LR-M criteria, the ICC scoring system showed the highest area under the curve (0.911 vs. 0.831 and 0.750, both p<0.05) and specificity (0.935 vs. 0.774 and 0.565, both p<0.05). Moreover, the numbers of HCCs categorized as LR-M decreased from 27 (43.5%) to 14 (22.6%) and 4 (6.5%) using the modified LR-M criteria and ICC scoring system, respectively. Conclusion: The modified LR-M criteria-based multi-parameter ICC scoring system had the highest specificity for diagnosing ICC and reduced the number of HCC cases diagnosed as LR-M category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the clinical value of pre-treatment quantitative contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in assessing the response of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) to chemotherapy plus targeted therapy. Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 50 CRLM patients from the Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University as the training cohort and 14 patients from Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital as the testing cohort. Patients underwent the CEUS examination before receiving chemotherapy (CAPOX, FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, or FOLFOXIRI) plus targeted therapy (Bevacizumab or Cetuximab). The therapy response was determined according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 based on pre-treatment CT and 3-month follow-up CT after therapy. Dynamic analysis was performed by VueBox® software. Time-intensity curves with quantitative perfusion parameters were obtained. In the training cohort, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to develop the predictive model of therapy response. The predictive performance of the developed model was validated in the testing cohort. Results: After the logistic regression analyses, the peak enhancement (PE) (odds ratio = 1.640; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.022–2.633) and time to peak (TTP) (odds ratio = 0.495; 95% CI 0.246–0.996) were determined as independent predictive factors. PE and TTP generated from VueBox® were not affected by ultrasound instruments and contrast agent dosage in therapy response evaluation (P > 0.05). The logistic regression model achieved satisfactory prediction performance (area under the curve: 0.923 in the training cohort and 0.854 in the testing cohort). Conclusion: CEUS with dynamic quantitative perfusion analysis, which presents high consistency, has potential practical value in predicting the response of CRLM to chemotherapy plus targeted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of machine learning (ML)–based ultrasound (US) radiomics models for risk stratification of gallbladder (GB) masses. Methods: We prospectively examined 640 pathologically confirmed GB masses obtained from 640 patients between August 2019 and October 2022 at four institutions. Radiomics features were extracted from grayscale US images and germane features were selected. Subsequently, 11 ML algorithms were separately used with the selected features to construct optimum US radiomics models for risk stratification of the GB masses. Furthermore, we compared the diagnostic performance of these models with the conventional US and contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) models. Results: The optimal XGBoost-based US radiomics model for discriminating neoplastic from non-neoplastic GB lesions showed higher diagnostic performance in terms of areas under the curves (AUCs) than the conventional US model (0.822–0.853 vs. 0.642–0.706, p < 0.05) and potentially decreased unnecessary cholecystectomy rate in a speculative comparison with performing cholecystectomy for lesions sized over 10 mm (2.7–13.8% vs. 53.6–64.9%, p < 0.05) in the validation and test sets. The AUCs of the XGBoost-based US radiomics model for discriminating carcinomas from benign GB lesions were higher than the conventional US model (0.904–0.979 vs. 0.706–0.766, p < 0.05). The XGBoost-US radiomics model performed better than the CEUS model in discriminating GB carcinomas (AUC: 0.995 vs. 0.902, p = 0.011). Conclusions: The proposed ML-based US radiomics models possess the potential capacity for risk stratification of GB masses and may reduce the unnecessary cholecystectomy rate and use of CEUS. Clinical relevance statement: The machine learning-based ultrasound radiomics models have potential for risk stratification of gallbladder masses and may potentially reduce unnecessary cholecystectomies. Key Points: • The XGBoost-based US radiomics models are useful for the risk stratification of GB masses. • The XGBoost-based US radiomics model is superior to the conventional US model for discriminating neoplastic from non-neoplastic GB lesions and may potentially decrease unnecessary cholecystectomy rate for lesions sized over 10 mm in comparison with the current consensus guideline. • The XGBoost-based US radiomics model could overmatch CEUS model in discriminating GB carcinomas from benign GB lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal erosion is one of the important factors causing geological disasters. The microstructure of soil can change with seepage erosion, resulting in changes in the hydraulic and mechanical properties of the soil. The evolution of seepage erosion is investigated with X-ray computed tomography (CT) in this study. The change in macropore structure characteristics during the seepage erosion test is quantified and the influence of seepage erosion on soil deformation is analyzed. Moreover, a pore network model (PNM) is established for the specimens and the evolution of the connected pore size characteristics is assessed. The results show that the macropore structure is significantly affected by seepage erosion, especially in terms of the porosity and pore geometry characteristics. The changes in macropore structure characteristics are most obvious in the lower part of the specimen. The influence of seepage erosion on the pore size distribution (PSD) and soil deformation is heterogeneous and closely dependent on the spatial location of the soil. Moreover, seepage erosion enhances macropore connectivity and has a directional impact on macropore orientation. These findings can provide a reference for the theoretical modeling and numerical simulation of the seepage erosion and improve the understanding of the seepage erosion evolution in engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new types of acoustic insulation facilities, namely, full-enclosed (FEAB), bilateral-inverted-L-shaped (BILSAB), and inverted-L-shaped (ILSAB) acoustic barriers, are gradually receiving application along high-speed railways. A moving high-speed train (HST) may induce a nonlinear aerodynamic impact on the acoustic barrier. The HST may also experience a rapid change in its aerodynamic loads, reducing its stability and causing discomfort to passengers. Hence, nonlinear aerodynamic effects of three new types of high-speed railway acoustic insulation facilities when an HST passes by are compared based on model experiments and improved delayed detached eddy simulations (IDDES). Results show that: (i) When a HST runs at 350 km/h, the coefficient of pressure difference on the FEAB is 5.64 and 8.78 times higher than in the BILSAB and ILSAB, respectively. (ii) The amplitude of drag force coefficient of the head car when entering the FEAB is 2.80 and 2.95 times that of the BILSAB and ILSAB, respectively. The amplitude of lift coefficient of the tail car when running through the BILSAB is 1.27 and 1.37 times that of the FEAB and ILSAB. The amplitude of side force coefficient of the tail car when running through the ILSAB is 1.18 and 1.24 times that of the FEAB and BILSAB. (iii) For the tail car, the standard deviation of Cx when running inside the FEAB is 2.18 and 2.15 times that of the BILSAB and ILSAB, respectively. The standard deviation of Cy when running inside the FEAB is 1.42 and 1.51 times that of the BILSAB and ILSAB, respectively. The standard deviation of Cy when running inside the FEAB is 1.48 and 1.15 times that of the BILSAB and ILSAB, respectively. The results of this research may provide reference value for optimizing the structural patterns and improving the train's operating stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemistry-enabled rhodium-catalyzed C–H amination and amination cyclization of arene assisted by a weakly coordinating amide have been reported. Additionally, aryl amines and dihydroquinazolinones could be obtained selectively by controlling the electric current. Mechanistic studies suggested that the amination reaction likely involves an electrochemical oxidation-induced reductive elimination of a high valent rhodium intermediate, which led to the amination reaction even proceeding smoothly at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare the outcomes of blunt splenic injuries (BSI) managed with proximal (P) versus distal (D) versus combined (C) splenic artery embolization (SAE). Methods: This retrospective study included patients with BSI who demonstrated vascular injuries on angiograms and were managed with SAE between 2001 and 2015. The success rate and major complications (Clavien–Dindo classification ≥ III) were compared between the P, D, and C embolizations. Results: In total, 202 patients were enrolled (P, n = 64, 31.7%; D, n = 84, 41.6%; C, n = 54, 26.7%). The median injury severity score was 25. The median times from injury to SAE were 8.3, 7.0, and 6.6 h for the P, D, and C embolization, respectively. The overall haemostasis success rates were 92.6%, 93.8%, 88.1%, and 98.1% in the P, D, and C embolizations, respectively, with no significant difference (p = 0.079). Additionally, the outcomes were not significantly different between the different types of vascular injuries on angiograms or the materials used in the location of embolization. Splenic abscess occurred in six patients (P, n = 0; D, n = 5; C, n = 1), although it occurred more commonly in those who underwent D embolization with no significant difference (p = 0.092). Conclusions: The success rate and major complications of SAE were not significantly different regardless of the location of embolization. The different types of vascular injuries on angiograms and agents used in different embolization locations also did not affect the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interbedded rock layers are a typical geological structure in coal measures. In underground mining practices, the disturbance resulting from the extraction of long-wall panels changes the loading rate of roof–coal structures. To investigate the mechanical behavior and failure characteristics of roof–coal structures under different loading rates, composite coal–rock specimens with a height ratio of 1:1 was prepared and loaded under uniaxial compressive conditions with different loading rates. Acoustic emission signals and the deformation process of sandstone and coal were monitored. The fracture morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the mean diameter of debris (da) was calculated to quantitatively evaluate the fragmentation. It is found that the sensitivity of the mechanical behavior to heterogeneity tends to decrease with the loading rate. The higher the loading rate, the less likely localized failure occurs in the pre-peak stage, the smoother the axial stress–axial strain curves before peak stress, and the greater the uniaxial compressive strength and Young's modulus. The higher the loading rate, the more brittle the post-peak behavior and the severer the damage of the coal sample at the final loading stage. The coal sample tends to fail through intragranular cracking under a high load rate and intergranular cracking under a low loading rate. The sandstone sample exhibits deformation rebounding in the post-peak stage, providing direct evidence of energy transition from strain energy stored in the sandstone to cracking energy of the coal sample during coal failure. The higher the loading rate, the greater the rebounding speed of the sandstone, leading to severer damage to the coal sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-altitude hypoxic environment exposure is considered one of the risk factors for congenital heart disease (CHD), but the genetic factors involved are still unclear. CCN1, one of the synergistic molecules in the hypoxic response, is also an indispensable molecule in cardiac development. Considering that CCN1 may play an important role in the occurrence of CHD in high-altitude areas, we investigated the association between CCN1 polymorphisms and CHD susceptibility in Northwest Chinese population from different high-altitude areas. We conducted a case-control study with a total of 395 CHD cases and 486 controls to evaluate the associations of CCN1 polymorphisms with CHD risk. Our results showed that the protective alleles rs3753793-C (OR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.42–0.81, P = 0.001), rs2297141-A (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49–0.90, P = 0.001), and C-A haplotype of rs3753793-rs2297141 (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.42–0.82, P = 0.002) were significantly associated with a decreased atrial septal defect (ASD) risk. Further subgroup analysis in different geography populations revealed robust association of SNP rs2297141 with ASD risk in a Han population residing in high altitude of 2500–4287 m. We also found that the frequency of protective alleles was higher in high-altitude population, and the alleles were responsible for the difference of oxygen physiology–related erythrocyte parameters in different high-altitude populations. rs3753793-C and rs2297141-A are likely related to high altitude and hypoxia adaptation, which may also be the reason for the association between CCN1 polymorphism and ASD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we propose an optical hybrid encryption scheme based on compressive temporal ghost imaging. This scheme combines the asymmetric of the public key cryptography and the non-linear of ghost imaging. First, according to the principle of temporal ghost image encryption, the chaotic modulation pattern is used as the key to encrypt the plaintext information, and then the chaotic pattern is encrypted by the public key cryptography. Then, only the authorized receiver can decrypt the chaotic pattern with the private key. Finally, the plaintext can be decrypted with the compressive sensing algorithm. This scheme solves the problem of key distribution in traditional ghost imaging encryption scheme. At the same time, the application of public key cryptography reduces the cost of establishing private channels and enhances the security of the system. In addition, feasibility, security, and robustness of the scheme were verified by simulation. This scheme has the advantages of high quality, high safety, wide applicability and low cost, which can immediately be applied to encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most prevalent chronic liver disease in the world, however, no drug treatment has been approved for this disease. Thus, it is urgent to find effective therapeutic targets for clinical intervention. In this study, we find that liver-specific knockout of PPDPF (PPDPF-LKO) leads to spontaneous fatty liver formation in a mouse model at 32 weeks of age on chow diets, which is enhanced by HFD. Mechanistic study reveals that PPDPF negatively regulates mTORC1-S6K-SREBP1 signaling. PPDPF interferes with the interaction between Raptor and CUL4B-DDB1, an E3 ligase complex, which prevents ubiquitination and activation of Raptor. Accordingly, liver-specific PPDPF overexpression effectively inhibits HFD-induced mTOR signaling activation and hepatic steatosis in mice. These results suggest that PPDPF is a regulator of mTORC1 signaling in lipid metabolism, and may be a potential therapeutic candidate for NAFLD. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a prevalent chronic liver disease, however, drugs to treat this disease are still lacking. Here, the authors show that PPDPF inhibits the development of hepatic steatosis by negatively regulating mTORC1-S6K-SREBP1 signaling, which provides a potential therapeutic candidate for NAFLD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-Pyridones and α-pyrones are ubiquitous structural motifs found in natural products and biologically active small molecules. Here, we report an Rh-catalyzed electrochemical vinylic C–H annulation of acrylamides with alkynes, affording cyclic products in good to excellent yield. Divergent syntheses of α-pyridones and cyclic imidates are accomplished by employing N-phenyl acrylamides and N-tosyl acrylamides as substrates, respectively. Additionally, excellent regioselectivities are achieved when using unsymmetrical alkynes. This electrochemical process is environmentally benign compared to traditional transition metal-catalyzed C–H annulations because it avoids the use of stoichiometric metal oxidants. DFT calculations elucidated the reaction mechanism and origins of substituent-controlled chemoselectivity. The sequential C–H activation and alkyne insertion under rhodium catalysis leads to the seven-membered ring vinyl-rhodium intermediate. This intermediate undergoes either the classic neutral concerted reductive elimination to produce α-pyridones, or the ionic stepwise pathway to produce cyclic imidates. α-Pyridones and α-pyrones are ubiquitous structural motifs found in natural products and components of biologically active small molecules. Here, the authors report an oxidant-free Rh-catalyzed electrochemical divergent vinylic C–H annulation of acrylamides with alkynes to α-pyridones and cyclic imidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational design based on a deep understanding of the present reaction mechanism is an important, viable approach to discover new organic transformations. β-Hydrogen elimination from palladium complexes is a fundamental reaction in palladium catalysis. Normally, the eliminated β-hydrogen has to be attached to a sp3-carbon. We envision that the hydrogen elimination from sp2-carbon is possible by using thoroughly designed reaction systems, which may offer a new strategy for the preparation of allenes. Here, we describe a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of 2,2-diarylvinyl bromides and diazo compounds, where a β-vinylic hydrogen elimination from allylic palladium intermediate is proposed to be the key step. Both aryl diazo carbonyl compounds and N-tosylhydrazones are competent carbene precursors in this reaction. The reaction mechanism is explored by control experiments, KIE studies and DFT calculations. β-Hydrogen elimination is a fundamental reaction in palladium catalysis, however, the eliminated β-hydrogen is usually attached to a sp3-carbon. Here, the authors report a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction involving a β-vinylic hydrogen elimination from an allylic palladium intermediate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a pivotal role in the development of myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of lncRNA actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) on cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression levels of AFAP1-AS1, miR-512-3p, and reticulon 3 (RTN3) in rat model of I/R. The simulated MI environment was constructed. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to detect changes in cardiomyocyte viability and cell cycle/apoptosis after MI by AFAP1-AS1 silencing or RTN3 silencing. The targeting relationship of miR-512-3p and AFAP1-AS1 and RTN3 in cardiomyocytes was verified by dual luciferase reporter assay. The expression levels of AFAP1-AS1 and RTN3 were significantly upregulated in a rat model of LAD ligation (or MI) ligation, while the expression level of miR-512-3p was significantly reduced. Overexpressed AFAP1-AS1 and RTN3 promoted cardiomyocyte apoptosis and inhibited cardiomyocyte proliferation. MiR-512-3p was a direct target of AFAP1-AS1, and RTN3 was a direct target of miR-512-3p. AFAP1-AS1 promoted the progression of MI by targeting miR-512-3p. AFAP1-AS1 promoted the progression of MI by modulating the miR-512-3p/RTN3 axis. AFAP1-AS1 may be a potential therapy target for MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Nitrogen (N)-induced declines in species richness can be offset by grazing via the suppression of dominant species to increase ground-level light. However, it is not known whether grazing-mediated locally colonized species correspond to N-induced locally extinct species with regard to taxonomy or traits. Data from 11 years of N addition and winter grazing experiments were analyzed to assess species richness dynamics at community and functional group levels. Regarding N treatments, enclosure and N addition were performed during the first 7 years and were then followed by winter grazing with continuous N addition during the next 4 years. Additionally, all treatments were used to compare N-induced local species extinction and grazing-mediated local species colonization. Then, traits of N-induced locally extinct species and grazing-mediated locally colonized species were further correlated with plant traits. We found that N addition induced a decline in plant species richness as a result of both random and non-random species losses. The lost species were closely associated with traits, including low height, non-clonality, low special leaf area (SLA), and low leaf N concentrations, which are relevant to light capture capacity. In contrast, grazing promoted the random colonization of local rare species, thus offsetting the N-induced decline of species richness. However, non-randomly lost species were not rescued by grazing. Grazing-mediated locally colonized species were generally characterized by high leaf carbon (C) concentrations, SLA, and seed mass. Our study provides experimental evidence indicating although grazing offsets N-induced species reduction, shifts in species composition and traits could cause a divergence in ecosystem function facing anthropogenic alterations to nutrient cycles and grazing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LXYL-P1-2 is one of the few xylosidases that efficiently catalyze the reaction from 7-β-xylosyl-10-deacetyltaxol (XDT) to 10-deacetyltaxol (DT), and is a potential enzyme used in Taxol industrial production. Here we report the crystal structure of LXYL-P1-2 and its XDT binding complex. These structures reveal an enzyme/product complex with the sugar conformation different from the enzyme/substrate complex reported previously in GH3 enzymes, even in the whole glycohydrolases family. In addition, the DT binding pocket is identified as the structural basis for the substrate specificity. Further structure analysis reveals common features in LXYL-P1-2 and Taxol binding protein tubulin, which might provide useful information for designing new Taxol carrier proteins for drug delivery. Yang, Chen et al. report crystallographic structures of GH3 beta-glucosidase LXYL-P1-2 that converts XDT into DT, a precursor for an anticancer drug taxol, and the complex of LXYL-P1-2 with XDT. This study provides insight into the catalytic mechanism for GH3 enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roof step subsidence and support crushing accidents caused by the sliding instability of fractured single key stratum often occur in shallow coal seam (SCS). For this reason, the exploration of fracture displacement laws and control mechanism of key stratum in thin-topsoil SCS is of great significance for both roof control and safety production. From this perspective, in this study, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis were conducted to establish a mechanical model of the key stratum structure after sliding instability in thin-topsoil SCS. Moreover, its instability characteristics and re-stabilization control mechanism were analyzed. The results revealed that the fractured key stratum block could reach re-stabilization without any support crushing after sliding instability in thin-topsoil SCS depending on the significant unloading effect of the topsoil. The mechanical model of the key stratum structure after sliding instability was also analyzed to obtain the criterion for the re-stabilization of the sliding instable rock block. The computational analysis corroborated that increasing the support intensity could promote the re-stabilization of fractured key stratum block after sliding instability, and the required support working resistance could be obtained for preventing support crushing incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of congenital heart disease (CHD) is a complicated process and affected by multiple environmental factors, as genetic factors, and the interactions among those factors. Previous studies have shown that intrauterine hypoxic environment exposure is a risk factor of CHD, but the genetic factors involved in the process are not clear. In this study, given that tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a CHD with hypoxemia as its primary pathophysiological manifestation, an in silico analysis was performed to reveal the relationship between potential target genes (miR-124) with the energy metabolism in non-syndromic TOF patients' cardiomyocyte. Furthermore, the study investigated the correlation between the primary miR-124 (rs531564) polymorphism and CHD susceptibility in 432 sporadic patients and 450 controls from two different altitude provinces (city) in China. Our study indicated that the minor C allele of rs531564 correlated with reduced risk of CHD in the low altitude city. Besides, the C allele has elevated frequency in the high-altitude group. Therefore, our findings suggest that the minor C allele of rs531564 SNP may be involved in the reduction of the risk of CHD in a way that interacts with the intrauterine hypoxic environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metformin (MET), an antidiabetic agent, also has antioxidative effects in metabolic-related hypertension. This study was designed to determine whether MET has anti-hypertensive effects in salt-sensitive hypertensive rats by inhibiting oxidative stress in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Salt-sensitive rats received a high-salt (HS) diet to induce hypertension, or a normal-salt (NS) diet as control. At the same time, they received intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of MET or vehicle for 6 weeks. We found that HS rats had higher oxidative stress levels and mean arterial pressure (MAP) than NS rats. ICV infusion of MET attenuated MAP and reduced plasma norepinephrine levels in HS rats. It also decreased reactive oxygen species and the expression of subunits of NAD(P)H oxidase, improved the superoxide dismutase activity, reduced components of the renin-angiotensin system, and altered neurotransmitters in the PVN. Our findings suggest that central MET administration lowers MAP in salt-sensitive hypertension via attenuating oxidative stress, inhibiting the renin-angiotensin system, and restoring the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the PVN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7) is an important biologically-active peptide of the renin-angiotensin system. This study was designed to determine whether inhibition of Ang-(1-7) in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) attenuates sympathetic activity and elevates blood pressure by modulating pro-inflammatory cytokines (PICs) and oxidative stress in the PVN in salt-induced hypertension. Rats were fed either a high-salt (8% NaCl) or a normal salt diet (0.3% NaCl) for 10 weeks, followed by bilateral microinjections of the Ang-(1-7) antagonist A-779 or vehicle into the PVN. We found that the mean arterial pressure (MAP), renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), and plasma norepinephrine (NE) were significantly increased in salt-induced hypertensive rats. The high-salt diet also resulted in higher levels of the PICs interleukin-6, interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1, as well as higher gp91phox expression and superoxide production in the PVN. Microinjection of A-779 (3 nmol/50 nL) into the bilateral PVN of hypertensive rats not only attenuated MAP, RSNA, and NE, but also decreased the PICs and oxidative stress in the PVN. These results suggest that the increased MAP and sympathetic activity in salt-induced hypertension can be suppressed by blockade of endogenous Ang-(1-7) in the PVN, through modulation of PICs and oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroxy-aluminum pillared Na-montmorillonite(OH-Al-MT) was prepared for studying sorption of U(VI) in the existence of soluble calcium (Ca2+), carbonate ion (CO32−) and humic acid. Various characterizations confirm that hydroxy-aluminum was successfully pillared into Na-montmorillonite (Na-MT). The effects of pH, concentration of Ca2+ and CO32− as well as HA on the sorption capacity of Na-MT and OH-Al-MT for U(VI) has been investigated by batch experiments. Additionally, the kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics of adsorption of U(VI) were discussed in detailed. The study indicates that OH-Al-MT can be a potentially promising low-cost adsorbent for removal of U(VI) in wastewaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are the important components of alpine meadow ecosystems. The extent and morphology of BSCs vary greatly with alpine meadow retrogressive succession due to grazing pressure. There is significant interest in impacts of crust composition on plant seed germination, especially in (semi-) arid environments. However, little is known about the influences of BSCs, and their associations with alpine meadow succession, on germination of typical alpine meadow vascular plant species. In a full factorial common-garden experiment, we studied effects of: (1) crust type, (2) seed position, and (3) surface texture on seed germination. We chose three typical alpine meadow plant species (i.e. Poa pratensis, Tibetia himalaica and Potentillen nivea), which belonged to different functional groups (graminoids, legumes, and forbs) and play important roles in all alpine meadow succession stages. Crust type and seed position influenced seed germination, and the inhibitory effects of BSCs depended on the crust type and seed species tested. The major factors influencing seed germination were BSC type, seed position, soil texture, and the interactions between BSC type and seed position; species and seed position; species and surface texture; and species, crust type, and surface texture. Cyanobacteria crust significantly inhibited germination of all seeds. Seed position also had a significant effect on seed germination ( p < 0.001). Fewer seedlings germinated on the surface than below the surface, this was especially true for P. nivea. seeds within cyanobacteria and lichen crusts. Only germination rates of T. himalaica on the soil surface were significantly correlated with plant occurrence frequency within the alpine meadow community. The poor correlation for the other two species is possibly that they are perennials. Our results clearly demonstrated that BSCs can be biological filters during seed germination, depending on the BSC succession stage. Through their influences on seed germination, BSCs can strongly influence community assemblages throughout alpine meadow retrogressive succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimate of soil carbon storage is essential to reveal the role of soil in global carbon cycle. However, there is large uncertainty on the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in grassland among previous studies, and the study on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) is still lack. We surveyed 153 sites during plant peak growing season and estimated SOC and SIC for temperate desert, temperate steppe, alpine steppe, steppe meadow, alpine meadow and swamp, which covered main grassland in the Qinghai Plateau during 2011 to 2012. The results showed that the vertical and spatial distributions of SOC and SIC varied by grassland types. The SOC amount mainly decreased from southeast to northwest, whereas the SIC amount increased from southeast to northwest. The magnitude of SOC amount in the top 50 cm across grassland types ranked by: swamp > alpine meadow > steppe meadow > temperate steppe > alpine steppe > temperate desert, while the SIC amount showed an opposite order. There was a great deal of variation in proportion of SOC and SIC among different grassland types (from 55.17 to 94.59 for SOC and 5.14 to 44.83 for SIC). The total SOC and SIC storage was 5.78 Pg and 1.37 Pg, respectively, in the top 50 cm of soil in Qinghai Province. The mixed linear model revealed that grassland types was the predominant factor in spatial variations of SOC amount while grassland types and soil pH accounted for those of SIC amount. Our results suggested that the community shift of alpine meadow towards alpine grassland induced by climate warming would decrease carbon sequestration capacity by 6.0 kg C m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid cloud integrates private clouds and public clouds into one unified environment. For the economy and the efficiency reasons, the hybrid cloud environment should be able to automatically maximize the utilization rate of the private cloud and minimize the cost of the public cloud when users submit their computing jobs to the environment. In this paper, we propose the Adaptive-Scheduling-with-QoS-Satisfaction algorithm, namely AsQ, for the hybrid cloud environment to raise the resource utilization rate of the private cloud and to diminish task response time as much as possible. We exploit runtime estimation and several fast scheduling strategies for near-optimal resource allocation, which results in high resource utilization rate and low execution time in the private cloud. Moreover, the near-optimal allocation in the private cloud can reduce the amount of tasks that need to be executed on the public cloud to satisfy their deadline. For the tasks that have to be dispatched to the public cloud, we choose the minimal cost strategy to reduce the cost of using public clouds based on the characteristics of tasks such as workload size and data size. Therefore, the AsQ can achieve a total optimization regarding cost and deadline constraints. Many experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed AsQ. The results show that the performance of the proposed AsQ is superior to recent similar algorithms in terms of task waiting time, task execution time and task finish time. The results also show that the proposed algorithm achieves a better QoS satisfaction rate than other similar studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is one of the principal natural hosts of influenza A viruses. We present the duck genome sequence and perform deep transcriptome analyses to investigate immune-related genes. Our data indicate that the duck possesses a contractive immune gene repertoire, as in chicken and zebra finch, and this repertoire has been shaped through lineage-specific duplications. We identify genes that are responsive to influenza A viruses using the lung transcriptomes of control ducks and ones that were infected with either a highly pathogenic (A/duck/Hubei/49/05) or a weakly pathogenic (A/goose/Hubei/65/05) H5N1 virus. Further, we show how the duck's defense mechanisms against influenza infection have been optimized through the diversification of its β-defensin and butyrophilin-like repertoires. These analyses, in combination with the genomic and transcriptomic data, provide a resource for characterizing the interaction between host and influenza viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: It is unclear whether the preoperative administration of oral carbohydrates (CHO) is safe and effective, and therefore we herein evaluated the efficacy and adverse events associated with CHO for elective surgery. Methods: Comprehensive searches were conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which evaluated preoperative CHO for elective surgery. Two reviewers independently selected the trials, extracted data, and assessed the methodological qualities and evidence levels. The data were analyzed by the RevMan 5.0 software program. Result: CHO increased the insulin and glucose levels on the first day after surgery higher than those in overnight fasting group (fifteen RCTs) and i.v. glucose infusion group (three RCTs). The pooled results of thirteen RCTs showed greater declines in the insulin level at the induction of anesthesia and a smaller increase in the glucose level at the end of surgery, and fewer decreases in the postoperative insulin sensitivity index in the CHO group were observed as compared to the placebo group. No aspiration was observed in any of the included studies. Conclusion: CHO appears to be safe, and may attenuate postoperative insulin resistance as compared to placebo. However, the quality of most of the published trials has been poor, and the evidence levels for most outcomes were low, so rigorous and larger RCTs are needed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are remarkable disparities among patients of different races with prostate cancer; however, the mechanism underlying this difference remains unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive landscape of the transcriptome profiles of 14 primary prostate cancers and their paired normal counterparts from the Chinese population using RNA-seq, revealing tremendous diversity across prostate cancer transcriptomes with respect to gene fusions, long noncoding RNAs (long ncRNA), alternative splicing and somatic mutations. Three of the 14 tumors (21.4%) harbored a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion, and the low prevalence of this fusion in Chinese patients was further confirmed in an additional tumor set (10/54=18.5%). Notably, two novel gene fusions, CTAGE5-KHDRBS3 (20/54=37%) and USP9Y-TTTY15 (19/54=35.2%), occurred frequently in our patient cohort. Further systematic transcriptional profiling identified numerous long ncRNAs that were differentially expressed in the tumors. An analysis of the correlation between expression of long ncRNA and genes suggested that long ncRNAs may have functions beyond transcriptional regulation. This study yielded new insights into the pathogenesis of prostate cancer in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) enhances taxol-induced antitumor effects against some human cancer cells. The aim of this study is to investigate whether SAHA can enhance taxol-induced cell death against human breast cancer cells and to illustrate the mechanism in detail. Methods: A panel of eight human breast cancer cell lines and an immortalized human breast epithelial cell line were used to determine the inhibitory effects of SAHA, taxol, or their combination by MTT assay. The effects of SAHA with or without taxol on cell cycle distributions, apoptosis, and protein expressions were also examined. The inhibitory effects on tumor growth were characterized in vivo in BALB/c nude mice bearing a breast cancer xenograft model. Results: Taxol-resistant and multi-resistant breast cancer cells were as sensitive to SAHA as taxol-sensitive breast cancer cells. A dose-dependent synergistic growth inhibition was found in all the tested breast cancer cell lines treated with the SAHA/taxol combinations. The synergetic effect was also observed in the in vivo xenograft tumor model. The cell cycle analysis and apoptosis assay showed that the synergistic effects resulted from enhanced G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Conclusions: SAHA increased the anti-tumor effects of taxol in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. The combination of SAHA and taxol may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with an improved direct power control (DPC) strategy for the pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source converter (VSC) under unbalanced grid voltage conditions. In order to provide enhanced control performance for the VSC, the resonant controllers tuned at the double grid frequency are applied in the DPC design to eliminate the power pulsations and dc link voltage ripples produced by the transient unbalanced grid faults. In this way, the output power and dc link voltage of the VSC can be directly regulated without positive and negative sequential decomposition. As a result, and as has been verified by experiment, the proposed method can provide fast dynamic response with easy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decontamination of the VX surrogate (malathion) by the atmospheric pressure radio-frequency plasma jet (APPJ) was investigated. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to identify the active species and measure the neutral gas temperature. The effects of RF input power and exposing time on the decontamination efficiency and neutral gas temperature were investigated. The thermal effect and volatilization could be ignored from the APPJ decontamination mechanism in our processing conditions. The degradation products were identified by gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometers (GC–MS). Besides the trace amount of the oxidation product (malaxon), the main degradation products were formed by breaking the S–C bond of malathion. In the end, the main degradation mechanism was drawn out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a current control scheme for a grid-connected pulse width modulator (PWM) voltage source converter (GC-VSC) under imbalanced and distorted supply voltage conditions. The control scheme is implemented in the positive synchronously rotating reference frame and composed of a single proportional integral (PI) regulator and multi-frequency resonant controllers tuned at the frequencies of 2 ω and 6 ω, respectively. The experimental results, with the target of eliminating the active power oscillations and current harmonics on a prototype GC-VSC system, validate the feasibility of the proposed current control scheme during supply voltage imbalance and distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an analysis and a direct power control (DPC) design of a wind turbine driven doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) under unbalanced network voltage conditions. A DFIG model described in the positive and negative synchronous reference frames is presented. Variations of the stator output active and reactive powers are fully deduced in the presence of negative sequence supply voltage and rotor flux. An enhanced DPC scheme is proposed to eliminate stator active power oscillation during network unbalance. The proposed control scheme removes rotor current regulators and the decomposition processing of positive and negative sequence rotor currents. Simulation results using PSCAD/EMTDC are presented on a 2-MW DFIG wind power generation system to validate the feasibility of the proposed control scheme under balanced and unbalanced network conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an adaptive rotor current controller for doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), which consists of a proportional (P) controller and two harmonic resonant (R) controllers implemented in the rotor rotating reference frame. The two resonant controllers are tuned at slip frequencies ω slip+ and ω slip−, respectively. As a result, the positive-and negative-sequence components of the rotor current are fully regulated by the PR controller without involving the positive-and negative-sequence decomposition, which in effect improves the fault ride-through (FRT) capability of the DFIG-based wind power generation system during the period of large transient grid voltage unbalance. Correctness of the theoretical analysis and feasibility of the proposed unbalanced control scheme are validated by simulation on a 1.5-MW DFIG wind power generation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of inverter fault-tolerant operation for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) direct torque control (DTC) system under various inverter faults. The performance of a faulty standard 6-switch inverter driven PMSM DTC system is analyzed. To avoid the loss or even disaster caused by the inverter faults, a topology-modified inverter with fault-tolerant capability is introduced, which is reconfigured as a 3-phase 4-switch inverter. The modeling of the 4-switch inverter is then analyzed and a novel DTC strategy with a unique nonlinear perpendicular flux observer and feedback compensation scheme is proposed for obtaining a continuous, disturbance-free drive system. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed inverter fault-tolerant PMSM DTC system is able to operate stably and continuously with acceptable static and pretty good dynamic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of gas temperature on the conversion of benzene and the selectivity of CO and CO2 are analyzed and compared in dielectric barrier discharges. Gas temperature is determined by the method of the optical emission spectroscopy. The result is found that the conversion of benzene increases linearly with gas temperature. The selectivity of CO and CO2 and carbon balance are also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a multi-frequency proportional-resonant (MFPR) current controller developed for PWM voltage source converter (VSC) under the unbalanced supply voltage conditions. The delta operator is used in place of the shift operator for the implementation of MFPR by using a low-cost fixed-point DSP. The experimental results with an alternative control strategy validated the feasibility of the proposed MFPR current controller for the PWM VSC during voltage unbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our study was to analyze the expression and possible role of CD66a in colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma and the relationship between its expression and pre-operation serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level and tumor stage in patients with colorectal adenocarcinomas. Paraffin-embedded sections from 184 patients including 42 colorectal adenomas with low-grade dysplasia, 43 adenomas with high-grade dysplasia, and 99 adenocarcinomas were collected for this study. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed, and the expression and the location of CD66a were evaluated and were correlated with β-catenin nuclear expression. The expression of CD66a was found not only in the apical membrane of neoplastic glands but also in secretion within the lumen of the neoplastic glands including adenomas and adenocarcinomas. Expressions of secreted CD66a were of higher level in adenocarcinoma than in adenoma with high-grade dysplasia and adenoma with low-grade dysplasia ( p < 0.0001). High expression of secreted CD66a was also associated with tumor stage, invasion, and pre-operation serum CEA level of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma. This study implied that CD66a can function both as an epithelial cell adhesion protein or alternatively as secreted CD66a. In addition, a high expression of CD66a was significantly correlated with tumor invasion, stage, and pre-operation serum CEA level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a unified positive-and negative-sequence dual- dq dynamic model of wind-turbine driven doublyfed induction generator (DFIG) under unbalanced grid voltage conditions. Strategies for enhanced control and operation of a DFIG-used back-to-back (BTB) PWM voltage source converter (VSC) are proposed. The modified control design for the grid-side converter in the stationary αβ frames diminishes the amplitude of DC-link voltage ripples of twice the grid frequency, and the two proposed control targets for the rotor-side converter are alternatively achieved, which, as a result, improve the fault-ride through (FRT) capability of the DFIG based wind power generation systems during unbalanced network supply. A complete unbalanced control scheme with both grid-and rotor-side converters included is designed. Finally, simulation was carried out on a 1.5 MW wind-turbine driven DFIG system and the validity of the developed unified model and the feasibility of the proposed control strategies are all confirmed by the simulated results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), with vector control applied, is widely used in Variable-Speed Constant-Frequency (VSCF) wind energy generation system and shows good performance in maximum wind energy capture. But in two traditional vector control schemes, the equivalent stator magnetizing current is considered invariant in order to simplify the rotor current inner-loop controller. The two schemes can perform very well when the grid is in normal condition. However, when grid disturbance such as grid voltage dip or swell fault occurs, the control performance worsens, the rotor over current occurs and the Fault Ride-Through (FRT) capability of the DFIG wind energy generation system gets seriously deteriorated. An accurate DFIG model was used to deeply investigate the deficiency of the traditional vector control. The improved control schemes of two typical traditional vector control schemes used in DFIG were proposed, and simulation study of the proposed and traditional control schemes, with robust rotor current control using Internal Model Control (IMC) method, was carried out. The validity of the proposed modified schemes to control the rotor current and to improve the FRT capability of the DFIG wind energy generation system was proved by the comparison study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species richness of herb layer was investigated among 43 plots of forest vegetation in the eastern Zhongtiao Mountain, in southern Shanxi Province, China. The forest vegetation was divided into two major vegetation types such as the deciduous forest and the coniferous forest by the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN). The species richness of herb layer was fitted in the topographic and soil feature factors, as well as the topographic relative moisture index (TRMI) by the generalized linear models (GLM). The results showed that canopy cover and altitude were the most significant environmental factors. Soil pH value and soil nutrients index such as total N, organic matter content had no significant influence. The effect of environment factors on species richness of herb layer had significant difference in vegetation types. For the broad-leaved forest, litter depth and TRMI were the important environment factors. For the coniferous forest, soil clay content was another important environment factor. The range of environmental gradient such as altitude may contribute to the difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]