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Mammalian cell-produced recombinant human erythropoietin (rhuEPO(M)) has been shown to be a multimodal neuroprotectant targeting an array of key pathological mechanisms in experimental stroke models. However, the rhuEPO(M) clinical trials were terminated due to increased risk of thrombosis, largely ascribed to its erythropoietic function. We recently took advantage of a plant-based expression system lacking sialylation capacity to produce asialo-rhuEPO(P), a rhuEPO derivative without sialic acid residues. In the present study, we proved that asialo-rhuEPO(P) is non-erythropoietic by repeated intravenous injection (44 μg/kg bw) in mice showing no increase in hemoglobin levels and red blood cell counts, and confirmed that it is non-immunogenic by measuring humoral response after immunizing the mice. We demonstrate that it is neuroprotective in a cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) mouse model, exhibiting ~ 50% reduction in cerebral infarct volume and edema, and significant improvement in neurological deficits and histopathological outcome. Our studies further revealed that asialo-rhuEPO(P), like rhuEPO(M), displays pleiotropic neuroprotective effects, including restoring I/R-interrupted mitochondrial fission and fusion proteins, preventing I/R injury-induced increase in mitophagy and autophagy markers, and inhibiting apoptosis to benefit nerve cell survival. Most importantly, asialo-rhuEPO(P) lacking erythropoietic activity and immunogenicity holds great translational potential as a multimodal neuroprotectant for stroke treatment.

In this paper, the adsorption of CO on FexCuy (x + y = 3) clusters were studied by BPW91 method, all conceivable geometries and electronic states of carbonyl complexes were explored. The results show that bimetallic clusters tend to have higher stepwise CO adsorption energy than corresponding pure clusters, and the adsorption capacity of FeCu2(CO)3 with CO is substantially larger than that of other carbonyl complexes. Moreover, the frontier molecular orbital theory was used to analyze the effect of the second element in the ligand reactions, which also confirmed that the reactions of CO with bimetallic clusters are easier than that of pure cluster systems. Finally, the energy gaps of HOMO and LUMO were use to explore the reactive activity of carbonyl complexes, it was found that the bimetallic clusters are lower than that of the Fe3 or Cu3, and the Fe2Cu(CO)1 has lower energy gap than that of other carbonyl complexes. This suggests that it may be possible to tune bimetallic cluster to get higher activity carbonyl complexes in the reactions.

Pathophysiology associated with Huntington’s disease (HD) has been studied extensively in various cell and animal models since the 1993 discovery of the mutant huntingtin (mHtt) with abnormally expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tracts as the causative factor. However, the sequence of early pathophysiological events leading to HD still remains elusive. To gain new insights into the early polyQ-induced pathogenic events, we expressed Htt exon1 (Httex1) with a normal (21), or an extended (42 or 63) number of polyQ in tobacco plants. Here, we show that transgenic plants accumulated Httex1 proteins with corresponding polyQ tracts, and mHttex1 induced protein aggregation and affected plant growth, especially root and root hair development, in a polyQ length-dependent manner. Quantitative proteomic analysis of young roots from severely affected Httex1Q63 and unaffected Httex1Q21 plants showed that the most reduced protein by polyQ63 is a GTP cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH) along with many of its related one-carbon (C1) metabolic pathway enzymes. GTPCH is a key enzyme involved in folate biosynthesis in plants and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) biosynthesis in mammals. Validating studies in 4-week-old R6/2 HD mice expressing a mHttex1 showed reduced levels of GTPCH and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR, a key folate utilization/alternate BH4 biosynthesis enzyme), and impaired C1 and BH4 metabolism. Our findings from mHttex1 plants and mice reveal impaired expressions of GTPCH and DHFR and may contribute to a better understanding of mHtt-altered C1 and BH4 metabolism, and their roles in the pathogenesis of HD.

In the techno world, Corporate Business applies new technologies for manufacturing and production with numerous cyber-physical system strategies. This makes the process depend upon multiple computers, machines, and applications with varying specifications, efficiency, and latency. These technological strategies are extremely diverse on cyber-physical systems, from an extensive range of processing technologies is available. The currently available technologies are not well adapted to these processes, which require information management regarding fault detection and diagnosis at a complexity level separated from technology. In this article, the Image Processing assisted Computer Vision Technology for Fault Detection System (IM-CVFD) is suggested to resolve such issues in industrial cyber-physical systems. Group Activation Mapping Algorithm is presented for efficient information collection from the processed output, simplifying the managing of fault details with different needs. Besides achieving the optimized information concerning latency, efficiency, the Uncertainty Reduction algorithm is introduced. In a suitable processing environment, a detailed simulation is conducted. The empirical findings indicate the high efficiency of the IM-CVFDwitha with a minimum error rate, energy usage, and minimized delay with high service. In contrast with conventional methods, the IM-CVFD obtains a better result efficiently.

A facile and effective synthetic route has been utilized to synthesize nanoporous carbons (NPCs)/cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) composites by direct carbonization of a Co-MOF. The combination of various spectroscopic tools demonstrated that the CoNPs (about 5 nm in diameter) in the resultant composites were evenly installed in the carbon matrix without any aggregations. Furthermore, the size of the CoNPs can be easily controlled by adjusting the temperature of the hydrothermal treatment. Results of UV–Visible spectrophotometer demonstrated the significant effects of the obtained structure on the reduction of the targeted pollutant 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The high reaction activity catalysed by CoNPs with the presence of sodium borohydride is attributed to nanostructure advantage and the high surface area.

In order to improve the output performance of the elastic valve piezoelectric pump, the relationship between the output performance and the disc parameters was studied. Firstly, the structure and working principle of the elastic valve piezoelectric pump were introduced. Secondly, by analyzing the flow resistance of the discs, the flow rate equation of the piezoelectric pump was derived. Finally, the influence of the geometric parameters of the discs on the flow rate was studied through several experiments. The results show that the pump can realize the free transition between valved state and valveless state by adjusting the frequency. When the initial angle is 12°, the length is 5 mm and the height is 1.9 mm, the maximum flow rate of the pump can reach 78 mL/min. Reducing the length, increasing the height, or choosing the proper initial angle can increase the flow rate. Because the pump can realize the self-adaptive transformation of valved and valveless according to the vibrator driving frequency, the application field of the piezoelectric pump can be expanded.

Both tillage erosion and water erosion are severe erosional forms that occur widely on sloping agricultural land. However, previous studies have rarely considered the process of landform change due to continuous simulation experiments of alternating tillage erosion and water erosion. To identify such changes, we applied a scouring experiment (at a 60 L min−1 water discharge rate based on precipitation data from the local meteorological station and the catchment area in the Yuanmou County, Yunnan Province, China) and a series of simulated tillage experiments where plots were consecutively tilled 5, 10, and 15 times in rotation (representing 5 yr, 10 yr, and 15 yr of tillage) at slope gradients of 5°, 10°, and 20°. Close-range photogrammetry (CRP) employing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS) was used to measure landform changes, and high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) were generated to calculate net soil loss volumes. Additionally, the CRP was determined to be accurate and applicable through the use of erosion pins. The average tillage erosion rates were 69.85, 131.45, and 155.34 t·hm−2·tillage pass−1, and the average water erosion rates were 1892.52, 2961.76, and 4405.93 t·hm−2·h−1 for the 5°, 10°, and 20° sloping farmland plots, respectively. The water erosion rates increased as tillage intensity increased, indicating that tillage erosion accelerates water erosion. Following these intensive tillage treatments, slope gradients gradually decreased, while the trend in slope gradients increased in runoff plots at the conclusion of the scouring experiment. Compared to the original plots (prior to our experiments), interactions between tillage and water erosion caused no obvious change in the landform structure of the runoff plots, while the height of all the runoff plots decreased. Our findings showed that both tillage erosion and water erosion caused a pseudo-steady-state landform evolutionary mechanism and resulted in thin soil layers on cultivated land composed of purple soil in China.

Green manuring can suppress crop diseases and change soil microbial communities, but the functional significances of changes in soil microbial communities are unclear. Effects of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) green manures on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Fusarium wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumerinum (FOC) were evaluated. Cucumber rhizosphere microbial communities were analyzed by real-time PCR and high-throughput amplicon sequencing. Furthermore, feedback effects of rhizosphere biota on cucumber resistance to FOC were assessed. All green manures promoted cucumber growth and changed rhizosphere bacterial community composition. Indian mustard and wild rocket green manures decreased Fusarium wilt disease severity and rhizosphere FOC abundance, increased bacterial diversity and abundance of potential plant-beneficial microorganisms. Rhizosphere biota from cucumber cultivated with Indian mustard and wild rocket (but not with wheat) green manures suppressed Fusarium wilt disease and enhanced expression of defense-related genes in cucumber seedling roots. Pseudomonas spp. strains isolated from cucumber rhizosphere cultivated with Indian mustard and wild rocket green manures suppressed cucumber Fusarium wilt disease. Changes in cucumber rhizosphere microbial communities induced by Indian mustard and wild rocket suppressed Fusarium wilt disease by priming for defense in plants.

Stock market crashes bring about huge economic loss, so predicting the stock market crashes is extremely important for both the investors and practitioners. Back propagation (BP) neural network performed greatly in data adaptability and fitting, it has been widely used for forecasting study in various fields. However, given the low frequency and lack of periodicity of stock market crashes, the BP neural network can hardly predict the intensively fluctuated stock prices accurately during the crashes. To resolve this issue, we introduced BP neural network into Log-periodic power law model, proposed the Log-periodic power law hybrid model based on the BP neural network. This combined approach could further capture the fluctuation trend and predict the volatility during the stock market crashes better. The experimental results showed that this hybrid model could predict the stock prices in different stock markets with a slightly increased accuracy. Moreover, its performance was more stable compared with BP neural network.

The concept of breast-conserving surgery is a remarkable achievement of breast cancer therapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being used increasingly to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is reducing the tumor size to make the surgery with less damaging to surrounding tissue and downstage locally inoperable disease to operable. However, non-effective neoadjuvant chemotherapy could increase the risks of delaying surgery, develop unresectable disease and metastatic tumor spread. The biomarkers for predicting the neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect are scarce in breast cancer treatment. In this study, we identified that FZR1 can be a novel biomarker for breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to clinical patient cohort evaluation and molecular mechanism investigation. Transcriptomic data analysis indicated that the expression of FZR1 is correlated with the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that FZR1 is pivotal to the chemotherapy drugs induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. FZR1 is involved in the stability of p53 by impairing the phosphorylation at ser15 site. We demonstrate that the expression of FZR1 detected by quantification of IHC can be an effective predictor of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in animal experiment and clinical patient cohort. To obtain more benefit for breast cancer patient, we propose that the FZR1 IHC score using at the clinical to predict the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

In wireless mobile networks, neighbor discovery is fundamental to many useful applications. The limited energy of mobile devices stresses the need for effective and energy-saving asynchronous neighbor discovery protocols. The neighbor discovery would fail due to some uncontrollable factors such as hardware errors or sudden interruptions, which are considered as the unreliable link in this paper. Existing works do not take the unreliable link into consideration and the performances with unreliable link can still be improved. In this paper, we assume a certain probability that unreliable link would happen, and design a novel deterministic Quorum System (QS)—E-grid(k) QS and a novel probabilistic QS—Plain(k) QS and propose two algorithms based on these two QSs to solve the asynchronous neighbor discovery problem in wireless mobile networks with unreliable link. Extensive simulations are conducted to evaluate our algorithms. We use the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the discovery latency and the Valid Overlapped Time Slots (VOTS) of QS in the evaluation. Simulation results show that Plain(k) and E-grid(k) QSs outperform most existing neighbor discovery protocols in both P2P model and clique model with unreliable or reliable link.

Mobile crowd sensing (MCS) is a novel emerging paradigm that leverages sensor-equipped smart mobile terminals (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and intelligent wearable devices) to collect information. Compared with traditional data collection methods, such as construct wireless sensor network infrastructures, MCS has advantages of lower data collection costs, easier system maintenance, and better scalability. However, the limited capabilities make a mobile crowd terminal only support limited data types, which may result in a failure of supporting high-dimension data collection tasks. This paper proposed a task allocation algorithm to solve the problem of high-dimensional data collection in mobile crowd sensing network. The low-cost and balance-participating algorithm (LCBPA) aims to reduce the data collection cost and improve the equality of node participation by trading-off between them. The LCBPA performs in two stages: in the first stage, it divides the high-dimensional data into fine-grained and smaller dimensional data, that is, dividing an m-dimension data collection task into k sub-task by K-means, where (k ). In the second stage, it assigns different nodes with different sensing capability to perform sub-tasks. Simulation results show that the proposed method can improve the task completion ratio, minimizing the cost of data collection.

Triangular defects with an obtuse-angled structure and long base on 150-mm 4° off 4H-SiC epitaxial wafers have been characterized and discussed. The results show that the origins of the obtuse triangular defects (OTDs) are related to substrate defects and foreign particles formed during and/or prior to the epitaxial growth, while the formation of the two wing regions for OTD is believed to be due to the disturbance of step flow growth caused by giant step bunching. Basal plane dislocations (BPDs) gliding in the wing regions have also been observed. BPD gliding is induced by the large strain, which originally existed in the 150-mm substrate and was augmented during the epitaxial growth. Reducing the epitaxial growth rate with an appropriate C-to-Si ratio is confirmed to be one of the effective methods to significantly suppress the formation of OTDs.

Nanostructuring is an effective approach to improve thermoelectric (TE) performance, which is caused by the interface and quantum effects on electron and phonon transport. For a typical layered structure such as sodium cobalt (NCO), a highly textured ceramic with nanostructure is beneficial for the carrier transport properties due to the strong anisotropy. In this paper, we established a textured NCO ceramic with highly oriented single crystals in nanoscale. The Na0.6CoO2 platelet crystals were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method. The growth mechanism was revealed to involve dissolution–recrystallization and exchange reactions. NCO TE ceramics fabricated by a press-aided spark plasma sintering method showed a high degree of texturing, with the platelet crystals basically lying along the in-plane direction perpendicular to the press direction. TE properties of the textured NCO ceramics showed a strong anisotropic behavior. The in-plane electrical conductivity was considerably larger than the out-of-plane data because of fewer grain boundaries and interfaces that existed in the in-plane direction. Moreover, the in-plane Seebeck coefficient was higher because of the anisotropic electronic nature of NCO. Although the in-plane thermal conductivity was high, a prior ZT value was enabled for these NCO ceramics along this direction because of the dominant electrical transport. This finding provides a new approach to prepare highly oriented ceramics.

Motivated by the needs of health monitoring at home (or a senior center) using a sensor network system, we study the problem of how to place the relay nodes so that the data collection and localization requirements of the monitoring system can be satisfied. By exploiting the inherent nature of the problem, we model it as finding a minimum connected k-dominating (k ≥ 3) set. Instead of using an idealistic disk radio model, we explicitly take into account the obstacles’ effect on the radio propagation in an indoor environment. We prove that the problem is NP-hard and propose an efficient greedy algorithm ORPA (Optimal Relay Placement Algorithm) to compute in polynomial time the best locations to place the relays. Results of extensive simulations have shown that by using our proposed algorithm ORPA, the number of relays required can be substantially reduced in comparison to the random placement and two-stage placement strategies. We also study the impact of the transmission power and the grid size on the algorithm and system performance. The result and method presented in the paper is useful to today’s indoor deployment of practical WSN-based monitoring system and to ensure network connectivity with minimal relay nodes.

Phenolics from root exudates or decaying residues are usually referred as autotoxins of several plant species. However, how phenolics affect soil microbial communities and their functional significances are poorly understood. Rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings treated with p-coumaric acid, an autotoxin of cucumber, were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer amplicons. Then, feedback effects of the rhizosphere biota on cucumber seedlings were evaluated by inoculating non-sterilized and sterilized rhizosphere soils to sterilized background soils. p-Coumaric acid decreased the bacterial diversity of rhizosphere but increased fungal diversity and altered the compositions of both the bacterial and fungal communities. p-Coumaric acid increased the relative abundances of microbial taxa with phenol-degrading capability (such as Chaetomium, Humicola, and Mortierella spp.) and microbial taxa which contained plant pathogens (such as Fusarium spp.). However, p-coumaric acid inhibited the relative abundances of Lysobacter, Haliangium, and Gymnoascus spp., whose species can have pathogen-antagonistic and/or plant-growth-promoting effects. The positive effect of cucumber rhizosphere microbiota on cucumber seedling growth was reduced by p-coumaric acid. Overall, our results showed that, besides its direct phytotoxicity, p-coumaric acid can inhibit cucumber seedling growth through generating negative plant-soil microbial interactions.

A general diffusive predator–prey model is investigated in this paper. We prove the global attractivity of constant equilibria when the conversion rate is small, and the non-existence of non-constant positive steady states when the conversion rate is large. The results are applied to several predator–prey models and give some ranges of parameters where complex pattern formation cannot occur.

This paper reviews the development of valveless piezoelectric pump with cone-shaped tube chronologically, which have widely potential application in biomedicine and micro-electro-mechanical systems because of its novel principles and deduces the research direction in the future. Firstly, the history of valveless piezoelectric pumps with cone-shaped tubes is reviewed and these pumps are classified into the following types: single pump with solid structure or plane structure, and combined pump with parallel structure or series structure. Furthermore, the function of each type of cone-shaped tubes and pump structures are analyzed, and new directions of potential expansion of valveless piezoelectric pumps with cone-shaped tubes are summarized and deduced. The historical argument, which is provided by the literatures, that for a valveless piezoelectric pump with cone-shaped tubes, cone angle determines the flow resistance and the flow resistance determines the flow direction. The argument is discussed in the reviewed pumps one by one, and proved to be convincing. Finally, it is deduced that bionics is pivotal in the development of valveless piezoelectric pump with cone-shaped tubes from the perspective of evolution of biological structure. This paper summarizes the current valveless piezoelectric pumps with cone-shaped tubes and points out the future development, which may provide guidance for the research of piezoelectric actuators.

Recurrent acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) affect a large population, yet the specific decisive factors are largely unknown. Here we study a population of 4407 children diagnosed with ARTI, comparing respiratory virome and serum cytokine profiles associated with multiple ARTIs and single ARTI during a six-year period. The relative abundance of Propionibacterium phages is significantly elevated in multiple ARTIs compared to single ARTI group. Serum levels of TIMP-1 and PDGF-BB are markedly increased in multiple ARTIs compared to single-ARTI and non-ARTI controls, making these two cytokines potential predictors for multiple ARTIs. The presence of Propionibacterium phages is associated with higher levels of TIMP-1 and PDGF-BB. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses show that the combination of TIMP-1, PDGF-BB and Propionibacterium phages could be a strong predictor for multiple ARTIs. These findings indicate that respiratory microbe homeostasis and specific cytokines are associated with the onset of multiple ARTIs over time., Here, the authors determine the respiratory virome and serum cytokine profile in children diagnosed with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) and show that relative abundance of Propionibacterium phages as well as serum levels of TIMP-1 and PDGF-BB are increased in multiple ARTIs compared with single ARTI.

Fire hazard causes lots of economic loss and personal injuries every year. Many ways are proposed to help people escape quickly from dangerous region. As one key step for fire escaping, the fire escaping system detects fire and dynamically provides escaping route to help people escape from fire scene. With the advanced technique, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), the fire escaping system is developed to be more promising for fire escaping than before. Most existing fire escaping systems ignore or simplify the dynamics of fire hazard. Thus people’s safety is not guaranteed with fire spreading and growing. This paper designs a new fire spread model based on confidential data created by the powerful simulation system: Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Based on the model, this paper predicts the Available Egress Duration (AED) of all locations in the building. Considering both the length and AED of each escaping route, this paper designs a faSt firE Escaping algorithm (SEE). To evaluate the performance of our approach, this paper conducts experiments on a real WSN platform with TelosB nodes. Experiment results confirm that the fire spread model in this paper can achieve high prediction accuracy. SEE outperforms the existing prediction based approaches by utilizing more AED, so that people can escape with higher probability.

The Brassica genus encompasses three diploid and three allopolyploid genomes, but a clear understanding of the evolution of agriculturally important traits via polyploidy is lacking. We assembled an allopolyploid Brassica juncea genome by shotgun and single-molecule reads integrated to genomic and genetic maps. We discovered that the A subgenomes of B. juncea and Brassica napus each had independent origins. Results suggested that A subgenomes of B. juncea were of monophyletic origin and evolved into vegetable-use and oil-use subvarieties. Homoeolog expression dominance occurs between subgenomes of allopolyploid B. juncea, in which differentially expressed genes display more selection potential than neutral genes. Homoeolog expression dominance in B. juncea has facilitated selection of glucosinolate and lipid metabolism genes in subvarieties used as vegetables and for oil production. These homoeolog expression dominance relationships among Brassicaceae genomes have contributed to selection response, predicting the directional effects of selection in a polyploid crop genome.

Valve piezoelectric pumps usually have larger flow rate than that of valveless ones. However, the traditional cantilever valve easily induces stress concentration which impacts the reliability of pumps. Therefore, a cymbal-shaped slotted check valve is proposed to be applied in a piezoelectric pump in order to reduce the stress concentration of the valve and thus improve the reliability of the piezoelectric pump. The structure and working principle of the piezoelectric pump are analyzed; the stress analysis of the cymbal-shaped slotted valve diaphragm is conducted. In addition, finite element software is employed to analyze the difference of the Von-Mises stress between the cymbal-shaped slotted diaphragm and the slotted flat diaphragm. The simulation results show that, the Von-Mises stress of cymbal-shaped slotted diaphragm is smaller than that of the slotted flat one. Furthermore, the cymbal-shaped slotted valve piezoelectric pump is also fabricated, and flow rate experiment is performed. The experimental results indicate that the flow rate of piezoelectric pump working in low frequencies (0 Hz

This study assessed temporal variation in soil erosion rates in response to energy consumption of flow (ΔE). It employed an in situ bank gully field flume experiment with upstream catchment areas with bare (BLG) or cultivated land (CLG) that drained down to bare gully headcuts. Water discharge treatments ranged from 30 to 120 L Min−1. Concentrated flow discharge clearly affected bank gully soil erosion rates. Excluding minimal discharge in the CLG upstream catchment area (30 L min−1), a declining power function trend (p ≤ 0.1) was observed with time in soil erosion rates for both BLG and CLG upstream catchment areas and downstream gully beds. Non-steady state soil erosion rates were observed after an abrupt collapse along the headcut slope after prolonged scouring treatments. However, as the experiment progressed, ΔE and energy consumption of flow per unit soil loss (ΔEu) exhibited a logarithmic growth trend (p

The valveless piezoelectric pump integrates driving and transmitting into one operating element, and characterizes easy micro-miniaturization. But, there is the original sin of low pressure and low flow. Thus, it must avoid weakness to choose applications field. This paper analyzes the flow characteristics in the rotary spiral-tube, which will cause the Coriolis force, and subsequently influence the fluid moving. The principle of the pump is deduced, and the spiral-tube-type valveless piezoelectric pump is invented. The angular velocity variation can be obtained when the pump attitude changes, which theoretically verifies the gyroscopic effect of the pump. A pump is fabricated for experimental testing. Experiments has shown that when Archimedes spiral $$ \theta = 4\uppi $$ is selected for the tube design, and the rotation speed of the plate is 70 r/min, the pressure differential is 9 mm H2O, which is 1.5 times that of 0 r/min rotation speed. If introduced the low-cost and miniaturized gyroscope, then this may promise potential application in these areas such as smart cars, robots, and home health care.

The ceramic TbCo0.5Mn0.5O3.07 of double-perovskite structure was prepared by solid-state reaction. Its crystal structure and magnetic and dielectric properties were investigated by first-principles calculations and experimental observations. TbCo0.5Mn0.5O3.07 possesses a monoclinic structure with P21/n space group. The c axis is the easy-magnetization axis, and it is largely caused by Co2+ anisotropy. The predominant valence states are Mn4+ and Co2+, with a small amount of Co3+ coexisting with Co2+. The ordering of Mn4+ and Co2+ results in ferromagnetic Mn4+–Co2+ interactions. Partial disorder of the B-site creates antiferromagnetic Co2+–O–Co2+ or Mn4+–O–Mn4+ interactions. The origin of metamagnetism is associated with the coexistence of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases. The magnetic exchange bias is strongly dependent on magnetic field, which is considered to be related to the metamagnetic behavior. The possibility of spin glass behavior is excluded by AC susceptibility measurements. The two observed dielectric relaxations are caused by electrons hopping between Co2+ and Mn4+ and between Co3+ and Mn4+.

OsDG2 gene encoded a novel chloroplast-targeted GRP in rice. Disruption of the OsDG2 would lead to delayed greening phenotype and affected expression levels of genes associated with chloroplast development at early leaf stage of rice. Glycine-rich proteins (GRPs) participate in various biological processes in plants. However, the evidence of GRPs involved in chloroplast development in plants is quite limited. In this study, we identified a rice GRP gene mutant named osdg2 (O ryza s ativa d elayed g reening 2), which exhibits delayed greening phenotype characterized as bright yellow leaves before the three-leaf stage and thereafter turns to normal green. Further study showed that the mutant phenotype was consistent with changes in chlorophyll content and chloroplast development. The rice OsDG2 gene, encoding a novel GRP protein, was located on chromosome 2 through map-based cloning method and confirmed by molecular complementation tests. Subcellular localization results showed that OsDG2 was targeted in chloroplasts. In addition, the OsDG2 transcripts were highly expressed in leaves and undetectable in other tissues, showing the tissue-specific expression. In osdg2 mutant, the expression levels of most genes associated with chloroplast development were severely decreased in the 3rd leaves, but almost recovered to wild-type level in the 4th leaves. Our findings indicated that the nuclear-encoded OsDG2 plays important roles in chloroplast development at early leaf stage of rice.

This paper studies the emissions of SO2 and COD in China using fine-scale, countylevel data. Using a widely used spatial autocorrelation index, Moran’s I statistics, we first estimate the spatial autocorrelations of SO2 and COD emissions. Distinct patterns of spatial concentration are identified. To investigate the driving forces of emissions, we then use spatial econometric models, including a spatial error model (SEM) and a spatial lag model (SLM), to evaluate the effects of variables that reflect level of economic development, population density, and industrial structure. Our results show that these explanatory variables are highly correlated with the level of SO2 and COD emissions, though their impacts on SO2 and COD vary. Compared to ordinary least square regression, the advantages of SLM and SEM are demonstrated as they effectively reveal the existence and significance of spatial dependence. The SEM, in particular, is chosen over the SLM as the role of spatial correlation is stronger in the error model than in the lag model. Based on the research results, we present some preliminary policy recommendations, especially for those high–high cluster regions that face significant environmental degradation and challenge.

Background Cervical cancer is associated with infection by certain subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV). The L1 protein comprising HPV vaccine formulations elicits high-titre neutralizing antibodies and confers protection against specific HPV subtypes. HPV L2 protein is an attractive candidate for cross-protective vaccines. HPV-33 and HPV-58 are very prevalent among Chinese women. Methods To study the gene intratypic variations and polymorphisms of HPV-33 and HPV-58 L1/L2 in Sichuan China, HPV-33 and HPV-58 L1 and L2 genes were sequenced and compared with other genes submitted to GenBank. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by maximum-likelihood and the Kimura 2-parameters methods (MEGA 6). The secondary structure was analyzed by PSIPred software, and HPV-33 and HPV-58 L1 homology models were created by SWISS-MODEL software. The selection pressures acting on the L1/L2 genes were estimated by PAML 4.8. Results Among 124 HPV-33 L1 sequences 20 single nucleotide mutations were observed included 8/20 non-synonymous and 12/20 synonymous mutations. The 101 HPV-33 L2 sequences included 12 single nucleotide mutations comprising 7/12 non-synonymous and 5/12 synonymous mutations. The 223 HPV-58 L1 sequences included 32 single nucleotide mutations comprising 9/32 non-synonymous and 23/32 synonymous mutations. The 201 HPV-58 L2 sequences comprised 26 single nucleotide mutations including 9/26 non-synonymous and 17/26 synonymous mutations. Selective pressure analysis showed that most of the common non-synonymous mutations showed a positive selection. HPV-33 and HPV-58 L2 were more stable than HPV-33 and HPV-58 L1. Conclusions HPV-33 and HPV-58 L2 were better candidates as clinical diagnostic targets compared with HPV-33 and HPV-58 L1. Clinical diagnostic probes and second-generation polyvalent vaccines should be designed on the basis of the unique sequence of HPV-33 and 58 L1/L2 variations in Sichuan, to improve the accuracy of clinical detection and the protective efficiency of vaccines. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-016-0629-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Previous research has demonstrated that ectopic expression of Ran-binding protein (RanBP) in Arabidopsis results in more axillary buds and reduced apical dominance compared to WT plants. However, the function of RanBP in poplar, which has very typical secondary growth, remains unclear. Here, the Populus deltoides (Marsh.) RanBP gene (PdRanBP) was isolated and functionally characterized by ectopic expression in a hybrid poplar (P. davidiana Dode × P. bolleana Lauche). Results PdRanBP was predominantly expressed in leaf buds and tissues undergoing secondary wall expansion, including immature xylem and immature phloem in the stem. Overexpression of PdRanBP in poplar increased the number of sylleptic branches and the proportion of cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, retarded plant growth, consistently decreased the size of the secondary xylem and secondary phloem zones, and reduced the expression levels of cell wall biosynthesis genes. The downregulation of PdRanBP facilitated secondary wall expansion and increased stem height, the sizes of the xylem and phloem zones, and the expression levels of cell wall biosynthesis genes. Conclusions These results suggest that PdRanBP influences the apical and radial growth of poplar trees and that PdRanBP may regulate cell division during cell cycle progression. Taken together, our results demonstrated that PdRanBP is a nuclear, vascular tissue development-associated protein in P. deltoides. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-016-0403-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Unusual bright red-dominant upconversion light was observed in Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped YF3-BaF2-Ba(PO3)2 glasses excited by the 980-nm laser diode at room temperature. The integral intensity ratios of the red upconversion emission to the green one reached about 10:1 in optimized 0.125Ho3+-15Yb3+ co-doped sample. In order to find out its behind-the-scene mechanism, the optical properties and the phonon-assisted relaxations on the excited levels of Ho3+ in our samples were investigated. Additionally, the effects of the concentrations of the doping ions, excitation pump power, and temperature on the upconversion emissions were also systematically studied. These results revealed that the proper phonon frequency of fluorophosphate glasses, the efficient phonon-assisted relaxations from 5I6 to 5I7 levels (4,960 s−1), and the long lifetime of the 5I7 (about 2.8 ms) levels should be responsible for bright red upconversion emission at a much greater concentration ratio of C Yb 3+ /C Ho 3+ .

A piezoelectric driving method for rover vehicles is proposed in this paper. Employing this method, a tracked vehicle driven by friction forces from a frame mounted with piezoelectric elements was developed. The vehicle is designed with no driver sprocket, no idler-wheel and no supporting bogie wheels, and the vehicle thus requires no lubrication and has potential application in planetary exploration. The frame consists of a pair of piezoelectric transducers. Each transducer comprises four annular parts jointed by beams adhered with piezoelectric ceramics. The tracks are set to the outer surface of the annular parts by means of track tension. Traveling rotating waves are generated by piezoelectric transducers in the annular parts, which generate microscopic elliptical motions at the interface of the tracks. The microscopic elliptical motions from the piezoelectric transducers drive the track vehicle to move. Finite elements analysis was carried out to verify the operation principle using commercial software ANSYS. Piezoelectric transducers were fabricated, assembled and tested to validate the concepts of the proposed rover vehicle and confirm the simulation results. A prototype vehicle with mass of 0.57 kg moves at a speed of 4.3 mm/s at a driving voltage of 250 V and operating frequency of 65.53 kHz.

The net effect of tillage erosion on soil properties would be associated with the spatial variation in soil constituents, and therefore plays an important role in ecological agriculture. We conducted a consecutive tillage by hoeing 15 times during a period with no rainfall in the two slope landscapes (a linear slope and complex slope) of the Yangtze Three Gorges reservoir areas, to examine the relationship between soil erosion rates and the variations in soil chemical properties and compare the effects of soil redistribution on SOC and nutrients between the linear and complex slopes. After the simulated tillage, notable changes in Cs-137 inventories of the soil occurred in the summit and toeslope positions on the linear slope, while there were significant changes in Cs-137 inventories at convex and concave positions on the complex slope. Soil profile disappeared at the summit slope boundary, with the exposure area of 16.0% and 7.6% of the experimental plot, respectively, for the linear and complex slopes due to no soil replacement. Soil organic C and nutrients were completely depleted with the disappearance of soil profiles at soil eroding zones, whereas a remarkable increase in SOC, total N and available nutrient concentrations of the post-tillage surface soil and a decrease in total nutrient concentrations (P and K) were found at depositional zones on the linear slope. For the complex slope, however, changes in SOC and nutrient concentrations of the post-tillage surface soil exhibited a pattern different from that on the linear slope, which showed a remarkable decrease in SOC and total nutrient concentrations but a slight increase in available nutrient concentrations after tillage in the toeslope position. Due to the gradual increase in soil depth from top to bottom of the slope, SOC and nutrient inventories in the soil profiles were significantly correlated with soil redistribution rates on both the linear and complex slopes. Tillage causes remarkable changes of soil chemical properties in the surface soil layer and soil profile, and increases SOC and nutrient inventories for the soil profile downslope in steeply sloping landscapes.

This study explores the role of a traditional tillage method, i.e., compensatory hoeing, for sustainable agro-ecosystem management in the hilly areas of the Chongqing municipality, south-western China. To validate the effects of compensatory tillage on the terraced slopes, the tillage method of non-compensatory hoeing was conducted on a linear slope. To acquire information about Cs-137 inventories and soil texture, soil samples were collected by a core sampler with a 6.8-cm diameter at 5.0-m intervals along the toposequence and the linear slope in the dry season (March) of 2007. Meanwhile, a tillage erosion model was used for evaluating the spatial pattern of tillage erosion. The Cs-137 data showed that on the terraced slope, soil was lost from the upper slope, and soil deposition occurred at the toe slope positions on each terrace. As a result, abrupt changes in the Cs-137 inventories of soil were found over short distances between two sides of terrace boundaries. Results obtained from the tillage erosion model and the Cs-137 data indicate that soil redistribution mainly results from tillage erosion in the terraced landscape. Consecutive non-compensatory tillage caused soil redistribution on the linear slope, resulting in thin soil profile disappearing at the top and soil accumulating at the bottom positions of the linear slope. This result further validates that compensatory tillage could avoid the complete erosion of the thin soil layer at the summit position. Therefore, this traditional tillage method, i.e., compensatory tillage, has maintained the soil quality at the summit of the slope in the past decades.

A contact model for describing the contact mechanics between the stator and slider of the standing wave linear ultrasonic motor was presented. The proposed model starts from the assumption that the vibration characteristics of the stator is not affected by the contact process. A modified friction models was used to analyze the contact problems. Firstly, the dynamic normal contact force, interface friction force, and steady-state characteristics were analyzed. Secondly, the influences of the contact layer material, the dynamic characteristics of the stator, and the pre-load on motor performance were simulated. Finally, to validate the contact model, a linear ultrasonic motor based on in-plane modes was used as an example. The corresponding results show that a set of simulation of motor performances based on the proposed contact mechanism is in good agreement with experimental results. This model is helpful to understanding the operation principle of the standing wave linear motor and thus contributes to the design of these types of motor.

A valveless piezoelectric pump with rotatable unsymmetrical slopes is developed in this research. It has the following features: The pump integrates driving and transporting, and it can mix different fluids while transporting them. In this paper, firstly, the design of the valveless piezoelectric pump with rotatable unsymmetrical slopes was proposed, and the single-direction flow principle was explained. Then, the fluid mechanics model of the valveless piezoelectric pump with rotatable unsymmetrical slopes was established. Meanwhile, the numerical simulation of the pump was performed. Finally, the experiments on relationship between the rotation angles of the slope and the flow rates were conducted. The experimental results showed that the maximum flow was 32.32 mL min−1. The maximum relative error between the theoretical results and the experimental ones was 14.59%. For the relationship between rotation angles and flow ratio of two inlets, the relative error between the experimental and theoretical maxima was 3.75%. Thus, the experiments proved the feasibility of the pump design and verified the theory.

In recent years, the research and development of piezoelectric pumps have become an increasingly popular topic. Minimization, structure simplification and stronger output become the focus of piezoelectric pumps’ research due to its possible application in MEMS technology. The valveless fishtailing piezoelectric pump, neither a volumetric nor a rotating pump, was invented according to the bionics of fish swimming. With assumption that the head of the fish is fixed while its tail is swinging, fluid would flow toward the end of the tail, achieving the function of a valveless pump. This type of pumps creates a new branch for the piezoelectric pump research, which is proposed for the first time in this paper. The relationship between the flow rates and vibrating frequencies was derived from the interaction between the vibrator and fluid. Numerical simulations with FEM software were conducted to study the first and second vibration modes of the piezoelectric vibrator. The results showed that the maximum amplitude of the vibrator was 0.9 mm at the frequency of 76 Hz for the first vibration mode, while the maximum amplitude of the vibrator was 0.22 mm at the frequency of 781 Hz for the second vibration mode. Experiments were conducted with the Doppler laser vibration measurement system, and the results were compared to those of the FEM simulation. It was shown that in the first vibration mode the piezoelectric vibrator reached its maximum amplitude of about 0.9 mm at the driving frequency of 49 Hz, which gives the flow rate of 2.0 mL/min, in the second vibration mode, the maximum amplitude was about 0.25 mm at the frequency of 460 Hz with the flow rate being 6.4 mL/min.

Following publication of this article, the authors have corrected 426 chimeric scaffolds in this genome (total scaffold number 10,684). The genome assembly has now been improved as V1.5, and the updated genome assembly is available to be downloaded from http://brassicadb.org/brad/datasets/pub/Genomes/Brassica_juncea/V1.5/ .

According to the established rules for testing ceramic’s bending strength, the falling velocity of the pressure head of the machine should be more than 0.5 mm/min. For the machine of testing the ceramic’s bending strength properties, most designs adopt the lowest falling velocity as 0.5 mm/min. In the fields such as aerospace and deep-ocean exploration, the utilization of ceramic materials that work at normal temperature, low temperature, or even high temperature and bend at an ultra-low velocity is increasing; thus, the intense requirements for the machine of testing the ceramic’s bending strength properties at high temperature and ultra-low speed (MTCBSP) and its experimental basis are put forward. This research developed an MTCBSP suitable for normal temperature and high temperature with the lowest falling velocity of 0.05 mm/min, and manufactured a drive reducer for ultra-low speed and high-temperature working condition. In the test, equipment includes a high-temperature furnace, bending die for four-point bending, and protection system of inert gas, which was placed in the high-temperature furnace to prevent the ceramic sample from being oxidized to diminish its effects. The results show that the lowest falling velocity of the pressure head of this new machine is 0.05 mm/min, and the mechanical properties of silica glasses are noticeably different at the same high temperature and the different falling velocities of 0.5 mm/min and 0.05 mm/min.

The above article originally published with an error present in the article title. This is now presented correctly in this article.

Most ultrasonic motors operate in intermittent contact scheme. Their stators drive the rotors (or sliders) when the stators contact the rotors, and the rotors (or sliders) move under an inertia force when the stators and the rotors are separated. The duty cycle of the contact and the “flight” manages motors’ output performance. To obtain a large output force or output velocity, this paper proposes a concept using the alternative work of a multistator or the multi-driving end of a single stator. The method can avoid larger noise, poor efficiency, and lifetime of motors. A novel linear ultrasonic motor using the alternative work of the multi-driving end of a single stator was fabricated and investigated experimentally. The traveling speed without load of the slider is 88 mm/s, and the maximum load is 0.32 N.