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AbstractThis paper studies groups and their coset monoids. The anti-abnormal subgroups of a group are firstly introduced and investigated. It is shown that a group is an N˜-group if and only if each subgroup of it is anti-abnormal. Also, it is proved that the coset semigroups of N˜-groups are exactly the E-reflexive inverse semigroups which are factorisable and the natural connection between their semilattice of idempotents and lattice of subgroups of their group of units is a dual isomorphism. Finally, some characterizations of the coset semigroups of S-groups (U-groups and residually central groups respectively) are given. This extends McAlister’s result in 1980. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, foamed ceramics were successfully prepared using cyanide tailings (CTs) with a high sulfur content as the main raw material. The effects of sintering temperature, holding time, and heating rate on the bulk density, water absorption, porosity, pore structure, and compressive strength of foamed ceramics were systematically investigated. The results showed that the elevated sintering temperature promoted the generation of liquid phases, resulting in an obvious enlargement of the pore size and a decrease in bulk density. In addition, a similar evolution trend could be found in the pore size and bulk density with the extension of the holding time, which was attributed to the degrees of silicon carbide reaction. Foamed ceramics with small pore sizes could be prepared at a heating rate that did not exceed 4°C/min. Then, the higher heating rates could bring abnormally large pores and be detrimental to the mechanical properties of the foamed ceramics, which were proven to be related to the decomposition of FeS2 introduced by CTs during the heating process. In conclusion, the foamed ceramics prepared with CTs in this study provide effective solid waste utilization and have good application prospects in wall composite one-piece insulation panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathway by which drugs are injected subcutaneously behind the ear to act on the inner ear has not been fully elucidated. To compare the uptake of gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA) and dexamethasone (Dex) in the cochlea and facial nerve of rats following different administrations. Magnetic resonance imaging was applied to observe the distribution of Gd-DTPA in the facial nerve and inner ear. We observed the uptake of Dex after it was injected with different methods. Images of the intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) groups showed that the bilateral cochlea of the rat was visualized almost simultaneously. While in the left post-auricular (PA) injection group, it was asynchronous. The maximum accumulation (Cmax) of the Gd in the left facial nerve of the PA group (35.406 ± 5.32) was substantially higher than that of the IV group (16.765 ± 3.7542) (p <.01). Compared with systemic administration, PA has the advantages of long Gd and Dex action time and high accumulation concentration to treat facial nerve diseases. The distribution of Gd and Dex in the inner ear and facial nerve of rats following PA injection might be unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and widespread utilization of high-throughput sequencing technologies in biology has fueled the rapid growth of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data over the past decade. The development of scRNA-seq technology has significantly expanded researchers' understanding of cellular heterogeneity. Accurate cell type identification is the prerequisite for any research on heterogeneous cell populations. However, due to the high noise and high dimensionality of scRNA-seq data, improving the effectiveness of cell type identification remains a challenge. As an effective dimensionality reduction method, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is an essential tool for visualizing high-dimensional scRNA-seq data and identifying cell subpopulations. However, traditional PCA has some defects when used in mining the nonlinear manifold structure of the data and usually suffers from over-density of principal components (PCs). Therefore, we present a novel method in this paper called joint L 2 , p -norm and random walk graph constrained PCA (RWPPCA). RWPPCA aims to retain the data's local information in the process of mapping high-dimensional data to low-dimensional space, to more accurately obtain sparse principal components and to then identify cell types more precisely. Specifically, RWPPCA combines the random walk (RW) algorithm with graph regularization to more accurately determine the local geometric relationships between data points. Moreover, to mitigate the adverse effects of dense PCs, the L 2 , p -norm is introduced to make the PCs sparser, thus increasing their interpretability. Then, we evaluate the effectiveness of RWPPCA on simulated data and scRNA-seq data. The results show that RWPPCA performs well in cell type identification and outperforms other comparison methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 41-month-old boy was presented to our hospital because of an intracranial mass suspected of cerebrovascular malformation. He was admitted and received cerebral angiography. The angiography result confirmed the intracranial mass was the dilated vein of Galen resulting from a pial arteriovenous fistula, which quite resembling the vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation. Considering one-time embolization of the fistula may greatly change the distribution of intracranial blood flow, we decided to perform staged embolization. In the first stage, we partially embolized the fistula, resulting in a sharp decrease in blood flow to the lesion. The second intervention was performed one month later, and completely embolized the fistula. The boy recoverd well and returned to normal childhood without any neurological deficits. Follow-up MR images obtained at 10 months after the last procedure showing total obliteration of the pAVF, gradually shrinking of the varix, and remodeling of the vein of Galen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, low-temperature plasma was used as an efficient pretreatment method of corn kernels (XY335), which developed and optimized a process of enzyme activity. The effects of plasma pretreatment power (300, 400, 500 W), plasma pretreatment time (30, 40, 50 s) and air flow rate (100, 150, 200 mL min−1) on enzyme activity during this process were investigated. Regression equations were established through a three-factor and three-level Box-Behnken design and used to evaluate the optimal conditions for the process. The optimal pretreatment conditions of POD enzyme activity were plasma pretreatment power of 500 W, plasma pretreatment time of 30 s and air flow rate of 150 mL min−1. The optimal pretreatment conditions of CAT enzyme activity were plasma pretreatment power of 350 W, plasma pretreatment time of 30 s and air flow rate of 150 mL min−1. The optimal pretreatment conditions of SOD enzyme activity were plasma pretreatment power of 400 W, plasma pretreatment time of 30 s and air flow rate of 200 mL min−1. Results showed that low-temperature plasma can be used effectively to increase the enzyme activity of corn kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal muscle index (SMI) is a promising predictor of clinical outcomes in patients with malignant diseases. As a simpler surrogate of sarcopenia-psoas muscle index (PMI), its predict value for overall survival (OS) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been reported. To determine if changes in the PMI predicted OS in individuals with HCC treated with TACE. A retrospective analysis was performed in HCC patients treated with TACE between January 2018 and March 2019. The survival curve according to PMI was estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and then compared by the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to identify the prognostic factors for OS. Furthermore, the predictive abilities of PMI and SMI were compared by using Harrell's concordance index (C-index). Two hundred and twenty-eight patients (175 men, mean age 59 ± 11 years) were analysed. The OS was less in patients with low PMI than those with high PMI (median OS: 16.9 vs. 38.5 months, p <.001). Multivariate analysis found that either PMI (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45–0.91; p <.001) or SMI (HR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.36–0.72; p <.001) was significantly associated with OS. In the multivariate analysis, the C-index for PMI was 0.78 and 0.79 for SMI (p =.985). PMI is a simple tool to predict OS in HCC patients treated with TACE. The predictive ability of PMI is comparable to that of SMI. Low psoas-muscle index is associated with decreased overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Psoas-muscle index has advantages of being faster and easier to acquire, which thus makes it more likely to achieve widespread clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an efficient fatigue analysis for the non-bonded flexible riser. This fatigue analysis is based on well approved methodology including stochastic analysis of sea states, global response analysis of riser and local stress analysis of individual tensile wires followed by rain flow and Palmgren-Miner methods for calculating the fatigue damage and fatigue life. For the global response analysis, the nonlinear hysteresis relationship between bending moment and curvature of riser is coupled for accurately allocating the bending stiffness in the corresponding curvature range. For the local stress analysis, the simplified bending moment model is applied for describing the stick-slip behavior, which is efficient for calculating axial stress of individual tensile wires when 3D effects along the pipe is not considered. Sensitivity studies with respect to the flooded condition of tensile annulus layer and friction coefficient are further carried out for investigating the associated effects on the fatigue life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro-Doppler (m-D) signature can describe the motion state and structure of the target in detail. It can be considered as an effective method for ship target detection and recognition in the marine environment. In this paper, an effective strategy is proposed to simulate the m-D signature and extract the ship's motion parameters on the time-varying sea surface. For this purpose, a ship target micro-motion model based on six degrees of freedom is first established. Then, the public domain strip (PDSTRIP) method is used to realize real-time estimation of ship motion. Next, a high-precision electromagnetic scattering model is used to generate radar echoes of a ship on the rough sea. Finally, the m-D signature can be acquired and analysed based on the obtained radar echo. The numerical results show that the instantaneous frequency and motion parameters can be estimated well from the m-D signature. At the same time, the proposed model can also be used to calibrate the Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) of ship targets in the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CTSD/CathD/CATD (cathepsin D) is a lysosomal aspartic protease. A distinguishing characteristic of CTSD is its dual functions of promoting cell proliferation via secreting a pro-enzyme outside the cells as a ligand, and promoting apoptosis via the mature form of this enzyme inside cells; however, the regulation of its secretion, expression, and maturation is undetermined. Using the lepidopteran insect Helicoverpa armigera, a serious agricultural pest, as a model, we revealed the dual functions and regulatory mechanisms of CTSD secretion, expression, and maturation. Glycosylation of asparagine 233 (N233) determined pro-CTSD secretion. The steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) promoted CTSD expression. Macroautophagy/autophagy triggered CTSD maturation and localization inside midgut cells to activate CASP3 (caspase 3) and promote apoptosis. Pro-CTSD was expressed in the pupal epidermis and was secreted into the hemolymph to promote adult fat body endoreplication/endoreduplication, cell proliferation, and association. Our study revealed that the differential expression and autophagy-mediated maturation of CTSD in tissues determine its roles in apoptosis and cell proliferation, thereby determining the cell fates of tissues during lepidopteran metamorphosis. Abbreviations: 20E: 20-hydroxyecdysone; 3-MA: 3-methyladenine; ACTB/β-actin: actin beta; AKT: protein kinase B; ATG1: autophagy-related 1; ATG4: autophagy-related 4; ATG5: autophagy-related 5; ATG7: autophagy-related 7; ATG14: autophagy-related 14; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CASP3: caspase 3; CQ: choroquine; CTSD: cathepsin D; DAPI: 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide; DPBS: dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline; DsRNA: double-stranded RNA; EcR: ecdysone receptor; EcRE: ecdysone response element; EdU: 5-ethynyl-2´-deoxyuridine; G-m-CTSD: glycosylated-mautre-CTSD; G-pro-CTSD: glycosylated-pro-CTSD; HaEpi: Helicoverpa armigera epidermal cell line; HE staining: hematoxylin and eosin staining; IgG: immunoglobin G; IM: imaginal midgut; JH: juvenile hormone; Kr-h1: krueppel homologous protein 1; LM: larval midgut; M6P: mannose-6-phosphate; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; PCD: programmed cell death; PNGase: peptide-N-glycosidase F; RFP: red fluorescent protein; RNAi: RNA interference; SDS-PAGE: sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; SYX17: syntaxin 17; USP1: ultraspiracle isoform 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified calibration curve method based on the combination of standard addition and traditional calibration curve methods was employed for the quantification of Prussian blue nanoparticles in rats in the presence of endogenous iron interferences. The assay was performed using inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) with yttrium as the internal standard, and validated in biomatrices including liver, heart, kidneys, lungs, spleen and whole blood. For the liver tissue, the intra-day and inter-day precision were 7.84% or less, and the accuracy was between 99.88% and 102.37%. For kidneys, lungs, heart, spleen, and blood, at each exo-additive level from 0.4 to 3.2 µg/mL, the intra-day accuracy was between 98.74% and 102.09%, and the intra-day precision was 6.17% or less. For the addition of no analyte, the intra-day accuracy was between 96.42% and 107.52%, and the intra-day precision was 15.67% or less. The stability was investigated at 25 °C for 24 h and 4 °C for 15 days in liver standard addition samples, and no significant degradation occurred under these conditions. This method was successfully applied to the preliminary pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution study of Prussian blue nanoparticles in rats. This approach may also be applied to the quantification of other ferruginous materials in the biological matrices with endogenous iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health is directly related to people's physical health, social adaptation and study and work efficiency. Mental health education for college students has also become the focus of education in China. By combining the knowledge network with the psychological scales, this study tried to not only find the most significant abnormal psychology but also evaluate the relationship between different abnormal psychology of college students. The data of this study were the 'The symptom Checklist scale (SCL-90)' questionnaire of the 2017 freshman census of a university in China. The data were statistically analyzed by means of knowledge network method including centrality, systematic clustering and K-plex analysis. From the results, we can see that the 'phobic anxiety' was the core dimension; all the mild symptoms were clustered into one type, and all the severe symptoms were clustered into another type; other dimensions were more closely related in addition to 'interpersonal sensitivity' and 'somatization'. In psychological measurement research, knowledge network method can be combined to better evaluate the psychological state of the groups and obtain more complete assessment results, which provides a basis for the revision of the psychological scales in terms of balance and item setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare different percutaneous approaches to manage occluded primary uncovered self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) in patients with unresectable malignant hilar biliary obstruction (MHBO). Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed in patients with MHBO who underwent percutaneous management of occluded primary uncovered SEMS between January 2014 and January 2018. Patients were assigned into three groups based on the types of secondary stents, which included SEMS, internal-external drainage (IED), and external drainage (ED). Clinical success, requirement for reintervention, survival times, complications, and cost were evaluated. Results: A total of 58 patients were identified, with 21, 9, and 28 patients received SEMS, IED, and ED treatments, respectively. The overall clinical success rate was 67.2% (39/58), with no significant difference among three groups (p =.489). The median time to reintervention was 82, 57, and 61 days for the SEMS, IED, and ED groups, respectively (p =.045 for SEMS vs. IED; p =.011 for SEMS vs. ED). There was no significant difference in the median survival times among three groups (p =.308). Seven patients (12.7%) experienced minor complications including self-limiting haemobilia (n = 3) and catheter-related pain (n = 4). Fourteen patients (24.1%) had major complications, including early cholangitis (n = 8), pancreatitis (n = 3), stent dislodgement (n = 2), and bile leakage (n = 1). There was no statistical difference in the mean cost of the management of occluded primary SEMS between the three groups (p =.162). Conclusion: Uncovered SEMS could provide a longer duration to reintervention compared to the catheter drainages to manage occluded primary SEMS in patients with unresectable MHBO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the big data era, destination images have played an increasingly important role in tourism development. However, seldom tourism research has utilised big data analytics to examine destination images from travel blogs. Therefore, this study proposes and evaluates a big data analytical approach using latent Dirichlet allocation to extract attributes of online destination images from 140,286 travel blogs about 20 cities in China. Results reveal 14 dimensions with 54 attributes of destination images of the studied cities. Interesting findings are discovered between online destination images and tourism cities. This study also summarises the implications for tourism research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-attribute analysis of multi-component seismic data can provide abundant information on seismic hydrocarbon reservoirs. It can exploit the different responses of compressional and shear waves to the reservoir, in conjunction with colour blending and fusion technology applied to seismic images, to enable the human eye to better discriminate features in seismic data, thereby improving the accuracy of reservoir characterisation. The integration of multi-component data and sophisticated visualisation techniques helps to reduce the number of possible models of the reservoir. Thus, we designed a reservoir prediction method based on unsupervised learning and colour feature blending. First, a large number of compressional and shear wave seismic attributes were extracted using cluster analysis to conduct unsupervised learning to optimise the attributes. Then, using the different responses of compressional and shear waves to oil and gas, and an understanding of rock physics, three types of composite attribute were constructed to highlight oil and gas anomalies by multi-component seismic attributes. Finally, the three composite attributes were transformed to the colour space by a first-order linear transformation and RGB colour blending. Applying this scheme to reservoir prediction shows that unsupervised learning and colour blending techniques could help the human eye perceive geological anomalies, highlight common hydrocarbon characteristics, reduce differences and decrease interpretation ambiguity. The prediction results are essentially consistent with actual data and can be used to predict favourable exploration areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in metal nanoparticle synthesis using plant extracts and their anticancer activity have received significant attention in recent years. The green approach for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using leaf extract ofSasa borealisis reported in this study. Synthesis of AuNPs was performed at 50 °C, and nanoparticle formation was observed after 20 min incubation. AuNPs formation was confirmed by the UV–visible spectrum peak at 542 nm. The synthesized AuNPs were oval, spherical with sizes around 10–30 nm observed using the transmission electron microscope. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis was utilized for the detection of elemental compound. The face centered cubic structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction pattern. The reduction of tetrachloroauric acid into AuNPs by the phytochemical compounds ofS. borealisextract was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the presence of biomolecules was studied by GC–MS. The synthesized AuNPs was tested for toxic effect on HEK293 cells and anticancer activity on AGS cells by WST-1®assay. Condensation or fragmentation is a characteristics of apoptosis, which was confirmed by 4,6-diamidino-2-pheynylindole dihydrochoride (DAPI) staining. TheS. borealis-mediated AuNPs have good activity as an anticancer agent and it will be beneficial in cancer therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)-based composites were prepared using nano-sized reinforcement fillers including carbon nanotubes, boron nitride particles, and aluminum borate whiskers. The nanofillers were first treated with polyaniline via in situ polymerization, then mixed with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) solutions. Thermal analyses reveal that the additions of nanofillers in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) have increased the decomposition temperatures and thus improved the degradation resistance of the resins at elevated temperatures. Among the three types of fillers, the aluminum borate whiskers show the most significant increase, from 294.0 to 305.8°C. With a small amount of nanofillers, the mechanical performance of the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) polymer has been significantly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hupehsuchus nanchangensishas been known from five specimens from the Triassic of China since its type was found in 1972. However, our knowledge of its morphology is still limited because of the poor preservation of the known specimens. This article aims to (1) update the morphological information of the animal on the basis of a new specimen from the same stratum of the type in the neighbouring Yuanan County, Hubei Province, China; (2) revise the diagnostic features of the animal and (3) make a detailed comparison to demonstrate if the members of Hupehsuchia are different from one another. Considering the body shape, the anatomy and relationships of those bones surrounding the orbit and temporal fenestrae, the sharply curved boomerang-shaped lateral elements of the gastralia, the semicircular scapula and bar-like ilium,Hupehsuchus nanchangensiscan be easily distinguished from coevalNanchangosaurus suniorParahupehsuchus longusorEohupehsuchus brevicollis. The body shape and limb morphology suggest thatHupehsuchus nanchangensismust have had a different mode of lifestyle from that of other three hupehsuchians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High-purity h-BN quasi-nanoscale fibers were successfully synthesized by annealing oriented fiber-like precursor, an adduct of melamine with boric acid at a ratio of 1:2 (M · 2B), under ammonia flow. A series of experiments have been conducted to obtain an optimum condition for generating nanoscale precursor for the synthesis of h-BN quasi nanofibers with an average diameter of ∼500 nm and length of several hundred micrometers, respectively. The fiber is a polycrystal composed of numerous disordered h-BN layers, with some stacking voids and defaults. In addition, the effects of BN fibers on the thermal conductivity and stability of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) have been studied. It is worth noting that with the addition of 2 wt% BN fibers, the thermal properties (thermostability and thermal conductivity) of the as-prepared composites have been influenced substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Glyptothorax annandalei belongs to the family of Sisoridae, Glyptothorax. It is distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo River of southwestern China. In this study, we first published the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Glyptothorax annandalei, which was 16,541 bp in length. This genome consists of two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and a putative control region. The overall base composition was for A(31.25%,) for T(25.67%), for C(27.66%), for G(15.42%). The PCGs start with a traditional ATG except for COX1 start with GTG, respectively, and end with stop codon TAA, TAG, or a single T base. All tRNA have the typical clover-leaf structure. The phylogenetic tree of the whole mitogenome sequence is constructed by maximum likelihood (ML) method and the phylogenetic relationship among the family Sisoridae is further analyzed. We expect to provide the theoretical basis for the further study of the phylogenetic relationship, taxonomic status, conservation and management of genetic resources of Sisoridae catfishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) based polymer nanocomposite filled with nanoscale carbon fibers (CFs) were prepared by electrospinning. To enhance the processability and thermal properties of the composites, the carbon fibers were treated with chemical reagents, namely n-octanol, silane coupling agent (KH-550), and nitric acid (HNO3). The SEM result shows that the composite fibers with nitric acid treated CFs have the finest diameters and many uniform thickness distributions. All surface treatments on carbon fibers have increased the glass transition temperatures and crystallinities of the composites, with nitric acid treatment being the best. The improvements further depended on the volume fraction of the carbon fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of endovascular treatment on postoperative blood pressure (BP) control and kidney function of hypertensive patients with renal artery stenosis (RAS). Between January 2004 and December 2011, RAS was diagnosed in 120 renal arteries from 115 hypertensive patients. Preoperative and postoperative BPs and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were monitored. Postoperative oral antiplatelet and antihypertensive agents were administered. Clinical follow-up was available for all patients for at least 6 months. Balloon angioplasty was performed successfully in 110 patients, and stents were deployed in 94 renal arteries from 89 patients. Hypertension was cured and lessened in 19 and 61 patients, respectively. Blood pressure was stable and worsened in 26 and 9 patients, respectively. The renal function was improved and stable in 23 patients and 57 patients, respectively. Deterioration of renal function was observed in 11 patients. Doppler ultrasound after discharge revealed 87 patent renal arteries and fixed stents in 82 patients 6 months after procedure. Balloon angioplasty and stent deployment are effective and feasible procedures for patients with RAS that help in controlling BP and improving renal function moderately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to test the feasibility of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and cigarette filters (CGFRs) as solid adsorbents for pre-concentration of DBP and DEHP in water; and to compare with C18 to investigate which has the best enrichment factor. It was found that cigarette filters exhibited the better recoveries and were therefore the best solid sorbent of the three materials tested, while multiwalled carbon nanotubes were unsuitable for enriching DBP and DEHP on account of its low recoveries. Parameters that may influence the extraction efficiency such as the eluent volume, sample flow rate, sample pH, and the sample volume were optimized. The results showed that the precisions (relative standard deviation, RSD) were 1.40% and 1.72% for DBP and DEHP under the optimal conditions. The detection limits of the developed method could reach 3.1 ng L-1 and 4.3 ng L-1 for DBP and DEHP, respectively, based on the ratio of the chromatographic signal to base line noise (S/N = 3). Satisfactory results were achieved when the proposed method was applied to determine the two target compounds in drinking water with spiked recoveries in the range of 93.6-98.7%. The results indicated that CGFR was a significantly better sorbent to enrich DBP and DEHP in drinking water than the other solid sorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicoverpa hormone receptor 3 (HHR3) is a transcription factor involved in larval molting regulation. To investigate its function and the possibility to improve the insecticidal activity of AcMNPV, HHR3 was expressed in Bac-to-Bac system and an AcMNPV-GFP-HHR3-Polh+ virus was constructed after recovery of the polyhedrin gene. HHR3 expression in Sf21 cells was confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy. A red color identifying HHR3 was observed using fluorescence microscopy; this confirmed that HHR3 was expressed in Sf21 cells by the introduction of the recombinant virus AcMNPV-GFP-HHR3-Polh+. The AcMNPV-GFP-HHR3-Polh+ infected the hemocytes of H. armigera larvae by hemocoele injection or per oral ingestion. Results showed that AcMNPV-GFP-HHR3-Polh+ resulted in incomplete ecdysis, slower growth and lower median survival time on the Helicoverpa larvae. This recombinant virus may aid in the development of an insecticide that can be used in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pareuchiloglanis kamengensis belongs to the family of Sisoridae, Pareuchiloglanis. It is distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo River, the Irrawaddy River, the Nujiang River, and the Lancang River in southwestern China. In this study, we first published the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Pareuchiloglanis kamengensis, which was 16,589 bp in length. This genome consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and a non-coding A + T-rich region. The PCGs start with a traditional ATG except for COX1 and NAD3, which start with GTG and ATA instead, respectively, and end with stop codon TAA, TAG, TA, or a single T base. All tRNA have the typical clover-leaf structure. The phylogenetic tree of the whole mitogenome sequence is constructed by using neighbor-joining (NJ) method and the phylogenetic relationship among the family Sisoridae is further analyzed. We except to provide the theoretical basis for the further study of the phylogenetic relationship, taxonomic status, and conservation and management of genetic resources of Sisoridae catfishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathepsin B is a vitally important enzyme in various physiological processes and in tumor invasion and metastasis. A cathepsin B inhibitor, HCB-SunI, was identified and purified from sunflower seeds, Helianthus annuus , using ammonium sulfate precipitation and two steps of conventional chromatography. The molecular mass of HCB-SunI was estimated to be 12 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 12.32 kDa by MALDI TOF MS. Its N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined to be: PYGGGGTESG. HCB-SunI not only inhibited Helicoverpa cathepsin B (HCB) but also decreased the growth of HeLa and glioma cells by 7 &nvsim; 27% and 6 &nvsim; 22%, respectively, when the cells were grown in a final concentration of 0.002 &nvsim; 0.008 μM inhibitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the results of an investigation of knowledge and public awareness of stuttering among laypersons in Shanghai, China. A total number of 1968 respondents answered a questionnaire including questions about prevalence, onset, gender distribution and occurrence in different cultures, cause, treatment, intelligence and heredity of stuttering. Stuttering appears to be a disorder that most people in the Shanghai area are familiar with, and for several aspects a considerable number of respondents held views that are in line with current knowledge about stuttering. For some aspects though knowledge is limited, indicating a need for disseminating scientific information on stuttering. The results of the present study are compared with a similar Belgium study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triplophysa tibetana belongs to the family Cobitidae, which is popular in Tibet. We first published the complete mitochondrial genome of T. tibetana. The mitogenome sequence was 16,607bp long and composed of 13 protein-coding genes, 22tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes. The protein-coding genes started with a traditional ATG except for COX1, which started with one infrequent GTG instead, and terminated with stop codons TAA, TGG, TGA, or a single T— base. The overall GC content is lower than AT. We constructed the phylogenetic tree to verify the accuracy and utility of newly determined mitogenome sequences using the full mitogenome-related evolution events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Let ( hyp o n , ♯ ) be the hypoplactic monoid of finite rank n with Schützenberger’s involution ♯ . In this paper, we exhibit a faithful representation of ( hyp o n , ♯ ) as an involution monoid of upper triangular matrices over any semiring from a large class including the tropical semiring under the skew transposition. We then give a transparent combinatorial characterization of the word identities satisfied by ( hyp o n , ♯ ) . Further, we prove that ( hyp o n , ♯ ) is non-finitely based if and only if n = 2, 3 and give a polynomial time algorithm to check whether a given word identity holds in ( hyp o n , ♯ ) .Communicated by Scott Chapman [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]