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Early childhood interventions played a critical role in improving child development in impoverished contexts. Combined nutrition and psychosocial stimulation interventions (CNPSI) have shown more benefits than stand-alone supplemental nutrition interventions (SNI) in many developing countries. Based on a cluster randomized controlled trial in rural northwestern China, this study tested alternative theory-driven hypotheses regarding how primary caregiver's education and family income may moderate the CNPSI's effects on child growth environment and developmental delay risk. The trial cluster randomized 1,566 children aged 7–33 months from 111 villages (clusters) in Huachi County, Gansu Province, into an SNI group (N = 852) and a CNPSI group (N = 714). Multilevel regression models suggested that the CNPSI group had better home growth environment (p < 0·001) and lower risk of developmental delay (p < 0·001) than the SNI group. The CNPSI's impacts on home growth environment and development delay were weaker for parents with higher education levels. However, household income did not significantly moderate the CNPSI effect for either outcome. Future interventions need to attend to the educational disparities in the resource-poor context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores a cost-effective and efficient method for snow melting and deicing using a concrete pavement structure with pre-mixed chloride-salt antifreeze material. The mixed design method for road cement concrete with chloride-type antifreeze material is investigated by encapsulating NaCl and CaCl2 in organic resin capsules. The snow melting and deicing efficacy of cement concrete with chloride antifreeze material is evaluated through an automatic tracking measurement system. The results indicate that NaCl-type antifreeze material is more effective in reducing the freezing point of concrete surface solution than CaCl2-type antifreeze material. A composite antifreeze material (4% NaCl + 1% CaCl2) provides the strongest snow melting and deicing ability. An outward migration and diffusion model of chloride ion in cement concrete with antifreeze material is established to calculate the chloride ion diffusion coefficient, surface chloride ion content, and decay rate of concrete. The effective age of snow melting and deicing is analyzed using this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National holidays are associated with high mortality in some diseases, but little is known about patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). The research aimed to investigate the impact of national holidays on the health outcomes of PD patients. Over ten years, all episodes of unplanned hospitalization, death, and peritonitis in PD patients were collected in our center. Seven national holidays in China were chosen, and non-holiday days were selected as the control period. The effect of national holidays was observed by comparing the hospitalization, death, and peritonitis rates between holiday and non-holiday groups. There were 297 events in all holiday periods and 1247 in non-holiday periods. There is no significant difference in hospitalization rate between holiday and non-holiday groups (32.4% ± 6.4% vs. 29.2% ± 3.4%, p = 0.175). So is the death rate [6.3% (4.8–12.3%) vs.5.0% (4.2–8.9%), p = 0.324] and peritonitis rate [0.19 (0.13–0.53) vs. 0.22 (0.18–0.27), p = 0.445] between the two groups. Significant differences were observed in the distribution of peritonitis causes between the two groups (p = 0.017). The rate of secondary to other infections in the holiday group was significantly higher than in the non-holiday group (25.0 vs. 10.3%, p = 0.015). Our study suggested no national holiday effect on health outcomes of PD patients based on ten-year data in our center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental work stress was associated with parenting irritability and use of harsh disciplinary practices, but little is known about how daily fluctuations in work stress proliferate to everyday parenting practices in the context of multigenerational living. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined how grandparental coresidence moderates the link between daily work stress and parent-to-child aggression (PCA). Using propensity scores, we matched 129 three-generation households with 133 two-generation households in Zhengzhou, China, based on multiple family characteristics. Parents in both groups completed daily questionnaires for 15 consecutive days. Fixed effects models estimated the within-person associations between parent daily work stress and PCA among the two comparison groups. We found substantial daily fluctuations in parent work stress and PCA. The association between parent daily work stress and PCA significantly varied between two- and three-generation families and was only significant among the former. We conclude that co-residing grandparent(s) could be an important resource that buffers the work-to-PCA stress proliferation. Child abuse prevention programs would likely benefit from concerting with policies supporting the wellbeing of older adults and programs promoting work-life balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increased applications of engineered elemental metal nanoparticles (EMNPs) in recent years, increased attention has been devoted to their release into the environment. EMNPs pose potential risks to living organisms, including human beings. Hence, the characterization of EMNPs in the environment has gained significant importance. Among the various techniques reported for the characterization of EMNPs, on-line coupling of flow field-flow fractionation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (F4-ICPMS) has been well established for the simultaneous separation, identification, and quantification of EMNPs, especially in the complex matrices of environmental samples. Thus, this review focuses on the specific advantages of the F4 method, especially the asymmetrical F4 (AF4) and hollow fiber F4 (HF5) methods, in the separation of EMNPs, the general development of AF4-ICPMS and HF5-ICPMS techniques, and recent advances in the application of these hyphenated techniques in examining the occurrence and transformation of EMNPs in the environment. Finally, several perspectives on these techniques have been put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionospheric delay is the most significant source of error affecting the Loran skywave timing. To improve timing service, we propose a new ionospheric delay estimation method in this paper. It is a cosine model that combines the ionospheric physical characteristics and skywave delay variation law. This semi-empirical and semi-measured model has characteristics of accuracy and simplicity compared with the traditional method. The experimental results show that estimation error of the model is less than 1 µs for a single day and less than 2 µs for 3 days in the stable time. It is sufficient to correct more than 90% of delay when skywave passes through the ionosphere and is less affected by the season. This paper also gives some suggestions on the propagation of ionospheric coefficients required for the model. It allows broadcasting only by modifying the data channel message structure under the normal operation of Loran system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bamboo root as by-product of bamboo shoot processing is rich in dietary fibre. The protective effects of bamboo root dietary fibre (BRDF) with different intake dose on the hyperlipidaemia mice were investigated. The mice weight in the high dose (HD) group was 31.18 g, lower than that of high fat diet (HFD) group (33.71 g, p <.05), after consuming BRDF. The contents of TC, TG and LDL-C in HD group mice were significantly reduced (p <.05). The mice liver index significantly decreased in the BRDF group compared to the HFD group. TC and TG contents in the liver of HD mice were 0.85 mmol·g−1 and 0.83 mmol·g−1, respectively, significantly lower than 2.25 mmol·g−1 and 1.46 mmol·g−1 in the normal control group (p <.05). H&E staining showed a reduction in inflammatory infiltration. These results suggested that BRDF in the daily diet could reduce blood lipids in vivo and prevent hyperlipidaemia. CO2 extrudedbamboo shoot fiberintervention controlled food-borne obesity in mice. CO2 extruded bamboo shootfiber, as a food ingredient, hasa good effect on lowering blood lipids. Reuse bambooshoot processing by-products to save resources and protect the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guoqiang Cai is a Chinese artist and designer known for his designs that use gunpowder blasting to explore society, culture, and nature. The work mixes art, design, and Chinese culture. Unknown world The universe and the unknown world have always been important themes in Guoqiang Cai's design. By drawing on and absorbing elements of traditional Chinese culture and contemporary art language forms, he deconstructs art materials and simulates the elements of time and space in his work; he deconstructs the duality of Chinese and Western art and builds an innovative art and design language. [Extracted from the article]

The removal of sulfur compounds to produce low-sulfur-content fuel oil has become a common goal for the refining industry and environmental protection. Herein, novel HPMo@DUT-67 composites were obtained by inducing the autonomous assembly of MOFs with polyoxometalate as guest molecules. The influence of introducing the polyoxometalate on the microstructure of HPMo@DUT-67 composites was investigated by fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray. The catalytic activity of the catalysts for oxidative desulfurization of model fuel was evaluated using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. The results showed that 50-HPMo@DUT-67 exhibited the highest catalytic activity with a DBT conversion of 97.57%. Catalytic efficiency still reached above 93% after 6 cycles of use with excellent reusability. In addition, kinetic studies showed that the oxidative desulfurization processes were consistent with the pseudo-first-order model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stent retriever thrombectomy has become an effective method for treating acute ischemic stroke. Successful recanalization cannot be achieved for all patients. The outcome of mechanical thrombectomy may be associated with some mechanical factors, requiring efficient tools that are able to assess the interaction between stent retrievers and clots. In this study, a simulation by finite element analysis was developed to evaluate the outcome of stent retriever thrombectomy for clots of different sizes and frictional properties. The deployment and retrieval of the stent retriever were conducted in a middle cerebral artery model. The recanalization, deformation of the clot and stent retriever and the stress induced in the clot were assessed. The results showed that higher friction could lead to failed recanalization and increased stress in the clot. The simulation method can be used to characterize the mechanical behaviour of stent retrievers and clots, offering a potential tool for the optimization of device design and the selection of surgical strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of CyTA: Journal of Food is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Peritoneal fibrosis (PF) ultimately causes ultrafiltration failure and peritoneal dialysis (PD) termination, but there are few effective therapies for it. Core fucosylation, which is catalyzed by α1,6-fucosyltransferase (Fut8) in mammals, may play a crucial role in PF development. This study aims to assess the effects of inhibiting core fucosylation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor on PF rats. PF rats (established by 4.25% glucose dialysate) were treated with either an adenovirus-Fut8 short hairpin RNA (Fut8shRNA) or adenovirus-control. Masson's staining and net ultrafiltration were performed at week six. Fut8 level and core fucosylation of EGF receptor and collagen I in the peritoneal membrane were assessed, and EGF signaling was detected, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and their phosphorylation. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in peritoneal effluent was examined. Fut8 was upregulated in PF rats but decreased after Fut8shRNA treatment. EGF and EGF receptor expression was upregulated in PF rats, while core fucosylation of EGF receptor decreased after Fut8shRNA treatment. Masson's staining results showed an increase in peritoneal thickness in PF rats but a decrease after Fut8shRNA treatment. Fut8shRNA treatment increased net ultrafiltration, reduced the expression of collagen I and MCP-1 compared to PF rats. Fut8shRNA treatment suppressed phosphorylation of STAT3 and NF-κB in the peritoneal membrane of PF rats. Fut8shRNA treatment ameliorated the fibrotic changes in PF rats. A potential mechanism may be that Fut8shRNA treatment inactivated EGF signaling pathway by suppressing the phosphorylation of STAT3 and NF-κB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, Schuster introduced the concept of Blaschke-Minkowski homo-morphism of convex bodies. In this paper, we introduce the Lp-mixed Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphism in Lp-Brunn-Minkowski theory. We then further study the Shephard type problem involving an affirmative answer and two negative answers for Lp-mixed Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a method that can be used to improve the differentiation of coal and gangue via image processing and use of a support vector machine (SVM). Images of coal and gangue were converted to grayscale in this approach, the background was segmented, and the contrast was stretched. A basic eigenvalue was then determined based on the contrast between the grayscale mean and the gray-level co-occurrence matrix in each image. The biorthogonal wavelet was then used to expand coal and gangue images based on discrete wavelet transforms in two dimensions (2-D), while the supplementary eigenvalue is comprised of the mean variance of the wavelet coefficient at different scales. The eigenvalue of coal was then contrasted with each gangue eigenvalue, as well as the basic and the supplementary eigenvalue to construct a mathematical recognition model based on image processing and use of a SVM. At the same time, the penalty factor and kernel function coefficient of the mathematical model were optimized using K-fold cross validation. Experimental results indicate that the method proposed in this article can be used to recognize coal and gangue more effectively (at a rate up to 95.12%), compared to the conventional image processing recognition method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of (p, q)-mixed volume was first introduced by Lutwak, Yang and Zhang in 2018. According to this concept, Li, Wang and Zhou defined the (p, q)- mixed affine surface areas in 2019. In this paper, we establish some inequalities including cyclic inequality, monotonous inequality and product inequality for the (p, q)-mixed affine surface areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaussian process (GP) regression is widely used to find the extreme of a black-box function by iteratively approximating an objective function when new evaluation obtained. Such evaluation is usually made by optimising a given acquisition function. However, for non-parametric Bayesian optimisation, the extreme of the objective function is not a deterministic value, but a random variant with distribution. We call such distribution the maximum distribution which is generally non-analytical. To construct such maximum distribution, traditional GP regression method by optimising an acquisition function is computational cost as the GP model has a cubic computation of training data. Moreover, the introduction of acquisition function brings extra hyperparameters which made the optimisation more complicated. Recently, inspired by the idea of Sequential Monte Carlo method and its application in Bayesian optimisation, a Monte Carlo alike method is proposed to approximate the maximum distribution with weighted samples. Alternative to the method on GP model, we construct the maximum distribution within the framework of Student-t process (TP) which considers more uncertainties from the training data. Toy examples and real data experiment show the TP-based Monte Carlo maximum distribution has a competitive performance to the GP-based method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible transparent conductive films are indispensable for nowadays wearable electronic devices with various applications. However, existing solutions such as ITO and metal mesh were limited by their poor intrinsic stretching ability. In this work, we designed and fabricated silver nanowires (AgNWs) on graphene hybrid films for enhanced mechanical and electrical performance. In situ TEM characterizations show that, beside conductive paths, silver nanowire network, can also contribute to the toughening mechanisms of the hybrid films. Furthermore, bending and electrical tests were applied to examine the corresponding flexible electronics' performance. Finally, we showed that the fabrication of our AgNW/graphene hybrid films could be scaled up for large film applications and extended to other 1D/2D hybrid systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting landslides using remote sensing images involves converting gray level images into binary images. Given the complex background and non-uniform illumination in the regional remote sensing image, the commonly-used global thresholding methods are limited to interpret some landslides those hidden in the shadow. In this paper, we report on an enhanced image thresholding method for the noncontact detection of earthquake-induced landslides. The proposed method incorporates Monte-Carlo simulation into the local thresholding method, and essential issues, regarding complex illumination condition and uncertainties of determining block size in local thresholding method, are addressed. To better separate landslide candidate objects from the background, we incorporate Digital Surface Model (DSM) into the binary image, such that the interferences by built-up areas, terraces, and rivers can be significantly reduced considering the indicator of slope gradient. The described method has been tested using two benchmark tests, showing that the proposed method performs well dealing with the complex background and illumination condition. As a case study, we use the proposed method to detect landslides in a remote sensing image near Beichuan area after the 2008 Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake. Results demonstrate that the presented method interprets landslides resembling those of manually visual delineation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular dynamics (MD) study is carried out to reveal the phenomenon about the normal and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid argon film absorbed on MoS2 surface with different wetting conditions. The three-phase molecular system is composed of a solid MoS2 wall, a liquid argon film and a vapour argon region. Initially, the three-phase simulated system is thermally equilibrated at a low temperature. Then the MoS2 heat source is suddenly heated up to two different high temperatures those far above critical point of liquid argon, and the argon experienced a phase transition process in the NVE ensemble. The simulation results show that the good wetting properties and high heat source temperature dramatically enhance phase transition efficiency, accelerating the heat transfer rate, shortening the boiling time, and increasing the evaporation rate, and they have remarkable effects on temperature and pressure histories, density distribution during whole boiling process. Explosive boiling is more likely to occur at high superheated degree, but evaporation occurs at low superheated degree. In addition, at a high superheated degree, it can be conclude from the simulation results that the better wetting properties of the solid-liquid interface is, the shorter time of the explosive boiling is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the notion of Lp-mean zonoids which is introduced by Xi, Guo and Leng, we define the notion of asymmetric Lp-mean zonoids and establish its an affine inequality. Further, we give the extremal values for volume, quermassintegrals of this notion and dual quermassintegrals of polar of this notion. Finally, associated with p-radial mean bodies, two monotonic inequalities for the asymmetric Lp-mean zonoids are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of radial Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphisms was presented by Schuster. Afterwards, Wang et al. introduced Lp radial Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphisms. In this paper, associated with Lp-dual affine surface areas, we establish some inequalities including the Brunn-Minkowski type inequality, cyclic inequality and monotonic inequalities, and give an affirmative answer and a negative answer of Busemann-Petty problem for the Lp radial Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity of reservoir microorganism is essential to Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). This present paper investigates the relationship between the microbial activity and production performance by means of long-scale & long-term experiments. The six rounds of nutritional injection was carried out in 135 days. During the microbial flooding experiment was performed recovering additional oil (10.44% Original Oil in Place, OOIP) after first water flooding. There is a positive correlation between water content and shannon index. And the fourth round of nutritional injection causes a considerable reduction in water content, while the concentration of Methyl-coenzyme reductase subunit alpha (mcrA) reaches peak value. In microbial flooding and reference water flooding, the concentration of mcrA maintained higher level with the low concentration of acetic acid. There are intimate correlation between water content and mcrA concentration & bacterial diversity (shannon index), which can be consider the symbol to guide the MEOR filed test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's technological efforts to tackle climate change have lasted for many years. It is necessary to test the effect of these efforts with quantitative method. To be exact, whether and how China's low-carbon technology innovation responds to climate change should be tested. Based on the 2004-2015 panel data of 30 provinces in China, we use the method of ESDA analyzing the spatial correlation of China's low-carbon innovation technology. Furthermore, we use the spatial Durbin model empirically analyzing the spatial spillover effects. The results obtained are as follows: first, supply and demand of Chinese low-carbon innovation has some deviation in the spatial distribution. The low-carbon technology innovation as the supply factor shows the characteristics of expanding from the east to the west. Innovation in eastern China has always been the most active, but innovative activities in the middle and western China are gradually decreased. However, carbon emissions have the characteristics of moving westward, implying the change of technology demand different from technology supply. Second, China's low-carbon innovation actively responds to the trend of climate change, indicating China's technological efforts have paid off. However, the spatial spillover effects are not significant, showing that the efforts in each region of China still work for himself. Third, environmental regulation and market pull are important factors for low-carbon technology innovation. Among them, both supporting policy and inhibitory policy have significant impact on the local low-carbon technology innovation, but no significant spatial spillover effects. It shows that environmental policies in different regions are competitive and lack of demonstration effects. Economic growth and export as market pull have higher level of effect on low-carbon technology innovation for both local and adjacent areas. Some policy implications are proposed based on these results finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lateral berms are often constructed to protect highway bridges against debris flows in mountainous regions. Currently, different solutions for lateral berm design are debated. The lack of standardization results in the improper design of lateral berms, limiting the mitigating effect. In this paper, a monitoring case of the mitigating effect of a lateral berm is introduced. The lateral berm was constructed through a bridge culvert at the alluvial fan of a debris-flow gully. In September 2008, a debris flow in this gully completely buried the lateral berm. The proposed numerical integral method was used to back analyse the flowing velocity and mud depth in berm. Results supported the speculation that abrupt decreases in mud depth and flow velocity in the lateral berm caused deposits that compressed the effective berm depth and resulted in overtopping flow. Therefore, we suggested reducing the berm width in order to increase the flow velocity in the berm. In June 2011, another debris flow with a smaller magnitude occurred in the gully, and the reconstructed lateral berm reportedly performed well to protect the bridge of Yalu highway. The case studies highlighted that berm width should be one of the main considerations in the berm design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topoisomerases solve critical topological problems in DNA metabolism and have long been regarded as the “magicians” of the DNA world. Here we present views from 2 of our recent studies indicating that Type IA topoisomerases from all domains of life often possess dual topoisomerase activities for both DNA and RNA. In animals, one of the 2 Type IA topoisomerases, Top3β, contains an RNA-binding domain, possesses RNA topoisomerase activity, binds mRNAs, interacts with mRNA-binding proteins, and associates with active mRNA translation machinery. The RNA-binding domain is required for Top3β to bind mRNAs and promote normal neurodevelopment. Top3β forms a highly conserved complex with Tudor-domain-containing 3 (TDRD3), a protein known to interact with translation factors, histones, RNA polymerase II, single stranded DNA and RNA. Top3β requires TDRD3 for its association with the mRNA translation machinery. We suggest that Type IA topoisomerases can be “magicians” for not only DNA, but also RNA; and they may solve topological problems for both nucleic acids in all domains of life. In animals, Top3β-TDRD3 is a dual-activity topoisomerase complex that can act on DNA to stimulate transcription, and on mRNA to promote translation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this research, the interfacial behavior and emulsifying ability of biosurfactants mixtures were evaluated to investigate the potential application in high-temperature and high-salinity reservoirs. Results indicated that the mixtures of biosurfactants and betaine 4# gave the lowest interfacial tension values of ∼10−3mN/m and emulsified crude oil more effectively. Core flooding tests showed that the binary systems gave the highest oil recovery of 11%, which is more efficient than any single biosurfactant or chemical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional distributed beamforming schemes in multicell system often ignore two practical conditions, (1) the coexistence of intracell interference (InCI) and inter-cell interference (ICI), (2) the number of users is larger than the number of base station (BS) antennas. In this paper, we consider these two conditions and analyze the decentralized beamforming of the multicell system from the viewpoint of zero forcing (ZF). A novel user selection method based on ZF algorithm is proposed to divide the users into two categories, i.e. one of the categories is eligible to participate in ZF algorithm and the other is not. The proposed criterion of partitioning users is based on the degree of parallelity between local channels. In addition, each BS utilizes only the local channel state informations (CSIs) to derive its beamforming vector. The simulation results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm can achieve higher rates and are more robust against InCI and ICI than the traditional ones under the different number of transmitting antennas and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working long hours has become a routinised part of life in East Asia. The different patterns of overtime across this region are understudied, however. This study represents a first systematic attempt to analyse overtime and its determinants in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China by testing hypotheses that specify the distinctive influences of employment status and job contracts on work hours. Class exploitation, post-industrialism and flexibility theories are mobilised to identify distinctive but supplementary factors in long working hours. Using data from a recent fourcountry survey, a Tobit regression analysis of full-time workers' hours reveals that employers and self-employed people work longer hours than hired workers across this region. Despite this convergence, there is a contrast across occupations. In Japan, overtime is positively associated with occupational prestige, while a reverse pattern operates in China, where low-skilled workers work more overtime. Contract workers in the private sector in South Korea and China also have longer overtime when compared to public sector employees. In sum, this study highlights more divergence than convergence of working conditions within East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

6,7,4′-Trihydroxyisoflavanone, the main source of which is extracted from soybeans, has been found to have diverse significant bioactivities. A large-scale, cost-effective, and facile chemical synthesis of 6,7,4′-trihydroxyisoflavanone is presented herein. Its synthesis is characterized by three steps with an overall yield of 71% and a purity or more than 99.0%. This reaction can be scaled up to multikilogram quantities, providing a solid basis for its further bioactivity studies and drug development. With this same method, 6,7,3′,4′-tetrahydroxyisoflavanone, an analog of 6,7,4′-trihydroxyisoflavanone, also can be largely prepared, indicating this modified synthetic method is potentially available for large-scale synthesis of a broad range of multihydroxyl isoflavanones. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The RecQL5 helicase is essential for maintaining genome stability and reducing cancer risk. To elucidate its mechanism of action, we purified a RecQL5-associated complex and identified its major component as RNA polymerase II (Pol II). Bioinformatics and structural modeling-guided mutagenesis revealed two conserved regions in RecQL5 as KIX and SRI domains, already known in transcriptional regulators for Pol II. The RecQL5-KIX domain binds both initiation (Pol IIa) and elongation (Pol IIo) forms of the polymerase, whereas the RecQL5-SRI domain interacts only with the elongation form. Fully functional RecQL5 requires both helicase activity and associations with the initiation polymerase, because mutants lacking either activity are partially defective in the suppression of sister chromatid exchange and resistance to camptothecin-induced DNA damage, and mutants lacking both activities are completely defective. We propose that RecQL5 promotes genome stabilization through two parallel mechanisms: by participation in homologous recombination-dependent DNA repair as a RecQ helicase and by regulating the initiation of Pol II to reduce transcription-associated replication impairment and recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Runoff with contaminated urban soil has an environmental risk to the aquatic environment. An assessment of heavy metals in street dust particles from a small town and their risks to the township stream network were conducted at Yangtze River delta. This assessment is based on measurement of heavy metal contents in dust particles with different particle sizes, river sediments, and suspended solids of urban runoff. The ranges of heavy metal content were 0.8-4.3, 16-380, 69-240, 9.3-350, 9.6-863 and 67-1170 mg/kg dry street dust, for Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, respectively. Approximately 63%-71% of heavy metals were associated with particles less than 250 μ m; this particle size accounted for 40% of the total mass of street dusts. Of the five land use areas, the industrial areas had the highest heavy metal level. The smaller particle size fraction has a higher heavy metal content, low density, high mobility in runoff, and thus is a higher risk to the stream network. The topographical and hydrological features of the landscape also influence the transport of the contaminated street dusts to the aquatic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have implicated CYP1A1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms as risk factors for various cancers. A number of studies have been devoted to the association of CYP1A1 or GSTM1 polymorphism with susceptibility to oral carcinoma and have yielded conflicting results. The aim of the present study was to assess the possible associations of oral cancer risk with CYP1A1 genetic variation and GSTM1 null genotype respectively via systematic meta-analyses. The data suggest that variant genotypes of CYP1A1 might not be risk factors for oral cancer, whereas GSTM1 null genotype significantly increases susceptibility to oral cancer in Asians but not Caucasians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

\nHIGHLIGHTSThe resource utilization of coal gasification fine slag (FS) and the harmless treatment of dyeing wastewater are crucial for establishing a zero-emission industrial system and a circular economy. This study used FS as raw material and divided it into two particle sizes through ultrasonic pretreatment enhanced wet sieving. The composite materials were synthesized via an alkaline hydrothermal process from different components in FS was compared, and applied as adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue from printing and dyeing wastewater. Finally, the kinetic and thermodynamic model developed for MB from printing and dyeing wastewater. The maximum adsorption of MB by the composite material prepared from low carbon component (<0.125 mm) could reach more than 180 mg·g−1. The research results have important theoretical and practical value for guiding the high-value utilization of FS and its application in dye wastewater treatment. The alkali-soluble hydrothermal technique synthesized the composites.Methylene blue maximum adsorption capacity of 180 mg·g−1.The composites’ kinetic and thermodynamic adsorption properties on MB were clarified.The reaction mechanisms of different components in FS were elucidated.The alkali-soluble hydrothermal technique synthesized the composites.Methylene blue maximum adsorption capacity of 180 mg·g−1.The composites’ kinetic and thermodynamic adsorption properties on MB were clarified.The reaction mechanisms of different components in FS were elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular dynamics (MD) study is carried out to reveal the phenomenon about the normal and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid argon film absorbed on MoS2 surface with different wetting conditions. The three-phase molecular system is composed of a solid MoS2 wall, a liquid argon film and a vapour argon region. Initially, the three-phase simulated system is thermally equilibrated at a low temperature. Then the MoS2 heat source is suddenly heated up to two different high temperatures those far above critical point of liquid argon, and the argon experienced a phase transition process in the NVE ensemble. The simulation results show that the good wetting properties and high heat source temperature dramatically enhance phase transition efficiency, accelerating the heat transfer rate, shortening the boiling time, and increasing the evaporation rate, and they have remarkable effects on temperature and pressure histories, density distribution during whole boiling process. Explosive boiling is more likely to occur at high superheated degree, but evaporation occurs at low superheated degree. In addition, at a high superheated degree, it can be conclude from the simulation results that the better wetting properties of the solid-liquid interface is, the shorter time of the explosive boiling is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]