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Mazu..., the goddess of sea, not only symbolically protects fishermen and sailors, but also officially serves as a prototype of worship for praying for safety from disaster and disease during the Qing Dynasty. From a local sea goddess, Mazu had ultimately become the official goddess worshipped in coastal provinces after numerous praises by the emperors. This essay will begin with an exploration of the systematic architecture of Tian Hou (..., heavenly empress) temples; this will be followed by a discussion of some examples, including the Hui-ji temple ... in the imperial garden of Beijing , the Sea-god temple ... in Haining county of Zhejiang province and the Tian Hou Temples in Meizhou(... ) and Quanzhou.... By contrasting their architectural space scheme and spatial structure with the examples from Taiwan, this paper shows that some local spatial characteristics can be traced from the official Tian Hou temple. The following conclusions are revealed: (1) The established date of the Tian Hou temple was before the constitution of the local government; (2) The site of the Tian Hou temple was often set near main routes of sea transportation; (3) The type and relationships between the Mazu icons and those of other subordinated gods were similar to those in other local temples; (4)Some other official gods are also being co-worshiped in the Tian Hou temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four supramolecular complexes of p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene and p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene with 8-hydroxyquinolinium (HQ +) and 8-aminoquinolinium (AQ +) guests were prepared, and their structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction as [HQ +] 3.5[ p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene 4−+ 0.5H +]·13.5H 2O ( 1), [HQ +] 4[ p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene 4−]·6.75H 2O ( 2), [HQ +] 2.5[ p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene 4−+ 1.5H +]·7.75H 2O ( 3), and [AQ +] 1.25[ p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene 4−+ 2.75H +]·9H 2O ( 4), respectively. The results obtained show that p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene can offer different inclusion structures with a HQ +guest from p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene, and the formation of a molecular capsule based on p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene and HQ +is pH-dependent. Furthermore, the aggregation structures of complexes 1− 4are comparatively discussed from the viewpoint of the manner of aggregation and driving forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to monitor the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the stack gas released from organic chemical industrial plants to determine emission factors. Samples from 52 stacks, with or without air pollution control devices (APCDs), from seven industrial processes were taken and VOCs measured using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 18. These 7 processes, including 26 plants, were the manufacturers of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), acrylic resin (ACR), vinyl chloride (VC), para-terephthalic acid (PTA), and synthetic fiber (SYF). The results clearly indicate significant variations of emission factors among the various industrial processes, particularly emission factors for those without APCDs. As expected, those with APCDs yield much less emission factors. Regardless of those with or without APCDs, the order of manufacturing processes with regard to VOC emission factors is SYF > ABS > PS >ACR > PTA > PVC > VC. The emission factors for some processes also differ from those in EPA-42 data file. The VOC profiles further indicate that some VOCs are not listed in the U.S. VOC/Particulate Matter Speciation Data System (SPECIATE). The potential O3 formation is determined from the total amount of VOC emitted for each of seven processes. The resultant O3 yield varied from 0.22 (ACR) to 2.33 g O3 g-1 VOC (PTA). The significance of this O3 yield is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldehydes are capable of inducing protein cross-linkage. An increase in aldehydes has been found in Alzheimer's disease. Formaldehyde and methylglyoxal are produced via deamination of, respectively, methylamine and aminoacetone catalyzed by semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO, EC 1.4.3.6. The enzyme is located on the outer surface of the vasculature, where amyloidosis is often initiated. A high SSAO level has been identified as a risk factor for vascular disorders. Serum SSAO activity has been found to be increased in Alzheimer's patients. Malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal are derived from lipid peroxidation under oxidative stress, which is also associated with Alzheimer's disease. Aldehydes may potentially play roles in β-amyloid aggregation related to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, thioflavin-T fluorometry, dynamic light scattering, circular dichroism spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy were employed to reveal the effect of endogenous aldehydes on β-amyloid at different stages, i.e. β-sheet formation, oligomerization and fibrillogenesis. Formaldehyde, methylglyoxal and malondialdehyde and, to a lesser extent, 4-hydroxynonenal are not only capable of enhancing the rate of formation of β-amyloid β-sheets, oligomers and protofibrils but also of increasing the size of the aggregates. The possible relevance to Alzheimer's disease of the effects of these aldehydes on β-amyloid deposition is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of moulds for imprinting can be simplified significantly by using specialized cross-linking polymers to define the pattern on a silicon wafer. Thermosetting polymers (SU-8) can be used to pattern silicon moulds for imprinting technologies because (1) silicon oxide moulds bearing a thermosetting polymer pattern can be obtained using conventional semiconductor technologies and (2) thermosetting polymers have no obvious glass transition temperature (Tg) because of their cross-linked structure, but the hardness decreases significantly when the temperature is above the Tg. In this study, we used Su-8 resist as the thermosetting polymer pattern to obtain moulds on a silicon wafer. We have tested the thermal properties of thermosetting (SU-8) and thermoplastic polymers (22A4) for use as imprinting patterns and imprinted resists. We fabricated a hill-like structure by applying an electron beam strategy and used this thick film to increase the adhesion between the pattern and the silicon wafer. We used scanning electron microscopy to investigate the resolution of the thermoplastic polymer resist (22A4) pattern that we imprinted using the thermosetting polymer (SU-8) pattern. To define the feature size after imprinting, we determined the feature size shrink factor after separation of the thermosetting polymer pattern (SU-8) from the thermoplastic polymer (22A4) resist. In addition, we have fabricated a microlens of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through replication using the thermoplastic polymer resist (22A4) obtained after imprinting the mould with the microlens structure of the thermosetting polymer (SU-8). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A7 (UGT1A7) polymorphisms on genetic susceptibility to digestive system cancer has received close attention since the discovery by Guillemette, the polymorphisms of which may alter enzyme activity. To clarify the allele frequency distribution and its association with risk of colorectal cancer, a population-based case–control study was carried out in Chinese population. Methods: A total of 140 patients with colorectal cancer and 280 cancer-free frequency-matched controls from a follow-up cohort population established in 1989, were enrolled. For the UGT1A7 polymorphisms analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based genotyping techniques including semi-nested PCR, allele-specific PCR and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were developed. Results: The variant allele frequencies in patients and controls were 50.0% and 38.6%, respectively, which were significantly associated with risk of colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR]: 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19–2.13). For the variant genotypes analysis, *2/*2 and *3/*3 exhibited a significant association with risk of colorectal cancer (OR: 7.80, 95%CI: 2.66–22.87; OR: 3.47, 95%CI: 1.51–7.97, respectively). Stratification analysis indicated that in previous–current cigarette smoking (cigarette smoking history), current cigarette smoking (current cigarette smoking status), previous–current alcohol drinking (alcohol drinking history) or current alcohol drinking individuals (current alcohol drinking status), the risk developing colorectal cancer increased: OR (95%CI), 2.81 (0.97–8.11), 3.39 (1.19–9.67), 2.89 (0.99–8.46) and 3.14 (1.09–9.09), respectively. Conclusions: UGT1A7 polymorphisms may have a significant modifying effect on colorectal cancer risk, which may interact with environmental factors, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in colorectal carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nondestructive analysis (NDA) is one of the most important tasks that is performed during the industrial characterization of integrated circuits (ICs) because even a tiny defect or failure in the IC packages could be disastrous from the standpoint of quality control. To detect an interconnection failure in IC packages, a time-domain reflectometry (TDR) analysis system was developed. An open-end fixture (OEF) was employed to detect the rapid rise of edge signals from the package and to monitor them under the two parameters of time interval and reflection voltage. We developed a simple and effective electrical NDA system based on the TDR technology that can evaluate the interconnection of ball grid array (BGA) packages. The TDR-measurement results can determine both the failure location and type based on the aforementioned parameters for a two-die BGA package. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) networks provide a wide bandwidth and represent the solution of choice for many residential networks nowadays. The Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) protocol is an important standard for HFC networks and is supported by the majority of current vendors. This protocol uses the Truncated Binary Exponential Back-off (TBEB) algorithm to resolve collisions within the network by means of a back-off window. However, the performance of this algorithm tends to deteriorate when the network load is high. Consequently, the present study develops a novel mathematical model for the TBEB algorithm and then uses this model to identify the window size which yields the optimal system throughput and minimum delay time under high traffic conditions. The present numerical results confirm that the performance is improved when the window settings identified from the developed model are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The pollution of drinking water, e.g. from rivers and pools, has long been recognized to be associated with an increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC), but there are few direct prospective cohort studies related to person-years on the relative risks of different sources of drinking water for CRC, hence the reason for our study. Methods: Based on a screening for CRC among residents aged 30 years and over in Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province, China, a total of 64,115 residents were classified into five cohorts by their source of drinking water and followed-up from 1st May 1990 to 1st January 2001. Person-years was calculated for every cohort member and Poisson regression was used to control potential confounding variables including demographic variables and smoking history, and to attain crude and adjusted relative risks based on person-years. Results: A trend was seen toward increasing incidence rates for CRC from the drinking water sources of municipal, river, ditch, mixed water to well in turn as shown by relative risk rates of 29.61, 32.67, 33.45, 40.87 and 58.67 per 100,000 inhabitants. Only the role in risk of well water was significantly different from municipal water (P < 0.05). After the confounding variables were adjusted, the significant risk from well water could be seen for colon cancer, rectal cancer as well as CRC. The relative risks were 1.741 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.001-3.029], 2.228 (95% CI 1.432-3.466) and 2.022 (95% CI 1.432-2.854), respectively. Conclusion: Drinking well water over a long period was identified as playing a role in the risk for CRC, especially for rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to report the effects of window views and indoor plants on human psychophysiological response in workplace environments. The effects of window views and indoor plants were recorded by measuring participant's electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), blood volume pulse (BVP), and state-anxiety. Photo Impact 5.0 was used to simulate the environment in an office, where six conditions were examined: 1) window with a view of a city, 2) window with a view of a city and indoor plants, 3) window with a view of nature, 4) window with a view of nature and indoor plants, 5) office without a window view, and 6) office without a window view and indoor plants. Participants were less nervous or anxious when watching a view of nature and/or when indoor plants were present. When neither the window view nor the indoor plants were shown, participants suffered the highest degree of tension and anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of RNA-mediated resistance against Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) by using single transgene constructs generally results in only a small portion of resistant individuals. Inverted repeat constructs encoding self-complementary double-stranded RNA have been demonstrated a potential way to obtain RNA-mediated resistance at high efficiency. To test this observation as a possible method for high frequency induction of CMV resistance, Nicotiana benthamiana plants were transformed with transgenes designed to produce double strand RNA molecules of CMV RNA 2 or coat protein (CP) gene sequences. Seventy-five percent of the tested R0 plants transformed with an RNA 2-derived inverted repeat construct (1534 nt CMV sequence) showed extreme resistance to CMV, while a lower percentage of resistance (30%) was observed in R0 lines transformed with a similar construct of a shorter viral RNA 2 sequence (490 nt). The resistance level conferred by CP sequences was also efficient by using a dsRNA construct, reaching a level of 50%. Self-pollinated (S1) progenies obtained from most resistant R0 plants all showed resistance levels of 100%, perfectly correlating with the expression of transgenic dsRNAs. The results indicate that the use of inverted repeat viral transgenes is a highly efficient approach to obtain CMV resistant transgenic plants. Consequently, only a handful of transgenic plants will have to he generated using such constructs for successful resistance, which enables the implementation of this protocol for crops that are difficult to transform, such as ornamental plants in which CMV is an important pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations in the human P gene result in oculocutaneous albinism type 2, the most common form of albinism. Mouse melan-p1 melanocytes, cultured from mice null at the homologous pink-eyed dilution ( p) locus, exhibit defective melanin production. A variety of compounds including tyrosine, NH4Cl, bafilomycin A1, concanamycin, monensin, and nigericin are capable of restoring melanin synthesis in these cells. In the current study, we investigated the subcellular effects of bafilomycin A1 and monensin treatment of melan-p1 cells. Both agents play two roles in the processing of tyrosinase (Tyr) in melan-p1 cells. First, combined glycosidase digestion and immunoblotting analysis showed that these agents reduce levels of Tyr retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and facilitate the release of Tyr from the ER to the Golgi. Secondly, treatment with these compounds resulted in the stabilization of Tyr. Surprisingly, induction of melanin synthesis corresponds more closely with diminution of ER-retained Tyr, rather than the absolute amount of Tyr. Our results suggest that bafilomycin A1 and monensin induce melanin synthesis in melan-p1 cells mainly by facilitating Tyr processing from the ER to the Golgi by increasing the pH in either the ER or the ER–Golgi intermediate compartment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outbreaks of paralytic snail poisoning have recently occurred in Asia, especially in China. The epidemiological characteristics of this disease from an outbreak in Zhoushan City, China, were recorded. Forty-two outbreaks of paralytic snail poisoning, involving 309 cases of illness, occurred from 1977 to 2001. Sixteen people (5.2%) died, 48 people (15.5%) required intubations, and 140 people (45.3%) required emergency hospital treatment as a result of these outbreaks. Outbreaks involved multiple marine snail species and occurred primarily during the summer (from June to August) on 11 islands with high population densities. Peak numbers of outbreaks and amounts of snail toxicity occurred from 1978 to 1979, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1992 to 1994. Toxicity varied depending on specimen, region, and season. The toxin involved was identified as tetrodotoxin. The data obtained in this study suggest that snails should not be eaten unless they are certified to be nontoxic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the predictive role of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) derived radiomic model in tumor immune profiling and immunotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma. To perform radiomic analysis, immune related subgroup clustering was first performed by single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). Second, a total of 806 radiomic features for each phase of DCE-MRI were extracted by utilizing the Python package Pyradiomics. Then, a predictive radiomic signature model was constructed after a three-step features reduction and selection, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to evaluate the performance of this model. In the end, an independent testing cohort involving cholangiocarcinoma patients with anti-PD-1 Sintilimab treatment after surgery was used to verify the potential application of the established radiomic model in immunotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma. Two distinct immune related subgroups were classified using ssGSEA based on transcriptome sequencing. For radiomic analysis, a total of 10 predictive radiomic features were finally identified to establish a radiomic signature model for immune landscape classification. Regarding to the predictive performance, the mean AUC of ROC curves was 0.80 in the training/validation cohort. For the independent testing cohort, the individual predictive probability by radiomic model and the corresponding immune score derived from ssGSEA was significantly correlated. In conclusion, radiomic signature model based on DCE-MRI was capable of predicting the immune landscape of chalangiocarcinoma. Consequently, a potentially clinical application of this developed radiomic model to guide immunotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkyl chains with different lengths were covalently grafted onto the surface of hexamolybdate through the postfunctionalization protocol of polyoxometalates. The obtained compounds represent typical structures of the so-called giant surfactants. Unexpectedly, those surfactants with hexamolybdates as polar headgroups are able to crystallize, while single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the crystallization behavior of the surfactants is highly dependent on the length of the alkyl chains. For surfactants with comparatively short alkyl chains (C6 and C10), the alkyl chains prefer to interact with tetrabutylammonium, the countercation of hexamolybdate. However, the alkyl chains tend to pack with each other to form a domain of alkyl chains in the surfactant with a longer alkyl chain (C18). The possible mechanism is that a long alkyl chain cannot be fully compatible with the short chain (C4) of tetrabutylammonium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study tested whether two doses of human umbilical-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) were superior to one dose for protecting the brain against intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) induced by intracranial injection collagenase and the capacity of ironic-magnetic-nanoparticles (Ir-MNa) coated hUC-MSCs tracked by MRI. Methods and results: Adult male SD rats (n = 40) were equally categorized into group 1 (sham-operated-control), group 2 (ICH), group 3 [ICH + Ir-MNa-coated hUC-MSCs/1.2 × 106 cells with an extracorporeal magnet over rat head (eCMag)/administered by left internal carotid artery (LICA) at post-3 h ICH], and group 4 (ICH + Ir-MNa-coated hUC-MSCs/1.2 × 106 cells with an eCMag/administered post-3 h ICH by LICA and 24 h by IV) and euthanized by day 28. The result showed that by day 28 after ICH induction the neurological function was severely impaired in group 2 than in group 1 that was significantly improved in group 3 and further significantly improved in group 4, whereas ICH volume exhibited an opposite pattern of neurological impairment among the groups (all p < 0.0001). Brain MRI demonstrated that by 4 h after ICH, Ir-MNa-coated hUC-MSCs were abundantly identified in ischemic area in group 4. The protein expressions of inflammatory (TNF-α/MMP-9/IL-1ß/iNOS)/oxidative-stress (NOX-1/NOX-2/oxidized protein)/apoptotic (caspase-3/mitochondrial Bax/PARP)/fibrotic (Smad3/TGF-ß)/mitochondrial-damaged (cytosolic-cytochrome-C) biomarkers displayed an identical pattern of neurological impairment among the groups (all p < 0.0001). The cellular expressions of inflammation (CD68+/CD11b+)/brain edema (AQP4+) biomarkers exhibited an identical pattern, whereas the neuronal-myelin (Doublecortin+/NeuN/nestin) biomarkers displayed an opposite pattern of neurological impairment (all p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Two doses of hUC-MSCs were superior to just one dose for protecting the brain against ICH-induced damage and Ir-MNa-coated hUC-MSCs offered a well adopted method for tracking hUC-MSCs homing into the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonemissive iridium complex 2 is a lab-on-a-molecule for the highly selective detection of Hg2+ and ClO- among 33 analytes using its oxime residues as reactive units. At pH 5, chemodosimeter 2 responds to Hg2+ by dehydration, whereas at pH 8, it is oxidized by ClO-, resulting in 450- and 235-fold emission increases, respectively, at two distinct wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested the hypothesis that MMP-9−/−tPA−/− double knock out (i.e., MTDKO) plays a crucial role in the prognostic outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI by ligation of left-coronary-artery) in MTDKO mouse. Animals were categorized into sham-operated controls in MTDKO animals (group 1) and in wild type (B6: group 2), AMI-MTDKO (group 3) and AMI-B6 (group 4) animals. They were euthanized, and the ischemic myocardium was harvested, by day 60 post AMI. The mortality rate was significantly higher in group 3 than in other groups and significantly higher in group 4 than in groups 1/2, but it showed no difference in the latter two groups (all p < 0.01). By day 28, the left-ventricular (LV) ejection fraction displayed an opposite pattern, whereas by day 60, the gross anatomic infarct size displayed an identical pattern of mortality among the four groups (all p < 0.001). The ratio of heart weight to tibial length and the lung injury score exhibited an identical pattern of mortality (p < 0.01). The protein expressions of apoptosis (mitochondrial-Bax/cleaved-caspase3/cleaved-PARP), fibrosis (Smad3/T-GF-ß), oxidative stress (NOX-1/NOX-2/oxidized-protein), inflammation (MMPs2,9/TNF-α/p-NF-κB), heart failure/pressure overload (BNP/ß-MHC) and mitochondrial/DNA damage (cytosolic-cytochrome-C/γ-H2AX) biomarkers displayed identical patterns, whereas the angiogenesis markers (small vessel number/CD31+cells in LV myocardium) displayed opposite patterns of mortality among the groups (all p < 0.0001). The microscopic findings of fibrotic/collagen deposition/infarct areas and inflammatory cell infiltration of LV myocardium were similar to the mortality among the four groups (all p < 0.0001). MTDKO strongly predicted unfavorable prognostic outcome after AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we grafted pH-responsive poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) onto a Si substrate as the medium in a microfluidic device to detect breast cancer recurrence DNA (bcrDNA584) and a control human genomic DNA (hgDNA528) at extremely low concentrations (down to 0.15 ng/μl). The quantities of these two DNAs obtained through the capture and release from tethered PDMAEMA brushes under pH tuning conditions were sufficient for them to be amplified recognizably, suggesting that this approach could be used in miniaturized lab-on-a-chip cartridges for rapid disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we grafted thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) onto a Si substrate as the medium in a microfluidic device to detect specific DNA molecules [human genomic DNA (hgDNA528), 528 bp] at extremely low concentrations (down to 2 ng/μl). After using the polymerase chain reaction to amplify the released human gDNA signal from the tethered PNIPAAm on the substrate, the amplified human gDNA molecules were characterized through agarose gel electrophoresis. The tethered PNIPAAm in the fluid device allowed the precise detection of the human gDNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gypsum molds have been developed as an alternative for the Rapid tooling (RT) method used in injection molding. However, the poor capability of the heat delivery forces the gypsum mold to operate under a high-risk condition, and distortion of the molded part becomes apparent. The goal is to investigate the effect of a heat sink on the reduction of the gypsum mold temperature and to establish a methodology for the heat sink design. The methodology used the advantage of the electrical circuit concept to analyze the mold temperature. The heat transfer of a mold was modeled using an equivalent thermal circuit. After all the components on the circuit were determined, the heat transfer rate could then be calculated. Once the heat transfer rate was known, the mold temperature could be easily analyzed. A modified thermal circuit considering transverse heat conduction was also proposed, which estimated the mold temperature more accurately. The mold temperature was reduced by 16.8 °C when a gypsum mold was installed with a 40 mm thick heat sink in a parallel configuration. Moreover, the reduction of the mold temperature improved the deflection of the molded part from 0.78 mm to 0.54 mm. This work provides a quick approach to analyze the mold temperature based on the thermal circuit concept. As the cooling system of the mold was modularized analytically, important properties of the cooling system in the heat transfer process were revealed by analyzing the thermal circuit of the mold, for example, the heat transfer rate or the mold temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamical evolution of light in asymmetric microcavities is of primary interest for broadband optical coupling and enhanced light-matter interaction. Here, we propose and demonstrate that the chaos-assisted photon transport can be engineered by regular periodic orbits in the momentum-position phase space of an asymmetric microcavity. Remarkably, light at different initial states experiences different evolution pathways, following either regular-chaotic channels or pure chaotic channels. Experimentally, we develop a nanofiber technique to accurately control the excitation position of light in the phase space. We find that the coupling to high-Q whispering gallery modes depends strongly on excitation in islands or chaotic sea, showing a good agreement with the theoretical prediction. The engineered chaotic photon transport has potential in light manipulation, broadband photonic devices, and phase-space reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report pattern formations during the drying of a sheet of an aqueous suspension of nanospheres. The structures self-assembled by nanospheres span several centimeters and exhibit order at scales ranging from nanometers to centimeters, although the substrate has no predefined pattern. Within these structures, several regular patterns can be identified, including two-dimensional periodic gratings generated by crack networks with a characteristic spatial frequency linearly depending on the evaporation speed, and three-dimensional flower-like structures. This phenomenon potentially provides a simple and inexpensive method to grow structures having unique electromagnetic and/or biological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which investigated the effect of chromium underlayer on the microstructure and magnetic properties of samarium-cobalt thin films. Experimental procedure; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) induces blood leukocytosis, which correlates inversely with patient survival. The molecular mechanisms leading to leukocytosis in the infarcted heart remain poorly understood. Using an AMI mouse model, we identified gasdermin D (GSDMD) in activated leukocytes early in AMI. We demonstrated that GSDMD is required for enhanced early mobilization of neutrophils to the infarcted heart. Loss of GSDMD resulted in attenuated IL-1β release from neutrophils and subsequent decreased neutrophils and monocytes in the infarcted heart. Knockout of GSDMD in mice significantly reduced infarct size, improved cardiac function, and increased post-AMI survival. Through a series of bone marrow transplantation studies and leukocyte depletion experiments, we further clarified that excessive bone marrow-derived and GSDMD-dependent early neutrophil production and mobilization (24 hours after AMI) contributed to the detrimental immunopathology after AMI. Pharmacological inhibition of GSDMD also conferred cardioprotection after AMI through a reduction in scar size and enhancement of heart function. Our study provides mechanistic insights into molecular regulation of neutrophil generation and mobilization after AMI, and supports GSDMD as a new target for improved ventricular remodeling and reduced heart failure after AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The p-type passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) has achieved great success, and the bifacial PERC product is predicted as the mainstream of photovoltaic market. Herein, the higher diffusion sheet resistance on laser-doped selective emitter combined with different rear-side laser ablation designs and their impact on passivation and electrical performance are investigated. A high diffusion sheet resistance can restrain front surface recombination and improve short-wavelength spectral response. The minority carrier lifetime evolution is evaluated on a semi-PERC structure, which is significantly affected by the laser ablation design on the rear surface. The measured efficiency analysis reveals that there is a negative relation between enlarged laser ablation area and open-circuit voltage. The conversion efficiency of bifacial PERC cells with dash ablation design increases by 0.29% (absolute efficiency gain) comparing with base line samples with straight-line ablation. A high front-side average efficiency of 22.34% and a high bifaciality of 76.87% are achieved and further optimized to 22.52% and 78%, respectively, for a p-type PERC cell in a mass production line. After applying a multipassivation structure and careful optimization, an impressive mass production efficiency of 23.24% is achieved recently, showing great potential for low-cost photovoltaic power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knot detection is a challenging problem for the wood industry. Traditional methodologies depend heavily on the features selected manually and therefore were not always accurate due to the variety of knot appearances. This paper proposes an automated framework for addressing the aforementioned problem by using the state-of-the-art YOLO-v5 (the fifth version of You Only Look Once) detector. The features of surface knots were learned and extracted adaptively, and then the knot defects were identified accurately even though the knots vary in terms of color and texture. The proposed method was compared with YOLO-v3 SPP and Faster R-CNN on two datasets. Experimental results demonstrated that YOLO-v5 model achieved the best performance for detecting surface knot defects. F-Score on Dataset 1 was 91.7% and that of Dataset 2 was up to 97.7%. Moreover, YOLO-v5 has clear advantages in terms of training speed and the size of the weight file. These advantages made YOLO-v5 more suitable for the detection of surface knots on sawn timbers and potential for timber grading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the evacuation behaviors of pedestrians considering the action of guards and to develop an effective evacuation strategy in an artificial attack, an extended floor field model is proposed. In this model, the artificial attacker’s assault on pedestrians, the death of pedestrians, and the guard’s capture are involved simultaneously. An alternative evacuation strategy which can largely reduce the number of casualties is developed and the effects of several key parameters such as the deterrence radius and capture distance on evacuation dynamics are studied. The results show that congestion near the exit has dual effects. More specifically, the guard can catch all attackers in a short time because the artificial attackers have a more concentrated distribution, but more casualties can occur because it is hard for pedestrians to escape the assault due to congestion. In contrast, when pedestrians have more preference of approaching the guard, although the guard will take more time to capture the attackers resulting from the dispersion of the attackers, the death toll will decrease. One of the reasons is the dispersal of the crowd, and the decrease in congestion is beneficial for escape. The other is that the attackers will be caught before launching the attack on the people who are around the guard, in other words, the guard protects a large number of pedestrians from being killed. Moreover, increasing capture distance of the guard can effectively reduce the casualties and the catch time. As the deterrence radius reflecting the tendency of escaping from the guard for attackers rises, it becomes more difficult for the guard to catch the attackers and more casualties are caused. However, when the deterrence radius reaches a certain level, the number of deaths is reduced because the attackers prefer to stay as far away as possible from the guard rather than occupy a position where they could assault more people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) detection is a fundamental problem in wireless communications and it is strongly NP-hard in general. Massive MIMO has been recognized as a key technology in fifth generation (5G) and beyond communication networks, which on one hand can significantly improve the communication performance and on the other hand poses new challenges of solving the corresponding optimization problems due to the large problem size. While various efficient algorithms such as semidefinite relaxation (SDR) based approaches have been proposed for solving the small-scale MIMO detection problem, they are not suitable to solve the large-scale MIMO detection problem due to their high computational complexities. In this paper, we propose an efficient quadratic programming (QP) relaxation based algorithm for solving the large-scale MIMO detection problem. In particular, we first reformulate the MIMO detection problem as a sparse QP problem. By dropping the sparse constraint, the resulting relaxation problem shares the same global minimizer with the sparse QP problem. In sharp contrast to the SDRs for the MIMO detection problem, our relaxation does not contain any (positive semidefinite) matrix variable and the numbers of variables and constraints in our relaxation are significantly less than those in the SDRs, which makes it particularly suitable for the large-scale problem. Then we propose a projected Newton based quadratic penalty method to solve the relaxation problem, which is guaranteed to converge to the vector of transmitted signals under reasonable conditions. By extensive numerical experiments, when applied to solve small-scale problems, the proposed algorithm is demonstrated to be competitive with the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of detection accuracy and solution efficiency; when applied to solve large-scale problems, the proposed algorithm achieves better detection performance than a recently proposed generalized power method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of microfluidic technology, tumor-on-chip models have gradually become a new tool for the study of breast cancer because they can simulate more key factors of the tumor microenvironment compared with traditional models in vitro. Here, we review up-to-date advancements in breast tumor-on-chip models. We summarize and analyze the breast tumor microenvironment (TME), preclinical breast cancer models for TME simulation, fabrication methods of tumor-on-chip models, tumor-on-chip models for TME reconstruction, and applications of breast tumor-on-chip models and provide a perspective on breast tumor-on-chip models. This review will contribute to the construction and design of microenvironments for breast tumor-on-chip models, even the development of the pharmaceutical field, personalized/precision therapy, and clinical medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported that the cortical bone thinning seen in mice lacking the Wnt signaling antagonist Sfrp4 is due in part to impaired periosteal apposition. The periosteum contains cells which function as a reservoir of stem cells and contribute to cortical bone expansion, homeostasis, and repair. However, the local or paracrine factors that govern stem cells within the periosteal niche remain elusive. Cathepsin K (Ctsk), together with additional stem cell surface markers, marks a subset of periosteal stem cells (PSCs) which possess self-renewal ability and inducible multipotency. Sfrp4 is expressed in periosteal Ctsk-lineage cells, and Sfrp4 global deletion decreases the pool of PSCs, impairs their clonal multipotency for differentiation into osteoblasts and chondrocytes and formation of bone organoids. Bulk RNA sequencing analysis of Ctsk-lineage PSCs demonstrated that Sfrp4 deletion down-regulates signaling pathways associated with skeletal development, positive regulation of bone mineralization, and wound healing. Supporting these findings, Sfrp4 deletion hampers the periosteal response to bone injury and impairs Ctsk-lineage periosteal cell recruitment. Ctsk-lineage PSCs express the PTH receptor and PTH treatment increases the % of PSCs, a response not seen in the absence of Sfrp4. Importantly, in the absence of Sfrp4, PTH-dependent increase in cortical thickness and periosteal bone formation is markedly impaired. Thus, this study provides insights into the regulation of a specific population of periosteal cells by a secreted local factor, and shows a central role for Sfrp4 in the regulation of Ctsk-lineage periosteal stem cell differentiation and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate thermal rectification (TR) in graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) hybrid structures. Two different structural models, partially substituting graphene into h-BN (CBN) and partially substituting h-BN into graphene (BNC), are considered. It is found that CBN has a significant TR effect while that of BNC is very weak. The observed TR phenomenon can be attributed to the resonance effect between out-of-plane phonons of graphene and h-BN domains in the low-frequency region under negative temperature bias. In addition, the influences of ambient temperature, system size, defect number and substrate interaction are also studied to obtain the optimum conditions for TR. More importantly, the TR ratio could be effectively tuned through chemical and structural diversity. A moderate C/BN ratio and parallel arrangement are found to enhance the TR ratio. Detailed phonon spectra analyses are conducted to understand the thermal transport behavior. This work extends hybrid engineering to 2D materials for achieving TR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and lattice dynamic calculations, we investigate the thermal transport properties of graphyne nanotubes (GNTs). The results demonstrate that the GNTs exhibit relatively low thermal conductivity, which is approximately 10–25% of that in a carbon nanotube. Detailed lattice dynamic analyses indicate that the presence of sp carbon atoms can induce local resonance modes in the low frequency region, which results in the remarkable decrease of thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, the high-frequency phonon lifetimes also drop because of the vibrational mismatch between sp and sp2 carbon atoms (enhanced phonon scattering). Our results show the local resonance of phonons is an important mechanism for the reduction of thermal conductivity in low-dimensional nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sagnac effect enhancement can improve optical gyro precision. For a certain input intensity, we suggest that the other input port of beam splitter (BS) should be fed with some quantum light to break through shot noise limit (SNL) to improve Sagnac effect without increasing radiation-pressure noise (NRP). We design a Sagnac effect quantum enhancement criterion (SQEC) to judge whether some quantum light can enhance Sagnac effect and present a Sagnac effect enhancement scheme that utilizing Fock state light and parity measurement technique to extract the output phase. The results of the theoretical analysis show that the maximum sensitivity can be reached at θ = 0, and the phase precision can break through SNL and even achieve Heisenberg limit (HL). When the Fock state average photon number n is far less than coherent state, the minimum measurable angular rate is improved with times, which can deduce shot noise and increase NRP little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: During surgical procedure on lumbar spondylolisthesis, the role of reducing slip remains controversial. The purpose of the present study was to compare fusion in situ with reduction in clinical and radiographic outcomes. Methods: A literature research was performed at PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. After screening by two authors, ten articles were brought into this meta-analysis finally, and the quality was evaluated by the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Isthmic, moderate, and serious spondylolisthesis were all analyzed separately. Sensitivity analyses were performed for high-quality studies, and the publication bias was evaluated by the funnel plot. Results: Most criteria did not have statistical differences between reduction and fusion in situ groups. However, in reduction group, the union rate was significantly higher (P=0.008), the slippage was much improved (P<0.001) and the hospital stay was much shorter comparing to no-reduction group (P<0.001). Subgroup analysis (containing moderate and serious slip, or isthmic spondylolisthesis) and sensitivity analysis were all consistent with original ones, and the funnel plot indicated no obvious publication bias in this meta-analysis. Conclusions: Both reduction and fusion in situ for lumbar spondylolisthesis were related with good clinical results. Reduction led to higher rate of fusion, better radiographic slippage, and shorter hospital stay. After sufficient decompression, reduction did not incur additional risk of neurologic impairment compared with fusion in situ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A MS6.8 earthquake occurred on 5th September 2022 in Luding county, Sichuan, China, at 12: 52 Beijing Time (4:52 UTC). We complied a dataset of PGA, PGV, and site vS30 of 73 accelerometers and 791 Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) sensors within 300 km of the epicenter. The inferred vS30 of 820 recording sites were validated. The study results show that: (1) The maximum horizontal PGA and PGV reaches 634.1 Gal and 71.1 cm/s respectively. (2) Over 80% of records are from soil sites. (3) The vS30 proxy model of Zhou J et al. is superior than that of Wald and Allen and performs well in the study area. The dataset was compiled in a flat file that consists the information of strong-motion instruments, the strong-motion records, and the vS30 of the recording sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the conditions of superfluid-Mott-insulator criticality in two dimensions, the trapping centers--i.e., local potential wells and bumps--are generically characterized by an integer charge corresponding to the number of trapped particles (if positive) or holes (if negative). Varying the strength of the center leads to a transition between two competing ground states with charges differing by ±1. The hallmark of the transition scenario is a splitting of the number density distortion δn(r) into a half-integer core and a large halo carrying a complementary charge of ±1/2. The sign of the halo changes across the transition and the radius of the halo r0 diverges on the approach to the critical strength of the center, V=Vc, by the law r0 ∝ |V−Vc|−˜ν, with ˜ν ≈ 2.33(5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a breakthrough discovery involving supramolecular-based strategies to construct novel core–shell heterojunction nanoparticles with hydrophilic adenine-functionalized polythiophene (PAT) as the core and hydrophobic phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the shell, which enables the conception of new functional supramolecular assemblies for constructing functional nanomaterials for applications in optoelectronic devices. The generated nanoparticles exhibit uniform spherical shape, well-controlled tuning of particle size with narrow size distributions, and excellent electrochemical stability in solution and the solid state owing to highly efficient energy transfer from PAT to PCBM. When the PAT/PCBM nanoparticles were fabricated into a photoconducting layer in an electronic device, the resulting device showed excellent electric conduction characteristics, including an electrically-tunable voltage-controlled switch, and high short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. These observations demonstrate how the self-assembly of PAT/PCBM into specific nanostructures may help to promote efficient charge generation and transport processes, suggesting potential for a wide variety of applications as a promising candidate material for bulk heterojunction polymer devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This meta-analysis was conducted with the aim of investigating the association between WNT3 gene polymorphisms and non-syndromic cleft lip (CL) with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) predisposition. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed in six online databases including PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science, CENTRAL, CNKI, and Wanfang from inception up to June 2018 without language restriction. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated under allele model of inheritance to indicate the association between WNT3 polymorphisms and NSCL/P. Risk of bias was assessed through the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS). Predetermined stratified and sensitivity analyses were performed using the RevMan 5.3 software, publication bias were evaluated by Egger’s and Begg’s tests. Results: Seven case–control studies comprising 1617 NSCL/P patients and 2143 healthy controls were identified and included in the present study, a total of eight loci were investigated in the present study: rs3809857 was significantly associated with NSCL/P vulnerability (G compared with T, OR = 1.34, 95%CI: 1.15–1.56, P=0.0001), a significant association between rs9890413 polymorphism and NSCL/P susceptibility (A compared with G, OR = 1.25, 95%CI: 1.06–1.47, P=0.007) was detected as well. Since only few studies reported detailed data about the association between rs142167, rs7207916, rs199498, rs111769, rs12452064, rs11653738, and NSCL/P risk, these results were not combined using meta-analysis. Conclusion: Based on the findings of our current study, the rs3809857 and rs9890413 polymorphisms of WNT3 appeared to be associated with NSCL/P. Limited evidence is found to support the association between other WNT3 polymorphisms and risk of NSCL/P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the low-temperature physics of the SU(2)-symmetric spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a pyrochlore lattice and find "fingerprint" evidence for the thermal spin-ice state in this frustrated quantum magnet. Our conclusions are based on the results of bold diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulations, with good convergence of the skeleton series down to the temperature T/J = 1/6. The identification of the spin-ice state is done through a remarkably accurate microscopic correspondence for the static structure factor between the quantum Heisenberg, classical Heisenberg, and Ising models at all accessible temperatures, and the characteristic bowtie pattern with pinch points observed at T/J = 1/6. The dynamic structure factor at real frequencies (obtained by the analytic continuation of numerical data) is consistent with diffusive spinon dynamics at the pinch points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal transport properties in hybridised graphene and boron nitride ribbons (HGBNRs) under different strains are studied by using reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that the effect of strains on the thermal conductivity is different for different types of strains. When the tensile and shear strains are applied, the thermal conductivity can be modulated at least up to 50% at room temperature as the strain ε ranges from 0 to 0.2. However, when the compressive and flexural strains are respectively applied, the thermal conductivity is insensitive to the variation of the strain. In addition, it is also found that the thermal conductivity of HGBNRs depends sensitively on the dimension of the hybridised ribbon and the relative amount of h-BN to graphene. A brief analysis of these results is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell impedance analysis is widely used for monitoring biological and medical reactions. In this study, a highly sensitive three-dimensional (3D) interdigitated microelectrode (IME) with a high aspect ratio on a polyimide (PI) flexible substrate was fabricated for microparticle detection (e.g. cell quantity detection) using electroforming and lithography technology. 3D finite element simulations were performed to compare the performance of the 3D IME (in terms of sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio) to that of a planar IME for particles in the sensing area. Various quantities of particles were captured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium and their impedances were measured. With the 3D IME, the particles were arranged in the gap, not on the electrode, avoiding the noise due to particle position. For the maximum particle quantities, the results show that the 3D IME has at least 5-fold higher sensitivity than that of the planar IME. The trends of impedance magnitude and phase due to particle quantity were verified using the equivalent circuit model. The impedance (1269 Ω) of 69 particles was used to estimate the particle quantity (68 particles) with 98.6% accuracy using a parabolic regression curve at 500 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is an enzyme that promotes the degradation of low-density lipoprotein receptors. It is involved in hyperlipidemia as well as other diseases, such as cancer and skin inflammation. However, the detailed mechanism for PCSK9 on ultraviolet B (UVB)- induced skin lesions was not clear. Thus, the role and possible action mechanism of PCSK9 in UVB-induced skin damage in mice were studied here using siRNA and a small molecule inhibitor (SBC110736) against PCSK9. Immunohistochemical staining revealed a significant increase in PCSK9 expression after UVB exposure, indicating the possible role of PCSK9 in UVB damage. Skin damage, increase in epidermal thickness, and keratinocyte hyperproliferation were significantly alleviated after treatment with SBC110736 or siRNA duplexes, compared with that in the UVB model group. Notably, UVB exposure triggered DNA damage in keratinocytes, whereas substantial interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) activation was observed in macrophages. Pharmacologic inhibition of STING or cGAS knockout significantly reduced UVB-induced damage. In the co-culture system, supernatant from UVB-treated keratinocyte induced IRF3 activation in macrophages. This activation was inhibited with SBC110736 and by PCSK9 knockdown. Collectively, our findings reveal that PCSK9 plays a critical role in the crosstalk between damaged keratinocytes and STING activation in macrophages. The interruption of this crosstalk by PCSK9 inhibition may be a potential therapeutic strategy for UVB-induced skin damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous long RNAs were detected in extracellular vesicles (EVs), some of which were related with the tissue origins and immune cell types. This study examined the molecular basis of different traditional Chinese medicine syndrome diagnoses (also called syndrome differentiation) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Methods: 128 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients with different syndrome diagnoses were retrospectively reviewed in this study. Long RNA sequencing was conducted to analyze the EV long RNA profile of plasma samples. Differentially regulated EV long RNAs were annotated and assessed for Gene Ontology pathway enrichment using DAVID. The online program xCell were used to perform the cell-type enrichment analysis. Results: An average of 15,000 annotated genes, mainly including messenger RNAs, were stably detected per sample. Different syndrome diagnoses exhibited unique EV mRNA expression profiles and therefore different enriched pathways. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis discovered transforming growth factor-ß and kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog signaling activation as the hallmarks of cancer with Shi-Re syndrome. Cell-type enrichment analysis also revealed a varied inflammation/immune cell type distribution among patients with or without Shi-Re diagnosis. Mast cells, platelets and Tregs were significantly enriched but basophils, common lymphoid progenitors, dendritic cells, and conventional dendritic cells were decreased in patients with Shi-Re diagnosis compared with patients without Shi-Re diagnosis. Conclusion: We identified the hallmarks of cancer with different syndrome diagnoses based on plasma EV long RNA sequencing. In particular, transforming growth factor-ß and kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog signaling activation were the hallmarks of Shi-Re syndrome, which contribute to shape an inflammatory/immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When open-heart operations are necessary in patients who have undergone pneumonectomy, the unavoidable shift of mediastinal structures should be carefully considered. Surgical access, revascularization procedures, and the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass can all require approaches that differ from the usual. In particular, no general recommendations exist regarding the management of patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting after pneumonectomy. We successfully performed coronary artery bypass grafting in a 57-year-old man who had undergone a left pneumonectomy 7 years previously. Because the patient's heart was completely displaced into the left posterior hemithorax, access via a left posterolateral thoracotomy was chosen. Saphenous vein grafts were chosen over the internal mammary artery. The distal anastomoses were performed with use of the off-pump technique; for the proximal anastomosis, 2 venous grafts were implanted into the descending aorta. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and postoperative angiography revealed patent grafts. Herein, we discuss the case of this patient, and we present some considerations that can influence surgical approaches in similar circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the title mol­ecule, C13H10FN3O·H2O, the hydrazone group adopts a trans configuration with respect to the C=N double bond. In the crystal structure, a two-dimensional network is formed via inter­molecular O—H⋯O, N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, [Fe(C11H18N3O2)(H2O)]Cl, is a mono-nuclear iron(II) complex, consisting of one coordination cation and one uncoordinated Cl- anion. The central metal has distorted square-pyramidal geometry. Weak inter- molecular hydrogen bonds link the molecules to form two-dimensional layers parallel to the bc plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, {[Zn(C14H9NO3)]·CH3OH}n, is a polynuclear zinc(II) complex. Each ZnII atom is coordinated by one N and two O atoms of a Schiff base ligand, and another O atom of another Schiff base ligand, forming a severely distorted square-planar geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the case of a teenage girl with an anomalous left coronary artery originating from the main pulmonary artery. Medical history of the patient; Diagnosis and treatment; Results of a surgical procedure conducted on the teenager.

This study was carried out to optimize the culture media for the micropropagation of Taxodium hybrid Zhongshanshan (T. distichum x T. mucronatum). Using the tender stems of Zhongshanshan 301 as the expiants, the effects of NAA, 6-BA, IBA and KT on the induction of differentiation, proliferation and rooting were evaluated on MS or 1 / 2 MS medium. The results showed that Zhongshanshan can be proliferated via tissue culture. The combined use of NAA and 6-BA in MS medium greatly promoted the differentiation of Zhongshanshan expiants, and the optimal medium was MS + 0.2 mg/L NAA + 0.4 mg/L6-BA. The optimal medium for the proliferation of differentiated buds was MS + 0.3 mg/L NAA + 0.4 mg/L 6-BA, on which the proliferation rate was up to 3. 8. 1/2 MS medium was more conducive than MS medium to the induction of rooting. The optimal medium for the rooting of tissue-cultured Zhongshanshan shoots was 1/2MS + 0.3 mg/L IBA + 0.2 mg/L NAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]