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The Yingxiongling structural belt is located in the south of world's highest-altitude petroliferous basin, Qaidam Basin. It is well known for the extremely complicated topography and subsurface structure. Accurate velocity modeling and depth imaging is extremely difficult, as well as exploration and production in this area. Building a reliable initial model that accounts for both near-surface and subsurface structures is crucial. We first generate a geologically-guided subsurface velocity model by structural smoothing of the pre-stack time migration (PSTM) velocity guided by dip field. Furthermore, we take the water table, a typical geological phenomenon in Qaidam basin, into account for near surface modeling. With information regarding a stable and smooth water table, we achieve an optimum image predicting the trap, thus supporting exploration and production in the area.

Mitogen-activated and stress-activated protein kinase 1 (MSK1), which belongs to the subfamily of MAPK-activated protein kinase, plays an important role in cell proliferation and neoplastic transformation. It has been recently reported that MSK1 overexpression was closely related to the progression of some tumors such as colorectal cancer. However, the clinical significance of MSK1 in glioma has not been addressed. To investigate the potential role of MSK1 in glioma, we first examined the expression pattern of MSK1 in glioma tissues and normal brain tissues using quantitative RT-PCR, and the results showing that MSK1 expression was significantly elevated in glioma tissues compared with normal brain tissues. The clinical relevance of MSK1 expression level was then analyzed, and we found that high expression of MSK1 was closely related to the larger tumor size and advanced WHO grade. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that glioma patients with higher expression of MSK1 had poorer overall survival, and MSK1 was identified as an independent unfavorable prognosis factor. In addition, the effects of MSK1 on glioma cells were tested through cellular experiments, and we demonstrated that MSK1 can promote proliferation and invasion capacities of tumor cells. In conclusion, patients with glioma with higher MSK1 expression were more predisposed to poorer clinical outcomes and unfavorable prognosis, indicating the potential role of MSK1 as a novel clinical biomarker and therapeutic target.

BACKGROUND G protein-coupled receptor 110 (GPR110) belongs to the subfamily of the adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The potential role of GPR110 has been correlated with cancer cell invasion in some tumors such as glioma. However, its expression and role in human osteosarcoma has not been identified. This study aimed to examine the expression level of GPR110 and determine whether the expression of GPR110 was correlated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of osteosarcoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective study included 94 osteosarcoma patients. Immunohistochemistry staining and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed to detect the expression level of GPR110 in osteosarcoma specimens. We then determined the correlation of the GPR110 expression with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis by univariate or multivariate analysis. Patient outcomes were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier log-rank test and prognostic factors were detected by multivariate analysis. The function of GPR110 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were examined in this in vitro study. RESULTS Overexpression of GPR110 was correlated with the advanced stage of osteosarcoma. Patients with high expression level of GPR110 had significantly poorer 5-year overall survival; the multivariate analysis found that GPR110 expression level can act as an independent prognosis factor. Knockdown of GPR110 can decrease the proliferation, migration, and invasion capacity of human osteosarcoma cell lines. CONCLUSIONS Our studies suggest a role of GPR110 in tumor progression and as a potential novel prognostic biomarker in osteosarcoma.

Background Shandong Province experienced a declining malaria trend of local-acquired transmission, but the increasing imported malaria remains a challenge. Therefore, understanding the epidemiological characteristics of malaria and the control and elimination strategy and interventions is needed for better planning to achieve the overall elimination goal in Shandong Province. Methods A retrospective study was conducted and all individual cases from a web-based reporting system were reviewed and analysed to explore malaria-endemic characteristics in Shandong from 2005 to 2015. Annual malaria incidence reported in 2005–2015 were geo-coded and matched to the county-level. Spatial cluster analysis was performed to evaluate any identified spatial disease clusters for statistical significance. The space–time cluster was detected with high rates through the retrospective space–time analysis scanning using the discrete Poisson model. Results The overall malaria incidence decreased to a low level during 2005–2015. In total, 1564 confirmed malaria cases were reported, 27.1% of which (n = 424) were indigenous cases. Most of the indigenous case (n = 339, 80.0%) occurred from June to October. However, the number and scale of imported cases have been increased but no significant difference was observed during months. Shandong is endemic for both Plasmodium vivax (n = 730) and Plasmodium falciparum (n = 674). The disease is mainly distributed in Southern (n = 710) and Eastern region (n = 424) of Shandong, such as Jinning (n = 214 [13.7%]), Weihai (n = 151 [9.7%]), and Yantai (n = 107 [6.8%]). Furthermore, the spatial cluster analysis of malaria cases from 2005 to 2015 indicated that the diseased was not randomly distributed. For indigenous cases, a total of 15 and 2 high-risk counties were determined from 2005 to 2009 (control phase) and from 2010 to 2015 (elimination phase), respectively. For imported cases, a total of 26 and 29 high-risk counties were determined from 2005 to 2009 (control phase) and from 2010 to 2015 (elimination phase), respectively. The method of spatial scan statistics identified different 13 significant spatial clusters between 2005 and 2015. The space–time clustering analysis determined that the most likely cluster included 14 and 19 counties for indigenous and imported, respectively. Conclusions In order to cope with the requirements of malaria elimination phase, the surveillance system should be strengthened particularity on the frequent migration regions as well as the effective multisectoral cooperation and coordination mechanisms. Specific response packages should be tailored among different types of cities and capacity building should also be improved mainly focus on the emergence response and case management. Fund guarantees for scientific research should be maintained both during the elimination and post-elimination phase to consolidate the achievements of malaria elimination.

According to the differences of the sediment thickness, basement topography, crustal thickness, water content and volcanic activity of the incoming crust, which are revealed by the newly integrated bathymetric, previous seismic data and the reprocessed seismic line 973, we suggest that the incoming crust along northern Manila Trench can be divided into three areas from north to south: (1) the trapped oceanic crust with thick sediment and relatively thin crust; (2) transitional crust (?) with thin sediment, thick crust and widespread magmatism; and (3) normal SCS crust with relatively thick sediment. This incoming plate variation results in a special style of deformation along the accretionary wedge, including the formation of a weak deformation belt, the reentrant trench geometry and the huge uplift of the upper slope. The middle part may also give rise to profound change in the geometry of the subducted slab and the seismicity of seismogenic structures.

Ferroelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been a growing area of research in past decades, in which ferroelectric films are combined with silicon technology for a variety of applications, such as piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs), which represent a new approach to ultrasound detection and generation. For ultrasound-radiating applications, thicker PZT films are preferred because generative force and response speed of the diaphragm-type transducers increase with increasing film thickness. However, integration of 4- to 20-/spl mu/m thick PZT films on silicon wafer, either the deposition or the patterning, is still a bottleneck in the micromachining process. This paper reports on a diaphragm-type pMUT. A composite coating technique based on chemical solution deposition and high-energy ball milled powder has been used to fabricate thick PZT films. Micromachining of the pMUTs using such thick films has been investigated. The fabricated pMUT with crack-free PZT films up to 7-/spl mu/m thick was evaluated as an ultrasonic transmitter. The generated sound pressure level of up to 120 dB indicates that the fabricated pMUT has very good ultrasound-radiating performance and, therefore, can be used to compose pMUT arrays for generating ultrasound beam with high directivity in numerous applications. The pMUT arrays also have been demonstrated.

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thick films with thickness up to 20 μm with relatively good property have been deposited on silicon wafers using a modified sol–gel slurry process. Submicrosized or nanosized PZT powder was dispersed into regular PZT sol–gel solutions to prepare the composite film. Ultrasonic arrays have been fabricated with 7 μm PZT thick film on the silicon membrane diagrams. The property of the PZT thick film, the fabrication process, the vibration characteristics and the ultrasonic emission property of the fabricated arrays are reported. The ultrasonic transducer can generate ultrasound with pressures up to 3.6 Pa.

Composite PZT films with thickness of 3 to 10 μm had been successfully integrated on platinum-coated silicon wafer using a composite process. In this sol–gel based process, submicron-sized PZT powder was uniformly dispersed into a xerogel precursor solution to obtain a suspension/slurry for spin-coating purpose. The properties of the resultant films are mainly determined by the property of the added PZT powder and the recipe of the slurry. Since the surface of the resultant film is nonreflecting, it is quite difficult to evaluate the piezoelectric properties of the film by double-beam interferometer. We have successfully measured the piezoelectric coefficient of the composite film by using scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV). Surface vibration in response to an applied electric filed was measured with SLDV, and thus, the dimension change of the activated part of the film was clearly separated from the passive bending of the substrate. The microstructure, ferroelectric properties and apparent longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient of the composite film have been investigated and reported.

Dense, crack-free piezoelectric thick film integrated on silicon substrate has been the subject of considerable attention in recent years for potential application in microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS). We have proposed a new spin-coating route for this purpose in which films are made from homogenous slurry of sol-gel precursor and nano-sized powders. Commercially available ceramic PZT (53/47: Zr/Ti) powders are ball milled into different particle sizes by a higher energy planetary ball mill machine and uniformly dispersed into, with a selected dispersant, a PZT sol-gel solution identical with the powders in composition. The well-prepared resulting slurry looks like paint and was spin deposited onto a silicon wafer, fired, and annealed in the same manner as conventional sol-gel process. Films with several tens micron in thickness on platinum coated silicon can be fabricated with this route. The microstructure, crystallization process and the ferroelectric properties of the film have been investigated. It is revealed that the success of this route is due to the elimination of the agglomeration among the nano-sized particles. The smaller the particle, the more uniform the microstructure. The film derived from micron-sized particles has the porous structure with average pore size of sub-micron. For the films derived from nano-sized particles, the nanocrystalline structure is obtained at sintering temperature of 600–700 °C and fully developed submicron-sized grains have been demonstrated at sintering temperature of 700–800 °C. Such made thick film has comparative ferroelectric properties with respect to bulk PZT ceramic.

Dispersing fine particles into a sol-gel matrix is a promising process to get a thick 0–3 composite coating layer. In this paper, we have further improved this modified sol-gel process by nanocrystalline composite technique to realize the low temperature annealing. Dense Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thick films of 10 to 50 µm in thickness have been obtained on the platinum-coated silicon substrates by spin-coating at sintering temperature of 600–700°C and fully developed submicron-sized grains have been demonstrated in screen-printing piezoelectric films on alumina substrates at sintering temperature of 700–800°C. The dependence of various properties such as microstructure, crystallization, ferroelectric and dielectric properties of such made thick films on the processing parameters have been investigated. For a 10 µm-thick film spin-coated on silicon wafer, the dielectric loss and relative permittivity are 0.010 and 1024, respectively, at 1 kHz. The remanent polarization (Pr) and the coercive field (Ec) are 13.6 µC/cm2 and 34.5 kV/cm, respectively. Obviously, such made thick film has comparable properties with bulk PZT ceramic. This novel technique can be extensively used in sol-gel, screen-printing, tape-casting, even in traditional ceramic process to reduce the process temperature.

Crack-free Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 films up to 20 μm thick have been prepared on the Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrate using a novel sol–gel route. In this route, surface-modified fine PZT crystalline particles are well dispersed in a sol–gel precursor solution to form uniform slurry. The slurry is then spin-coated onto a substrate, pre-heated and annealed at relatively low temperatures as the conventional sol–gel process. The surface modification of the added particles, microstructure and the crystallization process of the films have been investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD). Finally, the ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the thick films have been reported. The novel route is promising to integrate ferroelectric thick films on the silicon substrate for potential applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs).

A sol-gel based 0-3 ceramic-ceramic composite processing has been applied to fabricate lead zirconate titanate thick films with a composition near the morphotropic phase boundary, PZT53/47. In order to eliminate the effects of humidity on the stability of the sols, solid PZT precursors are prepared from partially stabilized titanium isopropoxide, lead acetate trihydrate and zirconium acetylacetonate without any solvent. Then the solid precursors were dissolved in 2-methoxythanol to form sols. Certain quantum modified PZT ceramic powder was dispersed into this obtained solution. Crack-free thick films with series thickness of 5 ~ 20-μm were fabricated using spin-coating method. The surface morphology and structural properties of the films were studied with Field Emission-SEM and X-ray diffraction techniques respectively. Electrical properties were compared with those of thin films. Thick PZT films should have good perspective in the application of new piezoelectric devices that cannot be achieved using conventional thin film or bulk techniques.

The Ordos Basin, located in the central part of China, contains abundant oil and gas shale resources. This study took place in an area southwest of Yan’an City, Shaanxi province, and its main exploration targets were the Mesozoic Yanchang Formation, with a maximum depth of around 1500 m, and the Upper Paleozoic Benxi Formation, with a maximum depth of around 3550 m. The tectonic structure at the target levels is almost flat, with dips of only around one degree. The objective of the survey was to identify ‘sweet spots’ in a heterogeneous gas shale reservoir beneath thick deposits of loess, which is sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt. Variations in the topography, thickness, and seismic velocity of the loess were identified as key factors that had led to inadequate imaging results from previous 2D exploration surveys in the area (Yao and Li, 2004). The new 3D survey, acquired by CNPC Sichuan Geophysical Company (SCGC) during 2013 using the WesternGeco UniQ integrated point-receiver land seismic system, delivered imaging results that improved the characterization of the gas shale. Several features of the project area presented challenges for seismic exploration, many of which are typical of a loess plateau. The area is covered by unconsolidated loess with severe variations in thickness and velocity that can result in serious statics problems. The loess also causes dramatic signal absorption, leading to poor signal-to-noise ratio and potentially contributing to low resolution in the seismic data. As shown in Figure 1, surface conditions include rapid variations in topography that further complicate near-surface statics correction and can be the cause of various types of interference and noise. Survey logistics needed to account for heavily forested areas, hills and gulches. Also, more than 500 oil wells were pumping and some rigs were drilling during survey acquisition, representing additional sources of noise (Figure 2).

A hybrid sol–gel process technology has been developed for the fabrication of thick films of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thick films. In this paper, submicron-sized PZT powder was dispersed into a 2-methoxyethanol (MOE) diluted PZT sol solution uniformly to obtain a suspension/slurry for spin-coating purpose. Thick films on platinized silicon substrate with thickness of 10 μm were obtained after annealing at 650 °C for 30 min. A higher sol solution concentration had larger single layer thickness, but a smaller one resulted in a more uniform surface. The resultant films have a composite microstructure. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties were investigated for all samples made from such process. Ferroelectric P–E hysteresis loop were obtained for most of them and the dielectric constant, remanent polarization, and coercive field for sample 3023 were 884, 20 μC/cm2, and 95 kV/cm, which was comparable with bulk PZT ceramic.

Chemical ordering of the B-site cations in undoped, 5, 10, 20, and 30 mol % La3+-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) ceramics with perovskite structure, has been examined by Raman scattering. Two B-site chemical ordering models, the space-charge model, and the random layer model assume a space group of Fm3m for the ordered nanoregions. It is found that A1g Raman mode around 780 cm−1 from the B-site ordered nanoregions with a space group Fm3m, is very sensitive to the delicate changes of the chemical order at B site. Frequency changes of this A1g characteristic mode with La3+ doping, are analyzed according to the lattice parameters and chemical order effects. The present results provide stronge evidence supporting the random layer model in La-doped PMN.

A correlation between cationic valence deviation and ordering in B-site cations is found. Larger cationic valence deviation, leading to instabilities in the crystals, could be mutually compensated by chemical ordering of B':B"=1:1. The larger valence deviation of B' and B" cations, therefore, the higher ordering of B-site cations could be considered. This result corresponds to the fact that well-ordering structure has been obtained by a suitable thermal annealing in PST and PSN and nonordering structure observed in PFN.

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films are promising for acoustic micro-devices applications because of their extremely high electromechanical coupling coefficients and excellent piezoelectric response. Thicker PZT films are crucial for these acoustic applications. A hybrid sol-gel technology has been developed as a new approach to realize simple and cost-effective fabrication of high quality PZT thick films. In this paper, PZT53/47 thick films with a thickness of 5–50 μm are successfully deposited on Pt-coated silicon wafer by using the hybrid sol-gel technology. The obtained PZT thick films are dense, crack-free, and have a nano-sized microstructure. The processing parameters of this technology have been evaluated. The microstructure of the film has been observed using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and the crystallization process has been monitored by the X-ray diffraction. The thick films thus made are good candidates for fabrication of piezoelectric diaphragm which will be an essential element of microspeaker and microphone arrays.

A novel multilayer split-morph actuator has been designed and fabricated using the thick film screen-printing technology. Deflection characteristics of the split-morph actuator have been investigated by theoretical analysis and experimental measurement. The results indicate that the tip displacement is inversely proportional to the thickness of each piezoelectric layer, but is independent of the number of layers and the total thickness of the actuator. The displacement/voltage sensitivity of the trapezoidal actuator is larger than that of the rectangular design, assuming both have the same width of clamped end and the same thickness of the piezoelectric layers. The maximum displacement/voltage sensitivity of 0.157 /spl mu/m/V was obtained with a split-morph actuator with 30-/spl mu/m thick layers. The proposed actuator is a promising candidate for the secondary fine-tuning actuator of a dual stage head-positioning servo system in high density hard disk drives.