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Wind gusts are common environmental hazards that can damage buildings, bridges, aircraft, and cruise ships and interrupt electric power distribution, air traffic, waterway transport and port operations. Accurately predicting peak wind gusts in numerical models is essential for saving lives and preventing economic losses. This study investigates the climatology of peak wind gusts and their associated gust factors (GFs) using observations in the coastal and open ocean of the northern South China Sea (NSCS), where severe gust-producing weather occurs throughout the year. The stratified climatology demonstrates that the peak wind gust and GF vary with seasons and particularly with weather types. Based on the inversely proportional relationship between the GF and mean wind speed (MWS), a variety of GF models are constructed through least squares regression analysis. Peak gust speed (PGS) forecasts are obtained through the GF models by multiplying the GFs by observed wind speeds rather than forecasted wind speeds. The errors are thus entirely due to the representation of the GF models. The GF models are improved with weather-adaptive GFs, as evaluated by the stratified MWS. Nevertheless, these weather-adaptive GF models show negative bias for predicting stronger PGSs due to insufficient data representation of the extreme wind gusts. The evaluation of the above models provides insight into maximizing the performance of GF models. This study further proposes a stratified process for forecasting peak wind gusts for routine operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Melnikov function method was extended to the two time-delay system. • Spectrum diagram was used to simulate the time-delay control system. • Two time-delay feedback can effectively control vibration for MEMS systems. The resonance and chaos of micro (nano) electro mechanical resonators with time delay feedback is concerned in the paper. Based on the experimental results, a lumped single degree-of-freedom (1DOF) model is studied and the effects of time delay displacement and velocity feedback on the system are investigated. In order to have a deep insight into the system, the amplitude frequency response curve of the system is firstly obtained using the multiple scales method. The Melnikov function method is then extended to the two time delay systems, and the analytically required condition for chaos was obtained. Finally, the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method, point-mapping method and spectrum diagram are used to simulate the evolution of the dynamic behavior of the time delay control system. Also, the stability of this time delay control system is studied thoroughly. The results show that time delay feedback is a good method for the control system and that reasonable selection of control system parameters can effectively suppress the vibration level for micro/nano-electro-mechanical resonator systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on observed rainfall data, this study makes a composite analysis of rainfall asymmetry in tropical cyclones (TCs) after making landfall in Guangdong province (GD) during 1998-2015. There are 3.0 TCs per year on average making landfall in GD and west of GD (WGD) has the most landfall TCs. Most of TCs make landfall in June, July, August, and September at the intensities of TY, STS, and TS. On average, there is more rainfall in the southwest quadrant of TC in CGD (center of GD), WGD, and GD as a whole, and the maximum rainfall is located in the southwest near the TC center. The mean TC rainfall in the east of GD (EGD) leans to the eastern side of TC. The TC rainfall distributions in June, July, August, and September all lean to the southwest quadrant and the maximum rainfall is located in the southwest near the TC center. The same features are found in the mean rainfall of TD, TS, STS, TY, and STY. The maximum rainfall is mainly in the downshear of vertical wind shear. Vertical wind shear is probably the dominate factor that determines asymmetric rainfall distribution of TCs in GD. Storm motion has little connection with TC rainfall asymmetry in GD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale integration of renewable energy resources in the Alternating Current (AC) grids will have a serious impact on power system operation. The development of the Direct Current (DC) is presented as a solution to overcome some of the negative impacts on massive micro-generation deployment. Over 100 years later, from the time when AC was proving superior over DC, the existing AC electric power grids, equipment, and transmission method facing a big challenge from DC. In this paper, what has changed since Edison and Westinghouse public battle are firstly discussed? Then the high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission system is depicted the developmental history and the system׳s structure, and the HVDC applications based on voltage-source converters (VSCs) combined with the renewable generation are introduced, such as onshore, offshore wind, and City Power Supply. Then, those key technologies are represented. Finally, how to build future electricity grid network and VSCs-HVDC may improve the world is explored, and some recommendations are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergent events exert a significant impact on the corporate production, social stability, and economic prosperity. As the direct result of various emergent events, supply chain disruption brings multiple influences to the node enterprises in the supply chain and the supply chain as a whole. This study investigates the complexity of supply chain disruption risk conduction route, and introduces the small world network to qualitatively evaluate the applicability of the method of the small world network. Then, it is concerned with the impact of supply chain disruption risk conduction route on the speed, breadth and stability of supply chain disruption risk conduction, together with the numerical simulation analysis, which verifies the nature of the small world network relating to the supply chain disruption risk conduction route. Research has shown that the shorter disruption risk conduction route and larger aggregated coefficients are able to increase the speed of disruption risk conduction in the supply chain network. It has also shown that the stability of key node enterprises plays a pivotal role in stabilizing the whole supply chain network in the process of supply chain disruption risk conduction. The findings of this study could benefit the node enterprises on the supply chain and the supply chain as a whole in terms of the management of the disruption risks and the improvement of the operation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in supply chain links. This paper aims to expound the status quo of FDI in China and the policies and measures adopted by Chinese government to attract foreign direct investment. On such a basis, extreme bounds analysis (EBA) is applied, three core variables and five conditional variables are selected in the light of the relevant data analysis and the estimation in regression, an empirical study shows the relationship between FDI in China and China's economic growth. It has been found that FDI stimulates China's economic growth to some extent in the long term, but this function is limited. In each stage, the effects of FDI on China's economic growth are indefinite. To be more specific, in the initiative and slow progressive stages, FDI plays a limited role in China's economic growth. In the period of fast development, FDI promotes China's economic growth significantly. This inconsistency shows that the effects of FDI on China's economic growth are closely associated with China's domestic situations and the development of FDI in China, which is time-oriented. The short-term analysis can precisely describe the dynamic changes regarding the relationship between FDI and China's economic growth; however, the long-term analysis may eliminate the effects of abnormal data in the short term, and hence the dynamic long-term tendency can be demonstrated. As a result, it is significant to integrate the short-term and long-term analyses of the effects of FDI on China's economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to realize the sustainable development of country and society, many countries have established their renewable energy law and development strategy no matter developed countries or developing countries. It is well known that China is the largest developing country in the world, and the per capita GDP ranks more than 100, however, the total GDP ranks the second due to the huge population amount, and just behind USA. Certainly, the total energy consumption amount is huge, and the big energy demand has brought a serious of environmental problems such as acid rain, water and soil pollution, and resource exhaustion, etc. Fortunately, China central government has regarded the serious question to realize the sustainable development in future. The renewable energy law has been established in 2005. Firstly, China''s energy situation and existing environmental questions in past years is introduced in this paper. Secondly, the distribution and the application practice of different renewable energy were introduced. Then, China''s renewable energy policy is detailed introduced in the following section. The next section discusses the existing questions. Based on these discussions, the development barriers and recommendations are introduced, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, the observational data from Marine and Meteorological Observation Platform (MMOP) at Bohe, Maoming and buoys located in Shanwei and Maoming are used to study the characteristics of air-sea temperature and specific humidity difference and the relationship between wind and wave with the tropical cyclones over the South China Sea (SCS). The heat and momentum fluxes from eddy covariance measurement (EC) are compared with these fluxes calculated by the COARE 3.0 algorithm for Typhoon Koppu. The results show that at the developing and weakening stages of Koppu, both these differences between the sea surface and the near-surface atmosphere from the MMOP are negative, and data from the buoys also indicate that the differences are negative between the sea surface and near-surface atmosphere on the right rear portion of tropical cyclones (TCs) Molave and Chanthu. However, the differences are positive on the left front portion of Molave and Chanthu. These positive differences suggest that the heat flux is transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere, thus intensifying and maintaining the two TCs. The negative differences indicate that the ocean removes heat fluxes from the atmosphere, thus weakening the TCs. The wind-wave curves of TCs Molave and Chanthu show that significant wave height increases linearly with 2-min wind speed at 10-m height when the wind speed is less than 25 m/s, but when the wind speed is greater than 25 m/s, the significant wave height increases slightly with the wind speed. By comparing the observed sensible heat, latent heat, and friction velocity from EC with these variables from COARE 3.0 algorithm, a great bias between the observed and calculated sensible heat and latent heat fluxes is revealed, and the observed friction velocity is found to be almost the same as the calculated friction velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A unique method that applied a multilayer-immobilization strategy was developed to prepare nanofibrous enzymes for biosynthesis. LiCl co-electrospun with polyurethane nanofibers enabled strong physical adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA), forming the first layer of protein on the nanofibers; lipase AK was subsequently crosslinked to BSA as an outer layer of enzyme. The content of LiCl in nanofibers was found to be a sensitive factor affecting the activity and stability of the immobilized lipase. For biodiesel synthesis from soybean oil and methanol in isooctane, the reaction rate catalyzed by nanofibrious lipase carrying 5wt% LiCl was 6.6-fold higher than fibers without LiCl, with a conversion of 91% was achieved within 2h. LiCl also induced much improved enzyme stability. The nanofibrous lipase with 5% LiCl could be repeatedly used for 42 cycles without apparent activity loss, while the immobilized lipase without LiCl lost over 90% activity within 13 reuse cycles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The steady and maintainable energy supply for human development provides the strong motivation, which is necessary to every country in the whole world. The high strength carbon emissions has brought great harm to the earth since industrialization before hundreds of years, and the global warming and extreme weather cause humans to develop low-carbon economy. Low-carbon economy has become a consensus of the entire human race no matter developed countries or developing countries, which is the combination of the lifestyle changing and production structure basic changing and technical innovation. It is well known that China is the largest developing country in the world. With the rapid industrialization of country, energy demand of Chinese society is increasing in an incredible speed, China has become the second largest energy consumer and the first carbon emissions country at present. Furthermore, Chinese energy structure and production methods are very inappropriate, which cannot guarantee the sustainable development of China in future, and therefore actively developing low-carbon economy is the only road to realize China''s economic development mode change and sustainable development, which is supported by central government and local governments. Low carbon economy for China is not only an opportunity but also a great challenge. Firstly, this paper discusses the current situation of energy supply and energy structure in China. Secondly, current situation of units’ energy consumption in China is discussed. Thirdly, some application practices of low carbon are described, such as low carbon traffic, low carbon city, and low carbon village. Then, the policies and law of China central government and local governments are described in the following paragraphs. At the end, the developmental prospect of low carbon economy in future China and the development barriers and recommendations are introduced, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this work, the results of a coupled experiment and an uncoupled experiment conducted in one of our former works are used to analyze the impact of air-sea interactions on the structure of typhoons. Results reveal that typhoon-induced SST decreases to reduce the latent heat fluxes transporting from the ocean to the atmosphere and cause the flux of sensible heat to transfer downward from the atmosphere to the ocean. Such SST reduction also has remarkable impacts on the typhoon structure by making the typhoon more axisymmetric, especially in the middle and high levels. This study also analyzes the basic characteristics of symmetric typhoon structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Along the eastcoasts of China are large bodies of water, China has abundant ocean energy resource, such as the theory reserves of tidal resource is about 0.2billionkW, as early as 1958, Jizhou tidal power station is the first tidal power station in China, which built in Shunde, Guangdong province, and more than 40 small tidal power stations are built in east coastal region in 1960s, and the total installed capacity is about 0.5MW. But it is a pity, the application and development of tidal energy has not been regarded by the government and ordinary people due to the investment of power plant is big and the technology is not mature, so there are only several small tidal power stations in China, and Jiangxia tidal power station with an installed capacity of 3.2MW is the most famous. Fortunately, with the rapid development of Chinese economic and society, the renewable and sustainable energy have been regarded by Chinese government, and the application and development of wind energy and solar energy is increasing in an incredible speed, and more and more specialists began to regard the application of tidal energy, and they thought that tidal energy can relieve the energy stress of east coastal region, and many layout of tidal energy exploitation is unfold in recently. This paper discusses the distribution zone and current developmental situation of tidal energy in China. Then, some application practice is described, such as tidal power station and tidal stream turbine. The policies and law of China central government and local governments are described in the following paragraph. At the end, the developmental prospect of tidal energy in future China and the development barriers and recommendations are introduced, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectroscopic properties of acylamino form of Cypridina oxyluciferin are modulated by the covalent character of the N 4 -H 5 bond. With N 4 -H 5 bond length increasing, the weight of amide ion in the complex increase, the emission spectra shift to red. • In polar medium, the emission wavelengths varied little with solvent polarity. • Basic amino acid only slightly affect the structure and spectroscopic properties. • Because of the different electron distribution, the emission spectra is shifted to blue. • Amide ion was not taken into consideration as a possible emitter. • The spectroscopic properties of acylamino are modulated by the covalent character. Because of high bioluminescent quantum yields, independent cofactors, high signal-to-noise ratio, Cypridina bioluminescence has been successfully applied to gene reporter assays, enzyme immunoassays, immunohistology and imaging. Although the chemical reaction that transforms Cypridina luciferin into Cypridina oxyluciferin is clearly defined, the environmental effects on the spectrochemistry of Cypridina oxyluciferin continue to be a particularly intriguing aspect. In this paper, the solvent effect on the fluorescent spectrum, the basicity of amino acids and the degree of covalent character of hydrogen bond were studied by a theoretical Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) approach. Our results demonstrate that the emission wavelengths varied little with solvent polarity. The compositive effects of basic amino acid and polarity of the environment only slightly affected the structure and spectroscopic properties. The fluorescent properties of Cypridina oxyluciferin can be modulated by the covalent character of the hydrogen bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this research, the ordered honeycomb-patterned polyvinyl chloride (PVC) porous films were first fabricated with hydrophilic tetrahydrofurane (THF) as a solvent by the “Breath figures” (BFs) method. The effects of polymer concentration, polymerization degree of PVC, and air humidity on the formation of PVC films were investigated. The experimental results indicate that the increase of polymer concentration leads to the decrease of the hole size of the resultant films, and even makes the porous structure disappear. Besides, the porous films can be easily fabricated with higher polymerization degree of PVC at 40mgmL−1. Increasing air humidity is advantageous to form well-ordered porous PVC films with larger hole size. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study uses numerical simulations to examine a case of sea fog that was observed from 20 to 22 March 2011 on the southern China coast. The observation dataset includes observatory data, cloud-top temperature from MODIS, GPS sonde, and data from the Integrated Observation Platform for Marine Meteorology (IOPMM). The simulations are based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with four distinct parameter settings. Both the observations and simulations focus on the characteristics of the fog extent, boundary layer structure, and meteorological elements near the air-sea interface. Our main results are as follows: (1) The extent of mesoscale sea fog can be well simulated when the sea surface temperature has at least 0.5x0.5 horizontal resolution. (2) To accurately model the vertical structure of the sea fog, particularly the surface-based inversion, vertical levels must be added in the boundary layer. (3) When these model conditions are met, the simulations faithfully reproduce the measured downward shortwave radiation, downward longwave radiation, and surface sensible heat flux during the sea fog period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the factor of temperature difference of the near-surface layer (T1 000 hPa-T2m) and sea fog is analyzed using the NCEP reanalysis with a horizontal resolution of 1°1° (2000 to 2011) and the station observations (2010 to 2011). The element is treated as the prediction variable factor in the GRAPES model and used to improve the regional prediction of sea fog on Guangdong coastland. (1) The relationship between this factor and the occurrence of sea fog is explicit: When the sea fog happens, the value of this factor is always large in some specific periods, and the negative value of this factor decreases significantly or turns positive, suggesting the enhancement of warm and moist advection of air flow near the surface, which favors the development of sea fog. (2) The transportation of warm and moist advection over Guangdong coastland is featured by some stages and the jumping among these states. It also gets stronger over time. Meanwhile, the northward propagation of warm and moist advection is quite consistent with the northward advancing of sea fog from south to north along the coastland of China. (3) The GRAPES model can well simulate and realize the factor of near-surface temperature difference. Besides, the accuracy of regional prediction of marine fog, the relevant threat score and Heidke skill are all improved when the factor is involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Archimedes spiral hydrokinetic turbine (ASHT), as a novel type of horizontal-axis hydrokinetic turbine, is well suited for deployment in the low-speed ocean current environment. Besides, integrating hydrokinetic turbines within a duct stands out as a prospective approach to enhance the efficiency of energy harvesting. In this study, a duct is implemented with the aim of enhancing the performance of ASHT. Using the commercial code program ANSYS-FLUENT, the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved along with the SST k - ω turbulence model to elucidate the distinctive hydrodynamic characteristics of ASHT and its ducted configuration (DASHT). The findings revealed a consistent outperformance of the DASHT over the ASHT, achieving a notable maximum improvement of 122% in the power coefficient (C P). The ASHT exhibits turbulence near the blade tips, generating large spiral tip vortex, while the DASHT, with its duct, induces significant turbulence, resulting in a wider range of vortex structures. Furthermore, the DASHT shows better energy harvesting due to enhanced diffusion under yawed flow. The wake asymmetry and increased turbulence are observed as the yaw angle increases, affecting vortex structures differently in ASHT and DASHT. At higher yaw angle, the DASHT vortex splits into two parts, contributing to a more complex wake structure. • The wake meandering in ASHT is largely dependent on TSR in axial flow. • The unique spiral-shaped tip vortex maintains its elongated form even at large α in yawed flow. • The duct in DASHT prevents the formation of tip vortex and weakens the interactions between the tip vortex and the hub vortex in axial flow. • The leading edge of the duct in DASHT causes a separation vortex, making the tip vortex more visible at larger α in yawed flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are a rare and fascinating group of diseases that can be subdivided into specific reciprocal translocations in STSs (SRTSs) and nonspecific reciprocal translocations in STSs (NRTSs). PTEN mutations are rare in STSs, suggesting that PTEN expression may be lost by alternative mechanisms such as methylation. In order to reveal whether aberrant PTEN methylation occurs in STSs, MassARRAY Spectrometry was carried to detect methylation patterns of PTEN in STSs. We evaluated methylation levels in 41 CpG sites from −2,515 to −2,186 bp (amplicon A) and −1,786 to −1,416 bp (amplicon B) relative to the translation initiation site in 110 different cases (46 cases of SRTSs, 40 cases of NRTSs, and 24 cases of normal controls). In addition, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the loss of PTEN to determine whether PTEN alterations were responsible for decreased PTEN expression. Our data showed that expression of PTEN was diminished in 49 (57%) STSs, whereas the remaining cases (43%) were classified as high expression. Our previous results found that only 2 of 86 cases (2.3%) had a PTEN mutation suggesting that PTEN may be mainly downregulated in STSs by methylation, but not by mutation of PTEN itself. We observed that amplicon A was hypermethylated in STSs with low PTEN expression, whereas normal controls had low methylation levels (P<0.0001), which was not present in amplicon B (P>0.05), nor were there significant differences in the methylation levels in PTEN between SRTS and NRTS cases. The majority of individual CpG units within two amplicons was demonstrated to be hypermethylated. These findings indicate that PTEN hypermethylation is a common event in STSs suggesting that the inactivation of PTEN may be due to hypermethylation in the promoter of PTEN. The aberrant methylation of the CpG sites within PTEN promoter may serve as a potential candidate biomarker for STSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the NCEP 1° × 1° reanalysis (2004-2008), a number of predictors (factors of variables) are established with the output from the GRAPES model and with reference to the sea fog data from observational stations (2004-2008) and field observations (2006-2008). Based on the criteria and conditions for sea fog appearance at the stations of Zhanjiang, Zhuhai and Shantou, a Model Output Statistics (MOS) scheme for distinguishing and forecasting 24-h sea fog is established and put into use for three representative coastal areas of Guangdong. As shown in an assessment of the forecasts for Zhanjiang and Shantou (March of 2008) and Zhuhai (April of 2008), the scheme was quite capable of forecasting sea fog on the coast of the province, with the accuracy ranging from 84% to 90%, the threat score from 0.40 to 0.50 and the Heidke skill from 0.52 to 0.56. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophages are a double-edged sword with potential cancer-promoting and anticancer effects. Controversy remains regarding the effect of macrophages, especially M1 macrophages, on tumor promotion and suppression. We aimed to investigate the role of M1 macrophages in the occurrence and progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Analyzing the data in Gene Expression Omnibus database by the CIBERSORT algorithm found that M1 macrophages were one of the important components of many immune cells in ESCCs, and the increase in their number was obviously negatively correlated with tumor T staging. This result was verified by our experimental data: the density of CD68/HLA-DR double-stained M1 macrophages in ESCC tumor nest and tumor stroma was significantly higher than that in cancer-adjacent normal (CAN) tissues. The density of M1 macrophages in ESCC tumor nest was negatively correlated with the patient's lymph node metastasis and clinical stage (P < 0.05), and the negative tendency was more obvious for M1 macrophages in ESCC tumor stroma (P < 0.001). Exposure to M1 macrophage-conditioned medium inhibited ESCC cell migration and invasion ability significantly (P < 0.05). Moreover, the increased M1 macrophage density in ESCC tumor stroma correlated positively with good prognosis of ESCC. M1 macrophages were involved in inhibiting ESCC cell migration and invasion, which could serve as a good prognostic factor in patients with ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mechanism of body growth in mammals is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the regulatory networks involved in body growth through transcriptomic analysis of pituitary and epiphyseal tissues of smaller sized Debao ponies and Mongolian horses at the juvenile and adult stages. Results: We found that growth hormone receptor (GHR) was expressed at low levels in long bones, although growth hormone (GH) was highly expressed in Debao ponies compared with Mongolian horses. Moreover, significant downregulated of the GHR pathway components m-RAS and ATF3 was found in juvenile ponies, which slowed the proliferation of bone osteocytes. However, WNT2 and PLCβ2 were obviously upregulated in juvenile Debao ponies, which led to premature mineralization of the bone extracellular matrix. Furthermore, we found that the WNT/Ca2+ pathway may be responsible for regulating body growth. GHR was demonstrated by q-PCR and Western blot analyses to be expressed at low levels in long bones of Debao ponies. Treatment with WNT antagonistI decreased the expression of WNT pathway components (P < 0.05) in vitro. Transduction of ATDC5 cells with a GHR-RNAi lentiviral vector decreased the expression of the GHR pathway components (P < 0.05). Additionally, the expression of the IGF-1 gene in the liver was lower in Debao ponies than in Mongolian horses at the juvenile and adult stages. Detection of plasma hormone concentrations showed that Debao ponies expressed higher levels of IGF-1 as juveniles and higher levels of GH as adults than Mongolian horses, indicating that the hormone regulation in Debao ponies differs from that in Mongolian horses. Conclusion: Our work provides insights into the genetic regulation of short stature growth in mammals and can provide useful information for the development of therapeutic strategies for small size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the values of 10-m drag coefficient (CD) in different coastal areas under the influence of tropical cyclones, the present study used the observational data from four towers in different coastal areas of the South China Sea (SCS) during six tropical cyclone (TC) passages, and employed the eddy covariance method and the flux profile method. The analysis of footprint showed that the fluxes at Zhizai Island (ZZI), Sanjiao Island (SJI) and Donghai Island (DHI) were influenced basically by the ocean, and the flux at Shangyang Town (SYT) was influenced mainly by the land. The results showed that the dependence relationships of CD on 10-m wind speed (U10) in four different coastal areas under the influence of TCs were different. CD at ZZI and SJI initially increased and then decreased as U10 increased, similar to the pattern over the ocean. CD at ZZI and SJI represented the values over shallow water with seawater depths of ~7 m and ~2 m, respectively. Moreover, the critical wind speed at which CD peaked gradually decreased as the seawater depth became shallower in the coastal areas. CD at DHI and SYT decreased monotonously as U10 increased, similar to the pattern over the land. CD at DHI represented the value over the transition zone from shallow water to coastal land, and CD at SYT represented the value over the coastal land. Meanwhile, the eddy covariance method and the flux profile method were compared at ZZI and SYT during TC passages. It was found that their CD values obtained by the two methods were close. Finally, the parameterizations of observed u* and CD as a function of U10 over four different coastal areas were given under the influence of high winds. These parameterizations of observed CD may be used in high-resolution numerical models for landfalling TC forecast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following previous studies of the rainfall forecast in Shenzhen owing to landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs), a nonparametric statistical scheme based on the classification of the landfalling TCs is applied to analyze and forecast the rainfall induced by landfalling TCs in the coastal area of Guangdong province, China. All the TCs landfalling with the distance less than 700 kilometers to the 8 coastal stations in Guangdong province during 1950-2013 are categorized according to their landfalling position and intensity. The daily rainfall records of all the 8 meteorological stations are obtained and analyzed. The maximum daily rainfall and the maximum 3 days'accumulated rainfall at the 8 coastal stations induced by each category of TCs during the TC landfall period (a couple of days before and after TC landfalling time) from 1950 to 2013 are computed by the percentile estimation and illustrated by boxplots. These boxplots can be used to estimate the rainfall induced by landfalling TC of the same category in the future. The statistical boxplot scheme is further coupled with the model outputs from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) to predict the rainfall induced by landfalling TCs along the coastal area. The TCs landfalling in south China from 2014 to 2017 and the corresponding rainfall at the 8 stations area are used to evaluate the performance of these boxplots and coupled boxplots schemes. Results show that the statistical boxplots scheme and coupled boxplots scheme can perform better than ECMWF model in the operational rainfall forecast along the coastal area in south China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver tumour, and is closely related to liver cirrhosis. Previous studies have focussed on the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis developing into HCC, but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. The aims of the present study were to identify key genes related to the transformation of cirrhosis into HCC, and explore the associated molecular mechanisms.Methods: GSE89377, GSE17548, GSE63898 and GSE54236 mRNA microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analysed to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between HCC and liver cirrhosis tissues, and network analysis of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) was carried out. String and Cytoscape were used to analyse modules and identify hub genes, Kaplan-Meier Plotter and Oncomine databases were used to explore relationships between hub genes and disease occurrence, development and prognosis of HCC, and the molecular mechanism of the main hub gene was probed using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway analysis.Results: In total, 58 DEGs were obtained, of which 12 and 46 were up- and down-regulated, respectively. Three hub genes (CDKN3, CYP2C9 and LCAT) were identified and associated prognostic information was obtained. CDKN3 may be correlated with the occurrence, invasion, and recurrence of HCC. Genes closely related to changes in the CDKN3 hub gene were screened, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGGs) pathway analysis identified numerous cell cycle-related genes.Conclusion: CDKN3 may affect the transformation of liver cirrhosis into HCC, and represents a new candidate molecular marker of the occurrence and progression of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A biosynthetic ginsenoside, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-12-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-dammar-24-ene-3β, 12β, 20S-triol (C3C12PPD), showed antitumor activity against many tumor cells in vitro, especially had better anti-lung cancer activity than Rg3 in vitro and in vivo. However, the effects and molecular mechanisms of C3C12PPD on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. According to previous studies, we hypothesized ginsenoside C3C12PPD could inhibit the tumor growth of NSCLC by targeting proliferation, migration and angiogenesis. Methods: A thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT) was performed to evaluate cell viability. Additionally, Transwell and tube formation assays were conducted to analyze cell migration and angiogenesis. The Lewis and A549 tumor xenograft experiments were also performed to investigate the effects of C3C12PPD on tumor growth in vivo, Western blotting and IHC assay were performed to analyze protein expression. Results: C3C12PPD could effectively inhibit the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells, and tube formation of EA.hy926 cell. Ginsenoside C3C12PPD suppressed Lewis and A549 tumor growth in vivo without obvious side effects on body weight and the hematology index. In addition, the Western blot analysis revealed that the effects of C3C12PPD on lung cancer were mediated by inhibiting Raf/MEK/ERK, AKT/mTOR and AKT/GSK-3β/β-Catenin signaling pathways. Finally, C3C12PPD could significantly inhibit the proliferation index and vessel number in Lewis xenograft tumors analyzed by IHC. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that ginsenoside C3C12PPD may serve as a potential therapeutic candidate compound against NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co‐factors independent cypridina bioluminescence was often used to detect molecular oxygen. Whereas the native cypridina oxyluciferin and the majority analogues only emit blue light, it limits the application of the cypridina oxyluciferin derivative in detection active oxygen species. To overcome these limitations, we design two series of oxyluciferin derivatives: 2‐acetamido‐5‐aryl‐3‐(p‐trifluoromethylphenyl)pyrazine and 2‐acetamido‐5‐aryl‐3‐(p‐methoxylphenyl)pyrazine. The results found that the fluorescence emissions of the cypridina oxyluciferin derivatives cover the whole region of visible light. Especially, 2‐acetamido‐5‐(trans‐2,3,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1H,5H‐benzo[i,j]quinolizine‐ethenyl)‐3‐(p‐trifluoromethyl phenyl)pyrazine (1 h) can emit red light. By comparison of the emission spectra and oscillator strengths, it found that electron‐donating group in C3 position contributed to blue shift wavelength and improve luminous efficiency. The increasing conjugated length by introducing a conjugated double bond made the emission spectra shift to red and the luminescence strengths much stronger. Moreover, the analysis of the relative stabilities at the ground and excited states indicates that neutral forms, not amide ions, are dominant at physiological pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a mesenchymal malignant neoplasm showing characteristics of epithelial–mesenchymal biphasic differentiation. SS is of uncertain cellular origin; however, studies have suggested that SS originates from a somatic stem cell population. In this study, we aim to determine whether differential morphological features of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributed to the tumourigenesis of SS invasion and metastasis. Twelve paraffin‐embedded formalin‐fixed tissue (FFPE) SS tissue specimens were obtained, and laser capture microdissection (LCM) with the ArcturusXT system and small chip method (SCM) were used to isolate and purify spindle and epithelial cells from SS specimens. The TRIzol method was used to extract RNA, and the mRNA levels of EMT‐related genes in epithelial and spindle cells of SS specimens were measured using real‐time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). The results show that collection of about 2 × 104 cells from FFPE samples using LCM was sufficient for qRT‐PCR, with an efficiency of 75%. Compared with LCM, 72.2% (13 of 18) RNA samples were successfully extracted using SCM to isolate cells from FFPE SS tissues. In the 16 samples (11 spindle cell samples and 5 epithelial cell samples), Snail mRNA was significantly upregulated in spindle cell areas compared with that in epithelial cell areas (P = .001). Expression levels of the epithelial marker E‐cadherin and the mesenchymal marker N‐cadherin were not significantly different between epithelial and spindle cell areas. In spindle cells of recurrent SS samples, the mRNA levels of E‐cadherin, N‐cadherin, Snail, and Slug were higher in primary SS samples than in recurrent samples. Taken together, our results indicated that in SS samples, Snail mRNA was upregulated in spindle cell areas compared with that in epithelial cell areas and that the expression of EMT‐related genes was increased in primary SS. LCM could be used to isolate and purify RNA from FFPE samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates processing of fast-response data and corrections of turbulent fluxes obtained by using eddy covariance method based on data collected at an offshore observation tower during three Coldintrusion (CI) events in the South China Sea in 2010. This study presents the data processing procedure in detail and compares frictional velocities (u*), sensible heat fluxes (H) and latent heat fluxes (LE) yielded by using different averaging periods and different coordinate rotation methods; evaluates the sonic temperature correction for sensible heat flux and the Webb correction for latent heat flux as a function of 10 m wind speed (u10) during the CIs. The results show (1) that the different averaging periods of 30 min and 10 min cause biases of u*(H,LE) within 5% (15%, 62%). The values of u(u* H,LE) averaged from 30 mins are mostly larger than those averaged from 10 mins. We suggest that the averaging period of 10 min is not sufficiently long to capture all scale eddies and recommend 30 min averaging period in calculating turbulent fluxes using eddy covariance method during CIs; (2) that the values of u*(H,LE) obtained from double rotation (DR2) and those obtained from planar fit rotation (PF) have good agreements and correlation coefficients between them are larger than 0.99. BecausePF method requires unchanged environment and it is easier to applyDR2 method, we suggestDR2 coordinate rotation method in processing fast-response data; and (3) that the median values of frictional velocity (sensible heat flux and latent heat flux) binned according to 2 m s-1 intervals of u10 increase (decrease, increase) by less than 9% (4%, 10%) by Coriolis corrections (sonic temperature corrections, Webb corrections), which decreases (decreases, increases) with increasing u10when u10are 5-17 m s-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in the growth, progression, and metastasis of tumors. The distribution of TAMs in Kazakh esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is not determined. We aimed to investigate the role of TAMs in the occurrence and progression of Kazakh ESCC. CD163 was used as the TAM marker, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) counts were used to quantify the density of TAMs in tumor nest and surrounding stroma. IHC staining was used to evaluate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) in Kazakh ESCC and cancer adjacent normal (CAN) tissues. The density of TAMs in Kazakh ESCCs tumor nest and stromal was significantly higher than that in CAN tissues. The increased number of CD163-positive TAMs in tumor nest and tumor stromal was positively associated with Kazakh ESCC lymph node metastasis and clinical stage progression. Meanwhile, the expression of VEGF-C in Kazakh ESCCs was significantly higher than that in CAN tissues. Overexpression of VEGF-C in Kazakh ESCCs was significantly associated with gender, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and tumor clinical stage. The increased number of TAMs, either in the tumor nests or tumor stroma was positively correlated with the overexpression of VEGF-C, which may promote lymphangiogenesis and play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of Kazakh ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most aggressively malignant tumors with dismal prognosis. Profilin 2 (PFN2) is an actin-binding protein that regulates the dynamics of actin polymerization and plays a key role in cell motility. Recently, PFN2 have emerged as significant regulators of cancer processes. However, the clinical significance and biological function of PFN2 in ESCC remain unclear.Methods: PFN2 protein expression was validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tissue microarray from Chinese Han and Kazakh populations with ESCC. The associations among PFN2 expression, clinicopathological features, and prognosis of ESCC were analyzed. The effects on cell proliferation, invasion and migration were examined using MTT and Transwell assays. Markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were detected by Western blot analysis.Results: Compared with normal esophageal epithelium (NEE), PFN2 protein expression was markedly increased in low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), and ESCC, increased gradually from LGIN to ESCC, and finally reached high grade in HGIN in the Han population. Similarly, PFN2 protein was more overexpressed in ESCC than in NEE in the Kazakh population. The results of Western blot analysis also showed that PFN2 expression was significantly higher in the ESCC tissue than in a matched adjacent non-cancerous tissue. PFN2 expression was positively correlated with invasion depth and lymph node metastasis. High PFN2 expression was significantly correlated with short overall survival (OS) (P = 0.023). Cox regression analysis revealed that PFN2 expression was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS in ESCC. Downregulation of PFN2 inhibited, rather than proliferated, cell invasion and migration, as well as induced an EMT phenotype, including increased expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin, decreased mesenchymal marker Vimentin, Snail, Slug and ZEB1, and morphological changes in ESCC cells in vitro.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that PFN2 has a novel role in promoting ESCC progression and metastasis and portending a poor prognosis, indicating that PFN2 could act as an early biomarker of high-risk population. Targeting PFN2 may offer a promising therapeutic strategy for ESCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copy number variations (CNVs) account for phenotypic variation and disease susceptibility in mammals. The characterization of these CNVs is important for understanding the molecular mechanisms and unraveling the complex genetic architecture of underlying diseases. In this study, we reported a genome-wide CNVs map in Chinese sheep breeds using a custom-designed Roche NimbleGen array comparative genome hybridization (aCGH) platform. We identified a total of 245 CNVs, which were located within 51 CNV Regions (CNVRs) in five different sheep breeds. Of these, 21 (41.18%) involved DNA losses, 23 (45.10%) involved DNA gains and 7 (13.73%) involved both. These CNVRs covered approximately 15.55 Mb of the sheep genome, and this coverage corresponded to 0.60% of the autosomal genome sequence. Moreover, we identified 1726 genes within or overlapping with these 51 CNVRs by functional enrichment analysis, which indicates that they are involved in antigen processing, the immune response, oxygen transport, and heme binding. The results elucidate the genetic variability in the sheep genome and offer genetic foundations for the construction of economically important phenotypes of sheep, such as sheep with high immunity and oxygen binding capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of E-cadherin expression in bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Methods: The PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched using terms related to E-cadherin, sarcoma, and prognosis for all articles published in English before March 2014. Pooled effect was calculated from the available data to evaluate the association between negative E-cadherin expression and 5-year overall survival and tumor clinicopathological features in sarcoma patients. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a fixed-effects model. Result: Eight studies met the selection criteria and reported on 812 subjects. A total of 496 subjects showed positive E-cadherin expression (59.9%). Negative E-cadherin expression in bone and soft tissue sarcomas was correlated with lower 5-year overall survival (OR = 3.831; 95% CI: 2.246–6.534), and was associated with higher clinical stage (RR = 1.446; 95% CI: 1.030–2.028) and with male sex (RR = 0.678; 95% CI: 0.493–0.933). Conclusion: In the E-cadherin negative group, 5-year overall survival was significantly worse than in the E-cadherin positive group. However, further studies are required to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although recent genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) identified a susceptibility locus in phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) in Chinese Han populations, few studies further confirmed these findings in pure Kazakh population in which there are higher incidence and mortality of ESCC. Here, we investigated the potential associations between 19 SNPs of PLCE1 and susceptibility to ESCC in 222 cases and 326 controls from a pure ethnic population of Kazakh. Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect the PLCE1 expression levels and evaluate their association with PLCE1 polymorphism. We found that only 4 SNPs (rs753724, rs11187842, rs2274223, and rs12263737) with moderate linkage disequilibrium (LD) confer significantly increased risk of ESCC, with the ORs ranging from 1.43 to 2.04, and there was a risk allele dose-dependent increase in ESCC risk (P-trend=0.043). Especially, the risk effects of rs2274223 were more evident in poor differentiation and advanced clinical stages of Kazakh ESCC. Additionally, the significantly lowest PLCE1 mRNA expression was found in the KYSE-150 cell line having no risk alleles compared with other three cell lines having risk alleles, and the normal tissues of both homozygous mutant type of PLCE1 rs12263737 and rs2274223 had a higher PLCE1 staining score than that of homozygous wild type. Our findings suggested that genetic variants in PLCE1 might serve as candidate markers for Kazakh ESCC susceptibility, and these LD variants might influence ESCC risk individually and jointly by promoting the messenger RNA and protein expression of the gene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Three recent large-scale genome-wide association studies ( GWAS) in Chinese Han populations have identified an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ( ESCC) susceptibility locus within phospholipase C epsilon 1 ( PLCE1) gene, which encodes a phospholipase involved in intracellular signaling. The expressed PLCE1 in ESCC, however, are inconsistent. This study examined PLCE1 expression by immunohistochemistry ( IHC) from 110 ethnic Kazakh ESCC patients and 50 from adjacent normal esophageal tissues ( NETs). The expressed PLCE1 was localized in cytoplasm, especially in the peripheral layers of cancer cell nests, which was significantly higher in tumors than in NETs (p < 0.001). Increased expression of PLCE1 was correlated with advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages (p = 0.015) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003) in patients with ESCC. Of the 110 patients, we examined 50 paired ESCC tissues and corresponding NETs by quantitative RT-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and the mean mRNA level of PLCE1 in ESCC was 1.85-fold higher compared with those in corresponding NETs (p = 0.0012). Meanwhile, 4 of 5 ESCC cell lines also showed elevated expression of PLCE1 mRNA. Furthermore, elevated expression of PLCE1 mRNA in Kazakh ESCC was associated with its immunoreactivity (ρ = 0.297, p = 0.040), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), and advanced TNM stages of ESCC (p = 0.013). To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time that PLCE1 overexpression correlates with lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stages of Kazakh ESCC, implicating a role of PLCE1 in cancer metastasis and aggressiveness in ethnic Kazakh patients with ESCC. Furthermore, the current findings may warrant investigations into whether inhibiting PLCE1 could be a strategy for targeted anticancer therapy particularly for Kazakh ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The charged poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes were fabricated with perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) as additive by wet spinning method. Evolution of the precipitation kinetics, morphologies, permeation performances, electrokinetics and mechanical properties of the as-spun PVB membranes were investigated with the PFSA content and bore fluid. The results illustrate that the PVB/PFSA/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) dopes experience an instantaneous demixing mechanism and the precipitation rate increases with the addition of PFSA. The fibers fabricated with 50wt% ethanol aqueous solution as bore liquid have an asymmetrical double finger-like structure; nevertheless, the fibers fabricated with 90wt% NMP aqueous solution as bore liquid form a single finger-like structure. The PVB membranes containing more PFSA content and with 90wt% NMP aqueous solution as bore fluid have higher hydraulic permeability (J w ) than the fibers containing lower PFSA content and with 50wt% ethanol aqueous solution as bore fluid. The highest J w value 78.9LM−2 H−1 bar−1 is obtained for the PVB membrane with a MWCO of 50.1kDa. Streaming potential measurements verify that the apparent zeta potential (ζ app) of the PVB membranes fabricated with 50wt% ethanol aqueous solution as bore liquid ranges from −4.88mV to −11.28mV as PFSA content increases from 1wt% to 3wt%. The break strain and Young’s modulus values of the resultant fibers increase when the PFSA content increases regardless of the bore fluid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using the technique of smooth filtering and cylindrical filtering, the initial vortex circulation and large-scale environmental field were separated from the background field. Then the separated initial vortex circulation was translated and reinserted in the location where it was observed. This led to the determination of a method of initial vortex relocation. For seven tropical cyclones at 23 points of measurement time in the years of 2006 and 2007, two schemes, either directly adding a tropical cyclone bogus model in the background or adding it after the relocation of the initial vortex in the background field, were employed. Simulation experiments were compared. The results showed that the mean errors of the simulated tropical cyclone tracks at 24 and 48 hours were both smaller with the scheme of adding tropical cyclone bogus model after the relocation of the initial vortex in the background field. The relocation method of the initial vortex decreases the error caused by the deviation of the initial tropical cyclone location in tropical cyclone models. The relocation method is conducive to improving the track forecast of tropical cyclone models and has a good perspective for operational application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Low-grade complex Pb–Zn oxide ore is an important source, and the reserve is very great in the world. It is very difficult to obtain Pb and Zn from the source by traditional technology. In this work, a new technology characterized by sulfidation of low grade Pb–Zn oxide ore with elemental sulfur was developed. The effects of temperature, time, particle size and sulfur amount on the sulfidation extent of Pb–Zn oxide ore was studied at a laboratory-scale. The experimental results show that the sulfidation extent of Pb and Zn oxide reaches 98% and 95% under the optimum conditions, respectively. A flotation concentrate was obtained with 38.9% Zn and 10.2% Pb from the materials which was treated by sulfidation, and the recovery of Zn and Pb is 88.2% and 79.5%, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]