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Herein, Ni2+ species-doped and TS-1-coupled porous LaFeO3 nanocomposites have been successfully fabricated via carbon nanospheres (CNS) in a sequential template approach (STA). XPS, inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), TEM, DRS, fluorescence spectra related to ˙OH amount, photoelectrochemical I–V curves, TPD and BET results have confirmed that the introduction of pores increased the surface area, and the incorporation of Ni2+ species extended the light absorption capability by creating surface states and optimizing the band gap positions. The coupling of TS-1 performed the dual function of expanding the surface area and enhancing the charge separation by upgrading high-level energy electrons. Compared to the pristine porous LaFeO3, the optimized 3Ni-PLFO and 5TS/3Ni-PLFO nanocomposites have suitable band gap positions and efficient visible-light photocatalytic activities for CO2 reduction and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol degradation. Interestingly, compared to PLFO, the resulting 5TS/3Ni-PLFO nanocomposite showed 2.5-times improvement for CO2 reduction and 3-times improvement for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) degradation. It was confirmed from radical trapping experiments that the photogenerated holes and ˙OH are the potent oxidants in the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol degradation. The single wavelength photocurrent action spectrum confirmed that the simultaneous doping of Ni2+ species and coupling of TS-1 optimized the band gap and upgraded HLEEs of LaFeO3, respectively. This novel research approach opens a new gateway for synthesizing large surface area and visible-light-active efficient LaFeO3-based photocatalysts for CO2 conversion and environmental remediation.

Two new monoterpene indole alkaloids, naucleaoffines A (1) and B (2), together with six known alkaloids (3–8), were isolated from the stems and leaves of Nauclea officinalis. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and the known compounds were identified by comparisons with the data reported in literature. All isolated compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities and anti-HIV-1 activities. Compounds 1–8 exhibited significant inhibitory activities on nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in vitro with IC50 values comparable to that of hydrocortisone. In addition, compounds 1–8 showed significant anti-HIV-1 activities with EC50 ranged from 0.06 to 2.08 µM. These findings suggest that the discoveries of these indole alkaloids with significant anti-inflammatory activities and anti-HIV-1 activities isolated from N. officinalis could be of great importance to the development of new anti-inflammatory and anti-HIV agents.

Incorporating alkyl chain decorated dithienopyrrole π-spacer with phenothiazine donor has proven to be efficient strategy for constructing novel dyes, which can achieve both large short-circuit current (Jsc) and high open-circuit voltage (Voc) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To promote the light harvesting capability, auxiliary acceptors including benzotriazole (BTZ), benzothiadiazole (BTD), and quinoxaline (Qu) have been inserted into the skeleton of dyes, and much improved Jsc have been realized. Meantime, the rational design of alkyl chains endows dyes JY53 and JY55 a good shielding effect from the penetration of electrolyte, guaranteeing a high Voc (over 810 mV) through retarding unwanted interfacial charge recombination. As a result, with the assistance of introduced auxiliary acceptors and alkyl chains, the photovoltaic performance of devices have been significantly improved, and dye JY55 has achieved an excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.06% with Jsc of 19.18 mA cm−2, Voc of 829 mV, and FF of 0.63 under AM 1.5 G irradiation.

Two new mexicanolide-type limonoids, trichiconnarones A ( 1 ) and B ( 2 ), along with six known analogues ( 3 – 8 ), were isolated from the fruits of Trichilia connaroides . The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and the known compounds were identified by comparisons their data with those reported in the literatures. All new compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities via examining the inhibitory activity on nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in vitro . Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited inhibitory effects with IC 50 values comparable to that of hydrocortisone.

A new indole alkaloid, 17-O-methyl-19-(Z)-naucline (1), together with seven known alkaloids (2–8), were isolated from the stems and leaves of Nauclea officinalis. The structure of 1 was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and the known compounds were identified by comparisons their data with those reported in the literature. 17-O-methyl-19-(Z)-naucline (1) showed significant inhibitory activity on nitric oxide production induced by lipopolysaccharide in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in vitro with an IC50 value of 3.6 μM.

A new monoterpenoid indole alkaloid, 10-methoxyakuammidine (1), together with four known alkaloids (2–5), were isolated from the stems and leaves of Ochrosia elliptica. The structure of 1 was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and the known compounds were identified by comparisons with data reported in the literature. New compound 1 was evaluated for its cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines: HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7 and SW480 in vitro. 1 exhibited inhibitory effects with IC50 values comparable to those of cisplatin.

Microstructural evolution of GCr15 steels with different C and Cr contents during austenitizing and quenching was studied. Thermodynamic analysis of cementite dissolution was implied to obtain the critical temperature. The coordination number x in FexCr3-xC and the volume fraction of undissolved cementite were computed according to element conservation and equilibrium phase diagram. The MS (martensite transformation temperature) was calculated by using empirical formula. The retained austenite content was calculated with further consideration of quenching temperature. The results showed that the coordination number and the undissolved cementite content were promoted by the austenitizing temperature and carbon content of the steel. Increasing Cr element reduced the coordination number.GCr15 steels with different components had nearly the same MS when austenitization at 830 °C to 860 °C. The interaction of C and Cr complicated the evolution of MS and retained austenite content. The results were in good agreement with the literature, which could guide to obtain specified retained austenite and/or carbides.

We establish several existence and uniqueness results about positive almost periodic solutions for a class of hematopoiesis model. We give the proof of two properties relative to the composition of almost periodic functions and then use fixed point theory in an appropriate cone of the Banach space of almost periodic functions.

Indeno[1,2-b]indole-spirofluorene (IISF) unit has been synthesized and firstly applied as a donor candidate for the sensitizer of dye-sensitized solar cells. Two new dyes JY57 and JY58, based on IISF donor, are consequently constructed, together with dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrole (DTP) as π-bridge and cyanoacrylic acid as acceptor. For JY58, additional electron-withdrawing 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole unit is inserted between IISF donor and DTP π-bridge to achieve a broader absorption range. Both dyes show high JSC and good device performance in iodine electrolyte. The photovoltaic properties are further tuned by co-adsorption and co-sensitization strategies, and better PCEs are obtained. Among the series of cells under AM 1.5G irradiation, cells fabricated by the synergic adsorption of JY57, chenodeoxycholic acid and JY59, achieve the highest PCE of 9.56%, which is much higher than 8.46% for N719 at the same condition.

We study the effect of periodic, spatially uniform temperature variation on mechanical properties and structural relaxation of amorphous alloys using molecular dynamics simulations. The disordered material is modeled via a non-additive binary mixture, which is annealed from the liquid to the glassy state with various cooling rates and then either aged at constant temperature or subjected to thermal treatment. We found that in comparison to aged samples, thermal cycling with respect to a reference temperature of approximately half the glass transition temperature leads to more relaxed states with lower levels of potential energy. The largest energy decrease was observed for rapidly quenched glasses cycled with the thermal amplitude slightly smaller than the reference temperature. Following the thermal treatment, the mechanical properties were probed via uniaxial tensile strain at the reference temperature and constant pressure. The numerical results indicate an inverse correlation between the levels of potential energy and values of the elastic modulus and yield stress as a function of the thermal amplitude., Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures

1D or 3D nanoZnO crystals were prepared in diethylene glycol (DEG) via solvothermal process without surfactants at 160oC. Zinc acetate dihydrate was elected as zinc source, while water, sodium hydroxide, or ammonia solution was respectively as assistant agents. The morphologies of the products were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). With a certain content of water or sodium hydroxide, 1D ZnO nanorods were gained, having diameters of 20-90 nm and lengths of 0.04-1.8μm. With a certain content of ammonia solution, 3D shiitake-like ZnO hierarchical structures were gained. The pileus of shiitake structure composes of nanorods with diameters of 35-40 nm, while the stipe composes of one hexagonal rod with diameters of 250-350nm, or many hexagonal rods with diameters of 100-200nm. The morphology and size could be regulated by changing the amount of water, NaOH, or ammonia solution. Solvothermal process in high-viscosity solvent may provide a facile method for preparing nanomaterials.

Ultraviolet (UV) curable waterborne polyurethane dispersions with comb branched structure were synthesized by prepolymer process. C=C bonds were incorporated into the branched chains of the polyurethane using chain extender, hence, the content of C=C bonds can be adjusted by the chain extender consumption. The chemical structure was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and1H NMR. Effects of the chain extender content on the microstructure, rheological behavior, thermal property, mechanical and other properties of the UV cured films were researched.

The two-line hybrid system in rice is becoming more important and employs environment-conditioned genic male sterile (EGMS) lines sensitive to photoperiod (photoperiod-sensitive genic male sterile), temperature [temperature genic male sterile (TGMS)], or a combination of the two (photoperiod temperature genic male sterile). At least 18 EGMS genes have been mapped, and two cloned, but controversies exist. For example, three different genes were reported to underlie the TGMS trait in three independently identified progenitors, Annong S-1, Zhu 1S, and Guangzhan 63S, while another study demonstrated that the TGMS genes in Annong S-1 and Zhu 1S are allelic. In the present study, we confirmed the allelism of the three TGMS genes, which means there is a common TGMS gene(s) in these lines. Knowing there is an association between the mutant allele (RNZ m ) of a ribonuclease gene (RNZ) with the TGMS trait in Guangzhuan 63S, we then sequenced RNZ for 14 commercial EGMS and 21 non-EGMS lines, and we developed two derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (dCAPS) markers to detect RNZ m alleles in 32 EGMS and 310 non-EGMS lines. The analyses showed that the RNZ m allele existed exclusively in EGMS lines; all non-EGMS lines contained the functional RNZ gc or RNZ tc allele. Furthermore, two segregating populations that included 2,429 individuals were developed by crossing Zhu 1S (RNZ m ) to two non-EGMS lines (both with RNZ tc ); examination of the segregation of male sterile and fertile plants indicated that the TGMS trait was under the control of a single gene; analysis of the markers revealed the RNZ m allele exclusively in TGMS plants and the RNZ tc allele only in non-TGMS plants in both populations. The dCAPS markers could therefore help select TGMS progeny in breeding programs, which will save time and labor, and improve breeding efficiency and accuracy.

Magnetic guidance drilling technology is use of magnetic guidance instrument measuring the distance between the signal source and the location of the instrument, and it is used to control the well trajectory to connect or parallel the target layer. And it is an effective supplement of the existing steering drilling technology. At present, the magnetic guidance drilling technology is mainly applied to drill horizontal wells in pairs for the super heavy recovery, CBM horizontal connected wells, underground soluble minerals, relief well and so on. This paper introduces the situation of the magnetic guidance drilling technology.

As traditional measurement while drilling (MWD) method cannot meet the high reliability, high precision requirements for drilling complex structure wells. A guided-orientation method based on rotating magnetic field has prominent advantages on the twin parallel horizontal wells and can apply in twin parallel horizontal wells. In this paper, RMRS, namely Rotating Magnet Ranging system, its operating principle was gave firstly while applied for drilling twin parallel horizontal wells. The rotating magnetic sub was characterized by a pair of orthogonal magnetic dipoles, and then build the model for positioning the twin parallel horizontal wells Finally, the authors used the Maxwell software to simulate the algorithm based on the scene environment, and then proves that algorithm is correct and useful for guiding the well to drill and keeping the twin wells parallel.

The reptile method with an alterable window is often used to trace the contours for image recognition in machine vision. But sometimes a wrong result will be gotten if searching all the outermost pixels of the window. This paper proposes a new reptile method based on an extended Freeman code and an alterable window. In the method, the extended Freeman code is designed to determine the initial searching direction of a contour and the rule of filling breakpoints. In the course of tracing, the contour direction is used for reducing the searched pixels in the alterable window. The experimental results show the new method is superior to the traditional one.

Magnetic guidance drilling technology is use of magnetic guidance instrument measuring the distance between the signal source and the location of the instrument, and it is used to control the well trajectory to connect or parallel the target layer. And it is an effective supplement of the existing steering drilling technology. At present, the magnetic guidance drilling technology is mainly applied to drill horizontal wells in pairs for the super heavy recovery, CBM horizontal connected wells, underground soluble minerals, relief well and so on. This paper introduces the magnetic guidance drilling technology.

Low phytic acid (LPA) crops have recently been considered as a potential way to combat nutritional and environmental issues related to seed phytic acid phosphorus (PA-P). Although, a number of LPA mutant lines have been developed in various crops, they are often featured with lower grain yield and seed viability compared with wild type (WT) parents. We recently developed several LPA mutant lines in rice with PA-P reductions varying from 33.8% to 63.6%. In this study, the performance of grain yield and seed viability of these mutants were investigated. Four of the five mutant lines had 12.5–25.6% reductions in grain yield compared to the corresponding WT parental lines. The reduction in grain weight, varying from 5.4% to 10.7%, was found to be the main causative factor of yield reduction. Similarly, LPA mutants had inferior seed viability to their corresponding WT parent varieties; all mutant lines had a significantly lower simplified vigour index (seed germination rate × seedling dry weight) than their parents, with reductions of 7.8–26.3%, although some mutant lines had similar germination rates as their WT parents. The two mutant lines, which had similar germination rates as their WT parent, however, had significantly lower field emergence rates. More pronounced differences of simplified vigour index were observed after artificial aging treatments between four LPA lines from their WT parents, implying that LPA rice seeds were more susceptible to storage than WT. The yield and yield-related traits of F 2 plants and F 3 lines from three crosses were evaluated; the results showed that while LPA was associated with significantly lower grain yield and grain weight than WT sibs, there were also LPA plants and lines that out-performed WT controls. These results implied that the negative effect of LPA mutations on grain yield might be reduced or minimized through cross and selection breeding. The implications of these findings were discussed with regard to LPA rice breeding and potential commercial production.

Phytic acid (PA, myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate) is an important anti-nutritional component in cereal and legume grains. PA forms of phosphorus (P) and its salts with micronutrient cations, such as iron and zinc, are indigestible in humans and non-ruminant animals, and hence could affect food/feed nutritional value and cause P pollution of ground water from animal waste. We previously developed a set of low phytic acid (LPA) rice mutants with the aim to increase their nutritional quality. Among them, one line, i.e., Os-lpa-XQZ-1 (hereafter lpa 1-2), was identified to have a mutation allelic to the KBNT lpa 1-1 mutation (hereafter lpa 1-1), which was already delimited to a 47-kb region on chromosome 2. In this study, we searched the candidate gene for these two allelic LPA mutations using T-DNA insertion mutants, mutation detection by CEL I facilitated mismatch cleavage, and gene sequencing. The TIGR locus LOC_Os02g57400 was revealed as the candidate gene hosting these two mutations. Sequence analysis showed that the lpa 1-1 is a single base pair substitution mutation, while lpa 1-2 involves a 1,475-bp fragment deletion. A CAPS marker (LPA1_CAPS) was developed for distinguishing the lpa 1-1 allele from lpa 1-2 and WT alleles, and InDel marker (LPA1_InDel) was developed for differentiating the lpa 1-2 allele from lpa 1-1 and WT ones. Analysis of two populations derived from the two mutants with wild-type varieties confirmed the complete co-segregation of these two markers and LPA phenotype. The LOC_Os02g57400 is predicted to encode, through alternative splicing, four possible proteins that are homologous to the 2-phosphoglycerate kinase reported in hyperthermophilic and thermophilic bacteria. The identification of the LPA gene and development of allele-specific markers are of importance not only for breeding LPA varieties, but also for advancing genetics and genomics of phytic acid biosynthesis in rice and other plant species.

The amount and distribution of major nutritionally relevant elements was determined in the grains of a low phytate rice (Oryza sativa L.) mutant line (HIPi1) and its parent variety Xieqingzao (XQZ). The concentration of phytate P (PA-P) was significantly reduced in HIPi1 grains. On brown rice basis, HIPi1 had a content of PA-P about 58.4% that of XQZ, while total P levels were not significantly different between the mutant and its parent. Significant location effects were observed on the amount of the major elements, i.e., Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Zn, in various parts of grains of both HIPi1 and XQZ. In milled rice, larger amounts of these elements were found, consistently and significantly across all three locations, in HIPi1 than XQZ, at rates on average of 32.6%, 31.2%, 44.8%, 52% and 71.3%, respectively. The results showed that the low phytate mutation could not only potentially increase the bioavailability but also the amount of most important micronutrient elements, i.e., Fe, Zn and Ca, in the edible part of rice grains, and thus provide an important added-value to this mutation.

Phytic acid (PA, myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate) is important to the nutritional quality of cereal and legume seeds. PA and its salts with micronutrient cations, such as iron and zinc, cannot be digested by humans and non-ruminant animals, and hence may affect food/feed nutritional value and cause P pollution of groundwater from animal waste. We previously developed a set of low phytic acid (LPA) rice mutant lines with the aim of increasing the nutritional quality of rice. Two of these lines, Os-lpa-XS110-2 (homozygous non-lethal) Os-lpa-XS110-3 (homozygous lethal), contain two mutant alleles of a LPA gene (hereafter XS-lpa2-1 and XS-lpa2-2, respectively). In this study, we mapped the XS-lpa2-1 gene to a region on chromosome 3 between microsatellite markers RM14360 and RM1332, where the rice orthologue (OsMRP5) of the maize lpa1 gene is located. Sequence analysis of the OsMRP5 gene revealed a single base pair change (C/G-T/A transition) in the sixth exon of XS-lpa2-1 and a 5-bp deletion in the first exon of XS-lpa2-2. OsMRP5 is expressed in both vegetative tissues and developing seeds, and the two mutations do not change the level of RNA transcription. A T-DNA insertion line, 4A-02500, in which OsMRP5 was disrupted, also showed the same high inorganic phosphorus phenotype as Os-lpa-XS110-3 and appeared to be homozygous lethal. PA is significantly reduced in Os-lpa-XS110-2 (~20%) and in 4A-02500 (~90%) seeds compared with their wild type lines, and no PA was detected in Os-lpa-XS110-3 using HPLC analysis. This evidence indicates that the OsMRP5 gene plays an important role in PA metabolism in rice seeds.

Phytic acid (PA, myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate), or its salt form, phytate, is commonly regarded as the major anti-nutritional component in cereal and legume grains. Breeding of low phytic acid (lpa) crops has recently been considered as a potential way to increase nutritional quality of crop products. In this study, eight independent lpa rice mutant lines from both indica and japonica subspecies were developed through physical and chemical mutagenesis. Among them, five are non-lethal while the other three are homozygous lethal. None of the lethal lines could produce homozygous lpa plants through seed germination and growth under field conditions, but two of them could be rescued through in vitro culture of mature embryos. The non-lethal lpa mutants had lower PA content ranging from 34 to 64% that of their corresponding parent and four of them had an unchanged total P level. All the lpa mutations were inherited in a single recessive gene model and at least four lpa mutations were identified mutually non-allelic, while the other two remain to be verified. One mutation was mapped on chromosome 2 between microsatellite locus RM3542 and RM482, falling in the same region as the previously mapped lpa1-1 locus did; another lpa mutation was mapped on chromosome 3, tightly linked to RM3199 with a genetic distance of 1.198 cM. The latter mutation was very likely to have happened to the LOC_Os03g52760, a homolog of the maize myo-inositol kinase (EC 2.7.1.64) gene. The present work greatly expands the number of loci that could influence the biosynthesis of PA in rice, making rice an excellent model system for research in this area.