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Seasonal variations in surface water quality are essential for assessing temporal variations in wetlands pollution due to natural or anthropogenic inputs from both point and non-point sources. The goal of this study was to use established methodologies to estimate the water quality of the Tianfu National Wetland Park based on physicochemical features; sampling was done from eight monitoring locations throughout the wetland region in the summer of 2019 and winter of 2020. The water quality index (WQI) is calculated using the following parameters: Turbidity (NTU), Nitrate, Chlorophyll, TOC, DOC, COD, BOD, Chroma, Ammonium nitrogen, pH, Electric Conductivity, and Total Phosphorus. One-way ANOVA and Tukey's pairwise comparisons with a 5% significance level were used to compare water quality parameters among the monitoring point's data. T-test analysis was used to compare the parameters between summer 2019 and winter 2020 and the difference between the water inlet and the water outlet. Cluster analysis was done on the WQI results using Ward's linkage approach. The analyses of variance (ANOVA) of data revealed statistically significant differences between points of sampling (p < 0.05). The paired t-test revealed significant differences in parameters between summer 2019 and winter 2020; however, all parameters in summer show higher values in the water inlet than water outlet. In winter, TOC, DOC, COD, BOD, Chroma, pH, and Electric Conductivity showed higher values than Turbidity (NTU), Nitrate, Chlorophyll, Ammonium Nitrogen, and Total Pospurus. In general, summer showed higher pollution than winter, and water inlets were more polluted than water outlets indicating that other factors may affect the water quality, such as vegetation cover, temperature, water level, and activities in the wetland during the seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobbing is a common strategy against predators in Corvid birds. On the morning of 21 March 2022, we observed an Eagle Owl mobbed by more than 103 Oriental Magpies in Beijing Olympic Park, Beijing, China. Based on an 8-day line transect survey, we estimated that the mobbing group could have come from an area with a radius of about 480-675 m. To our knowledge, this mobbing group was the largest reported for magpies so far. Possible reasons for the gathering of such large mobbing groups need further systematic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telmisartan (TMST) can block selectively and irreversibly an angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1), but has no effect on other receptor systems and also induce human prostate cancer cell apoptosis. In this work, domain specific association of TMST with calf thymus DNA was explored through multi-spectral methodologies and theoretical calculation. The results of absorption spectroscopy revealed that TMST interacting with ct-DNA formed the TMST–ct-DNA complex through non-covalent interaction and the association constant ( K a ) was of 2.71 × 10 3  M −1 at 298 K. Based on the thermodynamic analysis, it can be inferred that the interacting TMST with ct-DNA was an enthalpy-driven, spontaneous, and exothermic process due to the Δ G 0  < 0, Δ H 0  < 0, and |Δ H 0 |> T |Δ S 0 | under the studied temperature ranges. The domain interacting forces for interacting TMST with ct-DNA were van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding interaction due to the Δ H 0  < 0 and Δ S 0  < 0. Meanwhile, the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions also played a supporting function. Additionally, from experiments and theoretical calculation (molecular docking), it was also confirmed that TMST interacted to a minor groove of the C-G rich region of ct-DNA and resulted in the slight alteration in the secondary structure of ct-DNA whereas the obvious alteration in the geometry of TMST after binding to DNA, indicating that the flexibility of TMST contributed to stabilizing the TMST–ct-DNA complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In the present study we sought to examine psychosocial factors among undocumented Latinos/as acculturating to and residing in the United States.Method: A community sample of 122 self-reported undocumented Latino/a immigrants was asked to complete questionnaires measuring components of acculturation (i.e., national and ethnic identity, U.S. heritage-cultural knowledge, English and Spanish competency), everyday discrimination (ED), and depressive symptoms.Results: Results indicated that, among acculturation dimensions, only ethnic identity was significantly related to increased ED whereas ED was associated with increased depression. Moreover, experiences of ED mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and depression.Conclusions: Results may indicate ethnic identity as a risk factor for this group through experiences of discrimination. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of advancing theory and from a multicultural counseling perspective, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study we used a mixed-method design to examine perceptions of legal status and their association with psychosocial experiences among undocumented Latino/a immigrants in the United States Participants were asked to compare their perceived social experiences with those of documented Latinos/as in order to determine whether differences in such perceptions might emerge and whether such perceptions might differentially impact well-being. A community sample of 140 self-reported undocumented Latino/a immigrants completed questionnaires measuring perceptions of legal status, well-being (global and psychological), perceived context of reception, and experiences of discrimination. Results indicated that individuals who perceived their experiences as different from those of documented Latinos/as due to an unauthorized legal status reported less social equality as evidenced by lower well-being, increased experiences of discrimination, and a more adverse context of reception. Moreover, individuals who perceived their social experiences as different from those of documented Latinos/as due to their legal status reported issues centering on 2 domains: limited opportunity/restricted social mobility and discrimination/unfair treatment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of advancing theory and from a multicultural counseling perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the deficiencies of power sharing control performances when a traditional droop control is adopted for microgrid inverters, this paper proposes a microgrid inverter power sharing control strategy based on a virtual synchronous generator. This control method simulates the electromechanical transient characteristics of a synchronous generator in a power system by an ontology algorithm and the control laws of a synchronous generator by control over the speed governor and excitation regulator. As a result, that the microgrid system is able to effectively retain the stability of the voltage and frequency, and the power sharing precision of the microgrid inverter is improved. Based on an analysis of stability of a microgrid system controlled by a virtual synchronous generator, design thoughts are provided for further improvement of the power sharing precision of inverters. The simulation results shows that when the virtual synchronous generator based control strategy was adopted, the power sharing performances of microgrid inverters are improved more obviously than those using the droop control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is considered to be a potent cell-damaging agent in various cell lineages; however, the effect of UV light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on human cells remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of UV LED irradiation emitting at 280 nm on cultured HL-60 human leukemia cells, and to explore the underlying mechanisms. HL-60 cells were irradiated with UV LED (8, 15, 30 and 60 J/m2) and incubated for 2 h after irradiation. The rates of cell proliferation and apoptosis, the cell cycle profiles and the mRNA expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were detected using cell counting kit-8, multicaspase assays, propidium iodide staining and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The results showed that UV LED irradiation (8-60 J/m2) inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 cells in a dose-dependent manner. UV LED at 8-30 J/m2 induced dose-dependent apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, and inhibited the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA, while UV LED at 60 J/m2 induced necrosis. In conclusion, 280 nm UV LED irradiation inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis and necrosis in cultured HL-60 cells. In addition, the cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and the downregulation of Bcl-2 mRNA expression were shown to be involved in UV LED-induced apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) technique has been used for thoracic diseases. There was no report about single-port VATS in large series. Outcomes following single-port VATS were analysed to determine its efficacy and safety. METHODS: From June 2012 to June 2014, 1063 single-port VATSs were performed by four surgeons. Patient demographics, perioperative parameters, histopathology and outcomes were analysed. RESULTS: There were 1063 patients (524 men and 539 women). The median age was 56.1 ± 8.7 years (range, 15–86 years). Lobectomy was performed in 569 patients, segmentectomy in 162, wedge resection in 264, pleural biopsy in 7, drainage of effusion in 20, pleural tumour resection in 5, mediastinal tumour resection in 54, mediastinal tumour biopsy in 2, bilobectomy in 7, sleeve lobectomy in 3 and pneumonectomy in 2. Synchronous bilateral single-port VATS was performed in 27 cases, whereas metachronous bilateral single-port VATS was performed in 5 cases. Pathological diagnoses included primary lung cancer in 635 cases, metastatic lung cancer in 19, mediastinal tumour in 56, pleural disease in 32 and benign pulmonary conditions in 353. Fifteen intraoperative vascular injuries were identified in 15 patients. The total conversion rate was 4.6%. The average operation time was 135 ± 31 min (range, 30–230 min), and the average blood loss was 117 ± 47 ml (range, 50–2000 ml). The median intensive care unit stay was 1 day (0–4 days). The postoperative hospital stay was 6.2 ± 2.6 days on average. There was no operative death, and operative complications occurred in 59 patients (5.6%). The 1-year overall survival and 1-year disease-free survival for the primary lung cancer group were 98 and 96%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that single-port VATS for thoracic diseases is safe and feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel tricylic host molecule 1 that consists of two pillar[5]arene units and a crown ether ring was found to selectively bind two kinds of guest molecules with different shapes, sizes, and electronic constitutions, namely 1,4-dicyanobutane G1 and paraquat G2, with its two macrocyclic subunits, to form a four-component complex 2G1⊂1⊃G2. An ¹H NMR study of stepwise bindings of G1 and G2 to host 1 in CDCl3/DMSO-d6 revealed that the strength of the association between complex 2G1⊃1 and guest G2 was only one-fourth of that between free 1 and G2, demonstrating a negative heterotropic cooperativity of G1 in the binding of G2 to host 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analytically obtain the precision bounds of frequency measurements in correlated Markovian and non-Markovian environments using a variational approach. The metrological equivalence of product states and maximally entangled states persisting in maximally correlated Markovian and non-Markovian environments is verified using a standard Ramsey spectroscopy setup. Furthermore, we find that optimal measurements can be used to achieve a much higher resolution than standard Ramsey spectroscopy in correlated environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the nonlocal non-Markovian effects through local interactions between two subsystems and the corresponding two environments. It has been found that the initial correlations between two environments can turn a Markovian to a non-Markovian regime with extra control on the local interaction time. We further research the nonlocal non-Markovian effects from two situations: without extra control, the nonlocal non-Markovian effects only appear under the condition that two local dynamics are non-Markovian–non-Markovian (both of the two local dynamics are non-Markovian) or Markovian–non-Markovian, but not under the condition of Markovian–Markovian; with extra control, the nonlocal non-Markovian effects can occur under the condition of Markovian–Markovian. It shows that the function of correlations between two environments has an upper bound, which makes a flow of information from the environment back to the global system beginning finitely earlier than that back to one of the two local systems, not infinitely. Then, we proposed two special ways to distribute classical correlations between two environments without initial correlations. Finally, from numerical solutions in the spin star configuration, we found that the self-correlation (internal correlation) of each environment promotes the nonlocal non-Markovian effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometric structures, electronic properties, total and binding energies, harmonic frequencies, the highest occupied molecular orbital to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps, and the vertical ionization potential energies of small LimBn (m+n = 12) clusters were investigated by the density functional theory B3LYP with a 6-311+G (2d, 2p) basis set. All the calculations were performed using the Gaussian09 program. For the study of the LimBn clusters, the global minimum of the B12 cluster was chosen as the starting point and the boron atoms were gradually replaced by Li atoms. The results showed that as the number of Li atoms increased, the stability of the LimBn cluster decreased and the physical and chemical properties became more active. In addition, on average there was a large charge transfer from the Li atoms to the B atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on a detailed study of how decoherence assists quantum trans-port in a dimer system. By carrying out analytical and numerical computations, we find that the decoherence induced by a Markovian (memoryless) environment only assists the maximum probability of quantum transport in the dimer system to 50% not close to the unity, and the decoherence induced by a non-Markovian environment with perfect mem-ory (infinite memory time) can improve the maximum probability of quantum transport to unity. The combination of non-Markovian decoherence and Markovian decoherence assist the quantum transport more effectively. Comparing the classical environment with the quantum environment, we obtain that the classical non-Markovian environment can-not assist the maximum probability of quantum transport close to unity. In addition, enlarging the quantum environment can improve the maximum probability of quantum transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyaniline (PAN) was prepared by using a technique of chemical synthesis to obtain the insulating emeraldine base form. And then PAN was doped with toluenesulfonic acid (TSA), HCl, or camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) to protonate it into conducting salt form. The morphologies and electrical property of PAN under atmospheric pressure were investigated. Subsequently, the high pressure using a Bridgman anvil cell was applied on the doped PAN, and the effect of high pressure on the properties of doped PAN was analyzed. At normal pressure, the conductivity of PAN increases as the PH value increases. While at high pressures, the conductivity of PAN increases, and then it becomes independent of pressure. The results indicate that the conductivity of PAN is related to the presence of the polaron band, and the doped PAN under high pressure will be enhanced strongly in conductivity because of overlap of polaron band and π band. However, with the further increase of the applied pressure, scattering mechanisms of carriers limit the conductivity of PAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-destructive estimation using digital cameras is a common approach for estimating leaf area index (LAI) of terrestrial vegetation. However, no attempt has been made so far to develop non-destructive approaches to LAI estimation for aquatic vegetation. Using the submerged plant species Potamogeton malainus, the objective of this study was to determine whether the gap fraction derived from vertical photographs could be used to estimate LAI of aquatic vegetation. Our results suggested that upward-oriented photographs taken from beneath the water surface were more suitable for distinguishing vegetation from other objects than were downward-oriented photographs taken from above the water surface. Exposure settings had a substantial influence on the identification of vegetation in upward-oriented photographs. Automatic exposure performed nearly as well as the optimal trial exposure, making it a good choice for operational convenience. Similar to terrestrial vegetation, our results suggested that photographs taken for the purpose of distinguishing gap fraction in aquatic vegetation should be taken under diffuse light conditions. Significant logarithmic relationships were observed between the vertical gap fraction derived from upward-oriented photographs and plant area index (PAI) and LAI derived from destructive harvesting. The model we developed to depict the relationship between PAI and gap fraction was similar to the modified theoretical Poisson model, with coefficients of 1.82 and 1.90 for our model and the theoretical model, respectively. This suggests that vertical upward-oriented photographs taken from below the water surface are a feasible alternative to destructive harvesting for estimating PAI and LAI for the submerged aquatic plant Potamogeton malainus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An analytical solution is obtained in thermal nonlocal media by considering the weakly and strong nonlocal limit, respectively. In weakly nonlocal case the elliptic function wave solutions, which become soliton under limited condition, are present, while in strongly nonlocal case the solutions are bright soliton and multi-hump soliton. These results are well in good agreement with numerical ones in other references . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Many biological processes recognize in particular the importance of protein complexes, and various computational approaches have been developed to identify complexes from protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. However, high false-positive rate of PPIs leads to challenging identification. Results: A protein semantic similarity measure is proposed in this study, based on the ontology structure of Gene Ontology (GO) terms and GO annotations to estimate the reliability of interactions in PPI networks. Interaction pairs with low GO semantic similarity are removed from the network as unreliable interactions. Then, a clusterexpanding algorithm is used to detect complexes with core-attachment structure on filtered network. Our method is applied to three different yeast PPI networks. The effectiveness of our method is examined on two benchmark complex datasets. Experimental results show that our method performed better than other state-of-the-art approaches in most evaluation metrics. Conclusions: The method detects protein complexes from large scale PPI networks by filtering GO semantic similarity. Removing interactions with low GO similarity significantly improves the performance of complex identification. The expanding strategy is also effective to identify attachment proteins of complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size-related asexual reproduction of submersed macrophytes is still poorly understood. Here, we investigate how size-related auto-fragmentation in Myriophyllum spicatum L. responds to sediment nutrients and plant density. An experiment was carried out with sediments containing two different nutrient levels and with two levels of plant density. The results show that sediment nutrients and plant density brought about a strong dependency of auto-fragment production and the amount of total non-structural carbohydrate (TNC) storage in auto-fragments on individual plant size (total plant biomass). However, these two factors acted differently on size dependency. Sediment nutrients positively affected auto-fragment production and the amount of TNC in auto-fragments of M. spicatum. High concentrations of sediment nutrients significantly increased these two traits in absolute value and the value relative to plant size. Although the auto-fragment biomass and the amount of TNC in auto-fragments did not differ between density treatments when plant size was considered, the absolute values of these two traits were much larger in the low plant density treatment than in the high plant density treatment, which suggested an indirect negative effect of plant density on the auto-fragmentation of M. spicatum. In addition, higher percentages of large auto-fragments (>100 mg) were produced by plants that grew in nutrient poor sediment and low plant density environment than plants in nutrient rich sediment and high plant density environment. These results do not solely highlight a size-dependent effect, but also a size-independent effect of auto-fragment production and the amount of TNC in auto-fragments of M. spicatum. Furthermore, such size-independent effects can be explained by the significant biomass partitioning differences and the similar TNC-concentrations in auto-fragments under different environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of unpolar extracts from the aerial parts of Senecio argunensis afforded two new sesquiterpenoids, 1 β-hydroxyeudesma-4,11-dien-15-al () and 4(15)-cadinene-5 α,10 α-diol, () as well as six known compounds, -. The structures of all isolates were elucidated on the basis of extensive analyses of spectroscopic data and comparison with literature data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

n increasing number of recent studies indicate that multiple interacting factors can affect the invasion of plants. However, few studies have focused on asexual propagation and the interaction of propagation with environmental factors that regulate the invasive potential of introduced exotic species in aquatic habitats. This study was designed to investigate the differences in asexual propagation between introduced exotic and non-invasive native aquatic macrophytes in nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich sediments and to test the hypothesis that differences in asexual propagation (stem fragment production) and propagule establishment between introduced exotic and non-invasive native macrophytes are driven by sediment nutrient levels. Three exotic aquatic macrophytes ( Elodea nuttallii, Myriophyllum aquaticum, and M. propinquum) recently introduced to China and their non-invasive native counterparts ( Hydrilla verticillata, M. oguraense, and M. ussuriense) were used for comparison in nutrient-poor (TN 0.59 and TP 0.03 mg g) and nutrient-rich (TN 2.35 and TP 0.10 mg g) sediments. After 8 weeks of growth, the exotic species tended to produce more total biomass, branch biomass and apical shoots and have higher relative growth rate (RGR) than their native counterparts in nutrient-rich sediment. Rooting efficiency and root growth of exotic fragments were higher than that of native counterparts in nutrient-rich sediment, although the survival rates of fragments did not differ between native and exotic species. In addition, superior traits (rooting efficiency and root growth) of exotic species were also observed in nutrient-poor sediment, but to a lesser degree than in nutrient-rich sediment. These results suggest that asexual propagation of these three introduced exotic macrophytes is more effective in nutrient-rich sediment than in nutrient-poor sediment in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel eremophilane dimer, named as fischelactone, and a new sesquiterpene lactam, eremophila-1(10),7(11),8-triene-12,8-lactam, along with ten known compounds, were isolated from the roots of Ligularia fischeri. Their structures were established by means of spectroscopic analyses (EI-MS, HR-ESI-MS, IR, and 1D- and 2D-NMR data) and X-ray diffraction study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new bakkenolide and a known one were isolated from Petasites tatewakianus. The structure of the new compound was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods including IR, EIMS, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, and the known compound was established by single crystal X-ray structural analysis. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of these two compounds against cultured human cervical carcinoma (HeLa), human breast cancer (MCF-7) and murine Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cell lines was also evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have studied the effect of nanoparticles on wear resistance and surface hardness of a dental glass-ionomer cement. The effects of composition, loading ratio, and surface modification of the nanoparticles as well as particle size were investigated as well. Commercially available spherical nanoparticles were incorporated into a commercial dental cement Fuji II. One of the nanoparticles was surface-modified with poly(acrylic acid) via surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization. All the cements were conditioned in distilled water at 37°C for 24 h prior to testing. The results showed that all the particles incorporated (either nano-, micro-, or surface-modified) increased the resistance to attrition of Fuji II by approximately 50% but slightly decreased the resistance to abrasion. Most of the modified cements showed increased surface hardness values as compared to Fuji II. Surface modification significantly increased the loading of the nanoparticles into Fuji II from 10% to 30% as compared to the unmodified ones (only 10% at the maximum). Within the limitations of this study, it seems that incorporation of 1-3% spherical silica nanoparticles can effectively improve both resistance to attrition and surface hardness of Fuji II cement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relationship between microvessel density, expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and micrometastases in peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer. Microvessel density (MVD) and expression of VEGF-A were detected by immunohistochemistry S-P. Nested RT-PCR was introduced to detect the expression of hMAM mRNA in peripheral blood of all cases. Average MVD was 28.95 ± 6.95 microvessels/100× and positive rate of VEGF-A was 64.0% (32/50) in 50 cases with breast cancer. MVD count and expression of VEGF-A were related to tumor size, metastasis of axillary lymph nodes and clinical stages ( P < 0.05), independent of age and histological classification ( P > 0.05). The positive rate of hMAM mRNA in peripheral blood was 34.0% (17/50), which correlated with lymphatic metastasis and clinical stages ( P < 0.05), independent of pathological category, menopause and hormone receptor ( P > 0.05). MVD count and positive rate of VEGF-A in breast cancer with positive expression of hMAM mRNA was obviously higher than those without hMAM mRNA expression ( χ2 = 5.766, P = 0.032; t = 5.37, P = 0.002). MVD count and positive expression of VEGF-A closely correlated to hMAM mRNA released from tumor cells in the circulation. hMAM mRNA is expected to become a valuable marker for further study on micrometastases of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary  Various organometallic compounds (diphenylzinc, dibenzylzinc, dicyclohexylzinc, bis(pentafluorophenyl)zinc, diethylzinc, di(n-butyl)zinc, triethylaluminum) were used to form Y(CCl3COO)3-organometallic compound-glycerol catalyst for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide. It was found that Y(CCl3COO)3-diphenylzinc-glycerol catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity, at optimum conditions the yield could be as high as 478.8 (g polymer/mol Zn h). The catalytic activity sequence of these catalysts decreased as follows: Y(CCl3COO)3-diphenylzinc-glycerol>Y(CCl3COO)3-diethylzinc-glycerol>Y(CCl3COO)3-di-(n-butyl)zinc-glycerol>Y(CCl3COO)3-dibenzylzinc-glycerol>Y(CCl3COO)3-dicyclohexylzinc-glycerol>Y(CCl3COO)3-bis(pentafluorophenyl)zinc-glycerol. 1H NMR, 13C NMR, TGA, DMA, tensile tests results indicated that microstructure and properties of the polymers varied with catalyst used. Copolymer from Y(CCl3COO)3-diphenylzinc-glycerol catalyst displayed the highest thermal properties and mechanical properties: the glass transition temperature (Tg) was 50.2 oC, the 5% weight loss temperature (T-5%) was 222 C, the tensile strength was 34.7 MPa, the Young’s modulus was 298 MPa. The difference between the properties of the polymers was explained relating to the different polycarbonate content in the polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ polymerizable liquid degradable oligomeric polyesters based upon alpha-hydroxyacids were synthesized and characterized. Injectable and in situ curable composites formulated with these oligomeric polyesters and bioabsorble beta-tricalcium phosphate, were prepared at room temperature using the redox-initiation system. The results show that increasing glycolic acid/I-lactic acid molar ratio increased the initial compressive and diametral tensile strengths and curing time but decreased the degree of conversion. Increasing molecular weight of oligomeric polyesters decreased the initial strengths, exotherm and conversion but increased the curing time. Increasing the number of initiator arm decreased the initial strengths and curing time but increased the exotherm and conversion. During the course of degradation, all the materials showed a burst degradation behavior within 24h, followed by an increase in strength. The degradation rate is found to be dependant upon the molar ratio, molecular weight of oligomeric polyester, number of initiator arm and type of comonomer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the relationship between a set of personality constructs (i.e. perfectionism, independent-interdependent self-construal, and collective self-esteem) and trait and social anxiety among 324 Mainland Chinese and 333 Caucasian college students. It was hypothesized that the strength of the correlation between these personality factors and anxiety would be different for the two samples. The results indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was a better predictor of social anxiety for the Chinese participants, but of trait anxiety for the Caucasian participants. Independent self-construal predicted social anxiety better for the Caucasians than for the Chinese. Overall, aspects of collective self-esteem were more correlated with anxiety among the Chinese than the Caucasians. The authors argued that the findings can be used to improve multicultural counselling in China and the USA and to provide more culturally specific interventions to clients having anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the cross-cultural differences on state, trait, and social anxiety between Chinese and Caucasian American university students. Chinese students reported higher levels of social anxiety than did Caucasian American students. Correlations between trait and state anxiety were com- pared in light of the trait model of cross-cultural psychology, Implications for multicultural counseling are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the advanced audio video coding standard (AVS), the motion estimation employs many new techniques such as variable block size, multiple reference frames, motion vector prediction, symmetric searching, etc, for high coding efficiency. However, these techniques are so complex for hardware implementation due to their high data dependence and high computation requirement. In this paper, we firstly improved the AVS motion estimation algorithm from the viewpoint of hardware implementation and secondly propose the architecture for the improved algorithm. This architecture has two 2-D systolic arrays and fully supports the AVS variable block size match. It is able to process forward, backward and symmetric prediction concurrently, and totally produces 27 motion vectors for each macro-block. Experimental results shows that the architecture can achieve 29 fps under the condition of two reference pictures, 65×65 search range and 720×576 picture size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the moderating effect of self-efficacy on stressor—strain relationship among 30 telephone interviewers in an academic survey research center. Participants filled out measures of the Skills Confidence Inventory and the Scale of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy. They reported their state anxiety and recorded the number of refusals at the middle and the end of a 4-hr work shift. Significant relationships were found between the number of refusals and interviewer-reported state anxiety at the middle and the end of the shift. Results suggested that perceived social self-efficacy tended to buffer such a relationship at the middle of the shift but strengthen the relationship at the end of the shift. Enterprising confidence also tended to strengthen the relationship at the end of shift. Results were discussed in terms of outcome expectancy and cognitive dissonance. Direction for future research was also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel zinc-strengthened calcium phosphate polycarboxylate cement modified with amino acid has been developed. Synthesis of glass fillers and monomers as well as polymers and formulation of the cements are described. The effects of silanization, sintering, glass composition, grafting ratio of the methacrylate groups, molecular weight, tartaric acid and polymer content on compressive strength and curing time were investigated. The results show that both silanization and sintering of glass improved compressive strength and extended curing time. An appropriate ratio balance between zinc oxide and hydroxyapatite and between polymer, comonomer and water gave the best mechanical performance. With increasing grafting ratio and molecular weight compressive strength increased. With increasing polymer content and tartaric acid the curing time increased. The curing time decreased with increasing grafting ratio and molecular weight. It is concluded that this experimental cement has shown great potential as a bioactive cement for dental and orthopedic applications, based on its inherent compositions and mechanical strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel in situ polymerizable liquid three-arm biodegradable oligomeric polyesters based upon glycolic acid (GA), L-lactic acid (LLA), and their copolymers are synthesized and characterized. Injectable and in situ curable polymer neat resins and their composites formulated with bioabsorbable beta-tricalcium phosphate are prepared at room temperature using photo-and redox-initiation systems, respectively. The cured neat resins show the initial compressive yield strength (YCS, MPa), modulus (M, MPa), ultimate compressive strength (UCS, MPa), and toughness (T, kN mm), ranging from 4.0 to 20.1, 201.5 to 730.2, 82.7 to 310.5, and 1.02 to 3.93. The cured composites show the initial YCS, M, UCS and T, ranging from 27.7 to 56.4, 1440 to 4870, 81.6 to 158.9, and 0.94 to 1.97. Increasing GA/LLA ratio increases all the initial compressive strengths of both neat resins and composites. Increasing filler content increases YCS and M but decreases UCS and T. A diametral tensile strength test shows the same trend as a compressive strength test. There seems to be an optimal flexural strength for the composite at the filler content around 43%. An increasing molar ratio increases curing time but decreases the degree of conversion (DC). An increasing filler content increases curing time but decreases exotherm and DC. During the course of degradation, all the materials show a burst degradation behavior within 24h, followed by an increase in CS. The poly(glycolic acid) neat resin completely loses its strength at around Day 45. The composites completely lose their strengths at different time intervals, depending on their molar ratio and filler content. The degradation rate is found to be molar ratio and filler-content dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel photo-cured amino-acid-constructed glass–ionomer cement system has been developed. Glutamic acid- and beta-alanine-based methacrylate and acrylate derivatives were synthesized, characterized and used to construct the polyalkenoic acids and formulated with water and Fuji II glass filler to form self-cured cement. Compressive strength (CS) of the cement and viscosity of the liquid were used as tools for evaluation. The effects of molar ratio and molecular weight (MW) were studied. The optimized co-polymer was further modified with glycidyl methacrylate (GM) and formulated with water, acrylic acid and Fuji II LC filler to form photo-cured cement. The effects of MW, GM tethering ratio, polymer liquid ratio and glass filler powder/polymer liquid (P/L) ratio were investigated. CS, flexural strength (FS) and viscosity were used as screening tools to find the optimal formulation. All the specimens were conditioned in distilled water at 37°C for either 24 h or 7 days prior to testing. The results show that amino-acid-constructed polyalkenoic acids can be formed only from amino acid methacrylate derivatives or by co-polymerization of methacrylate with acrylate derivatives. Among the numerous co-polymers synthesized, poly(methacryloyl glutamic acid-co-acryloyl beta-alanine) or poly(MGA-co-ABA) with the molar ratio of 8 : 2 and MW of 19.5 kg/mol contributed the highest mechanical strengths and lower working viscosity to the cement. For photo-cured system, the effects of GM tethering ratio, polymer content and P/L ratio were significant. It is found that an appropriate ratio balance between these parameters is very important. The effect of molecular weight was not significant. The self-cured experimental cement was 32% higher in FS than Fuji II and the same in CS and DTS as Fuji II. The photo-cured experimental cement was 19%, 47% and 176% higher in CS, DTS and FS than Fuji II LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five novel bifunctional oligomers containing both carboxylic acid and methacrylate groups are synthesized, characterized, and used to formulate compomers by mixing with strontium fluoroaluminosilicate glass powder at a filler level of 75% (by weight). Compressive strength (CS) of the cements and viscosity of the resin liquids are used as screening tools to find the optimal formulation. Diametral tensile (DTS) and flexural strengths (FS) are also determined. Results show that the oligomers derivatized with glycerol dimethacrylate exhibit higher CS than those with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. The CS increases with increasing diluent content, filler level, and light-exposure time. During aging, the cement shows an increase of strength over 24 h and then remains unaltered for up to 3 months. The experimental compomer is 45 and 69% higher in CS, 35 and 174% higher in DTS, and 39 and 170% higher in FS, respectively, as compared to Dyract and Fuji II LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare-earth ternary catalysts Y(CCl3COO)3-ZnR2-glycerin were prepared for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide (PO), where dialkylzincs (ZnR2) were diethylzinc, di(n-propyl)zinc, di(n-butyl)zinc, di(i-propyl)zinc, di(i-butyl)zinc, di(s-butyl)zinc, respectively. The Y(CCl3COO)3-ZnR2-glycerin catalysts displayed the highest catalytic activity at the molar ratio of Y(CCl3COO)3:ZnR2:glycerin = 1:20:10. In the same copolymerization condition, catalysts containing dialkylzincs with branched alkyl group showed lower catalytic activity than that with primary alkyl group. For those catalysts including dialkylzincs with primary alkyl group, their catalytic activity decreases with increasing number of carbon atom in the alkyl group with the following sequence: Y(CCl3COO)3-ZnEt2-glycerin > Y(CCl3COO)3-Zn(n-Pr)2-glycerin> Y(CCl3COO)3-Zn(n-Bu)2-glycerin. However, the alkyl group in the dialkylzinc does not influence the insertion of PO into the propagation chain end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The aim was to explore application effects of truly biodegradable mulch in farmlands and provide data support for large area spreading on southern potato fields. [Method] The field plot experiments were conducted to investigate mulch film's weight loss and the effects of using truly biodegradable mulch film on potato yield and agronomic characters. [Result] The emergence rates of truly biodegradable mulch film and black plastic mulch film kept 9.71% and 9.27% higher compared with the open field，and yield increased by 30.84% and 36.81%. In the potato harvest period，the truly biodegradable mulch films already broke，and mulch film's weight loss rate was 58.62%. It can be completely degraded in the field after some time，and following crops would not be affected. [Conclusion] Truly biodegradable mulch performs significantly in increasing yield and keeps higher in weight-loss rate， so that it has a promising future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiO 2 films with thicknesses of 100 and 50 nm were deposited on NiTi shape memory alloys (SMA-NiTi) using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. Uniaxial tensile loading, unloading, and water-bath heating experiments were conducted. X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and profilometry were used to characterize the phase structures of the NiTi substrates and surface morphologies of the films before and after stretching and after stretching with water-bath heating. Under uniaxial tension, the NiTi substrate experienced a B2 → B19′ martensitic phase transformation. Surface relief appeared on the film and residual deformation persisted in the NiTi after stress-relief. After heating, the NiTi substrate underwent a reverse B19′ → B2 martensitic phase transformation where the surface relief on the film disappeared and the residual deformation was eliminated. Neither cracking nor spalling was observed on the 50-nm film after tensile deformation at a maximum strain of 10%, and the shape was recovered via heating. The 100-nm film withstood a tensile deformation at a maximum strain of 10%, but slight cracking and spalling occurred during shape recovery. This is the first report on the dynamic changes in the surface morphology of inorganic films deposited on SMA-NiTi alloys. The results provide a theoretical and experimental basis for analyzing the reliability of film-modified NiTi alloy devices. • TiO 2 films 100 and 50 nm thick are deposited on NiTi shape memory (SMA-NiTi) alloys. • The film surface morphologies are analyzed before and after stretching and heating. • Uniaxial tension/heating caused B2 → B19′/B19′ → B2 martensitic phase-transformations. • First report of dynamic surface-morphology change of TiO 2 film on SMA-NiTi [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the traffic characteristics, studies its impact on air quality in street and downtown, and assesses secondary pollution level in Guangzhou in China. Details of the comprehensive field measurement; Vehicle emission; Air quality in street canyon; Urban air quality; Conclusion.

Presents a descriptive survey of China's policy on lifelong education in the 1980s and early 1990s. China's education policy as part of its overall modernization program; Promotion of family education through workshops, lectures, advisory services, and the mass media; China's policies on various types of education; Establishment of a distance education program.

In the title monomeric compound, [Zn(C5H2N2O4)(H2O)4], the ZnII atom has a distorted octa­hedral environment and the molecules are linked by O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supra­molecular structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Danshen-Honghua herb pair (DHHP) is a common modern Chinese medicine pair for activating blood circulation and resolving blood stasis. It has been used for centuries to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and is often found in some herbal compounds for treating cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of DHHP on the intestinal flora of rats with acute myocardial ischemia and its microbial transformation in vitro. Methods: In this study, we investigated the protective effect of DHHP on isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial ischemia in rats based on metagenomic sequencing technology, and further characterized the in vitro metabolic transformation products of DHHP, so as to investigate its anti-myocardial ischemic efficacy material basis. Results: Pharmacodynamic results demonstrated that DHHP significantly ameliorated pathological changes and improved abnormal cardiac enzyme levels in acute myocardial ischemia rats. In addition, metagenomic analysis showed the efficacy of DHHP in ameliorating the isoproterenol-induced modifications of the intestinal flora in rats. Specifically, DHHP promoted the growth of the intestinal potential probiotics such as Lactobacillus while suppressing the pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia and Streptococcus. The in vitro metabolism results showed that the DHHP's active components underwent primarily phase I metabolism through hydroxylation, decarboxylation, and dehydration inversions in the isolated intestinal flora of acute myocardial ischemia rats and in phase II through sulfation esterification and methylation reactions. Conclusion: The results suggest that there may be a bidirectional regulatory effect between DHHP and intestinal flora, which is important to explain the pharmacological mechanism of DHHP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate that no-knowledge measurement-based feedback control is utilized to obtain the estimation precision of the detection efficiency. We show that no-knowledge measurement is the optimal way to estimate the detection efficiency. The higher precision can be achieved for the lower or larger detection efficiency. It is found that no-knowledge feedback can be used to cancel decoherence. No-knowledge feedback with a high detection efficiency can perform well in estimating frequency and detection efficiency parameters simultaneously; simultaneous estimation is better than independent estimation given by the same probes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on eudesmane sesquiterpenoids from Aster himalaicus using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) data. The column chromatographic (CC) procedures were used to purify the residue yielded from the extracted powdered air-dried plants of Aster himalaicus. It reveals that four eudesmane sesquiterpenoids were isolated from Aster himalaicus including 3β-Hydroxy-epi-ilicic acid, 3α-Hydroxycostic acid, and 5α-Hydroxycostic acid.

It has been found that for a fixed degree of fuzziness in the coarsened references of measurements, the quantum-to-classical transition can be observed independent of the macroscopicity of the quantum state. We explore a general situation that the degree of fuzziness can change with the rotation angle between two states (different rotation angles represent different references). The fuzziness of reference comes from two kinds of fuzziness: the Hamiltonian (rotation frequency) and the timing (rotation time). For the fuzziness of the Hamiltonian alone, the degree of fuzziness for the reference will change with the rotation angle between two states, and the quantum effects can still be observed with any degree of fuzziness of Hamiltonian. For the fuzziness of timing, the degree of the coarsening reference is unchanged with the rotation angle. During the rotation of the measurement axis, the decoherence environment can also help the classical-to-quantum transition due to changing the direction of the measurement axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a key regeneration pathway in various biotechnology approaches to crop improvement, especially for economically important perennial woody crops like citrus. However, maintenance of SE capability has long been a challenge and becomes a bottleneck in biotechnology-facilitated plant improvement. In the embryogenic callus (EC) of citrus, we identified 2 csi-miR171c-targeted SCARECROW-LIKE genes CsSCL2 and CsSCL3 (CsSCL2/3), which exert positive feedback regulation on csi-miR171c expression. Suppression of CsSCL2 expression by RNA interference (RNAi) enhanced SE in citrus callus. A thioredoxin superfamily protein CsClot was identified as an interactive protein of CsSCL2/3. Overexpression of CsClot disturbed reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis in EC and enhanced SE. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) and RNA-Seq identified 660 genes directly suppressed by CsSCL2 that were enriched in biological processes including development-related processes, auxin signaling pathway, and cell wall organization. CsSCL2/3 bound to the promoters of regeneration-related genes, such as WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 2 (CsWOX2), CsWOX13, and Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain 40 (LBD40), and repressed their expression. Overall, CsSCL2/3 modulate ROS homeostasis through the interactive protein CsClot and directly suppress the expression of regeneration-related genes, thus regulating SE in citrus. We uncovered a regulatory pathway of miR171c-targeted CsSCL2/3 in SE, which shed light on the mechanism of SE and regeneration capability maintenance in citrus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to build a novel prognostic nomogram in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) incorporating pre-treatment peripheral blood markers beyond known pathoclinical predictors. METHODS: We analysed 7158 patients with NSCLC diagnosed between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2012 from a single institution with a uniform medical record and routine follow-up information. Besides common clinicopathological factors, we investigated the prognostic value of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, monocytes and haemoglobin level in peripheral blood before treatment. Patients were randomly assigned to training (4772 patients, 66.7%) or validation cohorts (2386 patients, 33.3%). Cox proportional hazards models determined the effects of multiple factors on overall survival (OS). A nomogram was developed to predict median survival and 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year OS for NSCLC. The performance of the nomogram was assessed by a concordance index and calibration curve. RESULTS: In the training cohort, the multivariate Cox model identified the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, monocytes and haemoglobin level before treatment as significant prognostic factors for OS independent of patient age, gender, smoking history of intensity and cessation, performance status, disease stage, tumour cell type and differentiation grade and therapies. All the significant prognostic variables were incorporated into a nomogram. In the validation cohort, the nomogram showed notable accuracy in predicting OS, with a concordance index of 0.81, and was well calibrated for predictions of OS. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed nomogram incorporating peripheral blood markers and known prognostic factors could accurately predict individualized survival probability of patients with NSCLC. It could be used in treatment planning and stratification in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mentoring during graduate training confers a multitude of benefits. However, despite these benefits, health service psychology programs (e.g., counseling and clinical psychology) could benefit from additional attention to mentoring and associated outcomes. Although the field of health service psychology has examined advising during graduate training, we argue that mentoring is often distinct from advising and encourage a deliberate switch from the traditional role of faculty advisor to a more proactive role of faculty mentor. We highlight the limited prevalence of mentoring in health service psychology doctoral programs and provide a discussion of conceptual differences in the roles and functions of an advisor and a mentor. We also note the plethora of benefits associated with mentoring relationships and discuss how these relationships are formed. Finally, we offer several recommendations to assist health service subfields of psychology in being more proactive. We hope that the field will recognize the value of mentoring during graduate training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyploidization leads to novel phenotypes and is a major force in evolution. However, the relationship between the evolution of new traits and variations in the post-translational modifications (PTM) of proteins during polyploidization has not been studied. Acetylation of lysine residues is a common protein PTM that plays a critical regulatory role in central metabolism. To test whether changes in metabolism in citrus fruit is associated with the reprogramming of lysine acetylation (Kac) in non-histone proteins during allotetraploidization, we performed a global acetylome analysis of fruits from a synthetic allotetraploid citrus and its diploid parents. A total of 4,175 Kac sites were identified on 1,640 proteins involved in a wide range of fruit traits. In the allotetraploid, parental dominance (i.e. resemblance to one of the two parents) in specific fruit traits, such as fruit acidity and flavonol metabolism, was highly associated with parental Kac level dominance in pertinent enzymes. This association is due to Kac-mediated regulation of enzyme activity. Moreover, protein Kac probably contributes to the discordance between the transcriptomic and proteomic variations during allotetraploidization. The acetylome reprogramming can be partially explained by the expression pattern of several lysine deacetylases (KDACs). Overexpression of silent information regulator 2 (CgSRT2) and histone deacetylase 8 (CgHDA8) diverted metabolic flux from primary metabolism to secondary metabolism and partially restored a metabolic status to the allotetraploid, which expressed attenuated levels of CgSRT2 and CgHDA8. Additionally, KDAC inhibitor treatment greatly altered metabolism in citrus fruit. Collectively, these findings reveal the important role of acetylome reprogramming in trait evolution during polyploidization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of cars with intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) on traffic flow near an on-ramp is investigated by car-following simulations. By numerical simulations, the dependences of flux on the inflow rate are investigated for various proportions of cars with ITSs. The phase diagrams as well as the spatiotemporal diagrams are presented to show different traffic flow states on the main road and the on-ramp. The results show that the saturated flux on the main road increases and the free flow region is enlarged with the increase of the proportion of cars with ITS. Interestingly, the congested regions of the main road disappear completely when the proportion is larger than a critical value. Further investigation shows that the capacity of the on-ramp system can be promoted by 13% by using the ITS information, and the saturated flux on the on-ramp can be kept at an appropriate value by adjusting the proportion of cars with ITS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]