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It has been demonstrated that almost all polymer-clay nanocomposites show higher temperature stability than that of pure polymer, which is attributed to the active exfoliated clay nanosheet firmly adsorbed onto the polymer chains, due to polerization and nucleation effect, the clay nanosheets could protect the polymer chains from destroying. To prove such mechanism, the water-soluble polymer nanocomposites (AAA/SLS-MMT) were synthesized by the in-situ polymerization of 2-acrylamide-2-methyl-propane sulfonic acid, acrylamide, 4-acryloylmorpholine, and organically modified montmorillonite. The techniques of nuclear magnetic resonance, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy etc., clearly characterized the successful synthesized of sample's structure, the exfoliated MMT nanosheet adsorbed polymer chain's scale, and well-dispersed morphology, espectively. The adsorption model, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy presented the existence of strong adsorption, while molecular simulation calculations first concluded that the strong adsorption energy was -13032.06 kcal/mol. Thermo-gravimetric-analysis proved the temperature of maximum thermal degradation of powder sample (AAA/1.0 wt% SLS-MMT) was over 298 ℃. After ageing at 180 ℃ for 4 h, the apparent viscosity of 5 g/L AAA/1.0 wt% SLS-MMT aqueous solution was 326.7 mPa,s, while that of pure polymer (AAA) was only 8.3 mPa,s. This optimized sample has the smallest FLAPI value at all test temperatures from 180 to 220 ℃ in both fresh and salt water based drilling fluid. All the evidences of high temperature resistance indicate that the strong adsorption can enhance the thickness of hydrated shell and adsorption of clay particles in drilling fluid at high temperature. Such mechanism supplied the better way to design hightemperature resistant fluid loss additives for deep and ultra-deep oil and gas formation engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex sand-casting process combined with the interactions between process parameters makes it difficult to control the casting quality, resulting in a high scrap rate. A strategy based on a data-driven model was proposed to reduce casting defects and improve production efficiency, which includes the random forest (RF) classification model, the feature importance analysis, and the process parameters optimization with Monte Carlo simulation. The collected data includes four types of defects and corresponding process parameters were used to construct the RF model. Classification results show a recall rate above 90% for all categories. The Gini Index was used to assess the importance of the process parameters in the formation of various defects in the RF model. Finally, the classification model was applied to different production conditions for quality prediction. In the case of process parameters optimization for gas porosity defects, this model serves as an experimental process in the Monte Carlo method to estimate a better temperature distribution. The prediction model, when applied to the factory, greatly improved the efficiency of defect detection. Results show that the scrap rate decreased from 10.16% to 6.68%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, significant oil discoveries have been made in the shallower pay zones of the Jurassic Badaowan Formation (J1b) in the Mahu Sag, Junggar Basin, Northwest China. However, little work has been done on the geochemical characteristics and origins of the oil in the J1b reservoir. This study analyzes 44 oil and 14 source rock samples from the area in order to reveal their organic geochemical characteristics and the origins of the oils. The J1b oils are characterized by a low Pr/Ph ratio and high β-carotene and gammacerane indices, which indicate that they were mainly generated from source rocks deposited in a hypersaline environment. The oils are also extremely enhanced in C29 regular steranes, possibly derived from halophilic algae. Oil-source correlation shows that the oils were derived from the Lower Permian Fengcheng Formation (P1f) source rocks, which were deposited in a strongly stratified and highly saline water column with a predominance of algal/bacterial input in the organic matter. The source rocks of the Middle Permian lower-Wuerhe Formation (P2w), which were deposited in fresh to slightly saline water conditions with a greater input of terrigenous organic matter, make only a minor contribution to the J1b oils. The reconstruction of the oil accumulation process shows that the J1b oil reservoir may have been twice charged during Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous and the Paleogene–Neogene, respectively. A large amount volume of hydrocarbons generated in the P1f source rock and leaked from T1b oil reservoirs migrated along faults connecting source beds and shallow-buried secondary faults into Jurassic traps, resulting in large-scale accumulations in J1b. These results are crucial for understanding the petroleum system of the Mahu Sag and will provide valuable guidance for petroleum exploration in the shallower formations in the slope area of the sag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have examined the basic composition of anthocyanins and polysaccharides, the active components in Aronia melanocarpa fruit. To this end, microwave-assisted ethanol extraction and cellulase enzymatic hydrolysis were employed to extract anthocyanins and crude polysaccharides, respectively. Aronia melanocarpa fruit polysaccharides were separated and purified by DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100 glucan gel column chromatography, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that the optimal extraction parameters of anthocyanin from Aronia melanocarpa fruit were a 60% ethanol volume fraction, a liquid-to-solid ratio of 30:1, a microwave time of 60 s, and a microwave power of 210 W. The extracted anthocyanins reached 200.47 mg/100 g, while the yield of polysaccharides was 3.82%. Anthocyanins in Aronia melanocarpa fruit were mainly composed of cyanidin, delphinidin, and mallow pigment, among which cyanidin was the main component, with a content as high as 90.79%. There were two distinct fractions of polysaccharides. The fraction-I polysaccharides were mainly composed of rhamnose, galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose, and arabinose, with a molar ratio of 8.80: 8.97: 2.38: 27.46: 47.94. In contrast, the fraction-II polysaccharides were primarily composed of rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galactose, xylose, and arabinose, with a molar ratio of 1.67: 9.22: 8.47: 70.69: 6.16. The results of this study can provide a reference for the in-depth development of Aronia melanocarpa resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the finite-time multi-target tracking problem of networked Euler–Lagrange systems (NELSs) with a directed interaction topology, parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. A novel finite-time hierarchical active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) algorithm is designed to handle such a challenging problem without velocity measurement. To be specific, a nonsingular distributed estimator algorithm is newly designed to respectively estimate the states of the targets in a finite time. Based on the extended state observer (ESO), we present a finite-time local control scheme to obtain satisfactory tracking performance of the NELSs. Besides, sufficient conditions for deriving the finite-time stability of the cascade closed-loop systems are presented based on the Lyapunov argument. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to show the control performance and feasibility of the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-aminobutyric acid is a nonprotein amino acid that accumulates in plants under stress. Abscisic acid is important for stress regulation via modulation of γ-aminobutyric acid function. Our results show that the expression of glutamate decarboxylase but not diamine oxidase gene is upregulated in germinating soybean treating treated with exogenous abscisic acid. There was a concomitant increase in glutamate decarboxylase and diamine oxidase activities and putrescine and spermine contents with a decrease in glutamate. These changes were abrogated by fluridone, an inhibitor of abscisic acid synthesis. In conclusion, abscisic acid treatment increases γ-aminobutyric acid accumulation by upregulating diamine oxidase gene expression and activation of glutamate decarboxylase and diamine oxidase activity in germinating soybean under hypoxia-salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical model based on Biot theory to investigate the sound transmission loss (STL) of a pyramidal lattice sandwich structure lined with porous material. This theory is more accurate than equivalent methods and suitable for use in different complex filling configurations. Several filling patterns with different boundary conditions are studied, and their governing equations are derived by presenting the exact displacements and stresses for both solid and fluid fields. The models are validated by comparing with available literature and simulation results. The numerical results show the influences of porous materials, their structure on the STL, and their mutual inhibitions. In addition, it is found that different parameters dominate in different configurations and frequency ranges. These results reveal the interrestricted relationship between the STL and its bearing capacity. Moreover, the external mean flow condition inspired by real-life situations is studied to analyze its effects on sound transmission. These results show that the STL depends on the flow directions, and a critical value of the Mach number exists in the upstream situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report optical gain enhancements in Si nanocrystals (Si-NCs) via hydrogenation and Ce3+ ion doping. Variable stripe length technique was used to obtain gains. At 0.3 W/cm² pumping power density of pulsed laser, net gains were observed together with gain enhancements after hydrogenation and/or Ce3+ ion doping; gains after loss corrections were between 89.52 and 341.95 cm-1; and the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime was found to decrease with the increasing gain enhancement. At 0.04 W/cm² power density, however, no net gain was found and the PL lifetime increased with the increasing PL enhancement. The results were discussed according to stimulated and spontaneous excitation and de-excitation mechanisms of Si-NCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background ‒ Activation of the complement component 5a (C5a) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling is an important feature of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and recent studies show that morphine postconditioning (MP) attenuates the myocardial injury. However, the mediating cardioprotective mechanisms remain unclear. The present study explores the role and interaction of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), Akt, C5a, and NF-κB in MP-induced cardioprotection. Methods ‒ Male Sprague Dawley rats (n = 160) were randomized into eight groups (n = 20 per group). Rats in the sham group underwent thoracotomy, passing the ligature through the heart but without tying it (150 min), and the other seven groups were subjected to 30 min of anterior descending coronary artery occlusion followed by 2 h of reperfusion and the following treatments: I/R (30 min of ischemia and followed by 2 h of reperfusion); ischemic postconditioning (IPostC, 30 s of ischemia altered with 30 s of reperfusion, repeated for three cycles, and followed by reperfusion for 2 h); MP (0.3 mg/kg morphine administration 10 min before reperfusion); MP combined with the HSP90 inhibitor geldanamycin (GA, 1 mg/kg); MP combined with the Akt inhibitor GSK-690693 (GSK, 20 mg/kg); and MP combined with the C5a inhibitor PMX205 (PMX, 1 mg/kg/day, administration via drinking water for 28 days) and MP combined with the NF-κB inhibitor EVP4593 (QNZ, 1 mg/kg). All inhibitors were administered 10 min before morphine and followed by 2 h reperfusion. Results ‒ MP significantly reduced the I/R-induced infarct size, the apoptosis, and the release of cardiac troponin I, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase-MB. These beneficial effects were accompanied by increased expression of HSP90 and p-Akt, and decreased expression of C5a, NF-κB, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-1β, and intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1. However, HSP90 inhibitor GA or Akt inhibitor GSK increased the expression of C5a and NF-κB and prevented MP-induced cardioprotection. Furthermore, GA inhibited the MP-induced upregulation of p-Akt, while GSK did not affect HSP90, indicating that p-Akt acts downstream of HSP90 in MP-induced cardioprotection. In addition, C5a inhibitor PMX enhanced the MP-induced downregulation of NF-κB, while NF-κB inhibitor QNZ had no effect on C5a, indicating that the C5a/NF-κB signaling pathway is involved in MP-induced cardioprotection. Conclusion ‒ HSP90 is critical for MP-mediated cardioprotection possibly by promoting the phosphorylation of Akt and inhibiting the activation of C5a and NF-κB signaling and the subsequent myocardial inflammation, ultimately attenuating the infarct size and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to micro-arc oxidation (MAO) treatment, a layer of high temperature oxide (HTO) prefab film was fabricated on the surface of 6061 aluminum alloy specimens. The formation mechanisms of the cracks and pores in the MAO coatings were investigated by means of Mg element as the tracer. The results showed that there were several different formation mechanisms for the pores and cracks formed in the MAO coatings as follows. Some of pores were attributed to the residual micro-discharge channels, and the others were attributed to the residual uncovered concave regions locating among the surrounding convex regions. The difference in oxide phase composition caused by the compositional fluctuations in the coating weakened the bond strength at the phase interface and resulted in forming cracks between every two convex regions. Some of cracks were resulted from the solidification and shrinkage of molten coating materials, and the others were resulted from the poor connection between every two convex regions. The surface morphology and the content of each element of the MAO coating were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circulation of the Kuroshio northeast of Taiwan is characterized by a large anticyclonic loop of surface intrusion and strong upwelling at the shelfbreak. To study the mechanisms of Kuroshio intrusions, the vorticity balance is examined using a high-resolution nested numerical model. In the 2D depth-averaged vorticity equation, the advection of geostrophic potential vorticity (APV) term and the joint effect of baroclinicity and relief (JEBAR) term are dominant. On the other hand, in the 2D depth-integrated vorticity equation, the main balance is between nonlinear advection and bottom pressure torque. It is shown that JEBAR and APV tend to compensate, and their difference is comparable to bottom pressure torque. Perhaps most significantly, a general framework is provided for examination of vorticity balance over steep slopes through a full 3D depth-dependent vorticity equation. The 3D analysis reveals a well-defined bottom boundary layer over the shelfbreak, about 40m deep and capped by the vertical velocity maximum. In the upper frictionless layer from the surface to about 100 m, the primary balance is between nonlinear advection and horizontal divergence. In the lower frictional layer, viscous stress is balanced by nonlinear advection and horizontal divergence. The bottom pressure torque, which corresponds to the depth-integrated viscous effect, is a proxy for viscous stress divergence at the bottom. The importance of nonlinear advection is further demonstrated in a sensitivity experiment by removing advective terms from momentum equations. Without nonlinear advection, the bottom pressure torque becomes trivial, the boundary layer vanishes, and the on-shelf intrusion is considerably weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jinzhen oral liquid (JZ) is a classical traditional Chinese medicine formula used for the treatment of children lung disease. However, the effective substance of JZ is still unclear. In this study, we used lung injury rat model to study the protective effect of JZ, through UPLCQ- TOF/MS detection coupled with metabolic research and network pharmacology analysis. Fortunately, 31 absorbed prototype constituents and 41 metabolites were identified or tentatively characterized based on UPLC-Q-TOF/MS analysis, and the possible metabolic pathways were hydroxylation, sulfation and glucuronidation. We optimized the data screening in the early stage of network pharmacology by collecting targets based on adsorbed constituents, and further analyzed the main biological processes and pathways. 24 selected core targets were frequently involved in reactive oxygen species metabolic process, dopaminergic synapse pathway and so on, which might play important roles in the mechanisms of JZ for the treatment of lung injury. Overall, the absorbed constituents and their possible metabolic pathways, as well as the absorbed constituent-target-disease network provided insights into the mechanisms of JZ for the treatment of lung injury. Further studies are needed to validate the biological processes and effect pathways of JZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microbial community in the rhizosphere is thought to provide plants with a second set of genomes, which plays a pivotal role in plant growth. In the present study, soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of an endangered plant, Paeonia jishanensis. The plants were divided into three groups: well-growing plants, poor-growing plants and dead plants. Metagenomic DNA was isolated from rhizosphere soil samples of these plants and 16S rRNA genes were sequenced by the PacBio-RS II system. The results of taxonomic analysis showed that the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria in all three sample types. Linear discriminate analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) showed that 5 species, Hirschia baltica, Arcobacter aquimarinus, Gimesia maris, Magnetococcus marinus and Pseudoxanthobactor soli, were significantly enriched in the rhizosphere of well-growing plants. Additionally, the results of PCA, MDS and clustering analysis indicated that the bacterial community in the rhizosphere of living P. jishanensis plants was similar. With the death of plants, the bacterial community changed considerably. These findings suggest that the abundance of many beneficial rhizospheric microbes declined with the death of P. jishanensis. This is a potential way to preserve endangered plants by inoculating declining species with beneficial microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cavitation is a harmful flow pattern in hydraulic machinery that disrupts the normal energy exchange and damages the flow channel components. Therefore, studying cavitation in hydraulic machinery and exploring efficient monitoring methods are currently key research topics. This paper examines the characteristics of inlet and outlet noise from centrifugal pumps at different stages of cavitation development under multiple flow rates. The results indicate that: The inlet and outlet noise of a centrifugal pump mainly consists of discrete noise and broadband noise. Discrete noise is shaft passage frequency, blade passage frequency, and their lower harmonic frequencies. The energy is mainly concentrated in discrete noise. Cavitation has a significant impact on the noise at the inlet, where the power spectral density of discrete noise and broadband noise both sharply decrease as cavitation develops, while the noise at the outlet is largely stable. Through relative energy analysis, it has been found that the relative energy of the different layers of noise at the inlet and outlet changes a lot as cavitation happens. The obvious wavelet energy fluctuation layer of inlet noise is relatively wide, while the obvious wavelet energy fluctuation layer of outlet noise is relatively concentrated, especially in the frequency-containing layer. The wavelet time-frequency diagram indicates that the cavitation noise of centrifugal pumps exhibits temporal stability and is devoid of stochastic interference. It can be observed that the sudden change in sound field during centrifugal pump cavitation is a significant characteristic, and earlier detection of cavitation occurrence can be achieved by analyzing the power spectral density of noise at both inlet and outlet of the pump as well as monitoring relative energy changes in wavelet decomposition layers. • The cavitation noise at the inlet and outlet of the centrifugal pump is collected using a hydrophone. • The power spectral density of cavitation noise changes significantly at the inlet and outlet. • In the process of cavitation, the relative energy of the wavelet coefficients of each layer is different. • The wavelet time-frequency characteristics show that the cavitation noise remains stable in the time domain. • The occurrence of cavitation can be predicted in advance by the abrupt point of acoustic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibration transmissibility is an important factor to characterize the vibration absorption performance of cushioning packaging materials during transportation. Reasonable prediction of vibration transmissibility can guide antivibration design and reduce packaging cost. As a kind of green cushioning material, paper honeycomb sandwich structure is widely used in transport packaging because of its good machinability. But at the same time, it also has strong water absorption capacity. To a great extent, the vibration transmissibility of paper honeycomb sandwich structure may be affected by ambient humidity. In this research, the vibration transmissibility of paper honeycomb sandwich structures with various structure sizes under different humidity was tested by sine frequency sweep experiments. The rule of maximal vibration transmissibility with moisture content, cell length of honeycomb, and thickness of sandwich structure was analyzed. The results show that the maximal vibration transmissibility of paper honeycomb sandwich structure increases with the increase of moisture content, cell length of honeycomb, and thickness of sandwich structure. In order to construct the relationship between maximal vibration transmissibility and various factors, the moisture content was standardized. Finally, the maximal vibration transmissibility evaluation equation of paper honeycomb sandwich structure containing standardized moisture content and size of sandwich structure was obtained, which is of some reference value for vibration prediction of paper honeycomb sandwich structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: This study sought to investigate the expression and prognostic value of peripheral blood microRNA-448 (miR-448) and its target gene SIRT1 after laparoscopic bariatric surgery in obese type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: Obese T2DM patients were selected and treated with laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure SIRT1 protein expression. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was employed to determine the mRNA expression of the related gene. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were grouped into blank, negative control (NC), miR-448 mimic, miR-448 inhibitor, siRNA-SIRT1 and miR-448 inhibitor + siRNA-SIRT1 groups. Transwell assays and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays were applied to determine cell invasion and cell viability. A tube formation assay and an adherence test were utilized to assess the angiogenic and adhesive capacities of the cells. Results: In peripheral blood, the expression of miR-448 was reduced, whereas the mRNA and protein expression of SIRT1 was increased after surgery compared to before surgery. miR-448 expression was lower and mRNA and protein expression of SIRT1 was higher in the effective group than in the ineffective group after surgery. SIRT1 is a target gene of miR- 448. miR-448 can suppress viability and invasion, and it reflects the angiogenic and adhesive capacity of EPCs and the protein expression of relative genes in EPCs through targeting SIRT1. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that miR-448 and its target gene SIRT1 can serve as prognostic indicators for obese T2DM patients after laparoscopic bariatric surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traditional drug identification methods follow the "one drug-one target" thought. But those methods ignore the natural characters of human diseases. To overcome this limitation, many identification methods of drug-pathway association pairs have been developed, such as the integrative penalized matrix decomposition (iPaD) method. The iPaD method imposes the L1-norm penalty on the regularization term. However, lasso-type penalties have an obvious disadvantage, that is, the sparsity produced by them is too dispersive. Results: Therefore, to improve the performance of the iPaD method, we propose a novel method named L2,1-iPaD to identify paired drug-pathway associations. In the L2,1-iPaD model, we use the L2,1-norm penalty to replace the L1-norm penalty since the L2,1-norm penalty can produce row sparsity. Conclusions: By applying the L2,1-iPaD method to the CCLE and NCI-60 datasets, we demonstrate that the performance of L2,1-iPaD method is superior to existing methods. And the proposed method can achieve better enrichment in terms of discovering validated drug-pathway association pairs than the iPaD method by performing permutation test. The results on the two real datasets prove that our method is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most important causes that leads to end-stage renal disease and the efficacy of strategies currently available for the prevention of DN remains unsatisfactory. Sitagliptin (SIT), which is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, exhibited a modest beneficial effect on glycated hemoglobin levels and is capable of ameliorating renal ischemia reperfusion injury. By determining the expression of transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), collagen type IV (ColIV) and fibronectin (FN) levels in high glucose-cultured glomerular mesangial cells (MCs), the present study aimed to assess the anti-proliferative and anti-fibrotic effects of SIT on the therapeutic potential for the prevention of DN and its mechanism. Specifically, cell proliferation was determined via cell counting kit-8 assay, and the expression levels of TGF-ß1 and CTGF mRNA were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Furthermore, the secretion of TGF-ß1, CTGF, ColIV and FN proteins was measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The results demonstrated that high glucose induced the proliferation of MCs and enhanced the expression of TGF-ß1, CTGF, ColIV and FN. Furthermore, treatment with SIT inhibited cell proliferation and the expression of TGF-ß1, CTGF, ColIV and FN induced by high glucose. In conclusion, SIT inhibits cell proliferation and the expression of the major extracellular matrix proteins induced by high glucose, indicating its value for treating or relieving DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae) diapause is induced by high temperatures and is broken by low temperatures. In this study, metabolic responses were monitored in diapause and non-diapause H. avenae during exposure to 4°C for 10 weeks. The results showed that there was no difference in total carbohydrate content. The content of glycogen and glycerol at 0 week was relatively high but decreased with increased storage time at 4°C. The content of trehalose of the nematode at 10 weeks was significant lower than that at 5 weeks at 4°C. Protein content increased significantly after incubation for 5 and 10 weeks. Esterase and trehalase activity increased with the increasing period at 4°C and showed a significant difference between treatments for esterase activity but there was no significant difference between 5 and 10 weeks for trehalase activity. The SDS-PAGE pattern indicated that a 15.5 kDa protein was absent at 10 weeks and present at 0 and 5 weeks. Esterase isoenzyme patterns of H. avenae showed that at 10 weeks there were four bands: EST 0.21, EST 0.24, EST 0.30 and EST 0.34 (Rf values). EST 0.24 was the common band in the three treatments. Biochemical tests were conducted to correlate with hatching experiments using the same treatments. 2-DE patterns of H. avenae showed that diapause and non-diapause nematodes had 409 and 412 protein spots, respectively, and 19 protein spots were unique: 11 distinct proteins in non-diapause and eight distinct proteins in diapause. This information could be helpful in understanding the diapause mechanism of the cereal cyst nematode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel three-step tandem hydroformylation-acetalization-hydrogenolysis was first proposed to produce alcohols (derivatives) from olefins, and the developed unique Ru(III)-complex [Ru(III)-L2] ligated by the ionic diphosphine (L2) proved efficient toward this tandem reaction. In Ru(III)-L2, the strong π-acceptor nature of L2 guaranteed Ru-center remaining in +3 valence state without redox reaction. Hence, Ru(III)-L2 was able to behave as a bifunctional catalyst merging RuIII-P complex and RuIII Lewis acid, which acted not only as a transition metal catalyst responsible for hydroformylation of olefins and hydrogenolysis of (hemi)acetals but also as a Ru3+ Lewis acid in charge of acetalization of aldehydes [to form (hemi)acetals]. The easily performed acetalization served as a bridge step to get through the pathway from aldehydes to alcohols instead of the direct hydrogenation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the effect of Alisma plantago-aquatica Linn. extract (APLE) on chronic prostatitis in rats. Methods: Experimental chronic non-bacterial prostatitis (CNP) was induced in rats by injecting carrageenan into prostate. Rats in drug-treated groups were administered APLE or cernilton (positive control, i.e., reference standard) for 3 weeks while rats in normal and negative control groups were treated with saline at the same time. After treatment, prostate index (PI) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of all the rats were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, the relative inflammatory factors, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandin E2 (PEG2), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) of the prostate tissues were measured by ELISA. Results: A high dose of APLE (480 mg/kg) significantly decreased PI (0.7 ± 0.2 mg/g) relative to reference group (2.8 ± 0.3 mg/g, p < 0.01), and significantly decreased PSA level (128.6 ± 12.3 pg/mL) relative to reference group (321.3 ± 16.4 pg/mL, p < 0.01). Compared with reference group, TNF-α level (109.7 ± 9.3 pg/mL, p < 0.01), IL-1β level (98.3 ± 12.5 pg/mL, p < 0.01), PEG2 level (81.5 ± 4.2 pg/mL, p < 0.01), COX-2 level (10.5 ± 2.6 pg/mL, p < 0.01), TGF-β1 level (86.8 ± 7.3 pg/mL, p < 0.01) and CTGF level (70.3 ± 4.3 pg/mL, p < 0.01) of prostate tissues of high-dose APLE group rats decreased significantly. Conclusion: APLE shows significant anti-chronic prostatitis activity in rats. Further studies are, however, required to ascertain its therapeutic potentials in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinomycetes are important producers of novel bioactive compounds. New sources need to be explored for isolating previously unknown bioactive compound-producing actinomycetes. Here we evaluated the potential of bark as a natural source of novel bioactive actinomycete species. Bark samples were collected from nine tree species at different elevations (1600-3400 m a.s.l.) on Qin Mountain, Shaanxi Province, China. Actinomycetes were cultivated, enumerated and isolated using serial dilution and spread-plate techniques. The antimicrobial activity of actinomycete isolates was analyzed using an agar block method against 15 typical bacterial and fungal species and plant pathogens. The dominant isolates were identified by 16S rRNA-based sequence analysis. Results showed that actinomycete counts in bark samples of Quercus liaotungensis Koidz. was the highest among all trees species tested. The numbers of actinomycete species in bark samples were highest in Q. aliena var. acutiserrata and Spiraea alpina Pall. Antagonistic activity was detected in approximately 54% of the actinomycete isolates. Of these, 20 isolates (25%) showed broad-spectrum antagonistic activity against ≥5 of the microorganisms tested. In conclusion, the bark on coniferous and broadleaf trees possesses a high diversity of actinomycetes and serves as a natural source of bioactive compound-producing actinomycetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

K439B nickel-based superalloy is a new type of high-temperature material. There is insufficient research on its constitutive equations and numerical modeling of thermal stress. Isothermal tensile experiments of K439B superalloy at different temperatures (20 °C-1,000 °C) and strain rates (1.33×10-3 s-1-5.33×10-3 s-1) were performed by using a Gleeble-3800 simulator. The elastic moduli at different temperatures (20 °C-650 °C) were measured by resonance method. Subsequently, stress-strain curves were measured for K439B superalloy under different conditions. The elastic-viscoplastic constitutive equations were established and the correspongding parameters were solved by employing the Perzyna model. The verification results indicate that the calculated values of the constitutive equations are in good agreement with the experimental values. On this basis, the influence of process parameters on thermal stress was investigated by numerical simulation and orthogonal experimental design. The results of orthogonal experimental design reveal that the cooling mode of casting has a significant influence on the thermal stress, while pouring temperature and preheating temperature of shell mold have minimal impact. The distribution of physical fields under optimal process parameters, determined based on the orthogonal experimental design results, was simulated. The simulation results determine separately the specific positions with maximum values for effective stress, plastic strain, and displacement within the casting. The maximum stress is about 1,000.0 MPa, the plastic strain is about 0.135, and the displacement is about 1.47 mm. Moreover, the distribution states of thermal stress, strain, and displacement are closely related to the distribution of the temperature gradient and cooling rate in the casting. The research would provide a theoretical reference for exploring the stress-strain behavior and numerical modeling of the effective stress of the alloy during the casting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the brain characterized by loss of memory and steady deterioration of cognition. Here, a series of symmetrical molecules containing biphenyl/bibenzyl scaffolds (12–36) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their ability to inhibit both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). A biological evaluation showed that most of these biphenyl derivatives were potent AChE and BuChE inhibitors. Among them, compound 15 displayed the greatest ability to inhibit BuChE (IC50 = 0.74 µM) and was also a good AChE inhibitor (IC50 = 1.18 µM). Compound 19 was not only a potent AChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.096 µM), but also a mild BuChE inhibitor (IC50 =1.25 µM). Overall, these results suggested that compound 19 may be a promising agent in the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes the biotransformation of a commercially available crude extract of soy isoflavones, which contained significant amounts of the soy isoflavone glycosides daidzin and genistin, by recombinant Escherichia coli expressing tyrosinase from Bacillus megaterium. Two major products were isolated from the biotransformation and identified as 3'-hydroxydaidzin and 3'-hydroxygenistin, respectively, based on their mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data. The two 3'-hydroxyisoflavone glycosides showed potent 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 7.4 and 9.8 μM for 3'-hydroxydaidzin and 3'-hydroxygenistin, respectively. The free radical scavenging activities of the two 3'-hydroxyisoflavone glycosides were, respectively, 120 and 72 times higher than the activity of their precursors, daidzin and genistin, and were also stronger than the activity of ascorbic acid, which showed an IC50 value of 15.1 μM. This is the first report of the bio-production and potential antioxidant applications of both 30-hydroxydaidzin and 30-hydroxygenistin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is an aggressive cancer, the incidence of which is increasing worldwide. Limited therapies are currently available, particularly following metastasis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the inhibiting effect of methionine enkephalin (MENK) on human melanoma via opioid receptors. The results of the present study revealed that MENK markedly regulates the proliferation of A375 cells, causing cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the percentage of cells in S and G2/M phases. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that MENK treatment increased opioid receptor expression in A375 cells. Furthermore, the expression level of survivin, an inhibitory apoptotic protein, was 1.1% of the level in the control group in the MENK group following 48 h of treatment. In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, that MENK may inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of A375 cells, and describes a potential mechanism underlying these effects. Therefore, MENK should be investigated as a primary therapy for human melanoma cancer and as an adjuvant to other chemotherapies. Further studies are required to develop an optimal strategy for the use of MENK for the treatment of human cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kai-Xin-San (KXS) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been widely used for the treatment of emotion-related disease. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to examine whether phospho-cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB) and upstream components, such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phospho-ERK (pERK), phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt), glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and pGSK3β are associated with the antidepressive effect of KXS. In total, 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups, including control (n=8, no treatment), induced with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CMS) (n=8), and CMS rats treated with KXS at dosage of 370 mg/kg/day orally. Primary hippocampal neuronal cultures were prepared from Wistar rats for cell survival and proliferation assays. In KXS rats, increased protein expression levels of pCREB, BDNF and tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) were observed in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, compared with the CMS model group. Furthermore, increased expression levels of ERK, pERK, PI3K, Akt, and GSK3β were also detected in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of KXS-treated rats compared with CMS model rats and in primary hippocampal neuronal cells treated with KXS. These results suggest that pCREB and upstream components, including TrkB/ERK/CREB and TrkB/PI3 K/CREB, may contribute to the antidepressive effect induced by KXS. Further studies are required to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method for passive sensing a two-wire DC current without using any cord separator. In this method, a piezoelectric thin-film cantilever with a micro-magnet on its end is positioned near a power cord. The DC current in the power cord induces a magnetic field, which generates a magnetic force acting on the micro-magnet. Consequently, the piezoelectric cantilever is bent and induces an output voltage that is sensitive to small variations of DC currents. A prototype device has been fabricated and experimentally studied. It was found that the initial peak amplitude of the piezoelectric output voltage increases linearly with the DC current value upon "ON-OFF" switching. Compared to the Hall-effect based sensing, this method has the advantages of no need of driving voltage or cord separators even for two-wire appliance cords. Apart from the conventional consumer electronics, this method may have a wide application foreground in the new emerging fields, such as energy vehicles, lithium ion battery, or smart power grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) exhibits a deteriorating course that may lead to end-stage renal failure. Astragalosides have been clinically tested for the treatment of DN, but the mechanism is unclear at present. In this study, the effects of astragalosides were investigated on high glucose-induced proliferation and expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), type IV collagen (colIV) and fibronectin (FN) in glomerular mesangial cells (MCs). Cell proliferation was determined by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine assay, and the expression of TGF-β1, CTGF, colIV and FN mRNA and proteins in MCs was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and ELISA assay, respectively. The results showed that high glucose clearly induced the proliferation of MCs and increased the expression of TGF-β1, CTGF, colIV and FN. Treatment with 50, 100, 200 μg/ml astragalosides inhibited cell proliferation and the expression of TGF-β1, CTGF, colIV and FN induced by high glucose. Thus, it is concluded that astragalosides inhibit the increased cell proliferation and expression of major extracellular matrix proteins that are induced by high glucose, indicating their value for the prophylaxis and therapy of DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present meta-analysis investigated the clinical value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for differential diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC).Materials and Methods: Electronic databases searches were employed to identify relevant scientific literature, and the search results were screened to selected high-quality studies for this meta-analysis. Methodological quality of the enrolled studies was evaluated by quality evaluation of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). Summary odds ratios (ORs) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated for DCIS versus IDC category of ADC value using Z test.Results: Our meta-analysis contained a combined total of 1,097 subjects (928 patients with IDC and 169 patients with DCIS) from 9 relevant high-quality cohort studies. Pooled ORs demonstrated that ADC value in IDC patients was significantly lower than DCIS patients. Subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity indicated a higher ADC value in DCIS patients compared to IDC, in Asian population, but not in Caucasians. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine type-stratified analysis revealed that the ADC value of DWI obtained from both non- General Electric Company (GE) 1.5T and GE 1.5T machines were highly reliable in the differential diagnosis of DCIS and IDC.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis provides evidence that ADC values in DWI accurately conveys the differences in tumor architecture between IDC and DCIS, which has high clinical value in differentiatal diagnosis of IDC and DCIS. This may lead to improved BC prediction and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyinosinic acid:polycytidylic acid, known as poly (I:C), is an analogue of double-stranded RNA, which exhibits direct antitumor effects against several types of cancer. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of poly (I:C) in the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells. The HeLa human cervical cancer cell line was used in the present study, and cell apoptosis was determined following poly (I:C) transfection. Furthermore, the mRNA levels of interferon (IFN)-β, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA damage, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and the release of cytochrome c, as well as caspase activation, were determined. The effect of IFN-β on poly (I:C) transfection-mediated apoptosis was also examined by IFN-β knockdown. The results showed that poly (I:C) transfection markedly induced HeLa apoptosis, increased the protein levels of pro-apoptotic B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (Bax) and BH3 interacting-domain death agonist (Bid), and suppressed the protein expression levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Survivin. However, poly (I:C) transfection increased the mRNA levels of IFN-β, induced ROS production and increased the levels of phosphorylated γH2A.X, an indicator of DNA damage. In addition, poly (I:C) transfection decreased ΔΨm, triggered the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol, and induced caspase-9 and -3 activation. IFN-β knockdown decreased the poly (I:C)-induced production of ROS and DNA damage, restored ΔΨm and cytochrome c release, and suppressed caspase-9 and -3 activation, thereby suppressing poly (I:C)-mediated apoptosis in the HeLa cells. Together, the results of the present study demonstrated that poly (I:C) transfection induced IFN-β, contributing to ROS production, DNA damage, and caspase-9 and -3 activation in the HeLa cervical cancer cell line, leading to mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Planetary Health Diet (PHD), also known as the EAT-Lancet reference diet, was developed to optimize global dietary quality while keeping the environmental impacts of food production within sustainable planetary boundaries. We calculated current national and global adherence to the PHD using the Planetary Health Dietary Index (PHDI). In addition, we used data on diet and mortality from three large US cohorts (n = 206,404 men and women, 54,536 deaths) to estimate the total and cause-specific mortality among adults 20 y of age and older that could be prevented by shifting from current diets to the reference PHD. The PHDI varied substantially across countries, although adherence was universally far from optimal (mean PHDI = 85 out of 140). By improving the global PHDI to 120, approximately 15 million deaths (27% of total deaths) could be prevented annually. Estimates of preventable deaths due to this shift ranged from 2.5 million for cardiovascular diseases to 0.7 million for neurodegenerative diseases. Our analysis suggests that adopting healthy and sustainable diets would have major direct health benefits by reducing mortality due to multiple diseases and could contribute substantially to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These numbers of preventable deaths are based on evidence that human biology is similar across racial and ethnic groups, but the exact numerical estimates should be interpreted with caution because some assumptions used for the calculations build on limited data. Refinement of these estimates will be possible when additional regional data on diet and mortality become available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonviral gene delivery vectors hold great promise for gene therapy due to the safety concerns with viral vectors. However, the application of nonviral vectors is hindered by their low transfection efficiency. Herein, in order to tackle this challenge, we developed a nonviral vector integrating lipids, sleeping beauty transposon system and 8-mer stem cell targeting peptides for safe and efficient gene delivery to hard-to-transfect mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The 8-mer MSC-targeting peptides, when synthetically reiterated in three folds and chemically presented on the surface, significantly promoted the resultant lipid-based nanoparticles (LBNs) to deliver VEGF gene into MSCs with a high transfection efficiency (~52%) and long-lasting gene expression (for longer than 170 h) when compared to nonreiterated peptides. However, the reiterated stem cell targeting peptides do not enable the highly efficient gene transfer to other control cells. This work suggests that the surface presentation of the reiterated stem cell-targeting peptides on the nonviral vectors is a promising method for improving the efficiency of cell-specific nonviral gene transfection in stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are largely preventable via behaviour change and healthy lifestyle, which may be best established during childhood. This study sought insights into Chinese new immigrant mothers' perceptions about adult-onset NCDs prevention during childhood. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were carried out with new immigrant mothers from mainland China who had at least one child aged 14 years or younger living in Hong Kong. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. The present study identified three major themes: perceived causes of adult NCDs, beliefs about NCDs prevention and everyday health information practices. Unhealthy lifestyle, contaminated food and environment pollution were perceived as the primary causes of adult NCDs. Less than half of the participants recognized that parents had responsibility for helping children establish healthy behaviours from an early age to prevent diseases in later life. Most participants expressed helplessness about chronic diseases prevention due to lack of knowledge of prevention, being perceived as beyond individual control. Many participants experienced barriers to seeking health information, the most common sources of health information being interpersonal conversation and television. Participants' everyday information practice was passive and generally lacked awareness regarding early prevention of adult-onset NCDs. Updated understanding of this issue has notable implications for future health promotion interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been proposed that the Notch signaling pathway may serve a pivotal role in cellular differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. However, the function of Notch signaling in gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) is largely unknown. The present study aimed to delineate the role of the Notch1 pathway in GCSCs and during epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Flow cytometry was used to isolate CD44+ cells from the human gastric cancer cell line, MKN45. CD44+ cells displayed the characteristics of CSCs and exhibited higher Notch1 expression compared with CD44- cells. To investigate the role of the Notch1 pathway in GCSCs, CD44+ cells were treated with the γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT. DAPT treatment inhibited the expression of the Notch1 downstream target Hes1 and EMT markers, suppressed the properties of CSCs and impaired the invasion and proliferation capabilities of CD44+ cells. In addition, intraperitoneal treatment with DAPT effectively inhibited the growth of CD44+ cell xenograft tumors. The present study indicated that CD44+ GCSCs possess the characteristics of CSCs and that the Notch1 pathway serves a critical role in the maintenance of CSCs and EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formula for jamesonite is Pb 4 FeSb 6 S 14 (or 4PbS·FeS·3Sb 2 S 3 ). This paper proposes a novel method for the separation and enrichment of PbS and Sb 2 S 3 from jamesonite by vacuum distillation. The experiments were carried out at temperatures ranging from 1073 K to 1473 K and at pressures less than 10,000 Pa. The amount of Sb, Pb, and Fe in the volatiles and residues was determined by chemical titration analysis and the enrichment ratios of Sb, Pb, and Fe were calculated. We discuss the influence of the distillation temperature and holding time on the enrichment ratios of each element. The results of the XRD and EDS analyses of the residues and volatiles indicates that FeS remains in the residues as the major compound, Sb exists in the form of Sb 2 S 3 , and Pb exists in the form of PbS in different condensers. Experimental results showed that Sb 2 S 3 condensed at about 725 K PbS condensed at about 984 K in different condenser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The N-heterocycliccarbene-catalyzed cascade reaction of enalswith malonates to give bicyclic δ-lactones was developed. Thecyclopentane- and cyclohexane-fused δ-lactones with three continuedstereocenters were obtained in high yields with excellent diastereo-and high enantioselectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies have demonstrated the critical roles of calcium-stimulated adenylyl cyclase 1 (AC1) in the central nervous system in chronic pain. In the present study, we examined the analgesic effects of NB001, a selective inhibitor of AC1, on animal models of ankle joint arthritis and knee joint arthritis induced by complete Freund's adjuvant injection. NB001 treatment had no effect on joint edema, stiffness, and joint destruction. Furthermore, the treatment failed to attenuate the disease progression of arthritis. However, NB001 treatment (3 mg/kg) significantly weakened joint pain-related behavior in the mouse models of ankle joint arthritis and knee joint arthritis. Results indicated that NB001 exhibited an analgesic effect on the animal models of arthritis but was not caused by anti-inflammatory activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public health education increasingly emphasizes the link of personal lifestyle with cancer risk, which may result in unintended negative social effects such as triggering stigma and/or blame towards cancer patients when their illness is perceived to be caused by personal behaviours or disapproved lifestyles. Objectives: To explore nurses' blame attributions towards patients with different types of cancer and to identify associated factors. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: A tertiary cancer-specialized hospital in Beijing. Participants: 317 Chinese oncology nurses working in the cancer hospital. Methods: Participant nurses completed a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire and rated how much they would blame someone with a diagnosis of breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, as well as leukaemia and obesity. Results: More than half of the oncology nurses (57.1%) attributed at least some blame to patients with leukaemia, following with breast cancer (67.5%), cervical cancer (79.2%), liver cancer (79.2%), and colon cancer (78.5%). Lung cancer patients attracted at least some blame by 82.0% of participating nurses. Attributions of blame for patients with lung, cervical, colon and liver cancer were most common among nurses with shorter working experience. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a high proportion of Chinese nurses attributed at least some blame to patients with different cancers despite being working in a cancer-specialized hospital. Future education and support for nurses are essential to avoid negative attitudes and blame attributions to cancer patients in order to enhance the quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tectonic mechanism responsible for detachment of the Sibumasu terrane in the eastern Cimmerian continent from the Australian Gondwana margin remains poorly understood and debated. Our study on the late Paleozoic Woniusi basaltic province in the northern Sibumasu terrane may provide a new perspective on this problem, and further, on the rifting dynamics of eastern Gondwana's northern margin. In this study, we revealed that the Woniusi basaltic province is spread over an area of ~12,000 km² with a thickness of ~300-500 m for the eruptive phase. Direct zircon U-Pb dating of mafic dikes indicates that the Woniusi basaltic province was emplaced between the latest Carboniferous and late Early Permian (301 Ma to 282 Ma), synchronous with basaltic rocks from the Panjal Traps, Tethyan Himalaya (Bhote Kosi, Selong, Abor), Lhasa, and southern Qiangtang. Geochemically, the Woniusi basaltic rocks show subalkaline tholeiitic affinity and relatively homogeneous features of enriched light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) but depleted Nb and Ta patterns. They were most likely derived from an enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle source and triggered by the mantle plume-induced rifting process. The Woniusi basaltic province, together with other coeval basaltic provinces from the Panjal Traps, Tethyan Himalaya, Lhasa, and southern Qiangtang, belongs to a fragmented large igneous province that may have had an original area of over 2 x 106 km², which is comparable to that of the Ontong-Java, Dec-can, or Siberian Traps. These Tethyan basaltic provinces share a common mantle plume centered in northern Greater India. It was this mantle plume that may have triggered the initial rifting of the eastern Cimmerian terranes (e.g., Sibumasu, southern Qiangtang) from both the northern Indian and Australian Gondwana margins, as well as the opening of Meso-Tethys Ocean. This study, moreover, sheds light on the paleopositions of the Lhasa and Tengchong terranes before their breakups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a highly efficient, practical, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-catalyzed synthesis of stannyl lithium (Sn-Li), in which the tin resource (stannyl chloride or distannyl) is rapidly and quantitatively transformed into Sn-Li reagent at room temperature without formation of any (toxic) byproducts. The resulting Sn-Li reagent can be stored at ambient temperature for months and shows high reactivity toward various substrates, with quantitative atom efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enantioselective N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed [4 + 2] cyclocondensation of a-chloroaldehydes and trifluoromethyl N-Boc azadienes was developed, giving the corresponding 3,4-disubstituted-6-trifluoromethyldihydropyridin-2(1H)-ones in good yields with exclusive cis-selectivities and excellent enantioselectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activation of Translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO) has been demonstrated to mediate rapid anxiolytic efficacy in stress response and stress-related disorders. This protein is involved in the synthesis of endogenous neurosteroids that promote ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated neurotransmission in the central neural system. However, little is known about the functions and the underlying mechanisms of TSPO in chronic pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors. The novel TSPO ligand N-benzyl-N-ethyl-2-(7,8-dihydro-7-benzyl-8-oxo-2-phenyl-9H-purin-9-yl) acetamide (ZBD-2) was used in the present study. We found that ZBD-2 (0.15 or 1.5 mg/kg) significantly attenuated anxiety-like behaviors in mice with chronic inflammatory pain induced by hindpaw injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). However, the treatment did not alter the nociceptive threshold or inflammation in the hindpaw. Hindpaw injection of CFA induced the upregulation of TSPO, GluR1-containing α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, and NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). ZBD-2 administration reversed the alterations of the abovementioned proteins in the BLA of the CFA-injected mice. Electrophysiological recording revealed that ZBD-2 could prevent an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory transmissions in the BLA synapses of CFA-injected mice. Therefore, as the novel ligand of TSPO, ZBD-2 induced anxiolytic effects, but did not affect the nociceptive threshold of mice under chronic pain. The anxiolytic effects of ZBD-2 were related to the regulation of the balance between excitatory and inhibitory transmissions in the BLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-scaled metallic or dielectric structures may provide various ways to trap light into thin-film solar cells for improving the conversion efficiency. In most schemes, the textured active layers are involved into light trapping structures that can provide perfect optical benefits but also bring undesirable degradation of electrical performance. Here we propose a novel approach to design high-performance thin-film solar cells. In our strategy, a flat active layer is adopted for avoiding electrical degradation, and an optimization algorithm is applied to seek for an optimized light trapping structure for the best optical benefit. As an example, we show that the efficiency of a flat a-Si:H thin-film solar cell can be promoted close to the certified highest value. It is also pointed out that, by choosing appropriate dielectric materials with high refractive index (>3) and high transmissivity in wavelength region of 350 nm-800 nm, the conversion efficiency of solar cells can be further enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the enhanced power conversion efficiency of PBnDT-FTAZ:PC70BM bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells (over 7%), fabricated with a solvent additive (1,8-diiodooctane, 3%), was demonstrated. The appropriate ratio of solvent additive leads to a device with increased JSC, fill factor, and favorably controlled nanomorphology phase separation. Furthermore, the device with BHJ film fabricated with the solvent additive exhibited improved charge collection and simul-taneously reduced charge recombination from a systematic light intensity analysis. The lack of Shockley-Read-Hall recombination at open circuit, the dominance of bimolecular recombination only when approaching open circuit, and an improved charge collection probability (95.5%) at short circuit contribute to high performance organic photovoltaic cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a field-effect approach to enhance the electroluminescence (EL) from a model Si nanocrystal light-emitting device (Si-NC LED). The field effects are established within the carrier injection regions of the LEDs via introducing an i-type Si layer on the top of active layer and an Al2O3 layer between the active layer and the Si substrate. The fields are consistent in polarity with the forwardly biased electric field within the LEDs. One order of magnitude increases in the EL intensity from Si-NC LED are readily achieved after introducing the field effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adenine—thymine base pair was studied in the presence of hydroxyl radicals in order to probe the hydrogen bond effect. The results show that the hydrogen bonds have little effect on the hydroxylation and dehydrogenation happened at the sites, which are not involved in a hydrogen bond, while at the sites involved in hydrogen bond formation in the base pair, the reaction becomes more difficult, both in view of the free energy barrier and the exothermicity. With a 6–311++G(d,p) level of description, both B3LYP and MP2 methods confirm that the C8 site of isolated adenine has the highest possibility to form covalent bond with the hydroxyl radicals, though with different energetics: B3LYP predicts a barrierless pathway, while MP2 finds a transition state with an energy of 106.1 kJ/mol. For the dehydrogenation reactions, B3LYP method predicts that the free energy barrier increases in the order of HN9 < HN61 < HN62 < H2 < H8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-ultraviolet (UV) InGaN/AlGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are grown by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The scanning electronic microscope image shows that the p-GaN micro-rods are formed above the interface of p-AlGaN/p-GaN due to the rapid growth rate of p-GaN in the vertical direction. The p-GaN micro-rods greatly increase the escape probability of photons inside the LED structure. Electroluminescence intensities of the 372 nm UV LED lamps with p-GaN micro rods are 88% higher than those of the flat surface LED samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust nonlinear control with compensation operator is presented for a Peltier actuated system, where the compensation operator is designed by using a predictive model on heat radiation. For the Peltier system, the heat radiation is related to the fourth power of temperature. So, the heat radiation is affected evidently by the temperature when it is high and temperature difference between the system and environment is large. A new nonlinear model with the heat radiation is set up for the system according to some thermal conduction laws. To ensure robust stability of the nonlinear system, operator based robust right coprime factorization design is considered. Also, a compensation operator based on a predictive model is proposed to cancel effect of the heat radiation, where the predictive model is set up by using radial basis kernel function based SVM (support vector machine) method. Finally, simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]