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Clarifying the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem stability in the context of global environmental change is crucial for maintaining ecosystem functions and services. Asynchronous changes between trophic levels over time (i.e. trophic community asynchrony) are expected to increase trophic mismatch and alter trophic interactions, which may consequently alter ecosystem stability. However, previous studies have often highlighted the stabilising mechanism of population asynchrony within a single trophic level, while rarely examining the mechanism of trophic community asynchrony between consumers and their food resources.In this study, we analysed the effects of population asynchrony within and between trophic levels on community stability under the disturbances of climate warming, fishery decline and de‐eutrophication, based on an 18‐year monthly monitoring dataset of 137 phytoplankton and 91 zooplankton in a subtropical lake.Our results showed that species diversity promoted community stability mainly by increasing population asynchrony both for phytoplankton and zooplankton. Trophic community asynchrony had a significant negative effect on zooplankton community stability rather than that of phytoplankton, which supports the match‐mismatch hypothesis that trophic mismatch has negative effects on consumers. Furthermore, the results of the structural equation models showed that warming and top‐down effects may simultaneously alter community stability through population dynamics processes within and between trophic levels, whereas nutrients act on community stability mainly through the processes within trophic levels. Moreover, we found that rising water temperature decreased trophic community asynchrony, which may challenge the prevailing idea that climate warming increases the trophic mismatch between primary producers and consumers.Overall, our study provides the first evidence that population and trophic community asynchrony have contrasting effects on consumer community stability, which offers a valuable insight for addressing global environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically investigate the complex dynamic behavior of a single-species population model with stage structure, considering the influence of the birth rate and birth pulse. Lyapunov stability diagram, isoperiodic diagram, and isospike diagram are employed to reveal the organizational patterns of complex dynamic behaviors. The isospike diagram is proven to be particularly effective in accurately representing the internal fine structure of stability oscillations. This enabled the discovery of certain novel organizational patterns, previously observed only in continuous systems, including the chiral tree, shrimp cascade covered by multiple spikes, and adding-doubling complexification cascade. Additionally, profiting from the powerful calculating ability of CPU+GPU heterogeneous parallel computing, we assess the effect of initial value perturbation on the topology of stability phases. The results indicate that the organizational patterns of the stability phases are primarily influenced by fine-tuning the control parameters rather than by the perturbation of initial values. The identification of these novel organizational patterns in our study provides valuable insights into complex behaviors in discrete systems. Furthermore, our findings open up exciting possibilities for investigating previously unobserved phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outcomes of our decisions can have significant effects on subsequent decision-making processes. The study used the adapted lottery gambling task to investigate how consecutive near-wins (a specific decision outcome) affect an individual's propensity to make risky decisions. The study also examined the role of counterfactual emotions in this process. The results showed that (1) As the number of near-wins increased, individuals' risky decision-making tendency showed an upward trend followed by a downward trend, peaking when the number of consecutive near-wins was three. (2) Counterfactual emotions mediated the relationship between consecutive near-wins and risky decision-making. It suggests that the effect of consecutive near-wins on individuals' risky decision-making tendency is not simply a superposition of multiple single near-win results, and counterfactual emotions play a critical role in it. Individuals can make informed choices by understanding decision outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 21st century, transparent flexible sensors (TFSs) have been widely employed in abundant fields, such as smart glasses, intelligent watches, robots, electronic skin, especially biomedicine. Presently, various materials have been developed, such as metal‐based, carbon‐based, conductive polymer‐based, and ionic liquid‐based (IL‐based) materials. Compared with the first three materials, IL, as a novel material, with the tendency of green chemistry development, has a high application prospect in TFSs. Based on this, this paper mainly discusses recent advances in TFSs based on ILs, with special emphasis on the role of ILs and the factors influencing transparency as well as electricity. The current challenges and opportunities for each type of sensors based on IL are also studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies identifying the relative importance of multiple ecological processes in macroinvertebrate communities in urban lakes at a basin scale are rare. In this study, 14 urban lakes in the Taihu Lake Basin were selected to explore the relative importance of environmental filtering and spatial processes in the assembly of macroinvertebrate communities. Our findings revealed significant spatiotemporal variations in macroinvertebrate communities, both between lakes and across seasons. We found that environmental filtering exerted a greater influence on taxonomic total beta diversity and its individual components (species turnover and nestedness) compared to spatial processes. Key environmental variables such as water depth, water temperature, total dissolved solids, chlorophyll a, and lake surface area were found to be crucial in shaping macroinvertebrate communities within these urban lakes. The observed high spatial heterogeneity in environmental conditions, along with intermediate basin areas, good connectivity and short distances between lakes, and the high dispersal ability of dominant taxa, likely contributed to the dominance of environmental filtering in macroinvertebrate community assembly. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing macroinvertebrate community assembly in urban lakes, thereby providing valuable insights for studies on community ecology and water environmental protection in urban lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemo‐regulation abilities of chemotherapeutic medications are appealing to address the low immunogenicity, immunosuppressive lactate microenvironment, and adaptive immune resistance of colorectal cancer. In this work, the proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) of BRD4 (dBET57) is found to downregulate colorectal cancer glycolysis through the transcription inhibition of c‐Myc, which also inhibits the expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) to reverse immune evasion and avoid adaptive immune resistance. Based on this, self‐delivery nano‐PROTACs (designated as DdLD NPs) are further fabricated by the self‐assembly of doxorubicin (DOX) and dBET57 with the assistance of DSPE‐PEG2000. DdLD NPs can improve the stability, intracellular delivery, and tumor targeting accumulation of DOX and dBET57. Meanwhile, the chemotherapeutic effect of DdLD NPs can efficiently destroy colorectal cancer cells to trigger a robust immunogenic cell death (ICD). More importantly, the chemo‐regulation effects of DdLD NPs can inhibit colorectal cancer glycolysis to reduce the lactate production, and downregulate the PD‐L1 expression through BRD4 degradation. Taking advantages of the chemotherapy and chemo‐regulation ability, DdLD NPs systemically activated the antitumor immunity to suppress the primary and metastatic colorectal cancer progression without inducing any systemic side effects. Such self‐delivery nano‐PROTACs may provide a new insight for chemotherapy‐enabled tumor immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines accounts of women during war and social turmoil in Hong Mai's (1123-1202) collection of anomalous occurrences, the Yijian zhi (Record of the listener). Recent scholarship, relying on Song-period women's biographies, contends that the wars of the twelfth century contributed to Southern Song elite men's increasing efforts to analogize female fidelity to men's political loyalty in China since the Song. This article conveys another dimension: the emotional trauma of Southern Song society's war-time experiences. Such reading unveils at least three types of Yijian zhi accounts on women during war: the model virtue type, which falls neatly into the heroic women narrative tradition; the moral uncanny type, which features the scary side of righteous cruelty; and the lighthearted joking type, which mitigates the intensity of the traumatic experience of displacement. An examination of female fidelity in these eclectic accounts suggests that gendered moral discourses attached to women's biographies do not fully reflect how Southern Song society remembered women's suffering during national crises. This article demonstrates that, struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of wars and social disorder, Hong Mai and his contemporaries were still in the process of grappling with the tenet of female fidelity and its implications for men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trifunctionalization cascade reaction of substituted maleimides was developed to generate a series of disulfonylated diazosuccinimides in satisfactory yields by employing readily available sulfonyl hydrazides as both diazo source and sulfonylation reagent. The notable features of this developed method include avoiding the use of transition metal catalysts, environmentally benign H2O as the solvent, mild reaction conditions, good functional group tolerance, and the late‐stage modification of drugs. The derivatization reactions were effectively applied to synthesize aminosulfonylation‐substituted maleimides. The involved radical pathway was also demonstrated by mechanistic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the risk factors for neonatal asphyxia in Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and establish a nomogram model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia. Methods A retrospective study was conducted with 613 cases of neonatal asphyxia treated in 20 cooperative hospitals in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture from January to December 2019 as the asphyxia group, and 988 randomly selected non-asphyxia neonates born and admitted to the neonatology department of these hospitals during the same period as the control group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors for neonatal asphyxia. R software (4.2.2) was used to establish a nomogram model. Receiver operator characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis were used to assess the discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia, respectively. Results Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that minority (Tujia), male sex, premature birth, congenital malformations, abnormal fetal position, intrauterine distress, maternal occupation as a farmer, education level below high school, fewer than 9 prenatal check-ups, threatened abortion, abnormal umbilical cord, abnormal amniotic fluid, placenta previa, abruptio placentae, emergency caesarean section, and assisted delivery were independent risk factors for neonatal asphyxia (P<0.05). The area under the curve of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia based on these risk factors was 0.748 (95%CI: 0.723-0.772). The calibration curve indicated high accuracy of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia. The decision curve analysis showed that the model could provide a higher net benefit for neonates at risk of asphyxia. Conclusions The risk factors for neonatal asphyxia in Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture are multifactorial, and the nomogram model based on these factors has good value in predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia, which can help clinicians identify neonates at high risk of asphyxia early, and reduce the incidence of neonatal asphyxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassinosteroids (BRs) play vital roles in the plant life cycle and synthetic BRs are widely used to increase crop yield and plant stress tolerance. Among them are 24R-methyl-epibrassinolide (24-EBL) and 24S-ethyl-28-homobrassinolide (28-HBL), which differ from brassinolide (BL, the most active BR) at the C-24 position. Although it is well known that 24-EBL is 10% active as BL, there is no consensus on the bioactivity of 28-HBL. A recent outpouring of research interest in 28-HBL on major crops accompanied with a surge of industrial-scale synthesis that produces mixtures of active (22R,23R)-28-HBL and inactive (22S,23S)-28HBL, demands a standardized assay system capable of analyzing different synthetic "28-HBL" products. In this study, the relative bioactivity of 28-HBL to BL and 24-EBL, including its capacity to induce the well-established BR responses at molecular, biochemical, and physiological levels, was systematically analyzed using the whole seedlings of the wild-type and BR-deficient mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. These multi-level bioassays consistently showed that 28-HBL exhibits a much stronger bioactivity than 24-EBL and is almost as active as BL in rescuing the short hypocotyl phenotype of the dark-grown det2 mutant. These results are consistent with the previously established structure–activity relationship of BRs, proving that this multi-level whole seedling bioassay system could be used to analyze different batches of industrially produced 28-HBL or other BL analogs to ensure the full potential of BRs in modern agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warm-sector heavy rainfall (WR), shear-line heavy rainfall (SR), and frontal heavy rainfall (FR) are three types of rainfall that frequently occur during the pre-summer rainy season in south China. In this research, we investigated the differences in microphysical characteristics of heavy rainfall events during the period of 10-15 May 2022 based on the combined observations from 11 S-band polarimetric radars in south China. The conclusions are as follows: (1) WR has the highest radar echo top height, the strongest radar echo at all altitudes, the highest lightning density, and the most active ice-phase process, which suggests that the convection is the most vigorous in the WR, moderate in the FR, and the weakest in the SR. (2) Three types of rainfall are all marine-type precipitation, the massweighted mean diameter (Dm, mm) and the intercept parameter (Nw, mm-1m-3) of the raindrops in the WR are the largest. (3) The WR possesses the highest proportion of graupel compared with the FR and SR, and stronger updrafts and more abundant water vapor supply may lead to larger raindrops during the melting and collision-coalescence processes. (4) Over all the heights, liquid and ice water content in the WR are higher than those in the SR and FR, the ratio of ice to liquid water content in the WR is as high as 27% when ZH exceeds 50 dBZ, definitely higher than that in the SR and FR, indicating that the active ice-phase process existing in the WR is conducive to the formation of heavy rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the data of Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), ERA5 reanalysis, sounding, wind profile radar, and dual-polarization radar are used to study an extreme rainfall event in the south China Coast on 11 to 12 May 2022 from the aspects of thermodynamics and microphysical characteristics under the influence of low-level jets (LLJs). Results show that: (1) The extreme rainfall event can be divided into two stages: the first stage (S1) from 0000 to 0600 LST on May 12 and the second stage (S2) from 0700 to 1700 LST on the same day. During S1, the rainfall is mainly caused by the upper-level shortwave trough and the boundary layer jet (BLJ), characterized by strong upward motion on the windward side of mountains. In S2, the combined influence of the BLJ and synoptic-system-related low-level jet (SLLJ) increases the vertical wind shear and vertical vorticity, strengthening the rainstorm. In combination with the effect of topography, a warm and humid southwest flow continuously transports water vapor to farther north, resulting in a significant increase in rainfall over the study area (on the terrain's windward slope). From S1 to S2, the altitude of a divergence center in the upper air decreases obviously. (2) The rainfalls in the two stages are both associated with the mesoscale convergence line (MCL) on the surface, and the wind field from the mesoscale outflow boundary (MOB) in S1 is in the same direction as the environmental winds. Due to a small area of convergence that is left behind the MOB, convection moves eastward quickly and causes a short duration of heavy rainfall. In S2, the convergence along the MOB is enhanced, which strengthens the rainfall and leads to strong outflows, further enhancing the surface convergence near the MOB and forming a positive feedback mechanism. It results in a slow motion of convection and a long duration of heavy rainfall. (3) In terms of microphysics, the center of a strong echo in S1 is higher than in S2. The warm-rain process of the oceanic type characterizes both stages, but the convective intensity in S2 is significantly stronger than that in S1, featuring bigger drop sizes and lower concentrations. It is mainly due to the strengthening of LLJs, which makes small cloud droplets lift to melting levels, enhancing the ice phase process (riming process), producing large amounts of graupel particles and enhancing the melting and collision processes as they fall, resulting in the increase of liquid water content (LWC) and the formation of large raindrops near the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the needs of mechanism analysis of rainstorms and development of numerical prediction models in south China, the Guangzhou Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology of China Meteorological Administration and the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences jointly set up the Longmen Cloud Physics Field Experiment Base, China Meteorological Administration. This paper introduces the instruments and field experiments of this base, provides an overview of the recent advances in retrieval algorithms of microphysical parameters, improved understanding of microphysical characteristics, as well as the formation mechanisms and numerical prediction of heavy rainfalls in south China based on the field experiments dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to elucidate binding of microRNA-9-5p and STARD13 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cells and discuss their impact on malignant progression of LUAD, so as to provide evidence for identifying new therapeutic targets for LUAD. Bioinformatics analysis was introduced for analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs in LUAD tissue, and potential downstream target gene was predicted with TargetScan and other databases. MicroRNA-9-5p and STARD13 mRNA levels at cellular level was analyzed with qRT-PCR assay. Lipofectamine 2000 was applied for cell transfection. Proliferation, migration and invasion of LUAD cells were assayed with CCK-8, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Protein expression of STARD13 was assessed with western blot. Binding of microRNA-9-5p and STARD13 was identified with dual-luciferase assay. Compared with normal human bronchial cells, microRNA-9-5p level in LUAD cells was noticeably increased, and STARD13 level was noticeably decreased. MicroRNA-9-5p could significantly promote malignant progression of LUAD cells, while forced STARD13 level markedly repress malignant progression of LUAD cells. Dual-luciferase gene assay showed that microRNA-9-5p had a direct targeting relationship with STARD13, and it was also found that microRNA-9-5p enhanced malignant behaviors of LUAD cells through modulating STARD13. STARD13 was a target of microRNA-9-5p in LUAD. MicroRNA-9-5p fostered malignant behaviors of LUAD cells by targeting STARD13. Therefore, microRNA-9-5p may become a new target for LUAD, and microRNA-9-5p inhibition may be a new treatment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To seek out the mechanism by which C1QTNF6 mediates lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods: Differentially expressed mRNAs and miRNAs in LUAD were analyzed using bioinformatics. In LUAD cells, C1QTNF6 mRNA and miR-184 expression were evaluated with qRT-PCR, and C1QTNF6 protein level was assessed by western blot. Cellular behaviors were assessed by colony formation, CCK-8, Transwell, and wound healing methods. The binding ability of miR-184 to C1QTNF6 was observed by dual-luciferase assay. Results: High expression of C1QTNF6 in LUAD stimulated cancer cellular behaviors. MiR-184 was lowly expressed in LUAD and downregulated C1QTNF6 expression. MiR-184 restrained LUAD cell processes by targeting C1QTNF6. Conclusion: MiR-184 repressed LUAD cell processes via mediating C1QTNF6. MiR-184 and C1QTNF6 are expected to be indicators for LUAD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. NK cells are imperative in spontaneous antitumor response of various cancers. Currently, lncRNAs are considered important modulators of the tumor microenvironment. This study investigated the molecular mechanism by which mitotically associated long noncoding RNA (MANCR) controls killing effect of NK cells on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) in the tumor microenvironment. Methods. The interplay between MANCR and miRNA-30d-5p was analyzed by bioinformatics. Expression of MANCR mRNA and miRNA-30d-5p was examined using qRT-PCR. Dual-luciferase reporter and RIP assays were utilized to verify the targeted relationship between MANCR and miRNA-30d-5p. To investigate regulation of MANCR/miRNA-30d-5p axis in NK cell killing effect on LUAD cells, western blot tested the protein level of perforin and granzyme B. ELISA determined the level of IFN-γ. CytoTox 96 Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay kit was applied for cytotoxicity detection of NK cells. Perforin and granzyme B fluorescence intensity was measured via immunofluorescence, and cell apoptosis levels were also revealed via flow cytometry. Results. MANCR was found to be upregulated, while miRNA-30d-5p expression was downregulated in LUAD tissues. Overexpression of MANCR in LUAD cells significantly reduced NK cell IFN-γ secretion, expression of granzyme B and perforin, and NK cell killing effect. In addition, MANCR could target and downregulate miRNA-30d-5p expression, and miRNA-30d-5p overexpression reversed the inhibition of NK cell killing effect caused by MANCR overexpression. Conclusion. MANCR inhibited the killing effect of NK cells on LUAD via targeting and downregulating miRNA-30d-5p and provided new ideas for antitumor therapy based on tumor microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors are commonly used treatments for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Both anti-diabetic treatments function by playing key modulatory roles in the incretin system. Though these drugs have been deemed effective in treating T2DM, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and some members of the scientific community have questioned the safety of these therapeutics relative to important cardiovascular endpoints. As a result, since 2008, the FDA has required all new drugs for glycemic control in T2DM patients to demonstrate cardiovascular safety. The present review article strives to assess the safety and benefits of incretin-based therapy, a new class of antidiabetic drug, on the health of patient cardiovascular systems. In the process, this review will also provide a physiological overview of the incretin system and how key components function in T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors are commonly used treatments for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Both anti-diabetic treatments function by playing key modulatory roles in the incretin system. Though these drugs have been deemed effective in treating T2DM, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and some members of the scientific community have questioned the safety of these therapeutics relative to important cardiovascular endpoints. As a result, since 2008, the FDA has required all new drugs for glycemic control in T2DM patients to demonstrate cardiovascular safety. The present review article strives to assess the safety and benefits of incretin-based therapy, a new class of antidiabetic drug, on the health of patient cardiovascular systems. In the process, this review will also provide a physiological overview of the incretin system and how key components function in T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropeptide S (NPS) acts by activating its cognate receptor (NPSR). High level expression of NPSR in the posterior medial amygdala suggests that NPS-NPSR system should be involved in regulation of social behaviors induced by social pheromones. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of central administration of NPS or with NPSR antagonist on the alarm pheromone (AP)-evoked defensive and risk assessment behaviors in mice. Furthermore, H129-H8, a novel high-brightness anterograde multiple trans-synaptic virus, c-Fos and NPSR immunostaining were employed to reveal the involved neurocircuits and targets of NPS action. The mice exposed to AP displayed an enhancement in defensive and risk assessment behaviors. NPS (0.1–1 nmol) intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection significantly attenuated the AP-evoked defensive and risk assessment behaviors. NPSR antagonist [D-Val5]NPS at the dose of 40 nmol completely blocked the effect of 0.5 nmol of NPS which showed the best effective among dose range. The H129-H8-labeled neurons were observed in the bilateral posterodorsal medial amygdala (MePD) and posteroventral medial amygdala (MePV) 72 h after the virus injection into the unilateral olfactory bulb (OB), suggesting that the MePD and MePV receive olfactory information inputs from the OB. The percentage of H129-H8-labeled neurons that also express NPSR were 90.27 ± 3.56% and 91.67 ± 2.46% in the MePD and MePV, respectively. NPS (0.5 nmol, i.c.v.) remarkably increased the number of Fos immunoreactive (-ir) neurons in the MePD and MePV, and the majority of NPS-induced Fos-ir neurons also expressed NPSR. The behavior characteristic of NPS or with [D-Val5]NPS can be better replicated in MePD/MePV local injection within lower dose. The present findings demonstrated that NPS, via selective activation of the neurons bearing NPSR in the posterior medial amygdala, attenuates the AP-evoked defensive and risk assessment behaviors in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncolytic adenoviruses (Ads) are cancer selective tumoricidal agents; however their mechanism of Ad-mediated cancer cell lysis, or oncolysis, remains undefined. This report focuses upon the autophagy mediator c-JUN n-terminal kinase (JNK) and its effects upon Ad oncolysis and replication. Previously, E1b-deleted Ads have been used to treat several hundred cancer patients with limited clinical efficacy. We hypothesize that by studying the potential interactions between E1b and JNK, mechanisms to improve oncolytic Ad design and cancer therapeutic efficacy may be elucidated. To test this hypothesis, E1b was selectively deleted from the Ad genome. These studies indicated that Ads encoding E1b induced JNK phosphorylation predominately occurred via E1b-19K. The expression of another crucial Ad gene E1a was then overexpressed by the CMV promoter via the replication competent Ad vector Adhz69; these data indicated that E1A also induced JNK phosphorylation. To assess the effects of host cell JNK expression upon Ad oncolysis and replication, siRNA targeting JNK1 and JNK2 (JNK1/2) were utilized. The oncolysis and replication of the E1b-19K wild-type Ads Ad5 and Adhz63 were significantly attenuated following JNK1/2 siRNA transfection. However the oncolytic effects and replication of the E1b-19K deleted Ad Adhz60 were not altered by JNK1/2 siRNA transfection, further implicating the crucial role of E1b-19K for Ad oncolysis and replication via JNK phosphorylation. This study has demonstrated for the first time that JNK is an intriguing molecular marker associated with enhanced Ad virotherapy efficacy, influencing future Ad vector design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which investigated the low field alternating current susceptibility and magnetization curves of milled Sm[sub2]Fe[sub17]N[sub3] powders. Preparation of the monocrystalline Sm[sub2Fe[sub17]N[sub3] powders; Magnetization of aligned powder; Magnetization of isotropic powder.

Determines the magnetic properties of sintered Sm[sub2]Fe[sub17]N[suby] magnets. Retention of the crystalline structure and the magnetic properties of Sm[sub2]Fe[sub17]N[suby] nitrides; Grain size dependence of coercivity; Origination of the Sm[sub2]Fe[sub17]N[suby] nitride magnet.

Background: Endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) is the most frequent complication of primary pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children. The aim of the study was to analyze characteristics and clinical role of bronchoscopy in diagnosis of childhood EBTB. Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study was undertaken in 157 children with EBTB undergone flexible bronchoscopy (FB) between January 2006 and June 2014. Results: The median age of the enrolled patients was 3.4 years, with 73.2% of patients under five years old. The most common subtype was tumorous type (145/157, 92.4%). If only involved bronchus were considered, the common affected sites were right middle lobe bronchus (49/228, 21.5%), left upper lobe bronchus (41/228, 18.0%), right upper lobe bronchus (41/228, 18.0%), right main bronchus (35/228, 15.4%), respectively. Children younger than five years old were at higher risk to have multiple endobronchial lesions (P=0.044), with an odds ratio of 2.313 (95% confidence interval: 1.009-5.299). Before the bronchoscopy, only 16 (10.2%) patients were highly suspected of EBTB, while the others were diagnosed as PTB without EBTB (69.4%), or misdiagnosed as pneumonia or foreign body aspiration (20.4%) on admission. Conclusions: The patients under five years old are at high risk to progress to EBTB and have multiple endobronchial lesions. The most frequent subtype of EBTB in children is tumorous type. The lesions are seen in the right bronchial system more frequently. FB should be performed to detect the endobronchial lesions in suspected patients as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, collision-avoidance path planning for multiple car-like robots with variable motion is formulated as a two-stage objective optimization problem minimizing both the total length of all paths and the task’s completion time. Accordingly, a new approach based on Pythagorean Hodograph (PH) curves and Modified Harmony Search algorithm is proposed to solve the two-stage path-planning problem subject to kinematic constraints such as velocity, acceleration, and minimum turning radius. First, a method of path planning based on PH curves for a single robot is proposed. Second, a mathematical model of the two-stage path-planning problem for multiple car-like robots with variable motion subject to kinematic constraints is constructed that the first-stage minimizes the total length of all paths and the second-stage minimizes the task’s completion time. Finally, a modified harmony search algorithm is applied to solve the two-stage optimization problem. A set of experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An organization structure of global oscillation with respect to a cracked rotor system with oil-film force is investigated in this paper. We profit from GPU cluster parallel computing to present a number of high-quality phase diagrams, and exhibit global dynamic characteristics of the system. An interesting scenario, 'eye' of chaos, is discovered in this cracked rotor system, emerging as the accumulation limit of forward and reverse period-doubling bifurcation cascades. In this system, it is a common phenomenon that the vibration response of the rotor presents three typical characteristics in parameter space with the rotation speed increasing. Moreover, these phase diagrams assist us to identify multi-attractor coexisting that makes the dynamics behavior of this system become more enrich and complex. These results we represent get us better to understand the nonlinear response of the cracked rotor system and are beneficial to control and diagnose the crack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the study conducted which investigated the alternating current susceptibility of Dy2Fe17-xGax compounds. Discussion on the change of anisotropy type in R2Fe17 with the substitution of some Ga for Fe; Effects of decreased temperature in the compound; Experimental procedures used in this study; Results of this study.

Calculates using the linear muffin-tin orbital technique, the electronic structure and hyperfine fields for antiferromagnetic YFe6Sn6 compounds. Examination of the ferromagnetic character of Fe atoms; Measurement of the hyperfine field at low temperature; Relation between the magnetic moment and hyperfine field on Fe sites; Experimental procedures of the study; Results of the study.

Based on the stability theory of fractional-order system, a novel unidirectional adaptive full-state linear error feedback coupling scheme is extended to control and synchronize all of fractional-order differential (FOD) chaotic systems with in-commensurate (and commensurate) orders. The feedback strength is adaptive to an updated law rather than prescribed as a constant. The convergence speed of feedback strength is regulated by a constant. With rigorous linear algebraic theorems and precisely numerical matrix computations, a reasonable interval in which the ultimate final control strength dwells is suggested, and the reliability of synchronization state is guaranteed. It demonstrates that the unidirectional full-state linear feedback coupling scheme can be adopted to control and synchronize FOD chaotic systems directly. Numerical simulations of three representative FOD chaotic systems illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to reconstruct a spacewise dependent heat source in a degenerate heat equation using the final measurement temperature. Based on the optimal control framework, the inverse problem is transformed into an optimization problem. The existence and necessary condition of the minimizer for the cost functional are established, and the global uniqueness and stability of the minimizer are also obtained from the necessary condition. Finally, a numerical algorithm on the basis of the conjugate gradient method is designed to treat the inverse problem and some numerical experiments are also performed. The numerical results show that the algorithm designed in the paper is quite efficient and stable, and the unknown heat source is recovered very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncolytic virotherapy can selectively destroy cancer cells and is a potential approach in cancer treatment. A strategy to increase tumor-specific selectivity is to control the expression of a key regulatory viral gene with a tumor-specific promoter. We have previously found that cyclin E expression is augmented in cancer cells after adenovirus (Ad) infection. Thus, the cyclin E promoter that is further activated by Ad in cancer cells may have unique properties for enhancing oncolytic viral replication. We have shown that high levels of viral E1a gene expression are achieved in cancer cells infected with Ad-cycE, in which the endogenous Ad E1a promoter was replaced with the cyclin E promoter. Ad-cycE shows markedly selective oncolytic efficacy in vitro and destroys various types of cancer cells, including those resistant to ONYX-015/dl1520. Furthermore, Ad-cycE shows a strong capacity to repress A549 xenograft tumor growth in nude mice and significantly prolongs survival. This study suggests the potential of Ad-cycE in cancer therapy and indicates the advantages of using promoters that can be upregulated by virus infection in cancer cells in development of oncolytic viruses. Key messages: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe effect of acupuncture for acute facial paralysis patients with ocular skin blood perfusion, and to explore the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture in treating acute facial paralysis. Methods: Thirty patients with acute facial paralysis were enrolled and acupunctured in facial points and bilateral Hegu (LI 14), and the PeriCam laser speckle flow video monitoring system was used not only for recording ocular skin blood perfusion condition in both normal and affected sides before acupuncture, at 15 min after acupuncture and after removing needles immediately, but also for calculating reduction ratio of ocular skin average perfusion in the affected side face compared with the healthy side. Results: Compared with the healthy side of face, the ocular skin blood perfusion of the affected side after acupuncture was significantly different from that before intervention. The blood perfusion levels after 15-minute acupuncture and at the time of remaining needles were significantly different from the basic line (all P<0.01). Conclusion: Acupuncture can significantly improve eye blood perfusion of the acute facial paralysis, enhance metabolic activity of the affected facial tissues, and promote the recovery of facial nerve function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most hepatoma cell lines lack proper expression and induction of CYP3A4 enzyme, which limits their use for predicting drug metabolism and toxicity. Nuclear receptor pregnane X receptor (PXR) has been well recognized for its critical role in regulating expression of CYP3A4 gene. However, its physiological activity of binding to the particular site of promoter is significantly weakened in hepatic cell lines. To address this problem, we created “chimeric PXR” constructs by appending a strong activation domain (AD) from p53 subunit to either N- or C- termini of the human PXR (hPXR), that is, hPXR-p53 and p53-hPXR. C3A, a hepatoma cell line, was used as the cell model to test the regulation effect of chimeric hPXR over wild type (WT) hPXR on CYP3A4 expression at gene, protein, and metabolism levels, respectively. Compared with C3A cells transiently transfected with WT hPXR, the activity of CYP3A4.XREM.luc reporter gene in C3A cells transfected with hPXR-p53 or p53-hPXR increased 5- and 9-fold respectively, and the levels of CYP3A4 mRNA expression increased 3.5- and 2.6-fold, respectively. C3A cells stably transfected with hPXR-p53-AD exhibited an improved expression of CYP3A4 at both gene (2-fold) and protein (1.5-fold) levels compared to WT C3A cells. Testosterone, a CYP3A4-specific substrate, was used for detecting the metabolism activity of CYP3A4. No testosterone metabolite could be detected in microsomes from WT C3A cells and WT C3A cells-based array, while the formation of 6β-hydroxytestosterone metabolite in the transfected cells was 714 and 55 pmol/mg protein/min, respectively. In addition, all the above expression levels in the transfected cell models could be further induced with additional treatment of Rifampicin, a specific inducer for CYP3A4. In conclusion, our study established a proof-of-principle example that genetic modification with chimeric hPXR-p53-AD could improve CYP3A4 metabolism ability in hepatic cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the impact of information technology application on farmer households' income from agricultural business, this paper collected and surveyed 1 072 valid questionnaires from 6 provinces and cities. By establishing multi-line regression model analysis, the paper found that (1) the agricultural infonnationization level needed to be improved; (2) at present the traditional elements have greater impact on farmer households' income than informationization elements; (3) the income of farmer households who search for agriculture information through varies channels is 45.8% higher than those who never search for information; (4) in western regions more foundational information infrastructure and primary information technology promotion are needed; (5) the effect for households living in central and eastern China to improve conditions of agricultural production by using information technology is better. Based on the above mentioned analysis the paper put forward some policy suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

16-Isopropyl-5, 9-dimethyltetracyclo [10.2.2.01, 10.04, 9] hexadec-15-ene-5, 14-dicarboxylic acid (1b) was prepared from rosin through a Diels–Alder addition reaction. Then, a group of Schiff bases derived from 1b was synthesised. Their structures were characterised by IR,1H-NMR, MS and elemental analysis. The antibacterial activities of these newly synthesised Schiff bases were also investigated. The results show that these compounds possess antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Among them, compounds 5a, 5b and 5c, exhibit remarkable antibacterial activity against E. coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenoviruses (Ads) with deletion of E1b55K preferentially replicate in cancer cells and have been used in cancer therapies. We have previously shown that Ad E1B55K protein is involved in induction of cyclin E for Ad replication, but this E1B55K function is not required in cancer cells in which deregulation of cyclin E is frequently observed. In this study, we investigated the interaction of cyclin E and CDK2 in Ad-infected cells. Ad infection significantly increased the large form of cyclin E (cyclin EL), promoted cyclin E/CDK2 complex formation and increased CDK2 phosphorylation at the T160 site. Activated CDK2 caused pRb phosphorylation at the S612 site. Repression of CDK2 activity with the chemical inhibitor roscovitine or with specific small interfering RNAs significantly decreased pRb phosphorylation, with concomitant repression of viral replication. Our results suggest that Ad-induced cyclin E activates CDK2 that targets the transcriptional repressor pRb to generate a cellular environment for viral productive replication. This study reveals a new molecular basis for oncolytic replication of E1b-deleted Ads and will aid in the development of new strategies for Ad oncolytic virotherapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E2F-1-deleted mutant, 'truncated E2F' (E2Ftr, E2F-1[1-375]), lacking the carboxy-terminal transactivation domain, was shown to be more potent at inducing cancer cell apoptosis than wild-type E2F-1 (wtE2F-1; full-length E2F-1). Mechanisms by which wtE2F-1 and E2Ftr induce apoptosis, however, are not fully elucidated. Our study demonstrates molecular effects of pro-apoptotic BH3-only Bcl-2 family member Harakiri ( Hrk) in wtE2F-1- and E2Ftr-induced melanoma cell apoptosis. We found that Hrk mRNA and Harakiri (HRK) protein expression was highly up-regulated in melanoma cells in response to wtE2F-1 and E2Ftr overexpression. HRK up-regulation did not require the E2F-1 transactivation domain. In addition, Hrk gene up-regulation and HRK protein expression did not require p53 in cancer cells. Hrk knockdown by Hrk siRNA was associated with significantly reduced wtE2F-1- and E2Ftr-induced apoptosis. We also found that an upstream factor, 'downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator' (DREAM), may be involved in HRK-mediated apoptosis in response to wtE2F-1 and E2Ftr overexpression. DREAM expression levels increased following wtE2F-1 and E2Ftr overexpression. Western blotting detected increased DREAM primarily in dimeric form. The homodimerization of DREAM resulting from wtE2F-1 and E2Ftr overexpression may contribute to the decreased binding activity of DREAM to the 3′-untranslated region of the Hrk gene as shown by electromobility shift assay. Results showed wtE2F-1- and E2Ftr-induced apoptosis is partially mediated by HRK. HRK function is regulated in response to DREAM. Our findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms that regulate wtE2F-1- and E2Ftr-induced apoptosis and provide insights into the further evaluation of how E2Ftr-induced apoptosis may be used for therapeutic gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a highly conserved glycolytic enzyme that plays an important role in carbon economy. However, recent analyses of GAPDH demonstrate that GAPDH is a multifunctional protein that has roles in various cellular functions. In this study, three putative cytosolic GAPDH protein sequences (OsGAPC1-3) were identified from the rice ( Oryza sativa) genome. The OsGAPC family has similar exon-intron structures. OsGAPCs transcripts were highly present in seedling shoots and roots, booting leaves, and flowers, but are at low levels in booting culms. Three OsGAPC genes are responsive to all the abiotic stresses including osmotic (20% PEG 6000), salt (200 mM NaCl), heat (42°C), abscisic acid (50 μM) and methyl viologen (50 μM) treatments. Transient expression of GFP-OsGAPC3 fusion protein in onion epidermal cells revealed that OsGAPC3 was indeed a cytosolic protein. One of the representative OsGAPC genes, OsGAPC3, which was induced most significantly by salt stress, was over-expressed in japonica rice Zhonghua 11 under the control of a ubiquitin promoter. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsGAPC3 showed enhanced tolerance to salt stress. Furthermore, we found that OsGAPC3 could alleviate the salt toxicity through the regulation of hydrogen peroxide (HO) levels. Taken together, these results indicate that OsGAPC3 plays important roles in salt stress tolerance in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

series of novel unsymmetrically disubstituted acylthioureas fused with hydrophenanthrene structure were synthesized from Δ-dihydroabietic and dehydroabietic acid, respectively. Their structures were characterized by IR, H-, and C-NMR spectroscopy. The antitumor activities of the title compounds against SMMC7721 and A549 tumor cells were evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. The results showed that three compounds ( 4c1, 4d1, and 4d2) exhibited highly effective activities against SMMC7721 and A549 cells, their IC values are between 1.87-12.67 μM for SMMC7721 cells and 2.20-6.79 μM for A549 cells, respectively. Structure-activity relationship indicating that acylthioureas that furan group fused with Δ-dihydroabietyl group, trihydroxymethyl fused with Δ-dihydroabietyl and dehydroabietyl could generate enhance activities of this kind of compounds against SMMC7721 and A549 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]