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By using ultrasound strain rate (SR) imaging to evaluate the left atrial (LA) reservoir and pump function after catheter ablation (CA) with persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF).A total of 45 patients with PAF underwent echocardiography examination before and after ablation as well as during 6 months of follow-up. Peak SR was measured at each LA segment (septal, lateral, anterior, inferior and posterior) during systole (LAs) and late diastole (LAa).During 6 months after CA, 30 patients were free of atrial fibrillation recurrence (AFR). left atrial area index (LAAI), left atrial maximum volume index (LAVImax), and E/Ea were obviously higher in patients with before CA, left atrial ejection fraction (LAEF), SR-LAs were lower than in normal cases, the SR-LAa was disappeared. Shortly after ablation, SR-LAa was recovered, and SR-LAs was reduced compared to those at baseline. At midterm follow-up, LAEF and SR-LAs were still lower than the control group, and LAAI and LAVImax were higher. SR-LAa was recovered slowly over time, but still lower.LA reservoir function was seriously damaged and LA pump function disappeared in patients with PAF. LA reservoir function impairment appeared shortly after ablation, it showed improvement at midterm follow-up, but some degree of damage to the LA reservoir and pump function was still present. Speckle tracking imaging is a feasible technique for the assessment of LA function in patients with PAF, which is a potentially valuable clinical tool to assist in the early detection of atrial remodelling and reverse remodelling.

Objective Noninvasive myocardial work (MW) is a new technology which is based on strain after considering the load influence on myocardial deformation. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of quantitatively assessing left ventricular myocardial work (LVMW) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a left ventricular pressure-strain loop (LVPSL). Methods 76 patients with SLE were included in the study (A), further divided into two subgroups according to the presence of lupus nephritis (LN). Global longitudinal strain (GLS), peak strain dispersion (PSD), global myocardial work index (GWI), global constructive work (GCW), global wasted work (GWW), and global work efficiency (GWE) were obtained. Results 1: Patients with SLE demonstrated a significantly reduced GWE and GLS compared with control group, GWW and PSD were increased, above changes were more pronounced in patients with LN. There was no significant difference in GWI and GCW. 2: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that GWE was the most powerful tool for detecting myocardial insufficiency early in SLE patients, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.804, and was superior to GLS (AUC = 0.707). GWE remains the best indicator of subclinical myocardial injury in patients with LN. The AUC was 0.910, and the best cutoff point was 96.5% (sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 73.3%). Conclusions LVPSL can be used to noninvasively assess changes in MW in patients with SLE. Noninvasive GWE is a more sensitive index than GLS to detect subclinical myocardial injury early in SLE patients. This is a potential valuable clinical tool to assist in the early-find myocardial damage.

A hybrid perovskite with dielectric, SHG, and ferroelectric triple transitions was tailored into highly-oriented films using PVDF matrix-assisted in situ growth.

BackgroundAntimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) plays a vital role in anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment, but the traditional AST method has difficulty detecting heteroresistance, which may cause an increased prevalence of resistant strains and eradication failure.AimsTo investigate the characteristics of heteroresistance in H. pylori in gastric biopsies and investigate its clinical relevance.MethodA total of 704 gastric biopsies were selected for 23S rRNA and gyrA gene sequencing, 470 H. pylori isolates from these biopsies were selected for AST, and the clinical characteristics of the patients were reviewed.ResultFor the 699 biopsies that were positive for 23S rRNA gene, 98 (14.0%) showed a heteroresistance genotype, and a wild type (WT) combined with A2143G (86.7%) genotype was found in most samples. For the 694 biopsies that were positive for gyrA gene, 99 (14.3%) showed a heteroresistance genotype, and a WT combined with 87K (26.3%) or WT combined with 91N (23.2%) genotype was predominant. According to the E-test results, the resistance rates of heteroresistance genotype samples for clarithromycin and levofloxacin were 36.2% and 68.1%, respectively. When dividing the heteroresistance samples into different groups according to the sequencing profile peaks of the mutation position, the resistance rates were higher along with mutation peaks at the mutation position. In addition, patients infected with mutated or heteroresistant strains showed lower peptic ulcer detection rates than those infected with the WT strain (p < 0.05).ConclusionHeteroresistance genotypes for clarithromycin and levofloxacin were not rare in H. pylori. Most cases with a heteroresistance genotype showed a susceptible phenotype for clarithromycin and a resistance phenotype for levofloxacin. Patients infected with heteroresistance genotype strains showed a lower peptic ulcer detection rate than those infected with the WT strain.

Both ferroelectric and switchable dielectric behaviors are of great academic value and practical significance, but they usually exist alone. If combine the two properties into one compound, it will be more valuable in practical application. In this paper, quasi-spherical (2-bromoethyl) trimethylammonium cation was used to match with [CdBr4 ]2- anion, and a new organic-inorganic hybrid compound ([BrCH2 CH2 N(CH3 )3 ]+2 [CdBr4 ]2- , BETABCdBr) was obtained and carefully characterized. The results indicate that this compound undergoes two continuous reversible phase transition around 342 K and 390 K. It could respectively exhibit ferroelectric and switchable dielectric properties over different temperature range. This work may provide a new clue to explore new types of bifunctional phase transition smart materials to meet various application requirements.

The understanding of structure–property relationship and exploration of novel physical properties are current research topics of molecular switchable dielectric materials. In this paper, an organic...

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) plays a vital role in anti-To investigate the characteristics of heteroresistance inA total of 704 gastric biopsies were selected for 23S rRNA and gyrA gene sequencing, 470For the 699 biopsies that were positive for 23S rRNA gene, 98 (14.0%) showed a heteroresistance genotype, and a wild type (WT) combined with A2143G (86.7%) genotype was found in most samples. For the 694 biopsies that were positive for gyrA gene, 99 (14.3%) showed a heteroresistance genotype, and a WT combined with 87K (26.3%) or WT combined with 91N (23.2%) genotype was predominant. According to the E-test results, the resistance rates of heteroresistance genotype samples for clarithromycin and levofloxacin were 36.2% and 68.1%, respectively. When dividing the heteroresistance samples into different groups according to the sequencing profile peaks of the mutation position, the resistance rates were higher along with mutation peaks at the mutation position. In addition, patients infected with mutated or heteroresistant strains showed lower peptic ulcer detection rates than those infected with the WT strain (p0.05).Heteroresistance genotypes for clarithromycin and levofloxacin were not rare in

The manipulation of structures and properties is a useful method in designing new materials. In this paper, two organic–inorganic hybrid compounds [(C6H15ClNO)2CoX4] (1, X = Cl; 2, X = Br) with reversible phase transition characteristics have been successfully synthesized. Systematic characterizations including crystal structure, thermal, dielectric, semiconducting, and photoluminescence properties were performed. Replacement of Cl with Br brings about not only the variation of the space group from C2/c to P21/c but also their properties. In comparison with Cl, the large Br atom could slow down the phase transition dynamics and give a larger thermal hysteresis of ∼25 K. Consequently, different shapes of switchable dielectric transition behavior are shown between 1 and 2. In addition, compound 2 has a smaller semiconducting band gap Eg than 1 (1.60 vs 1.65 eV). The results of this study will provide positive clues to manipulate the property of organic–inorganic hybrid compounds.

Organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides with temperature-triggered responsive switchable dielectric properties have evoked great attention for their potential application in the field of optoelectronic information. Here, we present a new organic–inorganic hybrid metal halide switchable dielectric material, [(C3H5)2N(CH3)2]2SnCl6 (1), which is obtained by the reaction of diallyldimethylaminium chloride and tin(IV) chloride pentahydrate. Compound 1 exhibits excellent high-temperature switchable dielectric performance and antifatigue. Notably, 1 also exhibits multifunctionality with semiconducting and photoluminescence property. Such a Sn(IV)-based organic–inorganic hybrid with outstanding switchable dielectric, semiconducting, and photoluminescence characteristics will pave a new approach in the development of Sn(IV)-based metal halides with practical applications.

According to “quasi-spherical theory”, structural modifications of spherical organic components have been found to be useful in obtaining ferroelectric or switchable dielectric organic–inorganic hybrid compounds, but how to tailor the spherical organic components is still unclear. In the current work, a prototype spherical tetramethylammonium cation was modified by replacing one of its H atoms with a CH2Br group, rather than with the widely studied Br atom, to obtain a new organic–inorganic hybrid compound, namely [BrCH2CH2N(CH3)3]2+[CuBr4]2− (BETABCuBr). The structure, phase transition, and dielectric and optical properties of BETABCuBr were carefully characterized. Based on these results, BETABCuBr was indicated to undergo a reversible phase transition at about 356 K, mainly due to a piston-like displacive movement of its Cu atom. The extension of the carbon chain was concluded to lead to a change of the phase transition mechanism from the typical order–disorder movement to an unusual displacive movement. We expect the results of this work to contribute to the exploration of new types of phase transition materials.

Background and aims: The genotypic method could significantly shorten the time needed to obtain antibiotic susceptibility data for Helicobacter pylori . The aim of this study was to explore the profile of H. pylori from gastric biopsies and strains with antibiotic-induced resistance. Methods: A total of 124 gastric biopsies were used to perform gene sequencing and to perform bacterial culture and susceptibility testing. Seven susceptible strains were selected to develop resistance to clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and metronidazole. Four susceptible strains were selected to transfer candidate mutations. The genotype profiles of these groups were analyzed by sequencing analysis. The antibiotic susceptibility of these strains was detected using the E-test method. Results: Phenotypic resistance to clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and metronidazole was observed in 35.5%, 40.0%, and 79.8% strains, respectively. Point mutations in 23 S rRNA, gyrA, and rdxA genes were observed in 39.5%, 38.7%, and 86.3% of gastric biopsies, respectively. The A2143G mutation in the 23S rRNA occurs in most clarithromycin-resistant samples. The A2142C point mutation showed a higher efficacy than A2142G and A2143G for inducing clarithromycin resistance. The D91N and N87K mutations in gyrA occurs in most levofloxacin-resistant samples, and double point mutations showed a higher efficacy than single mutations for inducing levofloxacin resistance. Phenotypic resistance and mutations in rdxA lacked consistency. Conclusion: Genotype-based gastric biopsy analysis was reliable for determining clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance. A2143G in 23S rRNA and N87K/D91N in the gyrA gene occurred in most resistant strains. Mutations in the rdxA gene were not good indicators of metronidazole resistance.

Both ferroelectric and switchable dielectric behaviors are of great academic value and practical significance, but they usually exist alone. If combine the two properties into one compound, it will be more valuable in practical application. In this paper, quasi-spherical (2-bromoethyl) trimethylammonium cation was used to match with [CdBr

A new mercury coordination polymer was successfully prepared from HgCl2 and 5-methyltetrazole (Hmtz) and characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, luminescence, theoretical calculation, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 is a three-dimensional (3D) hybrid framework constructed from 1D double mercury halide chains and mtz−, and it has an unprecedented ‘AFUQOH’ topological network. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations reveal that the mechanisms of the fluorescence emission of 1 are dominantly resulted from the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) and ligand-to-metal charge transfer (MLCT). Impressively, acentric complex 1 displays not only second harmonic generation (SHG) response but also ferroelectric behaviors.

A series of novel 4f-3d crystalline porphyrinic compounds, {[Co(TPPS)]2[Ln(Histidine)(H2O)][Ln(H3O)3]}n·nH2O (Ln = Sm (1), Eu (2), Dy (3); TPPS = 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrinato) with TPPS and histidine as mixed ligands, have been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Complexes 1–3 are isomorphous and characteristic of a three-dimensional (3D) framework with the lanthanide ions in two kinds of coordination geometries, i.e., eightfold square antiprism and ninefold monocapped square antiprism. The porphyrin macrocycles adopt a saddle-distorted nonplanar conformation with an embedded cobalt ion binding to four pyrrole nitrogen atoms. As revealed by the photoluminescence measurement, they exhibit blue emission. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility reveals that complexes 1–3 are antiferromagnetic. Their FTIR, CV, DPV, and UV/vis results are also studied in detail.

Three new mercury coordination polymers, [HgCl2(Hmtz)]n (1), (2) and [Hg2(mtz)4]n (3), were successfully prepared from HgCl2 and 5-methyltetrazole (Hmtz) and characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, luminescence, theoretical calculation, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The results reveal that 1 and 2 are isomers resulted from different one dimensional (1D) mercury halides chains, and they are all 3D supramolecular structures. Complex 3 possesses a 2-fold interpenetrated diamondoid network with intersecting channels. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations reveal that the mechanisms of the fluorescence emission are dominantly resulted from the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LLCT) and partial ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (LLCT) for 1 and 2, but ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) for 3, which is in good agreement with their different fluorescence spectra and crystal structures. Optical absorption spectra indicate that complexes 1–3 have wide optical band-gaps and can be probably used as wide optical band-gap semiconductor materials.

A new inorganic-organic hybrid complex based on well-defined Keggin-type polyoxometalates and copper-lutidine assemblies, namely, [Cu3(3,5-Lutidine)6(PW12O40)]n (1), has been obtained under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by elemental analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that compound 1 is three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular structure with ‘sql’ topological 2D layer. The photocatalytic experiments indicate that 1 exhibit good catalytic activity for photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) with UV irradiation. The thermal stabilities and fluorescent properties of this complex have also been studied.

Two new Pb(II) coordination polymers, namely, [Pb(Hpydc)2]n (1), [Pb(Hpydc)2(H2O)]n·2n(H2O) (2) (H2pydc ​= ​2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) have been prepared by the reaction of PbCl2 with pyridinedicarboxylic acid and fully characterized. Compound 1 contains ‘sql’ topological layers built from one-dimensional (1D) Pb-carboxylate infinite chains, and the layers are further packed into a 3D architecture by strong hydrogen bonds interactions. Compound 2 consists of 1D infinite chains containing Pb-dimers. The 3D supramolecular Pb(II) coordination complex of 2 is created by π – π interactions between the pyridine rings of the Hpydc ligands. In addition, solid-state properties of thermal stability and fluorescence for these crystalline materials are also presented. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations reveal that the mechanism of the fluorescence emissions are dominantly resulted from the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) and partial the intraligand π→π∗ and/or n→π∗ transitions for 1 and 2, which are in good agreement with their fluorescence spectra and crystal structure.

A new multifunctional mixed-valence copper(I/II) coordination polymer, {[CuCN][Cu(isonic)2]}n (1) (Hisonic = isonicotinic acid), was synthesized by treating isonicotinic acid and 5-amino-tetrazolate (Hatz = 5-amino-tetrazolate) with copper(II) salts under hydrothermal conditions, and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction, respectively. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that compound exhibit noncentrosymmetric polar packing arrangement. It is three-dimensional (3D) framework with (3,5)-connected ‘seh-3’ topological network constructed from metal organic framework {[Cu(isonic)2]}n and the inorganic linear chain{Cu(CN)}n subunits. A remarkable feature of 1 is the rhombic open channels that are occupied by a linear chain of {Cu(CN)}n. Impressively compound 1 displays not only a second harmonic generation (SHG) response, but also a ferroelectric behavior and magnetic properties.

We report a new flexible switchable dielectric composite film toward practical application in devices based on β-phase-dominated PVDF modified with single-protonated 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane fluoborate (DabcoHBF4). Our study suggested that incorporating polar molecular filler (DabcoHBF4) into β-phase-dominated PVDF is an effective method to fabricate switchable dielectric thin film, which could avoid sophisticated operation in cultivating bulk crystals of molecular materials. The composite film with 40% of DabcoHBF4 (0.40BF) could exhibit large dielectric change between high and low dielectric states comparable to that of pure DabcoHBF4 at phase-transition temperature. We postulated that the excellent switchable dielectric property of 0.40BF was attributed to the induced orientation alignment of β-phase-dominated PVDF and dielectric confinement effect.

The objective of this study was to investigate five nutrient factors of the forest topsoil (0–20 cm), including pH, soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (STN), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK). This study adopted the revised Nemerow index method to conduct a comprehensive quantitative evaluation on the soil nutrition contents, and using geostatistical method to address the spatial variability of soil properties in hilly and mountainous regions, southern China. Data were analyzed both statistically and geostatistically on the basis of semivariogram. Our results indicate that the soil is generally acidic, containing rich SOM and STN, but lacks AP and AK. Most of the sub-indexes of fertility were at grade III, showing a middle level. According to the coefficient of variations (CV), the five soil nutrient factors can be ranked in decreasing order as follows: AP > SOM > AK > STN > pH. There were differences between the sub-indexes of fertility, which could be ranked as follows: PSOM > PAK > PSTN > PpH > PAP. The semi-variation functions for the five soil nutrient factors studied here show some spatial structure features, over a range of 23–274 km. All nutrient factors had different nugget-to-sill ratios in each region, which varied from 10 to 50%, suggesting a strong or medium correlation. Thus, it can be concluded that the nutrient spatial distribution of the study area was the result of the combined action of structural factors and random factors, and the factors affecting the soil nutrients of the research area are highly complex. We will develop more targeted research plans about soil nutrients of study area in the next time.

Thin-walled workpieces are widely used in the aerospace manufacturing industry in order to reduce the weight of structure and improve working efficiency. However, vibration is easy to occur in machining of thin-walled structures due to its low stiffness. Machining vibration will result in lower machining accuracy as well as machining efficiency. In order to reduce the machining vibrations of thin-wall workpieces, commonly used method is to select proper machining parameters according to the chatter stability lobes, which is generated according to the machining system parameters. However, this method requires exact system parameters to be determined, which are always changing in the machining process. In this paper, a special designed fixture with damping materials for the thin-walled workpiece is presented based on the machining vibration control theory, and analysis of the effect of vibration suppressing is obtained through the contrast of vibration tests of milling the thin-walled workpiece on the damping clamp. The damping material is used to consume vibration energy and provide support for thin-walled structure. Machining test was carried out for thin-walled structure machining to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Four new mercury coordination polymers were successfully synthesized under solvothermal conditions and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In these complexes, the chemical valence of mercury is +2, except for complex 1 which is +1. 1 contains [Hg2]2+ metal–metal bonded cores which are bounded by atz− (Hatz = 5-amino-tetrazolate) ligands and features a two-dimensional (2D) uninodal 3-connected ‘hcb’ network. 2 exhibits a trinodal 3D (3,6)-connected ‘apo/alpha-PbO2’ topological net in which 2D [HgCl]nn+ inorganic cation layers are pillared by atz− ligands. In 3, the 2D [HgCl]nn+ cation layers are interconnected by atz− ligands, affording a trinodal 3D (3,6)-connected ‘flu/fluorite’ topological net. 4 is a 3D pillared-layer metal–organic framework based on mixed atz− and isonicotinic ligands, showing a binodal (4,6)-connected ‘fsc’ coordination network. In this work, 1 and 4 were synthesized from an in situ generated tetrazolate ligand, while 2 and 3 were prepared from a commercially available tetrazolate ligand. These results indicate that the final structures of the target complexes will highly depend on the synthetic conditions as well as the preparation methods. Moreover, the photoluminescence properties of these complexes were investigated. Impressively, the non-centrosymmetric complex 3 displays not only a second harmonic generation (SHG) response but also a ferroelectric behavior.

A ferroelectric compound diisopropylammonium bromide (DIPAB) was dispersed into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) matrix to form DIPAB/PVDF composite films. The composite film with different content of DIPAB was characterized by IR, XRD, DSC and SEM. The results indicated that soluble DIPAB could be homogeneously dispersed within PVDF matrix to form almost pure β-phase PVDF composite films without obvious agglomeration, and the crystallinity of PVDF polymer increased with increasing content of DIPAB inclusion. DIPAB/PVDF composite films exhibit very high dielectric constants and relatively low dielectric loss. Both dielectric constants and dielectric loss are frequency dependent and increased with increasing DIPAB content. DIPAB/PVDF composite films also exhibit enhanced ferroelectric properties. Incorporating DIPAB into PVDF is a useful way to improve the dielectric and ferroelectric property of PVDF composite films.

Three novel Ln–Hg complexes [Ln(H2O)2(μ-IA)3Hg3Br6]n (Ln = Pr (1), Nd (2), and Er (3); HIA is isonicotinic acid) are synthesized and characterized. They feature three-dimensional (3-D) motifs. Solid-state UV/vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy found that their band gaps are 4.91, 4.59, and 2.68 eV. It is found that lanthanide ions could adjust the band structures of semiconductors. Their photoluminescence comes from their characteristic emissions of 1D2 → 3H4 of Pr3+, 7F7/2 → 4S3/2 and 4F3/2 → 4I9/2 of Nd3+, and 4I15/2 → 4F7/2 and 4I15/2 → 4S3/2 of Er3+. The CIE chromaticity coordinate is (x = 0.5726, y = 0.4206), (x = 0.7268, y = 0.2732), and (x = 0.2923, y = 0.4317). Their magnetization susceptibility totally obeys the Curie–Weiss equation with antiferromagnetic performances.

A novel tetranuclear lead-edta compound [Pb4(edta)(H2O)2(N3)4]n (1) (H4edta = ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) has been synthesized by the reaction of PbF2 with H4edta and NaN3 mixed-ligands under hydrothermal conditions, and was characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, luminescence, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The results of X-ray crystallographic analysis reveal that compound 1 is the first 3D Pb(II)-edta coordination polymer with a high ratio of lead. Remarkably, the edta4− ligand uses all its 10 donor atoms (8O ​+ ​2 ​N) coordinated to Pb(II) ions and formed a 2D layer. The 2D layers are further linked to a complex 3D coordination polymer by the inorganic chain [Pb5(N3)10]n. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations reveal that the mechanism of the fluorescence emission is dominantly resulted from the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) for 1, which is in good agreement with its fluorescence spectra and crystal structure. Optical absorption spectra indicate that 1 has wide optical band-gaps and can be probably used as wide optical band-gap semiconductor material.

Three Pb(II)-edta complexes, [Pb3(edta)(H2O)Cl2]n·(H2O)3n (1), [Pb5(edta)2(H2O)2X2]n·(H2O)2n (X = Cl (2), Br (3)) (H4edta = ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) have been synthesized by the reaction of PbX2 and H4edta under hydrothermal conditions, and were characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, luminescence, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The results of X-ray crystallographic analysis reveal that these complexes are the first bilayer two-dimensional (2D) Pb-edta coordination polymers with 1D channels. The bilayers of complexes 1, 2 and 3 are linked by [Pb2Cl4], [PbCl2] and [PbBr2] clusters with carboxylate groups respectively. They are 3D supramolecular structures which are resulted from different halogenide anions. The emission spectra of 1–3 are dominated by intense and broad emission bands which are resulted from the [PbX2] clusters. Optical absorption spectra indicate that theses complexes have wide optical band-gaps and can be probably used as wide optical band-gap semiconductor materials.

The organically-templated uranyl selenite, (H2en)[(UO2)(SeO3)(HSeO3)](NO3)·0.5H2O (1) (en = 1,2-ethylenediamine) was synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, TG, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pbca, with a = 13.170(3) A, b = 11.055(2) A, c = 18.009(4) A, V = 2621.8(9) A3, M = 1316.19, Z = 4, Dcal = 3.334 g·cm–3, μ(Mo-Kα) = 17.998 mm–1, GOF = 1.059, R1 = 0.0263, wR2 = 0.0532 [I>2σ(I)]. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that compound 1 has a three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular structure. It contains negatively charged [UO2(HSeO3)(SeO3)]– inorganic anion layers and is balanced by [H2en]2+ cations and NO3– anions located in the interlayers. Furthermore, the photoluminescence properties of 1 were investigated.

Two new zinc compounds, [Zn2(mtz)(nic)2(OH)]n·0.5nH2O (1) and [Zn(phtz)(nic)]2n (2) (Hmtz = 5-methyltetrazole, Hphtz = 5-phenyltetrazole, Hnic = nicotinic acid), have been synthesized by a dual-ligand approach under solvothermal conditions. The compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, and infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that both compounds exhibit a noncentrosymmetric polar packing arrangement. Compound 1 is a 3D framework constructed from the zigzag chain subunits of [Zn(nic)]+ with a 4-connected “irl” topology. Compound 2 possesses a 2D 4-connected ‘“sql” topology constructed from the linear chain subunit of [Zn(nic)]+, which are linked together with phtz– ligands. Impressively, both of the two compounds display second-harmonic generation response and ferroelectric behaviors. Furthermore, the photoluminescence of the compounds was also investigated.

A dysprosium-zinc porphyrin, [DyZn(TPPS)H3O]n (1) (TPPS = tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin), was prepared through solvothermal reactions and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Complex 1 features a three-dimensional (3-D) porous open framework that is thermally stable up to 400 °C. Complex 1 displays a void space of 215 A3, occupying 9.2% of the unit cell volume. The fluorescence spectra reveal that it shows an emission band in the red region. The fluorescence lifetime is 39 µsec and the quantum yield is 1.7%. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurement revealed one quasi-reversible wave with E1/2 = 0.30 V. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A new type of ionic ferroelectric based on a chiral salen-type Schiff base erbium(III) complex (ErL) was synthesized by the reaction of erbium nitrate with the ligand N,N′-bis(3,5-dichlorosalicylidene)-(1S,2S)-1,2-cyclohexylenediamine (L). The structures of the ligand L and the complex ErL were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that ErIII not only acts as central metal atom to coordinate with two Schiff base ligands, but also as Lewis acid catalyst to promote the partial decomposition of another salen-type Schiff base ligand. The central ErIII atom adopts an octacoordinate square antiprismatic arrangement with Λ absolute configuration, coordinating with all nitrogen and oxygen atoms of two ligands due to the influence of the strong electron-withdrawing group on the Schiff base ligand. The complex ErL exhibits good SHG and ferroelectric properties. The results provide a simple and effective approach to construct rare earth complexes coordinated with nitrogen and oxygen atoms of salen-type Schiff base ligands with technologically important properties such as SHG activity and ferroelectricity.

Three new compounds, {[Zn(tza)2(H2O)]·H2O}n (1), {[Mn(tza)2(Htza)2]·2H2O}n (2) and [Cd(tza)2]n (3), were obtained by reactions of 1H-Tetrazole-1-acetic (Htza) with corresponding metal salts, and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction, respectively. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that compound 1 is three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular structure with line chains. Compound 2 is three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular structure with Mn-carboxylate chains. Compound 3 is a 3D framework with (3,6)-connected ‘ant’ topological network. Furthermore, the photoluminescence of 1 and 3 and the magnetic properties of 2 have also been investigated.

Generally, there is a high background noise and long reverberation time and poor speech intelligibility in exhibition space due to its big crowd and often commercial promotional activities so that communication is very hard, commercial activities broadcasting system is also difficult to ensure that customers can clearly hear the propaganda content. In this paper, through measured background noise of the new exhibition center in Chengdu, we found the acoustic problem in exhibition space, then we did simulation analysis in some exhibition building and took some acoustical process to get a good sound field.

A new type of multifunctional single ionic chiral dysprosium complex (DyL) was obtained by the reaction of Dy(NO3)3 and salen-type Schiff base ligand N,N′-bis(3,5-dichlorosalicylidene)-(1R,2R)-1,2-cyclohexylenediamine. In the synthesis reaction, Dy(III) was found not only to be the central metal to coordinate with two Schiff base ligands, but also the Lewis acid catalyst to promote the partial decomposition of salen-type Schiff base ligand. Complex DyL crystallizes in a chiral and polar space group P21. The central metal Dy(III) adopts eight-coordinated square antiprism geometry with Δ absolute configuration. Complex DyL exhibits good SHG and ferroelectric properties. The single-crystal sample of DyL displays an obvious ferroelectric behavior with a remnant polarization (Pr) of ca. 4.51 μC cm−2 and Ec of ca. 28.11 kV cm−1. The solid luminescent spectrum of DyL presents characteristic emission 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 and 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 transitions of Dy(III).

Benthic foraminifera fossil shells are particularly useful in reconstructing water depth, temperature, the exported flux of organic carbon to the sea floor, and the level of bottom-water oxygenation in paleoenvironments. In this study, we investigated the living (stained) and dead (thanatocoenoses) benthic foraminifera assemblages collected in surface sediment samples from the Bohai Sea (BS) and the northern Yellow Sea (NYS). The samples were collected from different seasons, i.e. 50 samples in May (spring) and 46 samples in November (autumn). Our benthic foraminifera fauna analysis of these samples shows four living assemblages in May and three in November, indicating a sensitive response to seasonal environmental changes where the fauna live in the modern setting of the BS and NYS. Our redundancy analysis (RDA) of the living assemblages and their corresponding environmental parameters indicates that in spring, the abundances of Astrononion tasmanensis , Nonionella stella and Bulimina sp. have positive correlations with increased water depth, density and salinity, but are negatively correlated with increased FLOUR (chlorophyll). The abundances of Buccella frigid and Verneuilinulla advena are positively correlated with higher levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) and negatively correlated with increases in temperature. The abundances of Cribrononion subincertum are positively correlated with increased turbidity (TURB) and temperature, but negatively correlated with increased DO. In autumn, there is a positive correlation between the abundances of V. advena and increased salinity. Protelphidium tuberculatum , Ammonia beccarii (vars.) abundances, however, have negative correlations with salinity. During the autumn, the benthic foraminifera species P. tuberculatum was noticeably expanded and the dominance areas occupied by Elphidium magellanicum and C. subincertum were significantly reduced in the BS; along the southern coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, the dominant Buccella frigida in the spring was replaced by V. advena in autumn. The seasonal shifting of benthic foraminifera species are local responses to the combined changes in bottom water temperature, salinity, TURB and DO in the BS and NYS, and also to the more intensified autumn/winter intrusion of the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC). The dead assemblages of benthic foraminifera, which are used to reconstruct paleoenvironments, exhibited considerable destruction of agglutinated assemblages. We found that such species as V. advena , Trochammina sp., Ammoscalaria sp. and Polskiammina asiatica are missing from the dead assemblages, possibly due to postmortem taphonomic processes in the BS and NYS. Considerable destruction of agglutinated species in dead assemblages may slightly bias our estimates of paleoenvironmental parameters when they are based on benthic foraminifera fossil shells.

Background Few studies have evaluated the prognostic value of total tumor volume (TTV), which reflects both the primary tumor volume and nodal tumor volume, in NPC. Furthermore, the relationship between TTV and survival remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of TTV in patients with NPC treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Methods TTV was retrospectively assessed in 455 patients with newly diagnosed, non-metastatic NPC. All patients were treated using IMRT; 91.1% (288/316) of patients with stage III-IVb also received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify the optimal TTV cut-off point and examine the prognostic value of combined TTV with current clinical stage. Results Mean TTV was 11.1 cm3 (range, 0.3–27.9 cm3) in stage I, 22.5 cm3 (1.3–92.4 cm3) in stage II, 40.6 cm3 in stage III (3.2–129.2 cm3), and 77.5 cm3 in stage IVa-b (7.1–284.1 cm3). For all patients, the 4-year estimated FFS, OS, DMFS, and LRRFS rates for patients with a TTV ≤ 28 vs. > 28 cm3 were 93 vs. 71.4% (P 28 cm3 were 88.9 vs. 70.5% (P = 0.001), 96.2 vs. 72.7% (P

A field experiment was conducted to determine effects of 6 treatments including without fertilization (CK), conventional fertilization (CM), corn straw plus manure (SM), peat plus chicken manure ( PM), mushroom residue plus chicken manure (MM) and high level of chicken manure (HM) on different soil active organic carbon and carbon pool management index. The results showed that fertilization of chicken manure is difficult to prompt activation of soil that contains plenty of fulvic acid, but combined application of different organic fertilizers not only can significantly increase the soil organic matter content, also can balance the proportion between the components of soil humus, improve Hu/Fu. Compared to CK treatment after fertilization, there was a narrow range in HA/TOC, FA/TOC, HM/TOC of HM treatment that was only 4%-8%, but variations of 12%-25% was produced by SM, PM, MM treatment, and its Hu/Fu increased 98% - 292% compared with HM treatment; The quantity of soil microorganisms is enhanced mostly by the treatment of HM, and the increase of bacteria and fungi was the maximum, but the quantity of actinomycetes was increased mostly by MM treatment; high level of chicken manure treatment can increase the risk of nitrate accumulation, but combined application of different organic fertilizers can significantly reduce the nitrate accumulation of vegetables, improving the quality of vegetables. Compared with HM treatment, MM treatment reduces the nitrate content of 45%. Therefore, the results demonstrated that paid attention to the selection of organic fertilizers and its combined application not only would achieve better fertilizing effect, also would better improve the quality of vegetables in organic agricultural production.

Series sensitizers of indoline and triphenylamine as the donor group, quinoxaline and its derivatives as the additional acceptor, different heteroaromatic rings (furan, benzene and selenophene) as the π-conjugated group, 2-cyanoacrylic acid as the acceptor/anchoring which featured on the D–A–π–A architecture have been theoretically designed based on the reported dyes IQ2 and TQ2 used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), to shed light on how the additional (auxiliary) acceptor and π spacer influence the performance of the dyes. These enable us to determine master factors influenced the efficiency of DSSCs, such as the light-harvesting efficiency, lifetime of excited state, exciton binding energy, total reorganization energy and electron injection driving force as well as the vertical dipole moment. The theoretical results revealed that compared with dye IQ2, our designed dyes IQS2 and IQS3 displayed much better light harvesting properties and longer first excited lifetime.

Key parameters for thermomechanical control process (TMCP) and integrated welding operations have been determined to industrialize extra high strength micro-alloyed low carbon SiMnCrMoNiCu steel plates for bridge applications. Confocal Scanning Microscope was used to make In-situ observation on austenite grain growth during reheating. A Gleeble 3800 thermomechanical simulator was employed to investigate transformation behavior of the TMCP conditioned austenite. Integrated industrial rolling trial was conducted to correlate the laboratory observations and commercial production of the plates. Microstructure factors affecting the toughness of the steel were analyzed. Submerged-Arc Welding (SMAW) trails were conducted and the structures and mechanical properties of the weld joints characterized. The representative plate with thickness of 60 mm consisted of acicular ferrite (AF) + refined polygonal ferrite (PF) + granular bainite (GB) across the entire thickness section exhibit yield strength (YS) greater than 560 MPa in transverse direction and excellent Charpy V Notch (CVN) impact toughness greater than 100 J at-40 °C in the parent metal and the weld joints. These provide useful integrated database for producing advanced high strength steel plates via TMCP. Keywords: Thermo-Mechanical Control Process;Weathering Steel Plate for Bridge; Submerged-Arc Welding without Preheating

A direct dynamics study was carried out at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pvtz//B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level for the multichannel degradation reaction of perfluoropropionic acid (PFPA, CF 3 CF 2 COOH). It is shown that the main pathway of the CF 3 CF 2 COOH degradation reaction can give the main product P2 (CO + CF 3 CO), while the minor product is P1 (C 2 H 4 ). Due to the energetically intermediates and transition states involved in the dominant paths, the reaction is expected to occur rapidly, which is consistent with the experimental data. The present theoretical studies may provide useful information on the issues of the reaction mechanism and product distributions.

A new three-dimensional(3D) coordination polymer, [Cu(atz)(isonic)]n (1) was synthesized hydrothermally from mixed-ligands of Hatz (Hatz = 5-amino-1H-tetrazole) and Hisonic (Hisonic = isonicotinic acid) and corresponding CuII salt. It was characterized by IR spectra, elemental and thermal analysis, structurally and magnetically characterized. In this compound, CuII ions are linked by μ3-atz bridges to give [{Cu2(μ3-atz)2}]2+ cationic layer. The cationic layers are further pillared by isonic ligand and resulted in 3D frameworks with unprecedented topological network. The variable temperature magnetic investigations indicate that compound 1 exhibits typical antiferromagnetic behaviors.