Search

CO2-switchable emulsions with on-demand stability and controllable properties, such as droplet size, viscosity, and emulsion type, were prepared with a CO2-switchable surfactant and silica nanoparticles.

In this study, a facile one-pot strategy was developed to prepare porous polymeric microspheres via photopolymerization, where organic solvents functioned as porogens.

With the increasing demand for astronomical observations, telescope systems are becoming increasingly complex. Thus, the observatory control software needs to be more intelligent. It has to control each instrument inside the observatory, finish the observational tasks autonomously, and report the information to users if needed. We developed a distributed autonomous observatory control framework named the Remote Autonomous Control System 2nd (RACS2) to meet these requirements. Rich features are integrated into the RACS2 framework. The RACS2 is a modular framework, in which each device control software and system services are implemented as different components. Furthermore, the RACS2 framework assimilates new techniques, such as a lightweight message and serialization mechanism. RACS2 also has good compatibility with other frameworks or ecosystems such as Python and the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). The RACS2 framework can communicate with EPICS-based and Python-based software. With the help of these features, key system components like executor, scheduler are developed. The executor component can support sophisticated tasks. Autonomous observation can be achieved by the scheduler component. A set of web-based graphical user interface (GUI) is designed to help control and manage the framework remotely. Based on the RACS2 framework, we have implemented the Dome A Twins (DATs) telescope’s observation system and the space object observation system. The systems have been operated for more than 1 year. The RACS2 framework also has been used in our other projects like camera control system of Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) and its observatory control system, and the design can be a useful reference for the development of other frameworks.

ObjectiveIntraplaque neovascularization (IPN) is a known indicator of plaque vulnerability, and is thus considered a predictor of stroke. The morphology and location of the carotid plaque may be correlated with plaque vulnerability. Therefore, our study aimed to examine the associations of carotid plaque morphology and location with IPN.MethodsA total of 141 patients with carotid atherosclerosis (mean age, 64.99 ± 10.96 years) who underwent carotid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) between November 2021 and March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. IPN was graded according to the presence and location of microbubbles within the plaque. The association of IPN grade with carotid plaque morphology and location was evaluated using ordered logistic regression.ResultsOf the 171 plaques, 89 (52%) were IPN Grade 0, 21 (12.2%) were Grade 1, and 61 (35.6%) were Grade 2. IPN grade significantly associated with both plaque morphology and location, with higher grades observed among Type III morphology and common carotid artery plaques. Significant negative association was further shown between IPN grade and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. Plaque morphology and location, and HDL-C remained significantly associated with IPN grade after adjusting for confounding factors.ConclusionThe location and morphology of carotid plaques were significantly associated with the IPN grade on CEUS, and therefore show potential as biomarkers for plaque vulnerability. Serum HDL-C was also identified as a protective factor against IPN, and may play a role in the management of carotid atherosclerosis. Our study provided a potential strategy for identification of vulnerable carotid plaques and elucidated the important imaging predictors of stroke.

A Gemini-like surfactant is formed by connecting short chain dibasic acid and long chain tertiary amine in the molar ratio of 1:2 through the non-covalent action of electrostatic attraction, and does not need complicated synthesis. Due to the tertiary amine group in the Gemini-like surfactant, it exhibits pH-responsive properties. However, in the research, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the Gemini-like surfactants also showed temperature response characteristics. With the increase of temperature, the viscosity of the system increases rapidly, and it is resistant to high temperatures. At 60°C, the zero-shear viscosity of the system at the concertation of 300 mM can reach an extremely high value of 11967.73 Pa·s, which was higher than most of wormlike micelles formed by the conventional covalently linked oligomeric counterparts. The reason for this phenomenon may be that as the temperature increases, the hydrogen bonds in the system are destroyed, resulting in the reduction of the repulsive force between molecules and the shortening of the intermolecular distance, which makes the micelles more entangled closely.

Herein, we report pH-responsive liquid marbles stabilized by 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA). The particle morphology and the pH-responsive behavior of the liquid marbles were investigated. The rolling time during the preparation of liquid marbles has a great influence on the thickness of powder adsorption and the stability of the marbles. Compared with the liquid marbles stabilized by other fatty acids (

An experimental study is conducted to find the characteristics of steam plume and pressure oscillation on direct contact condensation by a side-hole sparger. Synchronal measuring of transient pressure of the steam plume is gained from the high-speed camera and high-pressure sensor respectively. The influence of steam mass flux and water temperature on direct contact condensation characteristic are presented and its regime map is plotted. Then, the dynamic connections of transient pressure and steam plume in different condensation regimes are analyzed. It is found that high frequency pressure oscillation and the collapse of detached bubbles occur at the same time. Together with the condensing and disappearing process of the collapse of detached bubbles, the intensity of pressure oscillation decays exponentially in a vibration way. The changing trends of steam plume length in condensation oscillation regime and stable condensation regime are also obtained, which shows that the steam plume increases with the steam mass flux and the temperature in the condensation oscillation regime. When entering the stable condensation regime, the steam plume suddenly decreases and then increases with the temperature and the steam mass flux. The research results are useful for the engineering application of sparger in steam emission devices.

Ammonium vanadate has been considered as a competitive high-performance cathode material for aqueous Zn-ion batteries. However, it still suffers from insufficient rate capability and poor cyclability due to the low electronic conductivity. Herein, (NH4)2V6O16·0.9H2O nanobelts with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) modification are synthesized by one-step hydrothermal reaction. Benefiting from the addition of RGO, an excellent electrochemical performance of (NH4)2V6O16·0.9H2O@RGO nanobelts can be obtained. The (NH4)2V6O16·0.9H2O@RGO displays a high-rate capacity and a high energy density of 386 Wh/kg at 72 W/kg. In particular, after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g, the capacity remains at 322 mAh/g with 92.8% capacity retention. In addition, the key reaction mechanisms of reversible Zn2+insertion/extraction in (NH4)2V6O16·0.9H2O@RGO are clarified.

Variations of precipitation in tropical-subtropical regions are fundamentally important to human sustainable development. However, the dominant cyclicity and the mechanism of orbital-scale precipitation variations remain under extensive debate. Here, we used a newly drilled core from the Tianyang (TY) maar lake (South China) to reconstruct Asian monsoon precipitation variations over the past ~ 250,000 years, providing a new independent paleoprecipitation record for the core tropical monsoon region. The measured magnetic susceptibility and grain size records of TY maar lake reveal dominant precession and semiprecession cycles, evidencing the low-latitude insolation forcing on tropical monsoon precipitation variations. Feedbacks of Intertropical Convergence Zone shifts and orbital-scale El Nino/Southern Oscillation variations are suggested to play important roles in this forcing mechanism. Moreover, we detected correlation between the rainstorms and the tropical zonal sea surface temperature gradient during the moderate Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a. This correspondence further confirms the effect of tropical internal feedbacks on orbital-scale precipitation variations. However, the glacial-interglacial cycle is weak in our record, indicating that the variability of Asian monsoon precipitation is likely modulated by certain other processes such as latitudinal effects and air-sea feedback.

Objective: This study analyzes the trend of change and influencing factors of filial responsibility attitudes in China. Method: The study uses data of Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) conducted in three Southeast regions in China in the year 2004 and 2017. Results: This study has two major findings. First, there was no significant decline in filial responsibility attitudes over the decade in spite of aging tendency. Both Reciprocal Filial Piety (RFP) and Authoritative Filial Piety (AFP) have not declined, with similar trend to men and women. Second, factors affecting filial responsibility attitudes have changed over the 13 years, with the impact of educational attainment and employment declining, while the effect of marital status increasing. Gender heterogeneity in the process was obvious. Conclusion: This study adds to literature on filial piety in Confucian society and provides empirical evidence on the future of cross-cultural filial responsibility attitudes.

A series of 1,3-diphenylurea quinoxaline derivatives were synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, and HR-ESI-MS analyses. In vitro cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated by MTT assay against MGC-803, H460, T-24, HeLa, HepG2, and SMMC-7721 human cancer cell lines. The results showed that most of the compounds exhibited effective cytotoxicity to the tested cancer cell lines. The mechanism of action of the two best active quinoxaline derivatives, compounds 2d and 2g was also investigated. They may be potent anticancer agents.

High concentrations of surfactants or gelators are usually necessary to prepare emulsions gels with unusual physicochemical properties. This situation may be improved by innovating the aggregate morphology in systems. Herein, a rosin-based molecule is designed and synthesized using dehydroabietic acid as the starting material (denoted as R-Lys-R). The molecule acts as an effective organogelator and can gelate several hydrocarbon compounds with a minimum gelation concentration of 0.2% (w/v). Analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and circular dichroism (CD) reveals that in

X-ray dark-field imaging using a grating interferometer has shown potential benefits for a variety of applications in recent years. X-ray dark-field image is commonly retrieved by using discrete Fourier transform from the acquired phase-stepping data. The retrieval process assumes a constant phase step size and a constant flux for each stepped grating position. However, stepping errors and flux fluctuations inevitably occur due to external vibrations and/or thermal drift during data acquisition. Previous studies have shown that those influences introduce errors in the acquired phase-stepping data, which cause obvious moiré artifacts in the retrieved refraction image. This work investigates moiré artifacts in x-ray dark-field imaging as a result of flux fluctuations. For the retrieved mean intensity, amplitude, visibility and dark-field images, the dependence of moiré artifacts on flux fluctuation factors is theoretically derived respectively by using a first-order Taylor series expansion. Results of synchrotron radiation experiments verify the validity of the derived analytical formulas. The spatial frequency characteristics of moiré artifacts are analyzed and compared to those induced by phase-stepping errors. It illustrates that moiré artifacts can be estimated by a weighted mean of flux fluctuation factors, with the weighting factors dependent on the moiré phase and different greatly for each retrieved image. Furthermore, moiré artifacts can even be affected by object’s features not displayed in the particular contrast. These results can be used to interpret images correctly, identify sources of moiré artifacts, and develop dedicated algorithms to remove moiré artifacts in the retrieved multi-contrast images.

X-ray analyzer-based imaging (ABI) is a powerful phase-sensitive technique that can provide a wide dynamic range of density and extract useful physical properties of the sample. It derives contrast from x-ray absorption, refraction, and scattering properties of the investigated sample. However, x-ray ABI setups can be susceptible to external vibrations, and mechanical imprecisions of system components, e.g., the precision of motor, which are unavoidable in practical experiments. Those factors will provoke deviations of analyzer angular positions and hence errors in the acquired image data. Consequently, those errors will introduce artefacts in the retrieved refraction and scattering images. These artefacts are disadvantageous for further image interpretation and tomographic reconstruction. For this purpose, this work aims to analyze image artefacts resulting from deviations of analyzer angular positions. Analytical expressions of the refraction and scattering image artefacts are derived theoretically and validated by synchrotron radiation experiments. The results show that for the refraction image, the artefact is independent of the sample’s absorption and scattering signals. By contrast, artefact of the scattering image is dependent on both the sample’s refraction and scattering signals, but not on absorption signal. Furthermore, the effect of deviations of analyzer angular positions on the accuracy of the retrieved images is investigated, which can be of use for optimization of data acquisition. This work offers the possibility to develop advanced multi-contrast image retrieval algorithms that suppress artefacts in the retrieved refraction and scattering images in x-ray analyzer-based imaging.

This paper further enriches the taxonomic study of Feltriidae Viets, 1926 in China since it was first reported by Yi & Jin in 2011. Seven species, Feltria hanmaensis sp. nov., Feltria pesici sp. nov., Feltria pseudoparva sp. nov., Feltria expendis sp. nov., Feltria yinjiangensis sp. nov., Feltria neoflatheadensis sp. nov. and Feltria glandulosa sp. nov., are described as new to science; Feltria minuta Koenike, 1892 is new to the Chinese water mite fauna. In addition, some slit organs of these species are photographed by SEM (scanning electron microscope) and illustrated in detail by optical microscope to provide material for exploiting valuable character in specific identification.

Ambient concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) vary with emission rates, meteorology, and chemistry. Conventional positive matrix factorization (PMF) loses information because of dilution variations and chemical losses. Multiply improved PMF incorporates the ventilation coefficient, and total solar radiation or oxidants to reduce the effects of dispersion and chemical loss. These methods were applied to hourly speciated VOC data from November 2019 to March 2020 including during the COVID-19 shutdown. Various comparisons were made to assess the influences of these fluctuation drivers by time of day. Dispersion normalized PMF (DN-PMF) reduced the dispersion variations. Dispersion-radiation normalized PMF (DRN-PMF) reduced the impact of chemical loss, especially at night, which was better than Dispersion-Ox normalized PMF (DON-PMF). The conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF) plots of DRN-PMF results were consist with actual source locations. The DN-PMF, DRN-PMF, and DON-PMF results were consistent between 10:00 and 15:00, suggesting dispersion was significantly more influential than photochemical reactions during these times. The DRN-PMF results indicated that the highest VOC contributors during the COVID-19 shutdown were liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (28.8%), natural gas (25.2%), and pulverized coal boilers emissions (19.6%). Except for petrochemical-related enterprises and LPG, the contribution concentrations of all other sources decreased substantially during the COVID-19 shutdown, by 94.7%, 90.6%, and 86.8% for vehicle emissions, gasoline evaporation, and the mixed source of diesel evaporation and solvent use, respectively. Controlling the use of motor vehicles and related volatilization of diesel fuel and gasoline can be effective in controlling VOCs in the future.

Online sex has become a fast-growing business in both developing and developed network, with advertisements of (not necessarily unique) individuals numbering in the hundreds of millions across different Web portals. One such major hub of sex advertisement activity, before it was shut down by US federal agencies, was backpage.com. The backpage.com website was a classifieds-advertising portal that had become the largest marketplace for buying and selling sex by the time that federal law enforcement agencies seized it in April 2018. Since then, investigations have been actively underway. However, the data (which has recently been made available to us for research on UK Backpage) also offers valuable insights into the nature of the online sex business, including complex properties that can be best studied using network science. One of the challenges, however, is a rigorous modeling of the data as a network, since the primary data are web advertisements and metadata (backend database) on accounts that posted that ad. In this article, we conduct an empirical study of an important sample of the online sex marketplace using UK backpage, including presenting a methodology for constructing simple ‘activity networks’ that define some notion of real-world collaboration or connection between two entities (in our case, at the level of ad-posting accounts) and then studying the properties of these networks. We gather a set of insights into a domain that has not been studied at scale, let alone a national level, but that is continuing to be a growing social problem for many countries.

Background Tumor-infiltrating immune cells are indispensable to the progression and prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Objective The aim of this study was to explore the clinical implications of immune cell infiltrates in ccRCC. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (N= 515) and E-MTAB-1980 cohort of patients (N= 101) were adopted to estimate the prognostic value of immune cell infiltration. Twenty-four types of immune cells were evaluated using single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Cox regression analyses were conducted to develop an immune risk score. Results Survival analyses revealed that 13 genes significantly associated with the overall survival (OS). Furthermore, multivariate Cox analysis identified an immune risk score on the basis of mast cells, natural killer CD56bright cells, T helper 17 (Th17) cells, and Th2 cells. The immune risk score was associated with OS, with hazard ratios of 2.72 (95% CI 2.17-3.40) and 3.24 (95% CI 1.64-6.44) in TCGA and E-MTAB-1980 datasets, respectively. This immune risk score was significantly correlated with some immunotherapy-related biomarkers. Conclusions We profiled a prognostic signature and established an immune risk score model for ccRCC, which could provide novel predictive markers for patients with ccRCC and an indicator for immunotherapy response measurement.

Benefitting from the versatility and biocompatibility of food sourced materials, the construction of hybrid structures via their molecular interplay generates novel platforms with unexpected properties. In this work, two hydrophobic biomolecules were co-assembled into water-soluble amphiphiles at pH 7 by a facile pH-cycle approach. Wheat gluten proteins (WPs) and shellac were dissolved together at pH 12 followed by a one-step adjustment to pH 7, yielding nanospheres with a protein recovery over 90%. Structural characterization evidenced that shellac stiffened the protein backbones that were resistant against thermodynamically-favored folding. The reactions were proven to be initiated between the protein secondary structures and shellac, forming a relatively unfolded three-dimensional conformation during the acid-induced co-assembly. Silybin was employed as a hydrophobic bioactive model and was entrapped following the same procedure as the hybrid assembly, with a maximum loading of 102 mg g−1 hybrid. The bioavailability of silybin loaded in shellac–WP co-assemblies was improved as assessed by cell proliferation assays, due to the improved dispersity and cell internalization of the co-assemblies. The preparation method based on a simple pH manipulation may be applied to encapsulate various hydrophobic bioactive compounds, apart from the silybin explored in this study.

Alternative splicing (AS) is a major mechanism that greatly enhanced the diversity of proteome. Mounting evidence demonstrated that aberration of AS are important steps for the initiation and progression of human cancers. Here, we comprehensively investigated the association between whole landscape of AS profiles and the survival outcome of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients using RNA-seq data from TCGA SpliceSeq. Because of the limited number size of deaths in kidney chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (KICH) and papillary renal cell carcinoma (KIRP) TCGA cohorts, we only conducted survival analysis in kidney clear renal cell carcinoma (KIRC). We further constructed prognostic index (PI) based on prognosis-related AS events and built correlation network for splicing factors and prognosis-related AS events. According to the results, a total of 5351 AS events in 3522 genes were significantly correlated with the overall survival (OS) of kidney clear cell renal cell carcinoma (KIRC) patients. Seven of the PI models exhibited preferable prognosis-predicting capacity for KIRC with PI-ALL reaching the highest area under curve value of 0.875. The splicing regulatory network between splicing factors and prognosis-related AS events depicted a tangled web of relationships between them. One of the splicing factors: KHDRBS3 was validated by immunohistochemistry to be down-regulated in KIRC tissues. In conclusion, the powerful efficiency of risk stratification of PI models indicated the potential of AS signature as promising prognostic markers for KIRC and the splicing regulation network provided possible genetic mechanism of KIRC.

The importance of regional air pollutant transport modulated by large-scale synoptic circulation has been poorly understood for air pollution. In the present study of 5-year (2015-2019) observation...

Aim The aim of this study is to explore the use of the Questionnaire Appraisal System with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in cognitive interviewing for cross‐cultural adaptation. Design This is a descriptive methodological study. Methods Using the Mandarin version of the Post‐Stroke Checklist as an example, cognitive interviews were conducted with 27 stroke survivors in Guangzhou between November 2020 and February 2021. The Questionnaire Appraisal System was applied as a codebook in focus group discussions to perform quantitative data collections and quantitative content analysis. Results Thirty‐eight problems were proposed in focus group discussions and identified all but four of the 30 questions that emerged in the cognitive interviews. A new item was added to the Questionnaire Appraisal System for better categorization. Four categories and six subcategories of problems in the checklist were revealed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary Selenohomolanthionine (SeHLan) on antioxidant status and immune response in canine parvovirus (CPV) vaccinated puppies. In this study, 30 weaned puppies were randomly divided into six groups: control group (–Se/–Vacc), immunization group (–Se/+Vacc), supplementation of sodium selenite group (SS/+Vacc, 0.35 mg/kg DM), low-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-L/+Vacc, 0.35 mg/kg DM), mid-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-M/+Vacc, 1.0 mg/kg DM), and high-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-H/+Vacc, 2.0 mg/kg DM). The puppies were fed for 42 days and vaccinated with Vanguard Plus 5 on day 0 and day 21. Blood samples were collected on 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 days post-immunization (PI) for determination of antioxidant indicators, lymphocyte proliferation index, serum cytokine concentration (IL-2, IL-4), canine polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) phagocytic function, and the level of CPV antibody titers. The results showed that SeHLan supplementation raised the serum Se concentration and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). It also increased the activity of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content, especially in SeHLan-M/+Vacc group (1.0 mg/kg DM) (P < 0.01). SeHLan supplementation significantly increased lymphocyte proliferation, IL-2, and IL-4 levels in canine serum, and enhanced phagocytosis of PMN in vaccinated puppies (P < 0.05). Moreover, SeHLan supplementation shortened the CPV antibody production time and increased the CPV antibody titers (P < 0.05). Of note, the beneficial effects of SeHLan were superior to those of SS. In conclusion, dietary SeHLan supplementation improved antioxidant activity, increased CPV antibody titers, and enhanced immune function in puppies after weaning. An appropriate dosage of SeHLan (1~2 mg/kg DM) may confer nutritional benefits in puppies.

To characterize the spatial patterns of functional connectivity(FC) changes of whole brain in RRMS with somatosensory disorder(RRMS-SS) and to investigate the correlation between abnormal FC and clinical scores.Twenty-six RRMS-SS patients and 23 healthy controls(HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(RS-fMRI) scanning. The clinical scores were collected including Expanded Disability Status Scores(EDSS), Disease Duration and Somatosensory Evaluation by the Fugl-Meyer sensory score(FMSS). With the voxel-wise methods, RS-fMRI data were analyzed using REST software, to assess the FC of the postcentral gyrus(PoCG). Correlation between clinical variables and the strength of FC was analyzed.Compared with HC, the left postcentral-based FC showed decreased FC of the right cerebellum_8, lingual lobe and Rolandic operculum gyrus, and increased FC of the left middle frontal lobe. The right postcentral-based FC revealed decreased FC with the right Heschl's gyrus lobule, and increased FC with bilateral middle frontal lobe (p 0.001, AlphaSim corrected). Correlation analysis revealed that the FC of altered brain regions was associated with FMSS, EDSS and disease duration.The functional connectivity of PoCG at RS-fMRI has multi-network changes in patients with RRMS-SS. This suggests a complex pattern of abnormal connections between the somatosensory network regions and the whole brain. Moreover, the correlation between the FC and the FMSS, such as the left middle frontal lobe and the right PoCG, indicate that these two brain regions play an important role in RRMS-SS.

Overactivated microglia and persistent neuroinflammation hold an important role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. The extract of Lycoris chejuensis (CJ) and its active compound, 7-deoxy-trans-dihydronarciclasine (named E144), attenuated expressions of pro-inflammatory factors, including nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6, secreted by lipopolysaccharide-activated BV-2 microglial cells, as measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or western blotting. In contrast, CJ extract and E144 promoted the secretion of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin 10. Moreover, we found that E144 attenuated the expression of TNF-α and COX-2 in the cerebral cortex of lipopolysaccharide-treated mice and/or T2576 transgenic mice as well as reduced the reactive immune cells visualized by ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1. Our results suggest the possibility of E144 to serve as a potential anti-neuroinflammatory agent by preventing excess production of pro-inflammatory factors.

We investigated climate niches of grasses at regional scales and quantitatively reconstruct Asian monsoon precipitation at the sand-loess transitional zone in northern China. Our results provide direct evidence that certain grass lineages have been specialized in specific habitats: Pooideae grasses stand out and occupy a much cooler environment than all other subfamilies; Pooideae, Aristidoideae, and Chloridoieae occupy dry environments. Pooideae grasses occupy the coldest and driest environments compared to all other subfamilies, with a mean annual temperature (MAT) and precipitation (MAP) of ~13.6 to ~15.3°C and 224 to ~1674 mm, respectively, at a regional scale. We built a database for grasses and their corresponding climate parameters. Based on this database, past climate parameters at the margin of the Asian summer monsoon since ~70 ka were quantitatively reconstructed by phytolith assemblages. They show that this area was dominated by cold- and dry-adapted grasses since ~70 ka with a MAT and MAP of ~3.3 to ~11.0 °C and ~442 to ~900 mm, respectively, generally consistent with the results of phytolith-based transfer function reconstructions and with the results of previous nearby pollen-based quantitative reconstructions. With the improvement of the species-climate and ecosystem dataset, our database-based method is a promising quantitative reconstruction approach to past climatic change in the monsoon region.

As the third-largest natural gas consumption market, natural gas is of great significance to the economic growth and structure of China. The promotion of natural gas will greatly change the production in every industry directly or indirectly. Based on the modified Cobb-Douglas function, this paper established the panel data from 30 provinces of 2000–2014 to study the relationship through panel quantile regression. The panel quantile results proved that the higher level of economy, the greater the marginal effect of natural gas is on economic growth; then considering the different economy scale of provinces, the panel data is divided into three groups, the results have drawn the same conclusion. Thus, measures to develop natural gas and reform gas market have been put forward, including deepening market-oriented reform of natural gas system, perfecting the construction and management of pipeline transportation and encouraging the consumption of natural gas.

Sand-loess sequences in the desert-loess transition zone are sensitive terrestrial archives for recording past climatic changes and atmospheric dust activities. However, a high-resolution chronology for relative long-term sand-loess sequences is still rare. In this study, we used quartz SAR OSL and K-feldspar pIRIR (pIRIR290) methods to date a 16.8 m sand-loess sequence at Zhenbeitai in Yulin (North-Central China). The quartz is sensitive, fast component dominated but saturates at ∼150 Gy. The measured K-feldspar pIRIR290 De showed no dependency on the first IR stimulation temperature between 50 °C and 260 °C. Dose recovery results were consistent with unity up to ∼800 Gy for a test dose of approximately 30% of the equivalent dose to be measured. The resulting pIRIR290 ages are consistent with the stratigraphy up to ∼121 ka. Thus, a high-resolution chronology up to the last interglacial could be established for the Zhenbeitai sand-loess section. Derived mass accumulation rates show sedimentation rates of ∼10–80 cm/ka for the upper loess (

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common histological subtype of lung cancer. Previous studies have found that many microRNAs (miRNAs), including miRNA‑126‑3p, may play a critical role in the development of LUAD. However, no study of LUAD has researched the synergistic effects and co‑targets of both miRNA‑126‑3p and miRNA‑126‑5p. The present study used real‑time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) to explore the expression values of miRNA‑126‑3p and miRNA‑126‑5p in 101 LUAD and 101 normal lung tissues. Ten relevant microarray datasets were screened to further validate the expression levels of miRNA‑126‑3p and ‑5p in LUAD. Twelve prediction tools were employed to obtain potential targets of miRNA‑126‑3p and miRNA‑126‑5p. The results showed that both miRNA‑126‑3p and ‑5p were expressed significantly lower in LUAD. A significant positive correlation was also present between miRNA‑126‑3p and ‑5p expression in LUAD. In addition, lower expression of miRNA‑126‑3p and ‑5p was indicative of vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis (LNM), and a later tumor/node/metastasis (TNM) stage of LUAD. The authors obtained 167 targets of miRNA‑126‑3p and 212 targets of miRNA‑126‑5p; 44 targets were co‑targets of both. Eight co‑target genes (IGF2BP1, TRPM8, DUSP4, SOX11, PLOD2, LIN28A, LIN28B and SLC7A11) were initially identified as key genes in LUAD. The results of the present study indicated that the co‑regulation of miRNA‑126‑3p and miRNA‑126‑5p plays a key role in the development of LUAD, which also suggests a fail‑proof mode between miRNA‑3p and miRNA‑126‑5p.

Ginger, one of worldwide consumed dietary spice, is not only famous as food supplements, but also believed to exert a variety of remarkable pharmacological activity as herbal remedies. In this study, a ginger constituent, 12-dehydrogingerdione (DHGD) was proven that has comparable anti-inflammatory activity with positive control 6-shogaol in inhibiting LPS-induced interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, prostaglandin (PG) E₂, nitric oxide (NO), inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, without interfering with COX-1 in cultured microglial cells. Subsequent mechanistic studies indicate that 12-DHGD may inhibit neuro-inflammation through suppressing the LPS-activated Akt/IKK/NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, 12-DHGD markedly promoted the activation of NF-E2-related factor (Nrf)-2 and heme oxygenase (HO)-1, and we demonstrated that the involvement of HO-1 on the production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as NO and TNF-α by using a HO-1 inhibitor, Zinc protoporphyrin (Znpp). These results indicate that 12-DHGD may protect against neuro-inflammation by inhibiting Akt/IKK/IκB/NF-κB pathway and promoting Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway.

EPICS (experimental physics and industrial control system) is an open source, cross platform, distributed real-time control framework, which is widely used to control devices such as particle accelerators, large-scale experiments, large telescopes and other large-scale experiments. In the telescope control system, it is necessary to meet the real-time and distributed control requirements. For the distributed telescope observation and control system RACS2 (Remote Autonomous Control System), it can be divided into three layers: user interface layer, observation control layer and equipment control layer. This paper mainly discusses the content related to the device control layer, which is mainly used to control the equipment of a telescope. We use EPICS framework to realize the unified control of telescope, camera, dome, weather station and other equipment. The device control layer of RACS2 realizes the conversion from EPICS protocol to RACS2 protocol through EPICSBridge module, so users can control the devices through RACS2.