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Volatile sex pheromones are vital for sexual communication between males and females. Females of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, produce and emit two sex pheromone components, periplanone-A (PA) and periplanone-B (PB). Although PB is the major sex attractant and can attract males, how it interacts with PA in regulating sexual behaviors is still unknown. In this study, we found that in male cockroaches, PA counteracted PB attraction. We identified two odorant receptors (ORs), OR53 and OR100, as PB/PA and PA receptors, respectively. OR53and OR100were predominantly expressed in the antennae of sexually mature males, and their expression levels were regulated by the sex differentiation pathway and nutrition-responsive signals. Cellular localization of OR53and OR100in male antennae further revealed that two types of sensilla coordinate a complex two-pheromone-two-receptor pathway in regulating cockroach sexual behaviors. These findings indicate distinct functions of the two sex pheromone components, identify their receptors and possible regulatory mechanisms underlying the male-specific and age-dependent sexual behaviors, and can guide novel strategies for pest management.

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), bacterial cellulose (BC) and sulfuric acid were used as raw materials to prepare PVA/BC composite hydrogel electrolyte (CHEPVA/BC) by physical cross-linking freezing-thawing cycle method. After freeze-thaw cycles, PVA and BC form a large number of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, which endow the composite hydrogel with good self-healing property (SHP) and mechanical properties (MPs). The effect of BC content (BCC) on MPs and ionic conductivity (IC) of CHEPVA/BCwere discussed. The results show that the composite hydrogel with BCC of 0.6% has the best SHPs and MPs, with breaking strength and IC as high as 0.41 MPa and 138.9 mS/cm, respectively. After the first healing cycle (FHC), IC and healing rate still reach 84.1 mS/cm and 74%, respectively. Polyaniline electrode was polymerized in-situon the surface of the self-healing CHEPVA/BC, and a flexible all-in-one supercapacitor was designed and assembled. The results show that when aniline concentration is 0.2 mol/L, the supercapacitor device achieved high specific capacitance (580.8 mF/cm2), excellent energy density (20.17 μW·h/cm2) and power density (50 μW/cm2) at current density of 0.2 mA/cm2, and the capacitance retention rate after the FHC reaches 66%, showing good self-healing performance and great potential to maintain mechanical integrity and electrochemical stability. These findings indicate that the self-healing CHEPVA/BChas great application prospects in flexible wearable energy storage devices.

At the early stage of public health emergencies, when the conventional medical reserves prepared are insufficient, and productivity could temporarily not meet the surge in demand, donations can be used to cover excess demand for medical supplies to a large extent. This paper explicitly considers the allocation problem of limited medical reserves during a public health emergency, incorporating uncertainty in demand and donated supplies and the priorities of health care centers. The problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic program that regards the donated supplies as an efficient recourse action, aiming to minimize the total losses. The optimal allocation strategy of limited medical reserves and donations is obtained by solving the model using Gurobi solver. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by a series of computational results, which show that the solutions of our method not only benefit the emergency demand fulfill rate but reduce the total losses as well.

The aim of this study was to identify independent risk factors for thyroid cancer, establish an ultrasonographic multimodality diagnostic model for thyroid nodules, and explore the diagnostic value of the model. From November 2011 to February 2015, 307 patients with a total of 367 thyroid nodules underwent conventional ultrasound, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), and ultrasound elastography examinations before surgery. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for thyroid cancer and to establish a multimodality diagnostic model for thyroid nodules. The diagnostic performance of conventional ultrasound, CEUS, ultrasound elastography, and the multimodality diagnostic model was assessed and compared. The following seven independent risk factors were included in the logistic regression models: age, irregular shape, hypoechoic pattern, marked hypoechoic pattern, irregular blood flow distribution, heterogeneous enhancement, and an elastic score of 3/4. The multimodality diagnostic model had a diagnostic accuracy of 86.9%, with a sensitivity of 93.5% and a specificity of 77.3%. The multimodality diagnostic model improved the diagnostic accuracy compared with that of conventional ultrasound, CEUS, and ultrasound elastography. Independent risk factors for thyroid cancer included age, irregular shape, hypoechoic pattern, marked hypoechoic pattern, irregular blood flow distribution, heterogeneous enhancement, and an elastic score of 3/4. The multimodality diagnostic model was demonstrated to be effective in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules.

Recent evidence has shown an association between cardiovascular function and circadian rhythms [1, 2].

In this paper, substrate curvature method was adopted and a theory model based on Stoneys formula was built for obtaining the internal stress of SU-8 film. The effect of substrate diameter, film thickness and post-baked temperature on substrate curvature ratio was investigated by ANSYS simulation. The analytical result shows that post-baked temperature is the main effect factor on internal stress of SU-8 film. In addition, internal stresses of SU-8 at three different post-temperatures (55°C, 70°C and 85°C) are measured. The results show that the experimental results greatly agreed with simulation analytical results. It means the internal stress of SU-8 film can be accurately described by the theory model, which provides a basis for the quantitative analysis of the internal stress in SU-8 film.

New-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most common complications occurring in 10–40 of patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Recent studies suggest that dysmetabolism may contribute to the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation; however, the putative mechanism in patients undergoing CABG surgery is unknown. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1 (PGC-1) has been demonstrated as a master regulator of myocardial energy metabolism, and glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) has both a higher affinity for glucose and a much greater transport capacity compared with GLUT1, GLUT2, and GLUT4. We sought to evaluate the role of energy metabolism, especially the glucose metabolism, on patients after isolated CABG surgery.

Polypyrrole (PPy) with hierarchical structures inherited from butterfly wings were prepared by using a two-step templating process. Firstly, SiO2 replica was synthesized from butterfly wings by using a sonochemical method and then the obtained SiO2 replica was used as template for the fabrication of PPy with hierarchical structures by using an in situ polymerization method. The precise structues of PPy replica down to nanometer’s level were confirmed directly by FE-SEM, TEM images. The primary response of the replicas to dopamine (DA) as a biosensor was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, and it was found that the PPy replicas showed a much higher biological activity compared with that of common PPy powders, probably due to the hierarchical structures as well as controlled porosity inherited from butterfly wings.

This article has been retracted at the request of the editor.

In the reactive off-axis sputtering deposition of ZnO films, three transport regimes from a ballistic motion to a diffusive drift of the ejected species were observed when the growth pressures were varied from 5 to 150mTorr. The distribution of the film thickness at different substrate locations was measured. When the substrate surface was parallel to the gravity vector, a film thickness variation along the direction of gravity was detected in the region of diffusive transport deposition. This phenomenon depends strongly on the growth pressures while only slightly on the growth temperatures. Based on experimental results, a gravity-related motion of the sputtered species is proposed in film growth under relative low growth pressures.

We establish in this paper an inequality for two simplices, which combine altitudes and edge-lengths of one simplex with distances from an interior point to its facets of the other simplex, and give some applications thereof.

Using microwave electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, diamond-like carbon films were directly grown at low temperatures (lessthan equal to400°C) on Fe-based alloy substrates without diamond seeding or use of a template layer. A single, broad line in the Raman spectra was observed in the region of 1328-1335 cm-1for films grown in gas mixtures with a ratio of CH4:H2greaterthan equal to 2. In contrast, disordered carbon and graphite phases appeared in the spectra for film grown with a concentration of 20 CH4in hydrogen. Diamond nucleation with an amorphous carbon layer was observed in the initial growth stage, while many diamond particles with irregular morphological features were observed on the surface of thicker films. These growth features are a consequence of the catalytic nature of the Fe-based substrate.

AbstractA binuclear Mn(II) complex of the formula [Mn2(H2pfhmp)Cl2]Cl·3H2O (1) and a mononuclear Mn(II) complex. [Mn(SIH)Cl]·H2O (2), (H3pfhmp = N, N'-diisonicotinoyl-2-hydroxy-5-methyl-isophthalaldehyde dihydrazone and SIH2= salicylaldhyde-isonicotinoyl hydrazone) have been prepared and characterized by IR, UV. ESR and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The magnetic investigations (4-300K) of complex (1) reveal weak antiferromagnetic spin exchange with J = - 0.46 cm−1. The investigations of catalyzed oxidations of cyclohexane indicate that the Mn(II) complexes (1) and (2) are effective catalysts.

Zinc oxide thin films saturated with molybdenum were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering process. A surprising finding about the study is the electrical conductivity increases and then decreases with molybdenum sputtering power. Hall measurement study shows that the conductivity decrease is caused by decreased electron concentration. However, the electron mobility increases steadily with increased molybdenum sputtering power in the same range even though the molybdenum incorporation still increases. This is an indication that the electrical conduction no longer occurs through the molybdenum-doped ZnO grains. We conclude that the conduction changes from grains to grain boundaries as molybdenum sputtering power increases. It means molybdenum is precipitated at the grain boundaries and forms conducting channels besides zinc oxide grains. The high mobility conduction channel might be desired for devices using electron transport layers in their structures.

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Primary cardiac tumors of any type in infancy and childhood are rare, with a prevalence of 0.03%reported in autopsy surveys carried out at children's hospitals. Within the pediatric population,the most common primary tumor involving the heart is rhabdomyoma. These tumors may bedivided into 3 groups: 1) arising in tuberous sclerosis; 2) arising sporadically; or 3) arising in congenital heart disease. Many cardiac rhabdomyomas are asymptomatic and regress early in life without clinically untoward effects. Only a small proportion of these tumors come to the attention of the pediatrician and pathologist when there is obstruction of blood flow, a murmur related to subaortic stenosis, or arrhythmias. Rhabdomyomas may be detected prenatally during ultrasound examination, with one case being diagnosed at 22 weeks gestation. Although it is possible to subdivide the tumors into 3 groups, the association of this entity with tuberous sclerosis is very strong with at least 60 to 85% of children with rhabdomyomas having tuberous sclerosis.