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Acquiring disaster information quickly after an earthquake is crucial for disaster and emergency rescue management. This study examines a digital social network – an earthquake disaster information reporting network – for rapid collection of earthquake disaster information. Based on the network, the disaster information rapid collection method is expounded in this paper. The structure and components of the reporting network are introduced. Then the work principles of the reporting network are discussed, in which the rapid collection of disaster information is realised by using Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) messages to report the disaster information and Geographic information system (GIS) to analyse and extract useful disaster information. This study introduces some key technologies for the work principles, including the methods of mass sending and receiving of SMS for disaster management, the reporting network grouping management method, brief disaster information codes, and the GIS modelling of the reporting network. Finally, a city earthquake disaster information quick reporting system is developed and with the support of this system the reporting network obtained good results in a real earthquake and earthquake drills. This method is a semi-real time disaster information collection method which extends current SMS based method and meets the need of small and some moderate earthquakes.

Plant defensins (PDFs) are innate anti-microbial peptides that play important roles in disease resistance, particularly resistance to fungi. Two defensin-like cDNA sequences were cloned from watermelon and named CIPDF2.4 (GenBank Accession No. KC481270) and ClPDF2.5 (GenBank Accession No. KC481271). Sequence alignments showed that the encoded proteins C1PDF2.4 and C1PDF2.5 had high amino acid sequence homology (> 62%) to known Arabidopsis PDF proteins and contained a highly conserved motif of eight cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that both C1PDF2.4 and C1PDF2.5 belonged to the Arabidopsis PDF2 cluster and were closely-related to each other. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that the CIPDF2.4 and CIPDF2.5 genes were expressed in a wide variety of tissues, including leaves, roots, and stems. The highest level of expression of both genes was observed in leaves. The level of transcription of ClPDF2.5 was higher than that of ClPDF2.4 in stems. Gene expression profiles in response to signalling molecules such as salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and ethylene, or in response to a challenge inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON) were investigated. Expression levels of CIPDF2.4 and CIPDF2.5 were shown to be highly induced in response to signalling molecules, but were down-regulated when roots were infected by FON. Furthermore, expression of the CIPDF2.4 and CIPDF2.5 genes was differentially induced in response to different stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel microfluidic approach to measure interfacial tension of immiscible fluids rapidly is reported. This method rests upon quantitative force balance analysis of drop formation dynamics in a coaxial microfluidic device. The values of interfacial tension for several two liquids without/with surfactants are measured. These measurements compare well with those measured by the commercial interfacial tensiometry. The viscosity of water phase fluid can also be accurately measured in the same microfluidic device. Several model systems with interfacial tension from 1.0 to 10.0 mN/m and water phase viscosity from 1.0 to 10.0 mPa·s are tested in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum phase measurement with multiphoton twin-Fock states has been shown to be optimal for detecting equal numbers of photons at the output ports of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (i.e., the so-called single-fringe detection), since the phase sensitivity can saturate the quantum Cramér–Rao lower bound at certain values of phase shift. Here we report a further step to achieve a global phase estimation at the Heisenberg limit by detecting the particle-number difference (i.e., the measurement). We show the role of experimental imperfections on the ultimate estimation precision with the six-photon twin-Fock state of light. Our results show that both the precision and the sensing region of the measurement are better than those of the single-fringe detection, due to combined contributions of the measurement outcomes. We numerically simulate the phase estimation protocol using an asymptotically unbiased maximum likelihood estimator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the results of a study on 2,2′-(1,2-Ethanediyldithio)bis(1,3-benzothiazole).

This study aimed to develop a pharmacokinetic model of linezolid in premature neonates and evaluate and optimize the administration regimen. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to detect the blood concentration data of 54 premature neonates after intravenous administration of linezolid, and the relevant clinical data were collected. The population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model was established by nonlinear mixed effects modeling. Based on the final model parameters, the optimal administration regimen of linezolid in premature neonates with different body surface areas (BSA) was simulated and evaluated. The pharmacokinetic properties of linezolid in premature neonates are best described by a single-compartment model with primary elimination. The population typical values for apparent volume of distribution and clearance were 0.783 L and 0.154 L/h, respectively. BSA was a statistically significant covariate with clearance (CL) and volume of distribution (V d ). Monte Carlo simulations showed that the optimal administration regimen for linezolid in premature neonates was 6 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.11 m 2 , 7 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.13 m 2 , and 9 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.15 m 2 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≤1 mg/L, 7 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.11 m 2 , 8 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.13 m 2 , and 10 mg/kg q8h for BSA 0.15 m 2 with MIC = 2 mg/L. A pharmacokinetic model was developed to predict the blood concentration on linezolid in premature neonates. Based on this model, the optimal administration regimen of linezolid in premature neonates needs to be individualized according to different BSA levels., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.