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To repair the damaged SiC coated C/C composites, a double-layer system including a Sm-doped borosilicate glass external layer and a SiSiC inner layer was prepared by a slurry-based laser cladding technique. Isothermal oxidation experiment and indirect/direct thermal-radiation measurements were performed. The results showed that the absorbance of borosilicate glass to the laser at 900–1200 nm was improved significantly by Sm-doping. Consequently, the repaired coating with a more compact structure and better oxidation resistance was obtained. After oxidation at 1773 K for 10 h, the mass loss of the damaged sample could be reduced by 74.98% with repairing. By increasing laser-absorption and reducing viscosity, the thermal-radiation property of the repaired coating was enhanced to decrease the surface temperature greatly. A repair system with excellent thermal protection performance was achieved.

Abstract Background Myofibroblastoma (MFB) and low-grade adenosquamous carcinoma (LGASC) are rare tumours in the breast, respectively. However, a collision tumour of the two types has never been reported. Case presentation A 42-year-old female presented with a palpable mass in diameter of about 2.5 cm in the left breast. Morphologically, the lesion was predominately composed of bland spindle cells admixed with some islands of mature adipocytes and a few epithelial elements dispersing in infiltrating way which formed both tubule and solid structures. The mass showed low positive index of Ki-67. The spindle cells were strongly and diffusely positive for CD34, SMA, desmin, ER and PR. The epithelial elements were positive for CK and EMA, and negative for ER and PR completely. CK5/6 and P63 were positive in the outer-layer of the tubules and nearly all the cells of the solid nests. Conclusions A collision tumour of MFB and LGASC in breast is extremely rare and either component is supposed to be not overlooked. Excision and close follow-up are advised.

Abstract In this paper, the structural, electronic, and optical properties of MoS2 multilayers are investigated by employing the first-principles method. Up to six-layers of MoS2 have been comparatively studied. The covalency and ionicity in the MoS2 monolayer are shown to be stronger than those in the bulk. As the layer number is increased to two or above two, band splitting is significant due to the interlayer coupling. We found that long plateaus emerged in the imaginary parts of the dielectric function ε2xxω $$ {\varepsilon}_2^{xx}\left(\omega \right) $$ and the joint density of states (JDOS) of MoS2 multilayers, due to the Van Hove singularities in a two-dimensional material. One, two and three small steps appear at the thresholds of both the long plateau of ε2xxω $$ {\varepsilon}_2^{xx}\left(\omega \right) $$ and JDOS, for monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer, respectively. As the number of layers further increased, the number of small steps increases and the width of the small steps decreases accordingly. Due to interlayer coupling, the longest plateau and shortest plateau of JDOS are from the monolayer and bulk, respectively.

Concern has been expressed regarding the impacts of climate change on river ice and ice jam formation in cold regions. Ice jams are easily initiated in bends and narrow channels and cause disasters. In this study, observations and remote sensing monitoring are used to study the freeze-up ice jam formation of bends. Sediment transport and freezing process of the river interact, influencing bed changes profile and sedimentary budget. River ice processes, channel evolution, ice hydro-thermodynamics, and ice jam accumulation are explored. The results show that the channel topography determines the river thalweg, and that the channel elevation interacts with the river ice through sediment transport. The channel shrinkage increases the probability of ice jam, and the sharp bend is prone to ice jam formation. Under the effect of secondary circulation flow in the bend and in the outer bank, the juxtaposed freeze-up and the hummocky ice cover occur in the same location, and frazil ice accumulates under the junction of the main channel and the shoals. Affected by the increase of the hydraulic slope and the velocity downstream, open water reaches develops downstream of the ice accumulation. An open water section is emerged upstream of the bend, due to the ice deposition, and partly cut-off supply of the frazil.

BACKGROUND: Previous association studies examining the relationship between the APOC1 polymorphism and susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease (AD) have shown conflicting results, and it is not clear if an APOC1 variant acts as a genetic risk factor in AD etiology across multiple populations. METHODS: To confirm the risk association between APOC1 and AD, we designed a case-control study and also performed a meta-analysis of previously published studies. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients with AD and one hundred fifty-six unrelated controls were included in case-control study. No association was found between the variation of APOC1 and AD in stage 1 of our study. However, our meta-analysis pooled a total of 2092 AD patients and 2685 controls. The APOC1 rs11568822 polymorphism was associated with increased AD risk in Caucasians, Asians and Caribbean Hispanics, but not in African Americans. APOE ε4 carriers harboring the APOC1 insertion allele, were more prevalent in AD patients than controls (χ(2) = 119.46, OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.31-3.36, P

BACKGROUND: The I405V polymorphism of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene (CETP) has been suggested to be a protective factor conferring longevity in Ashkenazi Jews, although findings in other races are not supportive. This paper describes a case-control study and a meta-analysis conducted to derive a more precise estimation of the association between CETP 405V and longevity. METHODS: We enrolled 1,021 ethnic Han Chinese participants (506 in the longevity group and 515 controls), then performed a meta-analysis that integrated the current study and previously published ones. Pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated for allele contrasts, dominant and recessive inheritance models to assess the association between CETP 405V and longevity according to the ethnic stratification. RESULTS: Our case-control data indicated that CETP 405V is a longevity risk allele in all genetic models (P additive =0.008; P dominant =0.008, OR(dominant)=0.673; P recessive =0.017, OR(recessive)=0.654) after adjustment for the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele, body mass index and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A synergy was detected between 405V and APOE ε4 (P=0.001, OR=0.530). Eight studies were eligible for meta-analysis, which confirmed 405V is the risky allele against longevity in all genetic models: allele contrasts (OR=0.81, 95%CI=0.74-0.88), dominant model (OR=0.72, 95%CI=0.64-0.82) and recessive model (OR=0.80, 95%CI=0.67-0.96). After ethnic stratification, 405V remained a risk allele in East Asians but no significant association was found in Europeans or white Americans. CONCLUSION: Our case-control study suggests CETP 405V as a risk allele against longevity in Chinese. The meta-analysis suggests the involvement of CETP 405V is protective in Ashkenazi Jews but is a risk allele against longevity in the East Asian (Chinese) population.

Background: Although many studies have measured HBV cccDNA molecules in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) from patients with active chronic hepatitis B, the current pilot study found PBMC HBV cccDNA in PBMC among HBsAg-positive mothers and their neonates. However, the risk factor of HBV cccDNA in PBMC among HBsAg-positive pregnant female's neonates remains unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore influential factors of HBV cccDNA inPBMCamongHBsAg-positive pregnant female's neonates. Methods: Peripheral blood samples and clinical data were collected from 151 pregnant females, who were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the Third People Hospital of Taiyuan City. Blood samples from 152neonates were collected beforeimmune prophylaxes administration and tested for HBV markers, HBVDNAin serum, andHBVDNAin PBMC. Bayesian logistic regression with Cauchy prior were used to measure the association between maternal characteristics, neonatal characteristics, and HBV cccDNA in PBMC of neonates. Results: Among neonates of HBsAg-positive mothers, the positive rate of cccDNA in PBMC was 4.61% (7/152). Maternal PBMC HBV cccDNA positivity (OR = 18.411, 95%CI: 3.025 - 66.022) and neonates PBMC rcDNA positivity (OR = 13.529, 95% CI: 1.948 - 93.690) were associated with HBV cccDNA in neonatal PBMC, respectively. Conclusions: The study suggested that HBV cccDNA can be detected in PBMC of HBsAg-positive mother's neonates. Maternal PBMC HBV cccDNA positivity and neonatal PBMC rcDNA positivity are risk factors of HBV cccDNA in PBMC of neonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable isotopes have been used to identify the characteristics of precipitation, evaporation, basin hydrology, and residence times. However, lakes in the cold regions are usually covered by ice for 5-6 months. To get a better understanding of stable isotopes characteristics and indications in lake ice bodies, ice and water were sampled during the icebound season in both the ice and water bodies in Dali Lake, and deuterium, oxygen-18 total nitrogen (TN), and the major ions were analyzed. The results showed that deuterium and oxygen-18 compositions (δD-δ18O) compositions in the ice body were greater than in the water body beneath, scattered on a straight line, and deviating downward from the global meteoric water line in the top right. The ice profile showed that the δD-δ18O compositions increased from the ice surface downward and decreased near to the bottom. In contrast, the TN and the major ions in the ice decreased from the ice surface downward and increased near to the bottom, meaning that the concentrations of δ18O had a negative correlation with the concentrations of TN and major ions. These indicated that stable isotopes can be used for tracing the nutriment and ion transport processes in the ice body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The abnormality of interleukin-21 (IL-21)-IL-21-receptor (IL-21R) system has been found in many autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms of the IL-21 and IL-21R are associated with Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), two major forms of AITDs, among a Chinese population. Methods: Rs907715, rs4833837, rs2221903 and rs2055979 of the IL-21 gene and rs3093301 and rs2285452 of the IL-21R gene were explored in a case-control study including 405 GD, 228 HT patients and 242 controls. These genes were genotyped by the PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and the MASS spectrometry method. Results: For IL-21 gene, we identified and confirmed a higher prevalence of A alleles of rs2221903 (P = 0.018, OR = 1.50 95% CI = 1.07-2.09) in GD patients. We also found a significant association between rs2221903 and HT (allele: P = 0.009, OR = 1.69 95% CI = 1.13-2.51; genotype: recessive P = 0.021, OR = 11.72 95% CI = 1.46-94.13). For the IL-21R gene, compared with controls, the genotype frequencies of rs3093301 and rs2285452 were significantly different in HT patients using dominant genetic model (P = 0.023, OR = 1.61 95% CI = 1.07-2.42; P = 0.031, OR = 1.71 95% CI = 1.05-2.80, respectively). Furthermore, the haplotype AA containing the major alleles of rs4833837 and rs2221903 was associated with increased susceptibility to GD with an OR of 1.50(95% CI =1.08-2.09, P = 0.016), and to HT with an OR of 1.69(95% CI =1.14-2.52, P = 0.009). Conclusion: Our results indicated that the SNPs of the IL-21 gene is associated with the development of GD. In addition, we found that individuals with the SNPs of the common IL-21 and IL-21R may have higher risk of HT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the Achlioptas percolation (AP) process [Achlioptas et al. Science 323 (2009) 1453] to two generalized Achlioptas percolation processes named GAP1 and GAP2. GAP1 induces a weighted probability factor α in the node sampling process and excludes the intracluster links. Based on GAP1, GAP2 requires m pairs of nodes sampled to add m candidate links that should be residing in 2m different clusters at each step. In the evolution of GAP1, the phase transition can evolve from the continuous to the ‘most explosive’ percolation as the value of the factor α is decreasing to a certain negative number. It indicates that there might be a type of discontinuous transition induced by the probability modulation effect even in the thermodynamic limit, and the most explosive percolation is only one of its extreme cases. We analyze the characteristics of the evolving process of the two-nodes-clusters and the cluster-size distribution at the transformation point for different α; the numerical results suggest that there might be a critical value α0 and the phase transition should be discontinuous (α ≤ α0) or continuous (α > α0). In the evolution of GAP2, twice phase transitions are observed successively and the time duration between them becomes shorter till they amalgamate into the ‘most explosive’ percolation. The first transition is induced by the probability modulation effect analyzed in GAP1, the second transition, induced by the three coexisting giant clusters, is always discontinuous and the maximum jump of order parameter approaches N/3 while the value of the factor α is increasing to 1.4 approximately. In this work, two typical discontinuous transitions induced respectively by the probability modulation and the extended local competition are exhibited in GAP2, which might provide references to analyze the discontinuous phase transition in networks further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a percolation process in which the classical Erdös—Rényi (ER) random evolutionary network is intervened by the product rule (PR) from some moment t0. The parameter t0 is continuously tunable over the real interval [0, 1]. This model becomes the random network under the Achlioptas process at t0 = 0 and the ER network at t0 = 1. For the percolation process at t0 ≤ 1, we introduce a relatively slow-growing point, after which the largest cluster begins growing faster than that in the ER model. A weakly discontinuous transition is generated in the percolation process at t0 ≤ 0.5. We take the relatively slow-growing point as the lower pseudotransition point and the maximum gap point of the order parameter as the upper pseudotransition point. The critical point can be approximately predicted by each fitting function of the two points about t0. This contributes to understanding the rapid mergence of the large clusters at the critical point. The numerical simulations indicate that the lower pseudotransition point and the upper pseudotransition point are equal in the thermodynamic limit. When t0 > 0.5, the percolation processes generate a continuous transition. The scaling analyses of several quantities are presented, including the relatively slow-growing point, the duration of the relatively slow-growing process, as well as the relatively maximum strength between the percolation percolation at t0 < 1 and the ER network about different t0. The presented mechanism can be viewed as a two-stage percolation process that has many potential applications in the growth processes of real networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the influence of the changes in the overlying water environment on the internal nitrogen release from reservoir sediments in different seasons, the quantitative linear relationship between the intensity of the nitrogen release from the sediment and the environmental factors of the overlying water was established, and their contribution rate to the nitrogen pollution of the reservoir during different storage periods was investigated. In this study, the sediment samples were collected from the Dahekou Reservoir in the Xilingol League, and the orthogonal simulation experiments were conducted in the laboratory. The mathematical model, which was established using multiple linear regression methods, revealed the following. The order of the significance of the influences of the environmental factors on the nitrogen release from the sediments in the Dahekou Reservoir is water temperature (T) > dissolved oxygen (DO) > pH value > hydrodynamic force (K). The total nitrogen release flux from the sediments in the Dahekou Reservoir was 14.278 t/a in 2018, accounting for 27.91% of the total nitrogen (TN) pollution load input during the same period. In particular, in winter, the contribution rate of the nitrogen released from the sediments reached the highest level (57.06–63.26%), which was significantly higher than the river’s contribution to the total nitrogen pollution load of the reservoir. The nitrogen released from the sediments became the main source of nitrogen nutrients in the reservoir in the ice-sealed period.