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ABSTRACTThe intention of this paper is to estimate the steady-state chloride diffusion coefficient of mature cement paste through laboratory test and theoretical analysis. In the test, the chloride diffusion coefficient [...]

ABSTRACT Since the deterioration of marine reinforced concrete structures is, to a great extent, related to the movement rate of chloride ions in concrete, it is essential to determine the [...]

Objective: This study compared the clinical effects of two different lipid emulsions in premature infants with gestational age < 32 weeks (VPI) or birth weight < 1500 g (VLBWI) to provide an evidence-based medicine basis for optimizing intravenous lipid emulsion. Methods: This was a prospective multicenter randomized controlled study. A total of 465 VPIs or VLBWIs, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of five tertiary hospitals in China from March 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, were recruited. All subjects were randomly allocated into two groups, namely, medium-chain triglycerides/long-chain triglycerides (MCT/LCT) group (n= 231) and soybean oil, medium-chain triglycerides, olive oil, and fish oil (SMOF) group (n= 234). Clinical features, biochemical indexes, nutrition support therapy, and complications were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results: No significant differences were found in perinatal data, hospitalization, parenteral and enteral nutrition support between the two groups (P> 0.05). Compared with the MCT/LCT group, the incidence of neonates with a peak value of total bilirubin (TB) > 5 mg/dL (84/231 [36.4% vs. 60/234 [25.6%]), a peak value of direct bilirubin (DB) ≥ 2 mg/dL (26/231 [11.3% vs. 14/234 [6.0%]), a peak value of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) > 900 IU/L (17/231 [7.4% vs. 7/234 [3.0%]), and a peak value of triglycerides (TG) > 3.4 mmol/L (13/231 [5.6% vs. 4/234[1.7%]]) were lower in the SMOF group (P< 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that in the subgroup analysis of < 28 weeks, the incidence of parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis (PNAC) and metabolic bone disease of prematurity (MBDP) were lower in the SMOF group (P= 0.043 and 0.029, respectively), whereas no significant differences were present in the incidence of PNAC and MBDP between the two groups at > 28 weeks group (P= 0.177 and 0.991, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the incidence of PNAC (aRR: 0.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20–0.70, P= 0.002) and MBDP (aRR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.19–0.81, P= 0.029) in the SMOF group were lower than that in the MCT/LCT group. In addition, no significant differences were recorded in the incidence of patent ductus arteriosus, feeding intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis (Bell’s stage ≥ 2), late-onset sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, retinopathy of prematurity and extrauterine growth retardation between the two groups (P> 0.05). Conclusions: The application of mixed oil emulsion in VPI or VLBWI can reduce the risk of plasma TB > 5 mg/dL, DB ≥ 2 mg/dL, ALP > 900 IU/L, and TG > 3.4 mmol/L during hospitalization. SMOF has better lipid tolerance, reduces the incidence of PNAC and MBDP, and exerts more benefits in preterm infants with gestational age < 28 weeks.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to present a Brownian motion simulation for the chloride diffusivity of concrete. According to stereological theory, the probability density function and cumulative distribution [...]

ABSTRACT In predicting the chloride diffusivity in concrete as a three-phase material, composed of aggregates, interfacial transition zone (ITZ), and bulk cement paste, not only the volume fractions, physical properties, [...]

ABSTRACT Owing to its importance in the durability assessment and design of reinforced concrete structures exposed to chloride-ladden environments, it is essential to determine the chloride diffusivity in concrete. This [...]

ABSTRACTOxide fibres have attracted considerable attention as protective layers for alumina composites. In this study, alumina (Al2O3f/Al2O3) matrix composites reinforced with continuous fibres were fabricated by a sol–gel process and were coated with Y2O3or ZrO2to improve their ablation resistance. The ablation behaviour of the coated composites was analysed under the oxyacetylene torch flame test. The results suggested that the Y2O3and ZrO2coatings as sacrificial barrier layers could protect the integrity of the composites. The linear ablation rate and mass ablation rate of composites with Y2O3coating were 0.00251 mm s−1and 0.00143 g s−1, respectively; the linear ablation rate and mass ablation rate of composites with ZrO2coating were 0.00142 mm s−1and 0.00112 g s−1, respectively. After a 120 s ablation test at 2200°C, the coatings still showed a stable structure and a high protection performance.

Insufficient available phosphorus in soil has become an important limiting factor for the improvement of yield and quality in soybean. The mining of QTLs and candidate genes controlling soybean phosphorus utilization related traits is a necessary strategy to solve this problem. In this study, 11 phosphorus utilization related traits of a natural population of 281 typical soybean germplasms and a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 270 lines were evaluated under different phosphorus conditions at two critical stages: the four-leaf stage as the seedling critical stage was designated as the T1stage, and the six-leaf stage as the flowering critical stage was designated as the T2stage. In total, 200 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci associated with phosphorus utilization related traits were identified in the natural population, including 91 detected at the T1stage, and 109 detected at the T2stage. Among these SNP loci, one SNP cluster (s715611375, ss715611377, ss715611379 and ss715611380) on Gm12 was shown to be significantly associated with plant height under the low phosphorus condition at the T1stage, and the elite haplotype showed significantly greater plant height than the others. Meanwhile, one pleiotropic SNP cluster (ss715606501, ss715606506 and ss715606543) on Gm10 was found to be significantly associated with the ratio of root/shoot, root and total dry weights under the low phosphorus condition at the T2stage, and the elite haplotype also presented significantly higher values for related characteristics under the phosphorus starvation condition. Furthermore, four co-associated SNP loci (ss715597964, ss715607012, ss715622173 and ss715602331) were identified under the low phosphorus condition at both the T1and T2stages, and 12 QTLs were found to be consistent with these genetic loci in the RIL population. More importantly, 14 candidate genes, including MYB transcription factor, purple acid phosphatase, sugar transporter and HSP20-like chaperones superfamily genes, etc., showed differential expression levels after low phosphorus treatment, and three of them were further verified by qRT-PCR. Thus, these genetic loci and candidate genes could be applied in marker-assisted selection or map-based gene cloning for the genetic improvement of soybean phosphorus utilization.

Objectives: To investigate the etiology of common respiratory pathogens in children < 2 years of age hospitalized with pneumonia in Xiamen from 2014 to 2017. Methods: The medical records of 5581 children with pneumonia were retrospectively reviewed. Direct immunofluorescent test was used for respiratory virus testing. Bacteria were detected by conventional culture method. The results of pathogen detection at admission were analyzed as well as the clinical outcomes of children. Results: The burden of hospitalized children with pneumonia was highest among infants < 6 months old (58.2%). Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most common respiratory virus (26.0%) followed by parainfluenza (4.8%) and adenovirus (3.2%). Haemophilus influenzaewas the most common bacteria detected (16.6%) followed by Moraxella catarrhalis(13.4%), Staphylococcus aureus(13.0%), Streptococcus pneumoniae(12.3%), Escherichia coli(5.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae(4.8%). Notably, RSV and K. pneumoniaewere detected more frequently in severe pneumonia (35.0% and 10.9%) versus mild pneumonia (25.6% and 4.6%), with higher rates of ICU admissions, longer hospital stays and higher hospital costs compared to those infected with other respiratory pathogens. Conclusions: Among children < 2 years of age hospitalized with pneumonia in Xiamen, RSV was the most common respiratory virus, while H. influenzaeand S. pneumoniaeremained the predominant bacterial pathogens detected. Considering the low implementation rate of vaccines against pneumococcal and Hib pneumonia in China, there is an urgent need to increase both vaccination rates to reduce pneumococcal and Hib disease burden.

African swine fever (ASF), a fatal disease outbroken in China in August 2018, has widely attracted social concern especially in the information era. The occurrence of ASF led to an imbalance between supply and demand in pork and other meat markets. As a result, meat prices fluctuated greatly during the past year in 2019. To measure ASF quantitatively, the internet public concern index about ASF was created using web crawler methods. The relationships between ASF and meat prices were analyzed based on time-varying parameter vector auto-regressive (TVP-VAR) model. The results showed that there were some differences in the impact size, direction and duration of ASF on the prices of pork, chicken, beef and mutton, and the characteristics of time variability and heterogeneity were obvious. At the same time, the impact of ASF on meat prices is not consistent with the trend and degree of ASF. The impulse intensity is strongly correlated with the strength and duration of ASF, and it is generally weak in the early stage and much stronger in the middle and late periods. The results indicate that macro regulations, monitoring and early-warning system, standardizing production and circulation, and the public opinion monitoring and guidance about ASF should be given more attention in future to stabilize the market expectations and to promote a smooth functioning of the livestock markets.

Aksay Kazakhs are the easternmost branch of Kazakhs, residing in Jiuquan city, the forefront of the ancient Silk Road. However, the genetic diversity of Aksay Kazakhs and its relationships with other Kazakhs still lack attention. To clarify this issue, we analyzed the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome from 93 Aksay Kazakhs samples, using a high-resolution analysis of 106 biallelic markers and 17 STRs. The lowest haplogroup diversity (0.38) was observed in Aksay Kazakhs among all studied Kazakh populations. The social and cultural traditions of the Kazakhs shaped their current pattern of genetic variation. Aksay Kazakhs tended to migrate with clans and had limited paternal admixture with neighboring populations. Aksay Kazakhs had the highest frequency (80%) of haplogroup C2b1a3a1-F3796 (previous C3*-Star Cluster) among the investigated Eurasian steppe populations, which was now seen as the genetic marker of Kerei clan. Furthermore, NETWORK analysis indicated that Aksay Kazakhs originated from sub-clan Kerei-Abakh in Kazakhstan with DYS448 = 23. TMRCA estimates of three recent descent clusters detected in C2*-M217 (xM48) network, one of which incorporate nearly all of the C2b1a3a1-F3796 Aksay Kazakhs samples, gave the age range of 976-1405 YA for DC1, 1059-1314 YA for DC2, and 1139-1317 YA for DC3, respectively; this is coherent with the 7thto the 11thcenturies Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic population expansion.

To meet the operating requirements of hypersonic flight vehicles in the atmosphere environment, microstructure and mechanical property of 2.5D Al2O3f/SiO2composites by thermal shock and fatigue were investigated and compared. After 100000 fatigue tests, cracks hardly formed on the sample surface, and the interfacial bonding or fiber property was barely affected. However, after thermal shock and fatigue tests, the composites underwent typical brittle fracture and had the lowest fracture strength. The mass loss was less than 1%, and the flexural strength reached to 55.6 MPa, with the retention ratio of only 51.1%. The mechanical property degradation of the composites after tests was closely related to microstructure evolution.

Tabletop three‐dimensional (3D) display is an attractive display technology that allows multiple individuals around the table to view the reconstructed 3D objects simultaneously, which can be applied to a variety of application scenarios such as desktop conference and board games. In this review paper, the tabletop true 3D display has been characterized and classified into four categories based on the technologies of light field display, integral imaging, and volumetric 3D and holographic 3D displays. Moreover, the comparisons of these technologies are listed, and the prospect of the tabletop 3D display is discussed. Tabletop 3D display is an attractive display that allows multiple individuals around the table to view the reconstructed 3D objects simultaneously, which can be applied to various application scenarios. In this review paper, the tabletop true 3D display has been characterized and classified. The comparisons of different technologies are listed, and the prospect of the tabletop 3D display is discussed.

Although previous data showed that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has beneficial effect on blood pressure (BP) reduction, the efficacy of RIPC-induced decline in BP and the favorable humoral factors in hypertension is elusive. This present study is performed to evaluate whether RIPC reduces BP, improves microvascular endothelial function and increases circulating hSDF-1α generation in hypertension. Fifteen hypertensive patients received 3 periods of 5-min inflation/deflation of the forearm with a cuff on the upper arm daily for 30 days. Clinic and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) were examined before and after the end of this procedure. Microvascular endothelial function was measured by finger reactive hyperemia index (RHI) using the Endo-PAT 2000 device. The circulating hSDF-1α level was tested by ELISA. RIPC significantly decreased systolic BP (139.13 ± 6.68 versus 131.45 ± 7.45 mmHg) and diastolic BP (89.67 ± 4.98 versus 83.83 ± 6.65 mmHg), meanwhile 24-h ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP dropped from 136.33 ± 9.10 mmHg to 131.33 ± 7.12 mmHg and 87.60 ± 6.22 mmHg to 82.47 ± 4.47 mmHg respectively. RHI was improved (1.95 ± 0.34 versus 2.47 ± 0.44). Plasma hSDF-1α level was markedly increased after RIPC (1585.86 ± 167.17 versus 1719.54 ± 211.17 pg/ml). The increase in hSDF-1α level was associated with the fall in clinic and 24-h ABPM and rise in RHI. The present data suggests that RIPC may be a novel alternative or complementary intervention means to treat hypertension and protect endothelial function.

Microplastics (MPs), as a common “vector” of pollutants in the aquatic environment, have a significant impact on the migration and transformation of heavy metals. In order to explore the mechanism and the influencing factors of the adsorption behavior of microplastics (MPs) on selenium (Se) in aqueous solution under the coexistence of nanoparticles, polystyrene microplastics (PS), nano-titanium dioxide particles (TiO2) and their coexisting compounds (PS+TiO2) were used as adsorbents to investigate the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic processes of Se. The effects of pH, humic acid concentration and coexisting ions on the adsorption behavior of Se(VI) were also analyzed. The results showed that the adsorption process of Se(VI) by PS and PS+TiO2could be well fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model, and it was an endothermic reaction with increased entropy. The adsorption capacity of Se(VI) by PS, TiO2, and PS+TiO2were decreased with the increase of solution pH. Humic acid and Ca2+promoted the adsorption of Se(VI), while PO43-significantly inhibited the adsorption of Se(VI) in the above three systems. The main adsorption mechanism of PS on Se(VI) was electrostatic adsorption and hydrogen bonding. The TiO2adsorbed on the surface of PS mainly affected the adsorption behavior of PS on Se(VI) through hydrogen bonding.

Excellent comprehensive dielectric properties (including dielectric constant and loss) are essential for electromechanical transducers. This work introduced a bimodal network composite with poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) and delaminated Ti3C2Txsheets (d-Ti3C2Tx) modified with hyperbranched polysiloxane (HPSi) (referred to as HPSi-d-Ti3C2Tx). Before the final cross-linking, HPSi-d-Ti3C2Tx, trapped with short-chain PDMS (CS-PDMS) and long-chain PDMS (CL-PDMS), was pre-reacted, which formed a distinct bimodal network structure. d-Ti3C2Tx/PDMS and HPSi-d-Ti3C2Tx/PDMS composites with different filler loadings were prepared, and their percolation thresholds (fc) were 1.32 and 1.43 vol %, respectively The dielectric constant of 1.40 vol % HPSi-d-Ti3C2Tx/PDMS is 23.7 at 102Hz, which is 1.5 times that of 1.28 vol % d-Ti3C2Tx/PDMS and 8.5 times that of pure PDMS. Meanwhile, the dielectric loss of HPSi-d-Ti3C2Tx/PDMS composite is still relatively small (0.11 at 103Hz). The origin of dielectric property optimization of the composite is attributed to the boundary capacitor model, the accumulated charges at the interfaces between the conductive filler and the insulating polymer matrix of the composite, and the distinct bimodal network structure.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of different machine-harvested cotton-planting patterns on defoliation, yield, and fiber quality in cotton and to provide support for improving the quality of machine-harvested cotton. In the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons, the Xinluzao 45 (XLZ45) and Xinluzao 62 (XLZ62) cultivars, which are primarily cultivated in northern Xinjiang, were used as study materials. Conventional wide-narrow row (WNR), wide and ultra-narrow row (UNR), wide-row spacing with high density (HWR), and wide-row spacing with low density (LWR) planting patterns were used to assess the effects of planting patterns on defoliation, yield, and fiber quality. Compared with WNR, the seed cotton yields were significantly decreased by 2.06–5.48% for UNR and by 2.50–6.99% for LWR, respectively. The main cause of reduced yield was a reduction in bolls per unit area. The variation in HWR yield was −1.07–1.07% with reduced bolls per unit area and increased boll weight, thus demonstrating stable production. In terms of fiber quality indicators, the planting patterns only showed significant effects on the micronaire value, with wide-row spacing patterns showing an increase in the micronaire values. The defoliation and boll-opening results showed that the number of leaves and dried leaves in HWR was the lowest among the four planting patterns. Prior to the application of defoliating agent and before machine-harvesting, the numbers of leaves per individual plant in HWR were decreased by 14.45 and 25.00% on average, respectively, compared with WNR, while the number of leaves per unit area was decreased by 27.44 and 36.21% on average, respectively. The rates of boll-opening and defoliation in HWR were the highest. Specifically, the boll-opening rate before defoliation and machine-harvesting in HWR was 44.54 and 5.94% higher on average than in WNR, while the defoliation rate prior to machine-harvesting was 3.45% higher on average than in WNR. The numbers of ineffective defoliated leaves and leaf trash in HWR were the lowest, decreased by 33.40 and 32.43%, respectively, compared with WNR. In conclusion, the HWR planting pattern is associated with a high and stable yield, does not affect fiber quality, promotes early maturation, and can effectively decrease the amount of leaf trash in machine-picked seed cotton, and thus its use is able to improve the quality of machine-harvested cotton.

Genghis Khan’s lineage has attracted both academic and general interest because of its mystery and large influence. However, the truth behind the mystery is complicated and continues to confound the scientific study. In this study, we surveyed the molecular genealogy of Northwestern China’s Lu clan who claim to be the descendants of the sixth son of Genghis Khan, Toghan. We also investigated living members of the Huo and Tuo clans, who, according to oral tradition, were close male relatives of Lu clan. Using network analysis, we found that the Y-chromosomal haplotypes of Lu clan mainly belong to haplogroup C2b1a1b1-F1756, widely prevalent in Altaic-speaking populations, and are closely related to the Tore clan from Kazakhstan, who claim to be the descendants of the first son of Genghis Khan, Jochi. The most recent common ancestor of the special haplotype cluster that includes the Lu clan and Tore clan lived about 1000 years ago (YA), while the Huo and Tuo clans do not share any Y lineages with the Lu clan. In addition to the reported lineages, such as C3*-Star Cluster, R1b-M343, and Q, our results indicate that haplogroup C2b1a1b1-F1756 might be another candidate of the true Y lineage of Genghis Khan.

In this paper, a direct co-precipitation method was used to prepare antimony-doped calcium fluoride nanopowders (NPs). The effects of reaction concentration, reaction medium and lanthanum doping on the properties of calcium fluoride NPs were investigated via a control variable method and the best preparation conditions was identified. The structural analysis of the powder materials prepared in this work were carried out by XRD, SEM, ICP and other test methods. By analyzing the experimental data, we found that the best performance of Eu-doped CaF2 NPs can be acquired under the reaction concentration of 1 mol/L in aqueous solution. In the same time, the NPs possess a high degree of dispersion with an average diameter of 22 nm, which is beneficial to the preparation of transparent Eu3+: CaF2 ceramics with excellent up-conversion luminescence. The results show that the grain size, the crystallinity of the NPs and the amount of Eu infiltration have a decreasing tendency with the increasing reaction concentration, while the degree of agglomeration of the NPs can be enhanced by increasing the reaction concentration.

As an important post-transcriptional modification, adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing generally occurs in both coding and noncoding RNA transcripts in which adenosines are converted to inosines. Accordingly, the diversification of the transcriptome can be resulted in by this modification. It is significant to accurately identify adenosine-to-inosine editing sites for further understanding their biological functions. Currently, the adenosine-to-inosine editing sites would be determined by experimental methods, unfortunately, it may be costly and time consuming. Furthermore, there are only a few existing computational prediction models in this field. Therefore, the work in this study is starting to develop other computational methods to address these problems. Given an uncharacterized RNA sequence that contains many adenosine resides, can we identify which one of them can be converted to inosine, and which one cannot? To deal with this problem, a novel predictor called iAI-DSAE is proposed in the current study. In fact, there are two key issues to address: one is ‘what feature extraction methods should be adopted to formulate the given sample sequence?’ The other is ‘what classification algorithms should be used to construct the classification model?’ For the former, a 540-dimensional feature vector is extracted to formulate the sample sequence by dinucleotide-based auto-cross covariance, pseudo dinucleotide composition, and nucleotide density methods. For the latter, we use the present more popular method i.e. deep spare autoencoder to construct the classification model. Generally, ACC and MCC are considered as the two of the most important performance indicators of a predictor. In this study, in comparison with those of predictor PAI, they are up 2.46% and 4.14%, respectively. The two other indicators, Sn and Sp, rise at certain degree also. This indicates that our predictor can be as an important complementary tool to identify adenosine-toinosine RNA editing sites. For the convenience of most experimental scientists, an easy-to-use web-server for identifying adenosine-to-inosine editing sites has been established at: http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/iAI-DSAE, by which users can easily obtain their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematical equations involved. It is important to identify adenosine-to-inosine editing sites in RNA sequences for the intensive study on RNA function and the development of new medicine. In current study, a novel predictor, called iAI-DSAE, was proposed by using three feature extraction methods including dinucleotidebased auto-cross covariance, pseudo dinucleotide composition and nucleotide density. The jackknife test results of the iAI-DSAE predictor based on deep spare auto-encoder model show that our predictor is more stable and reliable. It has not escaped our notice that the methods proposed in the current paper can be used to solve many other problems in genome analysis.

Chromatographic stationary phases with specific capturing phosphoproteins is widely used in biological sample pretreatment. However, when captured protein is released, it is required to change the pH of the mobile phase or to use an eluent. Usually, the mobile phase or eluent are salt solutions with high concentration and extreme pH or toxic organic reagents. In this situation, these reagents will destroy the activity and structure of phosphorylated proteins. In addition, the mobile phase after switching the column takes longer time to restore the balance, reducing the experimental efficiency. In order to solve the these problems, we introduce temperature-reponsive materials into the chromatographic stationary phase to achieve the capture and release of phosphorylated proteins by changing the temperature only, in which we use water as the mobile phase. This approach overcomes the drawbacks of traditional methods, and makes the separation process safe and simple. Based on the surface initiated Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization (SI-RAFT) method, silica@pNIPAAm-nanoTiO2, a kind of Metal Oxide Affinity Chromatography, was synthesized by the rapid introduction of functional groups. The synthesis of silica@pNIPAAm-nanoTiO2 was confirmed by infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The grafting rate and the lowest critical temperature were measured by TG and DSC. The results showed that the material had qualified temperature-sensitive properties. The grafting conformation and mobile phase pH of the material were optimized before testing the properties and found that when the material grafting ratio was 10% -15%, the graft density was 30%, and the mobile phase pH was 6, it had the best separate effect. Finally, the material successfully achieved the capture and release of adenosine triphosphate and casein phosphopeptides.

Background:Although some studies show a positive association between periodontitis and blood pressure (BP) elevation, research on the effect of intensive periodontal treatment on decline in BP levels and endothelial microparticles (EMPs) without any antihypertensive management is lacking. Therefore, the present clinical trial explores whether intensive periodontal therapy would lower BP levels and EMPs of patients with prehypertension with periodontitis. Methods:From a total 107 patients, 95 underwent randomization (47 assigned to control‐treatment [CT] group and 48 assigned to intensive‐treatment [IT] group) and completed the trial. Patients received intervention for 4 consecutive weeks and were followed for 6 months. Levels of BP and EMPs were evaluated at baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months after intervention. Results:Periodontal conditions were significantly improved (P<0.05) 6 months after intensive periodontal treatment. In parallel, the primary outcomes including systolic and diastolic BP and EMPs were markedly reduced in the IT group compared with the CT group (absolute difference: 12.57 and 9.65 mm Hg and 581.59/μL, respectively; 95% confidence intervals: 10.45 to 14.69, 7.06 to 12.24, and 348.12 to 815.06, respectively; P<0.05). Reduction in BP levels and EMPs was related to improvement in probing depth (r= 0.358, 0.363, and 0.676, respectively, by the Pearson product‐moment correlation; P= 0.009, 0.008, and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion:To the best knowledge of the authors, the present study demonstrates for the first time that intensive periodontal intervention without any antihypertensive medication therapy may be an effective means to lower levels of BP and EMPs in patients with prehypertension with periodontitis.

Sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate, a water-soluble derivative of tanshinone IIA, has been proven to possess versatile biological properties, but its pharmacological effect on tracheal smooth muscle remains elusive. This paper presents a study on the relaxant effect and underlying mechanisms of sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate on mouse tracheal smooth muscle. The relaxant effect of sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate was evaluated in mouse tracheal rings using a mechanical recording system. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration was measured in primary cultured tracheal smooth muscle cells using confocal imaging system. The results showed that sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate induced dose-dependent relaxation of mouse tracheal rings in a β-adrenoceptor- and epithelium-independent manner. Pretreatment with the ATP-sensitive K+ channel blocker glibenclamide partly attenuated the relaxation response. Administration of sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate notably inhibited the extracellular Ca2+-induced contraction. High KCl or carbachol-evoked elevation in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration was also abrogated by sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate in tracheal smooth muscle cells. In conclusion, the tracheal relaxant effect of sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate was independent of β-adrenoceptor and airway epithelium, mediated primarily by inhibition of extracellular Ca2+ influx via L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and partially by activation of the ATP-sensitive K+ channel. These results indicate the potential therapeutic value of sodium tanshinone IIA sulphonate for asthma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTWastewater discharged from clinical isolation and general wards at two hospitals in Singapore was examined to determine the emerging trends of antibiotic resistance (AR). We quantified the concentrations of 12 antibiotic compounds by analysis using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), the class 1 integrase gene (intI1), and 16 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that confer resistance to 10 different clinically relevant antibiotics. A subset of 119 antibiotic-resistant isolates were phylogenetically classified and tested for the presence of ARGs encoding resistance to β-lactam antibiotics (blaNDM, blaKPC, blaSHV, blaCTX-M), amikacin [aac(6′)-Ib], co-trimoxazole (sul1, sul2, dfrA), ciprofloxacin (qnrA, qnrB), and the intI1gene. Among these resistant isolates, 80.7% were detected with intI1and 66.4% were found to carry at least 1 of the tested ARGs. Among 3 sampled locations, the clinical isolation ward had the highest concentrations of ARB and the highest levels of ARGs linked to resistance to β-lactam (blaKPC), co-trimoxazole (sul1, sul2, dfrA), amikacin [aac(6′)-Ib], ciprofloxacin (qnrA), and intI1. We found strong positive correlations (P< 0.05) between concentrations of bacteria resistant to meropenem, ceftazidime, amikacin, co-trimoxazole, and ciprofloxacin and abundances of blaKPC, aac(6′)-Ib, sul1, sul2, dfrA, qnrA, and intI1genes.

Various uncertain factors affect the movement of the welding robot, thus welding gun tend to deviate from the theory of welding position which reduces the welding accuracy, of which the revolute pair clearance have an greater effect on the movement of the welding robot. In order to study the influence of revolute pair clearance to the end pose accuracy of welding robot, the mathematical model of revolute pair clearance was established, and the software SolidWorks was used for establishing the welding robot model, making simulations of the mechanical arm with joint clearance and no joint clearance. At last, the movement characteristic of the hinge shaft is attained. The simulation results showed that the shaft velocity and displacement of mechanical arm with joint clearance has a certain degree of fluctuation, which affecting the end pose accuracy of welding robot , and reducing the movement stability and the welding accuracy of welding robot.

A novel heteroglycan, Cordyceps sinensis polysaccharide 1 (molecular weight 1 17 x 105 Da), was isolated and purified from mycelia of the fungus C. sinensis obtained by solid-state culture. Structural characterization by chemical analysis, GC-MS, FTIR, and NMR spectroscopy showed that C. sinensis polysaccharide 1 was mainly composed of (1→6)-linked α-D-Glc and α-D-Gal, with minor β-(1→4)-D-Xyl and β-(1→4)-D-Man residues probably located in the side chains with a trace amount of α-(1→3)-L-Rha residue. In biological assays, C. sinensis polysaccharide 1 significantly inhibited proliferation of sarcoma 180 cells and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Further studies will elucidate the antitumor mechanism of C. sinensis polysaccharide 1 and promote its utilization for the development of novel, effective anticancer drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) is a valuable fodder tree, but it contains high contents of anti-nutritional factors, such as mimosine and tannins. The present study investigated the silage fermentation characteristics and ensiling effects on the degradation of mimosine and tannins of leucaena. Mimosine and tannins gradually reduced during ensiling, and sucrose and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) addition promoted their degradation. The highest degradation rate of mimosine was 49.0% in sucrose treatment and the lowest was 25.5% in the control. The highest degradation rate of tannins was 54.7% in the combined treatment of sucrose and LAB and the lowest was 40% in the control. The degradation rates of mimosine and tannins had negative correlation with the pH value and had positive correlation with lactic acid content in silage.

Deformation of roadway driving along goaf was very serious during mining in Qidong coal Mine.This paper took the roadway as the engineering background, firstly, numerical simulation of the roadway has been made by FLAC3D,then its surrounding rock deformation properties and stress distribution were analyzed,the reinforcement technology was proposed during mining, lastly, the deformation around roadway during mining was observed and analyzed. The practical engineering shows that : the combined supporting of bolting-shotcreting-grouting can effectively control the deformation around roadway, the supporting effect is good , and better social and economical benefit have been gotten.

N-doped Cu2O (Cu2O:N) thin films were deposited on glass substrate by reactive pulse magnetron sputtering method using Cu target. Crystalline phases of thin films were controlled by adjusting N2 / O2 flow rate ratio and sputtering power precisely during the sputtering process, and the single phase of Cu2O(111) thin films were obtained at room temperature. The thin films deposited at different sputtering powers were characteristics of 2D growth and the root mean square (RMS) of surface roughness of thin films gradually increased with the increasing of sputtering power. The optical band gap (Eg) of thin films were in the range 2.18-2.35 eV, and slightly decreased with increasing of sputtering power from 45 W to 90 W.

“Smart City” equals “Digital City” plus “The Internet of things” and “Cloud Computing”. Vehicle networking (IOV), cloud computing and digital communication constitute the core of the intelligent traffic. Vehicle networking (IOV) refers to a fact that objects (cars and trucks, cars and roads, cars and people, vehicles and sensors, RFID and other devices which communicates with vehicles) consitute a dynamic mobile communication system through network. It can collect and share information among cars and cars, cars and people, cars and roads, vehicles and environment. In this information network platform, the multi-source information will be collected for processing, computing, and sharing as well as providing professional multimedia and mobile Internet applications . And we use MPI model to compute the large amount of information data . In this project, we achieve all the work which will be mentioned in this passage and we aim to use these technologies to resolve the computing problem in data processing and apply these new resolutions in smart city.

The quantity of elderly people are growing very rapidly, so the services for elderly people based on intelligent and smart-tech must be created to replace the traditional services for the shortage of resource. The importance of involving users in the innovation process has recognized by academia for a long time, Living Lab is a user-centric open innovation approach for fostering everyday life innovation in real life contexts. This paper propose a Living Lab methodology framework of service design for the elderly people, which emphasis user co-creator, user co-test, real life context construct by information and communications technology (ICT). The experiment results shows that involving users, real textual constructing by ICT and collaboration are benefit to promote innovation performance.

An auto-stereoscopic 3D video conversation system is demonstrated with an improved eye-tracking method based on a lenticular sheet and two cameras. The two cameras are used to get stereoscopic picture pairs and addressed the viewers position by an Improved Eye Tracking Method. The computer combines the stereoscopic picture pairs with different masks graphic processing unit. Low crosstalk correct stereoscopic video pairs for the end-to-end commutation are achieved.

A novel method to automatically generate the depth map is presented, when the depth maps of reference images located before and after the target image in the same image sequence are given. A novel grid dividing method and a joint feature response model are proposed to adaptively select trace points, and an image deformation algorithm is given to track depth maps with the trace points. Experimental results show that the proposed method can generate depth maps effectively and accurately, which can meet the industrial needs in 2D-3D conversion.

An non-vertical stereoscopic 3-D display method by changing the parallax value of the parallax images is proposed. This method is capable of displaying virtual reality with high-immersion sense because the observing depth only depends on the parallax value. An experimental 3-D display system capable of producing high-immersion and virtual reality video images at 45 degree is developed. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by using this system.

Most technologies provide three-dimensional (3D) display in the front of screens which are in parallel with the walls, and the sense of immersion is decreased. To get the right ground based 3D imaging, cameras imaging planes should be parallel to the public focus plane, and the cameras optical axes should be shifted to the center of the public focus plane in both vertical and horizontal directions. Virtual cameras are used to display 3D model in computer system. The virtual capturing methods for ground based 3D display are presented. The position of virtual camera is determined by the observers eye positions in the real world. An experimental system for ground based 360°3D display is demonstrated for viewing horizontally, which provides high-immersion 3D visualization. The displayed 3D scenes are compared with the real measurement in the real world.

This paper presents a new lane-changing model of multi-lane mixed traffic flow. The influences of heavy vehicles on lane-changing are analyzed. An improved accumulated speed benefit model is proposed in which drivers generate lane-changing intentions based on accumulated speed benefit of preceding vehicle in target lane over the preceding vehicle in current lane, not just relative to the speed and desired speed of subject vehicle. Drivers may accelerate or decelerate during lane-changing due to different traffic conditions. Simulations show that with the increase in the proportion of heavy vehicles, lane changing frequency first increases and then decreases. The model is validated with empirical data.

A novel kind of solution concentration sensor is designed and fabricated based on fiber Bragg grating with the single mode-etched multimode-single mode fiber Bragg grating structure. Sensing characteristics of Bragg grating to solution concentration is investigated without considering the effects of temperature, sensing detection of four kinds of solution is experimentally realized with the wavelength differences between high modes and the fundamental mode, the higher order modes of the etched multimode fiber is more sensitive to the surrounding refractive index than the fundamental mode.

To remove or reduce the cladding layer thickness of fiber Bragg grating, the refractive index changes in the surrounding environment will affect the fiber Bragg grating effective refractive index of the core, resulting in changes in the Bragg wavelength. Solution concentration changes will cause changes in refractive index of the solution. A new kind of solution concentration sensor is designed with the etched phase shifted fiber Bragg grating, and concentration sensing detection with four kinds of solutions is experimentally demonstrated. With resolution concentration increasing, the phase shifted label wavelength shifts to the red, and the sensor is more sensitive in the case of higher concentration.

Cr-substituted mesoporous aluminophosphate molecular sieve (Cr-MAP) was synthesized and characterized. Crystallization kinetics curves measured as an index to the relative degree of crystallinity, according to the Arrhenius equation to calculate the apparent nucleation activation energy and crystal growth activation energy of Cr-MAP, which was 63.7 and 14.7 kJ• mol-1, respectively. Cr-MAP had highly catalytic activity for fabricating acetophenone by selectively oxizing ethylbenzene. Using tert-butylhydroperoxide as oxidant and chlorobenzene as solvent at 100 °C for 8 h, acetophenone selectivity, acetophenone yield and ethylbenzene conversion reaches 85.4, 62.2 and 72.8 %, respectively.

To improve the anti-disturbance capabilities of sensorless control system of permanent magnet synchronous motor PMSM), study on application of active disturbance rejection controller (ADRC) is put forward.The extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm is proprosed to estimate the rotor speed and position of PMSM for the realization of sensorless control.The ADRC is introduced to the control of speed loop to improve the control performances. Simulation results show that extended kalman filter algorithm worked well,and the proposed control strategy is superior to conventional PI speed controller for its no overshoot, high estimation accuracy,stronger capacity of anti-load-torque- disturbance and etc.

In order to study the strata behavior characteristics in super-long and large mining height working face, the FLAC-3D software was used to study the roof displacement and the abutment pressure distribution laws of working faces. The results indicate that: ① the influence range is larger of front abutment pressure in Liuzhuang coal mine 171301 super-long large mining height working face, and reaches to 60m. ② the maximum roof displacement increases with the increase of mining depth and working face length, the increase in magnitude decreases gradually, while the maximum roof displacement sharply increases due to the increase of mining height. ③ the peak abutment pressure increases with the increase of mining depth and mining height, the location of peak abutment pressure transfer to ahead of the coal wall. ④ the effect of working face length on abutment pressure is very feeble, so, the strata behavior characteristics remain almost constant with the increase of face length.