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Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) enters host by glycoprotein B (gB)-mediated membrane fusion upon receptor-binding to gH/gL-related complexes, causing devastating diseases such as birth defects. Although an X-ray crystal structure of the recombinant gB ectodomain at postfusion conformation is available, the structures of prefusion gB and its complex with gH/gL on the viral envelope remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate the utility of cryo electron tomography (cryoET) with energy filtering and the cutting-edge technologies of Volta phase plate (VPP) and direct electron-counting detection to capture metastable prefusion viral fusion proteins and report the structures of glycoproteins in the native environment of HCMV virions. We established the validity of our approach by obtaining cryoET in situ structures of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) glycoprotein G trimer (171 kD) in prefusion and postfusion conformations, which agree with the known crystal structures of purified G trimers in both conformations. The excellent contrast afforded by these technologies has enabled us to identify gB trimers (303kD) in two distinct conformations in HCMV tomograms and obtain their in situ structures at up to 21 Å resolution through subtomographic averaging. The predominant conformation (79%), which we designate as gB prefusion conformation, fashions a globular endodomain and a Christmas tree-shaped ectodomain, while the minority conformation (21%) has a columnar tree-shaped ectodomain that matches the crystal structure of the "postfusion" gB ectodomain. We also observed prefusion gB in complex with an "L"-shaped density attributed to the gH/gL complex. Integration of these structures of HCMV glycoproteins in multiple functional states and oligomeric forms with existing biochemical data and domain organization of other class III viral fusion proteins suggests that gH/gL receptor-binding triggers conformational changes of gB endodomain, which in turn triggers two essential steps to actuate virus-cell membrane fusion: exposure of gB fusion loops and unfurling of gB ectodomain.

Forest fire is one of the dominant disturbances in the forests of Heilongjiang Province, China, and is one of the most rapid response predictors that indicate the impact of climate change on forests. This study calculated the Canadian FWI (Fire Weather Index) and its components from meteorological record over past years, and a linear model was built from the monthly mean FWI and monthly fire numbers. The significance test showed that fire numbers and FWI had a very pronounced correlation, and monthly mean FWI was suitable for predicting the monthly fire numbers in this region. Then FWI and its components were calculated from the SRES (IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios) A2 and B2 climatic scenarios, and the linear model was rebuilt to be suitable for the climatic scenarios. The results indicated that fire numbers would increase by 2.98–129.97% and −2.86–103.30% in the A2 and B2 climatic scenarios during 2020–2090, respectively. The monthly variation tendency of the FWI components is similar in the A2 and B2 climatic scenarios. The increasing fire risk is uneven across months in these two climatic scenarios. The monthly analysis showed that the FFMC (Fine Fuel Moisture Code) would increase dramatically in summer, and the decreasing precipitation in summer would contribute greatly to this tendency. The FWI would increase rapidly from the spring fire season to the autumn fire season, and the FWI would have the most rapid increase in speed in the spring fire season. DMC (Duff Moisture Code) and DC (Drought Code) have relatively balanced rates of increasing from spring to autumn. The change in the FWI in this region is uneven in space as well. In early 21st century, the FWI of the north of Heilongjiang Province would increase more rapidly than the south, whereas the FWI of the middle and south of Heilongjiang Province would gradually catch up with the increasing speed of the north from the middle of 21st century. The changes in the FWI across seasons and space would influence the fire management policy in this region, and the increasing fire numbers and variations in the FWI scross season and space suggest that suitable development of the management of fire sources and forest fuel should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goatpoxvirus (GTPV), sheeppoxvius (SPPV), and the Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is a Capripoxvirus belonging to the family poxviridae. They can cause significant economic losses in countries where this disease are endemic. However, effective and convenient diagnostic tools against sera antibody are not readily available until now. Toward this goal, a polyclonal antibody competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) of detecting serogroup-specific antibody is established based on major LSDV antigen A33. Serum samples (n = 605) were collected to optimize the c-ELISA from different areas. The cut-off value for the c-ELISA was estimate using percent inhibition (PI) values. The diagnostic performance of test including sensitivity (sn) and specificity (sp) were obtained by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. Among these analysis, > 57.61% PI value was accepted as cut-off of the c-ELISA, the diagnostic sn an diagnostic sp were reached to 96.4% and 98.5%, at > 95% confidence interval. These results show that the developed competitive ELISA is sensitive, specific, and reliable, which make it appropriate for serological investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the latest feedback from the Chinese capital market on listed companies’ ESG evaluation, we construct a two-way fixed-effects model with a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2018-2020 to empirically investigate the relationship between ESG rating and share price synchronization, and the impact mechanism is also explored from both internal and external perspectives of financial constraints and analyst attention. It is found that, a high ESG rating helps reduce the stock price synchronization, while financial constraints play a partial mediating effect and analyst attention plays a full mediating effect. In addition, the effect is more pronounced among manufacturing firms and non-SOEs. This study enriches the research related to ESG and stock price informativeness, and the findings provide important basis for the long-term benign development of ESG philosophy.

Objective To evaluate the short-term clinical efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization using HepaSphere microsphere in the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma with HepaSphere microspheres. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 58 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with HepaSphere microspheres (loaded with pirarubicin) from June 2015 to July 2017. We compared the local tumor response by CT or MR. The postoperative complications and liver function changes were compared by relevant examination results and clinical symptoms. Results The liver function showed a transient change after TACE. Postoperative complications were acceptable and could be alleviated after symptomatic support. The average postoperative hospital stay was 1.72 days. According to the mRECIST criteria, the objective response rates (CR+PR) were 81.0%, 75.9%, 65.5%, and the disease control rates (CR+PR+SD) were 96.6%, 93.1%, 87.9% at 1, 3, 6 months after treatment. The one-year survival rate was 93.1%. Conclusion The short-term clinical efficacy and safety of transarterial chemoembolisation using HepaSphere microspheres on unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma are acceptable.

[Introduction] Coal blocking of pulverizing system is a big problem in power plant, especially for coal bunker. At present, there are many types of anti-blocking coal technologies on the market, but there are different opinions on the use effect. This paper aims to find a useful technology to prevent the coal anti-blocking. [Method] The paper studied the coal blocking reasons and same anti-blocking technologies, such as hyperbolic coal hopper, stainless steel hopper, hydraulic split board damper, reasonable design of falling coal pipe etc. The research focused on the technology of rotary blockage clearing machine. [Result] The results show that the technology has obvious effect on solving the problem of coal plugging in the coal bunker. But there are lubricating oil leakage at the joints between the static and dynamic parts, which shall be paid more attention on sealing selection. [Conclusion] The rotary blockage clearing machine technology in various anti-blocking coal technologies has obvious advantages and is worthy of popularization.The prevention of coal plugging in the pulverizing system is a comprehensive project. Regardless of the technology used, it is necessary to strengthen the scientific management of the coal source and coal yard to achieve the control of the moisture and viscosity of the coal into the furnace.

Mn3Ga alloys with different crystal modifications, including a disordered L12-type cubic structure, a D022-tetragonal structure, and a D019-hexagonal structure showing two isomorphic heteromagnetic phases, ε-phase and η-phase, were investigated systematically. We found that the disordered cubic phase and the hexagonal ε-phase can be synthesized with Mn compositions ranging from 70 to 75 at. % by rapid melt-spinning. Moreover, the disordered cubic phase could transform to the tetragonal phase after being subjected to low-temperature postannealing. Most importantly, we found that proper postannealing conditions can enable these different crystal modification phases to transform to the hexagonal η-phase. As a result, the two isomorphic heteromagnetic hexagonal phases are clearly distinguished, and their interesting magnetic and transport properties are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the conceptual design and experimental realization of a ternary Heusler-based ferromagnetic martensitic phase transformation alloy Fe48Mn24Ga28 that exhibits asymmetric magnetostructural coupling between the forward austenite-to-martensite and the reverse martensite-to-austenite phase transformations. By tuning the Curie temperature of the high-temperature austenite to be within the thermal hysteresis of the first-order phase transformation, dissimilar change in magnetization can be associated with the forward and reverse phase transformations, respectively. We show that such an asymmetry leads to enlargement of the thermal hysteresis with an applied external magnetic field. Furthermore, partly due to the field-enhanced thermal hysteresis, the magnetic-field-induced martensitic phase transformation is irreversible in such a system. This work suggests the intricate correlation between magnetostructural coupling, thermal hysteresis, and magnetic-field-induced phase transformation, which can be exploited for designing magnetic phase transformation alloys that show extended functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]