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The mechanical properties and deformation mechanism of a C-doped interstitial high-entropy alloy (iHEA) with a nominal composition of Fe49.5Mn29.7Co9.9Cr9.9C1 (at. %) were investigated. An excellent combination of strength and ductility was obtained by cold rolling and annealing. The structure of the alloy is consisted of FCC matrix and randomly distributed Cr23C6. For gaining a better understanding of deformation mechanism, EBSD and TEM were conducted to characterize the microstructure of tensile specimens interrupted at different strains. At low strain (2%), deformation is dominated by dislocations and their partial slip. With the strain increase to 20%, deformation-driven athermal phase transformation and dislocations slip are the main deformation mechanism. While at high strain of 35% before necking, deformation twins have been observed besides the HCP phase. The simultaneous effect of phase transformation (TRIP effect) and mechanical twins (TWIP effect) delay the shrinkage, and improve the tensile strength and plasticity. What's more, compared with the HEA without C addition, the yield strength of the C-doped iHEA has been improved, which can be attributed to the grain refinement strengthening and precipitation hardening. Together with the lattice friction and solid solution strengthening, the theoretical calculated values of yield strength match well with the experimental results.

This study examines the interest rate pass-through (IRPT) mechanism in China after the interest rate liberalization by using the nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) model proposed by Shin et al. (2014). In order to dissect the IRPT of China appropriately, the interest rate transmission is divided into three stages in which changes in the policy rate are first transmitted to the target market rate and in turn, to the other interbank market rates and treasury bond rates, and eventually to the bank retail rates and corporate bond rates. The empirical results show that though changes in the monetary policy rate can be completely transmitted to the policy target market rate, they appear to be passed on to the other interbank market rates excessively and to the bank lending rates incompletely. Moreover, the pass-through from the policy target rate to the bond market rates is in general more sufficient than the pass-through to the bank retail rates. In addition, the patterns of asymmetry can be identified for the pass-through in the second and third stages, with the impact of positive shocks on the policy target rate being more pronounced than that of negative shocks either in the short or long run. These findings suggest that the interest rate transmission after the interest rate liberalization in China is far from being as effective as expected, and policy rate cuts might not have desirable effects on the real economy in the context of the recession.

This study explores the cyclical features and the dynamic spillovers among monetary policy cycle, financial cycles (including credit, housing and stock market cycles) and business cycle in China during 1998–2018. We find that the five cycles exhibit a strong synchronicity in terms of responses to extreme events, and the spillovers among them are bi-directional and time-varying. Stock market cycle replacing business cycle becomes the main risk transmitter after the recent global financial crisis, while monetary policy and credit cycles act as risk receivers over the entire sample. Our findings verify the importance of financial cycle shock in business cycle dynamics and monetary policy formulation.

This study examines the dynamic volatility connectedness between different types of policy uncertainty and sectoral stock markets in both the time and frequency domains in China. Using the time–frequency connectedness index approach, we find extremely high connectedness between policy uncertainty and Chinese sectoral stock markets mainly in the medium and long terms. In particular, uncertainty regarding monetary policies makes the weakest contribution to spillovers among the four policy uncertainties, while uncertainty regarding trade policies contributes prominently. The energy, financial, IT, telecommunication services and utilities sectors are the most vulnerable to policy uncertainties.

We develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with housing and banking to study the transmission of financial shocks between the financial and real sectors. A deterioration in the bank's balance sheet induced by financial shocks could have amplified and persistent impacts on real activities. The amplification of the shocks are originated from financial frictions tied to households and banks. We find that a disruption in bank net worth initiated by capital quality shocks generates a decline in household loans, house prices and output. Bank liquidity shocks also have negative effects on these variables. Housing preference shocks could generate a positive comovement between house prices and output. All these findings are qualitatively consistent with empirical evidence, suggesting that these financial shocks are critical to the dynamics of house prices and other macroeconomic variables.

Replantation of a lower extremity amputated at the knee joint level in a child is rare. We present a case of a 3-year-old child with his right leg totally severed from the knee joint in a traumatic accident. After 5 hours of cold ischemia time, together with antishock therapies, the child underwent leg replantation under stable conditions. The replanted lower limb finally survived after several surgical procedures. The patient was discharged 4 weeks after admission and had restored partial motor and sensory functions 6 months after surgery. During follow-ups, the patient underwent sustained rehabilitation and recovered well. Two years after replantation, secondary knee reconstruction was performed and yielded favorable aesthetic and functional improvement. In brief, a successful knee-level replantation in a child is attributed to correct preoperative first aid, excellent microsurgical skills, and intensive postoperative management.

It has been a fascinating and significant topic that how the chemical composition and surface structure of nanomaterials govern the catalytic performance. In this paper, we deliberately design molybdenum phosphosulfide nanoparticles anchored on the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and systematically study the correlation between structure/surface composition and the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and stability. We discover that the HER activities show significant enhancement with the incorporation of P in the molybdenum disulfide structure (MoS2|P/CNT) or S in the molybdenum phosphide structure (MoP|S/CNT). The stability of the MoS2|P/CNT catalyst exhibits high stability which is consistent with the pristine MoS2/CNT, while the stability of the MoP/CNT sample is enhanced after the introduction of the S element. The density function theory (DFT) results indicate that the doped P atoms in the MoS2 structure provide more enhanced active sites, leading to promoted HER activity. For the MoP|S/CNT samples, the doped S site is calculated to be less active for HER yet can greatly enhance P site to present better activity. The anion doping effect unveiled here provides insights into molybdenum phosphosulfides for HER and may also be expanded to broad catalyst design for energy related applications.

Highly active, earth-abundant, and stable electrocatalysts are indispensable for overall water splitting. In this work, hierarchical dendrite-like Co0.75Ni0.25 alloy prepared by a simple hydrothermal reduction route can serve as a high-performance catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction. The synergistic effect from Co and Ni atoms optimizes the catalytic behavior of their alloy, and the hierarchical dendrite structure enlarges the contact area with the electrolyte, exposing more active sites. Based on the dendrite-like Co0.75Ni0.25 alloy, we further fabricate a core-shell architecture with the conductive N-doped carbon shell coated dendrite-like CoNi/CoNiO2 nanocomposites via a calcination process at 600 ℃ (CoNi/CoNiO2@NC-600). The dendrite-like CoNi/CoNiO2@NC-600 displays significantly improved activity of oxygen evolution reaction due to large active surface area, high conductivity, and the continuous electron transfer among metal, metal oxide, and N-doped carbon. Furthermore, the dendrite-like Co0.75Ni0.25 alloy and CoNi/CoNiO2@NC-600 are assembled into a water splitting electrolyzer with a low voltage of 1.51 V to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2.

Sustainable feeding of the growing population in China without ecological destabilization is a grand challenge. In this populous country where agriculture is dominated by smallholder farming, developing innovative technology and translating scientific knowledge into action for smallholder farmers is a crucial step in addressing this challenge. Here, we present a novel approach for technology innovation and dissemination to achieve sustainable intensification in the fields of smallholder farmers. The Science and Technology Backyard (STB) is a hub in a rural area that links knowledge with practices to promote technology innovation and exchange. In this study, the framework and functions of STB are introduced, and the key implications for sustainable intensification across millions of smallholder farmers are explicitly stated: (i) develop innovative technology based on stated demands of farmers; (ii) disseminate technology by innovative social service models though combined top-down approaches with bottom-up measures to enable smallholders in rural areas. This paper provides a perspective on transformation of small-scale agriculture toward sustainable intensification in China and useful knowledge applicable to other developing countries.

Smallholders in developing countries commonly use intercropping to produce crops with higher yield and value. Many intercropping studies have been conducted under experimental conditions, but few studies have been performed in farmers' fields. We conducted a 4-year study using data from real farms to examine the relationships between yield and yield components of intercropped maize in the North China Plain. Three field experiments were conducted to compare the suitability of different maize varieties in intercropping. In the farm study, the grain yield of maize intercropped with watermelon was reduced by more than one third as compared to maize in wheat-maize double cropping, mainly due to lower ear density and lower 100-grain weight. Under real farm conditions, the yield of intercropped maize increased with increasing ear density and 100-grain weight, while yield of sole maize increased with increasing grain number per ear and 100-grain weight. In the field experiments, the maize cultivars commonly used in double cropping gave similar yields when grown in the intercropping system and their yields were closely related to ear density and 100-grain weight. Our results demonstrated that ear density, rather cultivar, was a key factor affecting the productivity of intercropped maize. Therefore, maintaining high ear density is a practical way for promoting productivity of maize in farmers' intercropping practices.

Mango is an important cash crop in the tropics and subtropics. Determining the yield gap of mango and production constraints can potentially promote the sustainable development of the mango industry. In this study, boundary line analysis based on survey data from 103 smallholder farmers and a yield gap model were used to determine the yield gap and production constraints in mango plantations in the northern mountain, central valley and southern mountains regions of Tianyang County, Guangxi, China. The results indicated that the yield of mango in three representing regions of Tianyang County, Northern Mountains, Central Valley and Southern Mountains, was 18.3, 17.0 and 15.4 t ha−1 yr−1, with an explainable yield gap of 10.9, 6.1 and 14.8 t ha−1 yr−1, respectively. Fertilization management, including fertilizer N, P2O5 and K2O application rates, and planting density were the main limiting factors of mango yield in all three regions. In addition, tree age influenced mango yield in the Northern Mountains (11.1%) and Central Valley (11.7%) regions. Irrigation time influenced mango yield in the Northern Mountains (9.9%) and Southern Mountains (12.2%). Based on a scenario analysis, the predicted yield would increase by up to 50%, and fertilizer N use would be reduced by as much as approximately 20%. An improved understanding of production constraints will aid in the development of management strategy measures to increase mango yield.

Defects in layered semiconductors cause large variation of electric and catalysis properties, and exploiting defect-involved reaction can deeply excavate unearthed characteristics with significant performances. Mo-terminated defects of MoS2 spontaneously guide the oriented growths of ultrasmall Au nanocrystals on specific sites of liquid-exfoliated (LE) nanosheets, which are experimentally and theoretically performed with programmable heterostructures. The conjugated construction of Au plasmonics and MoS2 semiconductors is manipulated with the aim of the optimal synergistic activity. Additionally, with photonic irradiation, hot electrons excited from attached plasmonic nanostructures are injected into MoS2 semiconductors, which remarkably increases the carrier density of catalyst to match the energy level of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Obeying the principle of proximity, localized MoS2 defect-adjacent Au plasmonics exhibit a more valid pathway, transferring hot electrons from donators to receptors of catalytic sites, in comparison to planar Au decoration. Meanwhile, Au nanostructures located at basal planes are essential for accelerated electron transport rates between catalysts and electrodes, and high stabilities in plasmonic-motivated electrocatalytic performances are guaranteed. The dual function of location-discriminated Au nanostructures accounts for superior electrocatalytic HER performances with photonic excitation, which imparts high inspiration in expanded heterostructures and integrated plasmonic techniques for catalysis and devices.

Intrinsic activity modifying of electrocatalysts is crucial to realizing the excellent catalytic performance towards hydrogen evolution reaction. Herein, we demonstrate a highly efficient electrocatalyst based on heterogeneous cobalt phosphides nanoparticles. The ultrafine size of the as-prepared catalyst (∼5 nm) ensures the efficient extension of active sites. Furthermore, the incorporation of orthorhombic CoP and Co2P contributes to the improvement of the inherent catalytic property. As a consequence, the as-prepared heterogeneous cobalt phosphides nanoparticles supported on carbon cloth exhibit impressive electrocatalytic activity, which only acquire a small overpotential of 90 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, and present a low Tafel slope (67.9 mV dec−1), a large exchange current density (0.58 mA cm−2) as well as good durability. Therefore, this work provides a favorable guidance for exploring executable strategies to improve catalyst activity.

Verticillium wilt of cotton is an economically important disease caused by V. dahliae throughout the world. To control this disease, five bacterial strains from cotton-growing fields were screened for their antagonistic activity against V. dahliae. Interestingly, they were all identified as Paenibacillus polymyxa by testing morphological and ultrastructural characteristics as well as 16S rRNA sequences and fatty acid composition analysis. The observation of sporulation process revealed that the structure of the endospore coat was composed of three layers including outer, middle and inner spore coats. Among five strains, ShX301 showed highest antagonistic activity against spore germination and mycelial growth of V. dahliae. In addition, in vitro experiments showed that ShX301 had a broad-spectrum antifungal activity against other plant pathogens. The experiments for controlling Verticillium wilt of cotton in greenhouse demonstrated that inoculation by strain ShX301 reduced disease incidence and severity by 71.4% and 40.3%, respectively. Moreover, ShX301 significantly promoted the growth of cotton seedling. Assessment of plant growth promotion showed that inoculation by ShX301 promoted cotton plant growth enhancing aboveground seedling biomass by 45.5% as well as underground root length and biomass by 38.0% and 38.5%, respectively. This is the first report of P. polymyxa application to control Verticillium wilt of cotton and promoting cotton seedling growth. This study revealed that P. polymyxa ShX301 had high potential to be used as biocontrol agent and/or plant growth-promoting bacterium in agriculture.

Luminescent metal–organic frameworks (LMOFs) and their functional materials with unique characteristics can provide the basis for the construction of new analytical techniques, which can meet the continuous demand for various fields. In this work, guanosine monophosphate (GMP), terbium ion (Tb3+) and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) are self-assembled to form a ZIF-8@GMP-Tb nanocomplex, which can be utilized as a ratiometric fluorescent probe to monitor alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Specifically, with adding ALP, the fluorescence intensity at 547 nm (one of the characteristic emission peaks of Tb3+) obviously decreased. Meanwhile, the conjugated structure of GMP increased the fluorescence of ZIF-8 (located at 330 nm). The possible mechanism was proposed through the characterization of the materials. Based on the variation of the emission peaks at 330 and 547 nm, the ratiometric fluorescent sensor of ALP has a linear range of 0.25–20 U/L. Moreover, applying this sensing system to the detection of ALP in the human serum sample and ALP inhibitor investigation possesses satisfactory results. This work provides a new perspective for the utilization of ZIF-8 and lanthanide ions in manufacturing simple and sensitive sensors.

The shortage of pure-water and high-energy consumption of low-grade water treatments force the development of direct seawater-electrolysis. Herein, experiments and calculations reveal the redistribution of electron density due to doping and vacancy defects, and confirm the contribution of multiple active sites to the dissociation and desorption of water with favorable thermodynamics. The Co/Ni-doped defect-rich Cu-based oxides (CNC-MO) nanoarrays promote water dissociation and hydrogen desorption via bonding with *OH and *H respectively, thus accelerating hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Ni/Co-doped defect-rich Cu-based sulfides (CNC-MS) nanorods modulate the adsorption state of *OH while effectively adsorbing and isolating *H to improve the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics. Asymmetric electrodes can achieve alkaline seawater electrolysis with 100 mA cm−2 at a voltage of 1.61 V. The corrosion resistance, high efficiency, and selectivity of electrodes can remain stable for 1200 h in a saline-alkali medium, and then gradually decline with sites blocking and deep corrosion. The aim of this work is to propose design strategies for the construction of high-performance electrocatalysts for seawater splitting while balancing multiple factors such as cost, efficiency, and durability.

This paper analyzes the causal relationship between trade policy uncertainty, government subsidies, and the role of political connections using annual data on Chinese energy firms from 2003 to 2018. The results show that when trade policy uncertainty increases, the Chinese government tends to increase subsidies for energy firms, and firms with political ties may receive more subsidies. Furthermore, firms with poor sales performance and in less marketized regions will be granted even more subsidies when uncertainty rises and firms are politically connected. We also observe that subsidies promote firms' fixed asset investments and innovations but decrease their overall investment efficiency.

In this study, we demonstrated the role of W1/O/W2 double emulsion with alginate-Ca-EDTA system on the gastrointestinal digestion viability of Lactobacillus Plantarum strain liquid. The W1/O/W2 double emulsion was prepared by WPI-EGCG covalent conjugate nanoparticles with compartmented multiple-emulsion nature. The effects of preparation parameters containing polyglycerol polyricinoleate content, oil fraction, and WPI-EGCG covalent conjugate particle concentration on the formation of W1/O/W2 double emulsions were systematically studied. Then, the rheological properties of alginate-Ca-EDTA system in the external aqueous phase of the W1/O/W2 double emulsions as the pH changes were investigated. The W1/O/W2 double emulsion maintained in the hydrogel state at pH below 4.0 because of Ca2+ coupled with G residues of alginate. In contrast, the W1/O/W2 double emulsion transformed to solution state at neutral pH condition, which caused the dissociation of Ca2+ from the Ca-alginate hydrogel and resulted in Ca-EDTA chelation. A pH-sensitive carrier based on an alginate-Ca-EDTA system in a set-type W1/O/W2 double emulsion model was exploited by regulating the release of Ca2+. Based on the pH-sensitive alginate-Ca-EDTA system and middle oil phase resistance, such a double emulsion supplied a colon-targeted release carrier for the Lactobacillus Plantarum strain liquid encapsulation into inner aqueous phase with the functional protection effect. The results offer a promising strategy for probiotics strain liquid encapsulation of double emulsion delivery systems in oral applications of foods (such as yogurt, fruit juice or cheese) and pharmaceuticals.

This research was carried out to assess inhibitory effect of UV-C (0.88 kJ m−2) against four isolates of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, causal agent of carrot rot, in vitro and in vivo. A bank of seven germicidal tubes was used to produce UV-C radiation with peak emission at 254 nm. The carrot roots were subjected to UV-C irradiation for five min. The tubes were located 40 cm above the roots. In order to be exposed to UV radiation on all sides, the carrot roots were rotated five times at the interval of one min. Based on the results, UV radiation was able to significantly increase levels of pathogenesis-related proteins (chitinases, peroxidases, β-1,3-glucanases) as well as polyphenoloxidase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and 6-methoxymellein (6-m) in carrot roots. The levels of enzymes and 6-m were found to be higher in the whole treated carrots than half treated carrots in most of treatments. Despite increase of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) related enzymes in half treated carrots, the results of in vivo tests showed that UV-C irradiation can not reduce severity of carrot rot after 15 d. In addition, UV-C radiation for 5 min markedly decreased myceliogenic and carpogenic germination of sclerotia in four isolates. This study showed that UV-C cannot be considered as abiotic inducer of SAR.

A new species, Scopulariopsis gossypii, was found to be present in the vascular bundles of cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum) infected by Verticillium dahliae which is an economically important pathogen in Hangzhou, China. The fungus was only present in the diseased plants, but it never became isolated from the healthy plants. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the fungus was present in parenchyma cells enclosing vessels in dark brown vascular tissues of stems, and produced asexual conidia within the tissues. Phylogenetic analysis of combined nuclear ribosomal D1/D2 region of the 28S rDNA as well as translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) and beta-tubulin (TUB) gene showed that S. gossypii represents an undescribed species of Scopulariopsis, Microascaceae. In this study, characteristics of sexual and asexual stages of the fungus were described, illustrated and compared with similar taxa. In addition, the molecular and morphological analyses indicated that S. gossypii was a distinct species of Scopulariopsis. The pathogenicity tests proved by inoculation of wounded roots confirmed that S. gossypii was an opportunistic pathogen causing leaf interveinal chlorosis and vascular browning of cotton plants. However S. gossypii did not infect host with undamaged roots. Moreover, coinoculation with S. gossypii and V. dahliae significantly increased disease severity.

Background Big endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been proposed as a novel prognostic indicator of acute coronary syndrome, while its predicting role of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) is unclear. Methods and results A total of 3154 consecutive patients with stable CAD were enrolled and followed up for 24months. The outcomes included all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke and unplanned revascularization (percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting). Baseline big ET-1 was measured using sandwich enzyme immunoassay method. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and Kaplan–Meier analysis were used to evaluate the prognostic value of big ET-1 on cardiovascular outcomes. One hundred and eighty-nine (5.99%) events occurred during follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups: events group ( n =189) and non-events group ( n =2965). The results indicated that the events group had higher levels of big ET-1 compared to non-events group. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that big ET-1 was positively and statistically correlated with clinical outcomes (Hazard Ratio: 1.656, 95% confidence interval: 1.099–2.496, p =0.016). Additionally, the Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that patients with higher big ET-1 presented lower event-free survival ( p =0.016). Conclusions The present study firstly suggests that big ET-1 is an independent risk marker of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with stable CAD. And more studies are needed to confirm our findings.

BackgroundHypercholesterolemia is the accepted causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the treatment of cholesterol advised to tailor high-intensity statin for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, its impact of real clinical practice has not been examined in China.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 3592 patients with CAD were consecutively enrolled who were receiving statins in outpatient department (at least 4weeks) before they were admitted to the ward at five University hospitals from April 2011 to December 2015. Patients were divided into two groups according to the admission time before (group A, n=1521) or after (group B, n=2071) online announcement date of 2013 ACC/AHA guideline. The situation of statin application and LDL-C target achievement (LDL-C

Objective Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, is often diagnosed in young age and cholesterol accumulation in tissues produces common clinical manifestations including cutaneous xanthomas, premature atherosclerosis, and poor response to medical therapy. The main objective was to investigate the patients of hoFH from China. Patients Over the past 4 years, a cohort of 8 patients with severe FH phenotype due to the characteristic cutaneous xanthomas and extremely high low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels from the national lipid clinics were enrolled. Genotype information was obtained. Results Of them, 7 patients had severe coronary atherosclerosis, 6 had family history of hypercholesterolemia, 2 had family history of premature coronary atherosclerosis. The patients had untreated LDL-C of > 13 mmol/L, and received maximal medical therapy. Importantly but not surprisingly, the lipid profile was not significantly improved by the current available concomitant use of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. In genetic analysis, all patients had the mutations responsible to the FH phenotype and showed to be more heterogeneous than their clinical phenotype. Conclusion In a conclusion, we found a relatively common recruitment of this type of patients in our hospital, which might have an important clinical implication for the identification and management of the patients with FH in China.

The graded refractive index waveguides can perform Fourier transform for an optical wave. According to this characteristic, simpler optical metamaterials with three waveguides are theoretically proposed, in which all of the waveguides are materials with a positive refractive index. By selecting the appropriate refractive index and structure size, the theory and simulations demonstrated that these metamaterials can perform mathematical operations for the outline of incident optical waves, including the first-order derivative, second-order derivative and the integral.

Recent guidelines recommended both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) are the primary target of lipid modulating therapy. However, which lipid measure is most closely related to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis has not yet been assessed.We studied 1757 consecutive subjects undergoing coronary angiography who were not receiving any lipid-lowering therapy. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was measured directly, and non-HDL-C was calculated. The severity of coronary stenosis was determined using the Gensini Score (GS) system.In the overall population, LDL-C and non-HDL-C were all dramatically increased according to the quartiles of GS (p0.001, both). In patients with coronary atherosclerosis (n=1097), non-HDL-C (r=0.138, p0.001) was more closely related to GS than LDL-C (r=0.113, p0.001) tested by Spearman correlation analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that non-HDL-C (OR=1.326, 95% CI 1.165-1.508, p0.001) was slightly superior to LDL-C (OR=1.286, 95% CI 1.130-1.463, p0.001) in predicting high GS after adjusting for potential confounders. Among patients with LDL-C less than the median, discordant non-HDL-C could not provide extra value in predicting high GS (OR=0.759, 95% CI 0.480-1.201). However, among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median, the cardiovascular risk was overestimated for patients with discordant non-HDL-C (OR=0.458, 95% CI 0.285-0.736).Our data support the use of non-HDL-C ahead of LDL-C in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, especially among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median.

This paper investigates the effects of financial deregulation on the energy enterprises' operational risks in China, based on 230 Chinese energy enterprises' yearly data spanning from 2003 to 2018. The results show that financial deregulation can lower the energy enterprise's operational risks through easing financing constraints and reversing the financialization tendency of energy enterprises. In addition, the impact of financial deregulation is heterogeneous across different features of energy enterprises. After replacing core indicators, changing model settings, and solving endogenous problems, the above conclusions are still robust, which provides robust evidence from the perspective of the interest rates liberalization.

Heretofore, the metal elements constituting the electrolyzed water catalysts are almost all Fe, Co, and Ni, and the accelerator elements are V, W, Ce, etc., but there is a lack of exploration for other elements. Niobium (Nb) is a promising promoter due to its complex chemical properties and the ability to react with many elements to form abundant compounds. Taking Co4N as the research case, this work incorporates Nb atoms to tune the d orbital of metallic Co4N nanowires. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations show that due to the adjustment of Nb atoms, the d-band center of Co4N moves down, which helps facilitate the desorption of H2. At the same time, abundant Co3+ active sites are generated on the surface of Nb–Co4N, which is crucial for the formation of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates (∗OOH). Nb-regulated Co4N nanosheets on the three-dimensional Ni foam (Nb–Co4N/NF) drives the current density of 20 mA cm−2 at a low overpotential of 90 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction and 273 mV for OER, respectively. This work inspires a novel idea for the rational design and synthesis of highly efficient electrocatalysts composed of novel less used elements for overall water splitting.

The rational design of highly efficient catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solutions is of great significance for water splitting. In this work, we deliberately devise a series of steps to obtain nickel oxide nanosheets on carbon nanotubes (NiO/CNT) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and nickel oxide and nickel disulfide heterogeneous structures on CNTs (NiS2/NiO/CNT) for HER in alkaline conditions, respectively. The NiO/CNT sample shows an efficient OER activity in 1.0 M KOH and requires an overpotential of 310 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2. The NiS2/NiO/CNT sample with a heterogeneous structure drives a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 93 mV in the 1.0 M KOH, presenting a significantly enhanced HER activity compared with that of the pure NiO and NiS2 phases. The potential of 1.62 V allows achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting with the NiS2/NiO/CNT and NiO/CNT catalysts as the cathode and anode, respectively.

Achieving overall water splitting in the same electrolyte remains a challenge for a cost-effective and durable bifunctional catalyst. Doping foreign element into intrinsic materials is an effective way to enhance the electrocatalytic activity, thus we design a facile method to synthesize a novel vanadium doped mixture of CoP and Co2P nanoparticles encapsulated in zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) derived nitrogen doped carbon (V-CoxP@NC NPs) in this work for the first time. Benefiting from the protection of carbon shell and regulation of electronic structure through doping vanadium and phase-mixing CoP and Co2P, the V-CoxP@NC NPs show excellent electrocatalytic performance in both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1.0 M KOH. Using V-CoxP@NC NPs to construct overall water splitting (OWS) device, the electrolyzer achieves the current density of 10 mA cm-2 with a small cell voltage of 1.54 V, exhibiting remarkable activity and continuous work for 20 h without obvious fluctuation.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is regarded as a perfect catalyst for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the active sites are usually concealed due to the unique two dimensional structure of MoS2. Herein, we propose a facile surface engineering modus to improve the HER activity of MoS2. This strategy is demonstrated by in-situ growth of amorphous MoS2 layer on the molybdenum phosphide (MoP) nanoparticles anchored on the carbon nanotubes (MoS2/MoP/CNT). The HER activity is significantly promoted both through the defect engineering of amorphous MoS2 and the synergistic effect between the MoS2 and MoP phases. The MoS2/MoP/CNT sample presents significantly higher HER performance than the pure phase of MoP/CNT and MoS2/CNT samples, requiring overpotentials of 73 and 141 ​mV to drive a current density of 10 and 100 ​mA ​cm-2.

Coronary collateral circulation (CCC) plays an important role in protecting myocardium from ischemic damage. The studies on factors which impact on CCC might be of great clinical interest. The aim of the present study was to evaluate endothelin-1 (ET-1) as a potential predictor for poor or good CCC in patients with angiography-proven ≥95% coronary occlusion.We screened 1038 consecutive patients with ≥95% occlusion in at least one major epicardial coronary artery detected by coronary angiography. Of these, 663 patients were classified into the poor CCC group with Rentrop 0-2 grade collateral circulation and 375 patients into the good CCC group with Rentrop 3 grade. The association of plasma ET-1 levels with collateral status was assessed.We found that patients in the poor CCC group had a higher ET-1 level than those in the good CCC group (0.59±0.48 vs. 0.39±0.32pmol/L, p0.001), and the ET-1 values increased with the descent of the Rentrop grades (p for trend0.001). Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed an independent association between ET-1 and collateral status (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 2.27 [1.60-3.22], p0.001). Additionally, the association presented significance in both men (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 3.18 [2.20-4.74], p0.001) and women (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 3.10 [1.36-7.85], p=0.011) when the sex-specific analysis was performed.Plasma ET-1 level may be a useful, easily available marker for predicting the degree of CCC in patients with ≥95% coronary chronic occlusion.

This study was conducted to determine the inhibitory effect of E-cinnamaldehyde (EC) against causal agent of storage carrot rot, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, under in vivo and in vitro conditions. Based on the results, EC was able to completely inhibit mycelial growth of three isolates (P>0.05) in both volatile and contact phases after 6days at the concentrations 200μl and 1μl/ml, respectively. In addition, EC at concentrations 1 and 10μl/ml completely inhibited carpogenic germination of three isolates. The results of in vivo trials showed that EC at the concentration of 10μl/ml was able to control the disease caused by isolates 1 and 3. However the disease caused by isolate 2 was inhibited with the concentration of 20μl/ml. In enzyme analyses, the activity of polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase did not change in the inoculated carrots after application of EC. Furthermore, the level of phenylalanine ammonia lyase decreased. These results indicated that EC does not have any potential to be considered as resistance inducers against sclerotinia carrot rot.

This study utilizes the nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) model proposed by Shin, Yu, and Greenwood-Nimmo (2014) to quantify the potentially asymmetric transmission of positive and negative changes in each of the possible determinants of industry-level corporate bond credit spreads in China. The determinants we consider include the corresponding industry stock price, China’s stock market volatility, the level and slope of the yield curve (i.e., the interest rate), the industrial production growth rate, and the inflation rate. The empirical results suggest substantial asymmetric effects of these determinants on credit spreads, with the positive changes in the determinants showing larger impacts than the negative changes for most industries we consider. Moreover, the corresponding industry stock prices, the interest rate, and the industrial production growth rate negatively drive the industry credit spreads for many industries. In turn, China’s stock market volatility and the inflation rate positively affect the credit spreads at each industry level. These findings may be helpful to investors, bond issuers and policymakers in understanding the dynamics of credit risks and corporate bond rates at the industry level.

As an evergreen ecosystem, citrus orchards have specialized pest species and stable ecological homeostasis; thus, they provide an ideal model for investigating RNA viromes in diverse but ecologically related species. For this purpose, we collected specialized citrus pests from three classes of invertebrates, Insecta, Arachnida, and Gastropoda and we constructed two kinds of libraries (RNA and small RNA) for the pests by deep sequencing. In total, six virus-derived sequences were identified, including four Picornavirales, one Jingchuvirales and one Nidovirales. The picornavirus-derived small RNAs showed significant small RNA peaks and symmetric distribution patterns along the genome, which suggests these viruses infected the hosts and triggered host antiviral immunity RNA interference. Screening of virus-derived sequences in multiple species of citrus pests (n = 10 per species) showed that Eotetranychus kankitus picorna-like virus and Tetranychus urticae mivirus may be present in multiple pests. Our investigation in citrus pests confirmed that RNA viruses revealed by metagenomics could impact host immunity (e.g. RNAi). An approach with parallel deep sequencing of RNAs and small RNAs is useful not only for viral discoveries but also for understanding virus-host interactions of ecologically related but divergent pest species.

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and other possible determinants on the CNY–CNH spreads by utilizing the nonlinear ARDL model. For this purpose, we construct a novel EPU index based on the EPU indices of China and the G7 countries by using principal component analysis. The results show substantial asymmetric effects of the concerned determinants on the spreads. Moreover, the composite EPU significantly affects the spreads, with positive shocks to the composite EPU inducing widening CNY–CNH spreads.

This research was carried out to assess the effect of E-cinnamaldehyde (EC) against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum , causal agent of potato white mold, under invivo and invitro conditions. Based on the results, EC was able to completely inhibit ( P −1 protein in sterilized distilled water and ethyl acetate, respectively, it was recorded as 78.9 and 86.4 units mg −1 protein for cinnamon extract and EC, respectively.

Background The objective of this study was to determine whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A subtypes improve cardiac stem cell (CSC) engraftment and promote CSC-mediated myocardial repair in the infarcted heart. Methods CSCs were treated with VEGF receptor (VEGFR) inhibitors, VCAM-1 antibody (VCAM-1-Ab), or PKC-α inhibitor followed by the treatment with VEGF-A. CSC adhesion assays were performed in vitro. In vivo, the PKH26-labeled and VCAM-1-Ab or PKC-α inhibitor pre-treated CSCs were treated with VEGF-A followed by implantation into infarcted rat hearts. The hearts were then collected for measuring CSC engraftment and evaluating cardiac fibrosis and function 3 or 28days after the CSC transplantation. Results All three VEGF-A subtypes promoted CSC adhesion to extracellular matrix and endothelial cells. VEGF-A-mediated CSC adhesion required VEGFR and PKCα signaling. Importantly, VEGF-A induced VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1 expression in CSCs through PKCα signaling. In vivo, VEGF-A promoted the engraftment of CSCs in infarcted hearts, which was attenuated by PKCα inhibitor or VCAM-1-Ab. Moreover, VEGF-A-mediated CSC engraftment resulted in a reduction in infarct size and fibrosis. Functional studies showed that the transplantation of the VEGF-A-treated CSCs stimulated extensive angiomyogenesis in infarcted hearts as indicated by the expression of cardiac troponin T and von Willebrand factor, leading to an improved performance of left ventricle. Blockade of PKCα signaling or VCAM-1 significantly diminished the beneficial effects of CSCs treated with VEGF-A. Conclusion VEGF-A promotes myocardial repair through, at least in part, enhancing the engraftment of CSCs mediated by PKCα/VCAM-1 pathway.

This paper provides a fresh new insight into the dynamic relationship between money growth and inflation in China by applying a novel wavelet analysis. From a time-domain view, our findings show strong but not homogenous links between money growth and inflation in the mid-1990s and the period since the early 2000s. Especially since the early 2000s, China's monetary policy has achieved much better performance in terms of inflation management compared to previous years. From a frequency-domain view, we find that money growth and inflation are positively related in one-to-one fashion in the medium or long run whereas they deviates from such a positive relation in the short run due to temporary shocks and significant lag effects. We can also conclude for China that the long-run relationship between M 0 growth and inflation supports the modern quantity theory of money (QTM), while the medium-run relationship between M 1 growth and inflation as well as M 2 growth and inflation supports the modern QTM. In general, however, our results fit well with the fact that China has experienced economic transitions and structural adjustments in monetary policy over the past two decades. Based on the above analysis, this paper provides an overall view of monetary policy operations and some beneficial implications for China.

This study applies the sequential panel selection method (SPSM) procedure proposed by Chortareas and Kapetanios (2009) to investigate the time-series properties of CO 2 emissions for 50 U.S. states during the 1990 to 2010 period. SPSM classifies the whole panel into a group of stationary series and a group of non-stationary series. In doing so, we could clearly identify how many and which series in the panel are stationary processes. Empirical results from the SPSM using the panel KSS unit root test ( Ucar and Omay, 2009 ) with a Fourier function, indicate that CO 2 emissions only converge in 12 out of the 50 U.S. states in our analysis.

Over the past half-century, biomaterials have been used in orthopaedic surgery world widely, but orthopaedic implant-associated infections (OIAIs) are still a puzzle for orthopaedic surgeons, which may result in prolonged hospitalisation, poor functional status and high costs. The presence of implants increases the risk of microbial infection; moreover, the formation of bacterial biofilm leads to a higher resistance to antibiotics and local immune response. In such cases, conventional systemic delivery of drugs seems to be fairly inefficient and out-dated. Owing to this, debridement and/or removing the implant always become the only solution. Hence, it needs a simple, minimally invasive and effective therapy to eradicate the problem. There are abundant evidences showing that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has favourable effects on stimulating callus formation, inducing angiogenesis, promoting osteogenesis and relieving pain. Studies also indicated that ESWs have a significant bactericidal effect on bacterial strains of bone- and implant-associated infections. Therefore, a hypothesis proposed herein is that ESWT may well be an effective adjuvant treatment for OIAI by controlling infection, inducing bone regeneration and promoting re-osseointegration.

Objective The study was designed to evaluate the role of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and acute rejection (AR) in rat intestinal transplantation, by administration of nitric oxide inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (LNAME). Materials and methods Rats that underwent orthotopic intestinal transplantation were assigned to 2 sets of groups: (1) iso-geneic group (Lewis-Lewis), L-NAME 0 mg/kg/d group (1-1), 4 mg/kg/d (group 1-2), or 8 mg/kg/d (group 1-3) injected intraperitoneally or (2) allogeneic group (Dark Agouti-Lewis), L-NAME 0 mg/kg/d (group 2-1) or 8 mg/kg/d (group 2-2) injected intraperitoneally. We examined survival times, light microscopy as well as maltose absorption tests. The nNOS and iNOS activities were measured by immunohistochemical methods. Results Histologic examination showed inhibited iNOS activity compared with group l-l, and Park scores decreased significantly in group 1-2 at 30 minutes after reperfusion (1.42 ± 0.38 vs 2.58 ± 0.49, P < .01). Both iNOS and nNOS activities were inhibited and Park scores increased significantly in group 1-3 from 30 minutes to day 3 after reperfusion (P