Search

As the strength grade increases, the cold formability of high-strength steels (HSS) inevitably decreases and the brittleness tendency is obvious. However, in most existing studies on HSS forming the assumption of ductile material was commonly used, and the brittle properties of HSS were not clearly understood. In this paper, a deliberately designed uniaxial twice tensile test was employed to examine the quasi-brittle deformation and fracture behaviors of NM450TP wear-resistant steel plates. FEM models considering non-uniform mechanical properties were constructed, and DC04 plates characterized by typical ductile material were tested for comparison. The results showed that the brittle trend of NM450TP plates causes obvious localized strain during stretching, and the fracture is sensitive to the random initial imperfections. The deformation outside the necking zone is small and the deformation capacity is preserved; thus, it would be conservative to evaluate the formability of HSS by the conventional concept of percentage elongation. The non-uniform FEM models can reproduce the fracture mode of NM450TP plates during tensile tests. In comparison, the ductile DC04 specimens can "average" the mechanical properties before fracture within a wide range via large plastic deformation, and then the deformation is more uniform. The correction index n for conversion of elongation value of NM450TP plates in the Oliver formula was obtained. In the studied cases, n ranges from 0.685 to 0.752 for specimens with gauge length of 150 mm, while it ranges from 0.839 to 0.931 when the gauge length is 15 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programmable metasurfaces present significant capabilities in manipulating electromagnetic waves, making them a promising candidate for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT), which has the potential to enable sustainable wireless communication in complex electromagnetic environments. However, challenges remain in terms of maximum power transmission distance and stable phase manipulation with high-power scattered waves. Additionally, waveform limitations restrict average scattered power and rectifier conversion efficiency, affecting data transmission rates and energy transmission distance. Here we show an amplifying programmable metasurface (APM) and a joint modulation method to address these challenges. The APM mitigates the peak-to-average power ratio and improves maximum power, phase response stability, average output power, and rectifier conversion efficiency. Through experimental validation, we demonstrate the feasibility of the SWIPT system, showcasing simultaneous LED array powering and movie video transmission. This innovative SWIPT system holds promise for diverse applications, including 6 G wireless communications, IoT, implanted devices, and cognitive radio networks. In this work, the authors demonstrate a 'jointly modulated' amplifying programmable metasurface (APM) for simultaneous wireless information and power transmission (SWIPT). Their technique outperforms existing methods, significantly improving power transmission and adaptability for conveying energy and data across various domains, including wireless implants, 6 G networks, and IoT systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical properties of a thin-shell wormhole (TSW) with a Hayward profile is investigated. Adopting the ray-tracing method, we demonstrate that the TSW's contralateral spacetime is capable of reflecting a significant portion of light back to the observer spacetime. We analyze the effective potential, light deflection, and azimuthal angle of the TSW and find that these quantities are affected by the mass ratio of the black holes (BHs). Specifically, if the mass of the contralateral spacetime BH is greater than that of the original spacetime BH, and the impact parameter satisfies the condition H b c2 < b 1 < b c1 , the trajectory of the photon exhibits round-trip characteristics. Assuming the presence of a thin accretion disk surrounding the observing spacetime BH, our results indicate that the image formed by the TSW exhibits additional photon rings and a lensing band compared to an image produced by a BH alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parts with the complex curved surface are commonly used in high-end equipment. The machining quality of the curved surface parts is important for the property of high-end equipment. With position control of the main spindle, i.e., the C axis, the slow tool servo (STS) turning is a very promising technique to effectively machine complex curved surface parts. However, the turning machining quality is restricted by the cutting force fluctuation in finishing turning. Hence, the STS turning toolpath generation approach with the constraint of the cutting force fluctuation is proposed in this study. As the cutting force is proportionate to the cutting area, the cutting area for turning complex curved surfaces is analyzed and calculated. Then the functional relation between the cutting force fluctuation and the feed rate is derived. Based on the geometrical characteristic of the first revolution of the toolpath, the feed rate is optimized with small cutting force fluctuation to derive the cutter contact points (CCPs) in the cylindrical coordinate system. From the validation experiment results, it can be seen that the cutting force fluctuation, the profile tolerance, and the surface roughness of parts are effectively reduced, and the surface roughness of the part machined with the proposed toolpath planning method is 17.625 nm. Thus, this study provides guidance for toolpath generation with the constraint of the fluctuation of the cutting force in STS turning for a complex curved surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CaCu3Ti4O12 nanowires (CCTO-NWs) with different aspect ratios were synthesized by two-step hydrothermal method. CCTO-NWs/PVDF composites were prepared using CCTO-NWs as filler and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as matrix. The effects of CCTO-NWs content and its aspect ratio on dielectric properties of composites were investigated. Results showed that aspect ratios of CCTO-NWs were obtained as 11.84, 14.47, 17.11, and 19.74 by controlling the first hydrothermal reaction temperature to be 180 °C, 200 °C, 220 °C, and 240 °C. At 102 Hz, the dielectric constant of 70-wt% CCTO-NWs/PVDF composite can reach 62.94, which is 3.7 times higher than that of 10-wt% CCTO-NWs/PVDF composite (13.47). Adding CCTO-NWs with high aspect ratio into matrix can effectively improve dielectric constant. When CCTO-NWs content is 60-wt%, compared with fillers with an aspect ratio of 11.84, fillers with an aspect ratio of 19.74 can make the dielectric constant of composites increase about 64%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-local symmetries for the generalised Broer–Kaup (BK) system are obtained with the truncated Painlevé expansion method. The non-local symmetries can be localised to the Lie point symmetries for the extended system by introducing auxiliary dependent variables. The finite symmetry transformations related to the non-local symmetries are computed. The consistent Riccati expansion and consistent tanh expansion integrability of the generalised BK system are proved, and the single soliton, two-resonant soliton and soliton–cnoidal wave interaction solutions are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic ducks are raised for meat, eggs and feather down, and almost all varieties are descended from the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Here, we report chromosome-level high-quality genome assemblies for meat and laying duck breeds, and the Mallard. Our new genomic databases contain annotations for thousands of new protein-coding genes and recover a major percentage of the presumed "missing genes" in birds. We obtain the entire genomic sequences for the C-type lectin (CTL) family members that regulate eggshell biomineralization. Our population and comparative genomics analyses provide more than 36 million sequence variants between duck populations. Furthermore, a mutant cell line allows confirmation of the predicted anti-adipogenic function of NR2F2 in the duck, and uncovered mutations specific to Pekin duck that potentially affect adipose deposition. Our study provides insights into avian evolution and the genetics of oviparity, and will be a rich resource for the future genetic improvement of commercial traits in the duck. Domestic ducks are descended from the Mallard and have been bred for several purposes. Here the authors present three high-quality duck genome assemblies which recover previously missing genes and provide a rich resource of variants potentially related to domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain size and weight are the key traits determining rice quality and yield and are mainly controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTL). In this study, one minor QTL that was previously mapped in the marker interval of JD1009-JD1019 using the Huanghuazhan/Jizi1560 (HHZ/JZ1560) recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, qTGW1-2, was validated to regulate grain size and weight across four rice-growing seasons using twenty-one near isogenic line (NIL)-F2 populations. The twenty-one populations were in two types of genetic background that were derived from the same parents HHZ and JZ1560. Twelve F9, F10 or F11 NIL-F2 populations with the sequential residual heterozygous regions covering JD1009-RM6840 were developed from one residual heterozygote (RH) in the HHZ/JZ1560 RIL population, and the remaining nine BC3F3, BC3F4 or BC3F5 NIL-F2 populations with the sequential residual heterozygous regions covering JD1009-RM6840 were constructed through consecutive backcrosses to the recurrent parent HHZ followed with marker assistant selection in each generation. Based on the QTL analysis of these genetic populations, qTGW1-2 was successfully confirmed to control grain length, width and weight and further dissected into two QTLs, qTGW1-2a and qTGW1-2b, which were respectively narrowed down to the marker intervals of JD1139-JD1127 (~ 978.2-kb) and JD1121-JD1102 (~ 54.8-kb). Furthermore, the two types of NIL-F2 populations were proved to be able to decrease the genetic background noise and increase the detection power of minor QTL. These results provided an important basis for further map-based cloning and molecular design breeding with the two QTLs in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are widespread among bacteria. However, not all ARGs pose serious threats to public health, highlighting the importance of identifying those that are high-risk. Here, we developed an 'omics-based' framework to evaluate ARG risk considering human-associated-enrichment, gene mobility, and host pathogenicity. Our framework classifies human-associated, mobile ARGs (3.6% of all ARGs) as the highest risk, which we further differentiate as 'current threats' (Rank I; 3%) - already present among pathogens - and 'future threats' (Rank II; 0.6%) - novel resistance emerging from non-pathogens. Our framework identified 73 'current threat' ARG families. Of these, 35 were among the 37 high-risk ARGs proposed by the World Health Organization and other literature; the remaining 38 were significantly enriched in hospital plasmids. By evaluating all pathogen genomes released since framework construction, we confirmed that ARGs that recently transferred into pathogens were significantly enriched in Rank II ('future threats'). Lastly, we applied the framework to gut microbiome genomes from fecal microbiota transplantation donors. We found that although ARGs were widespread (73% of genomes), only 8.9% of genomes contained high-risk ARGs. Our framework provides an easy-to-implement approach to identify current and future antimicrobial resistance threats, with potential clinical applications including reducing risk of microbiome-based interventions. Antibiotic resistance genes are common but not all are of high risk to human health. Here, the authors develop an omics-based framework for ranking genes by risk that incorporates level of enrichment in human associated environments, gene mobility, and host pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) show highly metabolic heterogeneity and adaptability. To develop effective therapeutic strategies targeting metabolic processes, it is necessary to identify metabolic differences and define metabolic subtypes. Here, we aimed to develop a classification system based on metabolic gene expression profile in LGGs.Methods: The metabolic gene profile of 402 diffuse LGGs from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was used for consensus clustering to determine robust clusters of patients, and the reproducibility of the classification system was evaluated in three Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) cohorts. Then, the metadata set for clinical characteristics, immune infiltration, metabolic signatures and somatic alterations was integrated to characterise the features of each subtype.Results: We successfully identified and validated three highly distinct metabolic subtypes in LGGs. M2 subtype with upregulated carbohydrate, nucleotide and vitamin metabolism correlated with worse prognosis, whereas M1 subtype with upregulated lipid metabolism and immune infiltration showed better outcome. M3 subtype was associated with low metabolic activities and displayed good prognosis. Three metabolic subtypes correlated with diverse somatic alterations. Finally, we developed and validated a metabolic signature with better performance of prognosis prediction.Conclusions: Our study provides a new classification based on metabolic gene profile and highlights the metabolic heterogeneity within LGGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current methods for radar target detection usually work on the basis of high signal-to-clutter ratios. In this paper we propose a novel convolutional neural network based dual-activated clutter suppression algorithm, to solve the problem caused by low signal-to-clutter ratios in actual situations on the sea surface. Dual activation has two steps. First, we multiply the activated weights of the last dense layer with the activated feature maps from the upsample layer. Through this, we can obtain the class activation maps (CAMs), which correspond to the positive region of the sea clutter. Second, we obtain the suppression coefficients by mapping the CAM inversely to the sea clutter spectrum. Then, we obtain the activated range-Doppler maps by multiplying the coefficients with the raw range-Doppler maps. In addition, we propose a sampling-based data augmentation method and an effective multiclass coding method to improve the prediction accuracy. Measurement on real datasets verified the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topology concept in the condensed physics and acoustics is introduced into the elastic wave metamaterial plate, which can show the topological property of the flexural wave. The elastic wave metamaterial plate consists of the hexagonal array which is connected by the piezoelectric shunting circuits. The Dirac point is found by adjusting the size of the unit cell and numerical simulations are illustrated to show the topological immunity. Then the closing and breaking of the Dirac point can be generated by the negative capacitance circuits. These investigations denote that the topological immunity can be achieved for flexural wave in mechanical metamaterial plate. The experiments with the active control action are finally carried out to support the numerical design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parts with complex surface are widespread application for industrial manufacturing field, and 5-axis machining with ball-end cutter is a common measure for surface machining. In order to achieve high-quality surface machining, it is especially important to optimize the pose of the tool and the workpiece. The local tool axis vector optimization can effectively reduce the machining error of the complex surface parts with abrupt curvature. However, when tool axis vectors optimizing interval is overmuch, the local tool axis vector optimization is time-consuming and ineffective. To solve this defect, aiming at the minimum angular acceleration, a global tool axis vector control method is proposed in this research. Firstly, the feasible spaces of the tool axis vectors at the CC (cutter contact) points are obtained. Then, the toolpath is divided by the property of concavity or convexity for the toolpath curve, and the key tool axis vectors on the toolpath curve are determined. Finally, tool axis vectors are adjusted based on the minimum rotary axes' angular acceleration in each interval, and the tool axis vectors at the joint position of the adjacent segments are adjusted to smooth tool axis vectors for the entire toolpath. Through the simulation and experiment on the test part, the validity of the method is proved, and the global optimization method can effectively decrease the machining errors and promote the machining quality of the complex surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five-axis machine is one of the most versatile machine tools in complex surface machining while the machining interference occurs easily. To avoid the adverse consequences caused by interference, interference detection, and feasible region, solution are proposed. However, with the required processing accuracy of the complex surface parts increasing, the common feasible region solution is generally difficult to achieve. The error caused by the tool orientation variation along the tool path, just the non-linear error, may exceed the specified tolerance. Considering that both the interference problem and the non-linear problem could be solved by modifying the tool orientation, this study proposes a feasible region solution for tool orientation with the constraint of non-linear error, which can avoid tool interference and achieve high geometric accuracy for tool path planning in the extreme high-precision machining. The detection region that corresponds to the tool orientation at cutter contact (CC) point is calculated to avoid the collision firstly, and the feasible region of tool orientation for a certain CC point is established. After building the tool path equations between two adjacent CC points, the relationship between the movement angles of rotation axis and the machining error is built. By considering the non-linear error of the different rotatory axes respectively, the calculation formula for the movement angle variation of the rotation axis is deduced. Finally, according to the single point non-interference feasible region of the tool angle, the non-interference feasible region for the extreme high-precision processing is constructed with the constraint of non-linear error. A comparative experiment is carried out to verify the proposed feasible region construction method. The experimental results show that with the proposed method, the profile arithmetic average error and the maximum of profile deviation are 53 μm and 71 μm, respectively, which decrease by 30.13% and 32.31% compared with the conventional non-interference feasible region. The achievements have good applicability and are significant for the improvement of processing quality, which provide guidance for the extreme high-precision machining of complex surface parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock bursts are spontaneous, violent fracture of rock that can occur in deep mines, and the likelihood of rock bursts occurring increases as depth of the mine increases. Rock bursts are also affected by the compressive strength, tensile strength, tangential strength, elastic energy index, etc. of rock, and the relationship between these factors and rock bursts in deep mines is difficult to analyze from quantitative point. Typical rock burst instances as a sample set were collected, and membership function was introduced to process the discrete values of these factors with the discrete factors as condition attributes and rock burst situations as decision attributes. Dominance-based rough set theory was used to generate preference rules of rock burst, and eventually rock burst laws analysis in deep mines with preference relation was taken. The results show that this model for rock burst laws analysis in deep mines is more reasonable and feasible, and the prediction results are more scientific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of land-use change on greenhouse gas emissions has become a core issue in current studies on global change and carbon cycle. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of land-use changes on carbon emissions is very necessary. This paper attempted to apply the Grossman decomposition model to estimate the scale, structural, and management effects of land-use carbon emissions based on final energy consumption by establishing the relationship between the types of land use and carbon emissions in energy consumption. It was shown that land-use carbon emissions increase from 169.5624 million tons in 2000 to 637.0984 million tons in 2010, with an annual average growth rate of 14.15 %. Meanwhile, land-use carbon intensity increased from 17.59 t/ha in 2000 to 64.42 t/ha in 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 13.86 %. The results indicated that rapid industrialization and urbanization in Zhejiang Province promptly increased urban land and industrial land, which consequently affected land-use extensive emissions. The structural and management effects did not mitigate land-use carbon emissions. By contrast, both factors evidently affected the growth of carbon emissions because of the rigid demands of energy-intensive land-use types and the absence of land management. Results called for the policy implications of optimizing land-use structures and strengthening land-use management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaves serve as the major photosynthetic organs of plants and show considerable diversity in their shapes. Although significant efforts have been focused on exploring the molecular mechanism of leaf development, factors that are responsible for the lobed leaf formation remain unclear. A natural mutant named BM7 in melon ( Cucumis melo L.) that consists of palmately lobed leaf offers a unique opportunity to study the underlying mechanism of the lobed leaf shape formation. BM7 spontaneously arose from the melon line Mhy, which has normal round leaf, and was found in a field in China. Genetic analysis showed that the palmately lobed leaf trait was controlled by a single recessive gene, designated pll. Two BC populations derived from the cross of (Y8×BM7)×BM7 and (Jiashi×BM7)×BM7 were used to map pll by bulk segregant analysis using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The pll gene was located on linkage group III of melon between SSR markers G69 and 784RS, and the physical distance is 14,631 bp according to the melon genome database. Only one gene, MELO3C010784, was predicted in this region. Gene MELO3C010784 is similar to the AP2-like ethylene-responsive transcription factor ANT, which plays a general role in maintaining meristematic competence in plants. This study is first report of its kind in mapping a gene that confers melon leaf trait and lays the foundation for investigations into the molecular mechanism of palmately lobed leaf formation in melon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera xanthii is a major disease in melon. Here we report two Px race 1 strains named Px1A and Px1B in Xinjiang, which have different pathogenicities. The more pathogenic Px1B made some powdery mildew resistant genes on linkage group V (LGV) lose their resistant traits. The inheritances of resistance to Px1A and Px1B in melon Edisto47 were studied using a BC 1 population derived from a cross between the resistant genotype Edisto47 and the susceptible cultivar Queen. The resistance/susceptibility segregation ratios observed in the Px1A-inoculated BC 1 population and the loci of polymorphic markers indicated that resistance to Px1A was controlled by two dominant genes. Quantitative trait locus analysis identified two loci mapped on LGII and LGV, respectively, for powdery mildew resistance. However, for resistance to Px1B, Edisto47 was found to bear one dominant gene. A genetic linkage map was constructed using the Px1B-inoculated BC 1 population to map the resistant gene. Comparative genomic analyses revealed that the linkage map of Pm- Edisto47- 1 was collinear with the corresponding genomic region of the melon chromosome 2. Genetic analysis showed that Pm- Edisto47- 1 was located between simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers CMGA36 and SSR252089, at a genetic distance of 2.1 cM to both markers. Synteny analysis showed that two genes named MELO3C015353 and MELO3C015354 were predicted as candidates for Edisto47- 1 in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circle geometric constraint model (CGCM) was put forward for resolving the open-pit mine ore-matching problems (OMOMP). By adopting the approaches of graph theory, block model of blasted piles was abstracted into a set of nodes and directed edges, which were connected together with other nodes in the range of circle constraints, to describe the mining sequence. Also, the constructing method of CGCM was introduced in detail. The algorithm of CGCM has been realized in the DIMINE system, and applied to a short-term (5 d) program calculation for ore-matching of a cement limestone mine in Hebei Province, China. The applications show that CGCM can well describe the mining sequence of ore blocks and its mining geometric constraints in the process of mining blasted piles. This model, which is applicable for resolving OMOMP under complicated geometric constraints with accurate results, provides effective ways to solve the problems of open-pit ore-matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdery mildew is one of the most important melon pathogens all over the world. So far, many genes conferring resistance to powdery mildew of melon have been described, but few of these have been finely mapped or cloned. Two F populations derived from Ano2 × Hami413 and Ano2 × Queen were used to map the powdery mildew resistance gene by methods of Bulked Segregation Analysis (BSA), comparative genomics and Resistance Gene Analogues (RGA) mapping. It was found that the resistance to powdery mildew in Ano2 was conferred by a dominant gene, and the gene was named Pm- AN. The genetic analysis revealed that Pm- AN located between two codominant markers RPW and MRGH63B in linkage groupV. The genetic distances between Pm- AN and these two markers were 1.4-1.8 and 1.6-2 cM. No recombination was found between Pm- AN and markers ME/E1, SRAP23. Pm- AN was located in a RGA-rich region and cosegregated with the RGA marker MRGH5 and the resistance gene Vat. Synteny analysis showed that markers in this region were collinear between melon and cucumber. Segregation distortion was found in this region using both Ano2 × Hami413 and Ano2 × Queen F populations, and the distortion was more distinct in Ano2 × Hami413 F population. The center of segregation distortion was located in the RGA rich region harboring Pm- AN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Neuroscience Bulletin is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we present an algorithm to probabilistically estimate object shapes in a 3D dynamic scene using their silhouette information derived from multiple geometrically calibrated video camcorders. The scene is represented by a 3D volume. Every object in the scene is associated with a distinctive label to represent its existence at every voxel location. The label links together automatically-learned view-specific appearance models of the respective object, so as to avoid the photometric calibration of the cameras. Generative probabilistic sensor models can be derived by analyzing the dependencies between the sensor observations and object labels. Bayesian reasoning is then applied to achieve robust reconstruction against real-world environment challenges, such as lighting variations, changing background etc. Our main contribution is to explicitly model the visual occlusion process and show: (1) static objects (such as trees or lamp posts), as parts of the pre-learned background model, can be automatically recovered as a byproduct of the inference; (2) ambiguities due to inter-occlusion between multiple dynamic objects can be alleviated, and the final reconstruction quality is drastically improved. Several indoor and outdoor real-world datasets are evaluated to verify our framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene contains a functional polymorphism (Val158Met) affecting the activity of the enzyme, and the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene contains a VNTR polymorphism (MAOA-uVNTR) that affects the transcription of the gene. COMT and MAOA each contribute to the enzymatic degradation of dopamine and noradrenaline. Prefrontal cortical (PFC) function, which plays an important role in individual cognitive abilities, including intelligence, is modulated by dopamine. Since our previous association studies between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and these two functional polymorphisms consistently showed the low activity alleles were preferentially transmitted to inattentive ADHD boys, the goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the interaction between COMT Val158Met and MAOA-uVNTR may affect the intelligence in a clinical sample of Chinese male ADHD subjects ( n = 264). We found that the COMT × MAOA interaction significantly predicted full scale (FSIQ) and performance (PIQ) IQ scores ( P = 0.039, 0.011); the MAOA-uVNTR significantly predicted FSIQ, PIQ and verbal IQ (VIQ) ( P = 0.009, 0.019, 0.038); COMT Val158Met independently had no effect on any of the IQ scores. Only the COMT × MAOA interaction for PIQ remained significant after a Bonferroni correction. Among all combined genotypes, the valval-3R genotype predicted higher intelligence, (average 106.7 ± 1.6, 95% C.I. 103.7–109.8 for FSIQ), and the valval-4R predicted lower intelligence (average 98.0 ± 2.3, 95% C.I. 93.5–102.6 for FSIQ). These results suggest that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between intelligence and dopaminergic activity in our sample. Our finding that gene–gene interaction between COMT and MAOA predicts the intelligence of ADHD boys in China is intriguing but requires replication in other samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controllable cell growth on the defined areas of surfaces is important for potential applications in biosensor fabrication and tissue engineering. In this study, controllable cell growth was achieved by culturing 293 T fibroblast cells on a mica surface which had been patterned with collagen strips by a microcontact printing (μCP) technique. The collagen area was designed to support cell adhesion and the native mica surface was designed to repel cell adhesion. Consequently, the resulting cell patterns should follow the micro-patterns of the collagen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle (WCA) measurement, atomic-force microscope (AFM) observation, and force-curve measurement were used to monitor property changes before and after the collagen adsorption process. Further data showed that the patterned cells were of good viability and able to perform a gene-transfection experiment in vitro. This technique should be of potential applications in the fields of biosensor fabrication and tissue engineering. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiC–SiO2–CuO composite particles were prepared by double coating processes. SEM, DSC-TG, XRD techniques were carried out to characterize the coated composite particles and sintered compacts. It was found that a core-shell structure was constructed in the composite particles with the core of SiC and the shell of SiO2–CuO. Cu–silicides were detected in hot-pressed compacts. SiO2 might decompose at 1,300 °C. The decomposition product of Si would result in the transformation from Cu6.69Si into Cu3Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the LHCb Collaboration has confirmed the state X(4140), with a mass M = 4146.5 ± 4. 5 - 2.8 + 4.6 MeV, and a much larger width Γ = 83 ± 21 - 14 + 21 MeV than the previous experimental measurements, which has confused the understanding of its nature. We will investigate the possibility of the χ c 1 (3 P) interpretation for the X(4140), considering the mass spectra predicted in the quark model, and the strong decay properties within the 3 P 0 model. We also predict the strong decay properties of the charmonium states χ c 0 (3 P) and χ c 2 (3 P) . Our results show that the X(4140) state with the small width given in PDG can be explained as the charmonium state χ c 1 (3 P) in the 3 P 0 model, and high precision measurement of the width of the X(4140) is crucial to understand its nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propagation of elastic waves along a direction has special interests in practical applications. These concerns generate the design of an elastic wave metamaterial with electrically switchable properties, which is studied in this work. The structure contains a T-shaped waveguide in a plate with the 3D printing technology; and the active control system is used to tune the propagation direction of the flexural wave. The piezoelectric patches which are connected by the negative capacitance circuits are applied to behave as the active control system. The finite element simulation is performed to give the theoretical prediction of the switchable waveguide and the tunable equivalent parameters are achieved by the electrical circuits. The active control experiments are finally carried out to support the numerical design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topology of helix-bundle membrane proteins provides low-resolution structural information with regard to the number and orientation of membrane-spanning helices, as well as the sidedness of intra/extra-cellular domains. In the past decades, several strategies have been developed to experimentally determine the topology of membrane proteins. However, generally, these methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming and difficult to implement for quantitative analysis. Here, we report a novel approach, site-directed alkylation detected by in-gel fluorescence (SDAF), which monitors the fluorescent band shift caused by alkylation of the EGFP-fused target membrane protein bearing one single introduced cysteine. In-gel fluorescence provides a unique readout of target membrane proteins with EGFP fusion from non-purified samples, revealing a distinct 5 kDa shift on SDS-PAGE gel due to conjugation with mPEG-MAL-5K. Using the structurally characterised bile acid transporter ASBTNM as an example, we demonstrate that SDAF generates a topology map consistent with the crystal structure. The efficiency of mPEG-MAL-5K modification at each introduced cysteine can easily be quantified and analysed, providing a useful tool for probing the solvent accessibility at a specific position of the target membrane protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strong decays of the 51S0qq¯ states are evaluated in the 3P0 model with two types of space wave functions. Comparing the model expectations with the experimental data for the π(2360), η(2320), X(2370), and X(2500), we suggest that the π(2360), η(2320), and X(2500) can be assigned as the members of the 51S0 meson nonet, while the 51S0 assignment for the X(2370) is not favored by its width. The 51S0 kaon is predicted to have a mass of about 2418 MeV and a width of about 163 or 225 MeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]