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The increase of nitrogen and phosphorus causes eutrophication in water bodies. Using submerged plants to decrease the pollution from water bodies is an effective way. In this research, three common submerged plants (Vallisneria natans, Hydrilla verticillata, and Ceratophyllum demersum) and their combinations were used to purify eutrophic water. The control treatment did not contain any plants. The removal effects and dynamic regulations of the three plants with their combinations of nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) in water were analyzed. All three species and their combinations above could grow in the eutrophic water and efficiently remove aquatic nutrients. All the treatment groups had a higher pollutant removal rate for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) than that of the blank control. In these treatment groups, treatment F (50 g Vallisneria natans plus 50 g Ceratophyllum demersum) had the highest removal rate of TP at 57.53%; treatment B (100 g Vallisneria natans) had the best removal rate of TN at 92.04 %. Among these plants and their combinations, Vallisneria natans and Ceratophyllum demersum showed better purification ability; the combination of these two submerged plants and the combination of three submerged plants were more applicable for the restoration of eutrophic water.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to analyze the effect of adaptive roller-skating on emotional regulation of autistic children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adaptive roller-skating course was designed for autistic children based on adaptive sports and A-B-A experiments. RESULTS: The adaptive roller-skating intervention focuses on improving emotional regulation ability, and directs the children to reasonably vent, recognize and stabilize their emotions. Adaptive roller-skating has a significant effect in intervening sadness, anger, anxiety and fear in autistic children; the intervention content setting and difficulty setting of the course have a certain impact on the intervention effect. Highly difficult and risky content can stimulate children. CONCLUSIONS: Adaptive roller-skating intervention course should obey the concept of adaptive movement in view of the differences between autistic children and the fun of roller-skating and guide the autistic children in emotion regulation with positive emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To explore a new approach for treating renal insufficiency with gene therapy by implanting decorin (DCN)-expressing fibroblasts within the renal tissue of rats with renal failure to neutralize TGF-β1 activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The 5/6 kidney of the selected male SD rats were removed under aseptic conditions. The rats were grouped randomly after the establishment of the model. There were 10 rats in the sham-operated group (Group A), 10 in the operation control group (without treatment, Group B), 10 in the blank control group [treated with empty vector-transfected fibroblasts (FB (LXSN) cells), Group C], and 10 in the treatment group [treated with FB (LDCNSN) cells, Group D]. The pathological changes of rats including body weight, blood lipids, renal function, and renal histology, were observed. The expression of TGF-β1 and DCN in renal tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in body weight and blood lipids between the groups at 4 weeks after treatment. The levels of blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine in rats in Group D were significantly decreased compared with those in Group C (p < 0.05). Although the differences were not statistically significant, the levels of those pathological indicators are higher than baseline values. The expression of DCN in renal tissue increased significantly after 4 weeks in rats of Group D and the differences were significant compared with the other groups. There were no significant differences in TGF-β1 expression between any two groups of Group D, B, and C. Furthermore, pathological damage to the renal interstitium of rats in Group D was significantly decreased compared with that of Group B and C. CONCLUSIONS: DCN can alleviate fibrosis and delay the progression of renal failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have indicated that florivory and nectar robbing may reduce reproductive success of host plants. However, whether and how these effects might interact when plants are simultaneously attacked by both florivores and nectar robbers still needs further investigation., We used Iris bulleyana to detect the interactions among florivory, nectar robbing and pollination, and moreover, their effects on plant reproductive success. Field investigations and hand-pollination treatments were conducted on two experimental plots from a natural population, in which Experimental plot was protected from florivores and Control plot was not manipulated., The flower calyx was bitten by sawflies to consume the nectary, and three bumblebee species were pollinators. In addition, the short-tongued pollinator, Bombus friseanus, was the only robber when there was a hole made by a sawfly. The bumblebee had significantly shortened flower handling time when robbing, as compared to legitimate visits. Pollinator visitation and seed production decreased significantly in damaged flowers. However, seed production per flower after supplementary hand-pollination did not differ significantly between damaged and undamaged flowers. Compared to the Experimental plot, bumblebees visited fewer flowers per plant in a foraging bout in the Control plot., The flowers damaged by florivory allowed B. friseanus to shift to a nectar robber. Florivory and nectar robbing collectively decreased plant reproductive success by consuming nectar resources, which may reduce attractiveness to pollinators of the damaged flowers. However, the changes in pollinator behaviour might be beneficial to the plant by reducing the risk of geitonogamous mating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cotton ball-like SnS2compound has been synthesised by a hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and electrochemical performances of the as prepared materials are characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. Results show that the SnS2compound exhibits three-dimensional cotton ball-like structures. The particle size of every petal displays the ranges from 100 to 200 nm. When the cell potential window is set between 0.01 and 2.0 V versus Li+/Li at the rate of 0.1 C, the initial discharge and charge capacities of SnS2are much higher than those of commercial graphite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise level was assessed by measuring and processing the sound pressure during the mechanical treatment of large size aluminum extrusions utilized in high-speed trains. The noise control tests were proposed by various machining technologies including the adjustments of cutter tool, machining feed rate, cutting way and sealing the openings with sound-absorbing material or not. The results indicated that obvious noise suppression can be obtained by using monolithic cutters, and sealing the openings and ports with sound-absorbing materials, which has little effect on the whole machining efficiency. It is helpful for noise reduction using the machining technologies of cutting along milling and slowing the feed rate down, which requires a balance between noise level and machining efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solidago canadensis is native to North America, but has become a noxious invasive plant in China. We know only a little about its invasion history and the effects of introductions on its genetic composition. Here, we investigated genetic variation and structure between 15 North American and 13 Chinese populations of S. canadensis using AFLP makers. Four AFLP loci suggested relatively high genetic diversity of this weed and similar genetic variation between the invasive range and the native range. Most genetic variation was within populations across two ranges, but the Chinese range had a higher degree of among-population variation than the North American range. Multiple tests, including Bayesian assignment, UPGMA analysis, PCoA and analysis of 'isolation by distance', showed that the Chinese populations originated from at least two distinct native sources and that secondary introduction or dispersal should be common in China. Also, North American populations were possibly a single genetic group. Overall, S. canadensis in China was probably founded from multiple introductions and then spread through long-distance dispersal associated with human activities. Genetic variability in the species in the invaded range appears to have favoured establishment and spread and may well provide a challenge to successful control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, oxic and anoxic microcosms were constructed with aquifer sediment collected from the vicinity of a municipal solid waste composting site. Phenanthrene was used as a model PAH compound. The changes of bacterial and archaeal communities in microcosms were characterized with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis was also used to investigate phylogenetic composition of the microbial communities when phenanthrene significantly depleted. Results showed that the phenanthrene could be significantly degraded under both oxic and anoxic conditions. Phenanthrene addition had significant impact on bacterial and archaeal community structures, depending on redox conditions. After a significant depletion of phenanthrene, the bacteria in the oxic microcosm were mainly composed of β-proteobacteria, α-proteo bacteria and δ-proleobacteria, in contrast, γ-proteobacteria was the major bacterial type in the anoxic microcosm. Moreover, Euryarchaeota was detected as the major archaeal community in the anoxic microcosm, however, sample from the oxic microcosm was not successfully amplified with archaea- specific primers. Bacterial family Enterobacteriae and archaeal genus Methanosarcina might play important roles in phenanthrene degradation under anoxic conditions. This work does add new insights on how to bioremediate PAHs in aquifer sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicago sativa is an excellent pasture legume, but it is very sensitive to aluminium (Al) toxicity. To better understand the mechanism of M. sativa sensitivity to Al, a forward suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library for an Al-sensitive cultivar, M. sativa L. cv. Yumu No. 1 (YM1), under 5 μm Al stress over a 24 h period was constructed to analyse changes in its gene expression in response to Al stress. Sequence analysis for the SSH cDNA library generated 291 high-quantity expression sequence tags (ESTs). Of these, 229 were known as functional ESTs, 137 of which have already been reported as Al response genes, whereas the other 92 were potentially novel Al-associated genes. The up-regulation of known Al resistance-associated genes encoding the transcription factor sensitive to proton rhizotoxicity 1 (STOP1) and malate transporter MsALMT1 (Al-activated malate transporter) as well as genes for antioxidant enzymes was observed. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis validated the reliability of the SSH data and confirmed the up-regulated expression of STOP1 and MsALMT1 under 5 μm Al stress. The analysis of physiological changes indicated that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde levels were elevated rapidly under 5 μm Al stress, suggesting that severe oxidative stress occurred in the YM1 roots. The up-regulation of antioxidant-related genes might be an important protective mechanism for YM1 in response to the oxidative stress induced by 5 μm Al toxicity. Al-induced malate exudation was increased drastically during the early period after Al treatment, which might have been due to the up-regulation and function of MsALMT and STOP1. However, malate exudation from the YM1 roots declined quickly during the subsequent period, and a gradual decrease in malate content was simultaneously observed in the YM1 roots. This result is in agreement with the observation that organic acid metabolism-associated enzymes such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, citrate synthase and malate dehydrogenase were not present in the SSH library. This might be a major reason for the YM1 sensitivity to Al. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Various natural objects follow a number-size relationship in the fractal domain. In such relationship, the accumulative number of the objects beyond a given size shows a power-law relationship with the size. Yet in most cases, we also need to know the relationship between the accumulative number of the objects and their average size. A generalized number-size model and a number-average size model are constructed in this paper. In the number-average size model, the accumulative number shows a power-law relationship with the average size when the given size is much less than the maximum size of the objects. When the fractal dimension Ds of the number-size model is smaller than 1, the fractal dimension Dm of the number-average size model is almost equal to 1 ; and when Ds > 1, the Dm is approximately equal to Ds. In mineral deposits, according to the number-average size model, the ore tonnage may show a fractal relationship with the grade, as the cutoff changes for a single ore deposit. This is demonstrated by a study of the relationship between tonnage and grade in the Reshuitang epithermal hotspring gold deposit, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum optimal control of nuclei (nucleon and meson) in the presence of perturbations in control field is investigated. The nucleon and meson interaction is given by Klein–Gordon–Schrödinger systems with dissipative and damping terms. A rational physical model is proposed for controlling two particles. Suppose the amplitude of perturbation is bounded, optimal quantum control pairing are found theoretically and computationally. A stable semi-discrete algorithm is developed to execute computational simulations for illustrating the feasibility of theoretic control design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In global positioning system (GPS) positioning, the tropospheric delay is a systematic error. Mismodeling of the tropospheric delay results in a degradation of the estimated height component, and thus constitutes a limitation to high-accuracy GPS applications. As such, it is obvious that the tropospheric delay should be modeled as accurately as possible. Modeling the tropospheric delay for some applications, such as precise airborne kinematic differential positioning, is further complicated due to the large altitude difference between the ground-based receiver and the airborne roving receiver. This study tests and analyzes three methods for modeling the tropospheric delay, in an attempt to improve the accuracy of the height component for airborne GPS kinematic positioning. As there are several other error sources in GPS, the test and evaluation have to be carefully designed, as any improvements in accuracy due to the use of any tropospheric modeling approaches could be masked by other effects, such as residual orbit errors and ionospheric delays. The analysis is performed for real airborne GPS data and data from a multiple-base station network, and model performance evaluation is based on an independently well-determined aircraft trajectory. Test results show that the estimation of residual tropospheric zenith delay simultaneously with the position parameters after applying the tropospheric delay corrections derived from a network of GPS receivers is seen as the best option with an additional 62% improvement for the height component in terms of standard deviation when compared with results from using a UNB3 tropospheric model only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel nanostructuring of a GeSbTe film may significantly improve the recording performance in data storage. In this paper, a method that permits direct and massively parallel nanopatterning of the substrate surface by laser irradiation is investigated. Polystyrene spherical particles were deposited on the surface in a monolayer array by self-assembly. The array was then irradiated with a 248-nm KrF laser. A sub-micron nanodent array can be obtained after single-pulse irradiation. These nanodents change their shapes at different laser energies. The optical near-field distribution around the particles was calculated according to the exact solution of the light-scattering problem. The influence of the presence of the substrate on the optical near field was also studied. The mechanisms for the generation of the nanodent structures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four new complexes of UO2(II) and Th(IV) with bis-Schiff bases, derived from N,N'-bis[(l-phenyl-3-methyl-5-oxo-4-pyrazolinyl)-a-furylmethylidyne]-1,2-propylenediimine [1,2-BPMOPFP-H2] and N,N'- bis[(l-phenyl-3-methyl-5-oxo-4-pyrazolinyl)-a-furylmethylidyne]-1,3-propylenediimine [1,3-BPMOPFP-H2], were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV, 1HNMR spectroscopy, and molar conductivity. The general formula of the complexes was confirmed to be [UO2(BPMOPFP)], [Th(BPMOPFP)(NO3)]NO3. A possible structure for the complexes have been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the allelochemicals stress induced by aqueous extract of Parthenium hysterophorus L. and synthetic phenolic compounds on the physiological responses of selected varieties of Kenyan Zea mays L. (H625, H614D, DH02, H513, H6213), Phaseolus vulgaris L. (GLP2, GLP92) and Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek (KS20). The aqueous extracts significantly inhibited the growth of test crop varieties than control. However, the effects were variable depending on whether the phenolic compounds had hydroxy (-OH) or methoxy (-OCH3) ring substituents. Aqueous extracts of P. hysterophorus and phenolic compounds with -OCH3 groups (M-Anisic and P-Anisic acid) decreased the physiological responses of test plant, while, phenolic compound with -OH groups (Coumaric acid and Hydroxybenzoic acid) were stimulatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]