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The article discusses the prevalence of airborne bacteria and fungi at the Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Museum in Xi'an, China on October 1, 2006. It states that airborne bacteria were collected through gravitational sedimentation. Moreover, it notes that museum air was affected by human activity, thus, limitation of visitors and opening of windows are suggested.

The aim of our investigation was to determine the effect of microwave pretreatment of wheat seeds on the tolerance of seedlings to salt stress. Selected parameters (for example, plant growth and biochemical parameters related to oxidative status) were measured. The results showed that microwave pretreatments for 5, 10, 15, or 20 s resulted in an increase in root length and shoot height in seedlings, with 10- and 15-s treatments giving the greatest effect. Salt stress, produced by treatment with 200 mM NaCl, reduced the length and fresh weight of shoots and roots, enhanced the leaf concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), indicators of oxidative stress, while decreasing the activities of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione reductase (GR). Furthermore, the salt treatment reduced the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) in the shoots. However, treatments of seeds with microwave radiation followed by salt stress restored all of these parameters close to those in non-salt-treated seedlings. The results indicate that application of a suitable dose of microwave radiation to seeds can enhance tolerance to salt stress in wheat seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The re-entrant coupling structure is applied in a parallel-coupled microstrip filter design to ensure a wide bandwidth, compactness, and the suppression of spurious. Fan design graphs are provided to determine the dimensions of each coupled stage. The features and advantages of the proposed circuit are analyzed in detail. Two experimental filters with design bandwidths of 70 and 90% are fabricated to verify the effectiveness of the modified structure. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1795–1800, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24513 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the ancillary services, a great number of cost allocation strategies have been broadly developed in the deregulated environment. Generally, the utilization of such services can be determined by directly evaluating the actual amount of the usage or by indirectly analyzing the fair/reasonable contribution/attribution to the market participants. In the case of the primary frequency regulation (PFR) service, which is operated by the participating generating units to maintain the real-time balance between the generation and load, the discussion of the PFR service attributed to the load side has still received relatively little attention. In this paper, a new strategy of the cost allocation of the PFR service from the customer side is proposed. Two main factors, the load fluctuation and the frequent demand change, are considered to figure out the PFR reaction relating to the different substations. The design of a scheme for determining the cost allocation index of the PFR service can be applied to the presently exiting power market. In addition, the actually load series recorded from the extra-high voltage (EHV) substations of the Taipower system located in northern, central, and southern Taiwan are meticulously analyzed and utilized to verify the feasibility and practicability of cost allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand response in the off-peak period is pro- posed to reduce the cost of the expensive fuel for the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower). For the lack of base-load generation units, Taipower has to meet a certain portion of the system demand by mobilizing LNG-fired and oil-fired units, even in the off-peak period. Taipower adopts the time-of-use pricing policy, which charges a pretty low rate in the off-peak period, for the purpose of load management. However, the difference between the fuel cost and income per kilowatthour incurs a huge deficit to Taipower. This paper proposes a competitive model based on the demand response in order to restrain or reduce expensive fuel usage in the off-peak period. By providing a compensation tariff, the deficit can be reduced, and Taipower can run profitably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new method of designing tightly coupled directional couplers on printed circuit board substrates. The coupler is realized by placing a piece of floating metal plate on parallel-coupled microstrip lines to enhance the coupling between the lines. This structure yields a tightly coupled directional coupler without wire bonding and using high-resolution fabrication processes. A design procedure based on closed-form design equations of the parallel-coupled microstrips is proposed to design the new coupler. An S-band 3-dB coupler constructed from the new structure is fabricated and measured to verify the proposed design procedure. Another wideband coupler, comprising two sections of conventional microstrip couplers and one section of the new type coupler, is also fabricated and measured to demonstrate the flexibility of connecting the new structure and conventional microstrip structures or devices. The measurements of the two couplers demonstrate that the coupler operates properly with approximately 54% and 94% fractional bandwidth, respectively, showing good agreement with the electromagnetic simulations. Additionally, a broadband filter consisting of four sections of the proposed coupling structure is fabricated and tested. The measured insertion losses are around 0.8 dB associated with return losses of greater than 15 dB over a frequency range of 4.5-7.1 GHz, corresponding to a fractional bandwidth of 45%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical observations suggest that re-experiencing symptoms are triggered by stimuli that are perceptually similar to those present shortly before the trauma or its worst moments. Two experiments investigated the possible role of perceptual priming in this phenomenon. Volunteers ( N = 28, N = 62) watched a series of “traumatic” and neutral picture stories, and completed blurred object identification (priming) and recognition memory tasks. Neutral objects that immediately preceded the “traumatic” stories were more strongly primed, but not better recognised, than objects from neutral stories. Enhanced priming predicted subsequent re-experiencing symptoms. The results support the role of perceptual priming in re-experiencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleft palate is a congenital disorder arising from a failure in the multistep process of palate development. In its mildest form the cleft affects only the posterior soft palate. In more severe cases the cleft includes the soft (posterior) and hard (anterior) palate. In mice a number of genes show differential expression along the anterior–posterior axis of the palate. Mesenchymal heterogeneity is established early, as evident from Bmp4-mediated induction of Msx1 and cell proliferation exclusively in the anterior and Fgf8-specific induction of Pax9 in the posterior palate alone. In addition, the anterior palatal epithelium has the unique ability to induce Shox2 expression in the anterior mesenchyme in vivo and the posterior mesenchyme in vitro. Therefore, the induction and competence potentials of the epithelium and mesenchyme in the anterior are clearly distinct from those in the posterior. Defective growth in the anterior palate of Msx1−/– and Fgf10−/– mice leads to a complete cleft palate and supports the anterior-to-posterior direction of palatal closure. By contrast, the Shox2−/– mice exhibit incomplete clefts in the anterior presumptive hard palate with an intact posterior palate. This phenotype cannot be explained by the prevailing model of palatal closure. The ability of the posterior palate to fuse independent of the anterior palate in Shox2−/– mice underscores the intrinsic differences along the anterior–posterior axis of the palate. We must hitherto consider the heterogeneity of gene expression and function in the palate to understand better the aetiology and pathogenesis of non-syndromic cleft palate and the mechanics of normal palatogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethyl caffeate, a natural phenolic compound, was isolated from Bidens pilosa, a medicinal plant popularly used for treating certain inflammatory syndromes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural activity, and the anti-inflammatory functions and mechanism(s) of ethyl caffeate.Ethyl caffeate was found to markedly suppress the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production (IC50=5.5 μg ml−1), mRNA and protein expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in RAW 264.7 macrophages.Transient gene expression assays using human cox-2 promoter construct revealed that ethyl caffeate exerted an inhibitory effect on cox-2 transcriptional activity in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-treated MCF-7 cells.Immunohistochemical studies of mouse skin demonstrated that TPA-induced COX-2 expression was significantly inhibited by ethyl caffeate with a superior effect to that of celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.The phosphorylation and degradation of inhibitor κB (IκB) and the translocation of nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) into the nucleus, as well as the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) induced by LPS in macrophages, were not affected by ethyl caffeate. Ethyl caffeate, however, could inhibit NF-κB activation by impairing the binding of NF-κB to its cis-acting element. These results suggest that ethyl caffeate suppresses iNOS and COX-2 expressions partly through the inhibition of the NF-κB·DNA complex formation.Structure–activity relationship analyses suggested that the catechol moiety and α,β-unsaturated ester group in ethyl caffeate are important and essential structural features for preventing NF-κB·DNA complex formation. This study provides an insight into the probable mechanism(s) underlying the anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties of ethyl caffeate.British Journal of Pharmacology (2005) 146, 352–363. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706343; published online 25 July 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seed embryos of Isatis indigotica Fort were exposed to He-Ne laser (5.23 mW/mm2, radiated for 5 min) and microwave (1.26 mW/mm2, radiated for 8 s) irradiation to determine the effects of microwave and He-Ne laser pretreatment on enzyme activities, and biophoton emission of cotyledon. Then: (i) changes in the activities of enzymes in I. indigotica cotyledon (such as amylase, transaminase, and proteinase) were measured to investigate the effects of He-Ne laser and microwave pretreatment; and (ii) biophoton emission was measured to determine the speed of cell division and metabolism. Results from these experiments indicated that: (i) the activities of amylase, transaminase, and proteinase of the cotyledon pretreated by He-Ne laser and microwave were significantly increased; and (ii) the intensity of biophoton emission was enhanced significantly by He-Ne laser and microwave irradiation. These changes suggest that He-Ne laser and microwave pretreatment can improve the inner energy of seeds, lead to an enhancement of cotyledon enzymes, and speed up the metabolism of the cell, resulting in significantly increased biophoton emission. Moreover, the mechanism of action of the effects of laser and microwave radiation on the microcalorimetric parameters, enzyme activities, and biophoton emission of seeds is discussed on the basis of the results obtained. (Managing editor: Ping HE) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the effect of social anxiety, trait anxiety and social threat on the attention to negative and positive social-evaluative words. Review of related literature on trait anxiety; Threat induction in anxiety; Description of the study design; Discussion on attentional bias and trait anxiety.

Focuses on the study conducted by Chinese researchers on the synthesization of the new three-dimensional bimetallic tellurite, BaV₂TeO₈, through hydrothermal reaction of Ba(OH)₂, TeO₂ and V₂O₅; Characterization of the synthesization by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction; Composition of the three-dimensional framework with anionic layers parallel to and connected via Ba-O bonds; Attribution of the anionic layers as formed through types of polyhedra such as the VO#x2085; tetragonal pyramids, VO#x2084; tetrahedra, and TeO#x2084;₊#x2082; folded square polyhedra.

Abstract Background Left-behind adolescents (LBAs) are adolescents aged 11–18 years who are separated from their parents and left behind in local cities by one or both parents for a period of more than 6 months. LBAs in rural areas are likely to engage in aggressive behavior, which can affect interpersonal relationships, reduce academic performance, and even lead to anxiety and depression. To our knowledge, no studies have examined the mediating effect of resilience and self-esteem on the relationship between negative life events and aggression among Chinese rural LBAs. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between negative life events and aggression among Chinese rural LBAs and how self-esteem and resilience mediate the association. Methods Using a stratified random sampling method, 1344 LBAs in Hunan Province of China were investigated. Information was collected by a self-designed sociodemographic questionnaire, Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Resilience Scale Chinese Adolescent, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Aggression Scales to assess the psychology of LBAs. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis to estimate direct and indirect effects using bootstrap analysis. Results Negative life events were significantly related to self-esteem (r = − 0.338), resilience (r = − 0.359), and aggression (r = 0.441). Aggression was directly affected by self-esteem (β = − 0.44) and resilience (β = − 0.34). Negative life events were not only directly related to aggression (β = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.275 ~ 0.398) but also showed an indirect effect on aggression through self-esteem and resilience. The direct effect, total effect and indirect effect of negative life events on aggression through self-esteem and resilience were 0.3364, 0.4344 and 0.0980, respectively. The mediating effect of self-esteem and resilience accounted for 22.56% of the relationship between negative life events and aggression. Conclusions We found that self-esteem and resilience mediated most negative life events on aggression. It is imperative for educators and families to improve LBAs’ self-esteem and resilience to reduce the occurrence of aggression. Future intervention studies should be designed to strengthen self-esteem and resilience.