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Our purpose in this paper is to present mathematical ways for entanglement transfers of arbitrary multipartite W state and W-type state under the local operation and classical communications. Two cases of general entanglement transfers and entanglement concentrations are completely addressed. With the symmetry special nonlinear equivalent optimizations may be used to obtain the optimal success probabilities. They are implementable in physics based on adaptable method based on sequenced local quantum measurements. Our new method is also extended to general bipartite entanglement transfers.

A series of simulations were carried out to investigate the residual stress induced in the photovoltaic laminate during the cooling process after lamination with a global model and several submodels. The simulations focus separately on the effects of the cooling rate, the cell layout and anisotropy on the residual stress and deformation of the photovoltaic laminate in a comparative manner with the finite element method. The results have shown that significant stress concentration and twist occurs in the interconnection region in the cell. In addition, different cooling rates, cell layouts and anisotropy only influence the largest stress rather than the stress distribution and deformation. Therefore, the results of a uniform stationary isotropic model with fewer cells can provide enough insight into the stress distribution in real photovoltaic laminates and the modified largest first principal stress can be used for design and verification.

Laryngeal cancer (LC) is one of the most common malignant tumors that occur in the head and neck. Emerging evidence shows that coding RNAs and non-coding RNAs play key roles in the formation and progression of LC. In this review, we focus on the regulation of lncRNAs in LC. LncRNAs appear to be involved in laryngeal cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis and in establishment of the laryngeal tumor microenvironment through various mechanisms. Furthermore, we also discuss the possibilities of establishing lncRNAs as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for laryngeal cancer. Taken together, we summarize the emerging roles of lncRNAs in laryngeal cancer development and their possible clinical significance.

Transition metal (TM) doped II-VI semiconductors have attracted great attention due to their luminescence and diluted magnetism. In this study, the Fe

This study analyzed the temporal-spatial distribution characteristics, epidemiological characteristics and gene sequences of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Guangxi, with the intention of providing a theoretical and technical support for the prevention of HFRS. A map of the incidence of HFRS of different cities in Guangxi was drawn up using the Geographic Information System (GIS) to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and infection source of HFRS between 2013 and 2016. Guangxi has a low incidence of HFRS, and autumn and winter are the main high-incidence seasons. Cases of HFRS were reported in all regions in Guangxi except Laibin city between 2013 and 2016. The distribution of cases in the four years suggested that Guilin, Nanning, Hechi and Wuzhou were the main infected regions, especially the local areas in the north of Guilin. The nucleotide and amino acid of S fragment and M fragment of Hantaviruses (HV) detected were highly homologous, and no obvious variation was found. Through analyzing the space-time characteristics, epidemiological characteristics and gene sequence of HFRS in Guangxi, it was found that areas rich in water, grass and moisture, such as paddy fields, are the main active areas for the host of HFRS.

The morbidity of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been increasing over years, while the treatment efficacy and prognosis of PDAC remain far from satisfying. The newly-ermerged tumor immunotherapy has not only made lots of breakthroughs in various malignancies, but also brought an opportunity to the treatment of pancreatic cancer.PDAC immunotherapies, mainly including vaccine therapy, adoptive T cell thanfer therapy, checkpoint blockade therapy, have achieved a certain effect, however, the clinical outcomes have not been satisfactory. Therefore, the combination of immunotherapies based on different theoretical views is important and is likely to be the trend in the future. Carcinoma associated fibroblast (CAF) is the most common cell in pancreatic cancer stromal component. It will be helpful to develop more potential therapeutic targets by further exploring CAF and the mechanism of fibrosis mediated immunosuppression.胰腺导管腺癌的发病率逐年上升，但治疗效果和预后却不尽如人意。近年来，逐渐兴起的肿瘤免疫治疗为许多肿瘤带来了治疗突破，也为胰腺癌治疗带来了新的机遇。针对胰腺导管腺癌的主要免疫治疗手段包括胰腺癌疫苗治疗、T细胞过继治疗、检查点抑制治疗等，虽然取得了一定效果，但仍未有令人满意的临床效果。因此，基于不同理论角度的免疫治疗互相配合显得尤为重要，胰腺导管腺癌的联合免疫治疗将是未来免疫疗法的主流。胰腺癌间质中多为肿瘤相关成纤维细胞，进一步了解肿瘤相关成纤维细胞和纤维化介导的胰腺导管腺癌免疫抑制相关机制将有助于开发更多的潜在治疗靶点。.

Valsartan has been reported to have the function of treating hypertension and improving the prognosis of patients. Many studies indicated that valsartan can also increase angiotensin II, andosterone and plasma renin activity (PRA). Autoantibodies against the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1-AA) have been showed to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium (Ca2+) and result in apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle cells. In this study, we attempted to explore the effect of valsartan on AT1-AA-induced apoptosis in endothelial progenitor cells.Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were cultured. The cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay. EPCs apoptosis was determined by DAPI staining and flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen species, intracellular calcium concentration and calpain activity were measured using Fluostar Omega Spectrofluorimeter. The expression of p-ERK, p-eIF-2a, CHOP, Bcl-2 and caspase-3 were detected by Western blot.MTT assays showed valsartan significantly inhibited AT1-AA- induced decline of the viability of EPCs. DAPI staining and flow cytometry results indicated valsartan inhibited AT1-AA-induced decline of the viability of EPCs via inhibiting AT1-AA-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, the increasing of reactive oxygen species, intracellular calcium and calpain activity induced by AT1-AA in EPCs were also recovered after pre-treated with valsartan. Meanwhile, the upregulation of p-ERK, p-eIF-2a and CHOP, downregulation of Bcl-2, and activation of Caspase-3 caused by AT1-AA were reversed after pre-incubated with valsartan.Valsartan could inhibit AT1-AA-induced apoptosis through inhibiting oxidative stress mediated ER stress in EPCs.

Twelve previously isolated Lactobacillus strains were investigated for their in vitro bioactivities, including bile salt hydrolase (BSH), cholesterol-reducing and antioxidant activities, cytotoxic effects against cancer cells, enzyme activity, and biogenic amine production. Among them, only 4 strains showed relatively high BSH activity, whereas the rest exhibited low BSH activity. All 12 strains showed cholesterol-reducing and antioxidant activities, especially in their intact cells, which in most of the cases, the isolated strains were stronger in these activities than the tested commercial reference strains. None of the tested strains produced harmful enzymes (β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase) or biogenic amines. Among the 12 strains, 3 strains were tested for their cytotoxic effects against 3 cancer cell lines, which exhibited strong cytotoxic effects, and they also showed selectivity in killing cancer cells when compared to normal cells. Hence, all 12 Lactobacillus strains could be considered good potential probiotic candidates because of their beneficial functional bioactivities.The Lactobacillus strains tested in this study could be considered good potential probiotic candidates for food/feed industry because of their beneficial functional bioactivities such as good cholesterol-reducing ability, high antioxidant activity, and good and selective cytotoxic effect against cancer cells.

MiR-655-3p has been reported to play important roles in tumor initiation, development, and metastasis in several cancers. This study aimed to assess the potential role of miR-655-3p in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).The expression levels of miR-655-3p in HCC tissues were detected by qPCR. The relationship between clinicopathologic characteristics and miR-655-3p was analyzed by chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional models were used to study the impact on clinical outcome.miR-655-3p was significantly down- regulated in HCC tissues compared to normal adjacent liver tissues (p0.01). Low miR-655-3p expression was observed to be closely correlated with positive microvascular invasion, advanced tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (p0.05, respectively). The results of Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with high miR-655-3p expression lived shorter than those with low miR-655-3p expression (Log-rank test, p = 0.0002). Multivariate analysis revealed that miR-655-3p was an independent risk factor for HCC (HR=1.533, 95% CI: 0.988-3.891; p = 0.002).Our data showed that low expression of miR-655-3p was associated with significant characteristics of patients with HCC, and it could function as a potential unfavorable prognostic biomarker.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly aggressive disease with a grim prognosis. Surgical resection offers the best chance for long-term survival. Negative-margin resection still remains the goal, the influence of margin status on outcomes in pancreatic head carcinoma remains controversial, as conflicting data have been plagued by a lack of standardization in R0 resection and margin definitions, pathologic analysis, and reporting. In contrast to common belief, a high rate of R1 resections in pancreatic cancer is not a marker of low-quality surgery but rather of high-quality pathology. The international pathological consensus of pancreatic head carcinoma is still needed to fully understand the prognostic value of margin status in order to optimize treatment strategy for this disease.胰腺癌恶性程度高、预后差，根治性切除是目前治愈胰腺癌的唯一可能的方法。而R0切除的标准、切缘的定义、病理学检查等尚缺乏统一的标准，胰头癌手术切缘对患者预后的影响仍饱受争议。与以往的观念不同，目前认为R1切除率高不是外科手术质量差的指标，而是说明病理学检查的质量高。期待胰头癌标本病理学检查的国际共识尽早发布，以更好地明确手术切缘与临床预后的关系，指导医师选择更合理的治疗策略。

To achieve an excellent rectification for molecular rectifiers has been an unmet goal to date. Here, we report calculated results on high-performance molecular rectifiers, where two semi-infinite graphene electrodes are periodically doped with boron and nitrogen atoms, respectively. It is surprising to find that there exists a particular coupling selection for energy bands of electrodes to the central molecule and unique bias-polarity-dependent band matching relations between two electrodes, leading to an unexpectedly high rectification ratio (>109) in a large bias region. This is a much higher value than that for macroscopic p–n junction diodes (105–107), and typical behaviors for conventional diodes are also clearly observed. The robust rectifications are further tested by varying the length and type of molecules, doping concentrations, and width of electrodes.

An unusual long-lived intense relativistic electron enhancement event from July to August 2004 is examined using data from Fengyun-1, POES, GOES, ACE, the Cluster Mission, and geomagnetic indices. During the initial 6days of this event, the observed fluxes in the outer zone enhanced continuously, and their maximum increased from 2.1x10(2)cm(-2)sr(-1)s(-1) to 3.5x10(4)cm(-2)sr(-1)s(-1), the region of enhanced fluxes extended from L=3.5-6.5 to L=2.5-6.5, and the flux peak location shifted inward from L4.2 to L3.3. During the following 7days, without any locational movement, the flux peak increased slowly and exceeded the prestorm fluxes by about 4 orders of magnitude. Subsequently, the decay rate of relativistic electrons is so slow that the peak remains over 10(4)cm(-2)sr(-1)s(-1) for about 30days. The drift resonance between ULF waves, which arose from high-speed solar wind and frequent impulses of solar wind dynamic pressure, and energetic electrons injected by substorms could be an important acceleration mechanism in this event. The local acceleration by whistler mode chorus could be another mechanism contributing to this enhancement. The plasmaspheric response to the interplanetary disturbances reveals that the enhanced outer zone is divided into two portions by the plasmapause. Accordingly, the slow loss rate in the plasmasphere due to hiss primarily contributed to the long-lived characteristic of this event. This event reveals that the outer zone population behaviors are dominated by the interplanetary variations together with the responses of geomagnetic field and plasmasphere to these variations.

Non-halogen flame retarded polyethylene (PE) can be prepared by filling metallic hydroxides magnesium hydroxide (MH) or aluminium hydroxide (ATH), the mechanical properties of polymer composites will decline greatly when filling much more inorganic particles. Selecting microencapsulating particles, suitable synergistic agents or compatibilizers are good methods for improving the combination performance of composites. In this study, microencapsulated red phosphorous (MRP) was synthesized by using melamine-formaldehyde resin through in-situ polymerization, and used as a synergistic agent of MH and ATH, and the best proportion of three flame retardants was studied in detail. Results showed that flame retarded PE had a better combination performance when filling with 45 wt% compound flame retardants of MRP, MH and ATH under the weight ratio of 46/46/8. In order to improve the mechanical performance of composite, two polymeric compatibilizers POE-g-MAH and EPDM-g-MAH were selected to toughen the flame retarded PE composite. Results showed the flame resistance and mechanical properties of composites improved greatly with an increase of compatibilizer content, under the same condition, POE-g-MAH has a better contribution on the flame resistance and EPDM-g-MAH has a better toughening effect. The best flame retarded PE composite can be obtained by filling with 45 wt% compound flame retardants and 10 wt% EPDM-g-MAH.

In an attempt to improve the material selection, design and reliability of rock bit WC-Co cemented carbides (hardmetals), an extensive and detailed study is conducted with the main goal of characterizing the fracture and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of four hardmetal grades. Work includes basic microstructural and mechanical characterization of the materials, assessment of fracture toughness and FCG kinetics. It is found that rock bit cemented carbides exhibit relatively high fracture toughness values (between 17 and 20 MPa root m) in direct association with their specific microstructural characteristics, i.e. medium/coarse carbide grain size and medium cobalt content. The influence of microstructure on the measured crack growth mechanics under monotonic loading may be accounted by considering the effective operation of ductile ligament bridging and crack deflection as the prominent toughening mechanisms. Regarding FCG behavior, it is observed to exhibit a significant Km influence. Furthermore, relative increments in toughness are maintained, in terms of crack growth threshold, under cyclic loading. As a consequence, fatigue sensitivity for rock bit cemented carbides is found to be lower than that extrapolated from data reported for fine-grained grades. Crack growth resistance under cyclic loading for the hardmetals studied may be understood on the basis that prevalent toughening mechanisms (ductile ligament bridging and crack deflection) show distinct susceptibility to fatigue degradation and are thus critical in determining fatigue sensitivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The dynamic responses and blast resistance of all-metallic sandwich plates with functionally graded close-celled aluminum foam cores are investigated using finite element simulations, and compared with those of ungraded single-layer sandwich plates. Upon validating the numerical approach using existing experimental data and introducing the present computational model, different graded sandwich plates under air blast loading are analyzed in terms of deformation and blast resistance. The effects of face-sheet arrangements and interfacial adhesion strength between different foam layers are quantified. The results demonstrate that relative to conventional ungraded plates subjected to identical air blast loading, the graded plates possess smaller central transverse deflection and superior blast resistance, with further improvement achievable by optimizing the foam core arrangement. The blast resistance of both graded and ungraded sandwich plates subjected to the constraint of equivalent mass is also explored.

PURPOSE:: To assess the intraobserver and interobserver variability of new software for the analysis of anterior chamber-angle images obtained using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM). PATIENTS AND METHODS:: Consecutive UBM images of 4 quadrants (the superior, the nasal, the temporal, and the inferior) of 30 primary angle-closure suspects (PACSs) and 30 normal subjects with open angles were selected. Two observers used the new UBM image analysis software to calculate the following parameters on 2 separate occasions: angle opening distance (AOD), trabecular-iris angle (TIA), angle recess area (ARA), trabecular-ciliary process distance (TCPD), iris-ciliary process distance (ICPD), and iris thickness (IT). Intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility were measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS:: For intraobserver measurements in PACS, the range of ICC for AODs, TIAs, ARAs, TCPDs, ICPDs, and ITs in the 4 quadrants were 0.77 to 0.94, 0.80 to 0.92, 0.82 to 0.94, 0.51 to 0.73, 0.42 to 0.78, and 0.76 to 0.89; in open angles, these were 0.83 to 0.94, 0.80 to 0.93, 0.84 to 0.93, 0.57 to 0.89, 0.57 to 0.84, and 0.70 to 0.95. For interobserver measurements in PACS, the range of ICC for AODs, TIAs, ARAs, TCPDs, ICPDs, and ITs in the same quadrants as above were 0.52 to 0.89, 0.65 to 0.92, 0.68 to 0.92, 0.22 to 0.80, 0.48 to 0.93, and 0.29 to 0.75; in open angles, these were 0.57 to 0.87, 0.60 to 0.86, 0.64 to 0.90, 0.27 to 0.94, 0.56 to 0.93, and 0.28 to 0.66. CONCLUSIONS:: Angle width (AOD, TIA, and ARA) and IT of both PACS and open angles could be reliably measured by the same observer; interobserver measurements and those related to the ciliary process (TCPD and ICPD) were more variable. For the current version of this software, we recommend measurements of anterior chamber parameters by the same observer.

Introduction In this case, we are aimed to develop and validate Raman metabolic footprint analysis to determine chromosome euploidy and aneuploidy in embryos fertilized in vitro. Material & methods To establish the analysis protocol, spent embryo culture medium samples with known genetic outcomes from 87 human embryos were collected and measured with the use of Raman spectroscopy. Individual Raman spectra were analyzed to find biologic components contributing to either euploidy or aneuploidy. To validate the protocol via machine-learning algorithms, an additional 1,107 Raman spectra from 123 embryo culture media (61 euploidy and 62 aneuploidy) were analyzed. During the test, 10 μL culture media was carefully moved to a special-designed sample cell with a gold coating after thawed and centrifuged in order to avoid the interference of oil. All spectra were preprocessed by subtracting the dark signal background from each spectrum. Spectral normalization was done by vector normalization of the fingerprint region from 600 to 1,800 cm−1. Then, machine-learning models were implemented to classify embryo euploidy or aneuploidy based on original Raman spectra of embryo culture media. A total of 1,017 spectra (549 for euploidy and 558 for aneuploidy) was split into the training set and the testing set in a ratio of 8:2. Results Mean-centered Raman spectra and principal component analysis showed differences in the footprints of euploid and aneuploid embryos growing in culture medium. Significant differences in Raman bands associated with small RNAs and lipids were also observed. Stacking classification based on k-nearest-neighbor, random forests, and extreme-gradient-boosting algorithms achieved an overall accuracy of 95.9% in correctly assigning either euploidy or aneuploidy based on Raman spectra, which was validated by PGT-A sequencing results. Conclusions This study suggests that chromosomal abnormalities in embryos should lead to changes of metabolic footprints in embryo growth medium that can be detected by Raman spectroscopy. The ploidy status of embryos was analyzed by means of Raman based footprint profiling of spent culture media and was consistent with PGT-A testing performed by next-generation sequencing.

Using the non-equilibrium Green’s function method combined with the density functional theory, we investigate the electronic transport properties of a heterostructure based on zigzag graphene, This heterostructure consists of H2–NZGNR–H and H–NZGNR–H. Results show that a perfect dual spin filtering effect can be realized with the parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetiesm configuration, and some magnetic domain walls (DW) at the interface between two component ribbons. The magnetic moments, DOS and PDOS, the transmission pathways and LDOS demonstrate that the edge of C–H2 bonds have important effects for magnetic and spin dependent transport properties compared to the edge of C–H bonds. Our results show that the H2–ZGNR–H/H–NZGNR–H heterostructure holds promise for magneto electronics devices which can keep steady properties when change the widths of the two component ribbons.

Ultrafine silicon carbide (SiC) powders were surface-modified using ethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) combined with ethylene glycol. SiC suspensions with favorable rheological properties, low viscosity, and high solid loading were successfully obtained. The mechanisms of the compound surface modification for SiC powders as well as the influences of the compound surface modification not only on functional groups and charge state of the surface for SiC powders but also on the rheological properties of SiC suspensions were investigated in the present study. The results show that under alkaline conditions and acidic conditions, the surface charge states of SiC powders were [Si-OCH2CH2O]− and [Si-OCH2CH2OH2]+, respectively. The absolute value of zeta potential reached the maximum value of 22.69 mV at pH 11. Additionally, with added 1 wt% TEOS and 3 wt% ethylene glycol, the SiC suspensions exhibited good rheological properties, low viscosity and high stability due to the steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion of...

Asthma is a serious health problem worldwide, particularly in industrialized countries. Despite a better understanding of the pathophysiology of asthma, there are still considerable gaps in knowledge as well as a need for new classes of drugs. ASHMI™ (Anti-asthma Herbal Medicine Intervention) is an aqueous extract of Ganoderma lucidum (Fr.) P. Karst (Ling Zhi), Sophora flavescens Aiton (Ku Shen) and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. ex DC (Gan Cao). It prevents allergic asthma airway hyper-reactivity in mice and inhibits acetylcholine (ACh) induced airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction in tracheal rings from allergic asthmatic mice. The purpose of this research was to identify individual herb(s) and their active compound(s) that inhibit ASM contraction. It was found that Sophora flavescens (S. flavescens), but not Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) or Glycyrrhiza uralensis (G. uralensis) aqueous extracts, inhibited ASM contraction in tracheal rings from asthmatic mice. Bioassay-guided isolation and identification of flavonoid fractions/compound(s) via methylene chloride extraction, preparative HPLC fractionation, and LC-MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses showed that trifolirhizin is an active constituent that inhibits acetylcholine mediated ASM contraction or directly relaxes pre-contracted ASM independent of β2-adrenoceptors.

Twelve-low resistant (LR) mutants of Trichoderma harzianum with the capability of grow fast at 0.8 μg/mL methyl benzimidazol-2-yl carbamate (MBC) were obtained using UV mutagenesis. MR and HR mutants which could grow fast at 10 and 100 μg/mL MBC, respectively, were isolated by step-up selection protocols in which UV-treated mutants were induced and mycelial sector screening was made in plates with growth medium. Subsequently, β-tubulin genes of 14 mutants were cloned to describe-the molecular lesion likely to be responsible-for MBC resistance. Comparison of the β-tubulin sequences of the mutant and sensitive strains of T. harzianum revealed 2 new MBC-binding sites differed from those in other plant pathogens. A single mutation at-amino acid 168, having Phe (TTC) instead of Ser (TCC)', was demonstrated for the HR mutant; a double mutation in amino acid 13 resulting in the substitution of Gly (GGC) by Val (GTG) was observed in β-tubulin gene of MR mutant. On the other hand, no substitutions were identified in the β-tubulin gene and its 5'-flanking regions in 12 LR mutants of T. harzianum.

Plasma transferred arc cladding process was used to fabricate CoNiCuFeCr multi-element alloys coatings. The experimental results show that the coating forms a face-centered-cubic solid solution phase. The microstructure of the coating is mainly composed of dendrite and discontinuous interdendritic segregation. The average hardness of the coating reaches 194.8 HV100. The nano-indentation testing indicates that the micro-hardness and elastic modulus of the coating are 3.64 GPa and 211 GPa, respectively. The CoNiCuFeCr high-entropy alloy coating has excellent wear and corrosion resistance. The wear resistance of the coating is about 1.7 times higher than that of Q235 steel substrate under the same wet sand rubber wheel abrasion testing conditions. In 1N hydrochloric acid solution, the coating presents lower i corr values in polarization curves and higher fitted R f values in EIS plots than that of as-cast 304 stainless steel.

The effect of vanadium content on the microstructure of Ni–Cr alloyed cast iron has been investigated by optical and scanning electronic microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, aided by thermodynamic calculations of the phase diagrams. The wear resistance of cast and tempered specimens was examined in pin on disc tests. The results show that with increasing V additions, the number of vanadium carbide (VC) precipitates was greatly enhanced and the distribution of precipitates became more uniform. Furthermore, refinement of M3C precipitates (M = Fe, Cr, Ni, Mo, V) increased with V addition as a result of heterogeneous nucleation at VC particles. An increase in V content from 0·85 to 4·58 wt-% improved the wear resistance of the cast iron significantly, by a factor of almost 13. Analysis of the microstructure suggests that the refinement of M3C and the uniform distribution of dense VC particles account for the improvement of wear resistance of the cast iron.

An in vitro gas production technique was used in this study to elucidate the effect of two strains of active live yeast on methane (CH4) production in the large intestinal content of pigs to provide an insight to whether active live yeast could suppress CH4 production in the hindgut of pigs. Treatments used in this study include blank (no substrate and no live yeast cells), control (no live yeast cells) and yeast (YST) supplementation groups (supplemented with live yeast cells, YST1 or YST2). The yeast cultures contained 1.8×1010 cells per g, which were added at the rates of 0.2 mg and 0.4 mg per ml of the fermented inoculum. Large intestinal contents were collected from 2 Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire pigs, mixed with a phosphate buffer (1:2), and incubated anaerobically at 39°C for 24 h using 500 mg substrate (dry matter (DM) basis). Total gas and CH4 production decreased (p

High velocity arc spraying (HVAS) process was used to deposit Al–Ni–Y–Co amorphous and nanocrystalline composite coating on AZ91 magnesium alloy substrate. The microstructure of the coating was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the coating with thickness of 500 µm presents a dense layered structure with low porosity (1.8%). The coating consists of amorphous, nanocrystalline, and crystalline phases. The microhardness was measured by a microhardness tester. The average values of Vickers hardness for the Al–Ni–Y–Co coating, pure Al coating and AZ91 alloys are about HV0.1 310, HV0.1 70, and HV0.1 60, respectively. The electrochemical corrosion resistance of the coating in 5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution was also investigated, and the results showed that the Al–Ni–Y–Co coating exhibits better corrosion resistance than pure Al coating and AZ91 magnesium alloy.

Objective: Veterans evaluated at the WRIISC present with multiple and chronic health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain, and fatigue. These patients often experience poor symptom relief. A pilot project was designed to determine whether such veterans would practice yoga as an adjunct to conventional medical care. We also used a range of standard screening measures to examine the health profile of individuals. Methods: Veterans were referred by VA clinicians to a WRIISC yoga clinic established in 2009. Two classes were offered per week. Veterans were assessed at baseline and after 12 classes with the PTSD Ch ecklist (PCL), Short F orm McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-12), and the Flinders Fatigue Scale (FFS). Results: There have been 293 patient referrals so far and more than 1,824 yoga contact hours. Detailed data were collected on 10 veterans age 53–85 yrs (6 males). The screening instruments revealed nonsignificant benefits of yoga across the classes (p > .05). Furthermore, the PCL scores showed that four patients (40%) screened positive for PTSD (mean severity score = 40.9, range = 18–70). In addition, the PCL showed positive correlations with measures of pain (FS-12; Spearman’s rho = .76, p < .01), and chronic fatigue (FFS; Spearman’s rho = .94, p < .001). Similar results were found for equivalent correlations after 12 yoga classes. Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrates that veterans accept yoga as a complementary treatment to their regular medical care. Of possible significance is the observation that 40% of the patients screened positive for PTSD. The reasons for this are not clear but may be because such patients were referred at a higher rate. It is also possible that PTSD patients seek out yoga classes as an effective means of treating their symptoms. The strong correlations between measures of PTSD, pain, and fatigue suggest far-reaching implications for the integration of yoga in the treatment of veterans with a broad array of disorders exacerbated by stress. 2. Yoga-based Psychotherapy Group With Urban Youth Exposed to Trauma

To investigate the etiology, clinical features and outcome of hospitalized patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) in a tertiary hospital.Positive blood cultures were obtained from the microbiological laboratory in Fuxing Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. BSIS events were identified and the epidemiology data were collected.A total of 149 patients and 154 BSIs events were confirmed by pathogenic and clinical evidence. The in-patients' BSIs rate was 0.8% in our hospital in 2012. According to the disease entities of the first BSIs onset, 15 patients (10.1%) were from surgical departments, 83 patients (55.7%) from the medical departments, and 51 patients (34.2%) from ICU. Thirty-three patients (22.1%) were diagnosed as septic shock. Sixty-eight patients died during hospital stay. The in-hospital mortality rate was 45.6%. Among the 154 BSIs events, 125 (81.2%) were nosocomial and 29 (18.8%) were community-acquired. A total of 188 strains were isolated from all BSIs, including 106 strains of (56.4%) gram-negative bacilli, 67 (35.6%) strains of gram-positive bacteria, and 15 (8.0%) strains of fungi. One hundred and fifty-nine strains of bacteria (84.6%)were isolated from 125 events of hospital-acquired BSIs. Twenty-six strains of bacteria were from catheter related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). In gram-negative BSIs, there were more enterobacteriaceae in community-acquired BSIs. More non-fermentative bacteria were found in hospital-acquired BSIs than in community-acquired ones. The distribution of gram-negative bacilli was quite different between surgical departments, non-surgical departments and ICU (P=0.049).Pathogens of BSIs are quite different according to disease entities and where the patients are from. Local epidemiology of BSIs and distribution of related pathogens are helpful to physicians searching the optimal empirical antibiotics and improving the outcome.

To explore hormone such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing (LH), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2), progesterone (PROG) and testosterone (TESTO) levels in first-episode drug-free schizophrenics, and the relationship between clinical symptoms and sex hormones, in order to further study the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.Eighty-one first-episode drug-free schizophrenics including thirty-nine male and forty-two female from First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and seventy healthy subjects (thirty male and forty female) were enrolled.Serum levels of hormone were measured using electrical chemiluminescence immunoassay, and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the mental symptoms and Matrics Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to evaluate cognitive function.(1) The serum levels of PRL in male patients group ((24±9) ng/ml) was higher than that of control group ((10±3) ng/ml) (P0.05), the serum levels of E2, TESTO of male patients group ((29±10) ng/ml), ((3.2±1.7) ng/ml) was lower than that of control group ((35±11) ng/ml), ((4.4±1.6) ng/ml) (P0.05); The serum levels of PRL, TESTO of female patients group ((29±16) ng/ml), ((0.5±0.4) ng/ml) were dramatically higher than that of control group ((13±5) ng/ml), ((0.3±0.1) ng/ml) (P0.05), the serum levels of E2 of female patients group ((51±40) ng/ml) was lower than that of control group ((63±66) ng/ml) (P=0.05). (2) The serum levels of PRL, E2, TESTO in male patients group were negatively associated with negative symptoms (r=-0.478,-0.443,-0.576, P0.05), PRL were negatively related to positive symptoms (r=-0.542, P0.05); In female patients group, the serum levels of PRL were negatively associated with negative symptoms (r=-0.343, P0.05), the serum levels of E2 was negatively related to positive symptoms, general psychopathology grade, total PANSS grade (r=-0.351,-0.487,-0.405, P0.05), TESTO had a positive correlation with positive symptoms (r=0.445, P0.05). (3) In male patients group, PRL had an negative correlation with working memory P point, reasoning and problem solving P points (r=-0.384,-0.374, P0.05), the serum levels of E2 was positively related to Information processing rate P points, Visual memory P points, Reasoning and problem solving P points (r=0.379, 0.336, 0.407, P0.05), TESTO had a positive correlation with Information processing rate P points, Visual memory P points, Reasoning and problem solving P points (r=0.564, 0.513, 0.552, P0.05). In female patients group, PRL had an negative correlation with working memory P point, Reasoning and problem solving P points and social cognition P points (r=-0.303,-0.358,-0.368, P0.05), the serum levels of E2 was positively related to working memory, Reasoning and problem solving P points, social cognition P points (r=0.376, 0.453, 0.355, P0.05).Our study shows that first-episode drug-free schizophrenics have hormone secretion abnormal, which suggests that hypothalamus-hypophysis-gonad axis may probably involve in physiopathologic mechanism of first-episode medicine-free schizophrenics.Slightly elevated serum PRL level may be the reaction of stress response in first-episode medicine-free schizophrenics.Endogenous testosterone and estradiol may protect cognitive function against recession, and declining of testosterone and estradiol in blood is the hazards of cognitive dysfunction in first-episode drug-free male schizophrenics. PRL, E2, TESTO may be one of the measurements of the severity of clinical symptoms.

Emerging evidence has shown that epidural anesthesia may help to preserve the body's defenses against tumor progression in comparison with general anesthesia in malignant patients receiving operation. This study aims to evaluate the effect of epidural anesthesia on postoperative immune suppression in cervical carcinoma patients undergoing radical resection.Eighty five cervical carcinoma patients receiving radical resection were randomized to combined general/epidural anesthesia (study group) or general anesthesia alone (control group). Natural killer (NK) cell activity and serum concentrations of protumorigenic cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and 1L-8) and antitumorigenic cytokines (IL-2 and IFN-γ) were measured before anesthesia (T1), four hours after skin incision (T2), and 24 hours after skin incision (T3) in both groups.No difference was observed in basal NK cell activity and cytokine concen- trations between study and control groups. The study group exhibited less suppression of NK cell activity, higher levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ, and lower levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 at T2 and T3 compared with the control group.Combined general/epidural anesthesia seems to be helpful to maintain the body's perioperative immune function compared to general anesthesia alone in cervical carcinoma patients receiving operation.

Searches for a light sterile neutrino have been performed independently by the MINOS and the Daya Bay experiments using the muon (anti) neutrino and electron antineutrino disappearance channels, respectively. In this Letter, results from both experiments are combined with those from the Bugey-3 reactor neutrino experiment to constrain oscillations into light sterile neutrinos. The three experiments are sensitive to complementary regions of parameter space, enabling the combined analysis to probe regions allowed by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) and MiniBooNE experiments in a minimally extended four-neutrino flavor framework. Stringent limits on sin(2) 2 theta(mu e) are set over 6 orders of magnitude in the sterile mass-squared splitting Delta m(41)(2). The sterile-neutrino mixing phase space allowed by the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments is excluded for Delta m(41)(2) < 0.8 eV(2) at 95% CLs.

Water quality of Lake Okeechobee has been a major environmental concern for many years. Transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in runoff water from watershed is critical to the increased inputs of nutrients (N and P) and metals (Cu and Zn). In this study, 124 soil samples were collected with varying soil types, land uses, and soil depths in Lake Okeechobee watershed and analyzed for water-extractable C, N, P, and metals to examine the relationship between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and water soluble nutrients (N and P) and metals in the soils. DOC in the soils was in 27.64–400 mg kg−1 (69.30 mg kg−1 in average) and varied with soil types, land uses, and soil depth. The highest water-extractable DOC was found in soils collected in sugar cane and field crops (277 and 244 mg kg−1 in average, respectively). Water soluble concentrations of N and P were in the range of 6.46–129 and 0.02–60.79 mg kg−1, respectively. The ratios of water-extractable C/N and C/P in soils were in 0.68–12.52 (3.23 in average) and 3.19–2,329 (216 in average), and varied with land uses. The lowest water-extractable C/N was observed in the soils from dairy (1.66), resident (1.79), and coniferous forest (4.49), whereas the lowest water-extractable C/P was with the land uses of dairy (13.1) and citrus (33.7). Therefore, N and P in the soils under these land uses may have high availability and leaching potential. The concentrations of water soluble Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn were in the ranges of < method detection limit (MDL)–0.33

A suspension with good rheology and high stability is crucial for slip casting and gelcasting technology. However, a mixed suspension from two or more different powders usually has bad rheology because of the easy agglomeration of mixed powders caused by the attractive force between the powders with heterocharges. We studied the surface modification of the each single-component powders (SiC, Al2O3, ZrO2(3Y) powders) and the SiC-Al2O3-ZrO2(3Y) mixed powders to increase the repulsive force by adjusting the pH value and adding polyacrylic acid (PAA) as dispersant. The PAA addition effects on the SiC-Al2O3-ZrO2(3Y) mixture were investigated in terms of zeta potential, pH range for heterocharge region, dispersion of the mixed powders and rheology of the mixed slurry based on the study of each unary suspensions. The results show that before surface modification the SiC-Al2O3-ZrO2(3Y) mixed powders were agglomerated severely because they were in the heterocharge region with a broad pH range from 3.5 to 8.25, while after surface modification (pH = 10.5, PAA = 0.8wt%) the heterocharge region was narrowed with a relatively narrower pH range from 2.6 to 3.7. The mixed powders with homocharges were dispersed well because of the great electrostatic repulsive force and steric hindrance offered by PAA and the mixed suspensions had favorable rheology.

Aluminum oxynitride (Alon) has been considered as a potential ceramic material due to excellent stability, chemical and mechanical properties such as high rigidity and good chemical stability, but it has relatively low strength and poor fracture toughness. The aim of this study was to investigate a type of silicon carbide (SiC) nano-particulate reinforced Alon composites with improved mechanical properties and fracture resistance via hot-press sintering. The addition of SiC nano-particles resulted in a reduction of both porosity and grain size, and a change of fracture mode from intergranular cracking in the monolithic Alon to intragranular cracking in the composites due to the pinning effect of SiC nano-particles positioned at grain boundaries or triple junctions of micro-sized Alon particles. With 8 wt% SiC nano-particles addition, the relative density, microhardness, Young's modulus, flexural strength, and fracture toughness all increased. Different toughening mechanisms including crack bridging, crack branching and crack deflection were observed, thus effectively increasing the crack propagation resistance and leading to a considerable improvement in the flexural strength and fracture toughness of the composites.

Aluminum oxynitride (AlON) has been considered as a potential ceramic material for high-performance structural and advanced refractory applications. Thermal shock resistance is a major concern and an important performance index of high-temperature ceramics. While silicon carbide (SiC) particles have been proven to improve mechanical properties of AlON ceramic, the high-temperature thermal shock behavior was unknown. The aim of this investigation was to identify the thermal shock resistance and underlying mechanisms of AlON ceramic and 8 wt% SiC–AlON composites over a temperature range between 175 °C and 275 °C. The residual strength and Young's modulus after thermal shock decreased with increasing quenching temperature and thermal shock times due to large temperature gradients and thermal stresses caused by abrupt water-quenching. A linear relationship between the residual strength and thermal shock times was observed in both pure AlON and SiC–AlON composites. The addition of nano-sized SiC particles increased both residual strength and critical temperature from 200 °C in the monolithic AlON to 225 °C in the SiC–AlON composites due to the toughening effect, the lower coefficient of thermal expansion and higher thermal conductivity of SiC. The enhancement of the thermal shock resistance in the SiC–AlON composites was directly related to the change of fracture mode from intergranular cracking along with cleavage-type fracture in the AlON to a rougher fracture surface with ridge-like characteristics, crack deflection, and crack branching in the SiC–AlON composites.

Homeostasis is maintained by the interplay of multiple factors that directly or indirectly regulate cell proliferation and cell death. Complex multiple interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix occur during acinar morphogenesis and changes in these might indicate carcinogenesis of cells from a normal to a malignant, invasive phenotype. In this study, the human prostatic epithelial cell line RWPE-1 was cultured under three-dimensional (3-D) culture conditions, and the effect of ionizing radiation on acinar morphogenesis and its association with autophagy were discussed. The results illustrated that formation of specific spheroid (acinar) structures was detectable under 3-D culture conditions. Radiation induced the disruption of acini in different cell models using either gene overexpression (Akt) or gene knock-down (Beclin 1 and ATG7). Introduction of Akt not only accelerated the growth of cells (i.e., caused the cells to manifest elongating and microspike-like structures that are obviously different from structures seen in wild-type RWPE-1 cells under two-dimensional conditions), but also changed their morphological characteristics under 3-D culture conditions. Knock-down of autophagy-related genes (Beclin 1 and ATG7) increased the radiosensitivity of cells under 3-D culture conditions, and cells died of non-apoptotic death after radiation. The results suggested that ionizing radiation may change the cell phenotype and the formation of acini. Additionally even the autophagy mechanism may play a role in these processes.

Hollow micro/nanosphere materials have the especial structure, excellent physical and chemical properties, so they have the broad application prospect in some fields, such as energy conservation, environmental protection, new energy and so on. This paper summarizes the adhibition of hollow micro/nanosphere materials in energy conservation, environmental protection, new energy and so on. And this paper prospects the research area and application prospect of the hollow micro/nanosphere material.

Silicon carbide (SiC)–aluminium oxynitride (Alon) ceramic composites exhibited improved mechanical properties, but the high temperature oxidation behaviour was unknown. The aim of this investigation was to identify oxidation characteristics and kinetics of 8 wt% SiC–Alon composites over a temperature range between 700 °C and 1200 °C in air. The Alon matrix and SiC particles near the surface were oxidized to form Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 , respectively. The starting oxidation temperature of Alon was observed to be about 1000 °C. While the addition of nano-sized SiC particles resulted in a reduced starting oxidation temperature due to the large cumulative surface area and high total surface energy, the oxidation resistance at higher temperatures of 1100 °C and 1200 °C was remarkably enhanced. The oxidation kinetics changed from a linear weight gain for pure Alon into a logarithmic weight gain for the composites due to the formation of a dense protective oxidation layer arising from the presence of SiO 2 .

Reliable assignment of an unknown query sequence to its correct species remains a methodological problem for the growing field of DNA barcoding. While great advances have been achieved recently, species identification from barcodes can still be unreliable if the relevant biodiversity has been insufficiently sampled. We here propose a new notion of species membership for DNA barcoding-fuzzy membership, based on fuzzy set theory-and illustrate its successful application to four real data sets (bats, fishes, butterflies and flies) with more than 5000 random simulations. Two of the data sets comprise especially dense species/population-level samples. In comparison with current DNA barcoding methods, the newly proposed minimum distance (MD) plus fuzzy set approach, and another computationally simple method, 'best close match', outperform two computationally sophisticated Bayesian and BootstrapNJ methods. The new method proposed here has great power in reducing false-positive species identification compared with other methods when conspecifics of the query are absent from the reference database.