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Artesunate is a semi-synthetic derivative of a Chinese herb named Artemisia annua L. that is commonly used as an antimalarial agent in the history of traditional Chinese medicine. Many studies have reported artesunate possesses anti-inflammatory and immunoregulation properties. The present study was conducted to explore whether artesunate was effective in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) in Lewis rats. Our data showed that artesunate could improve the clinical symptoms and suppress the development of EAMG. Artesunate exerted its immunomodulatory effects by inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation and the expression of costimulatory molecules CD86, modulating Th1/Th2 cytokine expression levels, and enhancing the level of Treg cells. The final result of administration of artesunate was the decreased synthesis of anti-R97-116 IgG, IgG2a, and IgG2b antibodies. The treatment effect of artesunate was more obvious at dose of 10 mg/kg. These date suggest that artesunate might be a potential drug for the treatment of human myasthenia gravis (MG).

To analyze the correlation of ATO therapeutic dose with the relapse of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and to investigate the optimal dose and courses of ATO.The clinical data of 102 patients with APL from January 2008 to June 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical characteristics of APL patients in relapsed group and maintained remission group were compared. According to ATO dose in 2 years recommended in chinese guideline as criteria of grouping, the patients were divided into ATO high and low dose groups, then the relapse rate in groups was compared. The cut-off value of ATO dose was analyzed by ROC curve.Univariate analysis showed that the relapse rate in high ATO and low ATO groups on 2 year treatment was 2.5% and 17.7% respectively (P0.05); multiple variate analysis demonstrated that the ATO dose22.4 mg/kg on 2 year treatment was independent preventive factor for the relapse of APL (OR=0.119, P0.05). The ROC curve showed that the cut-off value of ATO dose on 2 year treatment was 8.765 mg/kg. The relapse rate of APL in group of ATO dose8.765 mg/kg group was significantly lower than that in group of ATO dose8.765 mg/kg.The relapse of APL relates with used ATO dose, sufficient use of ATO dose can decrease the relapse rate of APL.

We studied the effects of four non-nutrient environmental factors (temperature, salinity, irradiance and pH) on the growth inhibition of the macroalgae Ulva pertusa (Chlorophyta) upon the microalgae Heterosigma akashiwo (Rhaphidophyta). Experiments were conducted in single-factor incubation and various two-factor combination experiments in which temperature (10, 15, 25 and 30°C), salinity (10, 20, 30 and 40 g kg−1 water), irradiance (20, 100, 200 and 400 μmol m−2 s−1), and pH (5.5, 7, 8.5 and 10) were varied systematically. The growth rates of U. pertusa and H. akashiwo and the rate of microalgal growth inhibition were altered significantly by changing some of the non-nutrient factors in both the single-factor and the two-factor experiments. The optimal growth conditions for U. pertusa were 20–25°C, salinity of 30 g kg−1, irradiance level of 200–400 μmol m−2 s−1, and pH 8.5–10; optimal conditions for H. akashiwo growth were 25°C, 30 g kg−1, 100 μmol m−2 s−1 and pH 8.5, respectively. The growth inhibitory influence of U. pertusa on H. akashiwo was strongest at 25°C with low salinity (10 g kg−1), high irradiance (400 μmol m−2 s−1) and high alkalinity (pH = 10). The results of this study may be helpful in the development of methods for using green macroalgae to control the proliferation of microalgae in harmful algal blooms (HABs). In particular, these findings provide guidance regarding optimum levels of non-nutrient environmental factors in confined areas, such as aquaculture factories.

The effects of the second-order velocity slip and temperature jump boundary conditions on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer in the presence of nanoparticle fractions are investigated. In the modeling of the water-based nanofluids containing Cu and Al2O3, the effects of the Brownian motion, thermophoresis, and thermal radiation are considered. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear differential equations, and the analytical approximations of the solutions are derived by the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The reliability and efficiency of the HAM solutions are verified by the residual errors and the numerical results in the literature. Moreover, the effects of the physical factors on the flow and heat transfer are discussed graphically.

A novel PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)-degrading strain, TAYx3 was isolated from mineral oil and heavy metal contaminated soil. Strain identification and characterization showed that TAYx3 wasYarrowia lipolytica.Tests forYarrowia lipolyticaTAYx3 growth on different substances are also described. The strain could use all PAHs tasted as sole carbon source, and showed synergistic interaction with humic acid (HA). With the existence of HA, the degradation rate of TAYx3 was naphthalene 90.7%, phenanthrene91.0%, fluoranthene74.7%, pyrene 86.9%, benzanthracene 84.7%, benzopyrene 74.7%, respectively.

Human embryonic stem cells contribute to embryonic and extraembryonic lineages in mouse embryos upon inhibition of apoptosis

Pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be functionally assessed according to the developmental potency. Tetraploid complementation, through which an entire organism is produced from the pluripotent donor cells, is taken as the most stringent test for pluripotency. It remains unclear whether ESCs of other species besides mice can pass this test. Here we show that the rat ESCs derived under 2i (two small molecule inhibitors) conditions at very early passages are able to produce fertile offspring by tetraploid complementation. However, they lose this capacity rapidly during culture due to a nearly complete loss of genomic imprinting. Our findings support that the naive ground state pluripotency can be captured in rat ESCs but also point to the species-specific differences in its regulation and maintenance, which have implications for the derivation and application of naive pluripotent stem cells in other species including human.

To investigate the relationship between peripheral white blood cell count and early death rate of the patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).Through retrospective study, the relationship of early death rate in 116 cases newly diagnosed APL patients with maximum of peripheral blood white blood cell count should be analyzed before and after induction therapy as well as in the whole course of disease during the past 8 years.There was a close relationship between the peripheral white blood cell count and the early death rate in APL patients. Peripheral blood white blood cell count in the early died patients was significantly higher than that of the survival patients (P0.05). ROC analysis showed that the highest risk threshold of peripheral white cell count was 70×10The highest peripheral blood white blood cell count closely relates with the early death rate of patients at different time points in the whole course of disease. Control of peripheral white blood cell count may effectively reduce the early death rate of APL patients.

METTL3 catalyzes the formation of N6-methyl-adenosine (m6A) which has important roles in regulating various biological processes. However, the in vivo function of Mettl3 remains largely unknown in mammals. Here we generated germ cell-specific Mettl3 knockout mice and demonstrated that Mettl3 was essential for male fertility and spermatogenesis. The ablation of Mettl3 in germ cells severely inhibited spermatogonial differentiation and blocked the initiation of meiosis. Transcriptome and m6A profiling analysis revealed that genes functioning in spermatogenesis had altered profiles of expression and alternative splicing. Our findings provide novel insights into the function and regulatory mechanisms of Mettl3-mediated m6A modification in spermatogenesis and reproduction in mammals.

Osthole, a natural coumarin found in traditional Chinese medicinal plants, has shown multiple biological activities. In the present study, we investigated the preventive effects of osthole on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Colitis was induced in mice by infusing TNBS into the colonic lumen. Before TNBS treatment, the mice received osthole (100 mg·kg-1·d-1, ip) for 3 d. Pretreatment with osthole significantly ameliorated the clinical scores, colon length shortening, colonic histopathological changes and the expression of inflammatory mediators in TNBS-induced colitis. Pretreatment with osthole elevated serum cAMP levels; but treatment with the PKA inhibitor H89 (10 mg·kg-1·d-1, ip) did not abolish the beneficial effects of osthole on TNBS-induced colitis. In mouse peritoneal macrophages, pretreatment with osthole (50 μmol/L) significantly attenuated the LPS-induced elevation of cytokines at the mRNA level; inhibition of PKA completely reversed the inhibitory effects of osthole on IL-1β, IL-6, COX2, and MCP-1 but not on TNFα. In Raw264.7 cells, the p38 inhibitor SB203580 markedly suppressed LPS-induced upregulation of the cytokines, whereas the PKA inhibitors H89 or KT5720 did not abolish the inhibitory effects of SB203580. Moreover, in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages, SB203580 strongly inhibited the restored expression of IL-1β, IL-6, COX2, and MCP-1, which was achieved by abolishing the suppressive effects of osthole with the PKA inhibitors. Western blot analysis showed that osthole significantly suppressed the phosphorylation of p38, which was induced by TNBS in mice or by LPS in Raw264.7 cells. Inhibition of PKA partially reversed the suppressive effects of osthole on p38 phosphorylation in LPS-stimulated cells. Collectively, our results suggest that osthole is effective in the prevention of TNBS-induced colitis by reducing the expression of inflammatory mediators and attenuating p38 phosphorylation via both cAMP/PKA-dependent and independent pathways, among which the cAMP/PKA-independent pathway plays a major role.

This study aims to investigate the repair of bone defects with prefabricated vascularized bone grafts and double-labeled bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a rat model. BMSCs were separated from rat bone marrow. LTR-CMVpro-RFP and LTR-CMVpro-GFP were transfected into the BMSCs for in vitro and in vivo tracking. BMSCs-RFP and BMSCs-GFP were induced into endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and osteoblasts (OBs). Rats were divided into five groups: Group A: in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP + in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group B: in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group C: in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group D: implantation of EPCs-RFP + implantation of with arteriovenous vascular bundle + simultaneous OBs-GFP implantation; Group E: demineralized bone matrix (DBM) grafts (blank control). Among five groups, Group A had the fastest bone regeneration and repair, and the regenerated bone highly resembled normal bone tissues; Group D also had fast bone repair, but the repair was slightly slower than Group A. Therefore, in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP plus in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle and secondary OBs-GFP implantation could be the best treatment for bone defect.

Experimental study was carried out on compressive cube strength, flexural strength and permeability coefficient of color permeable concrete using concrete waste as coarse recycled aggregate. The results show that watercement ratio has significant effect on compressive cube strength, flexural strength and permeability coefficient of color permeable recycled aggregate concrete (RAC).The flexural strength of RAC is improved by polypropylene fiber. The content of pigment from 5% to 10% has no impact on mechanical properties and permeability of RAC.

The paper discusses the disposal of kitchen garbage by means of comprehensive utilization. The method includes four steps: pretreatment of kitchen garbage; preparation of biodiesel from oil-phase by transesterification; Rhizopus oryzae TZY1 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae TZY0 were co-inoculated into water-phase for fuel ethanol production; preparation of protein feed from solid residue of fermentation. Advantage of the method is to make good use of the kitchen garbage, simplify the disposal process, with good prospects for industrial utilization.

Based on the dynamic spherical cavity expansion (SCE) theory of the concrete materials and the analysis of the experimental data, both the model of the petaling penetration with low speed and the model of the round hole penetration with high speed are constructed to describe the penetration of the grooved-tapered projectile in this paper. The penetration depth and the mass abrasion are calculated using the models, so are the change of the velocity and the acceleration of the projectile with the time in the stage of the low speed penetration. The results show for the grooved-tapered projectile penetrating the concrete, the error of the penetration depth and the mass abrasion between the theoretical value calculated using the petaling penetration model and the experimental data is less than 11%, when the initial velocity is lower than about 1000m/s. When the initial velocity is higher than about 1000m/s, the error of the penetration depth between the theoretical value calculated using the round hole penetration model and the experimental data is more than 20%, and the mass abrasion calculated is almost coincide with the experimental data. The research shows the models are suitable for the analysis of the grooved-tapered projectile penetrating the concrete target, and the grooved-tapered projectile is more valuable in the high speed penetration.

In order to use GCr15 steel scrap from Wuxi, production process of reduction steel powder was studied according to its characteristic, including the effect of magnetic separation process on removing impurity, the selection of reduction process parameters. The results showed that bake in air at 500°C should be conducted to burn lubricant off. Magnetic separation on removing impurity should be conducted after burning lubricant off, and ball-milling in water should be added before wet magnetic separation. Effect of magnetic separation and recovery rate of steel scrap were comprehensive best when magnetic induction was selected at 80mT. Reduction system should be adopted at 850°C, 5 h in reducing atmosphere of dissociated ammonia.-100 mesh particle size and 20mm in material thickness should be selected. Through the above process, performance of GCr15 reduction steel powder produced by steel scrap from polishing process was as follows, TFe content was 97.18%, acid insoluble content was 0.38%, and it can be used to produce powder metallurgy structural parts. Performance of GCr15 reduction steel powder produced by steel scrap from grinding process was as follows, TFe content was 95.14%, acid insoluble content was 2.49%, and it can be used as steel powder for welding electrode.

This paper studies thermal and electrochemical approaches on micro bubble generation, which have been commonly used in microelectromechanical system. The size and shape effects of micro-bubble actuators are reported in detail.The rate of bubble generation and energy conversion efficiency of the two mapproaches were compared. The micro bubble generation process of the two approaches were analyzed theoretically. By comparing with the experimental results, the micro bubble actuators were optimized.

Background This study aimed to clarify the clinical significance of drug-resistant HBV in nucleoside/nucleotide analogue (NA)-naive Chinese patients with chronic HBV infection in real clinical practice. Methods A total of 845 NA-naive patients who were admitted to Beijing 302 Hospital between July 2007 and March 2012 were included in the study. HBV drug-resistant mutations were examined by direct sequencing of the viral reverse transcriptase gene and verified by clonal sequencing. Phenotypic analysis of viral replication capacity and drug susceptibility were performed by measuring viral replicative intermediate level in 1.1-mer mutant or wild-type HBV amplicon-transfected HepG2 cells in absence or presence of serially diluted drugs. Results Drug-resistant mutations were detected in 2.01% (17/845) of the patients by direct sequencing, including 15 with lamivudine-resistant mutations (rtM204V, rtM204I), one with adefovir-resistant mutation (rtA181V), and one with both lamivudine- and adefovir-resistant mutations (rtA181V, rtM204I). Clonal sequencing identified 13 drug-resistant HBV strains: rtL80I+M204I, rtL80I+M204V, rtL180M+M204I, rtL180M+M204V, rtM204I, rtM204V, rtL80I+L180M+M204I, rtL80I+L180M+M204V, rtA181V, rtA181V+M204I, rtA181T+N236T, rtA181V+N236T and rtN236T. Phenotypic analysis showed that two preexisting lamivudine-resistant strains (rtL80I+M204I, rtL180M+M204V) had >1,000-fold resistance to lamivudine, and one pre-existing adefovir-resistant strain (rtA181V+N236T) had 15.4-fold resistance to adefovir compared with the wild-type strain. A follow-up study showed that the presence of pre-existing rtM204I strain in one patient increased from 20% at baseline to 85% after 13 months of entecavir treatment with corresponding recession of wild-type strain in the viral pool. Conclusions The incidence of drug-resistant HBV mutations was low in NA-naive Chinese HBV-infected patients. Pre-existing mutants had similar resistance characteristics to those from NA refractory patients.

A series of Au/[NiCo/Bi] x /Au (x = 2, 3) films were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition method. In order to induce the in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (IPUMA) of the multifilms, multiple layers and different oblique angles ranging from 0° to 30° for the substrate are applied during the deposition. The microstructures of the nanofilms were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electronic microscope (TEM). And their magnetic properties were measured by an alternating gradient magnetometer. For the multicycle systems, using the method that with more periodic structures of NiCo/Bi film is easier for inducing IPUMA than the less or the samples located with various angles.

The flow of an incompressible viscous power-law fluid over an infinite rotating disk with uniform suction or injection is studied. The governing differential equations, which are partial and coupled, are simplified to a set of ordinary differential equations by generalized Karman similarity transformation. Numerical solutions of the non-linear two point boundary value problem are obtained by multi-shooting method. The effects of the power-law index and the porous parameter on the velocity fields are discussed for shear thinning fluids.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a robust method for the analysis of molecular complex structures, and the measurement of the nuclear spin–spin coupling constant is the key. In this paper, based...

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) plays an integral role in the metabolism of liver and development of the skeleton in humans. To date, the interactions between different-duration terahertz (THz) radiation and ALP activities, as well as the influence mechanism are still unclear. In this study, by using the para-nitro-phenyl-phosphate (pNPP) method, we detected changes in ALP activities during 40-minute THz radiation (0.1 THz, 13 mW/cm2). We found that the activity of ALP decreased in the first 25 minutes, and subsequently increased in the later 15 minutes. Compared with the activity of ALP being heated, the results suggested that short-term terahertz radiation induced a decrease in enzyme activity through the non-thermal mechanism. In order to explore the non-thermal effects of THz radiation on ALP, we focused on the impacts of 0.1 THz radiation for 20 minutes on the activity of ALP in different concentrations. The results revealed that the activity of ALP decreased significantly after exposure to THz radiation. In addition, it could be deduced from fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), and THz spectra results that THz radiation has induced changes in ALP structures. In conclusion, our studies unlocked non-thermal interactions between THz radiation and ALP, as well as suggested that THz spectroscopy was a promising technique to distinguish ALP structures.

The high-order perturbation formulas based on a two-mechanism model (where in addition to the contributions from the crystal-field (CF) mechanism in the usually-applied CF theory, those from the generally-neglected charge-transfer (CT) mechanism are also contained) are employed to calculate the spin-Hamiltonian parameters ( g factors g // , g ⊥ and the hyperfine structure constants A // , A ⊥ ) of the square planar CuCl 4 2 − clusters in Cs 2 ZrCl 6 crystal. The needed CF energy levels in the calculations are obtained from the observed optical spectra. The calculated results show reasonable agreement with the experimented values. The negative sign of A // and positive sign of A ⊥ are proposed from the calculations. The calculations also suggest that one should take account of the contributions due to both the CF and CT mechanisms for the exact and rational calculations of spin-Hamiltonian parameters of Cu 2+ –Cl − combination in crystals.

This article focuses on the effects of pretreatment on sewage sludge with sodium hypochlorite addition. The solubilization of organic matters of sludge was investigated. It was found that the pypocholoride treatment provided a efficient process to release organics from sludge flocs. When the ClO-dose was about 21mg /g SS with a reaction time of 3 hours, the supernatant soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), protein and polysaccharide increased by 400%, 67%, 1791%, 635%, 214%, and 556%, respectively. After hypochlorite pretreatment, the sludge extracelluar polymers (EPS) were disintegrated and the cell walls were broken. Then the intracellular organic matters were released into the supernatant, leading to the increase of organic matters in the supernatant.

We demonstrate highly efficient organic ultraviolet photodetectors using 4,4′,4′′-tris[3-methyl-pheny(phenyl)amino]triphenylamine (m-MTDATA) and two excellent phosphorescent Cu(I) complexes, [Cu(DPEphos)(DPPz)]BF4 (CuDD) (DPEphos = Bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether, DPPz = dipyrido(3,2-a:2′,3′-c) phenazine) and [Cu(DPEbenz)(DPPz)]BF4 (CuBD) (DPEbenz = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene) to act as the electron donors and acceptors, respectively. The optimized photodetector based on CuDD delivers a photocurrent of 588 μA/cm2 at −12 V, corresponding to a response of 560 mA/W under an illumination of 365 nm UV light irradiation with an intensity of 1.05 mW/cm2 and a detectivity of 2.82 × 1011 cm Hz1/2/W. The high response is attributed to the larger band offset at m-MTDATA/CuDD heterojunction, the suppression of radiative decay of m-MTDATA and efficient electron transfer from m-MTDATA to CuDD. The working mechanism of harvesting high performance is also discussed in detail.

In papers in areas such as engineering and the physical sciences, figures, tables and formulae are the basic elements to communicate the authors' core ideas, workings and results. As a computational text-matching tool, CrossCheck cannot work on these non-textual elements to detect plagiarism. Consequently, when comparing engineering or physical sciences papers, CrossCheck may return a low similarity index even when plagiarism has in fact taken place. A case of demonstrated plagiarism involving engineering papers with a low similarity index is discussed, and editor's experiences and suggestions are given on how to tackle this problem. The case shows a lack of understanding of plagiarism by some authors or editors, and illustrates the difficulty of getting some editors and publishers to take appropriate action. Consequently, authors, journal editors, and reviewers, as well as research institutions all are duty-bound not only to recognize the differences between ethical and unethical behavior in order to protect a healthy research environment, and also to maintain consistent ethical publishing standards.

This work describes a routine monitoring method for simultaneous determination of three classes of veterinary antibiotics (quinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracylines) in the aquaculture water. The selected eleven pharmaceuticals include four quinolones (enoxacin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and lomefloxacin), four sulfonamides (sulfadiazine, sulfadimidine, sulfamethoxazole and sulfisoxazole) and three tetracyclines (tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and doxycycline). The entire procedures for pre-concentration by solid phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis HLB, and liquid chromatography-ultraviolet spectrometry (LC-UV) quantification were examined and optimized. The chromatographic separations were performed on a Kromasil 100-C18(250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column, using 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and acetonitrile as mobile phase with gradient elution, and 280 nm as the detective wavelength. The recovery efficiencies were found to be 85-117% for quinolones, 81-109% for sulfonamides, and 84-110% for tetracyclines at three spiking levels (5, 10 and 50 μg/L). The developed method was applied to real water samples collected from four aquafarms located in Yichang, Hubei Province, China. Three or four tested antibiotics were detected in all water samples, with concentrations ranging from 0.65 μg/L to 4.33 μg/L. The method is convenient and rapid, and provides a quantitative measurement of multi-residue antibiotics without complex and expensive analytical equipment.

Microalgae, in wet conditions, tend to grow on surfaces and form biofilms. The adhesion of microalgae to surfaces is very important for algal mass culture. The formation and development of microalgal biofims are in large denpend on the properties of cell surface, substratum surface and gowth medium. In this paper, the influence of substratum surface zeta potential on the microalgal biofilms was particularly investigated. We focused on a widely-used microalgal strain, the freshwater autotrophicChlorella sp..The adhesion phenomena ofChlorella sp.to surfaces with different zeta potential were observed microscopically. It was found thatChlorella sp.adhered easily to the surface with a positive zeta potential and difficultly to the surface with a negative zeta potential. We concluded that the surface zeta potential had a greater influence on the adhesion of microalgal cells to substratum surfaces. Our findings have important implications for microalgae mass culture and harvesting.

Various porous alumina structures are formed in different electrolyte systems. Adjusting the anodizing parameters can yield different apertures and regularities of the porous alumina template. Thus, porous alumina is widely applied in the preparation of ordered nanostructured materials. This study introduces the porous alumina structure, including its formation mechanism, manufacturing technology, and application in the manufacture of nanostructure materials.

How the overlap between the hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase (RT) and HBV S antigen (HBsAg) genes modulates the extent of HBV genetic variability is still an open question, and was investigated here. The rate of nucleotide conservation (≤1 % variability) followed an atypical pattern in the RT gene, due to an overlap between RT and HBsAg (69.9 % nucleotide conservation in the overlapping region vs 41.2 % in the non-overlapping region; PP = 3.249×10−22]. The most conserved RT regions were located within the YMDD motif and the N-terminal parts of the palm and finger domains, critical for RT functionality. These regions also corresponded to highly conserved HBsAg domains that are critical for HBsAg secretion. Conversely, the genomic region encoding the HBsAg antigenic loop (where immune-escape mutations are localized) showed a sharp decrease in the extent of conservation (40.6 %), which was less pronounced in the setting of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-driven immune suppression (48.8 % in HIV–HBV co-infection vs 21.5 % in mono-infected patients; P = 0.020). In conclusion, the overlapping reading frame and the immune system appear to have shaped the patterns of RT and HBsAg genetic variability. Highly conserved regions in RT and HBsAg may deserve further attention as novel therapeutic targets.

Bi-doped TiO2 was prepared with sol-gel method and was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic degradation and kinetics of Methyl orange with Bi-doped TiO2 under xenon lamp irradiation were investigated. The optimum conditions were as follows: the initial concentration of Methyl orange was 20 mg/L, the value of pH was 3.0 and the dosage of Bi-doped TiO2 was 1.0 g/L. Under the optimal conditions, the decolorization rate of Methyl orange was 75.1 % and the kinetic constant was 0.0113 min-1.

Plate assay and spore germination method were used to study the chemotaxis response of Alternaria panax to arginine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and threonine. The result showed that the optimum temperature of A. panax chemotaxis response to four amino acids were all 25 ℃. And chemotaxis responses of A. panax were different under conditions of different concentration and pH value. The chemotaxin reached to the highest under the condition of 2 mg•L⁻¹ and pH value was 7 for arginine, glutamic acid and threonine while 20 mg•L⁻¹ and pH value was 6 for aspartic acid . The data of chemotactic migration index (CMI) were 1.24, 1.38, 1.27, 1.31 and chemotactic growth rates(CGR) were 0.451 0, 0.353 0, 0.381 3, 0.228 8 and spores germination rates(SGR) were 57.33%，63%，56.67%，58% and the dry weight of mycelial (DWM) were 372.9, 348.5, 314.4, 390.2 mg•L⁻¹ respectively. It indicated that the low and middle concentration of amino acid had significant promoting effect on chemotaxis response of A. panax. As important substances generated in ginseng root, amino acids exhibited an efficient chemotactic effect on A. panax, and some even show inhibition effect under high concentration.

The study aimed to investigate the association of prevalent genotypes in China (HBV/C and HBV/B) with HBV drug-resistant mutations. A total of 13,847 nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA)-treated patients with chronic HBV infection from North China were enrolled. HBV genotypes and resistant mutations were determined by direct sequencing and confirmed by clonal sequencing if necessary. HBV/B, HBV/C, and HBV/D occupied 14.3%, 84.9%, and 0.8% across the study population, respectively. NA usage had no significant difference between HBV/B- and HBV/C-infected patients. Lamivudine-resistant mutations were more frequently detected in HBV/C-infected patients, compared with HBV/B-infected patients (31.67% vs. 25.26%, p 0.01). Adefovir- and entecavir-resistant mutation detection rates were similar, but the mutational pattern was different between the two genotypes. For adefovir-resistant mutations, HBV/C-infected patients had a higher detection rate of rtA181 V (HBV/C 5.29% vs. HBV/B 1.36%, p 0.01) and a lower detection rate of rtN236T (2.70% vs. 6.54%, p 0.01). For entecavir-resistant mutations, HBV/C-infected patients had a higher detection rate of rtM204 V/I+T184 substitution or S202G/C (3.66% vs. 2.16%, p 0.01) and a lower detection rate of rtM204 V/I+M250 V/I/L substitution (0.67% vs. 1.46%, p 0.01). Multidrug-resistant mutations (defined as coexistence of mutation to nucleoside and nucleotide analogues) were detected in 104 patients. HBV/C-infected patients had a higher detection rate of multidrug-resistant mutation than HBV/B-infected patients (0.83% vs. 0.35%, p 0.05). The study for the first time clarified that HBV/C-infected patients had a higher risk to develop multidrug-resistant mutations, compared with HBV/B-infected patients; and HBV/C- and HBV/B-infected patients had different inclinations in the ETV-resistant mutational pattern.

Rats with fluorescent markers are of great value for studies that trace lineage-specific development, particularly those assessing the differentiation potential of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The piggyBac (PB) transposon is widely used for the efficient introduction of genetic modifications into genomes, and has already been successfully used to produce transgenic mice and rats. Here, we generated transgenic rats carrying either the desRed fluorescent protein (RFP) gene or the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene by injecting pronuclei with PB plasmids. We showed that the transgenic rats expressed the RFP or eGFP gene in many organs and had the capability to transmit the marker gene to the next generation through germline integration. In addition, rat embryonic stem cells (ESCs) carrying an RFP reporter gene can be derived from the blastocysts of the transgenic rats. Moreover, the RFP gene can be detected in chimeras derived from RFP ESCs via blastocyst injection. This work suggests that PB-mediated transgenesis is a powerful tool to generate transgenic rats expressing fluorescent proteins with high efficiency, and this technique can be used to derive rat ESCs expressing a reporter protein.

Ovarian cancer is recognized as one of the worst gynecologic malignancies associated with rapid metastasis and poor overall survival rate. The identified valuable molecular biomarkers criticize importance of timely diagnosis for ovarian cancer. Salusin-β levels are dramatically increased in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome. However, the roles of salusin-β in ovarian cancer have yet to be fully elucidated. A total of 57 paired ovarian cancer specimens and matched adjacent normal tissues were used to measure the salusin-β levels. The prognostic value of salusin-β for tumor progression and survival rate was investigated. The effects of salusin-β on ovarian cancer cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition were also explored. The expression of salusin-β was significantly increased in ovarian cancer tissue specimens compared with matched normal adjacent tissue (P

Along with the fast development of spread spectrum communication and global positioning system, varied signal forms are proposed, especially the emergence of BOC modulated signal leads to the characteristics of multi peaks and spectrum splitting. However, consider the need for the flexibility and extensible BOC signals application, a flexible control binary offset carrier modulation signal is proposed in this paper. Based on the BOC modulation signal, the control parameter is defined in the new signal, and the flexible single period subcarrier sequence is generated by configuring the control parameter. Further, the single period subcarrier sequence is periodically expanded to get the subcarrier, which is modulated by PRN code to get FC-BOC signal. This signal has the dynamic and flexibility of the spectrum and correlation function, and can provide a reference for the application of the new generation of spread spectrum signal and navigation signal.

Accurate evaluation of liver fibrosis is crucial for predicting progression of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We assessed the utility of a novel fibrosis glycobiomarker Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFAWe enrolled 774 patients with chronic HBV infection, with or without fibrosis, diagnosed by liver biopsy/FibroScan. Patients who underwent liver biopsy (n = 297) were divided into training (n = 221) and validation (n = 76) groups. Serum WFASerum WFAWFA

The changes of chlorophyll, malondialdehyde(MDA) and the catalase(CAT) activity in mature leaves of a common urban roadside greening plant------- Buxus sinica were studied. The results show that under automobile exhaust polluted environment, the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll decreased while the content of MDA and the activity of CAT increased. These changes have correlation with the automobile exhaust pollution.

Landfills are unique urban waste landfill type, formed under the severe negative influence of human disturbance, with seriously degradation in ecosystem structure and function. This review analyzes the landfills’ impact on the environment and landscape potential, by utilizing the change of land ecosystem to recover the landfill ecological balance, and coordination of construction and surrounding landscape in order to realize the reconstruction of landscape ecological.

CdS/ZnS/TiO2 composite photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel and immersion method. The optimum preparation conditions were as follows: the mole ratio of XS (CdS, ZnS) and TiO2 was 1:100; the mole ratio of CdS and ZnS was 1:1; calcined temperature 500°C; calcined time 1h. The optimum photocatalytic reaction conditions were as follows: the concentration of methyl orange 20mg/L, pH 5-7 and the catalyst dosage 2g/L. The removal rates of color and TOC were 84.3% and 54.2% using CdS/ZnS/TiO2 under the Visible light irradiation, respectively.

Porous BiVO4 was fabricated by hydrothermal method with P123 as the template. SEM revealed there were many pores in porous BiVO4. DRS analysis indicated that the absorbance of BiVO4 was enhanced by constructing porous structure. The results of MB removal showed that the degradation rate with porous BiVO4 was 3.05 times as much as that with BiVO4. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the enhanced absorbance ability and promoted surface reactions.

Hydrophobic silica aerogels were prepared from industrial microsilica via ambient pressure drying. The process consists of two stages, synthesis of sodium silicate solution from microsilica by hydrothermal reaction with sodium hydroxide, and preparation of silica aqueous gel and porous silica aerogels from the obtained sodium silicate solution. The mixed solution of hexane/ethanol/trimethylchlorosilane was used to modify the sol-gel derived silica aqueous gel so as to obtain porous structure by ambient pressure drying. The microstructure, pore properties of the silica aerogels were analyzed by FTIR and N2 adsorption-desorption methods, and the oil adsorption of the synthesized silica aerogels was investigated. The results indicate that the obtained silica aerogels are light-weight and hydrophobic porous materials, with the specific surface area of 767~828 m2•g-1, porosity of 91.5~95.1% and the average pore diameter of 5.22~8.02 nm. The synthesized silica aerogels have good oil adsorption capacity and the highest saturated oil adsorption rate can achieve 1105%.

TiO2/AC composite was prepared by sol-gel method. The effect of annealed temperature and loading (or doping) ratio of AC on photocatalytic performances of TiO2/AC composite was explored. The optimum preparation conditions were 400 °C (annealed temperatur) and 2% (loading (or doping) ratio of AC). The experimental results of MB removal showed that the photocatalytic ability of TiO2/AC composite prepared under optimum conditions was higher than that of TiO2, which could be attributed to strong adsorption capacity, efficient photoproduced electron-hole separation, and higher light response.

The N, S codoped ZnO was synthesized by microwave assisted hydrothermal method. The N, S codoping narrowed the band gap of ZnO (formed impurity states in the band gap), hence shift light response to range of visible light. Furthermore, the doped ZnO exhibits significantly higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure ZnO for degradation of reactive brilliant blue KN-R aqueous solution under simulative solar irradiation.

A mathematical model of complex thermal processes with combustion, radiation and flow in rotary hearth furnace (RHF) for pellet direct reduction is established with CFD commercial software Fluent. Temperature distribution, pressure field and flow field in RHF are simultaneously analyzed by numerical method. It has been found that the temperature distribution in the furnace can meet the need of thermal institution for pellet direct reduction, and great pressure field and flow field can be formed on the basis of reasonable arrangement of burner, nozzle and partition. The simulation results would be helpful for engineering design and parameter optimization of RHF.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy on simple obesity of spleen and kidney yang deficiency pattern/syndrome in females treated with electroacupuncture and isolated-medicinal moxibustion. Methods Fifty-eight cases were randomized into an acupuncture-moxibustion group (28 cases) and an electroacupuncture group (30 cases). In the electroacupuncture (EA) group, EA was applied to Zhōngwan ( CV 12), Xiawan ( CV 10), Qihai ( CV 6), Guānyuan ( CV 4), Tiānshū ( ST 25), Daheng ( SP 15), Jianfeidian ( Extra), Ashi ( ) and others, in which Tiānshū ( ST 25) made a pair with Daheng ( SP 15) for electric stimulation, Jianfeidian ( Extra) made the pairs with Xiawan ( CV 10) and Qihai ( CV 6) separately for electric stimulation. The needles were remained for 40 min. In the acupuncture-moxibustion (AM) group, on the basis of the treatment as the EA group, the isolated-medicinal moxibustion was supplemented at Pishū ( BL 20) and Shenshū ( BL 23). Five treatments made one session. The efficacy was assessed after 3 sessions. Results The total effective rate was 92.9% (26/28) in the AM group, which was superior to 70.0% (21/30) in the EA group ( P Conclusion Electroacupuncture in combination with isolated-medicinal moxibustion improves the efficacy on simple obesity of spleen and kidney yang deficiency pattern/syndrome in females, which is superior to the efficacy with simple electroacupuncture therapy.