Search

In this paper, we analysed the performance of real-time BDS monitoring system to determine the deformations and vibration of a cable-stayed bridge in Wuhan, China. Two experiments were carried out using reference stations at 2 km to the middle span of the bridge, and the monitoring points placed on the top of the tower, directly at the middle span of the bridge and at the bridge pier. Based on these sites, the precision of BDS deformation monitoring can be assessed and the structural vibration monitoring effect can also be analysed. The experiments demonstrate that, the precision of BDS-based deformation monitoring can be comparable with GPS, and the modal frequency of the bridge obtained by BDS vibration test is very close to the design value. The paper concludes that BDS is capable of providing high precision deflection and accurate modal frequency information in real-time bridge deformation monitoring.

The immunomodulatory receptor Siglec-3/CD33 influences risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), an apparently human-specific post-reproductive disease. CD33 generates two splice variants: a full-length CD33M transcript produced primarily by the “LOAD-risk” allele and a shorter CD33m isoform lacking the sialic acid-binding domain produced primarily from the “LOAD-protective” allele. An SNP that modulates CD33 splicing to favor CD33m is associated with enhanced microglial activity. Individuals expressing more protective isoform accumulate less brain β-amyloid and have a lower LOAD risk. How the CD33m isoform increases β-amyloid clearance remains unknown. We report that the protection by the CD33m isoform may not be conferred by what it does but, rather, from what it cannot do. Analysis of blood neutrophils and monocytes and a microglial cell line revealed that unlike CD33M, the CD33m isoform does not localize to cell surfaces; instead, it accumulates in peroxisomes. Cell stimulation and activation did not mobilize CD33m to the surface. Thus, the CD33m isoform may neither interact directly with amyloid plaques nor engage in cell-surface signaling. Rather, production and localization of CD33m in peroxisomes is a way of diminishing the amount of CD33M and enhancing β-amyloid clearance. We confirmed intracellular localization by generating a CD33m-specific monoclonal antibody. Of note, CD33 is the only Siglec with a peroxisome-targeting sequence, and this motif emerged by convergent evolution in toothed whales, the only other mammals with a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan. The CD33 allele that protects post-reproductive individuals from LOAD may have evolved by adaptive loss-of-function, an example of the less-is-more hypothesis.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Realtime Kinematic (RTK) positioning technique has been widely used for the structural health monitoring (SHM) of different structures in the past two decades. Through post processing and analysis, it has been demonstrated that the displacements and natural frequencies identified with GNSS data are highly consistent with those obtained by using a finite element (FE) model. However, structural health monitoring needs to measure all spectrum of the dynamic responses of bridges such as deformations, natural frequencies, damping, etc. in real-time in order to support the timely decision making for the bridge operation and maintenance, particularly under extreme loading conditions caused by busy traffic, severe wind or even earthquake etc. This paper proposes a new quasi real time time-frequency analysis strategy based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Nottingham in the UK, one week of real-life GNSS data gathered from the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland has been used since the traffic loading has an approximate repetition period of one week from the weekdays to weekend. Firstly, the approximate frequency distribution is achieved by using the whole date set. Then a sliding window method is proposed to simulate a quasi real time mode for the time-frequency analysis, and a set of experiments are carried out to decide the optimal window length and the overlapped sliding step, through which the natural frequencies and relevant deformation amplitudes can be calculated at the same time. Finally, the results show that the natural frequencies calculated by FFT are quite stable which indicates the frequency responses are not sensitive enough to the changing loadings. However, the relevant amplitude time series of each frequency can clearly display the influence caused by different kinds of loading respectively, such as vehicles and wind etc., which would be a reliable indicator of bridge dynamic responses to assess the structural health conditions in the future.

Background Most cardiovascular diseases occur in low‐ and middle‐income regions of the world, but the socioeconomic distribution within China remains unclear. Our study aims to investigate whether the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases differs among high‐, middle‐, and low‐income regions of China and to explore the reasons for the disparities. Methods and Results We enrolled 46 285 individuals from 115 urban and rural communities in 12 provinces across China between 2005 and 2009. We recorded their medical histories of cardiovascular diseases and calculated the INTERHEART Risk Score for the assessment of cardiovascular risk‐factor burden, with higher scores indicating greater burden. The mean INTERHEART Risk Score was higher in high‐ and middle‐income regions than in low‐income regions (9.47, 9.48, and 8.58, respectively, P P trend =0.0064). In high‐ and middle‐income regions, urban communities have higher INTERHEART Risk Score and higher prevalent rate than rural communities. In low‐income regions, however, the prevalence of total cardiovascular disease was similar between urban and rural areas despite the significantly higher INTERHEART Risk Score for urban settings. Conclusions We detected an inverse trend between risk‐factor burden and cardiovascular disease prevalence in urban and rural communities in high‐, middle‐, and low‐income regions of China. Such asymmetry may be attributed to the interregional differences in residents’ awareness, quality of healthcare, and availability and affordability of medical services.

CHAMP and Swarm satellite magnetic data are combined to establish the lithospheric magnetic field over the Tibetan Plateau at satellite altitude by using zonal revised spherical cap harmonic analysis (R-SCHA). These data are integrated with geological structures data to analyze the relationship between magnetic anomaly signals and large-scale geological tectonic over the Tibetan Plateau and to explore the active tectonic region based on the angle of the magnetic anomaly. Results show that the model fitting error is small for a layer 250–500 km high, and the RMSE of the horizontal and radial geomagnetic components is better than 0.3 nT. The proposed model can accurately describe medium- to long-scale lithospheric magnetic anomalies. Analysis indicates that a negative magnetic anomaly in the Tibetan Plateau significantly differs with a positive magnetic anomaly in the surrounding area, and the boundary of the positive and negative regions is generally consistent with the geological tectonic boundary in the plateau region. Significant differences exist between the basement structures of the hinterland of the plateau and the surrounding area. The magnetic anomaly in the Central and Western Tibetan Plateau shows an east–west trend, which is identical to the direction of the geological structures. The magnetic anomaly in the eastern part is arc-shaped and extends along the northeast direction. Its direction is significantly different from the trend of the geological structures. The strongest negative anomaly is located in the Himalaya block, with a central strength of up to −9 nT at a height of 300 km. The presence of a strong negative anomaly implies that the Curie isotherm in this area is relatively shallow and deep geological tectonic activity may exist.

Due to the application of frequency division multiple access, the signals of GLONASS satellites suffer from code and carrier phase inter-frequency biases (IFBs). In this study, the effects of GLONASS code IFBs on differential code bias (DCB) estimation and ionospheric modeling are investigated. The observational data from more than 130 MGEX stations for a period of 60 days are used to generate the DCB products, with and without considering the GLONASS code IFB. According to the results, residuals of the DCB estimation without GLONASS code IFB consideration exhibit frequency-dependent systematic errors, errors that can be eliminated when the GLONASS code IFB is taken into account. The GLONASS inter-frequency differential code bias (IFDCB), defined as the difference of the sum of satellite and receiver DCB estimates without and with GLONASS code IFB consideration, is taken to represent the difference between the two DCB estimation types. The IFDCBs are generally in the range of ?4 and ?2 ns for C1P---C2P and C1C---C1P, respectively, and the largest difference of the C1P---C2P IFDCBs between frequency channels is >7 ns. The VTEC products of ionospheric modeling with and without the consideration of the GLONASS code IFB are also generated based on data from 30 days of MGEX and IGS networks. The mean difference and standard deviation between them are 0.53---1.13 and 0.98---1.75 TECU, respectively.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is an important tool to observe and model geodynamic processes such as plate tectonics and post-glacial rebound. In the last three decades, GPS has seen tremendous advances in the precision of the measurements, which allow researchers to study geophysical signals through a careful analysis of daily time series of GPS receiver coordinates. However, the GPS observations contain errors and the time series can be described as the sum of a real signal and noise. The signal itself can again be divided into station displacements due to geophysical causes and to disturbing factors. Examples of the latter are errors in the realization and stability of the reference frame and corrections due to ionospheric and tropospheric delays and GPS satellite orbit errors. There is an increasing demand on detecting millimeter to sub-millimeter level ground displacement signals in order to further understand regional scale geodetic phenomena hence requiring further improvements in the sensitivity of the GPS solutions. This paper provides a review spanning over 25 years of advances in processing strategies, error mitigation methods and noise modeling for the processing and analysis of GPS daily position time series. The processing of the observations is described step-by-step and mainly with three different strategies in order to explain the weaknesses and strengths of the existing methodologies. In particular, we focus on the choice of the stochastic model in the GPS time series, which directly affects the estimation of the functional model including, for example, tectonic rates, seasonal signals and co-seismic offsets. Moreover, the geodetic community continues to develop computational methods to fully automatize all phases from analysis of GPS time series. This idea is greatly motivated by the large number of GPS receivers installed around the world for diverse applications ranging from surveying small deformations of civil engineering structures (e.g., subsidence of the highway bridge) to the detection of particular geophysical signals. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associated with the continuing increase of construction activities such as infrastructure projects, commercial buildings, and housing programs, China has been experiencing a rapid increase of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Till now, the generation and flows of China’s C&D waste has not been well understood. This paper aims to provide an explicit analysis of this based on a weight-per-construction-area method. Our results show that approximately 2.36 billion tonnes of C&D waste were generated in China annually during the period of 2003–2013, of which demolition waste and construction waste contributed to 97% and 3%, respectively, in 2013. East China contributed over half of the total C&D waste in China due to their rapid economic development and expansion of cities, followed by Middle China (21%) and South China (11%). Potential economic values from the recycling of C&D waste were found to vary from 201 billion (the worst scenario, i.e., the current practice of C&D waste management) to 401 billion US dollars in 2013 (the most optimistic scenario, i.e., C&D waste is assumed to be well recycled); and the landfill space demands were estimated to range from 7504 million m3 (the worst scenario) to 706 million m3 (the most optimistic scenario) accordingly. Consequently, increasing the recycling rate and reducing landfill rate of C&D waste could not only improve the potential recycling economic values, but also dramatically reduce land use and potential environmental impacts.

This paper focusses on the impact of environment mass loading on GPS time-series of position changes and noise characteristic. We make use of position time series of 206 GPS station ranging from 2001 to 2013 globally distributed. Firstly, we investigate the spatio-temporal pattern of mass loadings based on QLM dataset. The results show that loading effect is significant for short time series, and the instantaneous impact cannot be ignored especially in high-precision geophysical studies. Meanwhile, the results indicate that loading effect behaves with regional difference in spatial scale, and this explains why there exist significant differences on the contribution of environmental loading on GPS time series in the scientific community. Secondly, among 90 % of the stations the weighted root mean square (WRMS) is reduced after applying the loading correction based on QLM model, improving the accuracy of GPS time series. Finally, we quantify the stochastic of GPS time series. The results show that the noise model of GPS time series can be described by a various combination of those models, mainly by FN+WN model and PL+WN model. From our statistics, we can conclude that the best noise models are either white and flicker or white and power-law. Environment loading has a significant impact on the stochastic noise properties of GPS time series, on 33 %, 15 %, and 39 % of the station's noise properties (noise types) have been changed after loading correction for NEU components, respectively. Environment loading is one of the factor that 'raw' GPS time series exhibited Gauss Markov noise properties. Furthermore, the impact of environmental loading on GPS site velocity cannot be ignored; this is particularly significant for the vertical component.

Although Zn2+ ions are involved in large numbers of physiopathological processes, non-invasive detection of Zn2+ ions in opaque biological samples remains a huge challenge. Here, we developed a novel zinc-responsive hyperpolarized (HP) Xe-129-based NMR molecular sensor. This HP Xe-129-based NMR molecular sensor was synthesized by attaching 2-(diphenylphosphino) benzenamine as ligand for zinc ions to the xenon-binding supramolecular cage, cryptophane. The Xe-129 NMR spectroscopy of such molecular sensor was shifted up to 6.4 ppm in the presence of Zn2+ ions, which was nearly four times larger than that of the reported similar sensor. The application of the sensor would benefit low concentration detection by using indirect NMR/MRI method. The response exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity as discriminated from other six potentially competing metal ions. The application of this sensor in the analysis of zinc ions in the rat serum samples was also evaluated. The strategy is generally applicable in developing sensitive and selective sensors for quantitative determination of zinc ions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Higher-order ionospheric (HOI) effects are one of the principal technique-specific error sources in precise global positioning system (GPS) analysis. These effects also influence the non-linear characteristics of GPS coordinate time series. In this paper, we investigate these effects on coordinate time series in terms of seasonal variations and noise amplitudes. Both power spectral techniques and maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) are used to evaluate these effects quantitatively and qualitatively. Our results show an overall improvement for the analysis of global sites if HOI effects are considered. We note that the noise spectral index that is used for the determination of the optimal noise models in our analysis ranged between −1 and 0 both with and without HOI corrections, implying that the coloured noise cannot be removed by these corrections. However, the corrections were found to have improved noise properties for global sites. After the corrections were applied, the noise amplitudes at most sites decreased, among which the white noise amplitudes decreased remarkably. The white noise amplitudes of up to 81.8% of the selected sites decreased in the up component, and the flicker noise of 67.5% of the sites decreased in the north component. Stacked periodogram results show that, no matter whether the HOI effects are considered or not, a common fundamental period of 1.04 cycles per year (cpy), together with the expected annual and semi-annual signals, can explain all peaks of the north and up components well. For the east component, however, reasonable results can be obtained only based on HOI corrections. HOI corrections are useful for better detecting the periodic signals in GPS coordinate time series. Moreover, the corrections contributed partly to the seasonal variations of the selected sites, especially for the up component. Statistically, HOI corrections reduced more than 50% and more than 65% of the annual and semi-annual amplitudes respectively at the selected sites.

Based on the higher order ionospheric delay correction model, impact magnitude of different order ionospheric delay on GPS double frequency carrier signals with different frequencies has been determined. Then GPS data of 109 globally distributed IGS stations spanning from 1999 to 2003 have been reprocessed to quantify the contributions of higher order ionospheric delay to global GPS coordinate time series using GAMIT with state of the art models according to IERS Conventions 2010. Results show that higher order ionospheric delay correction would result in large velocity change. The vertical velocity of stations near the equator reaches up to about 1 mm a-1, which should not be neglected in high precision GPS data processing. Considering the impact of higher order ionospheric delay could also remarkably reduce the vertical WRMS of stations near the equator and the North WRMS of stations in South Asia, among which station LHAS in China exhibits the best improvement by about 10% in the North component. Moreover, it could effectively reduce the amplitudes of various periodical signals, therefore plays very important role in the geophysical explanations of the non-linear variations in the GPS coordinate time series. The annual amplitude in the Up component and the semi-annual amplitude in the East component of stations in middle latitudes, together with the vertical semi-annual amplitude of stations in low latitudes and the signal with periods as about 422 days in the East component of stations in high latitudes are effectively reduced after higher order ionospheric delay correction, thus we propose that the second and third order ionospheric delay is probably one of the main reasons that cause the vertical annual and East-West semi-annual motions of middle-latitude stations as well as the vertical semi-annual motion of low-latitude stations.

A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) molecular sensor for hydrogen sulfide detection and imaging using the nuclear spin resonance of hyperpolarized

CD33-related Siglecs are a family of proteins widely expressed on innate immune cells. Binding of sialylated glycans or other ligands triggers signals that inhibit or activate inflammation. Immunomodulation by Siglecs has been extensively studied, but relationships between structure and functions are poorly explored. Here we present new data relating to the structure and function of Siglec-E, the major CD33-related Siglec expressed on mouse neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. We generated nine new rat monoclonal antibodies specific to mouse Siglec-E, with no cross-reactivity to Siglec-F. Although all antibodies detected Siglec-E on transfected human HEK-293T cells, only two reacted with mouse bone marrow neutrophils by flow cytometry and on spleen sections by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, whereas all antibodies recognized Siglec-E-Fc on immunoblots, binding was dependent on intact disulfide bonds and N-glycans, and only two antibodies recognized native Siglec-E within spleen lysates. Thus, we further investigated the impact of Siglec-E homodimerization. Homology-based structural modeling predicted a cysteine residue (Cys-298) in position to form a disulfide bridge between two Siglec-E polypeptides. Mutagenesis of Cys-298 confirmed its role in dimerization. In keeping with the high level of 9-O-acetylation found in mice, sialoglycan array studies indicate that this modification has complex effects on recognition by Siglec-E, in relationship to the underlying structures. However, we found no differences in phosphorylation or SHP-1 recruitment between dimeric and monomeric Siglec-E expressed on HEK293A cells. Phylogenomic analyses predicted that only some human and mouse Siglecs form disulfide-linked dimers. Notably, Siglec-9, the functionally equivalent human paralog of Siglec-E, occurs as a monomer.

Immune checkpoint molecules are important regulators of immune activation. This regulation is critical to maintaining immune homeostasis, and is driven by a complex interplay of both co-stimulatory and inhibitory signals. These checkpoints are key to preventing autoimmunity in healthy individuals; however, cancer cells often exploit this system by modulating the expression of these molecules in order to suppress anti-tumor responses during host immuno-editing. The ability to accurately quantify expression levels of checkpoint molecules is critical to ongoing biomedical research efforts exploring potential therapeutic interventions to overcome tumor-mediated immune-evasion. To further aid these ongoing research efforts, we have developed a new bead-based multiplex assay panel specifically designed to quantify several human oncology-related immune checkpoint biomarkers including sCD25 (IL-2Ra), GITR, 4-1BB, sCD27, B7.2 (CD86), free active TGF-β1, CTLA-4, PD-L1, PD-L2, PD-1, TIM-3, LAG-3, Galectin-9. The panel utilizes fluorescence-encoded microsphere technology and is designed for use on commonly available flow cytometers. The panel has been extensively validated for specificity, dilution linearity, cross-reactivity, and inter- and intra-assay precision. This multiplex panel is a robust tool for measuring the concentrations of several immune checkpoint mediators in human serum, plasma, and cell culture supernatant samples, and offers greater efficiency and broader dynamic ranges compared to conventional ELISA-based quantification methods. Citation Format: Jason Lehmann, Priyanka Rughwani, Amy Zhao, Weiping Jiang, Shaoquan Ji, Binggang Sun. Novel bead-based multiplex assay for the quantification of human immune checkpoint biomarkers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4117.

Metastasis to distant organs is responsible for ~90% of cancer-related deaths. Adhesion molecules are cell surface proteins that mediate the interactions between disseminated tumor cells and the endothelium of blood vessels present in the tumor microenvironment, and thus play a major role in tumor metastasis. Serum and plasma samples from patients with metastatic disease (head, neck, breast, pancreatic, gastric, and lung cancer patients) or healthy controls were assayed with a bead-based multiplex immunoassay which measured the concentration levels of the following adhesion molecules: ICAM-1, ICAM-2, ICAM-3, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, ALCAM-1, EpCAM, NCAM, E-selectin, P-selectin, L-selectin, PSGL-1, and CD44. Although limited by sample size, differential concentrations of assay targets were detected between healthy and disease-state samples. We have demonstrated that this multiplex panel is a robust tool for measuring the concentration of a spectrum of adhesion molecules with great efficiency and convenience. This panel will help screen and identify the adhesion molecules that may be universally or specifically involved in metastasis of different types of cancer.

The inflammation of neuronal tissues is triggered by various stimuli such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, protein aggregation and pathogens. Neuroinflammation cues such as brain injury lead to protein release and microglia activation, which in turn activate glial cells. Activated glial cells produce both pro- and anti-inflammatory factors to regulate cell migration, growth, tissue repair or cell death. Neuroinflammation is involved in acute brain injury, stroke, and many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as disruption and permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Measurement of the cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and other neuronal disease biomarkers is essential in understanding the mechanisms of neuronal disease progression, but this is limited by the small sample size of CSF. It is therefore desirable to be able to measure a panel of important neuroinflammation biomarkers simultaneously. We have developed an assay panel targeting neuroinflammation biomarkers using fluorescence-encoded beads that are suitable for use on common lab flow cytometers. It allows for simultaneous quantification of the 13 key targets involved in neuroinflammation including VILIP-1, BDNF, free active TGF-β1, VEGF, IL-6, sTREM-1, β-NGF, IL-18, TNF-α, soluble RAGE, and CX3CL1 (Fractialkine). This panel has been developed with superior assay performance and specificity and has been validated by detecting expected values in biological samples including CSF samples from healthy and disease individuals. This high quality, low cost and easy to use panel will be a useful tool to the neuroinflammation research community.

Exposure to foreign material triggers host immune responses, which are primarily mediated by leukocytes including macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, NK cells, T cells and B cells. These cells produce an array of soluble factors which coordinate host defense, tissue repair, and immunoregulatory functions. In addition, these cells and the factors they produce are also critically involved in various diseases including infection, autoimmune disorders, asthma, diabetes, and cancer. Therefore, quantification of these molecules in a cell type-specific context will help achieve in-depth understanding of the immune responses and disease processes. We have developed multiplex assay panels targeting specific mouse immune cells (CD4+ T helper cells, Macrophages/Microglia and B cells), using fluorescence–encoded beads that are suitable for use on common lab flow cytometers. Each panel allows for simultaneously quantification of 13 related analytes as shown in the table below. Cell TypePanel TargetsT helper cellsIL-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 17A, 17F, 21, 22, IFN-γ, TNF-αMacrophages/MicrogliaIL-1β, 6, 10, 12p40, 12p70, 18, 23, TNF-α, CCL22/MDC, CCL17/TARC, CXCL1/KC, G-CSF, TGF-β1B cellsIL-2, 4, 6, 10, 12p70, 13, 17A, IFN-γ, TNF-α, BAFF, BCMA, sCD40 ligand, TGF-β1 Each antibody pair was carefully optimized for assay specificity, sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility. In addition, these panels have been validated by detecting expected expression level changes of analytes in biological samples cultured under various stimulation conditions. These high quality, low cost and easy to use panels will be useful tools to the study of specific cells involved in innate and adaptive immune responses and the relevant diseases.

Vertical total electron content (VTEC) time series were obtained from 22 GPS stations near the epicenter of the Lushan earthquake. In this paper, we have adopted a sliding average method to detect and analyze anomalous VTEC associated with the earthquake. The results show that significant, negative ionosphere VTEC anomalies appeared over the 5 days before the earthquake, and on the day when earthquake occurred. The maximum value of VTEC anomalies that exceeded the lower bound reached 20 TECU. The spatial distribution of VTEC anomalies showed a conjugate structure, which shifted to the magnetic equator, and subsequently moved westwards.

To delineate the pterygoid canal (PC) configuration and its position in relation to surrounding important anatomical landmarks using three-dimensional reconstructive technology based on CT for the Chinese. The computerized tomography arteriography (CTA) data of 137 patients were retrospectively evaluated using neuroimaging three-dimensional reconstructive software. The morphological parameters of the PC as well as the spatial relationship and distance between the PC relative to internal carotid artery (ICA) and the foramen rotundum were evaluated. 83.9 % of the PC can be identified by our neuroimaging three-dimensional reconstructive software. The mean distance from the PC to the ICA was 2.6 ± 1.2 mm. The mean distance between medial aspects of bilateral ICA was 19.6 ± 2.7 mm. The distal vertical and horizontal distances between the PC and foramen rotundum were 5.2 ± 3.2 and 6.1 ± 2.8 mm, respectively. All the proximal end of the PC were inferior-lateral to the ICA. The PC mainly (92.9 %) ran posteriorly with a medial to lateral direction. The distance from the PC to ICA was positively correlated with the distance between bilateral ICA and the distal diameter of the PC. The vertical distance between the PC and foramen rotundum was positively correlated with the length of the PC and the horizontal distance between the PC and foramen rotundum. Understanding the configuration and spatial relationship of the PC may be helpful to improve the accuracy and safety of operation during the expanded transnasal endoscopic approaches to skull base. The three-dimensional reconstructive virtual anatomic technology may be a useful tool to delineate the PC configuration and its position to surrounding important anatomical landmarks.

Three different environmental loading methods are used to estimate surface displacements and correct non-linear variations in a set of GPS weekly height time series. Loading data are provided by (1) Global Geophysical Fluid Center (GGFC), (2) Loading Model of Quasi-Observation Combination Analysis software (QLM) and (3) our own daily loading time series (we call it OMD for optimum model data). We find that OMD has the smallest scatter in height across the selected 233 globally distributed GPS reference stations, GGFC has the next smallest variability, and QLM has the largest scatter. By removing the load-induced height changes from the GPS height time series, we are able to reduce the scatter on 74, 64 and 41 % of the stations using the OMD models, the GGFC model and QLM model respectively. We demonstrate that the discrepancy between the center of earth (CE) and the center of figure (CF) reference frames can be ignored. The most important differences between the predicted models are caused by (1) differences in the hydrology data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP) vs. those from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), (2) grid interpolation, and (3) whether the topographic effect is removed or not. Both QLM and GGFC are extremely convenient tools for non-specialists to use to calculate loading effects. Due to the limitation of NCEP reanalysis hydrology data compared with the GLDAS model, the GGFC dataset is much more suitable than QLM for applying environmental loading corrections to GPS height time series. However, loading results for Greenland from GGFC should be discarded since hydrology data from GLDAS in this region are not accurate. The QLM model is equivalent to OMD in Greenland and, hence, could be used as a complement to the GGFC product to model the load in this region. We find that the predicted loading from all three models cannot reduce the scatter of the height coordinate for some stations in Europe.

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) provides sensitive magnetic resonance (MR) contrast for probing dilute compounds via exchangeable protons, serving as an emerging molecular imaging methodology. CEST Z-spectrum is often acquired by sweeping radiofrequency saturation around bulk water resonance, offset by offset, to detect CEST effects at characteristic chemical shift offsets, which requires prolonged acquisition time. Herein, combining high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) with concurrent application of gradient and rf saturation to achieve fast Z-spectral acquisition, we demonstrated the feasibility of fast quantitative HRMAS CEST Z-spectroscopy. The concept was validated with phantoms, which showed excellent agreement with results obtained from conventional HRMAS MR spectroscopy (MRS). We further utilized the HRMAS Z-spectroscopy for fast ex vivo quantification of ischemic injury with rodent brain tissues after ischemic stroke. This method allows rapid and quantitative CEST characterization of biological tissues and shows potential for a host of biomedical applications.

This research examines the role and nature of the influential relationship between trust and project success in construction projects by using structural equation modeling (SEM) and a large-scale questionnaire survey. Such a relationship is investigated based on three key components: six antecedents of trust as independent variables (reputation, competence, integrity, communication, reciprocity, and contract), two types of trust as mediating variables (calculative and relative trust), and project success as a dependent variable. The results differentiate and compare the perceptions of trust for both owners and contractors in terms of their priority for antecedents of trust, the influential mechanism that connects trust with project success, and the numerical relationship between calculative trust and relational trust. For both parties, relational trust generates a higher impact on project success than calculative trust, but contractors perceived the relationship between relational trust and calcul...

Biothiols such as cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), and glutathione (GSH) play an important role in regulating the vital functions of living organisms. Knowledge of their biodistribution in real-time could help diagnose a variety of conditions. However, existing methods of biothiol detection are invasive and require assays. Herein we report a molecular biosensor for biothiol detection using the nuclear spin resonance of (129)Xe. The (129)Xe biosensor consists of a cryptophane cage encapsulating a xenon atom and an acrylate group. The latter serves as a reactive site to covalently bond biothiols through a thiol-addition reaction. The biosensor enables discrimination of Cys from Hcy and GSH through the chemical shift and average reaction rate. This biosensor can be detected at a concentration of 10 μM in a single scan and it has been applied to detect biothiols in bovine serum solution. Our results indicate that this biosensor is a promising tool for the real-time imaging of biothiol distributions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcome and toxicities of radiation therapy alone for elderly patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Seventy-three patients of 70 years old or above treated at our institution between January 1995 and December 2008 for locoregionally advanced NPC (stage III–IVA) were reviewed and analyzed. All patients were treated in a uniform fashion using our institutional protocol with using conformal radiation therapy alone. Measured outcomes included 4-year overall survival (OS), tumor-specific survival (TSS), disease-free survival (DFS), local control (LC), regional relapse-free survival (RRFS), distant metastasis free survival (DMFS), as well as late toxicity. The median follow-up for all 73 patients at the time of this analysis was 45 months (range, 5–152 months). The 4-year OS, TSS, DFS, LC, RRFS, and DMFS were 51.0, 64.5, 54.7, 83.7, 80.6, and 63.5, respectively. Radiation therapy was well tolerated in this group of patients. Multivariate analyses revealed that clinical stage (P = 0.006) and comorbidities (P = 0.018) were significant prognosticators for OS, both N classification (P = 0.023) and comorbidities (P = 0.032) were significant prognosticators for DFS, N classification was the only independent prognostic factor for both TSS (P = 0.002) and DMFS (P = 0.004); and residual disease in the primary site was the only independent predictive factor for LC (P = 0.026). Radiation therapy alone can achieve a reasonable local and regional control in NPC patients with advanced age; however, distant metastasis remained the dominant failure pattern of our series. The presence of comorbidities was an important negative prognostic factor for treatment outcome.

As the biggest expo site in history, construction of the Shanghai Expo site faced a lot of challenges, including involvement of lots of investors, megaconstruction scale, concurrent construction mode, involvement of more than 40,000 migrant workers, and extremely tight completion deadlines, among others. Consequently, these challenges imposed great obstacles on accomplishing the safety, quality, and environmental goals. Through a case study of the Shanghai Expo construction, this paper paper presents the design and implementation of multicriteria incentives in megaprojects to accomplish the safety, quality, and environmental goals. Both quantitative and qualitative findings were triangulated to demonstrate the outcome of the incentives. Six critical success factors (CSFs) for the incentives, rule design, process orientation, top management support, training and promotion, communication in process, and process learning and improvement are identified and validated through case study data and content analysis. It is believed that the findings of this paper can enhance understanding of multicriteria incentive schemes in general and provide insights in implementing these incentive schemes in future megaprojects, particularly in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Global mean sea level (GMSL) has not only significant secular trend and seasonal variations, but also inter-annual and decadal variations. This paper reconstructs the time series of GMSL variations between 1948 and 2007 by combining satellite altimeter measurements and tide gauge observations. Based on the time series, the acceleration of GMSL rise in the second half of 20th century is estimated to be 0.010±0.009 mm/a2, and multi-scale low frequency sea level oscillations including decadal variations are detected, and the high-rate of GMSL rise during 1993–2003 is locate in the ascending phase of low frequency oscillation. Then, using the reconstructed GMSL time series after removing the secular trend from satellite altimetry and tide gauges measurements, it shows that low frequency signal of sea level variation has strong correlations with the index of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). But in several time periods, they have large difference due to effects of both high frequency occurrence of El Nino and La Nina phenomenon and short term switch of PDO events.

Sulfated glycans play critical roles during the development, differentiation and growth of various organisms. The most well-studied sulfated molecules are sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Recent incidents of heparin drug contamination convey the importance of having a convenient and sensitive method for detecting different GAGs. Here, we describe a molecular method to detect GAGs in biological and biomedical samples. Because the sulfation of GAGs is generally not saturated in vivo, it is possible to introduce the radioisotope (35)S in vitro using recombinant sulfotransferases, thereby allowing detection of minute quantities of these molecules. This strategy was also successfully applied in the detection of other glycans. As examples, we detected contaminant GAGs in commercial heparin, heparan sulfate and chondroitin samples. The identities of the contaminant GAGs were further confirmed by lyase digestion. Oversulfated chondroitin sulfate was detectable only following a simple desulfation step. Additionally, in vitro sulfation by sulfotransferases allowed us to map glycan epitopes in biological samples. This was illustrated using mouse embryo and rat organ tissue sections labeled with the following carbohydrate sulfotransferases: CHST3, CHST15, HS3ST1, CHST4 and CHST10.

A nonradioactive glycosyltransferase assay is described here. This method takes advantage of specific phosphatases that can be added into glycosyltransferase reactions to quantitatively release inorganic phosphate from the leaving groups of glycosyltransferase reactions. The released phosphate group is then detected using colorimetric malachite-based reagents. Because the amount of phosphate released is directly proportional to the sugar molecule transferred in a glycosyltransferase reaction, this method can be used to obtain accurate kinetic parameters of the glycosyltransferase. The assay can be performed in multiwell plates and quantitated by a plate reader, thus making it amenable to high-throughput screening. It has been successfully applied to all glycosyltransferases available to us, including glucosyltransferases, N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases, N-acetylgalactosyltransferases, galactosyltransferases, fucosyltransferases and sialyltransferases. As examples, we first assayed Clostridium difficile toxin B, a protein O-glucosyltransferase that specifically monoglucosylates and inactivates Rho family small GTPases; we then showed that human KTELC1, a homolog of Rumi from Drosophila, was able to hydrolyze UDP-Glc; and finally, we measured the kinetic parameters of human sialyltransferase ST6GAL1.

In response to pathogens, especially viruses, cells release interferons and other cytokines to combat infection. Interferons are typically divided into three types: 1 (e.g., IFN-α, IFN-β), 2 (e.g., IFN-γ), and 3 (e.g., IFN-λ1, IFN-λ2). All inter-ferons are important for fighting viral infections and for regulating the immune system. In addition, interferons are critically involved in cancer and autoim-mune diseases such as psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis. Studying the expression profile of interferons and other related cyto-kines is essential to understanding the immune response against viral pathogens and other related disease processes. We have developed a multiplex panel, using fluorescence-encoded beads, which is suitable for use on commonly available flow cytometers. The panel simultaneously quantifies 13 mouse anti-viral immune proteins, including IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-γ, CXCL1 (KC), TNF-α, CCL2 (MCP-1), IL-12p70, CCL5 (RANTES), IL-1β, CXCL10 (IP-10), GM-CSF, IL-10, and IL-6. The assay was validated for specificity, linearity, cross-reactivity, and inter and intra-assay precision. The assay was further validated using biological samples to quantify analyte concentration changes in response to poly (I:C) stimulation compared to untreated controls. This multiplex panel is a robust tool for measuring the concentration of anti-viral inflammatory mediators in murine biological samples, and offers greater efficiency and broader dynamic ranges compared to conventional ELISA assays.

The vertical deformation monitoring of a suspension bridge tower is of paramount importance to maintain the operational safety since nearly all forces are eventually transferred as the vertical stress on the tower. This paper analyses the components affecting the vertical deformation and attempts to reveal its deformation mechanism. Firstly, we designed a strategy for high-precision GNSS data processing aiming at facilitating deformation extraction and analysis. Then, 33 months of vertical deformation time series of the southern tower of the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) in the UK were processed, and the accurate subsidence and the parameters of seasonal signals were estimated based on a classic function model that has been widely studied to analyse GNSS coordinate time series. We found that the subsidence rate is about 4.7 mm/year, with 0.1 mm uncertainty. Meanwhile, a 15-month meteorological dataset was utilised with a thermal expansion model (TEM) to explain the effects of seasonal signals on tower deformation. The amplitude of the annual signals correlated quite well that obtained by the TEM, with the consistency reaching 98.9%, demonstrating that the thermal effect contributes significantly to the annual signals. The amplitude of daily signals displays poor consistency with the ambient temperature data. However, the phase variation tendencies between the daily signals of the vertical deformation and the ambient temperature are highly consistent after February 2016. Finally, the potential contribution of the North Atlantic Drift (NAD) to the characteristics of annual and daily signals is discussed because of the special geographical location of the FRB. Meanwhile, this paper emphasizes the importance of collecting more detailed meteorological and other loading data for the investigation of the vertical deformation mechanism of the bridge towers over time with the support of GNSS.

Global ocean mass variations in recent four years are computed by use of the data of satellite gravity, satellite altimetry and marine hydrology, and their spatial and temporal characteristics are also analyzed. Monthly GRACE gravity field models during the four years from January 2003 to December 2006 are selected from UTCSR (University of Texas Center for Space Research), in which the spherical harmonic coefficients of the degree 1 and C20 are considered to be substituted. In the data processing, a new filter to remove correlative errors and Gaussian filter are applied, and the leakages of land hydrological signal are corrected to obtain the mass variation component of the sea level change expressed in equivalent water height. The global sea level changes are computed using Jason-1 data in the same duration, and the steric variations are obtained by inversion using monthly ocean temperature and salinity data, so that the mass variations of sea water are determined. The two type maps of the inversed mass variations agree well with each other in the characteristics of yearly variation. Compared to the long-term trends derived from altimetry, GRACE and ocean data observed during 1993 and 2003, we can see that the contribution of global ocean mass variations get larger, and becomes the main factor affecting the global mean sea level rise.

Thanks to the high performance of the spaceborne GPS receiver and the availability of precise IGS orbit and clock products, zero-difference kinematic precise orbit determination (POD) has been turned out to be a new effective method in orbit determination for the LEO satellites. Zero-difference kinematic POD, which is based on the GPS measurements only from the spaceborne GPS receiver, does not depend on the force models and orbit design. From this point of view, kinematic POD is suitable for the Earth observation satellites at very low altitudes, such as CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE, etc. This paper first reviews the basic zero-difference GPS observation model. Then a modified data quality control scheme is put forward. Finally, a block-wise least squares algorithm, which first separates the parameters into several groups and then solves the parameters by elimination and back-substitution, is discussed and proposed for the kinematic orbit determination. With the above algorithms, we developed kinematic POD software to solve the orbit suitable for one-week GRACE observations. Comparisons with the published Rapid Science Orbit (RSO) indicate that, using our approach to determine the orbit, the accuracy in the radial direction can achieve 3–4 cm for GRACE-A, and 3–5 cm for GRACE-B.

The 1918 pandemic flu virus caused one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. To search for unique structural features of the neuraminidase from this virus that might have contributed to its unusual virulence, we expressed this enzyme. The purified enzyme appeared as a monomer, a dimer and a tetramer, with only the tetramer being active and therefore biologically relevant. The monomer and the dimer could not be oligomerized into the tetramer in solution, suggesting that some unique structural features were required for oligomerization and activation. These features could be related to N-glycosylation, because the tetramer displayed different N-glycans than the monomer and the dimer. Furthermore, the tetramer was found to be resistant to trypsin digestion, which may give the virus the capability to invade tissues that are normally not infected by influenza viruses and make the virus more robust for infection.

This paper systematically studies the statistical diagnosis and hypothesis testing for the semiparametric linear regression model according to the theories and methods of the statistical diagnosis and hypothesis testing for parametric regression model. Several diagnostic measures and the methods for gross error testing are derived. Especially, the global and local influence analysis of the gross error on the parameter X and the nonparameter s are discussed in detail; at the same time, the paper proves that the data point deletion model is equivalent to the mean shift model for the semiparametric regression model. Finally, with one simulative computing example, some helpful conclusions are drawn.

Since 1995, Antarctic crustal movement campaign has been taking place by Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) every year. We analyze SCAR campaign data from 1997 to 2004 and some continuous GPS stations in Antarctica using GAMIT/GLOBK software. Data analysis involves two major procedures. The first procedure uses the GAMIT software to estimate parameters such as station position and orbital trajectory on a daily basis for a given 24-hour interval from the union of three data sets: (1) the campaign stations, (2) the continuously operating GPS stations in Antarctica, and (3) long-running continuous GPS stations around Antarctica. In the second procedure, we combine the daily solutions with global GPS sub-networks (IGS1, IGS2, IGS3), which is provided by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), using the GLOBK software in a “regional stabilization” approach in order to estimate the positions and velocities. Then the present-day crustal movement of the Antarctica plate is discussed in the paper. The position of the rotation pole (58.69°N, 128.29°W) and its rate (0.224(°)/Ma) derived from SCAR GPS data is significantly different from the NNR-NUVEL-1A estimations or from some GPS results for the Antarctic tectonic plate. As for the relative angular motion between Antarctic and Australian, the differences between the results from this paper and some other models are better. All differences for rotation rate are smaller than 0.01(°)/Ma, and for rotation pole are smaller than 4°. GPS results obtained in this paper provide a new and more precise model on the Antarctic plate motion.

Based on the energy integral equation of satellite orbit-motion, some applied computation formulas for Earth gravity field recovery from satellite to satellite tracking data are presented, in which a strict expression of the difference of kinetic energy between two satellites on the same orbit in terms of KBR range-rate observation value is given. Using GRACE data from the satellites and the energy integral method, a gravity model up to degree 120 is derived, which is named WHU-GM-05. The tests of WHU-GM-05 series are performed by multi-comparisons, which include the comparisons between the model series and several analogous international geopotential models including EIGEN-GRACE series and GGM02S with respect to the corresponding degree variances and geoidal heights, and comparisons of the model geoidal heights with GPS leveling in the area of U.S. and China (some regions). The results show that the total accuracy of WHU-GM-05 is near to that of the models used in the comparisons.

This paper describes the ocean loading tides corrections of GPS stations in Antarctica, such as the Great Wall station and Zhongshan station. Based on the theory of ocean loading tides, the displacement corrections of ocean loading tides on GPS stations in Antarctica are calculated by using the CRS4.0 ocean loading tides model. These corrections are also applied to GPS data processing. The GPS data are analyzed by the GAMIT software with and without these corrections. We compared and analyzed the GPS baseline components to get the differences. The results show that the ocean tidal displacement corrections have obvious effects upon GPS baseline components. Therefore, we should not ignore the ocean loading tides corrections of GPS stations in Antarctica to obtain precise and reliable results.

Human kallikrein-related peptidase 12 (KLK12) is a new member of the human tissue kallikrein family. Preliminary studies suggest that KLK12 is differentially expressed in breast cancer and may have potential use as a cancer biomarker. It has been predicted that KLK12 is a secreted serine protease. However, the enzymatic properties of this protein have not been reported so far. Here, we report the production of recombinant KLK12 and analyses of its enzymatic characteristics, including zymogen activation, substrate specificity, and regulation of its activity. KLK12 is secreted as an inactive pro-enzyme, which is able to autoactivate to gain enzymatic activity. Through screening of a panel of fluorogenic and chromogenic peptide substrates, we establish that active KLK12 possesses trypsin-like activity, cleaving peptide bonds after both arginine and lysine. Active KLK12 quickly loses its activity due to autodegradation, and its activity can also be rapidly inhibited by zinc ions and by α2-antiplasmin through covalent complex formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that KLK12 is able to activate KLK11 zymogen in vitro. Our results indicate that KLK12 may participate in enzymatic cascades involving other kallikreins.

Mannan-binding lectin-associated serine proteases (MASPs) are secreted as single-chain precursors and processed into two disulfide bond-linked chains. MASP-3 and MASP-1, derived from the same gene, contain identical A chains, but entirely different catalytic domain-containing B chains. In contrast to MASP-1 and MASP-2, the proteinase activity of MASP-3 has not been described previously. We show here the proteolytic activity of the purified recombinant human MASP-3 catalytic domain toward peptides and protein substrates. Among the fluorogenic peptides tested, it specifically cleaved peptides with Arg at the P1 position. Among seven insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins, it selectively cleaved IGFBP-5, which is the first protein substrate identified for MASP-3. All three cleavage sites identified contained Arg or Lys at the P1 position and Pro at the P2 position. As compared to MASP-1 and MASP-2, MASP-3 has distinct substrate specificity and inhibitor profile. These results should be useful for further studies of the structure and function of human MASP-3.

There is evidence that susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy has a significant genetic component. This investigation tested the hypothesis that variations in the structural or regulatory regions of the MEP1B gene are related to susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy in the Pima Indian population. The structure of the human MEP1B gene on chromosome 18 was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. Samples from 154 diabetic individuals were analyzed for polymorphisms. These individuals belonged to 65 sibships with at least one sibling pair discordant for diabetic nephropathy. Approximately half of the individuals had diabetic nephropathy. Of the 154 samples, there were 91 discordant sibling pairs. Sequencing revealed 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MEP1B gene. SNPs 1-5 were in the 5' region upstream of the start site for transcription; SNPs 6, 7, 9, 11-15, 17, and 19 were within introns; SNPs 8, 10, 16, and 18 were in exons 4, 9, 12, and 14. SNP 18 was the only one that results in an amino acid change (proline to leucine in the cytoplasmic tail). No overall associations were found for individual SNPs. Within-family association tests found significant results for SNPs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 18, and 19 such that the more common allele was more frequently observed in those with nephropathy than in their unaffected siblings. The present study demonstrates significant within-family association for SNPs in MEP1B gene with diabetic nephropathy. These results could be explained by functional effects of one or more of these SNPs or by linkage disequilibrium with a nearby functional locus.

First, we would like to thank Parker for his discussion and comments on our work. Parker’s main concern [1] is that the sea level is oscillating with important multi-decadal periodicities but absolutely not positively accelerating. He also argued that the global mean sea level (GMSL) acceleration computed by Jin et al. [2] seemed too large. His similar concern had also appeared in the comment of local sea level rise on Long Island, New York [3]. The most important difference between these two commented papers is that the former computes the sea level acceleration globally, while the latter locally. Parker quoted both, individual tide gauges and the time series of GMSL by satellite radar altimeter from the University of Colorado CU Sea Level Research Group. Individual tide-gauge records with enough length and quality can be used to compute the local sea level accelerating trend. However, the length should be longer than 60 years [4] to avoid large oscillations due to long-term tidal effects, which has also been confirmed by Parker himself [5]. As we known, individual tide-gauge records only represent the mean sea level variation within localized area. Parker presented the sea level records of several tide gauges in his Figure 1. The length of sea level time series are all longer than 100 years, and the 2nd order coefficients computed from the time series have both positive and negative values. The results show the largest positive acceleration in San Francisco, CA of +0.007 mm/a, and the largest negative acceleration in Honolulu, HI of 0.006 mm/a. These phenomena demonstrate that the local sea levels are accelerating or decelerating in different sea areas. Nevertheless, the GMSL accelerating trend is still unknown from his Figure 1. Either by tide gauges, or by satellite radar altimetry, many researches have achieved the conclusion that regional mean sea level trends are geographically dependent. Woodworth et al. [6] had pointed out that most of the tide-gauge data from Europe and North America display evidence for a positive acceleration, but the magnitude of the acceleration varies between stations. There are also a few of stations which display negative accelerations. From the most recent results published by AVISO (http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/ en/news/ocean-indicators/mean-sea-level/) and that shown in Figure 1, we can see large difference, especially between eastern and western parts of the Pacific Ocean. Another fact is that the magnitude of the acceleration/deceleration depends on the time period of observations. For comparison, we select the tide gauges whose periods are longer then 60 years from the Revised Local Reference (RLR) dataset provided by PSMSL (http://www.psmsl.org/ data/obtaining/) [7], and remove the tide gauges whose spare time is greater then 30% to ensure the stability. Then considering the seasonal signals, the sea level records on each selected tide gauge are fitted by the following linear regression model: 2 cos(2 ) sin(2 ) cos(4 )

Meprins are multidomain zinc metalloproteases that are highly expressed in mammalian kidney and intestinal brush border membranes and in leukocytes and certain cancer cells. Mature meprins are oligomers of evolutionarily related, separately encoded alpha and/or beta subunits. Homooligomers of meprin alpha are secreted; oligomers containing meprin beta are plasma membrane associated. Meprin substrates include bioactive peptides and extracellular matrix proteins. Meprins have been implicated in cancer and intestinal inflammation. Additionally, meprin beta is a candidate gene for diabetic nephropathy. To elucidate in vivo functions of these metalloproteases, meprin beta null mice were generated by targeted disruption of the meprin beta gene on mouse chromosome 18q12. Analyses of meprin beta knockout mice indicated that (i) 50% fewer null mice are born than the Mendelian distribution predicts, (ii) null mice that survive develop normally and are viable and fertile, (iii) meprin beta knockout mice lack membrane-associated meprin alpha in kidney and intestine, and (iv) null mice have changes in renal gene expression profiles compared to wild-type mice as assessed by microarray analyses. Thus, disruption of the meprin beta allele in mice affects embryonic viability, birth weight, renal gene expression profiles, and the distribution of meprin alpha in kidney and intestine.

In this paper, the overall editing criteria for altimetric data are considered and the coordinate datums of various altimetric data are unified to an unique one. A method of full-combined crossover adjustment for different altimetric tracks is used to improve the radial orbits of Geosat, ERS-1 and ERS-2 data. In addition, the method for determining Mean Sea Surface (MSS) by using multi-altimetric data is developed. The data used to compute WHU2000 MSS includes 7 years of Topex/ Poseidon data (from cycle 11 to 249), 2 years of Geosat ERM data (from cycle 1 to 44), 5 years of ERS2 data (from cycle 1 to 52) and all ERS-1 168day data. The WHU2000 MSS is determined with a grid resolution of 2′x2′ within the ±82° latitude and its precision is better than 0.05m. For an external check, WHU2000 MSS is compared with CLS_SHOM98.2 MSS, GFZ MSS95A and OSU MSS95, and the corresponding STandard Deviation (STD) of the comparing differences are ±0.090m, ±0.21 lm and ±0,079m respectively. The results of the comparisons show that the precision of WHU2000 MSS is in the same level with CLS_SHOW98.2 and OSU MSS95 but its resolution is higher than the latter ones.

Transformational leadership has drawn extensive attention in management research. In this field, the influence of transformational leadership on employee performance is an important branch. Recent research indicates that organizational citizenship behavior plays a mediating role between transformational leadership and employee performance. However, some of these findings contradict each other. Given the background where greater attention is being paid to transformational leadership in the construction industry, this research aims to find the degree of the influence of transformational leadership on employee sustainable performance, as well as the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior. A total of 389 questionnaires were collected from contractors and analyzed via structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that employee sustainable performance is positively influenced by transformational leadership. In addition, more than half of that influence is mediated by their organizational citizenship behavior. These findings remind project managers of the need to pay close attention to transformational leadership, to cultivate organizational citizenship behavior, and thereby to eventually improve employee’s sustainable performance.