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This paper presents a testing and numerical study on the deformation behaviours of marine clays from Jinzhou Bay, China, where a large-scale artificial island is under construction for the Dalian offshore airport. The mechanical behaviours of marine clays were investigated by laboratory tests, triaxial creep tests and centrifugal test. An elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model (Adachi-Oka model) and a finite element programme (CFEM 2D) were used to calculate the deformation of the marine clays. The validation of the elasto-viscoplastic model and finite element programme was initially verified by the numerical simulation of triaxial creep test and the centrifugal test. In addition, the settlement of the large-scale artificial island was calculated by the verified programme, which accounted for the effect of non-linear hydraulic conductivity. The calculated results show that differential settlement exists between functional areas, with the greatest post-construction settlement attaining 288 cm in 100 years. Uneven distribution of excess pore water pressure also exists, and does not fully dissipate in 100 years. It can be concluded that the settlement of the artificial island will continue, hence enough attention should be paid. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on the geotechnical investigation data of artificial island at Dalian Offshore Airport, the spatial distribution of the physical and mechanical properties of deposit soils was statistically analyzed. The field investigation revealed that the deposit soils could be subdivided into three strata, i.e., the top marine deposit stratum, middle marine-continental deposit stratum, and deep continental deposit stratum. Field and laboratory test results demonstrated that the marine deposit soils had high water content (31.2% < wn < 63.10%), large void ratio (0.88 < e0 < 1.75), low permeability (kv < 10−6 cm/s), flow-plastic state (IL > 1), under consolidated (OCR < 1), high compressibility (Es < 4 MPa), low shear strength (11.7 kPa < cu < 43.7 kPa), and low bearing capacity (0 < fak < 120 kPa), they could not be used as natural foundation. The marine-continental and continental deposits were normally consolidated to over-consolidated (OCR ≥ 1), medium compressibility (4 MPa < Es < 20 MPa), high shear strength (29.7 kPa < cu < 73.7 kPa), and high bearing capacity (fak > 120 kPa). In addition, regression analysis results showed that the compression ratio was positively correlated with the natural water content, the coefficient of vertical consolidation was negatively correlated with the plasticity index, and the coefficient of vertical permeability was positively correlated with the initial void ratio. The results of the field and laboratory tests were synthesized to provide a basis for reclamation design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective To construct chromodomain helicase DNA-bingding protein 4 (CHD4/Mi-2β) truncated recombinant plasmids, induce the expression of GST fusion proteins in E.coli, and purify and identify GST fusion proteins of CHD4/Mi-2β. Methods The gene fragments of chromodomains (CHD4-C), SWI2/SNF2-related ATPase/helicase region (CHD4-H) and DNA-binding domain (CHD4-D) were amplified by PCR and cloned into pGEX-5T vector. After the target genes were sequenced, the plasmids were transformed into E.coli BL21 (DE3) respectively, and induced with 0.8mmol/L IPTG to express fusion proteins. The GST-fusioned recombined proteins were purified with glutathione-agarose resin, and identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Results Three CHD4 truncated recombinant plasmids were constructed. The recombinant fusion proteins of GST-CHD4-C, GST-CHD4-D and GST-CHD4-H were expressed in E.coli BL21 (DE3) and existed mostly in the form of soluble protein with expected relative molecular weight of 130, 110 and 90ku. The purity of the fusion proteins reached 94.5% after purification by high-affinity glutathione-agarose resin. Conclusion GST-CHD4-C, GST-CHD4-D and GST-CHD4-H have been successfully purified, which lays an experimental foundation for further study of CHD4/Mi-2β in chromatin remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Calcium-binding proteins that contain EF-hand motifs have been reported to play important roles in transduction of signals associated with biotic and abiotic stresses. To functionally characterize gens of EF-hand family in response to abiotic stress, an MtCaMP1 gene belonging to EF-hand family from legume model plant Medicago truncatula was isolated and its function in response to drought and salt stress was investigated by expressing MtCaMP1 in Arabidopsis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings expressing MtCaMP1exhibited higher survival rate than wild-type seedlings under drought and salt stress, suggesting that expression of MtCaMP1 confers tolerance of Arabidopsis to drought and salt stress. The transgenic plants accumulated greater amounts of Pro due to up-regulation of P5CS1 and down-regulation of ProDH than wild-type plants under drought stress. There was a less accumulation of Na+ in the transgenic plants than in WT plants due to reduced up-regulation of AtHKT1 and enhanced regulation of AtNHX1 in the transgenic plants compared to WT plants under salt stress. There was a reduced accumulation of H2O2 and malondialdehyde in the transgenic plants than in WT plants under both drought and salt stress. Conclusions/Significance: The expression of MtCaMP1 in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance of the transgenic plants to drought and salt stress by effective osmo-regulation due to greater accumulation of Pro and by minimizing toxic Na+ accumulation, respectively. The enhanced accumulation of Pro and reduced accumulation of Na+ under drought and salt stress would protect plants from water default and Na+ toxicity, and alleviate the associated oxidative stress. These findings demonstrate that MtCaMP1 encodes a stress-responsive EF-hand protein that plays a regulatory role in response of plants to drought and salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using triaxial compression test, the mechanical behavior and permeability of polypropylene fiber reinforced red clay are studied. The compaction test and the permeability test results show that the fibers content has great effect on the optimum moisture content while has less effect on the max dry density. The permeability of fiber reinforced red clay keeps low level when the fibers content is 0. 25%-0. 80%. The results of triaxial consolidation undrained test show that the shear strength of fiber reinforced red clay increases with the axial strain and the work hardening character is expressed. The shear strength of fiber reinforced red clay also increases with the fibers content and fibers length. The confining pressure has remarkable impact on shear behaviors of fiber reinforced red clay. The fiber reinforced red clay has a bulging damage under low fibers content and it doesn't induce fracture under high fibers content when the largest axial strain of samples appears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To prevent effectively the transport of heavy metal ions in landfill leachate, adding materials, granular activated carbon (GAC) and acid-activated bentonite capable of strongly adsorbing pollutants to the conventional compacted clay liner is one method that has been tried. The adsorption of Cr ( VI) to clay, clay containing 3% or 6% GAC and 3% or 6% acid-activated bentonite were investigated by laboratory batch tests. In order to evaluate the feasibility of improved clay used as liner-soil materials, geotechnical properties, including volumetric swelling, volumetric shrinkage, hydraulic conductivity and unconfined compressive strength, were measured in laboratory geotechnical tests. The results of batch tests indicate that the Cr ( VI) sorption to clay containing GAC and acid- activated bentonite is much greater than Cr ( VI) sorption to natural clay. GAC and acid-activated bentonite are two potential materials for use as sorptive amendments for trapping heavy metals in clay landfill liners. The results of geotechnical tests show that the clay containing GAC or acid-activated bentonite exhibits ⩽4% of volumetric shrinkage, <1×10-7cm/s of hydraulic conductivity and >200 kPa of unconfined compressive strength in some scope of water content at modified compaction. These findings suggest that the clay containing GAC or acid-activated bentonite can be potentially utilized as compacted liner-soil materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landfill site was idealized as three-layer stratum composed of a compacted clay liner (CCL), a underlying layer and a layer of aquifer below the landfill. Based on Richards equation, the analytical solutions of volumetric water content in both CCL and underlying layer were obtained under steady-state seepage. According to the contaminant migration mechanism in the porous media, the one-dimensional computing model was established for contaminant migration in the three-layer strata including two unsaturated soil layers. The model considered nonlinear sorption of CCL and bio- degradation of contaminant migration process and bio-degradation of waste. The established mathematical model was used for carrying on the concrete computation on some hypothesis landfill sites. The studies on the calculation and analysis of variable parameters were conducted to examine the effect of all the related factors on the contaminant migration. The calculated results show that the sorption and bio-degradation of unsaturated soil have remarkable effect on the contaminant migration process, especially when the sorption and degradation of CCL are important controlling factors for contaminant migration process. When volumetric water content of unsaturated soil is large, the variation of volumetric water content has negligible influence on contaminant migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corresponding description of this figure should be "As shown in Fig.2, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the Tl-1223(006) reflection peak is only 0.58 , which shows that the film possesses a good crystalline structure", instead of "As shown in Fig.2, the FWHM of the Tl-1223(003) reflection peak is only 0.58 , which shows that the film possesses a good crystalline structure". 36(2019)057401] Jian Xing( ) 1, Li-Tian Wang( ) 1, Xiao-Xin Gao( ) 1, Xue-Lian Liang( ) 1, Kai-Yong He( ) 1, Ting Xue( ) 1, Sheng-Hui Zhao( ) 1, Jin-Li Zhang( ) 1, Ming He( ) 1,2, Xin-Jie Zhao( ) 1,3, Shao-Lin Yan( ) 1, Pei Wang( ) 4, and Lu Ji( ) 1,3* 1 College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China 2 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Sensor and Sensing Network Technology, Tianjin 300350, China 3 Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology of Tianjin, Tianjin 300350, China 4 Beijing Institute of Radio Measurement, Beijing 100854, China (Received 26 October 2020; accepted 18 December 2020; published online 27 January 2021) DOI: 10.1088/0256-307X/38/2/029901 1 4 1 6 1 8 2 0 0. 0 1. 5 3. 0 4. 5 6. 0 I n t e n s i t y (1 0 4 c p s) w (d e g) F W H M = 0. 5 8 O Fig. In Fig.2 of the article, [1] the figure caption should be"Rockingcurveofthe(006)peakoftheTl-1223thin film" instead of "Rocking curve of the (003) peak of the Tl-1223 thin film". [Extracted from the article]

Figure 2 in the original paper (Chin. Phys. B 27 057403 (2018)]) is replaced by a new one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compacted clay cover systems of landfills were studied for desiccation cracks (dry crack or thowing crack for climate). The niechanism of a new type of evapotranspiration cover was analyzed to promote the engineering performance. On the basis of considering precipitation and evaporation, a one-dimensional dynamic model was developed for simulating moisture transport in evapotranspiration landfill cover. Volumetric water content was simulated based on the data of precipitation and evaporation of Dalian in 1976. Result of simulation is analyzed. It is apparent that the moisture content near the surface is highly sensitive to climate loading, but the effect is significantly attenuated and time-lagged along with increasing depth. Moisture content of barrier soil layer is partially saturated. Evapotranspiration landfill cover (thickness:150 cm)is absolutely able to resist strong precipitation which is the heaviest one in 48 a of Dalian. Parametric analyses are conducted to simulate variations in precipitation rate, precipitation event duration and barrier soil layer thickness. The experimental data are used to provide a quantitative verification of the model. The model simulations are compared with the data, which reasonably agree with model simulation. The simulation model provides scientific evidence for building evapotranspiration landfill cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is much uncertainty about the effects of early lowering of elevated blood pressure (BP) after acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). Our aim was to assess the safety and efficiency of this treatment, as a run-in phase to a larger trial.Methods: Patients who had acute spontaneous ICH diagnosed by CT within 6 h of onset, elevated systolic BP (150-220 mm Hg), and no definite indication or contraindication to treatment were randomly assigned to early intensive lowering of BP (target systolic BP 140 mm Hg; n=203) or standard guideline-based management of BP (target systolic BP 180 mm Hg; n=201). The primary efficacy endpoint was proportional change in haematoma volume at 24 h; secondary efficacy outcomes included other measurements of haematoma volume. Safety and clinical outcomes were assessed for up to 90 days. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00226096.Findings: Baseline characteristics of patients were similar between groups, but mean haematoma volumes were smaller in the guideline group (12.7 mL, SD 11.6) than in the intensive group (14.2 mL, SD 14.5). From randomisation to 1 h, mean systolic BP was 153 mm Hg in the intensive group and 167 mm Hg in the guideline group (difference 13.3 mm Hg, 95% CI 8.9-17.6 mm Hg; p<0.0001); from 1 h to 24 h, BP was 146 mm Hg in the intensive group and 157 mm Hg in the guideline group (10.8 mm Hg, 95% CI 7.7-13.9 mm Hg; p<0.0001). Mean proportional haematoma growth was 36.3% in the guideline group and 13.7% in the intensive group (difference 22.6%, 95% CI 0.6-44.5%; p=0.04) at 24 h. After adjustment for initial haematoma volume and time from onset to CT, median haematoma growth differed between the groups with p=0.06; the absolute difference in volume between groups was 1.7 mL (95% CI -0.5 to 3.9, p=0.13). Relative risk of haematoma growth >or=33% or >or=12.5 mL was 36% lower (95% CI 0-59%, p=0.05) in the intensive group than in the guideline group. The absolute risk reduction was 8% (95% CI -1.0 to 17%, p=0.05). Intensive BP-lowering treatment did not alter the risks of adverse events or secondary clinical outcomes at 90 days.Interpretation: Early intensive BP-lowering treatment is clinically feasible, well tolerated, and seems to reduce haematoma growth in ICH. A large randomised trial is needed to define the effects on clinical outcomes across a broad range of patients with ICH.Funding: National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-walled carbon nanotube-hydroxyapatite composites (MWCNT-HAP) were employed as the sorbent to study the sorption characteristic of Pb (II) using batch experiments. Effects of dosage of adsorbent, pH, ionic strength, contact time, initial concentration of lead and temperature were investigated. The results indicated that the removal of lead to MWCNT-HAP composites was strongly dependent on dosage of adsorbent, pH, temperature, and independent of ionic strength. The maximum adsorption capacity of lead was about 716. 13 mg.g-1 at 20°C, with a solid/liquid ratio of 0.08 g.L-1, pH0 = 5.5 and an initial concentration of 100 mg.L-1. The adsorption of Pb(II) on MWCNT-HAP composites was a fast process and could reach the equilibrium within 60 minutes. Ninety percent of the maximum adsorption capacity could be reached in 30 minutes. The kinetic data were fitted to pseudo-second-order kinetic model reasonably well. The kinetic sorption of Pb(II) on MWCNT-HAP was well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The negative free energy calculated from the temperature dependent sorption isotherms suggested that the sorption of Pb(II) on MWCNT-HAP composites was a spontaneous process, and high temperature favored the adsorption process. The higher correlation coefficient values (R2 = 0. 999 8 - 1. 000 0) of Langmuir isotherm model at different temperatures suggested that Langmuir model could be used to simulate the sorption of Pb(II) on MWCNT-HAP. The adsorption mechanism mainly involves surface complexation between the lead ions and the surface oxygen-containing functional groups of the MWCNT-HAP, dissolution of HAP and precipitation of pyromorphite [Pb10 (PO4)6 (OH) 2], ion exchange reaction between Pb2+ and Ca2+ of hydroxyapatite.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) includes a group of diseases characterized by dysplasia of bone marrow myeloid lineages with ineffective hematopoiesis and frequent evolution to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Whole-genome sequencing was performed in CD34(+) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) from eight cases of refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB), the high-risk subtype of MDS. The nucleotide substitution patterns were found similar to those reported in AML, and mutations of 96 protein-coding genes were identified. Clonal architecture analysis revealed the presence of subclones in six of eight cases, whereas mutation detection of CD34(+) versus CD34(-) cells revealed heterogeneity of HSPC expansion status. With 39 marker genes belonging to eight functional categories, mutations were analyzed in 196 MDS cases including mostly RAEB (n = 89) and refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) (n = 95). At least one gene mutation was detected in 91.0% of RAEB, contrary to that in RCMD (55.8%), suggesting a higher mutational burden in the former group. Gene abnormality patterns differed between MDS and AML, with mutations of activated signaling molecules and NPM1 being rare, whereas those of spliceosome more common, in MDS. Finally, gene mutation profiles also bore prognostic value in terms of overall survival and progression free survival.

Fraser syndrome (FS) is a phenotypically variable, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by cryptophthalmus, cutaneous syndactyly, and other malformations resulting from mutations in FRAS1, FREM2, and GRIP1. Transient embryonic epidermal blistering causes the characteristic defects of the disorder. Fras1, Frem1, and Frem2 form the extracellular Fraser complex, which is believed to stabilize the basement membrane. However, several cases of FS could not be attributed to mutations in FRAS1, FREM2, or GRIP1, and FS displays high clinical variability, suggesting that there is an additional genetic, possibly modifying contribution to this disorder. An extracellular matrix protein containing VWA-like domains related to those in matrilins and collagens (AMACO), encoded by the VWA2 gene, has a very similar tissue distribution to the Fraser complex proteins in both mouse and zebrafish. Here, we show that AMACO deposition is lost in Fras1-deficient zebrafish and mice and that Fras1 and AMACO interact directly via their chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) and P2 domains. Knockdown of vwa2, which alone causes no phenotype, enhances the phenotype of hypomorphic Fras1 mutant zebrafish. Together, our data suggest that AMACO represents a member of the Fraser complex.

Objective: To investigate the mutations of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase (GCDH) gene in patients with glutaric aciduria type I(GA-1)., Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells of the eight probands with GA-1 who were diagnosed by urine and blood analyses. By PCR and direct sequencing, all 11 exons and their flanking sequences of the GCDH gene were examined. Mutation search was also performed in some of their family members., Results: Among the eight patients diagnosed by metabolic screening, seven patients belonged to classical infantile-onset. One patient, however, was adult-onset, who was admitted to the hospital because of suffering from ischemic cerebral stroke. The GCDH gene mutations were identified in all the eight probands with GA-1: five of them had compound heterozygous mutations, while the other three harbored only one heterozygous mutation. Totally, nine different mutations of the GCDH gene were identified in the eight probands, four of them were novel, i.e., c.148T>C, c.371G>A, 909delC and c.263G>A., Conclusion: GCDH gene mutations are identified in 8 patients with GA-1 in mainland China, including one adult patient with late onset. Four novel mutations of GCDH gene are found which expanded the mutational spectrum of the GCDH gene.

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) can act on target cells through an IL-4 receptor complex consisting of the IL-4 receptor alpha chain and the common gamma chain (gamma(c)). An IL-4 epitope for gamma(c) binding has previously been identified. In this study, the gamma(c) residues involved in IL-4 binding were defined by alanine-scanning mutational analysis. The epitope comprises gamma(c) residues I100, L102, and Y103 on loop EF1 together with L208 on loop FG2 as the major binding determinants. These predominantly hydrophobic determinants interact with the hydrophobic IL-4 epitope composed of residues I11, N15, and Y124. Double-mutant cycle analysis revealed co-operative interaction between gamma(c) and IL-4 side chains. Several gamma(c) residues involved in IL-4 binding have been previously shown to be mutated in X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency. The importance of these binding residues for gamma(c) function is discussed. These results provide a basis for elucidating the molecular recognition mechanism in the IL-4 receptor system and a paradigm for other gamma(c)-dependent cytokine receptor systems.