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Stronger interaction created by B2O3 modification mitigates the oxygen reactivity of FeOx, promoting styrene selectivity in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene.

Lipid metabolism is closely related to the improvement of vascular calcification (VC) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Globular adiponectin (gAd) has been reported to be involved in the development of VC in CKD, but the detailed regulatory role remains unclear. The present study is aimed to investigate the biological function and the underlying regulation mechanism of gAd in the process of VC during CKD. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) calcification was determined by Alizarin Red S staining. Protein signaling related with VC was tested by western blotting. The expression and intracellular localization of runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) was detected by immunofluorescence and uraemic rat with VC was established by a two-step nephrectomy. Combined with the results of Alizarin Red S staining, we discovered that β-glycerophosphate (β-Gp)-induced the osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs was significantly reversed by gAd treatment. Along with the VSMCs calcification and the increase of Runx2 in β-Gp-exposed VSMCs, the activities of protein kinase B (AKT) and Wnt/β-catenin pathway were enhanced, but that were counteracted by the exposure of gAd in rat and human VSMCs. After administration with agonists of the Wnt (SKL2001) and AKT (SC79), there appeared more osteoblastic differentiation and higher expression of Runx2 in gAd-treated VSMCs, but showing lower impact in the presence of SC79 than that in the presence of SKL2001. In the in vivo experiments, intravenous injection of gAd also significantly inhibited VC and Runx2 level in uraemic rat in a dose-dependent manner, possibly through regulating Wnt/β-catenin pathway. This study demonstrates that gAd ameliorates osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs possibly by blocking PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling transduction. The findings provide an important foundation for gAd in treating VC in kidney diseases. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10735-021-10012-2.

Confined nanospace pyrolysis (CNP) has attracted increasing attention as a general strategy to prepare task-specific hollow structured porous carbons (HSPCs) in the past decade. The unique advantages of the CNP strategy include its outstanding ability in control of the monodispersity, porosity and internal cavity of HSPCs. As a consequence, the obtained HSPCs perform exceptionally well in applications where a high dispersibility and tailored cavity are particularly required, such as drug delivery, energy storage, catalysis and so on. In this review, the fundamentals of the CNP strategy and its advances in structural alternation is first summarized, then typical applications are discussed by exemplifying specific synthesis examples. In addition, this review offers insights into future developments for advanced task-specific hollow structured porous materials prepared by the CNP strategy.

Intellectual disability (ID) is a non-specific phenotype present in a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders. The genetic cause of ID remains elusive in the majority of patients due to this extreme heterogeneity. Whole exome sequencing technology has been applied to identify pathogenic gene variants responsible for ID. The present report described a 1.7-year-old female patient who had severe ID with the specific features of delayed motor development, language disorders and abnormal facial features. Exome analysis identified a novel pathogenic variant of the SETD5 gene [c.2025_2026delAG (p.Gly676Valfs*2)]. The variant was a frameshift mutation, causing termination of the protein in advance. These findings indicated that this mutation of the SETD5 gene may be a genetic cause for ID. The present study aimed to provide a meaningful exploration of ID and the identification of clinical core genetic pedigrees.

Cryogenic distillation is one of the main methods to produce air products, during which the key process is the separation of oxygen and nitrogen through the two-phase flow, heat and mass transfer. In recent years, it has become difficult to improve the efficiency of the cryogenic distillation process by traditional engineering optimizations. A new method of introducing the magnetic field to enhance the two-phase binary transport process based on the paramagnetism of oxygen was proposed and validated preliminarily in our previous studies. Since the single bubble rising is the basic phenomenon of the bubbling process on the sieve trays of the distillation tower, the influence of the magnetic field on the bubble rising process in the liquid oxygen needs to be further investigated. In this paper, the process of a single oxygen bubble rising from quiescent state in the liquid oxygen under the magnetic field is numerically studied in the region of M 0 = 4.65 e - 12 and R e > 1000 , which has not been revealed before. Bubbles of different sizes under different magnetic fields are simulated and compared. It is concluded that the magnetic field can influence the inertia force in balance with viscous force and the surface tension force, thus accelerate or decelerate the bubble motion. Therefore, the residence time of the gas phase in the liquid, the gas fraction and the interfacial area can be influenced, leading to a difference in the mass transfer efficiency under the magnetic field.

Improving the separation efficiency and reducing the energy consumption in air separation units is of great importance to the development of petrochemical, iron and steel industries. A new method was proposed to improve the efficiency of cryogenic distillation by comprehensive utilizing of the boiling point and magnetic differences of oxygen and nitrogen. Laser interferometry system was designed and constructed to validate the effect of non-uniform magnetic field on the mass and heat transfer process between liquid oxygen and nitrogen. One-dimensional continuous wavelet transform was used to extract the two-dimensional concentration distribution from the interference patterns. Results have revealed 4 stages during the mass transfer process, including liquid oxygen filling stage, stratified diffusion stage, stable evaporation stage and unstable bubbling stage. The time for the stratified diffusion under magnetic field was maintained longer than that without magnetic field. The high gradient magnetic medium, which filled between the magnet poles, can further enhance the effect of magnetic field. With 0.5 g steel wools, the mole fraction of oxygen decreased by 30% at 120 min from the beginning of mass transfer compared to that without medium and decreased by 38% compared with that without magnetic field. The stratified diffusion and the bubbling phenomenon revealed in the experiments will provide a basis for the further development of the magnetically enhanced air separation units.

The non-condensable gas at the top of the main condenser of the distillation section, such as helium or neon, would lower the heat transfer efficiency and the productivity of the air separation plant. Current research mainly focuses on the study of the water vapor condensation mechanism with non-condensable gases, while those on cryogenic fluids are rare. In this work, an experimental setup was designed to study the condensation mechanism of pure nitrogen vapor and nitrogen vapor mixed with helium on the vertical plate. The experimental data of pure nitrogen vapor is in good agreement with the results calculated by the classical Nusselt model, which demonstrates that the experimental system has high reliability. The influences of the mass fraction of helium and system pressure on the condensation heat transfer coefficient are analyzed. Results show that even a very low mass fraction of helium can cause the condensation heat transfer coefficient of nitrogen vapor to decrease obviously. The deviation between the heat transfer coefficient of the nitrogen-helium mixture and pure nitrogen increases with the increases of the helium mass fraction and the decrease of system pressure. A new condensation heat transfer correlation for nitrogen with helium is developed that the deviations of most of its predictions are within 20% compared to the experimental data.

Chinese parents and students, especially senior high school students, attach great importance to academic performance. Some studies have confirmed that childhood neglect is related to academic performance. However, the internal mechanism is relatively underexplored.Guided by life course theory and bioecological theory, this study examined the relationship between childhood neglect and academic performance using a serial mediation model that included belief in a just world (PBJW) and academic resilience as hypothesized mediators.A sample of 614 tenth grade students (297 males and 307 females, and 10 who did not report their sex; MAfter demographic covariates were controlled for, the results revealed that: (a) childhood neglect was negatively associated with academic performance; (b) PBJW and academic resilience mediated the link between childhood neglect and academic performance in a parallel fashion; and (c) PBJW and academic resilience also mediated the link between childhood neglect and academic performance in a sequential fashion.Childhood neglect is negatively related to adolescent academic performance, and the relation is mediated by PBJW and academic resilience both parallelly and sequentially.

This paper studies the quantitative method of Time-PSF in HRA of nuclear power plant, and determines the precondition of quantitative calculation, and combs the quantification process, also introduces the key steps of quantification process in detail. Taking the “Medium Break LOCA (superimposed cooling failure)” event as an example, the processing flow based on SOP (state oriented operation procedures) and SEOP (symptom oriented operation procedures) emergency response procedures is analyzed respectively, and the time required is quantified by the method introduced in this paper. The method proposed in this paper solidifies the process, and ensures that the analysis has reasonable preconditions, and solves the problem of difficulty in obtaining basic data and difficult to quantify, this method makes the Time-PSF assessment more accurate and reliable on the basis of quantitative calculation, and then improves the accuracy of evaluating the probability of human error (HEP) in the digital main control room, so as to provide reference for HRA staff. In addition, through the implementation of the calculation method, it is helpful to obtain relevant actions with high probability of human error, and further optimize the function allocation and system design.

Rod Position Indication System (RPI) is the core component of Reactor Control-Rod Control System (RGL) in nuclear power plant. During the commissioning, periodic test and preventive maintenance of nuclear power plant, the performance test of rod position detector must be carried out. The resistance and insulation test results are important data to reflect the state of rod position detector coil and its related cables. Traditional test equipment needs external instruments and manual operation, which has the disadvantages of single function, low efficiency, poor data consistency and easy to produce human error. According to the heavy workload and short duration of RPI performance tests in the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) commissioning, periodic tests and preventive maintenance, this paper designs an intelligent test system for RPI performance test in Nuclear Power Plant based on RPI test functional requirements analysis. The design meets the requirements of RPI resistance and insulation performance tests. In addition, the design is provided with an efficient, reliable and intelligent advantage and adapts to the complex working environment in Nuclear Power Plant. This design greatly facilitates RPI performance tests in NPPs.

Background Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease associated with severe muscle atrophy and weakness in the limbs and trunk. The discovery of mutated genes is helpful in diagnosis and treatment for SMA. Methods Eighty-three whole blood samples were collected from 28 core families of clinically suspected SMA, and multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA) was performed. Afterwards, the complete gene sequence of SMN1 gene was detected. Furthermore, 20 SMA patients were selected from the 28 probands, and 5 non SMA children as controls. The Life Technologies SOLiD™ technology with mate-pair chemistry was utilized to conduct the whole exome high-throughput sequencing. Results Twenty-two probands were SMA patients, 3 probands carriers, and 3 probands normal individuals. Moreover, 2 parents from 2 SMA families were with 3 SMN1 exon7 copies. Six SMN1 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified in the 83 samples, and c.[84C > T], c.[271C > T], c.[−39A > G] and g.[70240639G > C] were novel. Compared with control group, 9102 mutation were selected out in SMA patients. SPTA1 mutation c.[−41_-40insCTCT], FUT5 SNV c.[1001A > G], and MCCC2 SNV c.[−117A > G] were the 3 most frequent mutations in SMA group (95, 85 and 75%, respectively). Conclusions We identified some mutations in both SMN1 and other genes, and c.[271C > T], c.[−41_-40insCTCT], c.[1001A > G] and c.[−117A > G] might be associated with the onset of SMA.

Choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) is a rare benign tumor of the central nervous system. Bilateral lateral ventricle CPP is extremely uncommon. In this case report, we described a case of bilateral lateral ventricle CPP in a 4-month-old female patient conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF). Neurological examination and imaging were performed. In neurological examination, meningeal irritation signs and sunset phenomenon were positive. Brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) displayed masses located in the trigone of the bilateral lateral ventricle with hydrocephalus. Contrast-enhanced MRI showed intense homogeneous enhancement. The diagnoses of bilateral lateral ventricle CPP related to hydrocephalus and extravasation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were made. Repeated surgical procedures via parietotemporal craniotomy were performed, and the diagnosis was confirmed by histopathology examination. The patient presented with delayed development during a follow-up period of 1 year. In conclusion, imaging is an effective approach of investigation. CPP could be highly suspected according to the features of hydrocephalus, lobulated appearance, and homogeneous enhancement on imaging. Total surgical removal is a valid curative method for CPP.

Intellectual disability refers to significantly subaverage intellectual function (intelligence quotient < 70) with impairment of adaptive function. The IQSEC2 gene is one of the pathogenic genes located on chromosome Xp11.22. IQSEC2 is an X-linked gene correlated with intellectual disability and epilepsy. In this study, we reported a 2-year-old male patient presented with reacting sluggishly with people and surroungdings. Active electroencephalogram showed the background of epileptic activity. Brain MRI revealed patchy hyperintensity of bilateral parietal lobe white matter on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image and widened ventricle, cistern and sulci on T2-weighted image. Delayed myelination was considered. The diagnosis of intellectual disability and epilepsy was made. Whole exome-sequencing was conducted and identified a novel frameshift mutation in exon 15 of IQSEC2 (NM_001111125.2: c.4164dupC: p.Ile1389 Hisfs*218). The variant resulted in the deletion of termination codon, and the protein was extended to termination after stretch of 218 amino acids.This study expands the mutation spectrum of IQSEC2. It supports the published data suggesting that IQSEC2 plays a significant part in patients with intellectual disability and epilepsy. IQSEC2 should be detected in patients with intellectual disability and epilepsy.

Compact heat exchangers working with liquid oxygen play a major role in the cryogenic air separation units. In this paper a novel alternating magnetic field actuated method, utilizing the paramagnetic property of oxygen, was proposed for enhancing the convective heat transfer in this kind of heat exchangers. A modeling investigation based on a rectangular channel with the proposed enhancement method was conducted by two-dimensional finite-element simulation. The effects of background magnetic field, inlet flow condition, and cascade configuration on the heat transfer were numerically analyzed. The numerical results indicated that vortices were generated and shed due to the periodically changing magnetic force. The vortex shedding caused fluctuation of the thermal boundary layer and mixing of cold and hot fluids, which significantly improved the heat transfer. At Re = 500 and B0 = 0.5 T, an increase of 86.1% in the overall Nusselt number was observed with a single steel bar, compared with the free-flow case without any enhancement. The proposed magnetic field actuated enhancement method provides a great potential for improving the heat transfer performance in liquid oxygen without leading to large pressure drops.

Patients with colorectal cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and irinotecan (CPT-11) exhibit a risk for chemotherapy-induced colitis (CIC) that may lead to fatal consequences. Cryptotanshinone (CTS) is a natural compound extracted from the root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge that shows potent antitumor activities. We previously reported CTS relieved 5-FU/ CPT-11 induced colitis in tumor-free mice. In this study, we studied the effect of CTS on 5-FU/ CPT-11 induced colitis in mice with colitis associated colon cancer (CAC). The effects of CTS on CIC were evaluated by disease activity index (DAI) and histological assessment via hematoxylin-and-eosin staining. Serum lipids and lipid-metabolic enzymes were detected by commercial kits. Fecal microbial diversity was detected by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. To find the role of fecal bacteria in CAC mice with 5-FU/ CPT-11 induced colitis, pseudo-germ-free mice were established by intragastric administration of mixed antibiotics. Except for decreasing tumor number (3 ± 1 vs 6 ± 1, p 0.05), CTS significantly alleviated DAI (1.9 ± 0.6 vs 2.6 ± 0.5, p 0.05) and regulated serum lipids in CAC mice with 5-FU/ CPT-11induced colitis. Compared with model group, CTS significantly increased serum triglycerides (TG) (1.13 ± 0.26 mM vs 0.79 ± 0.03 mM, p 0.05), high density lipoprotein (HDL) (3.88 ± 0.1 mM vs 3.28 ± 0.05 mM, p 0.001) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) (288.12 ± 65.92 ng/mL vs 150.72 ± 42.13 ng/mL, p 0.05) level but decreased serum adiponectin level (1177.47 ± 179.2 pg/mL vs 1523.43 ± 91.8 pg/mL, p 0.05). Among fecal bacteria significantly correlated with lipid metabolism, CTS significantly decreased the abundance of g__norank_f__Muribaculaceae (21.15 % ± 5.7 % vs 41.84 ± 12.0 %, p 0.01) but increased that of g_Lactobacillus (11.13 % ± 6.6 % vs 5.7 % ± 4.6 %, p 0.05), g__Alistipes (3.66 % ± 0.7 % vs 1.47 % ± 1,0%, p 0.01) and g__Odoribacter (1.31 % ± 0.7 % vs 0.30 % ± 0.2 %, p 0.01). In addition, the development of CIC and abnormal lipid metabolism were significantly prevented in pseudo-germ-free mice. Therefore, we concluded CTS alleviated 5FU/CPT-11 induced colitis in CAC mice via regulating fecal flora associated lipid metabolism.

The distillation efficiency of the cryogenic air separation unit is significantly affected by the inside flow performance of the cryogenic oxygen and nitrogen mixture in the structured packing. Owing to the difficulties in cryogenic experiments, the development of structured packings in cryogenic distillation often relies on the hydraulic experiments at room temperatures, while the real flow characteristics of the cryogenic fluids in the structured packing are hardly known. In this work, with the help of CFD simulation, a 3-D model combining VOF method was built to study the flow characteristics of liquid oxygen (LOX) in the structured packing, and comparisons with water were also carried out. Effects of liquid load and equivalent contact angle on the flow patterns, the liquid hold-up, the interfacial area and the average film thickness were analyzed. Results show that the flow of water is mainly rivulets, while LOX can form film flow on the packing surface in a large fluid load range due to its small contact angle and surface tension. Because the interfacial area of LOX isn’t strongly affected by liquid load, its liquid film thickness could be the main consideration for heat transfer, mass transfer and load selection. Since the variation of contact angle has slight effect on the flow parameters of LOX, the optimization of structured packings for cryogenic distillation may not be expected by the surface micro texture improvements.

Teratoma is a rare tumor of the central nervous system that belongs to intracranial germ cell tumors. We report a 2-month-old male child with an immature teratoma of the posterior fossa. Physical and laboratory examinations were normal. Though a radiologic examination was characteristic for this neoplasm, it was insufficient to make a definite diagnosis. Combining the radiologic findings with a histopathologic examination contributed to diagnosing immature teratoma and differentiating it from other subtypes of intracranial germ cell tumors. Our aim was to provide a greater understanding of immature teratoma by reporting this case.

By using Hadamard finite-part integral formula and the quadratic interpolation method, a high order difference approximation scheme for the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative is proposed. The scheme with truncation error order of O(h3-a ). For the fractional ordinary differential equation with Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, a novel numerical method (D2 scheme) is derived. The numerical example shows that the proposed method is convergent, the numerical orders of convergence are consistent with 3 O(h3-a ) . Compared with other methods, the new method has the advantage of fast convergence speed and high precision.

The research aimed to investigate the suppression effect of Mai Shu which contains hawthorn, hippophae, medlar, phytosterols（β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol）, β-glucan and lycopeneon formation of atherosclerotic plaque in apolipoprotein E knock-out (ApoE-/-) mice. Liquid chromatography-ultravioletmass spectrometry（LC-UV-MC） methods were used to analyze the main chemical composition of Mai Shu. Atherosclerotic mice models were established by high-fat diet. The mice were administrated with Mai Shu (1, 2, 4 g·kg-1·d-1) or other contrast materials by intragastric route for 10 weeks continuously. At the end of administration, the blood of mice was collected for tests of the serum total cholesterol（TC）, total triglyceride（TG） and high density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C） level. Atherosclerotic lesions in aorta and aortic root were assessed by calculating the relative area of lesions（oil red O stained）. Intravital fluorescence microscopic system was used to evaluate the leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in mesenteric artery of mice by detecting the rolling velocity of white blood cells（WBC）. Collagenous fibers and macrophages in lesions were detected by sirius red staining and immunological histological chemistry to evaluate the atherosclerotic plaque stability. Results showed that Mai Shu contains various flavonoids（9.5%）, phytosterols（23.8%） and polysaccharides（8.9%）. The serum lipid level of model animals was significantly higher than the control animals. Serum TC level was decreased by Mai Shu (4 g·kg-1, P0.001) compared to the untreated model. Serum TG level was reduced by Mai Shu (1, 2, 4 g·kg-1) compared to model（P0.01）. Area of atherosclerotic lesions in aorta and aortic root was decreased in Mai Shu group (aorta: 1 g·kg-1, P0.05; 2 g·kg-1, P0.01; 4 g·kg-1, P0.001; aortic root: 2, 4 g·kg-1, P0.01). Rolling velocity of white blood cells of Mai Shu (4 g·kg-1, P0.001) group was increased over the untreated model. Collagenous fibers in lesions were observationally increased by Mai Shu (1, 2 g·kg-1) and macrophages were decreased (2, 4 g·kg-1) compared to model. These results demonstrate that Mai Shu can obviously decrease the serum lipid levels and the risk of leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in ApoE-/- mice. The effect of Mai Shu may be associated with the decrease of macrophages in plaque.

The study aims to develop a rapid, specific and sensitive method for quantitative analysis of trace impurities in levofloxacin formulation using LC-MS/MS. The quality of the different formulations from 19 plants was evaluated in the contents of the impurities. The results indicated that there were 5 impurities in the samples, and the content was different in the products with same formulation by different plants. The products of 3 plants were in good quality with impurities level under 0.01%. Levofloxacin N(4’)-methyl quaternary impurity was first reported as the formulation impurity. The impurities were tightly correlated to the reservation of drug, process control of formulation and storage during transportation. The results suggest that our method is sensitive and specific to detect the trace impurities in formulation, and can be used to monitor the quality of commercial drug product.

The low-temperature plasma technology has the comprehensive action of high-energy electron, ultraviolet light, ozone etc. The technology that integrates light, electronic and chemical oxidation into one process has a good development prospect in wastewater treatment. In this paper, the research status and development trend of high-voltage pulsed discharge, dielectric barrier discharge, glow discharge for organic wastewater treatment at home and abroad are summarized. The current main existing problems include single treatment object oriented. In the future, the study about this technique should be focused on the optimization process, the reduction of the processing cost and energy consumption, so that this technology can be applied to practical wastewater treatment as soon as possible.Key words: Low temperature plasma technology; High-voltage pulsed discharge; Glow discharge; Dielectric barrier discharge; Wastewater

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most disabling diseases. Cell-based gene therapy is becoming a major focus for the treatment of SCI. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are a promising stem cell type useful for repairing SCI. However, the effects of BMSCs transplants are likely limited because of low transplant survival after SCI. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a multifunctional growth factor which can facilitate neuronal and BMSCs survival, promote axonal growth, prevent activation of the astrocyte lineage, and enhance the delivery of neurotrophic factors in BMSCs. However, treatment of SCI with Shh alone also has limited effects on recovery, because the protein is cleared quickly. In this study, we investigated the use of BMSCs overexpressing the Shh transgene (Shh-BMSCs) in the treatment of rats with SCI, which could stably secrete Shh and thereby enhance the effects of BMSCs, in an attempt to combine the advantages of Shh and BMSCs and so to promote functional recovery. After Shh-BMSCs treatment of SCI via the subarachnoid, we detected significantly greater damage recovery compared with that seen in rats treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and BMSCs. Use of Shh-BMSCs increased the expression and secretion of Shh, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), improved the behavioral function, enhanced the BMSCs survival, promoted the expression level of neurofilament 200 (NF200), and reduced the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Thus, our results indicated that Shh-BMSCs enhanced recovery of neurological function after SCI in rats and could be a potential valuable therapeutic intervention for SCI in humans.

It is recognized that personality traits are strong predictors of affective well-being. However, it is not clear how the Big Five personality traits significantly contribute to positive and negative affect. The aim of the present study was to determine whether extraversion and neuroticism mediate the relationships between openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness and affective well-being. A sample of 238 undergraduates completed the Big Five Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The results indicated that extraversion fully mediated the effect of openness on positive affect and that neuroticism fully mediated the influence of openness and conscientiousness on negative affect, while agreeableness had a direct effect on positive and negative affect, with only partial mediation via extraversion and neuroticism, separately. These results partially support the notion that extraversion and neuroticism have a temperamental effect on positive and negative affect and that openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness have an instrumental effect on affective well-being.

The paramagnetic property of oxygen makes it possible to control the two-phase flow at cryogenic temperatures by non-uniform magnetic fields. The free-surface flow of vapor-liquid oxygen in a rectangular channel was numerically studied using the two-dimensional phase field method. The effects of magnetic flux density and inlet velocity on the interface deformation, flow pattern and pressure drop were systematically revealed. The liquid level near the high-magnetic channel center was lifted upward by the inhomogeneous magnetic field. The interface height difference increased almost linearly with the magnetic force. For all inlet velocities, pressure drop under 0.25 T was reduced by 7–9% due to the expanded local cross-sectional area, compared to that without magnetic field. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of employing non-uniform magnetic field to control the free-surface flow of liquid oxygen. This non-contact method may be used for promoting the interface renewal, reducing the flow resistance, and improving the flow uniformity in the cryogenic distillation column, which may provide a potential for enhancing the operating efficiency of cryogenic air separation.

Tracking transplanted stem cells is necessary to clarify cellular properties and improve transplantation success. In this study, we designed and synthesized melanin-based gadolinium

In this study, a population of 97 F1 seedlings from a cross between the interspecific hybrid (European × Chinese species) pear ‘Bayuehong’ (BYH) and the Chinese pear ‘Dangshansuli’ (DS) was used for establishing linkage maps and for quantitative trait loci (QTL) discovery. Using amplified length polymorphism (AFLP), simple sequence repeat (SSR), and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers, along with the S locus for self-incompatibility, two parental linkage maps were constructed. The map of BYH consisted of 214 markers (143 AFLPs, 64 SRAPs, 6 SSRs, and S) mapped on all 17 linkage groups of the pear genome with a total length of 1,352.7 cM. The map of DS was comprised of 122 markers (83 AFLPs, 37 SRAPs, 1 SSR, and S) distributed along all 17 linkage groups and covering 1,044.3 cM. Based on phenotypic data from two successive years (2007 and 2008) for six fruit traits, including fruit weight (in grams), fruit diameter (in centimeters), fruit length (in centimeters), soluble solids content, fruit shape index, and maturity date, 19 QTLs were detected. These QTLs were mapped on LG 01, LG 02, LG 05, LG 07, LG 08, LG 10 of the BYH map and LG 02, LG 06, LG 15 of the DS map and accounting for 7.1 to 22.0 % of the observed phenotypic variance. Four QTLs, Pfi-8-1 for fruit shape index, Pfm-8-1 for fruit maturity date, Pfw-7-1 and Pfw-8-1 for fruit weight (in grams), with LOD scores ≥3.5, were deemed as major genes. QTLs Pfi-8-1, Pfm-8-1, and Pfw-8-1 were co-localized on LG 08 of the BYH map, along with Pfl-8-1 for fruit length. It was observed that on LG 07 of the BYH map, QTLs for fruit length, fruit shape index, and fruit weight were clustered. When QTL locations from both years were compared, Pfl-7-1 and Pfl-7-2 for fruit length, Pfi-2-1 and Pfi-2-2 for fruit shape index, and Pfm-8-1 and Pfm-8-2 for fruit maturity date were stably mapped onto the same linkage groups, respectively. Moreover, Pfm-8-1 and Pfm-8-2 were also located within the same region of LG 08 of the BYH map.

With Ag-loading MWNTs antibacterial agent as functional material, the antibacterial functional PET fibers were prepared by melt blending spinning-draft one-step method. The crystallinity and the orientation of specimens were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, polarization microscope and sound velocimeter. Moreover, the mechanical properties and antibacterial properties were measured. The results showed that the antibacterial PET fibers had good spinnability when the content of Ag-loading MWNTs less than 1.0 % (wt); compared with pure PET fibers, the degree of crystallinity, the degree of orientation and the fracture strength were improved, but the elongation was decreased; the antibacterial PET fibers exhibited excellent antibacterial properties against E.coli by the method of flask shaking.

Using the capillary rheometer to study the effect of shear rate, shear stress and temperature of Japanese and domestic PPS resin( fiber grade) on the apparent viscosity, index of non-Newtonian and viscous flow activation energy.The results show that with the increase of shear rate and temperature,compared to the domestic sample, Japanese sample has higher apparent viscosity, smaller non-Newtonian index(n),lower viscous flow activation energy,and smaller sensitivity to temperature.The Japanese specimens are suitable for processing and forming under high shear rate and spinning speed, but the domestic specimens are suitable for processing and froming under low shear rate and spinning speed.

Violacein (Vio) is an important purple pigment with many potential bioactivities. Deoxyviolacein, a structural analog of Vio, is always synthesized in low concentrations with Vio in wild-type bacteria. Due to deoxyviolacein's low production and difficulties in isolation and purification, little has been learned regarding its function and potential applications. This study was the first effort in developing a stable and efficient biosynthetic system for producing pure deoxyviolacein. A recombinant plasmid with vioabce genes was constructed by splicing using an overlapping extension-polymerase chain reaction, based on the Vio-synthesizing gene cluster of vioabcde, originating from Duganella sp. B2, and was introduced into Citrobacter freundii. With the viod gene disrupted in the Vio synthetic pathway, Vio production was completely abolished and the recombinant C. freundii synthesized only deoxyviolacein. Interestingly, vioe gene expression was strongly stimulated in the viod-deleted recombinant strain, indicating that viod disruptions could potentially induce polar effects upon the downstream vioe gene within this small operon. Deoxyviolacein production by this strain reached 1.9 g/L in shaker flasks. The product exhibited significant acid/alkali and UV resistance as well as significant inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation at low concentrations of 0.1-1 μM. These physical characteristics and antitumor activities of deoxyviolacein contribute to illuminating its potential applications.

Application of citric acid (CA), as cross-linking agent, on grafting β-cyclodextrin (CD) to cotton was studied. Some influence factors on the grafting of β-cyclodextrin, such as the concentration of CA, β-cyclodextrin and catalyst, curing conditions (temperature, time) were discussed. The grafting procedure was to soak the fabric samples in an aqueous solution containing β-CD 60 g/L, citric acid 100 g/L and sodium hypophosphite 30 g/L, then the squeezed samples were dried and cured at 190°C for 4 min. The cotton fabric grafted with β-cyclodextrin and then perfumed with menthol preserved 27.04% menthol after ten days, and its anti-bacterial performance was observed.

Based on the Kirchhoff large deformation theory, the post-buckling behavior of right movable simply supported FGM beam subjected to non-conservative forces and in-plane thermal loading was analyzed in this paper. The temperature-dependent and spatially dependent material properties of the FGM beam were assumed to vary through the thickness. The nonlinear governing equations of FGM beam subjected to a uniform distributed tangential load along the central axis and in-plane thermal loading were derived. Then, a shooting method and Runge-kutta method are employed to numerically solve the resulting equations. The post-buckling equilibrium paths of the FGM beam with different parameters were plotted, and the effects of non-conservative force, temperature, gradient index of FGM on the post-buckling behavior of right movable simply supported FGM beams were analyzed.

Because of the hydrophobicity of PPS fiber,we used normal pressure air plasma treatment on PPS fiber with the rusult that the PPS fiber was modied and its hydrophilicity was improved effectively.The surface of PPS fiber was etched under the scanning electron microscope (SEM), observation. With the power and the time increasing, the water absorption of PPS fiber increased first and then decreased. However, to the breaking strength of PPS fiber, it was declined basically with the power increasing. Also, it had no great influence for the lasting of time.