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The follow-up timing observations were carried out for 24 pulsars discovered with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST Survey. We report their phase-connected timing ephemeris, polarization pulse profiles, and Faraday rotation measurements. With their spin periods spanning from 2.995 ms to 4.34 s, their period derivatives were determined to spread between 7.996(8) × 10−21 and 9.83(3) × 10−15 s s−1, which imply that they have characteristic ages from 1.97 × 106 to 5.93 × 109 yr. It is inferred that PSRs J0211+4235 and J0518+2431 are beyond the ‘traditional death line’. PSR J0211+4235 is beyond the ‘death valley’. The death line model of Zhang et al. also cannot explain the radio presence of PSR J0211+4235. This suggests that radiation theory needs to be improved. Besides, ten of the 22 canonical pulsars show nulling phenomena. Moreover, PSR J1617+1123 exhibits variation of emission and J0540+4542 shows subpulse drifting. The DM of five pulsars is larger than the estimated by the YMW16 electron density model, which could suggest that electron density models need updates for higher Galactic latitude regions. PSRs J0447+2447 and J1928−0548 are isolated millisecond pulsars. With their flux densities spanning from 5(1)–553(106) μJy, some of these new pulsars found by FAST are distant, dim, and low-$\dot{E}$ ones and are suitable for testing pulsar emission theories.

We report the phase-connected timing ephemeris, polarization pulse profiles, Faraday rotation measurements, and Rotating-Vector-Model (RVM) fitting results of 12 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) discovered with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in the Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST survey (CRAFTS). The timing campaigns were carried out with FAST and Arecibo over 3 yr. 11 of the 12 pulsars are in neutron star–white dwarf binary systems, with orbital periods between 2.4 and 100 d. 10 of them have spin periods, companion masses, and orbital eccentricities that are consistent with the theoretical expectations for MSP–Helium white dwarf (He WD) systems. The last binary pulsar (PSR J1912−0952) has a significantly smaller spin frequency and a smaller companion mass, the latter could be caused by a low orbital inclination for the system. Its orbital period of 29 d is well within the range of orbital periods where some MSP–He WD systems have shown anomalous eccentricities, however, the eccentricity of PSR J1912−0952 is typical of what one finds for the remaining MSP–He WD systems.

Osteoarthritis (OA) has the highest disability rate among chronic diseases. The burden on patients and public health care resources is increasingly evident due to increasing obesity rates and aging populations. So, there is still a lack of early diagnosis and treatment for OA.A total of three OA cartilage tissue datasets (GSE1919, GSE32317, and GSE5235) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Screening of differentially expressed genes and WGCNA of overlapping genes were performed using the R language package. Functional and immune infiltration analyses of overlapping genes were also carried out while hub genes were screened through LASSO regression analysis method and ROC curve. Finally, experimental validation was carried out through PCR and Western Blot analysis of rat cartilage.A total of 149 differentially expressed genes were screened, and they were mainly enriched in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, rheumatoid arthritis, and interleukin (IL-17) signaling pathways. Four co-expression modules were obtained, of which the blue module was the most substantial morbidity associated with OA. Thirteen overlapping genes were identified based on significant module network topology analysis and differential genes, upon which their validation through LASSO regression analysis method and ROC curve was performed. From these, five signature genes were determined, before three potential core genes were finally identified after confirmation using the validation set.ATF3, FOSL2, and GADD45B may be hub genes to the osteochondropathy, and they are expected to be new biomarkers and drug targets in OA research.

Oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process is effective in minimizing sludge production, by inserting an anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) in the recycling bypass. Interchange ratio (IR), the quantity ratio of sludge entering the ASSR to the sludge in the main stream reactors, is one of the most important parameters for OSA process. In the present study, a laboratory-scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2/O) process combined with an ASSR (A2/O-ASSR) was operated for 366 days in parallel with a conventional A2/O process to investigate the effects of IR on sludge reduction. IR was assigned values of 5%, 8%, 10%, and 15%, and the A2/O-ASSR process achieved 14.0%, 16.0%, 24.1%, and 13.7% of sludge reduction, respectively. At the optimum IR of 10%, high through-put sequencing analysis showed that the microbes responsible for pollutant removal and ubiquitous in wastewater treatment remained predominant in the two systems, and slow-growing microbes related to hydrolysis, nitrogen and phosphorus removal increased in the A2/O-ASSR process, which probably played a key role in sludge reduction. 40.6–58.6% of sludge reduction was caused by sludge decay in the ASSR. The tiny amount of extracellular polymeric substance released in the A2/O-ASSR process was subthreshold to cause remarkable sludge reduction.

The autonomous attack tactical missile is not only an important development direction of the army’s precision strike equipment in the future, but also the only way to achieve spanning development of the army’s anti-tank missiles. With the advancement of technological progress, the technical breakthroughs made in the fields of multi-source information fusion, autonomous identification, autonomous guidance and controllable damage will be directly applied to the autonomous attack tactical missile to realize autonomous attack. They will lead the army’s equipment to develop from informatization to autonomy and intelligence. Through the combat capacity design for autonomous attack tactical missiles, we put forward the three-ring design method, constructed the combat capacity support elements, sort out the main technical characteristics of autonomous attack level by level, summarized the key technologies from “reconnaissance-strike-evaluation”, the all-element kill chain of autonomous attack, and proposed solutions that may represent the future development direction based on the current research status at home and abroad.

We present the first measurement of pulse scattering close to the eclipse region of PSR B1957+20, which is in a compact binary system with a low-mass star. We measured pulse scattering time-scales up to 0.2 ms close to the eclipse and showed that it scales with the dispersion measure (DM) excess roughly as $\tau\propto\Delta{\rm DM}^{2}$. Our observations provide the first evidence of strong scattering due to multi-path propagation effects in the eclipsing material. We show that Kolmogorov turbulence in the eclipsing material with an inner scale of $\sim100$ m and an outer scale of the size of the eclipse region can naturally explain the observation. Our results show that the eclipsing material in such systems can be highly turbulent and suggest that scattering is one of the main eclipsing mechanisms at around 1.4 GHz., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, MNRAS accepted

In this paper, a new samarium(III) complex with 1,3,5-tris(1-imidazolyl)benzene(tib) was synthesized via the solvent thermal reaction. The single crystal of the complex is measured by X-ray diffraction and subjected to crystallographic and conformational analyses. The crystal is monoclinic: a = 8.5589(12) Å, b = 12.2883(14) Å, c = 21.109(3) Å, α = 90°, β = 98.585(4)°, γ = 90°, V = 2195.3(5) Å3, space group P21/n, Z = 4, ρc = 2.044 mg/m3, R = 0.0513. The asymmetric unit contains one samarium(III) center, eight O atoms from nitrate ions in solvent, and two N atoms from two different tib ligands.

The essential oil from the aerial parts of Lobularia maritima was investigated for its chemical composition, and its repellent and insecticidal efficacy against the grain pests Callosobruchus maculatus, Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus oryzae. A number of 41 compounds were identified by GC-MS from which azeleonitrile (39.7%), trans-3-pentenenitrile (36.3%) and 4-isothiocyanato1-butene (10.9%) were the most abundant. A fumigant bioassay-guided fractionation of the essential oil constituents led to the isolation of trans-3-pentenenitrile. Its structure was confirmed by EI-MS and NMR techniques. Fumigant effect of the essential oil was strong (LC50 = 7.48 μL/L) on C. maculatum and moderate on S. oryzae and T. castaneum (LC50 = 35.37 and 59.94 μL/L, respectively). trans-3-pentenenitrile showed strong fumigant effect on the three pest species (LC50 = 6.62–8.36 μL/L). Both the oil and trans-3-pentenenitrile showed strong contact effect with LD50 values in the range 4.84–7.81 µg/adult. The oil showed a repellency of 100% on C. maculatus and S. oryzae at concentrations higher than 0.05 and 0.1 nL/cm2 , respectively, and 93% against T. castaneum yet at 0.2 nL/cm2 . trans-3-pentenenitrile also showed 100% repellency against C. maculatus (≥ 0.05 nL/cm2 ), S. oryzae (≥ 0.15 nL/cm2 ) and T. castaneum (0.2 nL/cm2 ). The results in this study indicated that the essential oil of L. maritima is an important source of trans-3-pentenenitrile which can be used in the development of insecticidal agents against the three grain pests. Fil: Wang, H. Y.. Jilin University; China Fil: Zhang, M. Z.. Jilin University; China Fil: Han, X.. Jilin University; China Fil: Cong, J.. Jilin University; China Fil: Wang, S. Q.. Jilin University; China Fil: He, S. L.. Jilin University; China Fil: Wei, D. S.. Jilin University; China Fil: Zhang, Y. B.. Jilin University; China Fil: Qin, Jianchun. Jilin University; China Fil: Sampietro, Diego Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Estudios Vegetales. Cátedra de Fitoquímica; Argentina

We presented observations of PSRs J0614+2229 and J1938+2213 using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. PSR J0614+2229 shows two distinct emission states, in which the emission of state A occurs earlier than that of state B in longitude. The phase offset between the average pulse profile peaks of the two states is about 1.°05. The polarization properties of the average pulse profile of the two states are different with different linear position angle swings. We found that the emission becomes brighter during the transition between the two states, which has never been seen in other mode-changing pulsars before. PSR J1938+2213 appears to consist of a weak emission state superposed by brighter burst emissions. The weak state is always present and the energy of the strongest pulse in the burst state is about 57 times larger than that of the average pulse energy. The polarization properties of the two states are also different, and orthogonal polarization modes can be seen only in the burst state, rather than both states. Our results suggest that, for the two pulsars, the emissions of the two states may be generated in different regions in the pulsar magnetosphere.

Dynamic monitoring of CTCs/CSCs can assist in the diagnosis and prognosis of tumors. This study explores the diagnostic significance of microfluidic chip technology in the detection of CTCs/CSCs in clinical staging and metastasis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). That lays a solid foundation for the use of microfluidic chips to monitor CTCs/CSCs for the stage and metastasis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.This study collected 80 patients with lung cancer from October 2017 to October 2018. Meanwhile, 30 healthy people and 30 patients with benign lung diseases were selected during the same period as the control group 1 and the control group 2, respectively. CellSearch (Huntington Valley, PA, USA) and microfluidic chip were used to detect CTCs, the sensitivities were recorded. ELISA methods were used to detect the concentrations of tumor markers VEGF-C, CEA, and CA125 in serum, and their association with CTCs and CSCs was analyzed. In addition, after 3 months, we followed up 40 patients with lung cancer, recorded their prognosis, and extracted peripheral blood to detect changes in their CTCs and CSCs. The CellSearch (Huntington Valley, PA, USA) system and the microfluidic chip system were used to detect the CTCs in patients with lung cancer, and the sensitivity and specificity of the patients were analyzed. The changes in CTCs and CSCs in the peripheral blood of the patient were recorded.It can be seen that the positive rate of CTCs and CSCs is not significantly correlated with the patients' age, gender, pathological type (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma), etc. They are significantly correlated with clinical stage (I + II and III + IV) and metastasis (metastasis and non-metastasis) (p0.01). Then, we divided the patients into groups for testing, and analyzed the association between different groups of patients and CTCs and CSCs. Compared with control group 1 and control group 2, the positive rates of CTCs and CSCs in lung cancer metastasis group and non-metastasis group were significantly different (p0.05). Compared with the control group 1 and control group 2, the positive rates of CTCs and CSCs in stage I + II and III + IV of lung cancer were significantly different (p0.05). The positive rate was significantly higher in the cancer metastasis group (p0.05). The concentrations of tumor markers VEGF-C, CEA, CA125 in the serum of patients were consistent with CTCs-negative and CTC-positive lung cancer, with significant differences (p0.05). CSCs negative and CSCs positive patients have similar results. Subsequently, we analyzed the sensitivity and specificity of CSCs, CTCs, and tumor markers for the diagnosis of NSCLC. The results showed that the sensitivity of CSCs and CTCs to diagnose patients was significantly higher than that of tumor markers.This study shows that our microfluidic chip device can exhibit relatively good performance and can better detect CTCs and CSCs. Monitoring CTCs and CSCs of patients can provide a basis for judging the stage and metastasis of patients.

To understand the population distribution, density, seasonal fluctuation and nocturnal activity of malaria vectors in Anhui Province from 2016 to 2018, so as to provide a data support for formulating the control strategy for imported malaria during the malaria post-elimination stage.The malaria vectors were monitored in 105 counties (cities or districts) of Anhui Province from 2016 to 2018, and the population density, seasonal fluctuation and nocturnal activity of the mosquitoes were observed using the lamp trapping and human bait trapping methods. The density of

A newly-developed in situ neutron diffraction method has been employed to search elastic tension induced lattice distortions in DD10 single crystal nickel-based superalloy under tensile condition of 500 °C/760 MPa. Multiple lattice reflections, viz., {002}, {003}, {220}, {311} were in situ measured. Two samples which were stretched along [001] direction and 18° deviation of [001] direction, respectively, were measured for comparison. As samples were heated to 500 °C, the lattice stress of both samples gradually relaxes. With 760 MPa tension applied, the response of reflections of γ and γ’ phases were anisotropic. Compared with 0° sample, 18° sample resulted in distinguishable results. Due to the large extra stress, the mismatch along [001] direction is much negative, whereas that perpendicular to [001] get slightly positive. Owing to the different stress states, γ phase is divided into two conditions. The tetragonal distortion with c/a of γ⊥ channel is largest, while that of γ’ phase is small. The distortions at γ/γ’ phase boundary result in broadening the boundary of γ’ phase. In this work, a new elastic-induced lattice distortion model that enhances apprehensions to the constraint effect between γ and γ’ phases is built, which might provide the directly experimental evidence to the origin of rafting.

To explore the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and interferon (IFN) in the innate immunity against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), we detected the expression of TLR genes in PEDV-infected IPEC-J2 cells by real-time PCR. We also detected the level of interferon α (IFN-α) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results showed that IPEC-J2 cells exhibited a clear pathological change after PEDV infection at 24 h. In addition, TLR7, TLR9 and TLR10 expressions were significantly upregulated in PEDV-infected IPEC-J2 cells at 24 h. Interestingly, the expression patterns of TLR2 and TLR4 were consistent at different stages of PEDV infection. The expression level of TLR3 decreased significantly with the increase of infection time, but the expression levels of TLR5 and TLR8 genes at 6 h and 12 h were significantly lower than those in the control group (p⟨0.01). There were significant correlations among the expression levels of TLR genes (p⟨0.05). Cytokine detection showed that the secretion level of IFN-α in the PEDV-infected group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p⟨0.01), and IFN-γ at 6 h and 12 h after PEDV infection was significantly higher than that in control group (p⟨0.01). Therefore, our results suggest that PEDV infection can induce innate immune responses in intestinal porcine jejunum epithelial cells, leading to changes in the expression of Toll-like receptors, and can regulate the resistance to virus infection by affecting the release levels of downstream cytokines.

Dysregulation of lncRNA cancer susceptibility candidate 2 (CASC2) is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple malignancies. However, the underlying mechanisms by which lncRNA CASC2 regulates the proliferation of hemangiomas (HAs) remain undocumented. Herein, the expression levels of lncRNA CASC2 and VEGF in proliferating or involuting phase HAs were assessed by qRT-PCR analysis, and the effects of lncRNA CASC2 on HAs cell growth were evaluated by MTT, colony formation assays and Western blot analysis. lncRNA CASC2 specific binding with miR-18a-5p was confirmed by luciferase report assay. Consequently, we found that the expression of lncRNA CASC2 was reduced in proliferating phase HAs as compared with the involuting phase HAs or normal tissues, and possessed a negative correlation with VEGF expression in proliferating phase HAs. Restored expression of lncRNA CASC2 repressed cell viability and colony formation and downregulated VEGF expression, while silencing lncRNA CASC2 showed the opposite effects. Moreover, lncRNA CASC2 was confirmed to bind with miR-18a-5p, which could reverse lncRNA CASC2-induced anti-proliferative effects by targeting FBXL3 in HAs cells. Altogether, our findings demonstrated that lncRNA CASC2 suppressed the growth of HAs cells by regulating miR-18a-5p/FBXL3 axis.

We report on an unusually bright observation of PSR J1720−0533 using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The pulsar is in a black widow system that was discovered by the Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST Survey (CRAFTS). By coincidence, a bright scintillation maximum was simultaneous with the eclipse in our observation, which allowed for precise measurements of flux density variations, as well as dispersion measure (DM) and polarization. We found that there are quasi-periodic pulse emission variations with a modulation period of ∼22 s during the ingress of the eclipse, which could be caused by plasma lensing. No such periodic modulation was found during the egress of the eclipse. The linear polarization of the pulsar disappears before the eclipse, even before there is a visually obvious change in DM. We also found that the pulse scattering may play an important role in the eclipse of PSR J1720−0533.

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous progesterone on photochemical efficiency of PSII and turnover of D1 protein under heat stress during the grain-filling stage. Heat stress resulted in increases of hydrogen peroxide production, malondialdehyde content, and relative electrolytic leakage in wheat leaves, but these responses were alleviated by foliar application of progesterone. Meanwhile, activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase were significantly improved in progesterone-pretreated leaves. Along with the alleviation of oxidative stress, higher abundances of STN8 and phosphorylated D1 protein and lower total D1 protein content in the PSII reactive center were observed in progesterone-pretreated leaves relative to controls. Consequently, progesterone raised the potential photochemical efficiency, actual photochemical efficiency, and electron transfer rate. These results indicate that foliar application of progesterone can effectively alleviate heat-induced PSII damage by enhancing antioxidant capability and regulating phosphorylation of D1 protein in wheat leaves.

The aim of this study was to analyze the microstructural changes of two dissimilar Ti-6Al-4V/Ti17 and Ti-6Al-4V/BT9 joints welded via electron beam welding (EBW), and establish the relationship between microstructure and properties. The results showed that the occurrence of phase transformation was mainly dependent on the peak heating temperature during EBW, and despite the same welding parameters the microstructures of two dissimilar joints were different except in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) on the Ti-6Al-4V side. Both dissimilar joints exhibited a higher strength compared with Ti-6Al-4V base metal (BM), and the strength of Ti-6Al-4V/Ti17 joint was slightly higher than that of Ti-6Al-4V/BT9 joint due to the presence of finer martensite. Fatigue life of dissimilar joints was almost the same as that of Ti-6Al-4V BM within the experimental scatter. Fatigue failure of both dissimilar joints occurred in the HAZ, and fatigue crack basically initiated from the specimen surface.

Multilayer graphene (MLG), Fe2O3, and their nanocomposites with various proportions and amounts were applied as additives and directly participated in the formation of tribo-layers during sliding wear of TC11 alloy against AISI 52100 steel. Their ingredients and amounts were found to exert substantial effects on the additive-containing tribo-layers and wear behavior. Irrespective of the added amount of MLG or Fe2O3, the formed tribo-layers, because of the lack of load-bearing or lubricant capacity, readily lost stability and protection function, causing a high wear rate. However, a small quantity of MLG/Fe2O3 nanocomposites could result in a remarkable decrease in the wear rate. This was attributed to the stable existence and continuous protection of a friction-reduced and wear-resistant double-layer tribo-layer. In particular, Fe2O3-rich nanocomposite additives produced more protective tribo-layers to markedly improve the wear resistance of TC11 alloy.

The hybrid grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (♀) × Epinephelus lanceolatus (♂), is a newly bred cultivated marine fish species of high economic value. However, a skin ulcer disease with high mortality has occurred, and the responsible pathogen remains unknown. In this study, we summarized the epidemic status and external signs of this disease. We screened potential pathogens and finally isolated one bacterial strain ML01 from affected fish. We subjected healthy juvenile hybrid groupers to bacterial challenge tests with the isolate by immersion, immersion after dermal abrasion and intraperitoneal injection, respectively. Within 14 days post-infection, the isolate ML01 caused mass mortality of juveniles infected via immersion after dermal abrasion or intraperitoneal injection. Diseased juveniles displayed obvious signs of skin ulcers. The median lethal dose of ML01 by intraperitoneal injection was 1.10 × 105 colony-forming units. ML01 was identified as Vibrio harveyi by bacterial morphology, analytical profile index identification, 16S rDNA sequencing and multilocus sequence analysis. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that ML01 was sensitive to ceftriaxone, doxycycline and minocycline. The results of this study suggest that V. harveyi is the causal agent of skin ulcer disease in juvenile hybrid groupers, thus providing a basis for effective control and prevention of this disease.

We have observed PSR~B1534+12 (J1537+1155), a pulsar with a neutron star companion, using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). We found that this pulsar shows two distinct emission states: a weak state with a wide pulse profile and a burst state with a narrow pulse profile. The weak state is always present. We cannot, with our current data, determine whether the pulse energy of the weak state follows a normal or a log-normal distribution. The burst state energy distribution follows a power-law. The amplitude of the single pulse emission in the burst state varies significantly; the peak flux intensity of the brightest pulse is 334 times stronger than that of the average pulse. We also examined the timing precision achievable using only bright pulses, which showed no demonstrable improvement because of pulse jitter and therefore quantified the jitter noise level for this pulsar., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

This study was designed to investigate the expression level of circRNA_100876 in breast cancer (BC) tissues or cells, and to further explore whether it can promote cell metastasis and proliferative capacity via targeting microRNA- 361-3 p.Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression of circRNA_100876 in 50 pairs of BC tissue specimens and corresponding adjacent ones, and the correlation between circRNA_100876 expression and prognosis of patients with BC was analyzed. Meanwhile, qRT-PCR was further performed to verify circRNA_100876 level in BC cell lines. In addition, circRNA_100876 knockdown model was constructed using lentivirus and transfected in BC cells. Subsequently, the impact of circRNA_100876 on BC cell function was analyzed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell and clone formation assays. The interplay between circRNA_100876 and microRNA- 361-3 p was verified using the Luciferase reporter gene assay and cell reverse experiment.QRT-PCR results showed that circRNA_100876 level in BC tissues was conspicuously higher than that in the adjacent tissues, and the patients with distant metastasis had higher expression than those without. Moreover, patients with a high expression of circRNA_100876 had a relatively lower overall survival rate. Compared with the NC group, the cell proliferation and invasion ability of circRNA_100876 knockdown group was conspicuously decreased. QRT-PCR revealed that microRNA-361-3p and circRNA_100876 showed a negative correlation in the expression level of genes in BC tissues. In addition, the results of the Luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that circRNA_100876 can be targeted by microRNA-361-3p through their binding site.High expression of circRNA_100876 is conspicuously positively relevant to poor prognosis of BC patients. Additionally, circRNA_100876 is able to promote BC metastasis as well as proliferative capacity by modulating microRNA-361-3p expression.