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As an important equipment for the separation, store, and transport of the oil and natural gas in energy industry, the pressure vessels are subjected to harsh service environments of sulfide stress cracking (SSC). In this work, the effect of the cooling rate on the SSC susceptibility of a Q345 pressure vessel steel is studied. A pronounced distinction in microstructure is presented as the cooling rate is increased from ≈1 to ≈15 °C s−1. At ≈1 °C s−1, the microstructure is consisted of polygonal‐like ferrite and distinct banded pearlite. At ≈5 °C s−1, the microstructure is consisted of polygonal‐like ferrite and faintly banded pseudo‐pearlite. At ≈15 °C s−1, the microstructure is acicular ferrite with a complete elimination of banded structure. The cooling rate decides the level of the banded structure. As the cooling rate increases, the banded structure becomes relatively slight and even disappears. Strength in sort ascending is ≈1, ≈ 5, and ≈15 °C s−1. The SSC failure happens at ≈1 and ≈5 °C s−1, while does not happen at ≈15 °C s−1. The strength is not the only dominant factor responsible for the SSC failure. The SSC is preferentially generated at the banded structure. The elimination of the banded structure is necessary to improve the SSC resistance of the Q345 pressure vessel steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between plants and insects are among the most important life functions for all organism at a particular natural community. Usually a large number of samples are required to identify insect diets in food web studies. Previously, Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) with short DNA barcodes were used, resulting in low species‐level identification; meanwhile the costs of Sanger sequencing are expensive for metabarcoding together with more samples. Here, we present a fast and effective sequencing strategy to identify larvae of Lepidoptera and their diets at the same time without increasing the cost on Illumina platform in a single HiSeq run, with long‐multiplex‐metabarcoding (COI for insects, rbcL, matK, ITS and trnL for plants) obtained by Trinity assembly (SHMMT). Meanwhile, Sanger sequencing (for single individuals) and NGS (for polyphagous) were used to verify the reliability of the SHMMT approach. Furthermore, we show that SHMMT approach is fast and reliable, with most high‐quality sequences of five DNA barcodes of 63 larvae individuals (54 species) recovered (full length of 100% of the COI gene and 98.3% of plant DNA barcodes) using Trinity assembly (up‐sized to 1015 bp). For larvae diets identification, 95% are reliable; the other 5% failed because their guts were empty. The diets identified by SHMMT approach are 100% consistent with the host plants that the larvae were feeding on during our collection. Our study demonstrates that SHMMT approach is reliable and cost‐effective for insect‐plants network studies. This will facilitate insect‐host plant studies that generally contain a huge number of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Species identification through DNA barcoding or metabarcoding has become a key approach for biodiversity evaluation and ecological studies. However, the rapid accumulation of barcoding data has created some difficulties: for instance, global enquiries to a large reference library can take a very long time. We here devise a two‐step searching strategy to speed identification procedures of such queries. This firstly uses a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) algorithm to narrow the searching scope to genus level and then determines the corresponding species using minimum genetic distance. Moreover, using a fuzzy membership function, our approach also estimates the credibility of assignment results for each query. To perform this task, we developed a new software pipeline, FuzzyID2, using Python and C++. Performance of the new method was assessed using eight empirical data sets ranging from 70 to 234,535 barcodes. Five data sets (four animal, one plant) deployed the conventional barcode approach, one used metabarcodes, and two were eDNA‐based. The results showed mean accuracies of generic and species identification of 98.60% (with a minimum of 95.00% and a maximum of 100.00%) and 94.17% (with a range of 84.40%–100.00%), respectively. Tests with simulated NGS sequences based on realistic eDNA and metabarcode data demonstrated that FuzzyID2 achieved a significantly higher identification success rate than the commonly used Blast method, and the TIPP method tends to find many fewer species than either FuzztID2 or Blast. Furthermore, data sets with tens of thousands of barcodes need only a few seconds for each query assignment using FuzzyID2. Our approach provides an efficient and accurate species identification protocol for biodiversity‐related projects with large DNA sequence data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species identification via DNA barcodes has recently become an important and routine task in many biodiversity projects using DNA sequence data., Here, we present BarcodingR, an integrated software package that provides a comprehensive implementation of species identification methods, including artificial intelligence, fuzzy-set, Bayesian and kmer-based methods, that are not readily available in other packages., BarcodingR additionally provides new functions for barcode evaluation, barcoding gap analysis, delimitation comparison analysis, species membership analysis and consensus identification., Comparison with other barcoding methods using 11 empirical data sets indicates that on average, FZKMER (implemented in BarcodingR) and one extant barcoding method BRONX outperform all other methods examined in this study. Two other methods, BP and FZ (both implemented in BarcodingR), present similar performance as SVM and BLOG, respectively, and all display better performance than that of Jrip., The software of BarcodingR is open source under GNU General Public License and freely available for all major operating systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional wireless sensor network localization algorithm can be divided into the positioning algorithm based on distance and has nothing to do with the distance algorithm, due to the positioning algorithm based on distance is not suitable for the application of low power consumption and low cost areas and distance has nothing to do with poor precision problems of algorithm, this paper proposes a node self-localization algorithm based on received signal strength. Based on node location database in the grid topology analysis of the known conditions, and from the Angle of practical evaluates the localization algorithm scalability and fault tolerance. Finally with the traditional wireless network positioning algorithm do the experiment comparisons. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is less than the traditional algorithm in the interference in the environment of high precision, low cost, less energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentiated thyroid cancer is the most frequently diagnosed endocrine tumor. While differentiated thyroid cancers often respond to initial treatment, little is known about the differences in circulating immune cells amongst patients who respond differently. A prospective study of 39 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer was conducted. Serum thyroglobulin levels and thyroid and immunological functions were tested before and after radioactive iodine treatment (RAIT). Efficacy assessments were performed 6 to 12 months after radioactive iodine treatment. Most patients showed an excellent response to radioactive iodine treatment. Before radioactive iodine treatment, the excellent response group had considerably fewer circulating CD4 + T cell subsets than the non-excellent response group. Both the excellent response and non-excellent response groups had considerably lower circulating CD4 + T lymphocyte subsets 30 days after radioactive iodine treatment, but those of the excellent response group were still lower than those of the non-excellent response group. All circulating CD4 + T cell subsets in the excellent response group rose by varying degrees by the 90th day, but only Treg cell amounts increased in the non-excellent response group. Interestingly, in the non-excellent response group, we noticed a steady drop in Th1 cells. However, the bulk of circulating CD4 + T cell subsets between the two groups did not differ appreciably by the 90th day. Finally, we discovered that CD4 + T cell subsets had strong predictive potential, and we thus developed high-predictive-performance models that deliver more dependable prognostic information. In conclusion, in individuals with differentiated thyroid cancer, there is great variation in circulating immune cells, resulting in distinct treatment outcomes. Low absolute CD4 + T cell counts is linked to improved clinical outcomes as well as stronger adaptive and resilience capacities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Shi, Zhang, Li, Fan, Xue, Cheng, Wu, Lu, Wu, Li, Liu and Li.)

Objective: The aim of our study was to validate association between -8 C/G variant of PSMA6 gene and T2DM in Chinese Dongxiang and Han populations., Method: We genotyped PSMA6 gene -8 C/G polymorphism in the control groups and T2DM groups in two populations from China using PCR-RFLP technique. Phenotypes and biochemical indicators were measured by biochemical technique., Result: The frequencies of CG+GG genotype were observably different from CC genotype in the T2DM groups and control groups (for Dongxiang population: OR = 1.341, 95% CI: 1.101-1.632, P = 0.004; for Han population: OR = 1.313, 95% CI: 1.085-1.569, P = 0.006 after adjusting for gender, age, and BMI, respectively). In the Dongxiang population, the FPG, HOMA-IR, SBP and TG levels of CG+GG genotype were markedly higher than those of the CC genotype in control group (all P < 0.05). However, in the Han population, we only found that the FPI level of the CC genotype was significantly higher than that of the CG+GG genotype in control group (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our investigation suggests that -8 C/G variant of PSMA6 gene may be associated with T2DM and diabetes-related metabolic traits in Chinese Dongxiang and Han populations., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the value of detection of hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV-cAg) for screening blood donor by using the internal reagent enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and anti-HCV antibody., Methods: The first and repeat assays were performed for detection of serum anti-HCV and HCV-cAg ELISA in 3972 donor's serum specimens from August to October of 2004. Twenty-five donors positive for anti-HCV were tested with HCV-cAg EIA kits and the results were compared with the results of HCV RNA determination with RT-PCR method., Results: In 3972 donor's serum samples, only 1 serum specimen was positive for HCV RNA identification among 10 specimens which were positive for anti-HCV in first assays, and only 1 serum specimens was positive for HCV RNA identification among 12 specimens positive for anti-HCV in repeat assays, only 2 serum specimens were positive HCV RNA identification in 3 specimens which were positive for HCV-cAg assays., Conclusion: The sensitivity of HCV-cAg ELISA is similar to HCV RT-PCR, but it is much cheaper. Therefore, HCV-cAg ELISA and anti-HCV may be used together to screen blood donor.

Objective: To study genomic polymorphic DNA and genetic distance of 7 species of ticks., Methods: Ticks used in this study were Dermacentor nuttalli, D. silvarum, Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis, H. formosensis, H. punctata, Amblyomma testudinarium, and Ixodes ovatus. DNA extracts of the 7 species of ticks were amplified by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and PCR technique using 5 primers with different arbitrary single chain polynucleotide sequences. DNA fingerprint maps were analyzed and the genetic distance among 7 species of ticks were counted., Results: The amplified products of the 7 species of ticks by RAPD all showed their specific DNA band. The average genetic distance among them was 0.71., Conclusion: RAPD can differentiate the 7 species of ticks.