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D-amino acids (D-AAs) are the enantiomeric counterparts of L-amino acids (L-AAs) and important functional factors with a wide variety of physiological activities and applications in the food manufacture industry. Some D-AAs, such as D-Ala, D-Leu, and D-Phe, have been favored by consumers as sweeteners and fragrances because of their unique flavor. The biosynthesis of D-AAs has attracted much attention in recent years due to their unique advantages. In this review, we comprehensively analyze the structure-function relationships, biosynthesis pathways, multi-enzyme cascade and whole-cell catalysis for the production of D-AAs. The state-of-the-art strategies, including immobilization, protein engineering, and high-throughput screening, are summarized. Future challenges and perspectives of strategies-driven by bioinformatics technologies and smart computing technologies, as well as enzyme immobilization, are also discussed. These new approaches will promote the commercial production and application of D-AAs in the food industry by optimizing the key enzymes for industrial biocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this study, we investigated efficient strategies for the recovery of individual links in power grids governed by the direct current (DC) power flow model, under random link failures. Our primary objective was to explore the efficacy of recovering failed links based solely on topological network metrics. In total, we considered 13 recovery strategies, which encompassed 2 strategies based on link centrality values (link betweenness and link flow betweenness), 8 strategies based on the products of node centrality values at link endpoints (degree, eigenvector, weighted eigenvector, closeness, electrical closeness, weighted electrical closeness, zeta vector, and weighted zeta vector), and 2 heuristic strategies (greedy recovery and two-step greedy recovery), in addition to the random recovery strategy. To evaluate the performance of these proposed strategies, we conducted simulations on three distinct power systems: the IEEE 30, IEEE 39, and IEEE 118 systems. Our findings revealed several key insights: Firstly, there were notable variations in the performance of the recovery strategies based on topological network metrics across different power systems. Secondly, all such strategies exhibited inferior performance when compared to the heuristic recovery strategies. Thirdly, the two-step greedy recovery strategy consistently outperformed the others, with the greedy recovery strategy ranking second. Based on our results, we conclude that relying solely on a single metric for the development of a recovery strategy is insufficient when restoring power grids following link failures. By comparison, recovery strategies employing greedy algorithms prove to be more effective choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network controllability and its robustness have been widely studied. However, analytical methods to calculate network controllability with respect to node in- and out-degree targeted removals are currently lacking. This paper develops methods, based on generating functions for the in- and out-degree distributions, to approximate the minimum number of driver nodes needed to control directed networks, during node in- and out-degree targeted removals. By validating the proposed methods on synthetic and real-world networks, we show that our methods work reasonably well. Moreover, when the fraction of the removed nodes is below 10% the analytical results of random removals can also be used to predict the results of targeted node removals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemostasis and anti-infection are crucial for emergency treatment of severe trauma. Developing functional biomaterial with efficient hemostasis, antibacterial activity and wound healing is of great social significance and clinical value to fast stop bleeding and save lives, but it is still challenged. Here we designed a series of multifunctionalized SA/PDA cryogels by using two-step cross-linking of dopamine and sodium alginate. The resulting interpenetrating network structure had good swelling ratio, excellent mechanical and shape memory properties. Compared with cotton gauze and gelatin sponge, the cryogels exhibited excellent activation of coagulation cascade, more blood cells and platelet adhesion. Due to the action of polydopamine, the cryogel also showed good antioxidant activity and photothermal antibacterial ability assisted by near-infrared radiation, as well as better wound healing performance than gelatin sponge and Tegaderm™ film. Moreover, in the tests of mouse tail docking model, rat femoral artery hemostasis model and non-compressible rabbit liver defect model, the treatment by SA/PDA cryogels presented less blood loss and shorter hemostasis time than cotton gauze and gelatin sponge. Therefore, SA/PDA cryogels with simple preparation process, low cost, and good biocompatibility would be applied in the variety of great clinical applications in bleeding control, anti-infection and wound healing, etc. [Display omitted] • Preparation of cryogel by simple one-step blending and secondary cross-linking • Reduction of toxic reagent residues making the cryogle more biocompatible • The cryogel with the functionalities of hemostasis, photo-thermal antibacterial activity, degradability, anti-oxidation and promotion of wound healing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the excellent conversion properties between magnetic and electric properties, magnetoelectric composites have been widely used in devices. With the growing concerns about the environment, developing environmentally friendly lead-free magnetoelectric composites with high performance are very important. Here, (1- x)0.82Ba(Ti 0.89 Sn 0.11)O 3 -0.18(Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3)TiO 3 - x CoFe 2 O 4 [(1- x)BTS-BCT- x CFO] magnetoelectric composites are synthesized by solid-state method, and the effect of CFO on the microstructure and magnetoelectric properties is systematically studied. The perovskite type piezoelectric phase and spinel structured piezomagnetic phase in diffraction patterns are independent of each other. Due to the inhibiting effect of CFO on grain size for BTS-BCT, the grain size of magnetoelectric composites is dominated by CFO. The electric properties deteriorate, and magnetic properties increase with increasing CFO. Meanwhile, the optimal ME coefficients (α E31 ∼8.12 mV/cm∙Oe and α E33 ∼7.84 mV/cm∙Oe) are obtained in the (1- x)BTS-BCT- x CFO with x = 0.20, which are superior or comparable to that of some lead-based and lead-free magnetoelectric composites. Therefore, (1- x)BTS-BCT- x CFO material systems have a promising prospect in application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time detection of fruit targets is a key technology of the Xiaomila green pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) picking robot. The complex conditions of orchards make it difficult to achieve accurate detection. However, most of the existing deep learning network detection algorithms cannot effectively detect Xiaomila green pepper fruits covered by leaves, branches, and other fruits in natural scenes. As detailed in this paper, the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) images of Xiaomila green pepper in the green and mature stage were collected under natural light conditions for building the dataset and an improved YOLOv5s model (YOLOv5s-CFL) is proposed to improve the efficiency and adaptability of picking robots in the natural environment. First, the convolutional layer in the Cross Stage Partial (CSP) is replaced with GhostConv, the detection speed is improved through a lightweight structure, and the detection accuracy is enhanced by adding a Coordinate Attention (CA) layer and replacing Path Aggregation Network (PANet) in the neck with Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN). In the experiment, the YOLOv5s-CFL model was used to detect the Xiaomila, and the detection results were analyzed and compared with those of the original YOLOv5s, YOLOv4-tiny, and YOLOv3-tiny models. With these improvements, the Mean Average Precision (mAP) of YOLOv5s-CFL is 1.1%, 6.8%, and 8.9% higher than original YOLOv5s, YOLOv4-tiny, and YOLOv3-tiny, respectively. Compared with the original YOLOv5 model, the model size is reduced from 14.4 MB to 13.8 MB, and the running speed is reduced from 15.8 to 13.9 Gflops. The experimental results indicate that the lightweight model improves the detection accuracy and has good real-time performance and application prospects in the field of picking robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel hybrid consisted of two‐dimensional graphene oxide (GO) and graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) nanosheets were fabricated to improve the tribological performance of poly (phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) (PPESK). The effect of the mass ratio of GO to g‐C3N4 (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3) on the microstructure of GO/g‐C3N4 was firstly studied. As the ratio was 1:2 (GO/g‐C3N4‐2), the g‐C3N4 could be homogeneously distributed on surface of GO, and the corresponding hybrid possessed many active sites. Moreover, the effect of GO/g‐C3N4 hybrid, GO, and g‐C3N4 on the tribological properties of PPESK matrix was explored systematically. Results showed that GO/g‐C3N4 demonstrated more excellent reinforcing and lubricating effect than single GO and g‐C3N4, especially for GO/g‐C3N4‐2. More importantly, as the content of GO/g‐C3N4‐2 was 0.1 wt%, the antifriction and anti‐wear performance of PPESK was improved by 77.28% and 96.9%, respectively. Moreover, the enhancement mechanisms of GO/g‐C3N4 on the tribological behaviors of PPESK were clarified by analyzing the surface morphology of the composite and the counterpart. This work might provide the guidance for the design of a novel nano‐hybrid material applied in polymer self‐lubricating composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs) and viral genetic variants are important microbiological pathogens that cause severe disease in humans and animals. Currently, no effective broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against existing and emerging CoVs are available. The CoV main protease (Mpro) plays an essential role in viral replication, making it an ideal target for drug development. However, the structure of the Deltacoronavirus Mpro is still unavailable. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel CoV that belongs to the genus Deltacoronavirus and causes atrophic enteritis, severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in pigs. Here, we determined the structure of PDCoV Mpro complexed with a Michael acceptor inhibitor. Structural comparison showed that the backbone of PDCoV Mpro is similar to those of alpha-, beta- and gamma-CoV Mpros. The substrate-binding pocket of Mpro is well conserved in the subfamily Coronavirinae. In addition, we also observed that Mpros from the same genus adopted a similar conformation. Furthermore, the structure of PDCoV Mpro in complex with a Michael acceptor inhibitor revealed the mechanism of its inhibition of PDCoV Mpro. Our results provide a basis for the development of broad-spectrum antivirals against PDCoV and other CoVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although lots of tyrosinases have been isolated from bacteria, few studies are focused on tyrosinases from Bacillus sp.. In this study, a tyrosinase from B. aryabhattai TCCC 111983 (TYR) was functionally expressed, purified, and then biochemically characterized. The recombinant tyrosinase (rTYR) presented a good catalytic activity in a broad temperature and pH range, retaining over 60% of the relative activity at 30 °C–90 °C and 45% at pH 3.0 to 10.0. Especially, rTYR exhibited 20% of its maximum activity at 0 °C, and it also showed a variable stability towards different effectors. It presented high tolerance towards salinity and chloride, retaining 81% of its original activity in 2 M NaCl. Kinetic parameters indicated that rTYR displayed a relatively good affinity for both l -tyrosine and l -DOPA. Additionally, rTYR demonstrated remarkable advantages on efficient decolorizing azo and anthraquinonic food dyes (carmine and erythrosin), and more five industrial dyes with or without mediators in acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions. As the first report on the tyrosinase from B. aryabhattai , the aforementioned results indicated that rTYR would be potential for food industrial applications. • A tyrosinase gene from Bacillus aryabhattai was cloned and expressed. • Recombinant tyrosinase presented a good activity in a broad temperature and pH range. • The enzyme showed great tolerance against high concentration of NaCl. • The enzyme could efficiently decolorize food dyes under broad pH conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies showed that the Eratosthenian mare (Em) unit in the northern Mare Imbrium, which is the location of the Chang'e‐3 (CE3) landing site, was simply formed by one period of thick lava flow. However, the CE3 Yutu rover equipped with lunar penetrating radar (LPR) recognized multilayered Em basalts based on the Channel 1 data reprocessed in this paper, indicating that three subdivided thin Eratosthenian lava flows should exist. The spatial variation and thickness distribution of each layer are further estimated based on the location of interfaces recognized from the shallow radar profile. Finally, we build a three‐dimensional stratigraphic model of young mare basalts with filling directions beneath the Chang'e‐3 landing site. The result infers that these young lava flows in the northern Mare Imbrium probably erupted intermittently from the same source. Plain Language Summary: The Chang'e‐3 spacecraft, which landed on the northern Mare Imbrium on the near side of the Moon, was equipped with lunar penetrating radar (LPR) on the Yutu rover and detected subsurface structures around the landing site. The structure of the regolith and those underneath young periods (Eratosthenian) and old periods (Imbrian) of lava flow layers have been constrained. However, due to data quality limitations, further information about the young period lava materials that exist pervasively in the northern Mare Imbrium is still lacking. This paper reprocessed the shallow part of LPR Channel 1 data and then ascertained multilayered young mare basalts underlying the regolith, which are interpreted as three periods of thin Eratosthenian lava flows. The filling directions beneath the CE3 landing site were also constrained based on the spatial distribution of interfaces recognized from LPR data. Key Points: Multilayered shallow structures are recognized beneath the Chang'e 3 landing site based on lunar penetrating radar Channel 1 dataThree periods of Eratosthenian lava flows produced intermittent flooding in the northern Mare ImbriumA three‐dimensional stratigraphic model of young mare basalts is constructed in the area [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on three-dimensional processing maps and numerical simulation, a demo flat bottom cylindrical part (with outer diameter of 235 mm, wall thickness of 34 mm, and height of 255 mm) of high strength Mg-Gd-Y magnesium alloy was hot backward extruded by adding an outer flange to increase the overall deformation amount and strain uniformity. Firstly, on the basis of dynamic material model and Murty instability criterion, isothermal compression stress-strain curves of cast-homogenized Mg-8Gd-3Y alloy were used to construct the processing maps. The processing maps show that the formable domain is relatively narrow: at lower strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 0.006 s−1, and the suitable temperature is from 350 to 450 °C; and at higher strain rates ranging from 0.006 to 0.1 s−1, and the temperature is from 410 to 450 °C. Then, the processing maps were integrated into a finite element software to simulate the forming process of cylindrical parts, and the influences of deformation temperature and velocity on the power dissipation efficiencies of different positions of flanged cylindrical parts were mainly discussed. The simulation results indicate that the average strain of flanged cylindrical parts reaches 30.07% and is larger than that of unflanged cylindrical parts, and the standard deviation of the strain of flanged cylindrical parts is 19.35% and less than that of unflanged cylindrical parts. The optimal process parameters corresponding to the maximum power dissipation efficiency are the temperature of 430 °C and velocity of 1 mm/s. Finally, under the optimal forming condition, the hot backward extrusion experiments of flanged cylindrical parts were conducted. The experimental results exhibit that the flanged cylindrical parts could be properly formed with good surface quality, and have relatively uniform microstructures and mechanical properties. The difference of tensile strength between the bottom and cylindrical body is less than 5 MPa, and the hardness difference is less than 1.6 HV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To compare the functional and anatomical outcomes of one dose and three loading doses followed by the pro re nata (PRN) regimen in Chinese neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD) (including polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV)) patients. Methods. In this multicenter, prospective, open-label, controlled, 12-month study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02810808), patients were randomized (1 : 1) to 1 dose + PRN (PRN group) or 3 loading doses + PRN (LD group) using intravitreal ranibizumab treatment. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were evaluated. The main outcome was the change in BCVA. The noninferiority limit was 5 letters. Results. Forty-five patients in the PRN group and 49 patients in the LD group finished 12-month follow-up. Each group included 4 PCV patients. The mean change in BCVA from baseline was 7.8 letters in the PRN group, compared with 10.9 letters in the LD group (P=0.344). There were no significant differences between two groups in the mean change of CRT (−159.3 μm vs. −120.5 μm) at month 12. The mean number of injections during the 12-month follow-up was 6.0 in the PRN group and 6.8 in the LD group. The proportion of patients who gained an improvement in visual acuity by 15 or more letters was 28.9% in the PRN group and 44.9% in the LD group (P=0.066). Conclusion. One dose + PRN showed noninferior visual gains than 3 loading doses + PRN regimen using ranibizumab in Chinese nvAMD and PCV patients. Number of injections in the PRN group was similar as that in the LD group but remained a potential risk of vision instability during one-year follow-up using OCT-guided retreatment criteria. This trial is registered with NCT02810808. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Repeated metalaxyl persistence and effects on soil microbes were assessed in field. • Metalaxyl degradation was independent of increasing application frequency and dose. • Variations of cultivable microbial populations were related to application frequency. • Repeated applications of metalaxyl influenced the structure of bacterial communities. Metalaxyl, a chiral fungicide, was widely used to control mold fungi and oomycetes in many plants. However, studies are insufficient on the effects of successive metalaxyl applications on soil microorganisms and the residue dynamics. In the present study, metalaxyl was applied in field at two different doses (the recommended field rate, and twice of the recommended field rate) for 2 and 3 times, respectively. The soil samples were collected on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 45 after the second and third treatment to determine the residue dynamics and were collected on days 7, 14, 28 and 56 to assess the effects of successive metalaxyl application on soil cultivable microbial populations and microbial community structure. The results revealed the degradation rate slightly accelerated with the increasing applied times of metalaxyl. The second application of metalaxyl increased soil bacteria populations, inhibited soil fungi, and had a transient stimulated effect on actinomycetes. No distinct differences were observed in soil bacterial, actinomycic and fungal populations except for fungi population on day 14 after the third treatment. The analysis of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed soil microbial community structure could be affected by metalaxyl at all experimental doses. These obtained results could provide basic data for evaluating the ecological toxicity of metalaxyl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract An extruded AZ31B (Mg-3Al-1Zn-0.5Mn) magnesium alloy with a twin volume fraction of 60% was subjected to fully reversed strain-controlled tension-compression along the extrusion direction at strain amplitudes ranging from 0.23% to 0.45%. Dislocation slips were the dominant plastic deformation mechanisms without involving persistent twinning-detwinning. At an identical strain amplitude, the fatigue life of the pre-twinned alloy was much lower than that of the as-extruded alloy. Fatigue cracks were mainly initiated on the prismatic or prismatic-basal slip bands in the parent grains. The material volume reduction of the parent grains in the pre-twinned alloy enhanced fatigue damage. Twin cracks were not observed. Graphical Abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • We investigate fatigue behaviors of pre-twinned Mg alloy at low train amplitudes without involving twinning-detwinning. • The fatigue life of pre-twinned alloy is much shorter than twin-free alloy. • Prismatic slip is more likely to cause fatigue microcracks than basal slip. • Fatigue damage was enhanced due to the volume reduction of the parent grains in twinned alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this study, eggs from free-range and barn chickens in farms around a fluorochemical facility were collected to assess the distribution profiles of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), including isomers of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), in egg yolk and albumen. The results revealed that the concentrations of PFAAs in yolks were significantly higher than those in albumen. All 17 PFAAs examined could be detected in yolks, showing decreasing concentrations with increasing distance from the fluorochemical facility. The three predominant compounds in yolks were perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA, mean concentration 81.4 ng/g ww), PFOS (28.0 ng/g ww), and PFOA (4.83 ng/g ww), and this result is consistent with the product structure of the facility. Moreover, n -PFOA, n -PFOS, and n -PFHxS were the dominant contaminants in yolk, with mean concentrations of 4.75, 25.7, and 4.29 ng/g ww, respectively. In albumen, PFBA was still the predominant PFAA congener (mean concentration = 3.93 ng/g ww), followed by PFOA. Docking analysis indicated that the PFAAs presented higher binding abilities with the low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, and vitellin proteins in yolk than that with ovalbumin albumen proteins, which might be the main factor influencing the possible difference in distributions of PFAAs in yolk and albumen. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • PFAAs and main isomers were detected in chicken eggs around a fluorochemical plant. • Higher levels of PFAAs and typical isomers were in egg yolk than in albumen. • Different binding patterns of PFAAs to protein from yolk and albumen were modeled. • PFAAs dietary exposure around a fluorochemical plant should be of a high concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of the shear strength of expansive soil treated with ionic soil stabilizer during freeze-thaw cycles is presented. The shear strength of treated expansive soil is greater than that of untreated expansive soil at room temperature, and it is evident that the moisture content plays a leading role in this result. After a freeze-thaw cycle the shear strength changes little for untreated soil, but decreases gradually after ionic soil stabilizer treatment. Shear strength reaches the lowest values after seven freeze-thaw cycles. Finally, the influence of freeze-thaw cycles on the porosity of expansive soil is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, which shows that the porosity of both treated and untreated soil increases with the number of freeze-thaw cycles, although porosity of the treated sample changes little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play key roles in abiotic stress responses in plants. Phosphate (Pi) starvation is among the main challenges plants face; therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plants' absorption and transport of Pi from the soil is important for optimizing phosphate acquisition efficiency (PAE) in plants. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the research of the complex WRKY TF networks that coordinate Pi acquisition to maintain Pi homeostasis in plants. We also analyzed the transcriptional regulation of these WRKY TFs as well as their functions in plant growth and development processes such as flowering, leaf senescence, and seed germination under phosphate limitation. This review provides a basis for potential guidelines to create plant cultivars with high phosphate uptake and utilization to improve sustainable agricultural and forestry development. • The advances of WRKY TFs regulate Pi uptake and transport to control plant growth and development. • The regulatory network of WRKY TFs coordinates phosphate homeostasis in plants. • We provide potential guidelines to create plant cultivars to improve phosphate uptake and utilization by WRKY TFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Microbes in the deep vadose zone play an essential role in the mitigation of nitrate leaching; however, limited information is available on the mechanisms of microbial denitrification due to sampling difficulties. We experimentally studied the factors that affect denitrification in soils collected down to 10.5 meters deep along the soil profile. After an anoxic pre‐incubation, denitrification rates moderately increased and the N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios declined while the microbial abundance and diversity did not change significantly in most of the layers. Denitrification rate was significantly enhanced and the abundance of the denitrification genes was simultaneously elevated by the increased availability of organic carbon in all studied layers, to a greater extent in the subsurface layers than in the surface layers, suggesting the severe scarcity of carbon in the deep vadose zone. The genera Pseudomonas and Bacillus, which are made up of a number of species that have been previously identified as denitrifiers in soil, were the major taxa that respond to carbon addition. Overall, our results suggested that the limited denitrification in the deep vadose zone is not because of the lack of denitrifiers, but due to the low abundance of denitrifiers which is caused by low carbon availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of GATA-3 markers in the detection of hematologic disorders in children. In total, 35 pediatric patients diagnosed with blood disease and treated in Henan Red Cross Blood Center from January 2014 to June 2015 were selected for the observation group. Another 32 healthy children were selected for the control group. The differences in the GATA-3 mRNA expression levels between the control and observation groups were detected via reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The differences in the GATA-3 protein expression levels were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot analysis. Compared with those in the healthy children, the mRNA expression levels of GATA-3 in patients with hematologic malignancies, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, myeloproliferative disorder, acute non-lymphocytic leukemia or thrombocytopenic purpura were significantly higher, and there were statistically signifi- cant differences between the groups (P<0.05). The results of ELISA showed that the GATA-3 protein expression levels in patients with hematologic malignancies (241.3±42.6 µg/l), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (196.3±21.6 µg/l), myeloproliferative disorder (284.2±45.1 µg/l), acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (269.3±31.4 µg/l) or thrombocytopenic purpura (272.1±39.1 µg/l) were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects (69.3±15.2 µg/l). The results of western blot analysis were consistent with those of ELISA. Based on our results, the expression levels of GATA-3 in healthy children and pediatric patients with blood diseases exhibit significant differences, and can be used as important markers for the clinical diagnosis of blood diseases in children [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution in rolled Mg-3Al-1Zn-0.5Mn (AZ31B) magnesium alloy under in-plane shear (IPS) and through-thickness shear (TTS) were investigated. The newly designed butterfly-shaped specimens were sheared along the rolling direction, and a full field strain analysis was performed by digital image correlation (DIC). The shear stress-strain curves show that the shear strength and strain hardening rate are significantly different between the IPS and TTS. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) observation shows that extension twinning is the dominant twinning mechanism under shear deformations. Moreover, a certain volume of {10-12}-{10-12} double twins appears throughout the deformation process in the TTS, while a few compression twins and {10-11}-{10-12} double twins occur at the early stage in the IPS. The results suggest that crystal orientation plays an important role in determining the twin types and twin volume fraction in the shear deformations. The visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) model is also applied to predict the activity of slip/twinning under shear deformations. The VPSC results confirm that the mechanical discrepancy at early shear deformation is mainly due to the activation of extension twin and prismatic slip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate hydrochar as a soil amendment for the immobilization of Cd, the characteristics of hydrochars (HCs) under three temperatures and residence times, were studied, with a particular interest in soil properties, as well as the speciation, availability and plant uptake of Cd. HCs were obtained by a hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) reaction of sewage sludge (SS). Based on the study of HC properties, we found that HCs present weak acidity with relatively high ash content and low electrical conductivity (EC) values. The addition of HCs to soil decreased soil pH and EC values but increased the abundance of soil microorganism. HCs also promoted the transformation of Cd from unstable to stable speciation and can decrease the content of phyto-available Cd (optimum condition and efficiency: A13, 2 15.38%), which restrained cabbage from assimilating Cd from soil both the aboveground (optimum condition and efficiency: A35, 52.29%) and underground (optimum condition and efficiency: C15, 57.53%) parts of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the simulation results for stress relaxation with Chaboche model, the effect of loading history is discussed. It is revealed that the Chaboche model without static recovery term cannot demonstrate the influence of prior loading strain rates for drop stress during strain holding period. A modified model based on the Chaboche unified viscoplasticity theory is proposed to mainly focus on the remarkable features of the relaxation behavior of materials. Several numerical examples are discussed in detail to show some potential descriptions and the strong dependence on prior uploading strain rates for relaxation. The experiments of two materials Type 304 stainless steel and TIMETAL 21S are selected to verify the feasibility of proposed model. A series of consistent simulation and prediction results are obtained, including the dependence of drop stress on various prior loading strain rates, the effect of different peak stresses or holding strains with the same prior loading strain rate, multi-relaxation with relaxation histories, and cyclic plasticity. Finally, the principle of parameter determination is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the concept of the non-unified model (Kobayashi et al., 2003), a constitutive model was proposed to simulate the viscoplasticity and creep/relaxation behavior of metal materials. An additional steady part was introduced into the traditional unified viscoplasticity model to act as a supplement for the creep strain. The model was analyzed in both steady and viscoplasticity parts, which made it analogous to the non-unified viscoplasticity model. The total strain consisted of elastic, viscoplastic, and steady strains. The viscoplastic strain was calculated based on the viscosity function, and the steady part was a function of the equivalent deviatoric stress. Experiments involving a nickel-based super alloy (Zhan, 2004) and 40Sn-60Pb solder (Neu et al., 2000) were conducted to verify the utility of the proposed model. The model well described not only the creep/relaxation behavior for different stress/strain levels, but also the cyclic plasticity for materials at both room and high temperatures. The steady part may improve the results, even when the viscoplasticity part already has a static recovery term. Contrary to Akamatsu et al.(2008), all of the parameters for the viscoplasticity part were determined from experiments with different loading rates instead of the creep/relaxation results in the transient stage. The parameters for the steady part were obtained from creep experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Extension twinning in Mg alloy under multi-axial stress was statistically studied. • Thin twins with a mode thickness value below 1.5 μm persisted in ND45 simple shear. • ND45 simple shear suppresses twin growth while brings sustained twin nucleation. • Twinning CRSS can be determined via statistical analyses as in the present study. • Dense and fine twins can form in Mg alloy under appropriate multi-axial stress. A textured AZ31B plate was subject to simple shear along 45° to its normal direction at room temperature, and extension twinning under biaxial stress was investigated by statistical analyses of electron backscatter diffraction maps. Extension twinning is the primary deformation mechanism up to a plastic shear strain of 15% (8.66% equivalent plastic strain), and the most frequent twin thickness remains to be 1.5 μm. The simple shear suppresses twin growth, yet brings sustained twin nucleation. The critical resolved shear stress of extension twinning is determined as 25 MPa and remains virtually constant up to a plastic shear strain of 10%. The present study suggests that by using biaxial stress state that promotes multi-twin nucleation, a microstructure with dense and fine twins can be produced at room temperature in a conventional Mg alloy, without jeopardizing the contribution of twinning to plastic straining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new nanophotocatalyst MgZnCr-TiO 2 was prepared by co-precipitation under different molar ratio of metals (Zn:Cr) and the loaded amount of TiO 2 . And it was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy et al. Langmuir model fitted well the adsorption isotherm with the value of R 2 0.9765, the maximum adsorption capacity was 526.32 mg g −1 , the adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetic by MgZnCr-TiO 2 (1:1:2–0.05). The photocatalytic oxidation of Congo red was used to determine the photocatalytic performance of MgZnCr-TiO 2 (1:1:2–0.05) under visible light irradiation, and the removal rate reached 98% after reaction for 40 min. The degradation mechanism of Congo red also was proposed, and the MgZnCr-TiO 2 (1:1:2–0.05) was stable after five cycles. Compared to the adsorption, Congo red was removed fundamentally by photocatalysis and it is expected to be an effective way to eliminate Congo red. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the causes of the rapid progression of pleuropulmonary blastoma and to identify molecular markers related to its prognosis. Three pairs of fresh frozen samples of pleuropulmonary blastoma tumors and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed for proteomics, focusing on the protein molecules with significantly increased expression in tumor tissues and related to the cell cycle and DNA replication. The top five protein molecules were selected and verified by immunohistochemistry. To analyze the correlation between the expression of verified protein molecules in pleuropulmonary blastoma and early recurrence/metastasis of pleuropulmonary blastoma. Compared with the adjacent normal tissues, 1759 proteins were upregulated and 967 proteins were downregulated in pleuropulmonary blastoma. The top five proteins related to the cell cycle and DNA replication were ORC2, P75, Skp2, MCM4 and PCNA. However, only P75, MCM4 and PCNA were upregulated in pleuropulmonary blastoma as determined by immunohistochemistry. Further analysis showed that the expression of P75 in the recurrence/metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the no recurrence/metastasis group, while the expression of MCM4 and PCNA was not significantly different between the recurrence/metastasis group and the no recurrence/metastasis group. MCM4, PCNA and P75 may all play an important role in the progression of pleuropulmonary blastoma. Among them, P75 is related to the prognosis and may be used as a marker to predict the prognosis of pleuropulmonary blastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel GH43 β-xylosidase was obtained from Bacillus clausii. • It showed a broad range of pH stability (7.0–11.0) with high tolerance to NaCl. • Its structure–function relationship of alkali adaptability was displayed. • It can efficiently degrade alkali-extracted xylan to xylose with an endo -xylanase. Nowadays, alkali-tolerant β-xylosidases and their molecular mechanism of pH adaptability have been poorly studied. Here, a novel GH43 β-xylosidase (XYLO) was isolated from Bacillus clausii TCCC 11004, and the recombinant β-xylosidase (rXYLO) was most active at pH 8.0 and stable in a broad pH range (7.0–11.0), exhibiting superior alkali tolerance. Molecular dynamics simulation indicated that XYLO showed a notable overall structural stability and an enlargement of substrate binding pocket under alkaline condition, resulting in the formation of a new hydrogen bond between substrate and Arg286 of XYLO, and the tight binding played a key role in improving the XYLO activity with the increasing pH. Moreover, rXYLO with an endo -xylanase resulted in high xylose yields by hydrolyzing alkali-extracted xylan from agricultural wastes. This work would provide an alkali-tolerant β-xylosidase, enhance the understanding for the relationship of structure and activity adapted to the high-alkaline environment, and promote its application in xylose production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth of an extruded Mg-3Al-Zn (AZ31B) magnesium alloy were experimentally investigated by conducting fully reversed strain-controlled tension-compression fatigue experiments at two strain amplitudes of 1% and 0.3%. At a strain amplitude of 1%, two types of twin-induced microcracks were observed. Less fatigue damage can be caused by the twin-induced cracks than from slip-induced cracks. At a strain amplitude of 0.3%, slip-induced microcracks initiated from 30% to 80% of the fatigue life, and then propagated until the final failure. No twin-induced cracks were detected at 0.3% strain amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suitable condition of an on-load tap-changer (OLTC) is essential for the operation of converter transformer due to its frequent switch for the voltage regulation of power system. This paper describes a methodology to obtain the OLTC vibration characteristics in time–frequency domain. Considering the possible aliasing effect in vibration signal processing, an improved empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is proposed with masking signals of multiple frequencies added, which has obvious superiority in aliasing reduction compared with conventional methods. Then, an effective fault-diagnosis strategy based on energy distributions variations of OLTC vibration signals according to Lorentz information measure is brought up. The calculated results under normal and typical fault conditions of model and real OLTC have shown that the energy spectrums of different conditions vary significantly so that the similarity index can measure the difference degree of energy distribution. Meanwhile, the index of contact looseness is higher than the insulated panel looseness which indicates that the contact looseness fault has greater influence on switch-over process of OLTC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study presents a novel approach for the modelling of transformer core magnetisation characteristics under DC bias condition by using the inverse Jiles–Atherton (J–A) model. An improved shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) is proposed to identify the five parameters of J–A model, where an adaptive chaotic mutation operation is added in the global searching process to increase the identification accuracy. With the proposed algorithm, the J–A model parameters under different DC components are identified based on the DC‐bias experiment on the real transformer. The conventional SFLA and particle swarm optimisation (PSO) method are also applied to identify the parameters of J–A model. All the identified results are compared with the measured B–H curves to verify their identification accuracy. Moreover, the least square support vector machine (LSSVM) algorithm is used to predict the J–A model parameters of transformer under larger DC component from the previously identified parameters in smaller DC. The calculated results have shown that the improved SFLA has higher identification accuracy than the conventional SFLA and PSO methods. Furthermore, LSSVM algorithm can effectively forecast the transformer magnetisation character under large DC bias condition, which is beneficial for the research of transformer DC bias problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging effects on the deformation and fatigue behavior of extruded Mg–8.0Gd–3.0Y–0.5Zr (GW83) magnesium (Mg) alloy were experimentally studied. The aging process significantly enhances the monotonic strengths under both tension and compression. The ductility under tension is unchanged but the elongation under compression is reduced due to the aging treatment. The cyclic stress–strain curve of the aged GW83 is much higher than that of the corresponding extruded state. The strain–life fatigue curve of the aged GW83 is similar to that of the extruded GW83, but the stress–life fatigue curve of the aged GW83 is much higher, indicating an improved fatigue strength due to the aging process. Similar to the other Mg alloys, a kink point in the strain–life fatigue curve was identified for the aged GW83 Mg alloy, and the kink point of a strain amplitude of 0.80% for the material demarcates the activation of bulk and persistent twinning/detwinning during cyclic deformation. The enhanced fatigue strength is discussed with respect to the observed fragmented persistent slip bands (PSBs) and the inhibition of microcracks by the precipitates in aged GW83. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, concurrent multipath transfer (CMT) is used to achieve aggregate bandwidth in next generation networks, which are expected to be heterogeneous, integrating access networks employing different technologies. Simultaneous data transfer over multiple destination addresses could increase throughput, but causes data reordering at the destination. A lot of studies assumed that the receiver buffer (RBUF) in CMT is unlimited, actually, it's not. However, limited RBUF indeed affects the whole performance and even causes RBUF blocking problem in the real situation. In this paper, we analyze the RBUF blocking problem brought by simultaneous data transfer with limited RBUF. Then, we propose a new analytical model of reliable delivery to predict the Stream Control Transmission Protocol throughput and the length expectation of the resequenceing queue in CMT. Based on the model mentioned earlier, the paths selection problem is formulated as a knapsack problem, which maximizes the overall throughput and limits the resequencing queue length expectation to the fixed RBUF size. Through the computer simulations, the proposed analytical model can predict the throughput of CMT accurately. It is proved that our proposed paths selection has achieved much better performance than the others in CMT.Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depth estimation is crucial for scene understanding and downstream tasks, especially the self-supervised training methods showing great potential. The overall structure and local details of the scene are essential for improving the quality of depth estimation. The proposal of Monodepth2 has led to significant progress in self-supervised monocular depth estimation. However, Monodepth2 uses the most basic encoder–decoder architecture. The limited data flow information of the network leads to a large semantic gap between the encoder and the decoder, which reduces the accuracy of the network for fine-grained feature recognition. Monodepth2 adopts Resnet18 pre-trained on the Imagenet dataset as the encoder. This traditional convolutional pooling structure results in a loss of pixel information in the network at every scale. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes an improved DepthNet. The network adopts Hrnet in semantic segmentation as the base encoder, which adopts an advanced multi-scale fusion method in the whole process, thus avoiding the loss of pixel information. An additional densely connected U-Net is employed at the decoder side to provide more information flow. Furthermore, the semantic gap between the encoder and decoder is reduced by adding different numbers of residual connections and channel attention on each layer. The network structure can be regarded as a collection of fully convolutional networks. Since the deep features of the network have a higher correlation with the vertical position, we add a spatial location attention module to the deep-level network to reduce this semantic gap. The approach performs significantly well on the KITTI dataset benchmark, with several performance criteria comparable to supervised monocular depth inference methods. • This work is a deep estimation network for scene reconstruction and scene understanding. This network redesigns the self-supervised monocular depth framework from an entirely new perspective. The network uses HrNet from the field of semantic segmentation as the base encoder, which employs a progressive multi-scale fusion approach throughout, thus avoiding the loss of pixel information. • An additional densely connected U-Net is used at the decoder side to provide further information flow. To reduce the semantic gap between codecs, we add a different number of residual connections and channel attention on each layer. The network is not trained with the help of other auxiliary networks, and the performance of the depth estimation is improved only by stimulating the network's potential. • This work achieves best-in-class accuracy in monocular depth estimation. When the model in this paper is used for 3D scene reconstruction, it can perform a complete recovery of the scene structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow forming is a plastic deformation process to produce thin-walled and high-precision cylindrical components. In this study, the hot flow forming of Mg–8.5Al–0.5Zn–0.2Mn (AZ80) alloy tubes was conducted innovatively. The effects of processing parameters including flow forming temperature, spindle speed, feed ratio and thickness reduction on the microstructures and mechanical properties of AZ80 alloy tubes were investigated. The results show that a more unanimous and raised grain size appeared with deforming temperature from 300 to 420 °C. The variation of spindle speed and feed ratio had a slight influence on the microstructure, but an obvious influence on the tensile properties, particularly the elongation. With increasing the thickness reduction, the grain size decreased while the micro-hardness increased significantly. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) results show that the c -axes of most grains are approximately parallel to the radial direction. And likewise, they have a slight deflection towards the axial direction. Furthermore, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 308 MPa and elongation of 9.8% were obtained when the hot flow forming was carried out under a temperature of 420 °C, a spindle speed of 400 rev/min, a feed ratio of 0.1 mm/rev and a thickness reduction of 45%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) mainly infects neonatal pigs, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Owing to problems such as long periods of virus shedding, existing vaccines cannot provide complete protection from PEDV infection. The PEDV genome encodes two polyprotein precursors required for genome replication and transcription. Each polyprotein undergoes extensive proteolytic processing, resulting in functional subunits. This process is mainly mediated by its genome-encoded main protease, which is an attractive target for antiviral drug design. In this study, the main protease of Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in complex with a Michael acceptor was crystallized. The complex crystals diffracted to 2.5 Å resolution and belonged to space group R3, with unit-cell parameters a = 175.3, b = 175.3, c = 58.7 Å. Two molecules were identified per asymmetric unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) causes a lethal systemic granulomatous disease in wild and domestic cats around the world. Currently, no effective vaccines or drugs have been developed against it. As a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus, FIPV encodes two polyprotein precursors required for genome replication and transcription. Each polyprotein undergoes extensive proteolytic processing, resulting in functional subunits. This process is mainly mediated by its genome-encoded main protease, which is an attractive target for antiviral drug design. In this study, the main protease of FIPV in complex with a Michael acceptor-type inhibitor was crystallized. The complex crystals diffracted to 2.5 Å resolution and belonged to space group I422, with unit-cell parameters a = 112.3, b = 112.3, c = 102.1 Å. There is one molecule per asymmetric unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human coronavirus NL63 mainly infects younger children and causes cough, fever, rhinorrhoea, bronchiolitis and croup. It encodes two polyprotein precursors required for genome replication and transcription. Each polyprotein undergoes extensive proteolytic processing, resulting in functional subunits. This process is mainly mediated by its genome-encoded main protease, which is an attractive target for antiviral drug design. In this study, the main protease of human coronavirus NL63 was crystallized in complex with a Michael acceptor. The complex crystals diffracted to 2.85 Å resolution and belonged to space group P41212, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 87.2, c = 212.1 Å. Two molecules were identified per asymmetric unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A modal experiment was designed and made on a real 10kV power transformer winding. [•] An improved modal parameter identification method was proposed with high accuracy. [•] Masking signal frequency has great effect on the identification result. [•] Higher sampling frequency can increase the accuracy of proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fatigue damage development through a surface crack observation of an extruded rare-earth Mg–8.0Gd–3.0Y–0.5Zr (GW83) magnesium (Mg) alloy was experimentally studied by conducting strain-controlled tension–compression experiments along the extrusion direction. Companion specimens were tested at three strain amplitudes of 1.2%, 0.75%, and 0.5%, correspondingly. The GW83 alloy has a weak texture and displays concave-down hysteresis stress–strain loops due to the slip dominant plastic deformation for all the three strain amplitudes studied. At a higher strain amplitude, cracks are mainly initiated at the grain boundaries (GBs) and propagate predominately intergranularly. Twin boundary (TB) cracks are seldom found although a few tension twins are detected. Final fatigue failure is due to both continuous crack initiation and microcrack coalescence. When the strain amplitude is low, cracks are found to initiate at the persistent slip bands (PSBs) as well as GBs, and early crack growth is mainly transgranular. Final fatigue failure is due to continuous accumulation of distributed microcracks. During a majority of the fatigue lives at the three strain amplitudes studied, the crack initiation and early crack growth do not significantly influence the cyclic stress–strain response of the material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: We evaluated whether DNA repair gene polymorphisms had an effect on clinical outcomes in metastatic/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Materials and methods: Clinical data of 101 patients with metastatic/recurrent NPC between 2004 and 2011 were reviewed. Five potentially functional polymorphisms (ERCC1 Asn118Asn, ERCC1 C8092A, XPD Lys751Gln, XRCC1 Arg399Gln and XRCC1 Arg280His) were genotyped using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results: The ERCC1 C8092A polymorphism was an independent predictor of PFS in Chinese NPC patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Compared to the patients carrying the C/C genotype, the patients with the C/A or A/A genotype had an increased risk of disease progression on cisplatin-based chemotherapy (7.9 vs. 9.3 months; HR 1.61; 95 % CI 1.08-2.61; p = 0.047). However, no association between the other polymorphisms, response rate, disease progression and survival was detected in metastatic/recurrent NPC patients. Conclusion: The ERCC1 C8092A polymorphism might be a useful predictive marker in metastatic/recurrent NPC patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, a large-scale prospective study is warranted to validate our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe an outbreak of intraocular inflammation caused by endotoxin-contaminated counterfeit bevacizumab in China. Design: Retrospective, observational case series. Participants: Patients undergoing intravitreal injection at a public hospital in September 2010. Methods: The medical records and microbiology results of patients who presented with intraocular inflammation after injection with intravitreal counterfeit bevacizumab were reviewed. Main Outcome Measures: The incidence of intraocular inflammation, results of pathogen cultures, and clinical features of inflammation. Results: A total of 116 patients (70 men and 46 women) were injected from 3 vials of counterfeit bevacizumab. Intraocular inflammation developed in 80 patients. The estimated median incubation period was 12 hours (range, 2–24 hours), and the median duration of symptoms was 6 days (range, 3–22 days). All patients were treated initially with topical corticosteroid and antibiotics. Vitreous tap and intravitreal injection were performed on 43 patients. Twenty-one patients with hypopyon and significant vitreous inflammation underwent vitrectomy. Microscopic evaluations and microbiologic cultures of all ocular specimens were negative for bacterial and fungal contamination. The presence of endotoxin in specimens was confirmed by laboratory testing. We refer to this new clinical syndrome as “endotoxin-induced ocular toxic syndrome” (EOTS). The inflammation regressed rapidly after treatment, and 63 patients (78.8%) recovered their pre-injection vision. Conclusions: This study implicates endotoxin as the cause of intraocular inflammation after the intravitreal injection of counterfeit bevacizumab. The EOTS appeared clinically distinct from typical infectious endophthalmitis. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cyclic deformation and fatigue of extruded rare-earth Mg–8.0Gd–3.0Y–0.5%Zr (GW83) magnesium (Mg) alloy were experimentally investigated by carrying out fully reversed strain-controlled tension–compression experiments along the extrusion direction with the strain amplitudes varying from 0.275% to 5.0%. Monotonic tension and compression stress–strain curves display a smooth transition from elastic to elastic–plastic deformation and exhibit a fairly yielding symmetry. Different from conventional Mg alloys, the material shows near-symmetric stress–strain hysteresis loops and marginal cyclic hardening with almost zero mean stress in the fully reversed strain-controlled experiments conducted. With increasing number of loading cycles, a transition of stress–strain response from concave-down shape to sigmoidal shape occurs in both tension and compression reversals when the strain amplitudes are larger than 2.0%. The strain-life fatigue curve displays a similar feature to that of conventional Mg alloys: A detectable transition from low-cycle region to high-cycle region occurs at a kink point in the vicinity of a strain amplitude of 0.75%. The cyclic deformation and fatigue properties of GW83 Mg alloy and the associated cyclic deformation mechanism are discussed and compared with those of a typical conventional Mg alloy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Piwi proteins are required for germline maintenance and gonad development. In this study, the cDNAs encoding Piwil1 and Piwil2 were cloned and sequenced from the common carp. The full-length cDNA of Piwil1 and Piwil2 were 3114 and 3421bp, encoding 858 and 1034 amino acids including PAZ domain and PIWI domain, respectively. In addition, the Piwil1 and Piwil2 proteins shared high homology with other teleosts. Reverse transcriptase PCR revealed that the Piwi mRNAs were exclusively expressed in adult testes and ovaries. Using real-time PCR, expression study of different developmental profiles showed that Piwil1 and Piwil2 were down-regulated during pre-ovulation. Further, human chorionic gonadotropin treatment in ovaries (in vivo) and in cultured ovaries cells (in vitro) resulted in down-regulation of Piwi RNAs. These results suggest that the decreased expression which was regulated by hormone plays a crucial role during ovarian differentiation and development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The formability in three-dimensional rectangular cup drawing of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet is successfully predicted by the Drucker–Prager plasticity (DP model). Numerical results show that the punch corner shoulder is under the condition of high tension bending and the die corner shoulder is on pure bending regardless of constitutive models. The failure is attributed to the competition between the biaxial tension bending induced fracture on the punch corner shoulder and the through-thickness shear induced fracture on other shoulders in the sheet forming. Taking the yield surface asymmetry into consideration, in a way of the friction angle in the coordinate of compressive and tensile strengths in the DP model, the accuracy of plastic strain is improved remarkably. The fracture locates on the punch corner shoulder where the strain reaches its fracture limit earlier than the die corner shoulder''s. The predictions of forming limit and fracture locus in the DP model simulation are in good agreement with the experimental results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To characterize the natural history of drusen using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) imaging of eyes from patients with nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Design: Prospective, longitudinal, natural history study. Participants: We included 143 eyes of 100 patients with at least 6 months of follow-up. Methods: Patients with drusen secondary to nonexudative AMD were scanned using the Cirrus SD-OCT instrument. Eyes were imaged using the 200×200 A-scan raster pattern contained within a 6×6 mm area. Custom software was used to quantify volumetric changes in drusen over a period of ≥6 months and for as long as 24 months. Drusen volume and drusen area were measured within circular regions centered at the fovea having diameters of 3 and 5 mm. The measurements were analyzed using a suitable scale transformation. For drusen volume, a cube root transformation strategy was used. Main Outcome Measures: Change in drusen volume and area over time. Results: We analyzed 143 eyes of 100 patients with 69 eyes followed for 6 months, 106 eyes followed for 12 months, 48 eyes followed for 18 months, and 48 eyes followed for 24 months. The 3 mm circle baseline drusen volume ranged from 0.0009 to 0.7479 mm3 or 0.10 to 0.91 mm using the cube root scale. On average, drusen volume and drusen area increased over time with the magnitude of the increase dependent on the length of follow-up (P = 0.001, 3 mm circle). In the eyes with a decrease in drusen volume, the magnitude of this decrease was dependent on the baseline drusen volume (P = 0.001, 3 mm circle) and independent of the follow-up interval. After 12 months, drusen volume increased in 48% of eyes, remained stable in 40%, and decreased in 12%. Conclusions: Imaging with SD-OCT revealed a dynamic, undulating growth pattern for drusen with a tendency for drusen to increase in volume and area over time. An appreciation of the quantitative changes in drusen volume over time using SD-OCT imaging provides a novel strategy for following normal disease progression and for identifying novel clinical trial end points to be used when investigating therapies for the treatment of nonexudative AMD. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of Cu contamination on RumexK-1 were studied using a pot trial. The results showed that the dry weight of leaves and roots did not change significantly under Cu stress when compared with CK (0 mg kg−1 Cu). Additionally, there was no difference in the amounts of chlorophylla, chlorophyllb, chlorophyll (a+b), and the chlorophylla/b ratio between the CK and Cu treatments. The Cu accumulated in leaves and roots, particularly in the roots, with more Cu accumulating in the plants at higher Cu concentrations in the soil. The proline and soluble protein contents in the leaves were more sensitive to Cu contamination than in the roots. Finally, Cu contamination significantly inhibited the acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, and peroxidase activities in the leaves. These results indicate that RumexK-1 is a plant that can accumulate Cu, exhibits some different metabolic mechanisms under Cu stress, and may be suitable for the phytoremediation of Cu contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To measure drusen area and volume in eyes with nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography imaging (SD-OCT). Design: Evaluation of diagnostic technology. Participants: One hundred three eyes from 74 patients with drusen. Methods: Patients with drusen secondary to nonexudative AMD were enrolled in this study. Five separate SD-OCT scans, each consisting of 40 000 uniformly spaced A-scans organized as 200 A-scans in each B-scan and 200 horizontal B-scans, were performed on each eye. Each scan covered a retinal area of 6×6 mm centered on the fovea. A novel algorithm was used to quantitatively assess drusen area and volume. Measurements from the entire scans, as well as in regions contained within 3- and 5-mm circles centered on the fovea, were analyzed. Test–retest standard deviations of drusen area and volume measurements were calculated for each eye. Main Outcome Measures: Drusen area and volume. Results: The algorithm created drusen maps that permitted both qualitative and quantitative assessment of drusen area and volume. Both the qualitative appearance and the quantitative measurements of drusen area and volume were highly reproducible over the 5 different datasets. The intraclass correlation coefficient was >0.99 for both area and volume measurements on the entire dataset as well as the 3- and 5-mm circles. The correlation between lesion size and the test–retest standard deviations can be eliminated by performing a square root transformation of the area measurements and a cube root transformation of the volume measurements. These transformed data allowed for the inclusion of all drusen sizes in the calculation of an estimated single pooled test–retest standard deviation, which will be useful for longitudinal studies of drusen natural history. Conclusions: A novel algorithm for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of drusen imaged using SD-OCT was shown to be highly reproducible. The ability to assess drusen volume reliably represents a new quantitative parameter to measure in AMD and may be useful when assessing disease progression, particularly in trials for treatments of nonexudative AMD. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Bombyx mori parvo-like virus ( BmPLV) has two complementary single-stranded DNA genome (VD1 and VD2) and owns a self-encoding DNA polymerase motif, but its replication mechanism is unclear . In our previous research, a protein encoded by VD1-ORF1 was indentified in the midgut of BmPLV China Zhenjiang isolate-( BmPLV-Z) infected silkworm larvae via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). This protein was named as non-structural protein 2 (NS2), which showed no similarity to that of parvoviruses. To date, little is known about it. In this study, sequence alignment results showed that NS2 shared homology with some chromosomal replication initiator protein dnaA and DNA-binding response regulators. The ns2 was cloned and expressed in E. coli, and then a polyclonal antibody of the NS2 protein was prepared successfully. The data from real-time quantitative PCR displayed that the transcription of VD1-ORF1 from BmPLV-Z-infected midguts started from 28-h post inoculation (h p.i.) in low amounts, but in high amounts at late stages of infection. Immunofluorescence showed that NS2 ultimately concentrated on the nuclear membrane in BmN cells at late stages, indicating that NS2 might be associated with integral membrane protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Ureteropelvic junction obstruction is a common cause of end-stage pediatric nephropathy. Our aim was to investigate whether in utero decompression can influence its development. Methods: A silastic tube was tied around the superior segment of the left ureter to cause partial unilateral obstruction in 22 fetal lambs at 75-85 days of gestation. Three weeks later, tubes were removed in 10 of the fetuses. A single sham procedure was performed on 4 control fetuses. Intravenous pyelography (IVP) and pathological evaluations were conducted in obstructed, decompressed and control subjects. Results: IVP revealed damaged renal function in obstructed subjects. Macroscopically, obstructed kidneys were larger but weighed less and had thinned parenchyma. Microscopy revealed cortical cysts of various sizes and interstitial fibrosis. The number of glomeruli was markedly decreased. In contrast, decompressed kidneys were visualized during IVP, and pathological changes were greatly ameliorated. Conclusions: Relief of obstruction in utero seems to prevent or attenuate development of nephropathy in lambs. Clinical application of this procedure should proceed with caution until further data are obtained. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]