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Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects individuals across their lifespan. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial for improving outcomes. However, current diagnostic methods are often time-consuming, subjective, and costly, making them inaccessible to many families. In this study, we aimed to investigate the use of parent-child interaction as a potential screening tool for identifying children with ASD. Methods We recruited 85 preschool ASD children with development delay (DD), ASD children without DD and typically developing (TD) children, along with their caregivers, to engage in parent-child interaction while simultaneously recording EEG and video signals. Results We found that the behavioral indicators of both ASD groups were worse than TD group and correlated with the severity of the symptoms of ASD. Both theta and alpha band PSD values increased in both ASD groups compared to TD children, primarily correlated with social behavior rather than IQ level. Conclusion Our results verified the behavioral paradigm of parent-child interaction as an efficient method for identifying children with ASD, further validated by the PSD of alpha and theta bands.

Sugarcane is the most important sugar crop, contributing ≥80% to total sugar production around the world. Spodoptera frugiperda is one of the main pests of sugarcane, potentially causing severe yield and sugar loss. The identification of key defense factors against S. frugiperda herbivory can provide targets for improving sugarcane resistance to insect pests by molecular breeding. In this work, we used one of the main sugarcane pests, S. frugiperda, as the tested insect to attack sugarcane. Integrated transcriptome and metabolomic analyses were performed to explore the changes in gene expression and metabolic processes that occurred in sugarcane leaf after continuous herbivory by S. frugiperda larvae for 72 h. The transcriptome analysis demonstrated that sugarcane pest herbivory enhanced several herbivory-induced responses, including carbohydrate metabolism, secondary metabolites and amino acid metabolism, plant hormone signaling transduction, pathogen responses, and transcription factors. Further metabolome analysis verified the inducement of specific metabolites of amino acids and secondary metabolites by insect herbivory. Finally, association analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome by the Pearson correlation coefficient method brought into focus the target defense genes against insect herbivory in sugarcane. These genes include amidase and lipoxygenase in amino acid metabolism, peroxidase in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and pathogenesis-related protein 1 in plant hormone signal transduction. A putative regulatory model was proposed to illustrate the sugarcane defense mechanism against insect attack. This work will accelerate the dissection of the mechanism underlying insect herbivory in sugarcane and provide targets for improving sugarcane variety resistance to insect herbivory by molecular breeding.

Both UV and blue light have been reported to regulate the biosynthesis of flavonoids in tea plants; however, the respective contributions of the corresponding regions of sunlight are unclear. Additionally, different tea cultivars may respond differently to altered light conditions. We investigated the responses of different cultivars (‘Longjing 43’, ‘Zhongming 192’, ‘Wanghai 1’, ‘Jingning 1’ and ‘Zhonghuang 2’) to the shade treatments (black and colored nets) regarding the biosynthesis of flavonoids. For all cultivars, flavonol glycosides showed higher sensitivity to light conditions compared with catechins. The levels of total flavonol glycosides in the young shoots of different tea cultivars decreased with the shade percentages of polyethylene nets increasing from 70% to 95%. Myricetin glycosides and quercetin glycosides were more sensitive to light conditions than kaempferol glycosides. The principal component analysis (PCA) result indicated that shade treatment greatly impacted the profiles of flavonoids in different tea samples based on the cultivar characteristics. UV is the crucial region of sunlight enhancing flavonol glycoside biosynthesis in tea shoots, which is also slight impacted by light quality according to the results of the weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA). This study clarified the contributions of different wavelength regions of sunlight in a field experiment, providing a potential direction for slightly bitter and astringent tea cultivar breeding and instructive guidance for practical field production of premium teas based on light regimes.

Explosions, such as a bomb explosion and a gas explosion, can cause catastrophic damage on the buildings. In fact, an explosion may result in large dynamic loads, greater than the original design loads, of many structures. Two RC specimens were tested under explosive loading. The first specimen was used as a control for the experiment, while the other was retrofitted with 6 near surface mounted (NSM) Carbon FRP strips on each face. Both specimens were subjected to a 60g Pentolite at stand off distances of 0.6m. The aim of this experiment was to observe and compare the behavior of the two specimens, and their ability to resist blast loads respectively. Of particular interest was the response of the retrofitted RC specimens NSM Carbon FRP. The experimental results showed that NSM retrofitting with Carbon FRP is an effective way to provide extra strength when retrofitting against blast loading.

List The active of MgO was produced from magnesite tailings under certain conditions. The effect of calcinations temperature on the crystal structure of MgO was analyzed by XRD and SEM. Crystal particle of MgO was calculated according to Scherrer formula. The microstructural differences between the MgO agglomerates were examined by SEM at different temperatures. The activity of MgO was evaluated though conductivity which was measured by the conductivity meter. The activity of MgO effected by calcinations temperature was studied. The result showed that magnesite tailings was fully decomposed when that was calcined for 60min with the calcinations temperature of 1050°C, and the activity of MgO was very high. Established a hydration and expansion model of MgO is proposed to explain the activity of MgO.

To offer or predict the shear strength of compacted lime stabilized expansive soils after long-term immersion for the slope analysis, the paper carried out direct shear test on the compacted stabilized expansive soils after different immersion time. The test results show that long-term immersion has significant impact on the shear strength of the lime stabilized expansive soils, the shear strength reduced sharply after soaking, but the shear strength tends to a stable value about 60%~70% normal strength while soaking is longer than 50 days. Logarithm model can well fitted the sketch of φ, c and immersion times within 50 days, which may be used to predict the shear strength of the stabilized expansive soils quickly.

To offer or predict the shear strength of stabilized expansive soils after cyclic wetting and drying for the slope analysis, the paper carried out direct shear test on the stabilized expansive soils after different times of cyclic wetting and drying. The test results show: The first 3-5 times of cyclic wetting and drying will cause the shear strength decreased sharply, and after about 7-9 times of cycle, the shear strength will trend to a stable value, which is about 40-60% of the normal strength before the cycles. Logarithm model can well fitted the variation of the shear strength and the times of cyclic, so the shear strength index can be predicted by using the models which was established according to the test results.

With the development of the reform and opening and the market economy in China, numerous small-medium construction enterprises (SMCEs) gained many developing opportunities and challenges which never appeared before. To most SMCEs, they should continuously cultivate their core competitiveness, if they want to win wider space for development. Facing developing chances and challenges, they should also set a novel principle of management, involve special operation and coordination, and constantly absorb developing powers from innovation.

The research of large amplitude vibration of simply supported beams can be dated back to 1950; many achievements and some evolution were accomplished by many researchers over hundred and fifty years. The development of nonlinear vibration formulations for beams has gone through distinct phases–earlier continuum solutions, development of appropriate forms, extra-variational simplifications, debate and discussions, variationally correct formulations and finally applications. A review of work in each of these phases is very necessary in order to have a complete understanding of the process of evolution of this field. This paper attempts to achieve precisely this objective.

For the analysis and design of RC structures, there is a fundamental assumption that the strain in an embedded reinforcing bar is the same as that in the surrounding concrete. Therefore, bond forces must be developed on the interface between concrete and steel, such as to prevent significant slip from occurring at the interface. An end anchorage may be considered reliable if the bar is embedded in to concrete a prescribed distance known as the development length of the bar. If in the beam the actual extended length of a bar is equal to or greater than this required development length, no premature bond failure will occur. Research has indicated that the development length was influenced by tensile strength of concrete, surface and diameter of bar, cover distance, bar spacing, transverse reinforcement, and other factors. Current design methods in different countries’ Codes, attentions are directed toward providing adequate length of embedment, which will ensure development of the full strength of the bar.

Recycled fine concrete aggregate can not be directly used for concrete for its large water absorption, so we get recycled concrete powder through grinding process, and carried out series experimental studies on the recycled concrete powder. The results show that the technical parameters of recycled concrete powder can achieve the requirements of S95 grade slag powder. The slump constant of recycled concrete mixed with recycled concrete powder is slightly less than slag concrete,while cohesiveness and water retention is better than slag concrete. Replace slag powder with recycled concrete powder, the recycled concrete has high early strength but post-intensity does not change significantly. Recycled concrete powder replacement slag powder does not reduce the impermeability, frost resistance and carbonation resistance of recycled concrete. The conclusion shows that recycled concrete powder can completely replace slag powder in concrete to realize full efficiency reuse of waste concrete.

An explosion is defined as a large-scale, rapid and sudden release of energy. Explosions, such as a bomb explosion within or immediately nearby a building and a gas-chemical explosion, can cause catastrophic damage on the building's frames, collapsing of walls, blowing out of large expanses of windows, and shutting down of critical life-safety systems. In fact, an explosion may result in large dynamic loads, greater than the original design loads, of many structures. Blast phenomenon and blast efforts have been made during the past several decades to develop methods of structural analysis and design to resist blast loads. The analysis and design of structures subjected to blast loads require a detailed understanding of blast phenomena and the dynamic response of various structural elements. This paper introduces different methods to estimate blast loads, also presents a comprehensive overview of the effects of explosion on RC structures.

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR was employed to analyze the genetic diversity within 89 Saccharum spontaneum accessions collected from five different ecological regions of Guangxi Province, China. Of the 87 bands generated by nine RAPD primers, 96.6% were polymorphic. A substantial degree of genetic diversity was found among the locally collected S. spontaneum accessions. Pairwise genetic distance coefficients between accessions ranged from 8.6% (between accessions 87-10 and Yunge ③) to 74.2% (between accessions 87-31 and 85-53) with an average of 39.9%. Based on these genetic distance coefficients, the 89 S. spontaneum accessions were clustered into four groups irrespective of their ecological regions using the Cluster program of SAS (V8) software. Information from the present study would be useful for the conservation of locally collected S. spontaneum germplasm and exploitation of its genetic potential during sugarcane crossing program.

The ground-state phase transition of the quantum double-well model is studied by virtue of Dirac's time-dependent variational principle together with a Hartree-type many-body trial wave function for the particles. The single-particle state is taken to be a Jackiw–Kerman wave function. We derive an effective classical Hamiltonian for the system, and coupled equations of particle's expectation values and quantum fluctuations for the ground state. It is shown clearly that the ground state transits from broken symmetric phase to restored symmetric phase as the quantum fluctuations renormalize the substrate potential from effective double-well potential to effective single-well potential. We obtain quantitatively the phase diagram, the quantum fluctuations and the energy of the ground state, respectively.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) first appeared in 2002 in China, which fastly affected about 8000 patients over 29 countries and caused 774 fatalities. As its pathogen was identified as a new kind of coronavirus (SARS_CoV), its genome was quickly sequenced on several isolates. Studies on its functional genomics were performed by combinatorial application of all the available bioinformatics tools and the development of new programs. In this way, it was found that the four proteins were absolutely responsible for nosogenesis of SARS, i.e. spike (S) protein; small envelop (E) protein; membrane (M) protein; and nucleocaspid (N) protein. Molecular evolution studies have revealed that SARS must be originated from wild animals, and it was demonstrated that the major genetic variations in some critical genes, particularly the Spike gene, was essential for the transition from animal-to-human transmission to human-to-human transmission. Theoretical models, either Logistic model or SIR model, were developed to describe the transmission of SARS. The recorded difference of SARS spreading in Beijing and Hong Kong was also reasonably analyzed according to these models. The whole process of fruitful bioinformatics studies, along with other related scientific investigations have set up an unprecedented paradigm for human of how to battle against sudden-breaking and catastrophic epidemics.

Bioinformatics is a dynamic research area in which a large number of algorithms and programs have been developed rapidly and independently without much consideration so far of the need for standardization. The lack of such common standards combined with unfriendly interfaces make it difficult for biologists to learn how to use these tools and to translate the data formats from one to another. Consequently, the construction of an integrative bioinformatics platform to facilitate biologists’ research is an urgent and challenging task. KDE Bioscience is a java-based software platform that collects a variety of bioinformatics tools and provides a workflow mechanism to integrate them. Nucleotide and protein sequences from local flat files, web sites, and relational databases can be entered, annotated, and aligned. Several home-made or 3rd-party viewers are built-in to provide visualization of annotations or alignments. KDE Bioscience can also be deployed in client-server mode where simultaneous execution of the same workflow is supported for multiple users. Moreover, workflows can be published as web pages that can be executed from a web browser. The power of KDE Bioscience comes from the integrated algorithms and data sources. With its generic workflow mechanism other novel calculations and simulations can be integrated to augment the current sequence analysis functions. Because of this flexible and extensible architecture, KDE Bioscience makes an ideal integrated informatics environment for future bioinformatics or systems biology research.

The activities of cellulase, α-amylase, and acid protease in ethanol + water at elevated CO2 pressure were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the operating conditions of under 30% (mass percent) ethanol concentration and lower than 35 °C were quite suitable for cellulase−ethanol−water systems using high-pressure CO2, but α-amylase treated with high-pressure CO2 was liable to denature. The results also showed that it was suitable to precipitate acid protease in high-pressure CO2 (upward 6.86 MPa) within a wide range of ethanol concentration (upward 50%) and temperature (under 60 °C).

Semantic search is a key issue in integration of heterogeneous biological databases. In this paper, we present a methodology for implementing semantic search in BioDW, an integrated biological data warehouse. Two tables are presented: the DB2GO table to correlate Gene Ontology (GO) annotated entries from BioDW data sources with GO, and the semantic similarity table to record similarity scores derived from any pair of GO terms. Based on the two tables, multifarious ways for semantic search are provided and the corresponding entries in heterogeneous biological databases in semantic terms can be expediently searched.

Sixty-one SARS coronavirus genomic sequences derived from the early, middle, and late phases of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic were analyzed together with two viral sequences from palm civets. Genotypes characteristic of each phase were discovered, and the earliest genotypes were similar to the animal SARS-like coronaviruses. Major deletions were observed in the Orf8 region of the genome, both at the start and the end of the epidemic. The neutral mutation rate of the viral genome was constant but the amino acid substitution rate of the coding sequences slowed during the course of the epidemic. The spike protein showed the strongest initial responses to positive selection pressures, followed by subsequent purifying selection and eventual stabilization.

Incubation of thylakoid membranes from spinach with low concentrations of mercuric chloride induces the loss of one of the iron-sulfur centers, FB, in Photosystem I (PS I) and inhibits the electron transfer from PS I to the soluble electron carrier, ferredoxin. Reconstitution of this damaged iron-sulfur center has been carried out by incubating treated thylakoid membranes with exogenous FeCl3 and Na2S in the presence ofβ-mercaptoethanol under anaerobic conditions. Low temperature EPR measurements indicate that center FB is largely restored. Kinetic experiments show that the restored FB can be photoreduced from P700. However, these reconstituted thylakoid membranes are still incompetent in the photoreduction of ferredoxin and NADP(+), even though ferredoxin binding to the modified membranes was not impaired, indicating additional changes in the structure of the PS I complex must have occurred.

Prolonged illumination of the isolated Photosystem II reaction centre under aerobic conditions causes a selective photodestruction of chlorophyll which absorbs maximally at 680 nm. Concomitant with this effect is a loss of photochemical activity. When oxygen is absent, the reaction centre is no longer damaged by illumination. Protection of the 680 nm absorbing chlorophyll against photodamage and maintenance of photochemical activity can also be achieved if silicomolybdate (SiMo) is present as an electron acceptor, although in this case there is an irreversible bleaching at 670 nm, whether oxygen is present or not. We therefore suggest that there are two chlorophyll species in the reaction centre absorbing at 670 nm and 680 nm, respectively. The latter we attribute to the primary donor P680 and the former to an accessory chlorophyll. It seems highly likely that in the absence of SiMo but under aerobic conditions, the photodestruction of P680 involves singlet oxygen generated from the P680 triplet. When SiMo is present the yield of the triplet is significantly reduced (Nugent, J.H.A., Telfer, A., Demetriou, C. and Barber, J. (1989) FEBS Lett. 255, 53–58) due to electron transfer to the acceptor and thus this mode of photodegradation is reduced. However, the accumulation of P680+ when SiMo is present facilitates the oxidation of the accessory 670 nm chlorophyll which seems to result in its photodestruction by a mechanism not involving oxygen.

Background Several high-throughput searches for ppotential natural antisense transcripts (NATs) have been performed recently, but most of the reports were focused on cis type. A thorough in silico analysis of human transcripts will help expand our knowledge of NATs. Results We have identified 568 NATs from human RefSeq RNA sequences. Among them, 403 NATs are reported for the first time, and at least 157 novel NATs are trans type. According to the pairing region of a sense and antisense RNA pair, hNATs are divided into 6 classes, of which about 87% involve 5' or 3' UTR sequences, supporting the regulatory role of UTRs. Among a total of 535 NAT pairs related with splice variants, 77.4% (414/535) have their pairing regions affected or completely eliminated by alternative splicing, suggesting significant relationship of alternative splicing and antisense-directed regulation. The extensive occurrence of splice variants in hNATs and other multiple pairing patterns results in a one-to-many relationship, allowing the formation of complex regulation networks. Based on microarray data from Stanford Microarray Database, two hNAT pairs were found to display significant inverse expression patterns before and after insulin injection. Conclusion NATs might carry out more extensive and complex functions than previously thought. Combined with endogenous micro RNAs, hNATs could be regarded as a special group of transcripts contributing to the complex regulation networks.

The genomic sequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses from human and palm civet of the 2003/2004 outbreak in the city of Guangzhou, China, were nearly identical. Phylogenetic analysis suggested an independent viral invasion from animal to human in this new episode. Combining all existing data but excluding singletons, we identified 202 single-nucleotide variations. Among them, 17 are polymorphic in palm civets only. The ratio of nonsynonymous/synonymous nucleotide substitution in palm civets collected 1 yr apart from different geographic locations is very high, suggesting a rapid evolving process of viral proteins in civet as well, much like their adaptation in the human host in the early 2002–2003 epidemic. Major genetic variations in some critical genes, particularly the Spike gene, seemed essential for the transition from animal-to-human transmission to human-to-human transmission, which eventually caused the first severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak of 2002/2003.

Summary: We design and implement an integrated database system called 'multi-protein survey system' (MPSS), which provides a platform to retrieve information about many proteins at a time. This system integrates several important and widely used databases including SwissProt, TrEMBL, PDB and InterPro, plus useful references such as GO and KEGG to other databases. Users may submit a group of protein IDs, entry names, SwissProt/TrEMBL accession numbers or GenBank GIs through MPSS' web interface, and obtain protein annotation information from public databases and pre-computed molecular properties speedily. MPSS can also supply comprehensive information about query proteins, including 3D structures, domains, pathway, gene ontology and visual presentation of mapping to the GO tree and KEGG pathway, to provide an up-to-date view of available knowledge with regard to the structures and molecular functions of proteins under study. Availability: MPSS is freely accessible at http://www.scbit.org/mpss/ Contact:yangzhong@fudan.edu.cn, yxli@sibs.ac.cn

The newly reported 9-kDa polypeptide in photosystem I [(1991) FEBS Lett. 280, 332–334) is an extrinsic component located on the lumenal side of the thylakoid membrane. This subunit can be solubilized with high salt buffer and does not bind any cofactors. The photosystem I electron transfer chain remains intact and functional in the absence of this component as characterized by the photoreduction of NADP*.

Zoledronic acid (Zometa, ZOL) and cytotoxic chemotherapy agents have been reported to have synergistic antitumor activities. However, there is limited data on the effects of combination therapies on the development of bone metastasis in animal models of lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to establish a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line with high bone metastatic potential in an immunodeficient mouse model and to evaluate the synergistic inhibitory activity of zoledronate and paclitaxel (P) on bone metastasis in nude mice. A human lung adenocarcinoma cell line with high bone metastatic potential (SPC-A1-BM) was established by 10 rounds of in vivo selection. Cells were inoculated into the cardiac ventricle of NIH-BNX mice, which were treated 8 days later with: ZOL (0.2 mg/kg s.c. twice weekly) alone, P (6.0 mg/kg every week, i.p.) alone, P + ZOL, or vehicle (10 mice per group). Tumor growth was evaluated with bone scans, X-rays and in situ immunohistochemistry. Serum n-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTX) was measured by ELISA. Survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Bone scan, radiographic and histological assessments revealed fewer bone metastases in all treatment groups vs. vehicle, with P + ZOL significantly reducing the incidence of bone metastases detected by bone scans (P=0.020) and X-rays (P=0.036). A histological analysis revealed marginal differences in the number of bone metastases between P + ZOL and vehicle (P=0.058). There was a trend towards differences in survival between the groups (P=0.1511) and survival was significantly longer for the P + ZOL group vs. vehicle (P=0.022). Compared with vehicle and ZOL alone, cancerous cells in the bone of mice treated with P + ZOL expressed higher levels of Bax and lower levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. ZOL produced a trend towards reduced NTX levels vs. vehicle and P + ZOL produced a profound reduction in NTX vs. vehicle (P=0.022). The results of this study indicated that zoledronate enhanced the efficacy of paclitaxel synergistically, by reducing the incidence of bone metastasis from lung cancer and prolonging survival in a mouse model of non-small cell lung cancer with a high potential for metastasis to bone.

The secondary structure of the photosystem II (PSII) reaction center isolated from pea chloroplasts has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Spectra were recorded in aqueous buffers containing H2O or D2O; the detergent present for most measurements was dodecyl maltoside. The broad amide I and amide II bands were analyzed by using second-derivative and deconvolution procedures. Absorption bands were assigned to the presence of alpha-helices, beta-sheets, turns, or random structure. Quantitative analysis revealed that this complex contained a high proportion of alpha-helices (67%) and some antiparallel beta-sheets (9%) and turns (11%). An irreversible decrease in the intensity of the band associated with the alpha-helices occurs upon exposure of the isolated PSII reaction center to bright illumination. This loss of alpha-helical content gave rise to an increase in other secondary structures, particularly beta-sheets. After similar pretreatment with light, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis reveals lower mobility and solubility of constituent D1 and D2 polypeptides of the PSII reaction center. Some degradation of these polypeptides also occurs. In contrast, there is no change in the mobility of the two subunits of cytochrome b559. In the absence of illumination, the PSII reaction center exchanged into dodecyl maltoside shows good thermal stability as compared with samples in Triton X-100. Only at a temperature of about 60 degrees C do spectral changes take place that are indicative of denaturation.

Using the perturbation method and by means of a general mathematics technique similar to the variation of constant, we present mainly some relative oscillation solution for the damping Sine-Gordon equation under certain conditions. And at the end of this paper, we give two so-called critical speeds of traveling wave. There is an interesting relationship about value and ordering of the two critical speeds.