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Sitobion avenae (F.) and Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) are two important pests of wheat in China. They typically coexist in fields during the late period of wheat growth. Sulfoxaflor is a novel sulfoximine insecticide that demonstrates broad-spectrum efficacy, especially in targeting sap-feeding insects. This study was carried out to investigate the sublethal effects of sulfoxaflor on the development, longevity, and reproduction of two species of wheat aphids. Our results showed that sublethal concentrations of sulfoxaflor did not cause significant effects on the fecundity or the longevity of the parent generation (F0 generation) of either S. avenae or R. padi. However, it caused transgenerational sublethal effects. For S. avenae, adult longevity of F1 generation was significantly decreased. No significant differences were observed on the population parameters of S. avenae in the F1 generation. For R. padi, the adult preoviposition period (APOP) and the total preoviposition period (TPOP) of F1 generation were significantly reduced. The mean generation time (T) was significantly reduced in the R. padi F1 generation. What's more, the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) and the finite rate of increase (λ) were significantly increased in the R. padi F1 generation. Taken together, these results suggest that exposure to the LC25 of sulfoxafl had no effects on the parent generation of S. avenae or R. padi, but it reduced adult longevity of S. avenae as a negative effect and increased the rm and λ of R. padi in the first progeny generation, which may have an impact on the population dynamics of R. padi.

Collagen (COL) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) are the major components of bone, therefore, COL-HAp composites have been widely used as bone substitutes to promote bone regeneration. We have reported that HAp-CaO fibers (HANFs), which were fabricated by a sol-gel route followed by an electrospinning technique, possessed good drug-loading efficiency and limited the burst release of tetracycline. In the present study, we used HANF fragments to evaluate the effects of COL-HANF scaffolds on MG63 osteoblast-like cell behaviors. COL-HANF composite scaffolds in which the average diameter of HANFs was approximately 461 &plusmn, 186 nm were fabricated by a freeze-drying process. The alkaline phosphatase activity and the protein expression levels of OCN and BSP showed that compared with COL alone, the COL-HANF scaffold promoted the differentiation of MG63 osteoblast-like cells. In addition, the bone regeneration ability of the COL-HANF scaffold was examined by using a rabbit condylar defect model in vivo. The COL-HANF scaffold was biodegradable and promoted bone regeneration eight weeks after the operation. Hence, we concluded that the COL-HANF scaffold has potential as a bone graft for bone tissue engineering.

The objective of this study was to verify the feasibility of electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water as a mouthwash through the evaluation of its in vivo toxicity by embryonic zebrafish and antimicrobial efficacy against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). Methodology: Each 1.5&ndash, 3.0 g of sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium bromide (NaBr), or calcium chloride (CaCl2) were added into an electrolyzer with 300 mL of DD water to produce electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water. A zebrafish embryo assay was used to evaluate acute toxicity of specimens. Antimicrobial property was conducted with 100 &mu, L microbial count of 1 &times, 108 cfu/mL S. mutans to blend with each 10 mL specimen of chlorhexidine (CHX) gluconate or hypochlorous acid (HOCl) for various time points. The concentration of viable microorganisms was assessed according to individually standardized inoculum by a plate-count method. Results: Among the EO water produced from NaCl, NaBr, and CaCl2, the EO water from NaCl showed a relatively low mortality rate of zebrafish embryos and was chosen for a detailed investigation. The mortality rates for the groups treated with EO water containing 0.0125% and 0.0250% HOCl were not statically different from those of a negative control, however the mortality rate was 66.7 &plusmn, 26.2% in 0.2% CHX gluconate for the same treatment time of 0.5 min. All of the HOCl or 2.0% CHX gluconate groups showed &gt, 99.9% antimicrobial effectiveness against S. mutans, while the 0.2% CHX gluconate group showed a bacterial reduction rate of 87.5% and 97.1% for treatment times of 0.5 min and 1.0 min, respectively. Conclusions: Except for the 0.2% CHX gluconate, all the HOCl specimens and 2.0% CHX gluconate revealed similar antimicrobial properties (&gt, 99.9%) against S. mutans. The EO water comprised of both 0.0125% and 0.0250% HOCl showed &gt, 99.9% antimicrobial efficacy but with little in vivo toxicity, illuminating the possibility as an alternative mouthwash for dental and oral care.

Poly(&epsilon, caprolactone) (PCL) membranes have been widely used in guided tissue regeneration (GTR) and guided bone regeneration (GBR). In addition, hydroxyapatite is the major inorganic component and an essential composition of hard bone and teeth. Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated that strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite (SrHA) not only enhances osteogenesis but also inhibits adipogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells. Therefore, SrHA incorporated into PCL could be an alternative material for GBR. In this study, strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite nanofibers (SrHANFs) were fabricated by a sol&ndash, gel route followed by electrospinning. We then fabricated PCL&ndash, SrHANF membranes as cell culture substrates and assessed the cellular behavior of osteoblast-like cells. Based on the observations of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, bone sialoprotein (BSP) and osteocalcin (OCN) immunofluorescence staining, and Alizarin Red-S staining of cells cultured on the PCL&ndash, SrHANF and PCL membranes, we concluded that SrHANFs can promote the differentiation and mineralization of osteoblast-like cells and that PCL&ndash, SrHANF membranes have potential for GBR applications.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is the main inorganic component and an essential part of hard bone and teeth. Due to its excellent biocompatibility, bioactivity, and osteoconductivity, synthetic HAp has been widely used as a bone substitute, cell carrier, and therapeutic gene or drug carrier. Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated that strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite (SrHAp) not only enhances osteogenesis but also inhibits adipogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells. Mesoporous SrHAp has been successfully synthesized via a traditional template-based process and has been found to possess better drug loading and release efficiencies than SrHAp. In this study, strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite-CaO-CaCO3 nanofibers with a mesoporous structure (mSrHANFs) were fabricated using a sol&ndash, gel method followed by electrospinning. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the contents of CaO and CaCO3 in the mSrHANFs decreased as the doping amount of Sr increased. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the average diameter of the mSrHANFs was approximately 200~300 nm. The N2 adsorption&ndash, desorption isotherms demonstrated that the mSrHANFs possessed a mesoporous structure and that the average pore size was approximately 20~25 nm. Moreover, the mSrHANFs had excellent drug- loading efficiency and could retard the burst release of tetracycline (TC) to maintain antibacterial activity for over 3 weeks. Hence, mSrHANFs have the potential to be used as drug carriers in bone tissue engineering.

CarethecorrespondingupperlimitandthebestestimationfortheA1F1emissionsscenario(thehighemissionsscenario). Therefore,therangeofthewarm-ing values from IPCC AR4 just re°ects the model’sresponsetovariousdesignedemissionsscenarios. Theprojected value for each scenario is the average ofmulti-modelensemble. Atotalof23modelsfromtheclimateresearchcentersaroundtheglobeareincludedintheensemble. Thenumberofparticipatedmodelsisdifierentforsometimeintervalsandscenarios. Formostofintervals, theresultsareavailableonlyfrom16{17 models. The projected values for warming inIPCCAR4arebasedonthemulti-modelmean,whichre°ectsthebestestimation. Calculatedstandardde-viationshowsthespreadamongthemodels.Therefore,thewiderangeofglobalwarmingpro-jection largely represents the difierences among theemissions scenarios rather than the real uncertaintyinclimatemodels. AsmentionedinIPCCAR4, be-sides projecting greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions,foragivenGHGsemissionstherearestillerrorslead-ing to uncertainty in climate projection. These er-rorsaremanifestedbytheconcentrationofGHGsinthe atmosphere, its radiative forcing and the conse-quent climate changes. In IPCC AR4, the uncer-tainty in climate projection is deflned as a measurethatindicatesourlackofunderstandingoffuturecli-mateconditions[IPCC,2007]. Generally, theuncer-tainties come from lack of information or disagree-ment of knowledge. For example, they can be de-rivedfromdataqualitycontrol, misunderstandingofconcepts, and even inaccurate estimation of futurehuman activity. The uncertainty can be quantifled,for example, through a tunable parameter in vari-ousmodels,orqualitativelydescribed,throughasub-jective discussion made by a group of professionals.Charney et al. [1979]inhispioneeringworkflrstin-dicatedthatglobalmeantemperaturecouldincrease(3§1.5)

Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) is usually defined as the global mean equilibrium temperature response to a doubling CO2 concentration of its preindustrial level in the atmosphere [Hegerl et al., 2007; Meehl et al., 2007]. The pre-industrial concentration of CO2 is generally accepted to be 280×10 −6 and the doubled concentration was considered to be 560×10 accordingly in early studies. New studies tend to use 600×10 instead to stand for the doubled concentration of CO2 around 1900 AD. The initial values of ECS estimated by professionals [Charney et al., 1979], including those reported in IPCC FAR [Mitchell et al., 1990], SAR [Kattenberg et al., 1996] and TAR [Cubasch et al., 2001], were in the range of (3±1.5)◦C or 1.5–4.5◦C. Since IPCC TAR, great many efforts have been made to re-examine the ranges of ECS. As a result, IPCC AR4 [Meehl et al., 2007] offered a comprehensive discussions on this issue and proposed the range of ECS to be 2.0–4.5◦C, which was slightly narrower than previous estimations. Figure 1, derived from IPCC AR4, shows the probability density function of ECS from 10 studies, among which the first 7 results [Forster and Gregory, 2006; Frame et al., 2005; Knutti et al., 2002; Andronova and Schlesinger, 2001; Forest et al., 2002; 2006; Gregory et al., 2002] were from observation-constrained simulations and the other 3 results [Hegerl et al., 2006; von Schneider et al., 2006; Annan et al., 2005] came from Last Glacial Maximum(LGM) and millennia-scale proxy data constrained simulations. It is evident in Figure 1 that the spread of the probability density functions differs widely with the peaks of the curves ranging from around 0.2 to above 0.6 and the broadness of the curves also varies greatly while the mean values of ECS are at 2.0–3.5◦C, which are often greater than the most likely values of ECS (corresponding to the peaks of the probability curves). If should be noted that the uncertainty in estimated ECS mainly comes from the different sources of data that used to constrain the models. The observations with centennial length and LGM proxys were

The controversy between the IPCC and Non-governmental IPCC (NIPCC) on the attribution of global warming are reviewed. IPCC holds that today’s global warming is mainly due to anthropogenic activities rather than natural variability, which is emphasized by NIPCC. The surface temperature observations since the mid-20th century support the hypothesis of anthropogenic impact, but for the last one hundred years or so, natural forcings such as solar activity, volcanic eruptions and thermohaline circulation variations also have had great influences on the Earth’s climate, especially on inter-decadal timescales. In addition, evidence suggests that the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and Little Ice Age (LIA) are closely associated with the solar activity over the past 1 thousand years. Over the past 10 thousand years, the North Atlantic cold events and solar activity are closely correlated. Nevertheless, the physical mechanisms of the solar-climate variability and interrelation are not well understood, yet. Notably, a prevailing view recently indicates that galactic cosmic rays may result in climatic cooling through modulating global low cloud cover. However, its process and mechanism need to be further investigated. Citation Huang, J.-B., S.-W. Wang, Y. Luo, et al., 2012: Debates on the causes of global warming. Adv. Clim. Change Res., 3(1), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2012.00038.

The planetary wave response to global warming with single forcing of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is investigated in this study by using a total of 11 model results that anticipated CMIP3 4×CO2 experiments. It is shown that the amplitudes of the planetary wave fluxes over Siberia, the Eastern North Pacific, and the North Atlantic decrease by approximately –10% to –30% in the warming context. In particular, the vertical wave flux over the Eastern North Pacific significantly decreases by –28.6%. The weakening of the planetary waves is partly associated with the decreased land-sea thermal contrast, which may be caused by the radiation effect of CO2 and the different surface heat capacities of land and sea. The present work provides a clear understanding of the responses of planetary waves to GHGs forcing.

Global warming is unequivocal, as is manifested in three internationally known global temperature records with the global average temperature rising at a rate of 0.70–0.75◦C per 100 years during 1910–2009 [Wen et al., 2011]. In other words, the earth has warmed more than 0.8◦C since the Industrial Revolution. If it is true that 2◦C above pre-industrial level is a threshold of climate “safety”, we will have to confront a serious situation where less than 1.2◦C warming is permissible in the future [Liu et al., 2011]. According to climate system concept [Wang, 2011], the global warming is not only reflected in global temperature change but also in changes of other climate system components, such as widespread melting of snow and ice, rising of global average sea level, and permafrost degradation [IPCC, 2007]. Due to its great influences and potential risks on the society, global warming now attains more and more concerns from governments, scientists and public media. Today, global warming becomes one of the most important issues, which must be taken into consideration in strategic decision making of national development. As a scientific issue, however, global warming has been studied for almost 200 years [Mitchell, 2002; Cullen, 2011]. And it now has evolved as an independent discipline closely associated with meteorology, oceanography and environmental sciences. In order to review the development of global warming concisely, in this paper, we shall only focus on the science of global warming itself, excluding impacts, adaptation and policy associated with global warming. In 2011, Archer and Pierrehumbert [2011] compiled the previous studies on the global warming and added their brief comments. This work offered a great foundation for further investigating global warming. In order to understand global warming systematically and comprehensively, we summarize ten essential issues based on the five cornerstone literatures from Archer’s compilation together with four IPCC Assessment Reports and the First World Climate Conference. These ten issues will be reviewed as follows. Greenhouse effect Joseph Fourier was the first scientist argued for the greenhouse effect in 1824 [Archer and Pierrehumbert, 2011]. The earth receives energy from the sun and re-radiates to outer space. Calculations based on the planetary energy balance indicate that the temperature of the earth is much lower than 0◦C as opposed to the observation of 14◦C. This discrepancy is believed to be produced by the atmosphere, which traps more long-wave radiation from earth surface and keeps the earth warmer. A mechanism named greenhouse effect is proposed to describe this process. Greenhouse gases An Irish scientist Tyndall in 1849 verified through his designed experiments that CO2 has greenhouse effect on earth’s climate [Tyndall, 1861]. He was the first to correctly measure the relative infrared absorptive powers of the gases including

Hydroxyapatite (HAp), a major inorganic and essential component of normal bone and teeth, is a promising biomaterial due to its excellent biocompatibility, bioactivity, and osteoconductivity. Therefore, synthetic HAp has been widely used as a bone substitute, cell carrier, and delivery carrier of therapeutic genes or drugs. Mesoporous materials have attracted considerable attention due to their relatively high surface area, large pore volume, high porosity, and tunable pore size. Recently, mesoporous HAp has also been successfully synthesized by the traditional template-based process and has been demonstrated to possess better drug-loading and release efficiencies than traditional HAp. It is widely accepted that cell adhesion and most cellular activities, including spreading, migration, proliferation, gene expression, surface antigen display, and cytoskeletal functioning, are sensitive to the topography and molecular composition of the matrix. The native extracellular matrix is a porous, nanofibrous structure. The major focus of this study is the fabrication of porous hydroxyapatite-CaO composite nanofibers (p-HApFs) and the investigation of its drug-release property. In this study, nanofibers were prepared by the sol-gel route and an electrospinning technique to mimic the three-dimensional structure of the natural extracellular matrix. We analyzed the components of fibers using X-ray diffraction and determined the morphology of fibers using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The average diameter of the nanofibers was approximately 461 &plusmn, 186 nm. The N2 adsorption&ndash, desorption isotherms were type IV isotherms. Moreover, p-HApFs had better drug-loading efficiency and could retard the burst release of tetracycline and maintain antibacterial activity for a period of 7 days. Hence, p-HApFs have the potential to become a new bone graft material.

In this paper, in order to overcome the defect of the firefly algorithm, for example, the slow convergence rate, low accuracy and easily falling into the local optima in the global optimization search, we propose a dynamic population firefly algorithm based on chaos. The stability between the fireflies is proved, and the similar chaotic phenomenon in firefly algorithm can be simulated.

We review here proxy records of temperature and precipitation in China during the Holocene, especially the last two millennia. The quality of proxy data, methodology of reconstruction, and uncertainties in reconstruction were emphasized in comparing different temperature and precipitation reconstruction and clarifying temporal and spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation during the Holocene. The Holocene climate was generally warm and wet. The warmest period occurred in 9.6–6.2 cal ka BP, whereas a period of maximum monsoon precipitation started at about 11.0 cal ka BP and lasted until about 8.0–5.0 cal ka BP. There were a series of millennial-scale cold or dry events superimposed on the general trend of climate changes. During past two millennia, a warming trend in the 20th century was clearly detected, but the warming magnitude was smaller than the maximum level of the Medieval Warm Period and the Middle Holocene. Cold conditions occurred over the whole of China during the Little Ice Age (AD 1400–AD 1900), but the warming of the Medieval Warm Period (AD 900–AD 1300) was not distinct in China, especially west China. The spatial pattern of precipitation showed significant regional differences in China, especially east China. The modern warm period has lasted 20 years from 1987 to 2006. Bi-decadal oscillation in precipitation variability was apparent over China during the 20th century. Solar activity and volcanic eruptions both were major forcings governing the climate variability during the last millennium.

To explore the relationship between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and premature coronary heart disease (PCHD) patients with blood stasis syndrome (BSS).rs4343, rs4293, and rs4267385 were selected at SNP from ACE gene. Allele and genotype were detected. Frequencies of allele and genotype were compared by using time-of-flight mass spectrometry technique (TOF-MS).Compared with the healthy control group, genotype of rs4293 and rs4267385 in ACE gene were similar, but there was statistical difference in polymorphisms and allele frequencies of rs4343 in the I and II group (P0.05, P0.01). The frequency of G allele was higher in the 3 groups than in the healthy control group (P0.05, P0.01). The relative risk analysis showed that the risk for PCHD occurrence in G allele carriers at rs4343 (GG +AG) was 3. 6 times the risk in non-G allele carriers (95% CI: 1.224-10.585, P = 0.02). There was also statistical difference in sex, age, TC, and TG after adjusted Logistic regression analysis (OR = 3.994, 95% CI: 1.230-12.974, P = 0.021).The polymorphism at rs4343 (G2350A) might be one of risk factors for PCHD occurrence, but not a predisposing factor for PCHD patients of BSS.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) results from low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene mutations. Heterozygotes have twice normal LDL-cholesterol concentrations in early childhood, and experience early myocardial infarction. We demonstrated bimodal cholesterol frequency distributions, independently confirming existence of an identifiable hypercholesterolemic subpopulation. We assayed blood lipids in 181 FH patients genetically diagnosed and 100 unaffected relatives. Receiver operating characteristics curves were constructed. Total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations showed bimodality. A total cholesterol cutoff of 225 mg/dl produced results agreeing with DNA testing (specificity, 98.5%; sensitivity, 99.4%). An LDL-cholesterol cutoff of 161-163 mg/dl produced 98.5% specificity and 98.3% sensitivity. Areas under curves were 0.9826 +/- 0.0058 for total cholesterol, and 0.9852 +/- 0.0043 for LDL-cholesterol. In conclusion, we define total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels of 225 and 160 mg/dl, respectively, as cutoff points of normal subjects and FH patients.