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Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at higher risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related morbidity and mortality. However, a significant portion of CKD patients showed hesitation toward vaccination in telephone survey of our center. Yet no serial data available on humoral response in patients with CKD, especially those on immunosuppression. We conducted a pilot, prospective study to survey the safety and humoral response to inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in CKD patients receiving a 2-dose immunization of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We found the neutralizing antibody titers in CKD patients was significantly lower than that in healthy controls, hypertension patients, and diabetes patients. Notably, immunosuppressive medication rather than eGFR levels or disease types showed effect on the reduction of immunogenicity. Interestingly, a third dose significantly boosted neutralizing antibody in CKD patients while immunosuppressants impeded the boosting effects. In conclude, our data demonstrates that CKD patients, even for those on immunosuppression treatment, can benefit from a third vaccination boost by improving their humoral immunity.

Join is a data-intensive and compute-intensive operation in database systems. As most existing solutions to accelerate the hash join operation on field programmable gate array (FPGA) are focused on N-to-1 join relationships, their performances rapidly decline on N-to-M joins. To resolve this shortcoming, this brief proposes a novel architecture combining hash and sort-merge algorithms for join acceleration. In the build phase, the architecture utilizes a single hash function to build hash tables for two data tables, and the hash collisions are addressed by building ordered linked lists according to their join attributes. In the merge phase, mapped buckets in two hash tables are merged one-to-one to find matching tuples. This architecture lends itself to high parallelism to improve its performance. Experimental results show that the design on a FPGA achieved a high join throughput of 194.0 million tuples per second, which is better than the reported FPGA implementations. Moreover, the architecture is perfectly compatible with both N-to-1 and N-to-M join relationships.

To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels for discriminating PD with depression from without depression, and to investigate whether serum BDNF levels were associated with motor severity and gender in depressed PD patients. Demographic and clinical data were collected from 122 PD patients with depression, 137 without depression and 110 healthy controls. All participants’ serum BDNF concentrations were measured. Their motor abilities and activity were assessed by the Unified PD Rating Scale Part III (UPDRS III) score and the Hoehn and Yahr (H–Y) stage. Depression was scored using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17). Associations were analyzed with multivariate regression. The serum BDNF levels were lower in depressed PD patients compared to non-depressed PD patients and controls (p

Objective: To objective of the study was to investigate whether serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels are associated with the severity of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods: A total of 249 PD patients with (n = 53) and without RLS (n = 196) and 326 age-matched controls were included in this study. All the serum BDNF levels of the participants were measured. The International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group Rating Scale (IRLSSG-RS) was administered for the severity of RLS. The severity of PD patients were assessed by the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage.Results: The prevalence of RLS was significantly higher in PD patients (21.3%) than in the controls group (7.4%) (p < 0.05). The IRLSSG-RS score in PD patients with RLS (16.25 ± 5.24) was significantly increased than in controls with RLS (12.08 ± 3.99) (p < 0.01). The serum BDNF levels were significantly decreased in PD patients with RLS than in PD patients without RLS, controls without RLS, and controls with RLS (p < 0.001). BDNF levels were negatively associated with IRLSSG-RS in both PD patients with RLS and controls with RLS group (both p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that in either PD with RLS or controls with RLS group, BDNF was an independent contributor to IRLSSG-RS (both p < 0.01).Conclusions: Decreased serum BDNF levels may be involved in the pathophysiology of RLS in PD, suggesting that it may serve as a potential blood biomarker of diagnostic value for RLS in PD.

Background Primary cilia frequency and length are key metrics in studies of ciliogenesis and ciliopathies. Typically, quantitative cilia analysis is done manually, which is very time-consuming. While some open-source and commercial image analysis software applications can segment input data, they still require the user to optimize many parameters, suffer from user bias, and often lack rigorous performance quality assessment (e.g., false positives and false negatives). Further, optimal parameter combinations vary in detection accuracy depending on cilia reporter, cell type, and imaging modality. A good automated solution would analyze images quickly, robustly, and adaptably—across different experimental data sets—without significantly compromising the accuracy of manual analysis. Methods To solve this problem, we developed a new software for automated cilia detection in cells (ACDC). The software operates through four main steps: image importation, pre-processing, detection auto-optimization, and analysis. From a data set, a representative image with manually selected cilia (i.e., Ground Truth) is used for detection auto-optimization based on four parameters: signal-to-noise ratio, length, directional score, and intensity standard deviation. Millions of parameter combinations are automatically evaluated and optimized according to an accuracy ‘F1’ score, based on the amount of false positives and false negatives. Afterwards, the optimized parameter combination is used for automated detection and analysis of the entire data set. Results The ACDC software accurately and adaptably detected nuclei and primary cilia across different cell types (NIH3T3, RPE1), cilia reporters (AcTub, Smo-GFP, Arl13b), and image magnifications (60×, 40×). We found that false-positive and false-negative rates for Arl13b-stained cilia were 1–6%, yielding high F1 scores of 0.96–0.97 (max. = 1.00). The software detected significant differences in mean cilia length between control and cytochalasin D-treated cell populations and could monitor dynamic changes in cilia length from movie recordings. Automated analysis offered up to a 96-fold speed enhancement compared to manual analysis, requiring around 5 s/image, or nearly 18,000 cilia analyzed/hour. Conclusion The ACDC software is a solution for robust automated analysis of microscopic images of ciliated cells. The software is extremely adaptable, accurate, and offers immense time-savings compared to traditional manual analysis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13630-019-0061-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Fanconi anemia (FA), an X-linked genetic or autosomal recessive disease, exhibits complicated pathogenesis. Previously, we detected the mutated Dynein Axonemal Heavy Chain 2 (DNAH2) gene in 2 FA cases. Herein, we further investigated the potential association between DNAH2 and the homologous recombination repair pathway of FA. The assays of homologous recombination repair, mitomycin C (MMC) sensitivity, immunofluorescence, and ubiquitination modification were performed in U2OS and DR-U2OS cell lines. In MMC-treated U2OS cells, the downregulation of the DNAH2 gene increased the sensitivity of cells to DNA inter-strand crosslinks. We also observed the reduced enrichment of FANCD2 protein to DNA damage sites. Furthermore, the ubiquitination modification level of FANCD2 was influenced by the deficiency of DNAH2. Thus, our results suggest that DNAH2 may modulate the cell homologous recombination repair partially by increasing the ubiquitination and the enrichment to DNA damage sites of FANCD2. DNAH2 may act as a novel co-pathogenic gene of FA patients.

Regional meteorological conditions and emissions reduction are closely related to air quality. China has a monsoonal climate and regional meteorological conditions are significantly impacted by interannual climate variability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the contributions of meteorological conditions and emissions reduction to regional improvements in air quality. Trend analyses of key meteorological factors and air pollution for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Chengdu-Chongqing region, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration areas were performed for the period from 2001 to 2018, and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) models were constructed for each calendar year. The analysis showed that approximately half of the years between 2001 and 2018 experienced abnormal global-scale climate conditions, i.e., El Niño and La Niña. Both emissions reduction and climate changes contributed to the improvement of air quality during the study period. The contribution of meteorological conditions to air quality improvement under abnormal climate conditions was 51% compared to 30% under normal climate conditions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; for the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, meteorological conditions contributed approximately 50% to the improvement of air quality under both abnormal and normal climate conditions. In addition, the contribution of emissions reduction to air quality improvement was higher in the study areas during 2015-2018 compared to 2001-2012. This indicates that emissions reduction has played an increasingly important role in air quality improvements largely due to the implementation of a variety of emission control measures. However, the contribution of meteorological conditions to air quality improvement cannot be ignored.

Variation in normal blood cells during chemotherapy has not been recognised as a risk factor guiding chemotherapy in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This study aims to explore whether variations in normal haematopoiesis determine prognosis as well as to improve risk-stratified treatment in childhood ALL. A retrospective study of 279 cases of ALL treated with the CCCG-ALL-2015 regimen in the Division of Pediatric Blood Diseases Center, Institute of HematologyBlood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical SciencesPeking Union Medical College, from May 2015 to January 2017 was performed to analyse the prognostic impact of blood cell levels on day 19 of induction therapy by Kaplan-Meier method. Patients with childhood ALL with absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≤ 90 cells/μl, absolute monocyte count (AMC) ≤ 10 cells/μl or absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) ≤ 1000 cells/μl on day 19 of induction therapy had a lower event-free survival (EFS) rate than those with higher values (all P0.05). Multivariate analysis confirmed that ANC ≤ 90 cells/μl and ALC ≤ 1000 cells/μl were independent adverse prognostic factors (HR = 1.981 and 2.162, respectively, both P0.05). Among patients with minimal residual disease (MRD)1% on day 19 of induction therapy, those with ANC ≤ 90 cells/μl had lower EFS than those with ANC90 cells/μl (70.8 ± 6.1% vs 86.4 ± 3.1%, P = 0.001). In the subgroup with the BCR/ABL1 fusion gene, patients with ANC ≤ 90 cells/μl on day 19 of induction therapy also had lower EFS than those with ANC90 cells/μl (34.4 ± 25.2% vs 25.0 ± 21.7%, P = 0.041). ANC and ALC during induction therapy are independent prognostic factors for childhood ALL. ANC contributes to guiding the prognosis of patients with low-level MRD or the BCR/ABL1 fusion gene.

As important components of PM

Pathogenic mutations in 3-keto-dihydrosphingosine reductase (KDSR) gene are associated with keratinization disorders and impaired platelet function. However, no case with both homozygotic mutation of

High-level ab initio computations have been performed to investigate molecular structures, potential energy curves, vibrational energy levels and spectroscopic constants for twelve Λ-S states of the first four dissociation limits of MgBi. Characterizations of seven Ω states, corresponding to the first and the second Λ-S dissociation limits, have been explored for the first time. The spin–orbit coupling effect is revealed to have introduced a significant impact on the pattern of these electronic states and interactions among them. Our predictions for molecular structures and spectroscopic constants of MgBi are compared with available data of other magnesium-group 18 family species. Regular tendencies of these parameters are clearly exhibited when the group 18 atom is replaced by another one in the group. Information associated with transition dipole moments, Franck-Condon factors, vibrational branching ratios and radiative lifetimes between the Ω states are obtained and their transitional properties are analyzed and discussed. The results and data determined in this work are expected to guide and assist laboratorial detections of MgBi and to extend our understanding for the magnesium-group 18 species.

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical features and prognosis of core binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML) in children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed from the chart review data of children who were newly diagnosed with CBF-AML in the Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, from August 2009 to November 2015. According to the type of fusion gene, the children were divided into CBFB-MYH11 and AML1-ETO groups. Clinical features and prognosis were analyzed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 91 children with CBF-AML were enrolled in this study, among whom there were 74 (81%) in the AML1-ETO group and 17 (19%) in the CBFB-MYH11 group. Additional chromosomal abnormalities were observed in 38 children (42%), and deletion of sex chromosome was the most common abnormality and was observed in 28 children (31%). After the first course of induction treatment, the complete remission rate was 97% (88/91), the recurrence rate was 29% (26/91), the 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rate was 65%±6%, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 75%±5%. There were no significant differences between the AML1-ETO and CBFB-MYH11 groups in 5-year EFS rate (62%±7% vs 77%±11%, P > 0.05) or 5-year OS rate (72%±6% vs 88%±9%, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AML1-ETO is the main type of fusion gene in children with CBF-AML, and deletion of sex chromosome is the most common type of additional chromosomal abnormalities. Children with CBF-AML often have a good prognosis, and the children with AML1-ETO have a similar prognosis to those with CBFB-MYH11.

To compare the pollution characteristics of carbonaceous aerosol components in the atmosphere between urban and suburban areas, Chengdu City and Renshou County were selected as study areas from which 88 samples of PM

To study the effect of apoptotic drug Navitoclax (NTX) combined with chemotherapy drug Daunorubicin (DNR) on apoptosis of erythroleukemia cells.K562, HEL and TF-1 cells in logarithmic growth phase were treated with NTX, DNR and combination of the two drugs. CCK-8 test, Annexin V-DAPI double-staining flow cytometry, real-time RT-PCR were used to detect cell growth, cell apoptosis and expression of BAX, BAK, BCL-2, BCL-xl and BIM respectively. The effects of NTX, DNR and combination of the two drugs on apoptosis of K562, HEL and TF-1 cells were compared and analyzed.NTX combined with DNR could significantly inhibit the growth of K562, HEL and TF-1 cells; Apoptosis detection results showed that the apoptotic rate of K562, HEL and TF-1 cells in combination group was significantly higher than that in NTX and DNR single group; the expression level of apoptosis-related genes BAK and BAX in K562 cells in combination group was significantly higher than that in two single drug groups, and the expression level of anti-apoptotic protein genes BCL-2 and BCL-xl was significantly lower than that in two single drug groups (P＜0.05); the expression level of BAK in HEL cells treated with combined drugs for 24 hours was higher than that in DNR group (P ＜ 0.05); the expression level of BCL-2 in TF-1 cells treated with combined drugs for 24 hours was lower than that in two single drugs groups while the expression level of BAK in 48 hours was the highest in combined drugs group, and the expression level of BCL-2 and BCL-xl in combined drugs group was lower than that in NTX group (P＜0.05).NTX combined with DNR can significantly promote the apoptosis of erythroleukemia cell lines K562, HEL and TF-1, and induce the expression of apoptosis-related genes. This study provides a new scheme for the clinical treatment of erythroleukemia.Navitoclax联合柔红霉素促进红白血病细胞系K562、HEL和TF-1的凋亡.研究促凋亡药物Navitoclax（NTX）联合化疗药物柔红霉素（Daunorubicin，DNR）对红白血病细胞凋亡的影响.取对数生长期的K562、HEL和TF-1细胞，给予NTX、DNR以及2药联合，CCK-8检测细胞生长，Annexin V-DAPI双染流式细胞术检测细胞的凋亡，real-time RT-PCR检测凋亡相关基因BAX，BAK，BCL-2、BCL-xl、BIM的表达，对比分析NTX、DNR与2药联合对K562、HEL和TF-1细胞凋亡的影响.NTX联合DNR能明显抑制K562、HEL和TF-1细胞的生长；凋亡检测结果显示，联合用药组K562、HEL和TF-1细胞凋亡率明显高于NTX、DNR单用药组（P＜0.05）；凋亡相关基因检测结果显示，K562细胞前凋亡蛋白基因BAK、BAX的表达水平在联合用药组明显高于2个单药组,抗凋亡蛋白基因BCL-2、BCL-xl的表达水平明显低于2个单药组（P＜0.05）；HEL细胞联合用药24 h BAK的表达水平高于DNR单药组（P＜0.05）；TF-1细胞联合用药24 h BCL-2的表达低于2个单用药组，48 h BAK的表达联合用药组最高，BCL-2、BCL-xl的表达水平在联合用药组低于NTX单药组（P＜0.05）.NTX联合DNR能明显促进红白血病细胞系K562、HEL和TF-1细胞凋亡，诱导凋亡相关基因的表达。本研究期待为红白血病的临床治疗提供新方案.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of the CAMS-2005 and CAMS-2009 regimens in treating children with non-core binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (non-CBF AML) and to study the prognosis factors. METHODS: A total of 161 children who were initially diagnosed with non-CBF AML from April 2005 to December 2015 were enrolled as study subjects, and were divided into a CAMS-2005 regimen group (n=52) and a CAMS-2009 regimen group (n=109) according to the chemotherapy regimen provided. The efficacy was retrospectively compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The complete remission (CR) rate at the first course of treatment was higher in the CAMS-2009 regimen group than that in the CMAS-2005 regimen group (63.3% vs 46.2%; P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in treatment-related mortality rate (11.9% vs 17.3%), recurrence rate (27.5% vs 28.8%), and three-year overall survival (OS) rate (44%±5% vs 28%±6%) (P > 0.05). Children who achieved CR at the first course of treatment had significantly higher OS and event-free survival rates than those who did not achieved CR (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The CAMS-2009 regimen is superior to the CAMS-2005 regimen in improving the CR rate in children with non-CBF AML after induction treatment. Whether CR is achieved at the first course of treatment can affect the OS rate of children with non-CBF AML.

The quality of honeysuckle has always been an important factor in industrial development. Flowering is one of the elements for the variation of the effective components in honeysuckle. We can conveniently recognize whether the commodity is mixed with blossomed honeysuckle in the form of medicinal material. However,it is hard to identify whether the products are mixed with blossomed honeysuckle in the form of powdersince visual identification traits are missing. Therefore,this study aims to seek an effective method of odor-based distinguish for identifying the quality of honeysuckle powder in different ratios by using Heracles Ⅱ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose.The powdered samples were prepared with flower buds and fully blooming flowers in different proportion. Gas chromatograms of the powder were obtained by HeraclesⅡ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose. Through analyzing the data of chromatograms,we have concluded that the qualitative results of the prepared powder were almost the same,and there existed differences in the components content. Meanwhile,the hexanal odor appeared to be the critical factor in identifying honeysuckle powder quality among the flavor of all possible compounds. Also,we have applied PCA,DFA and CQ to identify and classify the variety of the powder based on the chromatogram data. Finally,it is realized that the powder was rapidly identified and classified into three grades based on the proportion of flowering honeysuckle. The predicted concentration value for the first class is less than 3,the value of is not less than 3 and less than 5 for the second class,and more than 5 for the third class. In summary,the results obtained by the study suggest that Heracles Ⅱ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose analysis can be used as a rapid identification method for the quality of honeysuckle powder. At the same time,it can provide a reference for the quality classification of honeysuckle based on flowering degrees.

In this work, we investigate the low-lying electronic states correlated to the first and the second dissociation channels of MgGa molecule, neglecting and including the spin–orbit coupling effect. High-level ab initio calculations have been performed by using the icMRCI + Q method. Potential energy curves, spectroscopic constants, electron configurations and dipole moments are derived and discussed. Molecular structures of several magnesium-group 13 diatomics have been probed and analyzed. Information associated with transition dipole moments, Franck-Condon factors, vibrational branching ratios and radiative lifetimes between the Ω states are also well characterized. It is anticipated this work will provide some inspiration for further studies on MgGa.

The growth interfaces of CdMnTe (CMT) crystals grown by traveling heater method (THM) were studied. Two types of polycrystalline CMT feed ingots synthesized in a traditional rocking furnace and vertical Bridgman (VB) furnace were adopted in THM growth, and the effects of the polycrystalline feed on the growth interface were revealed. The morphology of the growth interface of CMT crystal (CMT2) grown from the feed by vertical Bridgman was smoother with lower curvature compared with that of CMT crystal (CMT1) from the feed by rocking furnace. The radial Mn composition and Te inclusion distribution of the CMT wafers were analyzed and correlated to the growth interface. The Mn segregation along the radial direction and Te inclusion density of CMT2 were lower than those of CMT1. The VB method synthesized polycrystalline feed could improve the growth interface morphology, which is beneficial for decreasing the Te inclusions and Mn segregation in CMT wafers.

Pathogenic mutations in 3-keto-dihydrosphingosine reductase (KDSR) gene are associated with keratinization disorders and impaired platelet function. However, no case with both homozygotic mutation of KDSR and hepatic hemangioendothelioma has ever been reported due to its low prevalence. Here we report a seven months old Chinese boy with a homozygotic missense mutation in KDSR and both of his parents carry a same heterozygous mutation. He was born with thick plate-like scales overlying erythrodermic skin, but the skin symptoms were resolved spontaneously over the first month of his birth. He was also diagnosed with hepatic hemangioendothelioma at birth and accepted a resection surgery at 2 months old. At birth, his platelet count was severely low (10-20×109/L) with recurrent skin and gingival bleeding. Meanwhile, he suffered a mild normocytic, normochromic anemia with normal iron and hematinic levels. The anemia spontaneously recovered over the first 6 months, while the platelet count keeped at a low level (4-20×109/L). Treatment with corticosteroids, immunoglobulin or thrombopoietin was all suboptimal.

This study aimed to analyze the chemical components of Zizyphi Spinosae Semen by using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-linear ion trap/orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS). The chromatographic separation of the components was achieved on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH-C₁₈ column (2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.7 μm), with acetonitrile-water (0.1% formic acid) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min⁻¹. Electrospray ionization-(ESI) source was applied and operated in negative ion mode. The parent ion list (PIL)-MS₂ and high energy collision dissociation (HCD) techniques were used to identify triterpene saponins in Zizyphi Spinosae Semen. Through analysis of the mass spectrometry data and literature data, 24 compounds and 4 unknown compounds were identified and inferred, including 21 flavonoids, 5 saponins and 2 triterpenoids. The use of UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS technology provide an efficient and rapid analytical method for the qualitative analysis and quality control of the chemical components in Zizyphi Spinosae Semen. It can also provide reference data for the research on the material basis of pharmacodynamics and the resources development and utilization.

According to the mechanization of the Kalman filter, the processing load of implementing a Kalman filter can be different under various system propagation rates and measurement update rates. With the definitions of uniform and complete observability, uniform and complete controllability, an analytic method of evaluating the effects of various system propagation rates and measurement update rates on the azimuth error during stationary north-finding was proposed. Variance calculations and experimental tests were presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed analytic method and let analysts maintain good physical insight into the estimation behavior of the final azimuth error. In conclusion, the proposed analytic method will help analysts optimize system propagation rate and measurement update rate to make the computational load fall within the available processing capacity.

As feature dimension of integrated circuits (IC) come into nanometer nodes, yield problems caused by random defects get worse. Even with advanced process techniques, the yield could not achieve 100%. Accurate prediction of yield can point out the direction of process optimization, shorten the production cycle, reduce the production cost, and then increase profits. In this paper, some kinds of random defects which can influence random yield are summarized. Then some widely used yield models are outlined and the drawbacks of these models are analyzed. At last, an improved yield model is proposed with the combination of Poisson model and negative binominal model. This model which takes distributions of random defects into consideration is more flexible and accurate. It can be seen from the simulation results that comparing to those existing models, the improved model indeed has higher fidelity and more flexibility.

Beidou or COMPASS is a Chinese GNSS (global navigation satellite system). Like the GPS receiver, the COMPASS receiver also faces the challenge of choosing an optimal bandwidth to satisfy both anti-jamming capability and dynamics adaptation simultaneously. GPS/INS (inertial navigation system) deep integrated navigation system has solved this problem by fusing GPS baseband signal and INS information in a deeply coupled mode. In this study, a COMPASS B3 frequency is considered and a traditional federated GPS/INS deep integration model is used to derive a single-filter-structure based COMPASS/INS deep integration model. Besides, a double-filter-structure based COMPASS/INS deep integration model is proposed. The simulation results show a better carrier tracking performance, especially a better dynamics adaptation. The impact of IMU errors and vehicle’s dynamics on carrier tracking performance of the double-filter-structure based COMPASS/INS deep integrated navigation system are evaluated in simulated and field environments. Simulation and field test results are in accordance with the theory analysis.

In federated design of ultra-tight GPS/INS integrated system, the baseband signal pre-processing is completed in a single pre-filter assigned for each channel. As the state space model of this single pre-filter includes the code tracking errors coupled with carrier tracking errors, ionospheric errors and normalized signal amplitude, the carrier tracking process may be destroyed. Also, the measurement noises are not independent any longer after passing through the code and carrier discriminators. Therefore, we propose a double-filter-based pre-filter model that distributes the carrier and code tracking into two independent filters: a conventional pre-filter, where the normalized signal amplitude is excluded from the state space and tracks only the code signal, and a 3-dimension state filter, tracking the carrier signal. The measurement information from both filters is a scalar quantity, which removes most of the noise correlation. To further improve the performance of the double-filter-based pre-filter model, we propose a modified Kalman filter algorithm. Simulation and field tests have been conducted, and the performance analysis has been done for the following configurations in a vector-tracking mode: double-filter model with modified Kalman filter, double-filter model with conventional Kalman filter and traditional single-filter model. The preliminary analysis indicates that the double-filter model with modified Kalman filter shows the best performance in tracking and navigation domains, while the traditional single-filter model shows a sub-optimal performance.

Currently, the continuous rotary north-finder is widely discussed for its outstanding performance. However, few researches on the influence of turntable error to the continuous rotary north-finding algorithm can be found. Turntable errors, such as the stability of rotate speed, the periodic angle measurement error and the discrete angle measurement error, are studied for the north-finder based on rate biased RLG (ring laser gyro). Two north-finding algorithms are designed, which can restrain the influence of angle measurement errors and the stability of rotate speed separately. Finally, simulation and experiments are performed to verify the algorithms.

We evaluated the effects of methanogens and acetogens on the function and structure of microbial communities doing reductive dechlorination of trichloroethene (TCE) by adding four distinct electron donors: lactate, a fermentable organic; acetate, a non-fermentable organic; methanol, a fermentable 1-C (carbon) organic; and hydrogen gas (H2), the direct electron donor for reductive dechlorination by Dehalococcoides. The fermentable electron donors had faster dechlorination rates, more complete dechlorination, and higher bacterial abundances than the non-fermentable electron donors during short-term tests. Phylotypes of Dehalococcoides were relatively abundant (≥9%) for the cultures fed with fermentable electron donors but accounted for only ~1-2% of the reads for the cultures fed by the non-fermentable electron donors. Routing electrons to methanogenesis and a low ratio of Dehalococcoides/methanogenesis (Dhc/mcrA) were associated with slow and incomplete reductive dechlorination with methanol and H2. When fermentable substrates were applied as electron donors, a Dhc/mcrA ratio ≥6.4 was essential to achieve fast and complete dechlorination of TCE to ethene. When methanogenesis was suppressed using 2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES), achieving complete dechlorination of TCE to ethane required a minimum abundance of the mcrA gene. Methanobacterium appeared to be important for maintaining a high dechlorination rate, probably by providing Dehalococcoides with cofactors other than vitamin B12. Furthermore, the presence of homoacetogens also was important to maintain a high dechlorination rate, because they provided acetate as Dehalococcoides's obligatory carbon source and possibly cofactors.

Background: Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) is the infectious agent of sugar beet rhizomania, which consists of four or five plus-sense RNAs. RNA4 of BNYVV is not essential for virus propagation in Nicotiana benthamiana but has a major effect on symptom expression. Early reports showed that RNA4-encoded P31 was associated with severe symptoms, such as curling and dwarfing, in N. benthamiana. Results: We discovered that the pathogenesis-related protein 10 (PR-10) gene can be up-regulated in BNYVVinfected N. benthamiana in the presence of RNA4 and that it had a close link with symptom development. Our frame-shift, deletion and substitution analysis showed that only the entire P31 could induce PR-10 up-regulation during BNYVV infection and that all the tryptophans and six cysteines (C174, C183, C186, C190, C197 and C199) in the cysteine-rich P31 had significant effects on PR-10 expression. However, P31 could not interact directly with PR-10 in yeast. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that only integrated P31 specifically induced PR-10 transcription, which coincided closely with the appearance of severe symptoms in BNYVV-infected N. benthamiana, although they could not interact directly with each other in yeast.

Illumination of a chick's eye allows light to pass through to the retina of the contralateral eye. Electroretinographic (ERG) recording employing the scalp or comb as a reference results in shorter implicit time, higher amplitude and lower sensitivity during the day than during the night in a light:dark (LD) cycle and in constant darkness (DD). ERG recordings employing the contralateral eye as reference abolishes rhythmicity or reverses the phase angle (higher amplitudes at night). This is probably due to light transmission through the eyes to elicit visual responses in the reference. The contralateral eye is a poor choice for reference in birds and obscures physiological analyses of clock control of vision.

Efficient railway transportation management requires accurate train location information in real time on the whole railway network. Complicated railway network with so many tracks close together make it difficult to locate the train on the right track. This paper presents a multi-scale data fusion system to deal with the above problem. The mathematical framework includes: 1) A topological model of the railway network. 2) A multi scale data fusion system which consists of a odometer and a azimuth gyro to measure the distance along the track and to identify the multi scale features of the track curvatures. 3) Multi feature space analysis of the railway network. It is showed that railway tracks which is too near to be distinguished in 2-Dimension coordinate frame can be distinguished in a specific feature space. The results of the train location experiments are also analyzed in this paper.

Background Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV), a member of the genus Fijivirus within the family Reoviridae, can infect several graminaceous plant species including rice, maize and wheat, and is transmitted by planthoppers. Although several RBSDV proteins have been studied in detail, functions of the nonstructural protein P6 are still largely unknown. Results In the current study, we employed yeast two-hybrid assays, bimolecular fluorescence complementation and subcellular localization experiments to show that P6 can self-interact to form punctate, cytoplasmic viroplasm-like structures (VLS) when expressed alone in plant cells. The region from residues 395 to 659 is necessary for P6 self-interaction, whereas two polypeptides (residues 580-620 and 615-655) are involved in the subcellular localization of P6. Furthermore, P6 strongly interacts with the viroplasm-associated protein P9-1 and recruits P9-1 to localize in VLS. The P6 395-659 region is also important for the P6-P9-1 interaction, and deleting any region of P9-1 abolishes this heterologous interaction. Conclusions RBSDV P6 protein has an intrinsic ability to self-interact and forms VLS without other RBSDV proteins or RNAs. P6 recruits P9-1 to VLS by direct protein-protein interaction. This is the first report on the functionality of RBSDV P6 protein. P6 may be involved in the process of viroplasm nucleation and virus morphogenesis.

Melon aphid-borne yellows virus (MABYV) is a newly identified polerovirus occurring in China. Here, we demonstrate that the MABYV encoded P0 (P0MA) protein is a strong suppressor of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) with activity comparable to tobacco etch virus (TEV) HC-Pro. In addition we have shown that the LP F-box motif present at the N-terminus of P0MA is required for suppressor activity. Detailed mutational analyses on P0MA revealed that changing the conserved Trp 212 with non-ring structured amino acids altered silencing suppressor functions. Ala substitutions at positions 12 and 211 for Phe had no effect on P0 suppression-activity, whereas Arg and Glu substitutions had greatly decreased suppressor activity. Furthermore, substitutions targeting Phe at position 30 also resulted in reduced P0 suppression-activity. Altogether, these results suggest that ring structured Trp/Phe residues in P0 have important roles in suppressor activity.

To analysis the expression profile of7 clock genes during mouse embryonic stem cell (mES) differentiation.Mouse ES cells of the line 129 were cultured and induced to differentiate into neurons by 5 stages method. The expression of 7 clock genes: BMAL1, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER2, and PER3 in the five stages were determined by RT-PCR.In the amplification condition, no non-specific band was found, and only bands of expected sizes were detected. Six clock genes, BMAL1, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, PER1 and PER3 were expressed in 129 cells at all five stages in the differentiation process, however, PER2, could only be determined in the last stage.The transcription profile of the clock genes is different during the differentiation of the ES cells towards neurons. The transcription of the gene PER2 is limited to the final stage, when postmitotic neurons and astrocytes emerged. A clock genes loop existing in the mature cells has not been established during the process of ES cell differentiation.

The avian circadian and visual systems are integrally related and together influence many aspects of birds’ behavior and physiology. Certainly, light cycles and their visual perception are the major zeitgebers for circadian rhythms, but do circadian rhythms affect vision? To assess whether visual function is regulated on a circadian basis, flash-evoked electroretinograms (ERGs) and vision-evoked potentials (VEPs) from the optic tectum (TeO) were recorded simultaneously in domestic pigeons at different circadian phases in a light-dark regime (LD) and in constant darkness (DD), while feeding activity was measured to determine circadian phase. In both LD and DD, the amplitudes of ERG b-waves were higher during the day than at night and latencies of a and b-waves were longer at night. The median effective intensity for ERG a-wave was marginally higher during the day than during the night, indicating greater sensitivity at night, but this rhythm did not persist in DD. The amplitudes of TeO VEPs were also greater during the day, and latencies were greater at night in LD and DD. Together, the data indicate that a circadian clock regulates pigeon visual function at several integrative levels.