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Recently, exploration breakthroughs have been made in the Lower Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs in the Doseo Basin, but the identification of reservoir fluid property is difficult due to variable reservoir lithology, complex oil-water contact within and faint responses of the oil zone, which causes the lower accuracy of reservoir fluid property identification with conventional mudlogging and wirelogging techniques. Applying the geochemical logging, fluorescent logging, mud logging and cutting logging technology, in combination with formation test data, this paper distinguishes the crude oil types, analyzes the logging response characteristics of oil zone after water washing, and establishes the interpretation charts and parameter standards for reservoir fluid properties. The crude oil can be divided into two types, namely viscous-heavy and thin-light, based on total hydrocarbon content and component concentration tested by mud logging, features of pyrolysis gas chromatogram and fluorescence spectroscopy. The general characteristics of oil layers experienced water washing include the decrease of total hydrocarbon content and component concentration from mud logging, the decrease of S1 and PS values from geochemical logging, the decrease of hydrocarbon abundance and absence of some light components in pyrolysis gas chromatogram, and the decrease of fluorescence area and intensity from fluorescence logging. According to crude oil types, the cross plots of S1 versus peak-baseline ratio, and the cross plots of rock wettability versus fluorescence area ratio are drawn and used to interpret reservoir fluid property. Meanwhile, the standards of reservoir fluid parameter are established combining with the parameters of PS and the parameters in above charts, and comprehensive multiparameter correlation in both vertical and horizontal ways is also performed to interpret reservoir fluid property. The application in the Doseo Basin achieved great success, improving interpretation ability of fluid property in the reservoir with complex oil-water contact, and also provided technical reference for the efficient exploration and development of similar reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We synthesized three soluble perinone isomers as electron transport materials in p–i–n perovskite solar cells. The cis-isomer BBIN-2 possesses higher LUMO level and electron mobility than the trans-isomers. The BBIN-2 devices showed the highest power conversion efficiency of 19.36%, demonstrating the potential of perinone dyes in perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water buffalo milk is a reliable source of high-quality nutrients; however, the susceptibility of mastitis in buffaloes must be taken into consideration. An animal with somatic cell count (SCC) of greater than 250,000 cells/mL is reported to be likely to have mastitis which has serious adverse effects on animal health, reproduction, milk yield, and milk quality. Type traits (TTs) of water buffalo can affect SCC in animal milk to some extent, but few reports on the correlation between SCC and TTs are available. In this study, a total of 1908 records collected from 678 water buffaloes were investigated. The general linear model was used to identify factors associated with phenotypic variation of the somatic cell score (SCS) trait, including parity, lactation length, calving year, and calving season as fixed effects. Using PROC CORR analysis method, taking calving year and lactation length as covariates, the correlation co-efficient between TT and SCS was obtained. Our results showed that correlation co-efficients between the 45 TTs with SCS ranged from 0.003 to 0.443 (degree of correlation). The correlation between udder traits and SCS was greater than that between body structure traits and SCS. Among udder traits, distance between teats (including front and rear teat distance [r = 0.308], front teat distance [r = 0.211], and teat crossing distance [r = 0.412]) and teat circumference (r = 0.443) had the highest correlation with SCS, followed by the leg traits including rear leg height (r = −0.354) and hock bend angle (r = −0.170). Animal with high rear legs (>48 cm) and short teat crossing distance (<17 cm), and narrow teat circumference (<11 cm) exhibited low SCS. Using four nonlinear models (Von Bertalanffy, Brody, Logistic, and Gompertz), the optimal growth curves of the TTs highly correlated with the SCS (rear leg height and teat crossing distance) were fitted, and the correction co-efficients of these two TTs rear leg height and teat crossing distance of animal from young age (2 mo old) to first lactation (35 mo old) were attained for establishment of early selection method for water buffaloes with low SCS. This study provides theoretical support for early selection of low-SCS water buffaloes and lays a foundation for improving milk quality and promoting healthy development of water buffalo’s dairy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovery of the energy loss caused by throttling plays an important role in improving the performance of a cycle. Based on the original Kalina cycle system 34g, two redesigned cycles, which have different placement of single-screw expanders used to replace the throttle valve, are proposed in this paper. The thermodynamic performance of two redesigned cycles is analyzed and compared with the original Kalina cycle system 34g. The results show that the thermodynamic performance of each redesigned cycle is better than that of the original Kalina cycle system 34g and the I?-redesigned cycle performs best. At a low and moderate evaporation pressure, there is an optimal ammonia-water concentration and it increases with the increase of evaporation pressure. With the concentration increases of ammonia-water, the performance advantage of the redesigned cycle system over the original Kalina cycle system 34g gradually decreases. When the ammonia-water concentration is much lower than the optimal concentration, the single-screw expander produces much work and plays a positive role in net work output of cycle system. The highest cycle exergy efficiency of 54.14% can be obtained in the II-redesigned cycle when the evaporation pressure is 3.0 MPa and ammonia-water concentration is 0.85. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elsinoë batatas is a phytopathogenic fungus causing stem and foliage scab disease of sweet potato. At present, there is no reference genome available for E. batatas, limiting basic research for the pathogen. The present study applied the Nanopore single-molecule sequencing technology to sequence the E. batatas genome. This study reports the first high-quality genome sequence of E. batatas, with a total contig size of 26.49 Mb, 50.8% GC content, and an N50 of 2,546,814 bp. The sequences obtained serve as a reference for analysis of E. batatas isolates and provide a resource to better understand the biology of stem and foliage scab disease of sweet potato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species identification is fundamentally important within the fields of biology, biogeography, ecology and conservation. The genus Paracaryum belongs to tribe Cynoglosseae of the family Boraginaceae is a herbaceous genus including approximately 67 species, mostly distributed in the Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region. In spite vast distribution of many Paracaryum species that grow in different habitats, there are not any available report on their genetic diversity, mode of divergence and patterns of dispersal. Therefore, we performed molecular (ISSR markers) of 98 accessions from 12 species of Paracaryum that were collected from different habitats. A set of 10 ISSR markers was used. The genetic distances were estimated based on Jaccard similarity coefficient and the descriptive statistics of populations for estimation of genetic parameters were also performed. A total of 90 polymorphic bands were obtained. The present study revealed that ISSR data can delimit the species. AMOVA and STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the species of Paracaryum belongs are genetically differentiated but have some degree of shared common alleles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 5, 2022, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of MS6.8 struck Luding County in Sichuan Province, China, triggering thousands of landslides along the Dadu River in the northwest-southeast (NW-SE) direction. We investigated the reactivation characteristics of historical landslides within the epicentral area of the Luding earthquake to identify the initiation mechanism of earthquake-induced landslides. Records of the two newly triggered and historical landslides were analyzed using manual and threshold methods; the spatial distribution of landslides was assessed in relation to topographical and geological factors using remote sensing images. This study sheds light on the spatial distribution patterns of landslides, especially those that occur above historical landslide areas. Our results revealed a similarity in the spatial distribution trends between historical landslides and new ones induced by earthquakes. These landslides tend to be concentrated within a range of 0.2 km from the river and 2 km from the fault. Notably, both rivers and faults predominantly influenced the reactivation of historical landslides. Remarkably, the reactivated landslides are characterized by their small to medium size and are predominantly situated in historical landslide zones. The number of reactivated landslides surpassed that of previously documented historical landslides within the study area. We provide insights into the critical factors responsible for historical landslides during the 2022 Luding earthquake, thereby enhancing our understanding of the potential implications for future co-seismic hazard assessments and mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The peak moment of knee flexion and extension and the surface EMG signal of athletes are always one of the indicators to judge whether the physiological indicators of athletes ars normal. Confocal microscopy is one of the best instruments for observing sub-fine structures, so it is necessary to study the characteristics of peak moment of knee flexion and extension and surface electromyography of Wu Shu athletes by confocal microscopy. The purpose of this paper is how to solve the peak moment of knee joint flexion and extension of Wu Shu athletes and changes of multichannel SEMG how to carry out detailed observations of the problem, by studying the confocal microscope observation and collection of information in the field of all kinds of medical applications, and then discusses the confocal microscope in Wu Shu athletes knee flexion and peak torque and methods of the feasibility of the characteristics of electric diagram of observation. The results show that confocal microscopy is feasible to observe the characteristics of peak moment of knee flexion and extension and surface EMG of Wu Shu athletes, and the accuracy of relevant data collected is 15% higher than that of general observation methods, and the collection speed of this method is faster than before. Through the experimental examination, the collection efficiency increases about 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iterative learning control (ILC) is an effective approach for tracking control system that performs repeating tasks. However, the performance of ILC is significantly deteriorated when the reference is changed. To obtain high tracking performance for both repeating and varying tasks, a novel data-driven tuning method of feedforward controller structured with infinite impulse response (IIR) filter via ILC is developed in this study. Global optimal parameters of the feedforward controller are obtained by linear least-squares method based on the optimal feedforward control force obtained by ILC, while model information is not required. Additionally, to deal with the possible instability problem of the feedforward controller structured with IIR filter, a stable approximation approach on the basis of zero-phase-error tracking algorithm is presented. The stable approximation approach can convert the approximation problem to a convex optimisation problem. Finally, the proposed approach is compared with the standard ILC and a data-driven feedforward control structured with finite impulse response filter by two simulation studies. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed data-driven feedforward tuning method can achieve high tracking performance and is insensitive to reference variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a kind of childhood cancer that is a prevailing and deadly solid neoplasm among pediatric malignancies. The transcriptional output of MIR938 is capable of participating in the posttranscriptional modulation of gene expression, whereby it exerts its regulatory effect by modulating both the stability and translation of target mRNAs. Previous studies showed that MIR938 was associated with many cancers. Hence, functional genetic variants in the MIR938 can be attributed to NB risk. We recruited 402 neuroblastoma patients and 473 controls from the Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and genotyped one MIR938 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs2505901 T>C). There were significant associations between the rs2505901 T>C and NB risk [CC vs. TT: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-3.55, P=0.045; CC vs. TT/TC: adjusted OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.09-3.75, P=0.026]. This analysis of genotypes revealed that T>C increased the risk of NB. Some borderline significant different relationships were observed in the stratified analyses: age ≥ 18 months (adjusted OR = 2.95, 95% CI = 0.92-9.51, P=0.070), male sex (adjusted OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 0.95-5.08, P=0.067), and clinical stage III+IV (adjusted OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 0.98-4.56, P=0.055). The present study revealed that the MIR938 rs2505901 T>C polymorphism may be a potential risk factor for neuroblastoma in Chinese children. In the long term, conducting large and diverse sample studies from different ethnicities will indeed be crucial in determining the role of MIR938 polymorphisms in NB risk. By including individuals from various ethnic backgrounds, researchers can account for potential genetic variations that may exist between populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate mapping of temporal changes in urban land use and land cover (LULC) is important for monitoring urban expansion and changes in LULC, urban planning, environmental management, and environmental modeling. In this study, we present a feature-based approach of the decision tree classification (FBA-DTC) method for mapping LULC based on spectral and topographic information. Landsat 5 TM and Land 8 OLI images were employed, and the technique was applied to the coastal city of Xiamen, China. The method integrates multi-spectral features such as SAVI (soil adjustment vegetation index), NDWI (normalized water index), MNDBaI (modified normalized difference barren index), BI (brightness index), and WI (wetness index), with topographic features including DEM and slope. In addition, the new approach distinguishes between fallow land and cropland, and separates high-rise buildings from beaches and water bodies. Several of the FBA-DTC parameters (or rules) from 1997 to 2015 remained constant (i.e., DEM and slope), whereas others changed slightly. WI was negatively related to percent area of beach land, and BI was negatively related to percent area of arable land. The FBA-DTC method had an average user's accuracy (UA) of 91.36% for built-up land, an average overall accuracy (OA) of 92.13%, and a Kappa coefficient (KC) of 0.90 for the period from 2003 to 2015, representing respective increases of 15.87%, 10.17%, and 0.13, compared with values calculated using maximum likelihood classification (MLC). Over the past 12 years, built-up land increased from 23.67% to 43.17% owing to occupation of coastal reclamation, arable land, and forest land. The FBA-DTC method presented here is a valuable technique for evaluating urban growth and changes in LULC classification for coastal cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag/Pr6O11 catalysts supported by either Pr6O11 nanorods (Pr6O11-NRs) or nanoparticles (Pr6O11-NPs) were prepared by conventional incipient wetness impregnation. The nanocomposite of Ag/Pr6O11-NRs demonstrated a higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than Ag/Pr6O11-NPs at lower temperatures. This improved performance may be ascribed to the mesoporous features and resultant oxygen vacancies of the Pr6O11 nanorods support, as well as the large surface area and homogeneous loading of Ag species. As a result, 98.7 and 100% CO conversions were achieved at 210 and 240 °C for Ag/Pr6O11-NRs, while Ag/Pr6O11-NPs require a temperature of 320 °C to obtain the 100% CO conversion rate. These findings reveal that Pr6O11-NRs is the preferable support, comparative to Pr6O11-NPs, for Ag/Pr6O11 catalysts, for CO oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inexact two-stage stochastic risk-aversion model was developed in this study for supporting regional energy system planning and management. It can tackle uncertainties described in terms of probability distributions and permits the indepth analysis of various policy scenarios when the promised policy targets are violated. Moreover, it can help local decision-makers evaluate trade-offs between energy system economy and stability associated with different robust criteria (riskaversion levels). An actual case study in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China, was provided for demonstrating the applicability of the developed model. The results indicated that electricity generated by coal-burning (coal-fired power and coal-fired cogeneration) and gas-fired heating would be the main power forms for power and heat supply to get the maximum security. Furthermore, some policy implications can be concluded as follows: (a) more attention should be focused on increasing the local power generation capacity in the BTH region rather than importing electricity from other regions; (b) the introduction of risk aversion into the optimization model is conducive to the development of solar power, biomass power, and gas-fired cogeneration; and (c) renewable energy (e.g., biomass energy and geothermal energy) development in the BTH region still has a long way to go, because it is constrained by resource endowment and geographical location. Generally, the proposed model not only can help decision-makers identify the desired energy system management policies under risk considerations, but also could be viewed as a prime example for energy system planning and management at different regional levels (e.g., city, province, and multiprovince) and used as a reference for energy structure adjustment in other metropolitan groups such as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process upcrossing rate approach remains one of the most popular methods for the estimation of probabilistic wind load effect with consideration of directionality. The accuracy of this approach depends on the adequacy of the parent distribution of directional mean wind speed. The widely used Weibull distribution has been proved to be inadequate in capturing the characteristics of strong wind speed region, thus leading to unsatisfactory estimations when adopted in the process upcrossing rate approach. This study introduces a new mixed distribution model for the parent distribution of mean wind speed in order to provide a better modeling of distribution for strong wind speed region. Within this mixed model, the distribution below a prescribed wind speed threshold is given by an empirical distribution estimated from the observation data directly, whereas above the threshold, it is described in terms of the generalized Pareto distribution (GPD). The performance of the mixed distribution model is examined in estimating the yearly maximum distributions of wind speeds in each direction and regardless of direction. It is further investigated in estimating the wind load effects of buildings with consideration of directionality effect. The uncertainty of wind load effect at a given wind speed and direction is further accounted for. Numerical examples for buildings with various response characteristics demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-energy liquid-jet hammer with specially designed backward stroke end buffer structure was investigated computationally. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with the technique of dynamic and sliding meshes method was employed in this study. Results indicated that each of the geometric parameter of the buffer structure had a significant effect on the backward impacting energy of the impact body and brought a maximum of 49.8% of backward impacting energy reduction. Experimental tests based on the non-contact measuring method were conducted to verify the simulation results, by which the accuracy and reliability of this CFD simulation method was proved. In addition, the high-energy liquid-jet hammer worked well with the optimal parameters of the buffer structure in bench testing and reached high penetration rate in a drilled borehole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) or pulmonary cysts is one of the manifestations of Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome (BHDS) that is caused by heterozygous mutations in FLCN gene. Most of the mutations are SNVs and small indels, and there are also approximately 10 % large intragenic deletions and duplications of the mutations. These molecular findings are generally obtained by disparate methods including Sanger sequencing and Multiple Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification in the clinical laboratory. In addition, as a genetically heterogeneous disorder, PSP may be caused by mutations in multiple genes include FBN1, COL3A1, CBS, SERPINA1 and TSC1/TSC2 genes. For differential diagnosis, these genes should also be screened which makes the diagnostic procedure more time-consuming and labor-intensive.Methods: Forty PSP patients were divided into 2 groups. Nineteen patients with different pathogenic mutations of FLCN previously identified by conventional Sanger sequencing and MLPA were included in test group, 21 random PSP patients without any genetic screening were included in blinded sample group. 7 PSP genes including FLCN, FBN1, COL3A1, CBS, SERPINA1 and TSC1/TSC2 were designed and enriched by Haloplex system, sequenced on a Miseq platform and analyzed in the 40 patients to evaluate the performance of the targeted-NGS method.Results: We demonstrated that the full spectrum of genes associated with pneumothorax including FLCN gene mutations can be identified simultaneously in multiplexed sequence data. Noteworthy, by our in-house copy number analysis of the sequence data, we could not only detect intragenic deletions, but also determine approximate deletion junctions simultaneously.Conclusions: NGS based Haloplex target enrichment technology is proved to be a rapid and cost-effective screening strategy for the comprehensive molecular diagnosis of BHDS in PSP patients, as it can replace Sanger sequencing and MLPA by simultaneously detecting exonic and intronic SNVs, small indels, large intragenic deletions and determining deletion junctions in PSP-related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xylanase xylose/cellulose fractionation can efficiently improve the utilization of xylose and cellulose. Improvement of xylanase performance during hemicellulose hydrolysis can increase xylose/cellulose fractionation efficiency. To utilize xylose and cellulose efficiently, an enzymatic xylose/cellulose fractionation and a separate fermentation bioethanol process were performed. Alkaline liquor-pretreated corn cob was subjected to xylose/cellulose fractionation with xylanase in the presence or absence of the following mixed surfactants: polyoxyethylene(20)-sorbitan-monooleate (0.15% v/v), polyethylene glycol 6000 (0.15% w/v), bovine serum albumin (0.15% w/v), and rhamnolipid (0.005% v/v). The hemicellulose hydrolysis yield (HHY) in the presence of mixed surfactants was 70.5%, which was 66% higher than that of the control (no surfactants added). Optimization of other hydrolysis conditions, such as pH, temperature, liquid-to-solid ratio, xylanase loading, and incubation time, increased the HHY to 86.62%. The xylose in the enzymatic hydrolysate was fermented to ethanol by Candida shehatae, and the cellulose remaining in the solid residues was converted to ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In total, 40.67% of the hemicellulose and 76.14% of the cellulose in the raw corn cob was converted to ethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platinum carbide (PtC) was synthesized under extreme conditions and considered as a potential candidate for superhard materials. However, the unsettled issue concerning the structural identification has impeded die full understanding of its physical and chemical properties. Here, we examine by first-principles calculations the crystal structure under high pressure and ideal strength along several high-symmetry directions under large deformation. The current calculations reveal that the zinc blende structure is the thermodynamically stable phase, and the simulated X-ray diffraction data are in excellent agreement with the experimental pattern. Further strain--stress calculations indicate that anomalous fluctuating behaviors of ideal strength occur in PtC. These results are expected to broaden our understanding of the structural and mechanical properties for other potential superhard materials formed by heavy transition metals and light elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important mechanism for Al3+ tolerance in wheat is exudation of malate anions from the root apex through activation of malate-permeable TaALMT1 channels. Here, the effect of ethylene on Al3+-activated efflux of malate was investigated using Al3+-tolerant wheat genotype ET8, which has high expression of TaALMT1. Exposure of ET8 plants to Al3+ enhanced ethylene evolution in root apices. Treatment with the ethylene synthesis precursor 1-aminocyclopropane- 1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and ethylene gas suppressed Al3+-induced malate efflux from root apices, whereas the intracellular malate concentrations in roots were not affected. Malate efflux from root apices was enhanced in the presence of Al3+ by two antagonists of ethylene biosynthesis, aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) and 2-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB). An increase in Al accumulation in root apices was observed when treated with ACC, whereas AVG and AIB suppressed Al accumulation in root apices. Al3+-induced inhibition of root elongation was ameliorated by pretreatment with AIB. In addition, ethylene donor (Ethrel) also inhibited Al3+-induced malate efflux from tobacco cells transformed with TaALMT1. ACC and the anion-channel blocker niflumate had a similar and non-additive effect on Al-induced malate efflux from root apices. Treatment of ET8 plants with ACC enhanced expression of TaALMT1, suggesting that the inhibitory effect of ethylene on Al-induced malate efflux is unlikely to occur at the transcriptional level. These findings indicate that ethylene may behave as a negative regulator of Al3+-induced malate efflux by targeting TaALMT1-mediated malate efflux by an unknown mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca2+-binding proteins play pivotal roles in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. CcbP from cyanobacteriumAnabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 is a major Ca2+ binding protein involved in heterocyst differentiation, a process that forms specialized nitrogen-fixing cells. The three-dimensional structures of both Ca2+ free and Ca2+ bound forms of CcbP are essential for elucidating the Ca2+-signaling mechanism. However, CcbP shares low sequence identity with proteins of known structures, and its Ca2+ binding sites remain unknown. Here, we report the solution structures of CcbP in both Ca2+-free and Ca2+ bound forms determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. CcbP adopts an overall new fold and contains two Ca2+-binding sites with distinct Ca2+-binding abilities. Mutation of Asp38 at the stronger Ca2+-binding site of CcbP abolished its ability to regulate heterocyst formation in vivo. Surprisingly, the β-barre1 subdomain of CcbP, which does not participate in Ca2+-binding, topologically resembles the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain and might act as a protein-protein interaction module. Our results provide the structural basis of the unique Ca2+ signaling mechanism during heterocyst differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most drugs do not have the pharmacokinetic features required for optimal pulmonary delivery. In this study, we developed PEGylated nanostructured lipid carriers (PEG-NLCs) to improve the delivery of anti-tumour agents to lung tumours. PEG-40 NLCs modified with PEG-40 stearate (molecular weight 2000 Da), PEG-100 NLCs modified with PEG-100 stearate (molecular weight 5000 Da) and NLCs without PEG modification were prepared by melt-emulsification and homogenization, and were loaded with 10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT). They were investigated in terms of physiological characteristics, biodistribution, cellular uptake, and anti-tumour effect in-vivo. PEG-NLCs exhibited regular morphology, with a spherical shape. The particle size (measured by laser diffraction) was approximately 100 nm. Encapsulation in PEG-NLCs protected the active lactone form of HCPT compared with HCPT solution after incubation with plasma. In biodistribution studies, PEG-NLCs, especially PEG-40 NLCs, had longer circulation time and decreased uptake by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) compared with unmodified NLCs. PEG-NLCs accumulated in the lungs after i.v. injection in mice. PEG-NLCs showed enhanced cellular uptake by human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial A549 cells. In-vivo experiments indicated that PEG-NLCs loaded with HCPT have superior efficacy against A549 lung cancer compared with HCPT solution and NLCs. These results suggest that PEG-NLCs is a promising delivery system for HCPT in the treatment of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  A surface-contact hollow cubic model is developed for coupled heat transfer of gas and solid in xonotlite-type calcium silicate insulation material based on its microstructure features. Through one-dimensional heat conduction analysis in the unit cell structure, a conductive thermal conductivity expression is obtained. A transient hot strip method is used to measure the thermal conductivity of xonotlite from 300 to 970K and from 0.045Pa to atmospheric pressure. The spectral specific extinction coefficients are derived from transmission measurements on a thin xonotlite sample performed with a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. The results show that the specific spectral extinction coefficients are larger than 7m2�kg−1 over the whole measured spectra, and the diffusion approximation equation is a reasonable description of radiative heat transfer in xonotlite insulation material. The effective thermal conductivity model matches extremely well with the experimental data, which is important for the thermal design and thermal analysis of xonotlite insulation material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new noninvasive measurement method is presented for simultaneous estimation of the key thermal properties of cylindrical living tissue. This method is based on heating of the surface of a cylinder and measuring surface temperatures at three points on the cylinder. Numerical calculations and theoretical analysis for the corresponding two-dimensional model are carried out. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed method. The selection, crossover, and mutation operators of a new real-coded genetic algorithm (GA) are designed in this paper to solve the problem of parameter optimization. Then, a set of simulations are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method as well as to optimize the design of the experiments. Finally, a series of experiments is performed to measure the thermal parameters of the human forearm. The experimental results indicate that the obtained parameters, such as the thermal conductivity, blood perfusion, and volumetric heat capacity, are within the range of reference values. The proposed method is easy to implement in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bacillus subtilis YkuV responds to environmental oxidative stress and plays an important role for the bacteria to adapt to the environment. Bioinformatic analysis suggests that YkuV is a homolog of membrane-anchored proteins and belongs to the thioredoxin-like protein superfamily containing the typical Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys active motif. However, the biological function of this protein remains unknown thus far. In order to elucidate the biological function, we have determined the solution structures of both the oxidized and reduced forms of B. subtilis YkuV by NMR spectroscopy and performed biochemical studies. Our results demonstrated that the reduced YkuV has a low midpoint redox potential, allowing it to reduce a variety of protein substrates. The overall structures of both oxidized and reduced forms are similar, with a typical thioredoxin-like fold. However, significant conformational changes in the Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys active motif of the tertiary structures are observed between the two forms. In addition, the backbone dynamics provide further insights in understanding the strong redox potential of the reduced YkuV. Furthermore, we demonstrated that YkuV is able to reduce different protein substrates in vitro. Together, our results clearly established that YkuV may function as a general thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase, which acts as an alternative for thioredoxin or thioredoxin reductase to maintain the reducing environment in the cell cytoplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large areas of northern China have alkaline soil due to the accumulation of sodium carbonates (NaHCO3, Na2CO3). To understand better how plants can tolerate alkaline soil, a cDNA library was prepared from rice (Oryza sativa L.) roots grown in the presence of NaHCO3 stress. A cDNA clone isolated from this library was identified by a homology search as a mitochondrial ATP synthase 6 kDa subunit gene (RMtATP6; GenBank accession nos AB055076, BAB21526). In transformed yeast and tobacco protoplasts, the RMtATP6 protein was localized in mitochondria using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker. Analysis of RMtATP6 mRNA levels suggested that the expression of this gene was induced by stress from sodium carbonates and other sodium salts. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing the RMtATP6 gene had greater tolerance to salt stress at the seedling stage than untransformed tobacco. Among the other genes for F1F0-ATPase of rice, some were found to be up-regulated by some environmental stresses and some were not. These data suggest that the RMtATP6 protein acts as a subunit of ATP synthase, and is expressed in response to stress from several salts, with the other genes coding for the subunits of the same ATP-synthase. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Box C/D ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes direct the nucleotide-specific 2'-O-methylation of ribonucleotide sugars in target RNAs. In vitro assembly of an archaeal box C/D sRNP using recombinant core proteins L7, Nop56/58 and fibrillarin has yielded an RNA:protein enzyme that guides methylation from both the terminal box C/D core and internal C'/D' RNP complexes. Reconstitution of sRNP complexes containing only box C/D or C'/D' motifs has demonstrated that the terminal box C/D RNP is the minimal methylation-competent particle. However, efficient ribonucleotide 2'-O-methylation requires that both the box C/D and C'/D' RNPs function within the full-length sRNA molecule. In contrast to the eukaryotic snoRNP complex, where the core proteins are distributed asymmetrically on the box C/D and C'/D' motifs, all three archaeal core proteins bind both motifs symmetrically. This difference in core protein distribution is a result of altered RNA-binding capabilities of the archaeal and eukaryotic core protein homotogs. Thus, evolution of the box C/D nucleotide modification complex has resulted in structurally distinct archaeal and eukaryotic RNP particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effects of mutations in different parts of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome on alpha-Interferon (IFN) therapy. Risk factors for the development of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma; Definition of response criteria to interferon therapy; Factors influencing the efficacy of IFN therapy in patients with chronic HBV.

This study firstly explored the risks of secondary cancer in healthy organs of Chinese paediatric patients with brain tumours after boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Three neutron beam irradiation geometries (i.e. right lateral, top to bottom, posterior to anterior) were adopted in treating patients with brain tumours under the clinical environment of BNCT. The concerned organs in this study were those with high cancer morbidity in China (e.g. lung, liver and stomach). The equivalent doses for these organs were calculated using Monte Carlo and anthropomorphic paediatric phantoms with Chinese physiological features. The risk of secondary cancer, characterised by the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) factor given in the BEIR VII report, was compared among the three irradiation geometries. The results showed that the LAR was lower with the PA irradiation geometry than with the two other irradiation geometries when the 2 cm diameter tumour was at a depth of 6 cm on the right side of the brain. Under the PA irradiation geometry, the LAR in the organs increased with increasing tumour volume and depth because of the long irradiation time. As the patients aged from 10–15 years old, the LAR decreased, which was related to the increased patient height and shortened life expectancy. Female patients had a relatively higher risk of secondary cancer than male patients in this study, which could be due to the thinner body thickness and the weaker protective effect on the internal organs of the female patients. In conclusion, the risks of secondary cancer in organs were related to irradiation geometries, gender, and age, indicating that the risk of secondary cancer is a personalised parameter that needs to be evaluated before administering BNCT, especially in patients with large or deep tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stabilization of the Mack second mode is of great significance to control hypersonic boundary-layer transitions. Based on the generalized Snell's law, this work proposes a reflection-controlled metasurface that can restrain the Mack second mode instability by controlling the reflection directions of disturbance waves and consequently stabilize hypersonic boundary-layer flow. The metasurface is periodically corrugated with subwavelength groove groups: each of which is composed of several grooves with different depths. The direct numerical simulation results of a Mach 6 flat-plate boundary layer indicate that the reflection-controlled metasurfaces divide the "two-cell" structure of the Mack second mode into several small parts, and that largely inhibits the growth of the Mack second mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare low-grade tumor that typically does not metastasize but often recurs. Fibrosarcomatous DFSP (FS-DFSP) is associated with a substantially higher rate of metastasis and a poorer prognosis. Objective: This study sought to investigate the epidemiological, histopathological, and clinical characteristics of DFSP, especially with a particular focus on FS-DFSP. Materials and methods: Clinical data from 254 patients treated between January 1999 and July 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Endpoints of the study were the incidence of significant disease-related clinical events. Results: Follow-up data from 211 patients were available for analysis, with a median follow-up time of 38 months (range: 1-196 months). The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients underwent wide-local excision (WLE) was 97.1%. Patients underwent WLE exhibited a significantly decreased recurrence rate relative to patients treated through local excision (2.9% vs 37.7%; p < .001). Fibrosarcomatous DFSP had significantly higher rates of distant metastasis (66.7% [n = 4] vs 2.0% [n = 4]; p < .001) and long-term mortality (50.0% [n = 3] vs 1.5% [n = 3]; p < .001), compared with classical DFSP (C-DFSP). Conclusion: Wide-local excision is an effective means of reducing DFSP recurrence. Rates of metastasis are higher for FS-DFSP than for C-DFSP, with the former having significantly poorer outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desertification control is an important issue that must be considered in modern society. In order to effectively improve the accuracy and practicability of the evaluation algorithm of desertification control effect, the Alhagi sparsifolia index under different irrigation amount was taken as the research object, and the evaluation algorithm of desertification control effect was proposed. In the "vegetation-sandstorm-soil" index system, a number of indexes were selected according to the core environmental parameters of Alhagi sparsifolia and grassland desertification. And the analytic hierarchy process, remote sensing, geographic information system, and landscape technology were used to assign index weights of desertification control capacity, which were calculated by multiple discriminant matrices. Finally, the data regression analysis was performed based on remote sensing and computer image information screening and processing to determine the final evaluation results. The experimental data show that the true positive rate of the algorithm in this paper is between 160 and 200, which is within a large range of advantages, indicating that the overall evaluation accuracy of the algorithm is high and the evaluation effect is perfect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An a-SiNx-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) device with a forming-free characteristic has significant potentials for the industrialization of the next-generation memories. We demonstrate that a forming-free a-SiNxOy RRAM device can be achieved by an oxygen plasma treatment of ultra-thin a-SiNx:H films. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy reveals that Si dangling bonds with a high density (1019 cm−3) are distributed in the initial state, which exist in the forms of Si2N≡Si·, SiO2≡Si·, O3≡Si·, and N3≡Si·. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature-dependent current analyses reveal that the silicon dangling bonds induced by the oxygen plasma treatment and external electric field contribute to the low resistance state (LRS). For the high resistance state (HRS), the rupture of the silicon dangling bond pathway is attributed to the partial passivation of Si dangling bonds by H+ and O2−. Both LRS and HRS transmissions obey the hopping conduction model. The proposed oxygen plasma treatment, introduced to generate a high density of Si dangling bonds in the SiNxOy:H films, provides a new approach to forming-free RRAM devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A preface to the April 2012 issue of the journal "High Temperatures--High Pressures" is presented.

Internet of Vehicles has become a promising way to realize the evolution from vehicular ad hoc networks and nextgeneration intelligent transportation system into future autonomous driving scenarios, clean-energy intelligent vehicles, and Smart Cities. However, multicasting service messages on available service channels and periodic exchanges of beacon messages on control channel cause the problem of efficiently scheduling those messages via multichannel transmission for intelligent vehicle terminal, to support real-world applications in Internet of Vehicles scenario. In this article, we investigate the intelligent vehicle terminal architecture and, particularly, design the wireless communication board by incorporating multicasting and congestion control modules. Especially, we present a multicast data delivery scheme with random-delay lowest-cost constraint to transfer service messages on service channels. Furthermore, a priority-aware congestion control scheme is also proposed by considering differentiated priorities of beacon messages on control channel, to cope with the congestion problem at bottleneck vehicle node. Based on the proposed schemes, we build up the RanLow (Random-delay Lowest-cost) module and the priority-aware congestion control (PARCEL) module by enabling multicasting and congestion control together in wireless communication board of the intelligent vehicle terminal architecture. Finally, the experimental results and comparison show that our devised RanLow module and PARCEL module are feasible and more efficient than existing schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating disease that has led to an acute crisis for growers of citrus, one of the world's most important fruit crops. The phloem-feeding Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, is the main pest at the new shoot stage and is the only natural vector of HLB pathogenic bacteria. Little is known about how plants perceive and defend themselves from this destructive pest. Here, we characterized changes in the expression of various genes in citrus plants that were continuously infested by D. citri for different durations (12, 24, and 48 h). A total of 5 219 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 643 common DEGs were identified across all time points. Several pathways related to defense were activated, such as peroxisome, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, and phenylpropanoid and terpenoid biosynthesis, and some pathways related to growth and signal transduction were suppressed in response to D. citri infestation. The expression of genes including kinases (CML44, CIPK6, and XTH6), phytohormones (SAMT, LOX6, and NPR3), transcription factors (bHLH162, WRKY70, and WRKY40), and secondary metabolite synthesis-related genes (PAL, 4CL2, UGT74B1 and CYP82G1) was significantly altered in response to D. citri infestation. The findings of this study greatly enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the defense response of citrus plants to D. citri infestation at the molecular level. Functional characterization of the candidate defense-related genes identified in this study will aid the molecular breeding of insect-resistant citrus varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted high-velocity penetration experiments using conventional ogive-nose, double-ogive-nose, and grooved-tapered projectiles of approximately 2.5 kg and initial velocities between 1000 and 1360 m/s to penetrate or perforate concrete targets with unconfined compressive strengths of nominally 40MPa. The penetration performance data of these three types of projectiles with two different types of materials (i.e., AerMet100 and DT300) were obtained. The crater depth model considering both the projectile mass and the initial velocity was proposed based on the test results and a theoretical analysis. The penetration ability and the trajectory stability of these three projectile types were compared and analyzed accordingly. The results showed that, under these experimental conditions, the effects of these two different kinds of projectile materials on the penetration depth and mass erosion rate of projectile were not obvious. The existing models could not reflect the crater depths for projectiles of greater weights or higher velocities, whereas the new model established in this study was reliable. The double-ogive-nose has a certain effect of drag reduction. Thus, the double-ogive-nose projectile has a higher penetration ability than the conventional ogive-nose projectile. Meanwhile, the grooved-tapered projectile has a better trajectory stability, because the convex parts of tapered shank generated the restoring moment to stabilize the trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important crop possessing C4 photosynthesis capability. The S. italica genome was de novo sequenced in 2012, but the sequence lacked high-density genetic maps with agronomic and yield trait linkages. In the present study, we resequenced a foxtail millet population of 439 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and developed high-resolution bin map and high-density SNP markers, which could provide an effective approach for gene identification. A total of 59 QTL for 14 agronomic traits in plants grown under long- and short-day photoperiods were identified. The phenotypic variation explained ranged from 4.9 to 43.94%. In addition, we suggested that there may be segregation distortion on chromosome 6 that is significantly distorted toward Zhang gu. The newly identified QTL will provide a platform for sequence-based research on the S. italica genome, and for molecular marker-assisted breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as a class of important regulators participating in various biological functions and disease processes. With the widespread application of next-generation sequencing technologies, large numbers of lncRNAs have been identified, producing plenty of lncRNA annotation resources in different contexts. However, at present, we lack a comprehensive overview of these lncRNA annotation resources. In this study, we reviewed 24 currently available lncRNA annotation resources referring to>205 000 lncRNAs in over 50 tissues and cell lines. We characterized these annotation resources from different aspects, including exon structure, expression, histone modification and function. We found many distinct properties among these annotation resources. Especially, these resources showed diverse chromatin signatures, remarkable tissue and cell type dependence and functional specificity. Our results suggested the incompleteness and complementarity of current lncRNA annotations and the necessity of integration of multiple resources to comprehensively characterize lncRNAs. Finally, we developed 'LNCat' (lncRNA atlas, freely available at http://biocc.hrbmu.edu.cn/LNCat/), a user-friendly database that provides a genome browser of lncRNA structures, visualization of different resources from multiple angles and download of different combinations of lncRNA annotations, and supports rapid exploration, comparison and integration of lncRNA annotation resources. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive comparison of numerous lncRNA annotations, and can facilitate understanding of lncRNAs in human disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition of EGFR and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) signaling is highly effective in a subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with distinct clinicopathologic features. However, resistance to EGFR and ALK inhibitors inevitably occurs, and the molecular mechanism underlying resistance is not fully understood. In this study, we report a PI3K/Akt- and MEK/ERK-independent resistance mechanism by which loss of the E3 ubiquitin ligase F-box and WD repeat domain containing 7 (FBW7a) leads to targeted therapy resistance via stabilization of antiapoptotic protein MCL-1. Using a panel of in vitro and in vivo studies, we showed that the regulatory machinery responsible for MCL-1 protein degradation was a step-wise event involving phosphorylation and nucleus translocation. ERK cooperated with GSKß to phosphorylate MCL-1 Ser159 residue, which enabled MCL-1 to translocate into the nucleus and bind FBW7. Defects in this sequence impaired MCL-1 degradation and cell apoptosis, recapitulating phenotypes observed in FBW7 deficiency. Downregulation of FBW7 was found in EGFR inhibitor-resistant human NSCLC specimens and correlated with increased MCL-1 protein expression. Reactivation of FBW7 sensitized resistant cells to targeted therapy and facilitated MCL-1 degradation. Overall, our study provides proof-of-principle insight into a PI3K/Akt- and MEK/ERK-independent resistant model and suggests that targeting FBW7 can overcome resistance to targeted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption and diffusion of the CO2-CH4 mixture in coal and the underlying mechanisms significantly affect the design and operation of any CO2-enhanced coal-bed methane recovery (CO2-ECBM) project. In this study, bituminous coal was fabricated based on the Wiser molecular model and its ultramicroporous parameters were evaluated; molecular simulations were established through Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and Molecular Dynamic (MD) methods to study the effects of temperature, pressure, and species bulk mole fraction on the adsorption isotherms, adsorption selectivity, three distinct diffusion coefficients, and diffusivity selectivity of the binary mixture in the coal ultramicropores. It turns out that the absolute adsorption amount of each species in the mixture decreases as temperature increases, but increases as its own bulk mole fraction increases. The self-, corrected, and transport diffusion coefficients of pure CO2 and pure CH4 all increase as temperature or/and their own bulk mole fractions increase. Compared to CH4, the adsorption and diffusion of CO2 are preferential in the coal ultramicropores. Adsorption selectivity and diffusivity selectivity were simultaneously employed to reveal that the optimal injection depth for CO2-ECBM is 800-1000 m at 308-323 K temperature and 8.0-10.0 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive analysis to convection heat transfer of power-law fluids along the inclined nonuniformly heated plate with suction or injection is presented. The effects of power-law viscosity on temperature field are taken into account in highly coupled velocity and temperature fields. Analytical solutions are established by homotopy analysis method (HAM), and the effects of pertinent parameters (velocity power-law exponent, temperature power index, suction!injection parameter, and inclination angle) are analyzed. Some new interesting phenomena are found, for example, unlike classical boundary layer problem in which the skin friction monotonically increases (decreases) with suction increases (injection increases), but there exists a special region where the skin friction is not monotonic, which is strongly bound up with Prandtl number, which have never been reported before. The nonmonotony occurs in suction region for Prandtl number Npr < 1 and injection region for Npr > 1. Results also illustrate that the velocity profile decreases but the heat convection is enhanced obviously with increasing in temperature power exponent m (generalized Prandtl number Npr has similar effects), the decreases in inclination angle lead to the reduction in convection and heat transfer efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxyl multi-walled carbon nanotubes/calcium alginate (CMWCNT/CA) composite hydrogel nano-filtration membrane was prepared using polyethylene glycol 400 as the pore-forming agent. The membrane was characterized by SEM, TEM and FT-IR. And the strength, anti-fouling property and dye rejection were investigated. Results showed that the CMWCNT/CA membrane had a high tensile strength up to 1.83 MPa. The flux of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution was 96.87% of the pure water flux ( PWF ), indicating that the membrane exhibited good anti-fouling property. Even after the saturated adsorption, the rejection for Congo red still reached 98.62%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of nanomaterials with target crystal structures, especially those new structures that cannot be crystallized in their bulk counterparts, is of considerable interest owing to their strongly structure-dependent properties. Here, we have successfully synthesized and identified newphase nanocrystals (NCs) associated with orthorhombic MnPtype (B31) MnS by utilizing an effective high-pressure technique. It is particularly worth noting that the generated new structured MnS NCs were captured as expected by quenching the high-pressure phase to the ambient conditions at room temperature. Likewise, the commercially available bulk rocksalt (RS) MnS material underwent unambiguously a reversible phase transition when the pressure was released completely. First-principles calculations further supported that the B31-MnS was more energetically preferable than the RS one under high pressure, which can be plausibly interpreted by the structural buckling with respect to zigzagged arrangements within B31 unit cell. Our findings represent a significant step forward in a deeper understanding of the high-pressure phase diagram of MnS and even provide a promising strategy to prepare desired nanomaterials with new structures that do not exist in their bulk counterparts, thus greatly increasing the choice of materials for a variety of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine radiation effects on Marangoni convection flow and heat transfer in pseudo-plastic non-Newtonian nanofluids driven by a temperature gradient. The surface tension is assumed to vary linearly with temperature. Four different types of nanoparticles; namely, Cu, Al2O3, CuO and TiO2, are considered with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-water used as a base fluid. The effects of power-law viscosity on temperature field are taken into account by assuming that the temperature field is similar to the velocity field and that the thermal conductivity of the non-Newtonian fluids is power-law-dependent on the velocity gradient. The governing partial differential equations are reduced to a series of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations, the solutions are obtained numerically by the shooting method. The effects of the solid volume fraction, the Power-law Number, the Marangoni Number and the Radiation Number on the velocity and temperature fields are analyzed and discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the asymmetric viscoelastic fluid in a rectangular domain bounded by two porous moving channels with expanding or contracting walls is investigated. The governing equations are reduced to an ordinary equation by using suitable similar transformations. Homotopy analysis method is used to obtain the expression for velocity fields. The analytical solutions are influenced by the permeation Reynolds numberRe, the wall expansion ratioand viscoelastic parameter. Graphs are sketched and the effects of some values of parameters, especially the expansion ratio and viscoelastic parameter, on the velocity fields are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]