Search

Tin oxide is one of the most promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high capacity and easy availability. However, its application is often hampered by the severe volume expansion during lithiation and delithiation process, causing a lower capacity retention rate. In this work, C@SnO2 core–shell nanostructure was constructed by using one-step hydrothermal method. In this nano-architecture, SnO2 nanoparticles are trapped and supported by carbon via the interfacial coupling effect. Benefiting from the structure and compositional characteristics, C@SnO2 electrodes display excellent lithium storage performance, when used as anode material for lithium-ion battery. It delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 1420 mA h g−1 and maintains a discharge capacity of 541 mA h g−1 after 150 cycles at the current density of 100 mA g−1, which is superior to the SnO2 and carbon electrodes. The enhanced electrochemical performance can be attributed to the construction of core–shell structure; the C@SnO2 has numerous void spaces and good electrical conductivity. It can effectively prevent the aggregation of SnO2 nanoparticles and shorten the diffusion path during electrochemical cycles, leading to the excellent lithium storage performance. This work provides a simple strategy to construct improved transition metal oxide electrodes for energy storage.

Laser peening has an extensive application in traditional manufacturing industry. However, in additive manufacturing, the initial stresses on the parts often reduce the effects of laser peening and make it hard to achieve a desirable residual stress distribution. In this investigation, the interaction of initial residual stress and laser peening-induced stress was studied through numerical simulation and experimental tests. A finite element model (FEM) model was built to predict the stress distribution on laser-deposited sample, and its changed state is affected by laser peening. The microstructure and mechanical properties were also characterized experimentally. The result turned out that the thermal-induced tensile residual stress in laser-deposited sample can affect the laser peening result in both horizontal and longitudinal directions. Some mechanical properties of the LAMed sample were changed after LSP treatment. The hardness on the surface and 1-mm depth have been increased by 7% and 22%, respectively, and the yield strength was increased by 16%, while there is no significant change in the tensile strength and elongation rate.

We report the properties of more than 600 bursts (including cluster-bursts) detected from the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) during an extremely active episode on UTC September 25-28, 2021, in a series of four papers. The observations were carried out in the band of 1.0 - 1.5 GHz by using the center beam of the L-band 19-beam receiver. We monitored the source in sixteen 1-hour sessions and one 3-hour session spanning 23 days. All the bursts were detected during the first four days. In this first paper of the series, we perform a detailed morphological study of 624 bursts using the 2-dimensional frequency-time ``waterfall'' plots, with a burst (or cluster-burst) defined as an emission episode during which the adjacent emission peaks have a separation shorter than 400 ms. The duration of a burst is therefore always longer than 1 ms, with the longest up to more than 120 ms. The emission spectra of the sub-bursts are typically narrow within the observing band with a characteristic width of $\sim$277 MHz. The center frequency distribution has a dominant peak at about 1091.9 MHz and a secondary weak peak around 1327.9 MHz. Most bursts show a frequency-downward-drifting pattern. Based on the drifting patterns, we classify the bursts into five main categories: downward drifting (263) bursts, upward drifting (3) bursts, complex (203), no drifting (35) bursts, and no evidence for drifting (121) bursts. Subtypes are introduced based on the emission frequency range in the band (low, middle, high and wide) as well as the number of components in one burst (1, 2, or multiple). We measured a varying scintillation bandwidth from about 0.5 MHz at 1.0 GHz to 1.4 MHz at 1.5 GHz with a spectral index of 3.0., Comment: Accepted by Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA)

Studies of targeted therapy resistance in lung cancer have primarily focused on single-gene alterations. Based on prior work implicating apolipoprotein b mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) mutagenesis in histological transformation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant lung cancers, we hypothesized that mutational signature analysis may help elucidate acquired resistance to targeted therapies.APOBEC mutational signatures derived from an Food and Drug Administration-cleared multigene panel [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets (MSK-IMPACT)] using the Signature Multivariate Analysis (SigMA) algorithm were validated against the gold standard of mutational signatures derived from whole-exome sequencing. Mutational signatures were decomposed in 3276 unique lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs), including 93 paired osimertinib-naïve and -resistant EGFR-mutant tumors. Associations between APOBEC and mechanisms of resistance to osimertinib were investigated. Whole-genome sequencing was carried out on available EGFR-mutant lung cancer samples (10 paired, 17 unpaired) to investigate large-scale genomic alterations potentially contributing to osimertinib resistance.APOBEC mutational signatures were more frequent in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)-driven lung cancers (EGFR, ALK, RET, and ROS1; 25%) compared to LUADs at large (20%, P0.001); across all subtypes, APOBEC mutational signatures were enriched in subclonal mutations (P0.001). In EGFR-mutant lung cancers, osimertinib-resistant samples more frequently displayed an APOBEC-dominant mutational signature compared to osimertinib-naïve samples (28% versus 14%, P = 0.03). Specifically, mutations detected in osimertinib-resistant tumors but not in pre-treatment samples significantly more frequently displayed an APOBEC-dominant mutational signature (44% versus 23%, P0.001). EGFR-mutant samples with APOBEC-dominant signatures had enrichment of large-scale genomic rearrangements (P = 0.01) and kataegis (P = 0.03) in areas of APOBEC mutagenesis.APOBEC mutational signatures are frequent in RTK-driven LUADs and increase under the selective pressure of osimertinib in EGFR-mutant lung cancer. APOBEC mutational signature enrichment in subclonal mutations, private mutations acquired after osimertinib treatment, and areas of large-scale genomic rearrangements highlights a potentially fundamental role for APOBEC mutagenesis in the development of resistance to targeted therapies, which may be potentially exploited to overcome such resistance.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed millisecond-duration radio bursts. Recent observations of a Galactic FRB suggest that at least some FRBs originate from magnetars, but the origin of cosmological FRBs is still not settled. Here we report the detection of 1863 bursts in 82 hr over 54 days from the repeating source FRB~20201124A. These observations show irregular short-time variation of the Faraday rotation measure (RM), which probes the density-weighted line-of-sight magnetic field strength, of individual bursts during the first 36 days, followed by a constant RM. We detected circular polarisation in more than half of the burst sample, including one burst reaching a high fractional circular polarisation of 75%. Oscillations in fractional linear and circular polarisations as well as polarisation angle as a function of wavelength were detected. All of these features provide evidence for a complicated, dynamically evolving, magnetised immediate environment within about an astronomical unit (au; Earth-Sun distance) of the source. Our optical observations of its Milky-Way-sized, metal-rich host galaxy reveal a barred spiral, with the FRB source residing in a low stellar density, interarm region at an intermediate galactocentric distance. This environment is inconsistent with a young magnetar engine formed during an extreme explosion of a massive star that resulted in a long gamma-ray burst or superluminous supernova., Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, updated to match the published version

The dispersive sweep of fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been used to probe the ionized baryon content of the intergalactic medium, which is assumed to dominate the total extragalactic dispersion. While the host galaxy contributions to dispersion measure (DM) appear to be small for most FRBs, in at least one case there is evidence for an extreme magneto-ionic local environment and a compact persistent radio source. Here we report the detection and localization of the repeating FRB 20190520B, which is co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a dwarf host galaxy of high specific star formation rate at a redshift $z=0.241\pm0.001$. The estimated host galaxy DM $\approx 903^{+72}_{-111}$ pc cm$^{-3}$, nearly an order of magnitude higher than the average of FRB host galaxies, far exceeds the DM contribution of the intergalactic medium. Caution is thus warranted in inferring redshifts for FRBs without accurate host galaxy identifications., Accepted, Version 3

The event rate, energy distribution, and time-domain behaviour of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) contains essential information regarding their physical nature and central engine, which are as yet unknown. As the first precisely-localized source, FRB 121102 has been extensively observed and shows non-Poisson clustering of bursts over time and a power-law energy distribution. However, the extent of the energy distribution towards the fainter end was not known. Here we report the detection of 1652 independent bursts with a peak burst rate of 122~hr^{-1}, in 59.5 hours spanning 47 days. A peak in the isotropic equivalent energy distribution is found to be ~4.8 x 10^{37} erg at 1.25~GHz, below which the detection of bursts is suppressed. The burst energy distribution is bimodal, and well characterized by a combination of a log-normal function and a generalized Cauchy function. The large number of bursts in hour-long spans allow sensitive periodicity searches between 1 ms and 1000 s. The non-detection of any periodicity or quasi-periodicity poses challenges for models involving a single rotating compact object. The high burst rate also implies that FRBs must be generated with a high radiative efficiency, disfavoring emission mechanisms with large energy requirements or contrived triggering conditions., 69 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables; Updates for author correction

Ketamine is a non-competitive channel blocker of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors1. A single sub-anaesthetic dose of ketamine produces rapid (within hours) and long-lasting antidepressant effects in patients who are resistant to other antidepressants2,3. Ketamine is a racemic mixture of S- and R-ketamine enantiomers, with S-ketamine isomer being the more active antidepressant4. Here we describe the cryo-electron microscope structures of human GluN1-GluN2A and GluN1-GluN2B NMDA receptors in complex with S-ketamine, glycine and glutamate. Both electron density maps uncovered the binding pocket for S-ketamine in the central vestibule between the channel gate and selectivity filter. Molecular dynamics simulation showed that S-ketamine moves between two distinct locations within the binding pocket. Two amino acids-leucine 642 on GluN2A (homologous to leucine 643 on GluN2B) and asparagine 616 on GluN1-were identified as key residues that form hydrophobic and hydrogen-bond interactions with ketamine, and mutations at these residues reduced the potency of ketamine in blocking NMDA receptor channel activity. These findings show structurally how ketamine binds to and acts on human NMDA receptors, and pave the way for the future development of ketamine-based antidepressants.

To explore the effect of carbachol on myocardial injury in septic rats, and to further study its influence on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway.A total of 48 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=16), model group (n=16), and carbachol group (n=16). The rat model of sepsis was established via cecal ligation and puncture. Carbachol was intraperitoneally injected (10 μg/kg) immediately after operation in carbachol group, and no cecal ligation was performed in sham group. At 48 h after operation, the survival rate of rats in each group was recorded, the activity of plasma creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) was detected, and the cardiac function in each group was determined. Moreover, the heart was isolated, and the myocardial tissues were taken to detect the apoptosis level using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) apoptosis kit. The content of inflammatory factors in myocardial tissues was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, and the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway-related proteins were detected via Western blotting.Carbachol could significantly raise the survival rate of septic rats (p0.01), remarkably decrease the activity of CK-MB (p0.01), markedly reduce the left ventricular internal diameter at end-systole (LVIDs), and markedly increase the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, %) and left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS, %). Besides, carbachol could evidently lower the apoptosis level of myocardial cells of septic rats (p0.01), reduce the content of inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and IL-6 (p0.01), notably decrease the expression of Caspase-3 in myocardial tissues (p0.01), remarkably increase the expression of Bcl-2/Bax (p0.01), and distinctly inhibit the expressions of phosphorylated (p-)PI3K, p-AKT, Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), and Caspase-1 (p0.01).Carbachol can reduce the release of inflammatory factors in myocardial cells, the expression of apoptotic proteins and the apoptosis of myocardial cells, and improve the cardiac function and survival rate of septic rats by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Background The One-Child Policy led to the imbalance of the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in China. After that, Two-Child Policy was introduced and gradually liberalized at three stages. If both the husband and wife of one couple were the only child of their parents, they were allowed to have two children in policy (BTCP). If only one of them was the only child, they were allowed to have two children in policy (OTCP). The Universal Two-Child Policy (UTCP) allowed every couple to have two children. The objective of this study was to explore the changing trend of SRB at the stages of Two-Child Policy, to analyze the effect of population policy on SRB in terms of maternal age, delivery mode, parity, maternal education, delivery hospital, and to figure out what factors have greater impact on the SRB. Methods The data of the study came from Hebei Province Maternal Near Miss Surveillance System, covered the parturients delivered at 28 gestation weeks or more in 22 hospitals from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2017. We compared the SRB at different policy stages, analyzed the relationship between the SRB and population policy by logistic regression analysis. Results Total 270,878 singleton deliveries were analyzed. The SRB, 1.084 at BTCP, 1.050 at OTCP, 1.047 at UTCP, declined rapidly (χ2 = 15.97, P χ2 = 44.49, P Conclusions The SRB has declined to normal level with the gradually liberalizing of Two-Child Policy in China. Advanced maternal age, cesarean delivery, multiparous women, middle level education, rural hospital are the main factors of effect on the decline of the SRB.

It is difficult to design the control law for flexible systems with multiple lightly damped modes. Particularly, when there exist parameter perturbations, for example, resonant frequency or damping ratio etc., the stability of the system cannot be guaranteed. Conventionally, the control design of the flexible system is only stabilization design, without considering the performance requirement of the system. For the H∞ control, even the famous H∞ loop shaping method proposed by McFarlaned, cannot improve further the performance of the system. Instead, the resulting controller is unstable, with is not easy to tune on in practice. In the proposed, the system bandwidth is chosen as the performance index for the H∞ optimal control. The robustness of the system is further improved by considering the performance of the system. Furthermore, the controller is stable, i.e., the H∞ strong stabilization problem is resolved. With this design, the control accuracy and the speed of response is improved, and also the controller can be tuned on easily. The proposed work is important for the application of flexible structures in the real world.

In order to avoid the damage of membrane structure caused by snow load, a new type of intelligent snow removal device is proposed based on the principle of micro-spray irrigation and the dual control of pressure and temperature. The determination method of construction parameters such as pressure critical value, snow area, sprinkler size and number of the device is expounded. Finally, taking a Shanghai membrane structure project as an example, the snow area of the project was determined. Considering the size of snow area and the sprinkler spraying area, the number and construction location of the sprinklers on the membrane surface were finally determined.

Introduction: Three main contradictions that accompany the urbanization process: population explosion and food demand, urban expansion and production space, production mode and energy consumption. The pressure of urbanization has caused a huge mismatch between production and consumption in space and mode. Analysing the status and trends of urban food system planning show that sustainable consumption and production are closely related to their spatial layout. Method: Take a simulated urban community sustainable food system as an example. Based on local production and consumption, distributed layout and resource recycling system. The model formulates a reasonable spatial planning strategy based on urban agriculture of different scales, technologies and efficiencies, quantifies the indicators of the productive community to suit different scales, and uses a python algorithm to simulate a spatial model with adjustable parameters. Results: Through the comparison and optimization of multi-plan spatial patterns, a sustainable consumption and production-oriented planning decision was formed, which was finally used to guide the productive community spatial planning project. Discussion: This model is only a preliminary attempt at food system planning, but ‘theory-simulation-design’ has proved the feasibility of productive community spatial planning and explored the path of sustainable urban communities that support sustainable consumption and production.

目的 比较IPI、美国国家综合癌症网络IPI（NCCN-IPI）及年龄调整的IPI（aa-IPI）三种预后分层模型在弥漫大B细胞淋巴瘤（DLBCL）患者中的预后分层能力。 方法 回顾性分析2003年1月至2012年12月311例初治DLBCL患者资料，根据治疗方案将患者分为CHOP（环磷酰胺、多柔比星、长春新碱、泼尼松）方案及利妥昔单抗（R）-CHOP方案组，分别采用IPI、NCCN-IPI及aa-IPI对DLBCL患者进行危险度分层。采用Harrell's C统计评价不同模型的预后分层能力。 结果 ①311例患者中接受CHOP方案治疗者128例，接受R-CHOP方案治疗者183例。②CHOP方案组患者的5年总生存（OS）率结果显示，aa-IPI（71.0%对25.0%，P

Meckel's diverticulum is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract, affecting approximately 2% of the population. It is a true diverticulum occurring on the anti-mesenteric border of the distalileum, typically within 100 cm of the ileo-caecal valve. Neoplasms arising in Meckel's diverticula are uncommon, and those reported in the literature are mainly carcinoid tumors, followed by gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and benign leiomyomas. Adenocarcinomas are extremely rare. Tumors in Meckel's present non-specifically with gastrointestinal complaints, such as bleeding, obstruction, inflammation or perforation. The suspicion of a Meckel's tumor is often not thought of at the initial. In this article we describe a 57-year-old woman who presented with massive rectal bleeding and severe anemia, later found to be caused by a adenocarcinoma arising from Meckel's diverticulum. The tumor was unfortunately highly aggressive. Multiple liver metastases had already existed when we discovered the primary mass. Later we performed a partial resection of the ileumto cease the bleeding. Meckel's diverticulum and the tumor were resected simultaneously. The pathological diagnosis confirmed adenocarcinoma arising from the Meckel's diverticulum. The final stage was pT4NxM1, stage IV according to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) classification. After operation we gave the patient first-line, mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy, but it turned out to be not effective. Rapid progress of the liver metastases and suspicion of multiple lung metastasis in short time after therapy indicated a bad outcome. We believe this is the first case of adenocarcinoma in a Meckel's diverticulum to be reported in domestic literature. The diagnosis of Meckel's tumor should be considered as inpatients'acute gastrointestinal complaints; when found incidentally at laparotomy, it should be carefully examined for any gross abnormality and resection should be considered.

To reduce defects and improve the quality of laser drilling, the electric and magnetic (EM) field-assisted laser drilling has been tested. For different industrial applications, we performed microlaser drilling and macro-through-hole drilling under different EM fields using two different lasers (ns and ms). Drilling was performed on a custom apparatus that can produce static and rotating EM fields. The motion of the plasma strongly affected the drilling quality. In an EM field, both the ns and ms lasers produced holes with smaller diameters, better surface quality, and fewer hole wall defects. The drilling defects were mainly caused by the plasma-based multi-shock effect. The EM field can influence the motion of the plasma and minimize defects.

The phase constitutions of Ti–35·4Nb and Ti–35·4Nb–0·05C (wt-%) alloys with different heat treatments were detected using X-ray diffraction experiments. Compressive properties were tested using a 100 kN MTS testing machine for the two alloys. It was shown that the phases of the as sintered alloys consist of α and β phases. As sintered Ti–35·4Nb–0·05C alloy contains less β phase and more α phase compared with as sintered Ti–35·4Nb alloy. The phases of as quenched alloys are composed of α″ and βM phases. As quenched Ti–35·4Nb–0·05C alloy has more α″ phase and less βM phase compared with as quenched Ti–35·4Nb alloy. As quenched Ti–35·4Nb–0·05C alloy has a lower elastic modulus and yield stress than as quenched Ti–35·4Nb alloy, which is resulted of more α″ phase in as quenched Ti–35·4Nb–0·05C alloy. The elastic modulus and yield stress of as quenched Ti–Nb alloys are less than those of the as sintered Ti–Nb alloys with identical compositions since both α″ and βM phases in as quenched Ti–Nb alloys have...

To investigate the correlation of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) complicated with osteoporosis with lipid metabolism, adipokines and inflammatory factors, and to define the risk factors via the multivariate regression analysis.A total of 80 patients with DM admitted into our hospital from November 2015 to November 2016 were enrolled, including 40 patients complicated with osteoporosis and 40 patients not complicated with osteoporosis. The levels of blood lipid, adipokines and inflammatory factors were compared; the correlations between bone mineral density (BMD) and total cholesterol (TC), adiponectin and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were analyzed; and multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed for osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia, abnormal adipokine levels and body's inflammatory response.The levels of serum lipid indexes, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), in patients without complicating osteoporosis were significantly lower than those in patients complicated with osteoporosis. The level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly higher than that in patients complicated with osteoporosis. The levels of adipokines, adiponectin and visfatin, in patients without complicating osteoporosis were significantly lower than those in patients complicated with osteoporosis. The levels of inflammatory factors, TNF-α, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), in patients without complicating osteoporosis were significantly lower than those in patients complicated with osteoporosis. There were negative correlations between BMD and TC, adiponectin and TNF-α. Abnormal blood lipid, abnormal adipokine levels and elevated inflammatory factor levels were independent risk factors for osteoporosis.Enhanced inflammatory response, abnormal blood lipid metabolism and abnormal changes in adipokines may increase the risk of osteoporosis in patients with diabetes mellitus.

An investigation was performed to evaluate the effect of laser shock processing (LSP) on AZ31 magnesium alloy using the slow strain rate tensile test. Microstructure revealed that a fine grained structure was obtained by LSP. X-ray diffraction showed that high compressive residual stress occurred at the surface after LSP. Meanwhile, the tensile strength of the LSP samples was improved. The stress corrosion cracking behaviour was examined, including both the base material and the LSP samples in air and 3·5%NaCl solution respectively. Test results demonstrated that the AZ31 Mg alloy after LSP exhibits higher stress corrosion cracking resistance than the base material.

A new configuration of hydraulic hybrid vehicle (HHV) was presented, which mainly consists of an engine, high-pressure accumulator, lower-pressure reservoir and hydraulic transformer (HT) connected to common pressure rail (CPR), and the working principle of hydraulic hybrid vehicle has been described to extend its energy-regenerated potential. Moreover, the mathematical models of the instantaneous pressure ratio of HT and the characteristic parameters of parallel and series accumulator (i.e. effective volume, specific energy, and charge-discharge efficiency) based on lumped parameters method were built, respectively. The simulation and experimental tests of dynamic characteristics of HT and accumulator were done, the result shows that the theoretical analysis was the same as the experimental results by comparing them in the curve trend, and the series accumulator was much superior to parallel accumulator in terms of pulsation damping of hydraulic transformer, that is the simulation results reasonably and appropriately.

Peritrophic membrane proteins are important components of the insect peritrophic membrane. A novel cDNA gene encoding a chitin-binding protein, named secbp66, was identified by immunization screening of the cDNA library of Spodoptera exigua. The full length of secbp66 is 1806 bp, which encodes 602 amino acids. The predicted weight of the protein is 64.2 kDa. Bioinformatic analysis showed that a signal peptide composed of 17 amino acids located at the N-terminal of SeCBP66 contained seven tandem putative Type-II functional chitin-binding domains and five potential N-glycosylation sites, but no O-linked glycosylation sites. To study the properties of SeCBP66, recombinant SeCBP66 was successfully expressed in the insect cell line BTI-Tn-5B1-4 with a Bac-to-Bac expression system. A chitin binding experiment showed that the recombinant SeCBP66 protein could bind to chitin strongly. This study of the novel chitin-binding protein SeCBP66 provides a basis for developing new control targets for S. exigua.

Wolbachiais an intracellular symbiotic bacterium that infects various spider mite species and is associated with alterations in host reproduction, which indicates the potential role in mite evolution. However, studies ofWolbachiainfections in the spider miteTetranychus pueraricola, a major agricultural pest, are limited. Here, we used multilocus sequence typing to determineWolbachiainfection status and examined the relationship betweenWolbachiainfection status and mitochondrial diversity inT. pueraricolafrom 12 populations in China. The prevalence ofWolbachiaranged from 2.8 to 50%, and three strains (wTpue1,wTpue2, andwTpue3) were identified. We also found double infections (wTpue1 +wTpue3) within the same individuals. Furthermore, thewTpue1 strain caused weak cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) (egg hatchability ~55%), whereas another widespread strain,wTpue3, did not induce CI. There was no reduction in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or nuclear DNA diversity among infected individuals, and mtDNA haplotypes did not correspond to specificWolbachiastrains. Phylogenetic analysis and analysis of molecular variance revealed that the distribution of mtDNA and nuclear DNA haplotypes were significantly associated with geography. These findings indicate thatWolbachiainfection inT. pueraricolais complex, butT. pueraricolagenetic differentiation likely resulted from substantial geographic isolation.

To investigate the characteristics of screen time and its risk factors in Chinese primary and middle school students.During April 2012 and June 2012, according to the geographical distribution, the stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 4 provinces from eastern, central and western China, respectively. The convenience sampling method was used to select 2 primary and middle schools from urban, 2 primary and middle schools from rural in each province. In each school, all grades were included, and 2 classes were selected in each grade. A total of 51 866 students or parents were selected as study participants, and 43 771 questionnaires were valid. Information on demographics, academic performance, screen time (TV, computer and cellphone) at weekdays and weekends and the prevalence of the high screen time were compared, multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between screen time2 h/d and potential influential factors.The percentage of students with screen time2 h/d at weekdays and weekends were 16.2% (7 082/43 771) and 41.5% (18 141/43 771) (χ(2)=6 280.14, P0.001), respectively. The distribution of P50 (P25-P75) for screen time at weekdays and weekends were 0.9(0.4-1.6) and 1.8(1.0-3.0) (Z=-131.26, P0.001), respectively. The results of multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that, at weekdays, subjects characterized as primary school students, boys, urban area, living in western area and sufficient vigorous physical activity ≤2 d/w had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as elementary school students, girls, rural area, living in eastern area and sufficient vigorous physical activity3 d/w, odds ratio were 2.01, 1.54, 1.21, 1.09, and 1.07, respectively (P0.05 for all); subjects characterized as a normal or worse self rating academic performance had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as a good self rating academic performance, odds ratioes were 1.24 and 1.73, respectively (P0.05 for all); subjects characterized as paternal education level as elementary school, middle school, high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as paternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.41, 1.47 and 1.52, respectively (P0.05 for all); subjects characterized as maternal education level as elementary school, middle school and high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as maternal education level as college, odds ratioes were 1.40, 1.52 and 1.47, respectively (P0.05 for all). At weekends, subjects characterized as primary school students, boys, urban area and sufficient vigorous physical activity ≤2 d/w had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as elementary school students, girls, rural area and sufficient vigorous physical activity3 d/w, odds ratioes were 2.11, 1.51, 1.20 and 1.05, respectively (P0.05 for all). At weekends, subjects characterized as a normal or worse self rating academic performance had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as a good self rating academic performance, odds ratioes were 1.09 and 1.26, respectively (P0.05 for all); subjects characterized as paternal education level as elementary school, middle school, high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as paternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.29, 1.30 and 1.19, respectively (P0.05 for all); subjects characterized as maternal education level as elementary school, middle school had higher risk for screen time2 h/d than those characterized as maternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.19 and 1.16 and, respectively (P0.05 for all).The prevalence of screen time2 h/d is high; screen time at weekdays is longer than weekends, and there are significant differences among different sexes, urban or rural areas, living areas, self rating academic performance, parents education levels and physical activity groups.

Abnormal expression of microRNA-135a (miR-135a) is closely associated with oncogenesis. However, the relationship between serum miR-135a levels and the clinical parameters and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. The study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of serum miR-135a expression in patients with NSCLC. miR-135a expression was analyzed by real-time PCR and its correlation with NSCLC was determined by various statistical methods for 104 NSCLC patients and 40 healthy volunteers. The serum miR-135a level was significantly lower in NSCLC patients than in healthy control subjects (P < 0.01), and was closely related to distant metastasis (P < 0.015), lymphatic metastasis (P = 0.000), TNM (tumor node metastasis) stage (P = 0.001), and pathological stage (P = 0.021) of NSCLC. The five year overall survival was significantly lower in patients with low miR-135a expression than that in patients with high serum miR-135a levels (P = 0.010). Multivariate analysis showed that serum miR-135a level could be treated as an independent risk factor for NSCLC prognosis (P = 0.011). In conclusion, the serum miR-135a level was downregulated in NSCLC patients, and was associated with poor prognosis. Additionally, it can be used as a biomarker for NSCLC prognosis.

Cu–Co alloys of bulk compositions Cu75Co25 and Cu84Co16 were undercooled and solidified using electromagnetic levitation. Microstructure of the samples was characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, and micro X-ray diffraction analysis. It was found that besides a bimodal size distribution, droplets of the Co-rich L1 phase resulting from liquid phase separation have a broad composition distribution. The bimodal size distribution of the droplets is more pronounced for the Cu75Co25 sample than for the Cu84Co16 sample, whilst the composition distribution of the droplets is broader in the Cu75Co25 sample than in the Cu84Co16 sample. The droplets were found to also have different types of substructures in the two samples. The results provide novel insight into microstructural evolution of phase-separated alloys under influence of forced convection.

An expression plasmid containing the agdA gene encoding Aspergillus oryzae ZL-1 α-glucosidase was constructed and expressed in Pichia pastoris X-33. The molar mass of the purified protein was estimated by SDS-PAGE. HPLC analysis showed that the purified enzyme has a transglucosylating activity with maltose as substrate. The main component of the enzyme products was panose, while amounts of isomaltose and isomaltotriose were very low or absent. pH 5.2 and temperature of 37 °C were optimum for enzyme activity.

As a bioactive signal, nitric oxide (NO) is involved in multiple plant physiological responses, especially under some abiotic stress. Here, we investigated the effects of exogenous nitric oxide on both the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging metabolism and regulating functions of plasma membrane and tonoplast in tomato plants treated with 50µM CuCl 2 . Copper stress induced significant accumulation of H 2 O 2 , led to serious lipid peroxidation, and finally markedly decreased shoot height and fresh weight of tomato plants. The application of 100µM sodium nitroprus side (SNP – NO donor) promoted some antioxidant enzymes, reduced accumulation of H 2 O 2 , and adjusted the activity of H + -ATPase and H + -PPase in plasma membrane or tonoplast, and significantly alleviated the growth inhibition induced by copper toxicity. On the other hand, the application of sodium ferrocyanide (an analog of SNP) and sodium nitrate or nitrite (the decomposition product of NO or its donor SNP) which did not release NO, did not show the effects of SNP. Furthermore, the effects of SNP were reverted by addition of hemoglobin (an NO scavenger). Therefore, these results indicated that exogenous NO could effectively assuage copper toxicity by physiological and biochemical response so as to maintain normal growth. Keyword: nitric oxide (NO); copper toxicity; tomato; enzyme activity; plasma membrane; tonoplast

The glass fluxing technique was used to undercool melts of pure Cu and Ge in the presence of a static magnetic field generated by a superconducting magnet. It was found that the mean undercooling of liquid Cu increased with increasing magnetic field, whereas the mean undercooling of liquid Ge did not show any significant changes with increasing magnetic field. Such a difference in the undercooling behavior can be related to the Lorentz force imposed by the magnetic field, which was larger for liquid Cu because of a larger electrical conductivity than that of liquid Ge.

In May 2016, some irregular pink spots with gray necrosis in the center and a yellow halo around the edge were found to develop on rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) leaves in a nursery in Jinghong, Yunnan. Some infected leaves were washed with tap water, dried and sterilized with 75% alcohol for 30 s, and subsequently dried and cut into pieces of 0.2 to 0.3 cm. Finally, the heathy pieces neighbor to symptomatic leaf tissues were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium at 25°C for 5 days. Then some pure cultures identical to the colony and spores could be obtained after transferring several times. After 15 days, healthy leaves of three plants were selected for pathogenic tests in the nursery. Spore suspension (1 × 10⁶ spores/ml) was made from a pure culture 10 days after inoculation on PDA. Spore suspension (10 ml per leaf) was sprayed on the surface of the selected 10 leaves per plant; in the meantime, an equal amount of sterilized water was sprayed on another 15 healthy leaves as the controls, and then all leaves were covered respectively with a fresh bag to remain moisturize for 3 days. All the bags were removed on the 4th day after inoculation. Some light yellow spots developed, turned into red on the 7th day, and then turned into pink on 10th day. The symptoms of inoculation were consistent with those of collection in the field but not on the controls. The fungus identical to the previous colony and conidia could be reisolated from the symptomatic leaves but not from the controls. The mycelium cultured at 25°C for 5 days is light and yellow on the back, and ascospores began to appear in the colonies after 2 days. Ascus, dark brown to black, superficial, elliptic or subglobose, approximately 151 to 316 × 142 to 312 μm, the ascomal hair, setaceous, apex acuminate, separated, unbranched, brown, with smooth surface; lateral hairs are shorter, setaceous, brown, unbranched, apically acuminate, with gradually shallow color; ascus wall dispels in early stage, ascospore is brown, oval shaped to elliptic, with the size of 4.8 to 5.7 × 3.2 to 5.5 μm, one end slightly pointed with a top bud hole, flat on both sides. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence was extracted and was amplified by the primers ITS1 and ITS4, and the 563-bp product of the ITS (GenBank accession no. KX869740) showed 100% sequence identity to Chaetomium funicola (GenBank accession no. KR909159.1). Therefore, both molecular and morphological observations indicated that the pathogenic fungus was mostly similar to C. funicola (Zhang 2013). C. funicola was reported to cause chromoblastomycosis on a man’s skin in western Panama (Piepenbring et al. 2007). Chaetomium globosum could cause leaf spot on pomegranate in Yunnan, China (Guo et al. 2016). As far as the authors know, this is the first report of rubber leaf spot caused by Chaetomium sp. in Yunnan, China, as well as in the world.

The influence of gradient magnetic field on the undercooling behavior of glass-fluxed pure Sb melts was investigated using a superconducting magnet. It was found that under a positive gradient magnetic field, the mean undercooling of pure Sb melts increased with increasing magnetic field intensity. However, under a negative gradient magnetic field, the mean undercooling showed a decreasing tendency following an initial increase with increasing magnetic field intensity. The results were discussed by considering the Lorentz force and the magnetization force imposed by the gradient magnetic field.

Electromagnetically levitated Cu-Cr alloy melts containing 5-70 at.% Cr were splat-quenched onto a chill substrate. The microstructure of the solidified alloys was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The alloys containing 5-60 at.% Cr showed a droplet-shaped microstructure consisting of Cr-rich spheroids or and dendrites in a Cu-rich matrix, whereas those containing 65 and 70 at.% Cr showed a banded microstructure consisting of alternative Cu-rich and Cr-rich bands. Both types of microstructure presented evidence for metastable phase separation in Cu-Cr alloy compositions, thus verifying the existence of a broad miscibility gap in the undercooled liquid. However, the results suggested that the miscibility gap has a Cr-rich critical composition and a skewed geometry.

Here we report a case of leukocyte chemotactic factor 2 (LECT2)-associated renal amyloidosis (ALect2) in our hospital. A 68-year-old male presented with massive proteinuria, hematuria, and hypertension. The renal function was normal. Light microscopy of the renal biopsy revealed glomeruli ,interstitium and arteriole with amorphous pink acellular deposits on hematoxylin and eosin stain. The deposits were strongly stained for Congo red and presented apple green birefringence viewed with polarized light. Ultrastructural examination revealed nonbranching fibrils (diameters ranging from 8 nm to 12 nm) distributed in glomerular mesangium, subendothelia and renal interstitium. Immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy using a polyclonal anti-LECT2 antibody showed that the amyloid deposits and the fibrils were stained positively. ALect2 presented proteinuria,with or without acute/chronic renal dysfunction clinically and all compartments of the kidney were involved.