Search

A search for exotic dark matter (DM) in the sub-GeV mass range has been conducted using 205 kg$\cdot$day data taken from a p-type point contact germanium detector of CDEX-10 experiment at China Jinping underground laboratory. New low-mass dark matter searching channels, neutral current fermionic DM absorption ($\chi+A\rightarrow \nu+A$) and DM-nucleus 3$\rightarrow$2 scattering ($\chi+\chi+A\rightarrow \phi+A$), have been analyzed with an energy threshold of 160 eVee. No significant signal was found. Thus new limits on the DM-nucleon interaction cross section are set for both models at sub-GeV DM mass region. A cross section limit for the fermionic DM absorption is set to be $\rm 2.5\times 10^{-46} cm^2$(90\% C.L.) at DM mass of 10 MeV/c$^2$. For the DM-nucleus 3$\rightarrow$2 scattering scenario, limits are extended to DM mass of 5 MeV/c$^2$ and 14 MeV/c$^2$ for the massless dark photon and bound DM final state, respectively., Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures

Developed rapidly for more than ten years, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has derived a series of new technologies which are widely used clinically, such as noninvasive prenatal testing(NIPT), noninvasive prenatal testing-plus(NIPT Plus), copy number variation sequencing(CNV-seq), and exome sequencing(ES), and plays an important role in birth defects prevention. Moreover, with in-deep development, the superiority of NGS is gradually recognized by clinicians, but there are still many challenges in practical application process. This study specifically elaborates on the development status, technological breakthroughs and future prospects of NGS in the field of prenatal screening and prenatal diagnosis at home and abroad.高通量测序（next-generation sequencing，NGS）技术经过十余年的飞速发展，衍生出无创产前筛查（noninvasive prenatal testing，NIPT）、扩展性无创产前筛查（noninvasive prenatal testing-plus，NIPT Plus）、低深度全基因组测序（copy number variation sequencing，CNV-seq）和外显子测序（exome sequencing，ES）等一系列被临床广泛采用的新技术，并在出生缺陷防控工作中发挥着重要作用。随着NGS技术的深入开展，其优越性逐渐被临床医生认可，但在实际应用过程中同样面临着诸多挑战。本文针对NGS技术在国内外产前筛查和产前诊断领域的发展现状、技术突破和未来展望等方面进行阐述。.

The discovery that spin-orbit coupling can generate a new state of matter in the form of quantum spin-Hall (QSH) insulators has brought topology to the forefront of condensed matter physics. While QSH states from spin-orbit coupling can be fully understood in terms of band theory, fascinating many-body effects are expected if the state instead results from interaction-generated symmetry breaking. In particular, topological defects of the corresponding order parameter provide a route to exotic quantum phase transitions. Here, we introduce a model in which the condensation of skyrmion defects in an interaction-generated QSH insulator produces a superconducting (SC) phase. Because vortex excitations of the latter carry a spin-$1/2$ degree of freedom numbers, the SC order may be understood as emerging from a gapless spin liquid normal state. The QSH-SC transition is an example of a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP), for which we provide an improved model with only a single length scale that is accessible to large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables

We consider fermions on a honeycomb lattice supplemented by a spin invariant interaction that dynamically generates a quantum spin Hall insulator. This lattice model provides an instance of Gross-Neveu Heisenberg criticality, as realized for example by the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. Using auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations we show that we can compute with unprecedented precision susceptibilities of the order parameter. In O(N) Gross-Neveu transitions, the anomalous dimension of the bosonic mode grows as a function of N such that in the large-N limit it is of particular importance to consider susceptibilities rather than equal time correlations so as to minimize contributions from the background. For the N=3 case, we obtain $1/\nu=1.11(4)$, $\eta_{\phi}=0.80(9)$, and $\eta_{\psi}=0.29(2)$ for respectively the correlation length exponent, bosonic and fermionic anomalous dimensions., Comment: 11 pages,13 figures

Genetic analysis was performed on a family of fraternal twins affected with Dravet syndrome by genetic tests whose parents were normal. To further analyze the cause of the disease, the fraternal twins were subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES), and the family was verified by Sanger sequencing, with the father semen and peripheral blood DNA were further analysed by target sequencing. The WES test identified a heterozygous c.5348CT (p.Ala1783Val) variant of the SCN1A gene in the fraternal twins, which was predicted to be pathogenic and was detected in the father peripheral blood and semen, but not in the mother. So the mosaicism mutation of paternal SCN1A gene might be the genetic cause of Dravet syndrome in offspring.对1例亲代表型正常但生育Dravet综合征患儿的家系进行遗传学分析，通过对一个家庭中表型相似的两个患儿进行全外显子组测序（WES），对患儿及患儿父母进行Sanger测序验证，对患儿父亲精液和外周血DNA突变位点做靶向测序进一步分析，探讨患儿的发病原因。通过WES检测发现患儿SCN1A基因c.5348CT（p.Ala1783Val）杂合变异，为致病性变异，患儿父亲外周血及精液检查该位点发生嵌合变异，患儿母亲无该位点变异，进而推测父源SCN1A基因嵌合变异是导致子代Dravet综合征发生的遗传学病因。.

Adhesive bonded joints are one of important joining technologies in supporting various manufacturing applications. It is important to predict the optimal strength of adhesive bonded joints in order to fit design requirements. Prediction on joint strengths is usually based on experimental tests and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). However, it is a time-consuming and expensive process. To improve computational efficiency and reduce experimental cost, in this chapter, a new approach based on a machine learning algorithm and a FEA method is proposed to predict the failure loads of joints. The innovations of the approach include the following aspects: (1) the FEA model for analyzing the strengths of joints is validated using experimental tests to generate a robust dataset for training a Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) algorithm, which is designed to predict the failure loads of various joint material combinations with high efficiency; (2) based on the trained DNNs algorithm, a Fruit Fly Algorithm (FFO) is proposed to identify the optimal material parameters of Adhesive bonded joints in a given geometry and an joint configuration. The proposed FEA method was successfully validated by conducting experiments with samples of single lap joints. 375 samples were generated by the validated FEA model for DNNs’ training, validation and testing. Case studies showed that the computational time of this approach was saved by 99.54% compared with that of the FEA model, and optimal parameters were identified within 9 iterations based on the proposed FFO optimization algorithm.

To investigate the role of circ100284 in osteosarcoma (OS) and the underlying mechanism.Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the level of circ100284 in OS tissues and cells, and to examine the association between its level and clinicopathological features such as tumor size, tumor stage, and survival time. In addition, circ100284 was knocked out in MG63 and U2OS cells to observe the effect of circ100284 on cell viability, migration, cycle, and apoptosis by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell assay, and flow cytometry assay. Correlations of circ100284 with lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (LSD1) and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) target proteins were analyzed by RNA co-precipitation experiments. Furthermore, the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP)-qPCR assay was performed to analyze the relationship between circ100284 and its target protein and target gene.Circ100284 had a high level in OS tissues. The high expression of circ100284 was positively correlated with tumor size, pathological stage, and lung metastasis, and negatively correlated with patient survival time. Knocking down circ100284 in OS cells damaged the cell viability and invasiveness, blocked cell cycle, and promoted cell apoptosis. Further experiments showed that circ100284 could epigenetically inhibit cell proliferation by negatively regulating Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and epithelial membrane protein 1 (EMP1) in OS.Circ100284 promotes the progression of OS cells by downregulating PTEN and EMP1.

A unique property of a dynamically generated quantum spin Hall state are Goldstone modes that correspond to the long-wavelength fluctuations of the spin-orbit coupling order parameter whose topological Skyrmion excitations carry charge 2$e$. Within the model considered here, upon varying the chemical potential, we observe two transitions: An s-wave superconducting order parameter develops at a critical chemical potential $\mu_{c1}$, corresponding to the excitation gap of pairs of fermions, and at $\mu_{c2}$ the SO(3) order parameter of the quantum spin Hall state vanishes. Using negative-sign-free, large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that $\mu_{c1}=\mu_{c2}$ within our accuracy -- we can resolve dopings away from half filling down to $\delta = 0.0017$. The length scale associated with the fluctuations of the quantum spin Hall order parameter grows down to our lowest doping, suggesting either a continuous or a weakly first-order transition. Contrary to mean-field expectations, the doping versus chemical potential curve is not linear, indicating a dynamical critical exponent $z > 2$ if the transition is continuous., Comment: 10 pages, 13 Figures

We report constraints on the dark photon effective kinetic mixing parameter (${\kappa}$) with data taken from two ${p}$-type point-contact germanium detectors of the CDEX-10 experiment at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory. The 90\% confidence level upper limits on ${\kappa}$ of solar dark photon from 205.4 kg-day exposure are derived, probing new parameter space with masses (${m_V}$) from 10 to 300 eV/${c^2}$ in direct detection experiments. Considering dark photon as the cosmological dark matter, limits at 90\% confidence level with ${m_V}$ from 0.1 to 4.0 keV/${c^2}$ are set from 449.6 kg-day data, with a minimum of ${\rm{\kappa=1.3 \times 10^{-15}}}$ at ${\rm{m_V=200\ eV/c^2}}$., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures

We present the improved constraints on couplings of solar axions and more generic bosonic dark matter particles using 737.1 kg-days of data from the CDEX-1B experiment. The CDEX-1B experiment, located at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, primarily aims at the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particles using a p-type point-contact germanium detector. We adopt the profile likelihood ratio method for analysis of data in the presence of backgrounds. An energy threshold of 160 eV was achieved, much better than the 475 eV of CDEX-1A with an exposure of 335.6 kg-days. This significantly improves the sensitivity for the bosonic dark matter below 0.8 keV among germanium detectors. Limits are also placed on the coupling $g_{Ae} < 2.48 \times 10^{-11}$ from Compton, bremsstrahlung, atomic-recombination and de-excitation channels and $g^{eff}_{AN} \times g_{Ae} < 4.14 \times 10^{-17}$ from a $^{57}$Fe M1 transition at 90\% confidence level., version accepted by PRD, 9 pages, 11 figures

We report results on the searches of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with sub-GeV masses ($m_{\chi}$) via WIMP-nucleus spin-independent scattering with Migdal effect incorporated. Analysis on time-integrated (TI) and annual modulation (AM) effects on CDEX-1B data are performed, with 737.1 kg$\cdot$day exposure and 160 eVee threshold for TI analysis, and 1107.5 kg$\cdot$day exposure and 250 eVee threshold for AM analysis. The sensitive windows in $m_{\chi}$ are expanded by an order of magnitude to lower DM masses with Migdal effect incorporated. New limits on $\sigma_{\chi N}^{\rm SI}$ at 90\% confidence level are derived as $2\times$10$^{-32}\sim7\times$10$^{-35}$ $\rm cm^2$ for TI analysis at $m_{\chi}\sim$ 50$-$180 MeV/$c^2$, and $3\times$10$^{-32}\sim9\times$10$^{-38}$ $\rm cm^2$ for AM analysis at $m_{\chi}\sim$75 MeV/$c^2-$3.0 GeV/$c^2$., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We report the first results of a light weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) search from the CDEX-10 experiment with a 10 kg germanium detector array immersed in liquid nitrogen at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory with a physics data size of 102.8 kg day. At an analysis threshold of 160 eVee, improved limits of 8×10^{-42} and 3×10^{-36} cm^{2} at a 90% confidence level on spin-independent and spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections, respectively, at a WIMP mass (m_{χ}) of 5 GeV/c^{2} are achieved. The lower reach of m_{χ} is extended to 2 GeV/c^{2}.

We report the first results of a light weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) search from the CDEX-10 experiment with a 10 kg germanium detector array immersed in liquid nitrogen at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory with a physics data size of 102.8 kg day. At an analysis threshold of 160 eVee, improved limits of 8×10−42 and 3×10−36 cm2 at a 90% confidence level on spin-independent and spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections, respectively, at a WIMP mass (mχ) of 5 GeV/c2 are achieved. The lower reach of mχ is extended to 2 GeV/c2.

The work functions of Cu–2.7Be and Cu–2.0Be (wt%) alloys were measured using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and their dependence on secondary phase characteristics (composition and distribution) was investigated. The work function properties were significantly altered when the Be content was increased from 2.0 to 2.7 wt%, which was attributed to the introduction of secondary phases (β and γ) in the alloys with higher Be content. Furthermore, the distribution of secondary phases may also have influenced the gradients of the work function curves measured by UPS.

Recurrence rate after cessation of nucleos(t)ide analogues remains high in clinical practice. According to current evidences, age, HBsAg level, HB VRNA level, time of consolidation therapy and HBV DNA load were considered to be associated with off-treatment responses after cessation of nucleos(t)ide analogues. Combinative factors of several predictors might perform better in future accompanying with further studies of HBV related markers.在临床实践中，很多研究结果显示核苷（酸）类似物停药复发率较高，根据已有的循证医学证据，患者年龄、HBsAg水平、HBV RNA水平、巩固治疗时间以及HBV DNA载量可能是核苷（酸）类似物停药复发的相关预测因素。随着HBV相关标志物的不断深入研究，多因素联合预测方式将会有助于做出更加合理的判断。.

Nowadays, a large proportion of old buildings in Shanghai area cannot satisfy the energy efficiency standards, thus the reform of existing buildings still plays an important role in the process of achieving energy saving target. However, the systematic study and evaluation of corresponding technology and those completed demonstration projects is lacked, which has affected the clear and reasonable understanding of government and related owners about the effectiveness of those reform projects as well as the investment payback. In view of this, a synthetic study was carried out to investigate the characteristic of energy consumption for public buildings in Shanghai firstly. Then a deep analysis was conducted on the energy-saving reform technologies involved in those projects, including usage frequency, energy-saving ratio and economic performance. The results show that the demonstration projects have good economic efficiency. The average static and dynamic payback period are 2.69 and 3.15 respectively. Among public buildings, hotel and shopping mall have a higher energy saving potential and better investment returns. Some involved technologies have good cost performance, such as LED light, pump frequency conversion, air source heat pump, glass filming and free cooling. This study could provide support for relevant owners and policy-making of governments.

Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Ctr Human Reprod Prof Franco Jr, Paulista Ctr Diag Res & Training, Dept Gynecol & Obstet,Botucatu Med Sch, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

Long-term monoculture of watermelon results in inhibited growth and decreased crop yields, possibly because of imbalance in microbial ecology caused by accumulation of the pathogen in soil. This results in serious problems in the economics of watermelon production. We investigated the build-up of Fusarium in soil under watermelon cultivation and changes over 3 yr of fallow in a microcosm. We focused on changes in the microbial community of Fusarium-infected soil, including the diversity of the microfloral species composition, and species abundance. Long-term monoculture of watermelon leads to changes in microbial diversity and community structure. The microbes most readily cultured from infested soil were suppressed by watermelon wilt pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON). Of 52 isolated and identified culturable microbes, 83.3% of bacteria, 85.7% of actinomycetes, 31.6% of fungi and 20.0% of Fusarium sp. were inhibited by FON on bioassay plates. Prior to fallowing, infested soil was a transformed ‘fungus-type’ soil. After 3 yr of fallow, the infested soil had remediated naturally, and soil microbial diversity recovered considerably. Abundance of dominant bacterial populations was increased by 118–177%, actinomycetes, fungi and FON were decreased by 23–32, 33–37 and 50%, respectively. The ratio of bacteria: actnomycetes: fungus: Fusarium sp. in infested soil changed from 24 000:100:4:1 prior to fallow to 57 000:100:3.5:1 after fallowing, nearer to the 560 000:400:8:1 ratio of healthy soil not used for watermelon cultivation. This suggests the ‘fungus-type’ soil was converting to ‘bacteria-type’ soil and that disrupted microbial communities in infested soil were restored during fallow.

We investigate the two-dimensional $q=3$ and 4 Potts models with a variable interaction range by means of Monte Carlo simulations. We locate the phase transitions for several interaction ranges as expressed by the number $z$ of equivalent neighbors. For not too large $z$, the transitions fit well in the universality classes of the short-range Potts models. However, at longer ranges the transitions become discontinuous. For $q=3$ we locate a tricritical point separating the continuous and discontinuous transitions near $z=80$, and a critical fixed point between $z=8$ and 12. For $q=4$ the transition becomes discontinuous for $z > 16$. The scaling behavior of the $q=4$ model with $z=16$ approximates that of the $q=4$ merged critical-tricritical fixed point predicted by the renormalization scenario., 9 figures

Aims To investigate the phenanthrene-degrading abilities of the halophilic Martelella species AD-3 under different conditions and to propose a possible metabolic pathway. Methods and Results Using HPLC and GC-MS analyses, the phenanthrene-degrading properties of the halophilic strain AD-3 and its metabolites were analysed. This isolate efficiently degraded phenanthrene under multiple conditions characterized by different concentrations of phenanthrene (100–400 mg l−1), a broad range of salinities (0·1–15%) and varying pHs (6·0–10·0). Phenanthrene (200 mg l−1) was completely depleted under 3% salinity and a pH of 9·0 within 6 days. The potential toxicity of phenanthrene and its generated metabolites towards the bacterium Vibrio fischeri was significantly reduced 10 days after the bioassay. On the basis of the identified metabolites, enzyme activities and the utilization of probable intermediates, phenanthrene degradation by strain AD-3 was proposed in two distinct routes. In route I, metabolism of phenanthrene was initiated by the dioxygenation at C-3,4 via 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, 1-naphthol, salicylic acid and gentisic acid. In route II, phenanthrene was metabolized to 9-phenanthrol and 9,10-phenanthrenequinone. Further study indicated that strain AD-3 exhibited a wide spectrum of substrate utilization including other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Conclusions The results suggest that strain AD-3 possesses a high phenanthrene biodegradability and that the degradation occurs via two routes that remarkably reduce toxicity. Significance and Impact of the Study To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first report of phenanthrene degradation by a halophilic PAH-degrading strain via two routes. In the future, the use of halophilic strain AD-3 provides a potential application for efficient PAH-contaminated hypersaline field remediation.

Hydrotreating with dispersed catalyst at ppm level can provide an efficient, economical alternative to upgrading heavy oil. In this study, slurry phase hydro-conversion process is used for viscosity reduction. Several reaction conditions have been investigated using highly dispersed catalyst. Residue conversion of extra-heavy oil up to 30% can meet the viscosity requirement for shipping, and the conversion of bitumen from oil sands up to 50% can meet the viscosity requirement for pipeline systems. These hydrogenation reactions with temperature ranging from 390°C to 420°C had higher liquid yield (from 98.5 wt% to 93.2 wt%). In addition, hydro-upgrading product contains lower concentrations of impurities compared to raw feed. Based on our research, an efficient and environmental friendly alternative upgrading process with low process temperature was proposed. The process uses dispersed catalyst for extra-heavy oil and oil sands bitumen treatment. Product properties meet the requirements for transfer and further application.

Chalcone isomerase (CHI) is a key enzyme involved in anthocyanin metabolism. Previous research on CHI has mainly focused on cDNA cloning and gene expression. In the current study, the 1425-bp potato CHI promoter (PCP) was isolated from four potato cultivars (Heijingang, Zhongshu 7, Desiree, and Favorita) using PCR and DNA sequencing. The PCP contained many cis-regulatory elements (CREs) related to anthocyanin metabolism, tissue specificity, light response, stress, and hormone induction. Of the PCP CREs identified, 19 were common to those found in the higher plants examined, based on plant CRE databases. Multiple sequence alignment showed six single nucleotide variation sites in PCP among the potato cultivars examined, resulting in changes in the number of CREs connected with tissue specificity, anthocyanin metabolism, and light response. The 665-bp PCP fragments from Favorita and 1425-bp PCP fragments from Heijingang were used to construct plant expression vectors, which may be a useful tool for biological engineering. A transient expression assay demonstrated that the two PCP fragments from Heijingang could direct the expression of a green fluorescent protein gene in onion epidermis and a β-glucuronidase gene in all potato tuber tissues with different colors, suggesting that the single nucleotide variation in the PCP did not affect its activity, and that silencing of the CHI gene in Favorita may be attributed to other regulatory factors.

A technique to predict the maturity quality of intact apple fruit measured non-destructively by Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy in the wavelength range of 814-1100 nm was investigated. Mathematical models for calibration and prediction of sugar content (SC) and titratable acidity (TA) indices of maturity were developed by partial least squares (PLS) regression. The modeling procedures were systematically studied with the focus on outlier detection and calibration model optimi‘zation. By using two outlier detection techniques, 321 optimal sample sets were successfully chosen from the original 333 sample sets. The optimization regression models for maturity were obtained in the wavelength range of 814-1100 nm with correlation coefficients of 0.95 and 0.74 and standard errors of prediction of 0.54 and 0.04 for SC and TA, respectively. The results of this method for the determination of maturity were compared with those of reference methods, with no significant difference at the 0.05 level. It was demonstrated that outlier detection methods were very helpful for optimizing FT-NIR calibration models and would improve the accuracy of the prediction models.

A partially recrystallised extrathinned interstitial free steel has been investigated by X-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the orientation of recrystallisation nuclei plays an important role in the process of recrystallisation texture formation. The growth of the 〈111〉∥normal direction (ND) is very rapid compared with its nucleation.

A simple image contrast theory in high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) is introduced to demonstrate that below a certain critical crystal thickness the intensity of the Scherzer focus image is linear to the projected potential of an artificial crystal that is isomorphic to the examined one. It has become the theoretical base of electron crystallographic image processing techniques relying on the weak-phase-object approximation and kinematical diffraction. Two techniques of image processing are introduced. One of them aims at determining crystal structures by combining electron diffraction data and applying diffraction analysis methods. To reduce various kinds of electron diffraction intensity distortion the diffraction data are corrected by means of an empirical method set up by referring to the heavy atom method and Wilson statistic. The other one aims at revealing crystal defects at atomic resolution from the image taken with a medium-voltage field-emission high-resolution electron microscope. The dynamical effect is corrected by forcing the integral amplitudes of reflections in the diffractogram, of image equal to the amplitudes of corresponding structure factors for the perfect crystal. The principle of the two techniques is briefly introduced, and examples of applications to crystal structure and defect determination are given.

In this study, the main target is to obtain the better combination of strength and ductility by using heat treatments to adjust the microstructures of Fe-1.7Mn-1.3Al-0.5C steels. Effect of intercritical annealing (IA) and bainitic holding temperatures on the volume fraction and carbon content of retained austenite were evaluated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical properties of the steel under different heat treatments processes were investigated by using uniaxial tensile tests. An excellent combination of strength and ductility has been obtained for the steel after intercritical annealing at 800°C for 120s and bainitic holding at 380°C for 300s, revealing a yield strength of 680 MPa, a tensile strength of 1200 MPa and a elongation-to-failure as high as 0.52. The steel mainly consists of ferrite, bainite, and retained austenite. The volume fraction of retained austenite is 28%, with a concentration as high as 1.71%, which enhances the mechanical stability of austenite and results in a good combination of strength and ductility.

By using the homogenisation method and finite element method (FEM) jointly, a multi‐objective optimisation model for the microstructure of a periodic composite material was developed in which the objective was to maximise the weighted sum of the main diagonal elements of the equivalent elasticity modular matrix and to restrain the amount of material in the microstructure. An optimisation of material distribution in the microstructure was carried out. In the optimisation, the design objective and material distribution were controlled by the optimisation criteria method and the chequerboard influence was eliminated using the sensitivity filter method. Influences of volume fraction and finite element (FE) mesh sizes on the optimal microstructures are discussed. Numerical examples indicate that the present optimisation model and method are effective.

Summary Objective To determine whether mandibular condylar cartilage degradation induced by experimentally abnormal occlusion could be ameliorated via systemic administration of strontium or NBD peptide. Methods Six-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were used. From the seventh day after mock operation or unilateral anterior crossbite (UAC) treatment, the control and UAC mice were further respectively pharmacologically treated for 2 weeks or 4 weeks of saline (CON + Saline and UAC + Saline groups), SrCl 2 (CON + SrCl 2 and UAC + SrCl 2 groups) or NBD peptide (CON + NBD peptide and UAC + NBD peptide groups). Changes in condylar cartilage and subchondral bone were assessed 21 and 35 days after mock operation or UAC procedure by histology and micro-CT. Real-time PCR and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to evaluate changes in expression levels of col2a1, aggrecan, ADAMTS-5, tnf-α, il-1β, nfkbia, nuclear factor-kappaB phospho-p65 in condylar cartilage, and rankl/rank/opg in both condylar cartilage and subchondral bone. Results Cartilage degradation with decreased col2a1 and aggrecan expression, and increased ADAMTS-5, tnf-α/il1-β, nfkbia and NF-κB phospho-p65 was observed in UAC + Saline groups. Subchondral bone loss with increased osteoclast numbers and decreased opg/rankl ratio was found in UAC + Saline groups compared to age-match CON + Saline groups. Cartilage degradation and subchondral bone loss were reversed by treatment of SrCl 2 or NBD peptide while the same dosage in control mice induced few changes in condylar cartilage and subchondral bone. Conclusions The results demonstrate reverse effect of systemic administration of strontium or NBD peptide on UAC-induced condylar cartilage degradation and subchondral bone loss.

Acute lung injury (ALI) and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are syndromes of acute respiratory failure.Exploration of the impacts of long-term drinking alcohol on the cytokines of rats with endogenous and exogenous lung injuries.Through giving the model rats long-term drinking alcohol or water, we acquired the changes of the cytokines in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of these rats with lung injuries due to different incentives.The partial pressure of oxygen in rats with lung damage after long-term drinking alcohol were significantly lower than those drinking water group (p0.05); W/D values of groups drinking alcohol were significantly higher than those drinking water (p0.05); The levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10 in the serum and BALF were significantly higher in the group drinking alcohol (p0.01). While the cytokine levels in the serum of the rats with exogenous lung injury were higher than those of rats with endogenous lung injury (p0.05), the cytokines in the BALF of the rats with endogenous lung injury were higher than those with exogenous lung injury (p0.05).Long-term drinking alcohol can aggravate the inflammatory response induced by the exogenous lung injury. The expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 are different according to the different ways that lead to the acute lung injury.

A simple but effective hydrothermal intercalation and exfoliation route is developed to prepare ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets in high yield.The obtained ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets exhibit preferable photoelectrochemical and photoresponse activity under the illumination of simulated sunlight compared to bulk MoS2.

A quantitative measurement using a 25.4-nm resolution system to online measure the postweld shift in laser-welded butterfly-type laser module package is demonstrated. The relative coupling efficiency can be regained up to an average of 88%.

Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci for the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca),from a wild population in Spain are isolated and their variability escribed on 70 individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 6 to 41 and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.75 to 0.98. These markers are being used to study mating strategies in Ficedula hypoleuca iberiae.