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As an important manifestation of environmental pressure, carbon emission has important guiding significance to study internal driving factors and realize green development. China's transportation industry is an energy-intensive industry, and it produces abundant carbon emissions each year. The environmental and ecological problems caused by transportation have attracted close attentions of many researchers. First, factor decomposition on variations of energy consumption and carbon emissions from transportation in China from 2003 to 2019 was performed by using LMDI factor decomposition method. Second, driving factors of energy consumption and carbon emissions from transportation in China were estimated by using the system GMM model. According to LMDI factor decomposition results, economic development and energy efficiency are major driving factors of carbon emissions from transportation in China within the study period, whereas energy structure is the major inhibition factor. According to the system GMM model, the driving factors of carbon emissions from transportation in China are ordered from GDP, freight turnover, and total retail sales of consumer goods from high to low, whereas the sequence of inhibition factors is from urbanization, volume of technological market transaction, and proportion of the tertiary industry. Finally, some suggestions, such as decreasing traditional energy consumption for transportation, developing energy-saving and emission-reduction technology for the transportation industry, increasing energy utilization in transportation, and increasing transportation environmental governance efficiency are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physically crosslinked chitosan hydrogels have better biocompatibility and possess unique functional characteristics but suffer from poor mechanical properties. In the current study, we prepared Cu+-containing physically crosslinked chitosan hydrogels by exploiting ammonia fumigation and reduction of Cu2+ by NaHSO3. The content of Cu+ in the prepared hydrogels was in a low range of 4.88–29.27 μmol/g. The mechanical strength of the CTS-Cu+/NH3 hydrogels was remarkably improved up to 0.25 MPa and the elongation at break increased with rising content of Cu+ due to the dynamic crosslinks between chitosan and Cu+. Moreover, the CTS-Cu+/NH3 hydrogels demonstrated evident shape memory after exposure to air by exploiting the different coordination number of Cu2+ and Cu+. Thus, the prepared hydrogels may have good potential applications as biomedical materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present multiple-beam splitting to free space from a V groove in a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) with a few additional dielectric rods at the exit of the PCW. Numerical study shows that 'one-beam-in to two-beams-out' (one-to-two, also denoted as Y-shaped), one-to-three, and one-to-five beam splittings can be easily realized over a wide bandwidth, and the split beams have remarkable properties such as symmetric energy distributions and high directional transmissions. Off-axis directional emission can also be achieved by simple displacements of the additional rods at the exit of the PCW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach for designing planar triple-mode bandpass filters with good selectivity. The proposed triple-mode resonator is developed from traditional dual-mode stub-loaded resonator, and it is composed of a section of half-wavelength (λ/2) open-ended microstrip line and a pair of open-ended stubs. The field patterns of the three modes associated with theoretical analysis are investigated. By modifying the proposed triple-mode filter, a compact triple-mode bandpass with several transmission zeros in stopband is realized. The controllable transmission zeros provide a good selectivity to the filter. An experimental filter is fabricated, and both the simulated and measured results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two hexagonal meander loop resonators with circular patches and their applications to filters are presented. Only one mode characteristic has been affected by changing the size of the circular patch, which is different from the conventional meander loop resonators. Compact size, low loss and high selectivity characteristics are realized by the filters using this type of resonators. Two filters are designed, fabricated and measured. The measured results exhibit good agreement with the simulated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a dual-mode dual-band microstrip bandpass filter based on an open-loop resonant structure. By introducing a square notch and slots in the resonator, one of the passband can be controlled easily. Several finite transmission zeros are realized to improve the selectivity of the proposed dual-band filter and the isolation between the two passbands. To verify the proposed filter, an experimental filter is implemented. Both the simulated and measured results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A peach-like ultra-wideband (UWB) planar monopole antenna (PMA) with dual stopband characteristic is presented in this paper. It is designed to work on a substrate Rogers RT5880 that has a thickness of 1 mm and relative permittivity of 2.65. The proposed antenna is fed by microstrip line; the U-slot is used to reject the frequency band (3.3–4.2 GHz) limited by IEEE 802.11a or HIPERLAN/2. Another rejection band (5.15–5.825 GHz) limited by IEEE 802.11b and C-band satellite communication systems is obtained by using the V-slot defected ground structure (DGS). The size of the antenna is 33 mm × 35 mm. Effects of varying the interior degree of the V-slot DGS and the length of the U-slot on antenna performance have also been studied. Measured result shows the designed antenna with an impedance bandwidth covering at least 3.11 to 15 GHz assuming a 10 dB return loss, except 5.04–6.42 GHz and 3.35–4.24 GHz band. Also the simulated results show that the antenna has omnidirectional radiation patterns in the x-z plane and good gain flatness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed diamond monopole antenna with dual stopband characteristic is presented in this paper. The proposed antenna consists of a circular CPW feeding line and a diamond shape radiation patch. By using a U-slot in the feeding line, a stopband of 800 MHz for band rejection of wireless local area network (WLAN) is achieved. Another stopband of 600 MHz is obtained by implanting two slits in the ground plane. Experimental results show the designed antenna, with a compact size of 40 mm × 25.8 mm, has an impedance bandwidth of 3.2–10.7 GHz for voltage standing wave radio (VSWR) less than 2, except two frequency stopbands of 3.4–4.3 GHz and 5.1–5.9 GHz. Moreover, the antenna also shows omnidirectional radiation patterns in the H-lane and good gain flatness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel gel tape casting process has been developed by introducing sodium alginate into a conventional aqueous tape casting slurry. The process makes use of a binder system consisting of 1 wt-% sodium alginate and 20 vol.-% styrene acrylic latex to prepare the tape casting slurry. Sodium alginate can react with calcium iodate to form a three-dimensional network at room temperature, and with the ceramic particles held in this three-dimensional network, the slurry can be consolidated to form green tapes. This allows the need for the special drying procedure that is usually a critical step in tape casting to be avoided. Styrene acrylic latex was used to improve the flexibility of the green tapes. Compared with tapes obtained by conventional aqueous tape casting, more homogeneous microstructure was obtained by this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel planar microstrip triple-mode bandpass filter is proposed by introducing slits into λ/2 traditional microstrip resonator in this article.The slits cannot only perturb the traditional resonator for the multimode operation but also generate transmission zero point at stopband for the stopband control. By using different kinds of slits, different kinds of responses triple-mode bandpass filter can be realized. For method validation, a filter operating at 2.45 GHz is fabricated and measured. Both the simulated results and the measured results are presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:1260-1262, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25965 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spreading behaviour of Cu97Si3 filler metal droplets under arc brazing is studied by finite element method (FEM) simulation using Surface Evolver software. The mathematical model of arc pressure force acceleration added to the droplet microelement as the form of gravity acceleration is used in numerical simulation. The 3D filler metal droplet profile for different welding currents is then simulated. Finally, the simulation results were compared with experimental results, showing good correspondence. It was seen that the spreading height decreases and the diameter increases with increase of the welding current in an approximate linear relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a tensor-based interpolation method for spatio-temporal field data is proposed. The observed data are organized as a sparse tensor, which is then represented as the decomposition of a canonical polyadic (CP) model. The latent factors, abstracting the underlying structure of sparse data, are exploited by introducing a weighted optimization solution. With the reconstruction of these factors, the values of missing data can progressively be recovered. The simulation experiments suggest that our method can interpolate spatio-temporal data with various levels of sparseness. The data can even be interpolated accurately and stably when 90% of the data are missing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic and magnetic properties of (Mn,N)-codoped ZnO are studied within the framework of the density functional theory, by using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof form of generalized gradient approximation. Five geometrical configurations of Mn doped ZnO are investigated and antiferromagnetic (AFM) properties of Mn doped ZnO are demonstrated. Furthermore, by investigating 13 geometrical configurations, for (Mn,N)-codoped ZnO, the ground state is changed from no-metallic AFM to half-metallic ferromagnetic, which is due to the strong hybridization between N 2p and Mn 3d states. In addition, the most stable configurations are found to be -O-Mn-N-Mn-O-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The axial composition profiles in two-component alloy semiconductor nanowires are theoretically studied based on a comprehensive transient growth model which accounts for both surface diffusion and direct impingement of atoms to catalyst. The composition variation derives from the different growth rates contributed by each component. Our simulations reveal that the component with larger (smaller) diffusivity will segregate near the bottom (top) of the nanowire. In the presence (absence) of direct deposition on nanowire sidewalls, the steady state alloy composition is determined by the ratio of effective diffusion lengths (impingement rates to the catalyst). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether the critical leaf N/P ratios (of 14, 16) are valid to test nutrient limitation in the context of semi-arid sandy grasslands, an experiment was conducted on a Keerqin sandy grassland in North-east China to investigate the responses of plant biomass and nutrient concentrations to fertilization. Plant biomass production and leaf nutrient concentrations were measured after five consecutive years of fertilization with N (20 g N m year) and/or P (10 g PO m year). Nitrogen fertilization increased the shoot biomass by twofold and consequently the shoot/root ratio, whereas P fertilization had little effect on either shoot biomass or shoot/root ratio. Leaf N/P ratio varied among species with an average of 5·6 in the control, while the mean leaf N/P ratio (7·5) under the N fertilization treatment remained below the threshold of 14. Our results suggest that the critical N/P ratio (14, 16) is not applicable as a test for nutrient limitations in the context of semi-arid, sandy grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microstrip bandpass filter implemented with slow-wave open-loop resonators is described in this letter. The slow-wave open-loop resonators make the filter compact and allow implementation of positive and negative inter-resonator couplings. Implementation of the positive and negative couplings is used to introduce a pair of finite frequency transmission-zeros in the filter response. The two zeros are designed to be close to the passband, thus improving the selectivity of the filter. As an example, a quasi-elliptic filter is fabricated. The quasi-elliptic filter has a compact dimension of 22.1 mm × 21.16 mm, which is approximately 0.1705λg × 0.1634λg. The experimental results are demonstrated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim: Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling and effector molecule that contributes to multiple physiological and pathophysiological processes in the kidney, vasculature, and other tissues. High output NO generation by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) participates in host defense against pathogens and contributes to tissue injury during inflammatory states. Because of its potent reactivity and diffusibility, NO generation by iNOS is subject to multiple levels of regulation, inculding transcriptional, translational, and post-translational controls, inculding protein-protein interactions. This review examines the experimental basis for these protein-protein interactions and their known and potential importance for kidney and vascular physiology. Methods: Analysis of the biomedical literature in the area. Results: iNOS interacts with the inhibitory molecules Kalirin and NOS-associated protien 1.10 kd (NAP110), which inhibit iNOS homodimerization, as well as activator proteins, the Rac-GTPases. Interactions with caveolin-1 control the intracellular locale and degradation of iNOS in tumor cells. In polarized epithelial cells, associations of iNOS with the scaffolding protien EBP50 position iNOS in the apical membrane near key ion transport proteins that also interact with EPB50. In addition, protein-protein interactions of proteins governing iNOS transcription function to specify activation or suppression of iNOS induction by cytokines. Conclusion: Interactions of iNOS with a diverse group of heterologous proteins provides a selective mechanism to control the activity, spatial distribution, and proximity of iNOS to intended targets, while potentially limiting autotoxicity to the iNOS-expressing cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article studies the problem of interlaminar stress in a cross-ply laminated cylindrical shell under radial pressure. The elasticity solution of the problem can be obtained by making use of orthotropic elastic theory. At first, an analytic solution for a separate cross-ply cylindrical shell is woked out by means of orthotropic elastic theory. Then, boundary conditions at internal–external surfaces and continuity conditions at the interface are used to determine the unknown constants involved in this solution. Thus, an exact solution for interlaminar stresses in a laminated cylindrical shell is obtained. Finally, the distributions of the interlaminar stresses in laminated shells with various stacking sequences under radial pressure are given and the length of the bending boundary layer-giving effect on interlaminar stresses in a laminated cylindrical shell is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to understand the molecular-level changes occurring in the photosynthetic metabolic network in mutant chloroplasts. We performed comparative liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry protein profiling of wild-type (WT) and chlorophyll-deficient melon (Cucumis melo L.) mutants. We identified 390 differentially expressed proteins and 81 shared proteins varied significantly in abundance, of which 76 were upregulated and 5 were downregulated. Differentially expressed proteins were involved in the following biological processes: binding, catalytic, structural, transporter, and antioxidant activities. The mutant had 6.08-fold higher expression of glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase (GSAM), an enzyme that synthesizes the chlorophyll precursor, 5-aminolevulinic acid, and a 5.02-fold higher expression of pyridoxal biosynthesis protein, a GSAM coenzyme. An RNA recognition motif-containing protein (RRM) decreased in expression by 5.22-fold. This suggests that GSAM and RRM are particularly relevant to chlorophyll deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: FK778, a malononitrilamide analogue of lefunomide, is currently a promising immunosuppressive drug. Because the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of FK778 are not entirely clarified. We studied its effects on human peripheral dendritic cells. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 12 healthy volunteers were isolated by density separation over Ficoll solution. After resuspension in adaptive immunotherapy medium (AIM)-V medium, they were cultured without exogenous growth factors. The study group was treated with FK 778 (50 μg/mL) or Rapamycin (10 ng/mL). The phenotype of dendritic cell was ascertained by indirect immunoflurescence for analysis by flow cytometry. Results: Compared with the Rapamycin-treated controls, the expressions of CD80, CD83, CD86, HLA-DA, CD54, CD62, CCR5, and CCR7 in the FK778-treated myeloid dendritic cells and the expression of CD80, CD83, CD86, HLA-DA, and CD54 in the FK778-treated plasmacytoid dendritic cells were significantly down-regulated. Conclusion: FK778 inhibited the differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For the caused harvesting loss problem by inaccurate alignment of the semi-feeding peanut harvester, an automatic alignment system on the control core of the single chip microcomputer μPD78F0525 was designed. The system adopts a four-bar detection mechanism to transmit the offset to the controller through the sensor and to adjust the excavator in time. On this basis, a peanut automatic alignment test device is developed, which is composed of conveying platform, ridge ditch, hydraulic execution system, signal detection mechanism, signal processing and control system, etc. The influence effect of the main factors of the system is tested through the test bench. The results show: the reaction time increases with the increase of spring preload and deviation distance, gradually decreases and tends to remain unchanged with the increase of forward speed, and first decreases and then increases with the increase of hydraulic flow. The unqualified rate first decreases and then increases with the increase of spring preload, gradually increases with the increase of forward speed and deviation distance, and gradually decreases with the increase of hydraulic flow. The effectiveness and stability of the automatic alignment system can meet the operation requirements. It effectively solved the problem of automatic alignment of the semi-feeding peanut harvester and provided a technical reference for the research and development of the automatic alignment system for harvesting the fruits under the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A series of silver alkynyl cages were synthesized using ligand 3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenylethynide and were structurally characterized. Reaction with [Ag(ArC≡C)]n polymer and (nBu4N)X (X = F, Cl, Br) gave compounds incorporating different halogen anions (F−, Cl−, Br−) and a hollow compound, namely [Ag14(ArC≡C)12(MeCN)6](OTf)2 · 4MeCN (I), [Ag14(ArC≡C)12(EtOH)2F]F · EtOH (II), [Ag14(ArC≡C)12(THF)2Cl]OH · THF (III) and [Ag14(ArC≡C)12(MeCN)4Br]OH (IV) (ArC≡C = 3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenylethynide). Direct synthesis of anion containing cages and indirect synthesis from the hollow cage were achieved. Structural studies (CCDC nos. 1831128 (I), 1831129 (II), 1831130 (III), and 1831131 (IV)) revealed that the incorporation of anions reduced the mean Ag−Ag bond length and therefore the cage size, giving the order of F@Ag14 ≈ Cl@Ag14 < Br@Ag14 < halogen-free. The cage size was larger than those of similar Ag14 clusters reported previously, which is likely due to the use of bulky alkynyl ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hot section components of aircraft engines like high pressure turbine (HPT) discs usually operate under complex loadings coupled with multi‐source uncertainties. The effect of these uncertainties on structural response of HPT discs should be accounted for its fatigue life and reliability assessment. In this study, a probabilistic framework for fatigue reliability analysis is established by incorporating FE simulations with Latin hypercube sampling to quantify the influence of material variability and load variations. Particularly, variability in material response is characterized by combining the Chaboche constitutive model with Fatemi‐Socie criterion. Results from fatigue reliability and sensitivity analysis of a HPT disc indicated that dispersions of basic variables ρ ω 1 σ f ′ must be taken into account for its fatigue reliability analysis. Moreover, the proposed framework based on the strength‐damage interference provides more reasonably correlations with its field number of flights rather than the load‐life interference one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucellosis is an occupational disease affecting workers in butcher shops, the milking and dairy product industry, causing more than 500 000 new cases around the world. As a national statutory B infectious disease in China, morbidity of brucellosis is rapidly increasing in recent years. We report an occupational outbreak of brucellosis infection in a pharmaceutical factory. Exposure was a result of manual operation in the process line, close contact with sheep placentas, insufficient disinfection and repeated using of protective suits and infected by aerosol dissemination. Improved preventive methods, appropriate public health measures and spread of health education would be helpful to prevent the occupational outbreak of brucellosis in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruminants are an important reservoir of Escherichia coli 0157:H7. To reduce E coli 0157:H7 excretion by these animals could play a key role in prevention and control of human infections. In the present study, the authors used 12 three-month-old goats to evaluate the efficacy of intranasal administration of the Stx2B-Tir-Stx1B-Zot protein. These goats were inoculated on days 0 and 21 and infected with 1010 colony-forming units (cfu) of E coli 0157:H7 by oral inoculation on day 36. Faecal shedding was monitored daily for two weeks. All of six goats immunised with recombinant protein elicited significant Stx2b-Tir-Stx1b-Zot-specific serum IgG antibodies, and three of them also showed production of antigen-specific IgA in faeces. The immunised goats showed much less shedding of E coli 0157:H7 after challenge. These results demonstrate the potential for the use of Stx2B-Tir-Stx1B-Zot protein in mucosal vaccine formulations to prevent colonisation and shedding of E coli 0157:H7 in goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Five novel susceptibility genes (TNIP1, SLC15A4, ETS1, RasGRP3 and IKZF1) for SLE have been identified in a recent genome-wide association study of a Chinese Han population. This study investigated their relationships with disease subphenotypes, including renal nephritis, photosensitivity, antinuclear antibody (ANA), age at diagnosis, malar rash, discoid rash, immunological disorder, oral ulcer, hematological disorder, neurological disorder, serositis, arthritis and vasculitis. Significant associations were found for the single nucleotide polymorphism rs10036748 of TNIP1 with photosensitivity (odds ratio (OR)=0.87, p=0.01) and vasculitis (OR=1.18, p=0.04); rs10847697 of SLC15A4 with discoid rash (OR=1.18, p=0.02); rs6590330 of ETS1 with SLE of age at diagnosis <20 years (OR=1.24, p=8.91×10-5); rs13385731 of RasGRP3 with malar rash (OR=1.20, p=0.01), discoid rash (OR=0.78, p=0.02) and ANA (OR=0.72, p=0.004); rs4917014 of IKZF1 with renal nephritis (OR=1.13, p=0.02) and malar rash (OR=0.83, p=0.00038), respectively. The study suggested that these susceptibility genes might not only play important roles in the development of SLE, but also contribute to the complex phenotypes of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO-B2O3-SiO2 additive with 0.55: 0.35: 0.10 molar ratio was added to Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 ceramics in order to lower the sintering temperature. The densification behavior, crystalline structure, microstructure, dielectric properties and breakdown strength of ceramics were studied. When 9 wt.% additive was mixed with pure Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 powder, the densification temperature of samples decreased from 1350°C to 1100°C compared with no additive system, and the sintered ceramics revealed dielectric properties at room temperature as follows: dielectric constant εr = 413, dielectric loss tanδ = 0.00231 under 1 kHz and the breakdown strength Eb = 9.2 kV/mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]