RETRACTED: Association of the ACE I/D gene polymorphism with sepsis susceptibility and sepsis progression.

PubMed

Yang, Chun-Hua; Zhou, Tian-Biao

2015-12-01

This article has been included in a multiple retraction: Chun-Hua Yang and Tian-Biao Zhou Association of the ACE I/D gene polymorphism with sepsis susceptibility and sepsis progression Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314568521, first published on February 3, 2015 doi: 10.1177/1470320314568521 This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors and the Publisher. After conducting a thorough investigation, SAGE found that the submitting authors of a number of papers published in the Journal of the Renin-Angiotensin Aldosterone System ( JRAAS) (listed below) had supplied fabricated contact details for their nominated reviewers. The Editors accepted these papers based on the reports supplied by the individuals using these fake reviewer email accounts. After concluding that the peer review process was therefore seriously compromised, SAGE and the journal Editors have decided to retract all affected articles. Online First articles (these articles will not be published in an issue) Wenzhuang Tang, Tian-Biao Zhou, and Zongpei Jiang Association of the angiotensinogen M235T gene polymorphism with risk of diabetes mellitus developing into diabetic nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563426, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563426 Tian-Biao Zhou, Hong-Yan Li, Zong-Pei Jiang, Jia-Fan Zhou, Miao-Fang Huang, and Zhi-Yang Zhou Role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors in radiation nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563424, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563424 Weiqiang Zhong, Zongpei Jiang, and Tian-Biao Zhou Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T2DN susceptibility: The risk of T2DM developing into T2DN in the Asian population Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314566019, first published on January 26, 2015 doi: 10.1177/1470320314566019 Tian-Biao Zhou, Xue-Feng Guo, Zongpei

RETRACTED: Relationship between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T1DN susceptibility/risk of T1DM developing into T1DN in the Caucasian population.

PubMed

Zhou, Tian-Biao; Guo, Xue-Feng; Jiang, Zongpei; Li, Hong-Yan

2015-12-01

The following article has been included in a multiple retraction: Tian-Biao Zhou, Xue-Feng Guo, Zongpei Jiang, and Hong-Yan Li Relationship between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T1DN susceptibility/risk of T1DM developing into T1DN in the Caucasian population Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563425, first published on February 1, 2015 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563425 This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors and the Publisher. After conducting a thorough investigation, SAGE found that the submitting authors of a number of papers published in the Journal of the Renin-Angiotensin Aldosterone System ( JRAAS) (listed below) had supplied fabricated contact details for their nominated reviewers. The Editors accepted these papers based on the reports supplied by the individuals using these fake reviewer email accounts. After concluding that the peer review process was therefore seriously compromised, SAGE and the journal Editors have decided to retract all affected articles. Online First articles (these articles will not be published in an issue) Wenzhuang Tang, Tian-Biao Zhou, and Zongpei Jiang Association of the angiotensinogen M235T gene polymorphism with risk of diabetes mellitus developing into diabetic nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563426, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563426 Tian-Biao Zhou, Hong-Yan Li, Zong-Pei Jiang, Jia-Fan Zhou, Miao-Fang Huang, and Zhi-Yang Zhou Role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors in radiation nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563424, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563424 Weiqiang Zhong, Zongpei Jiang, and Tian-Biao Zhou Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T2DN susceptibility: The risk of T2DM developing into T2DN in the Asian population Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314566019, first published on January

RETRACTED: Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T2DN susceptibility: The risk of T2DM developing into T2DN in the Asian population.

PubMed

Zhong, Weiqiang; Jiang, Zongpei; Zhou, Tian-Biao

2015-12-01

This article has been included in a multiple retraction: Weiqiang Zhong, Zongpei Jiang, and Tian-Biao Zhou Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T2DN susceptibility: The risk of T2DM developing into T2DN in the Asian population Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314566019, first published on January 26, 2015 doi: 10.1177/1470320314566019 This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors and the Publisher. After conducting a thorough investigation, SAGE found that the submitting authors of a number of papers published in the Journal of the Renin-Angiotensin Aldosterone System ( JRAAS) (listed below) had supplied fabricated contact details for their nominated reviewers. The Editors accepted these papers based on the reports supplied by the individuals using these fake reviewer email accounts. After concluding that the peer review process was therefore seriously compromised, SAGE and the journal Editors have decided to retract all affected articles. Online First articles (these articles will not be published in an issue) Wenzhuang Tang, Tian-Biao Zhou, and Zongpei Jiang Association of the angiotensinogen M235T gene polymorphism with risk of diabetes mellitus developing into diabetic nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563426, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563426 Tian-Biao Zhou, Hong-Yan Li, Zong-Pei Jiang, Jia-Fan Zhou, Miao-Fang Huang, and Zhi-Yang Zhou Role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors in radiation nephropathy Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314563424, first published on December 18, 2014 doi: 10.1177/1470320314563424 Weiqiang Zhong, Zongpei Jiang, and Tian-Biao Zhou Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and T2DN susceptibility: The risk of T2DM developing into T2DN in the Asian population Journal of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System 1470320314566019, first published on January 26, 2015 doi: 10

Taxonomy of Stenus tenuimargo group (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Steninae) with descriptions of two new species from China.

PubMed

Lv, Wei-Xiang; Zhao, Cai-Yun; Zhou, Hong-Zhang

2018-03-16

This paper treats the Stenus tenuimargo group (Coleoptera: Steninae) from China and includes descriptions of two new species: Stenus nabanhensis Lv et Zhou, sp. nov., from Yunnan Province and Stenus zhangyejunianus Lv et Zhou, sp. nov., from Sichuan Province. Their diagnostic characters are illustrated and a key to all Chinese species of the group is provided.

Microevolution and History of the Plague Bacillus, Yersinia pestis

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-21

Nichols, R. A., Oyston, P. C., Hinds, J., Titball, R. W. & Wren, B. W. (2003) Genome Res. 13, 2018 –2029. 7. Zhou, D., Han, Y., Song, Y., Tong, Z., Wang...Res. 11, 179–197. 29. Deng, W., Burland, V., Plunkett, G., III, Boutin , A., Mayhew, G. F., Liss, P., Perna, N. T., Rose, D. J., Mau, B., Zhou, S., et

Software Package on Integrated Nonlinear Dynamic Modeling and Field Oriented Control (FOC) of Permanent Magnet (PM) Motor for High Performance Electromechanical Actuators (EMAs)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

Louis Chow, David Woodburn, Lei Zhou, Jared Bindl, Yang Hu, and Wendell Brokaw University of Central Florida JANUARY 2011 Interim Report...Magnet (PM) Motor % % Written in SI or MKS Unit System. % % Authors: % David Woodburn % Dr. Lei Zhou % Dr. Thomas X. Wu clear all...Initial phase winding resistance [ ohm ] id = 0; % Phase d current [A] iq = 0; % Phase q current [A] did_dt = 0

Journal of Chinese Society of Astronautics (Selected Articles),

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-10

Graphics Disclaimer...................... ..... .. . .. .. . . ... Calculation of Minimum Entry Heat Transfer Shape of a Space * Vehicle , by, Zhou Qi...the best quality copy available. ..- ii CALCULATION OF MINIMUM ENTRY HEAT TRANSFER SHAPE OF A SPACE VEHICLE Zhou Qi cheng ABSTRACT This paper dealt...entry heat transfer shape under specified fineness ratio and total vehicle weight conditions could be obtained using a variational method. Finally, the

An algorithm for encryption of secret images into meaningful images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanso, A.; Ghebleh, M.

2017-03-01

Image encryption algorithms typically transform a plain image into a noise-like cipher image, whose appearance is an indication of encrypted content. Bao and Zhou [Image encryption: Generating visually meaningful encrypted images, Information Sciences 324, 2015] propose encrypting the plain image into a visually meaningful cover image. This improves security by masking existence of encrypted content. Following their approach, we propose a lossless visually meaningful image encryption scheme which improves Bao and Zhou's algorithm by making the encrypted content, i.e. distortions to the cover image, more difficult to detect. Empirical results are presented to show high quality of the resulting images and high security of the proposed algorithm. Competence of the proposed scheme is further demonstrated by means of comparison with Bao and Zhou's scheme.

JPRS Report, Science & Technology, China

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-29

KEJIRIBAO, 23 Mar 92] 11 Guangdong’s Strategy of Internationalizing High-Tech Industries [Wei Xulin, Qiu Rongsheng, et al.; KEJIGUANLI YANJIU, Mar...Apr 92] 14 Zhou Guangzhao Urges Cooperation Between Research Institutes and Industry [Zhou Guangzhao; ZHONGGUO KEXUE BAO, 6 Mar 92] 19 Liu...of Developing a Modern Cruise Missile for China [Xu Ande; XIANDAIHUA, Apr 92] 24 Discussion of Strategic Shifts in National Defense Industry

Shallow-Water Reverberation

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-09-30

Shallow- Water Reverberation J. X. Zhou School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0405 phone: (404) 894...6793 fax: (404) 894-7790 e-mail: jixun.zhou@me.gatech.edu Award Number: N00014-97-1-0170 Thrust Category: Shallow- Water Acoustics LONG-TERM GOALS...The long-term goals of this work are: to develop a theoretical model for predicting the reverberation in shallow water , to derive both small-angle

Solubility Report of 1-Methyl-3,5-Dinitro-1H-1,2,4-Triazole (MDNT) and 2-Methyl-4,5-Dinitro-2H-1,2,3-Triazole 1-Oxide (MDNTO) for Co-Crystallization Screen

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-01

New Co-Crystals,” Crystal Growth & Design, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 1531-1537, 2009. 2 Landenberger, K., Matzger, A., “ Cocrystal Engineering of a...Y., Li, H., Zhou, Y., Zhou, J., Geo, T., Zhang, H., Jiang, G., “Toward Low- Sensitive and High-Energetic Cocrystal 1: Evaluation of the Power and the...Safety of Observed Energetic Cocrystals ,” CrystEngComm, 15, 4003-4014, 2013. 4 Levinthal, M.L., “Propellant Made With Cocrystals of

Sintering, Thermal Conductivity, Optical and Lasing Properties of Doped-Lu2O3 Fiberous Transparent Ceramics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-26

5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Georgia Institute of Technology , School of Materials...Report Submitted by: Robert F. Speyer Professor School of Materials Science and Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 771 Ferst Drive Atlanta, GA...Bellato group [23] at Clemson and the Zhou group [14] at the Shanghai Inst. of Technology . For the Zhou group, sintering at 1720◦C for 15 min was followed

BHC80 is Critical in Suppression of Snail-LSD1 Interaction and Breast Cancer Metastasis

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in development and disease . Cell 2009; 139:871-90. 9. Wu Y, Zhou BP. Snail: More than EMT. Cell Adh Migr 2010; 4:199...Huang RY, Nieto MA. Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in development and disease . Cell 2009; 139:871-90. 9. Wu Y, Zhou BP. Snail: More than EMT. Cell...QSRKAFNCKYC Snail ( Canine ) QTRKAFNCKYC Snail (Monkey) QSRKAFNCKYC Snail (Opossum) QPRKAFICKVC A D E F CHX 0 1 3 5 7 0 1 3 5 7 WT Snail

The Earth Synchronous Satellite Carrier Rocket,

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-26

FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY DIVISION 0 - THE EARTH SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE CARRIER ROCKET jJ by Zhou Yiyun ’% AR 2 1984 Approved for public-release; 84 03 01 071...I - FTD-ID(RS)T-1787-83 EDITED TRANSLATION FTD-IDCRS)T-1787-83 26 January 1984 MICROFICHE NR: FTD-84-C-000094 THE EARTH SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE CARRIER...quality copy available. / THE EARTH SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE CARRIER ROCKET by Zhou Yiyun Last September, the fight for the champion of the Women’s World

Histone Methylation and Epigenetic Silencing in Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-01

Chen, S., Bohrer, L.R., Nair-Rai, A., Pan , Y., Gan, L., Zhou, X., Bagchi, A., Simon, J.A. and Huang, H. (2010). Cyclin-dependent kinases regulate...EZH2 suppresses methylation of lysine 27 in histone H3. Science 310(5746): 306-310. Chen, S., Bohrer, L.R., Rai, A.N., Pan , Y., Gan, L., Zhou, X...recent study finds that ri-methyl-H3-K27 levels are decreased in breast, ovarian and pan - reatic cancer samples [65], which could reflect a shift in

Targeted Delivery of Carbon Nanotubes to Cancer Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

Taylor S, Li HP, Fernando KAS, Qu LW, Wang W, Gu LR, Zhou B, Sun YP. Advances toward bioapplications of carbon nanotubes. J Mater Chem. 14: 527...respectively. For car- boxylated-CNTs and RFB4-coupled CNTs, 20 ll of the dispersion was spun cast on to freshly cleaved mica at 3500 rpm for 30 sec...Lin Y, Taylor S, Li HP, Fernando KAS, Qu LW, Wang W, Gu LR, Zhou B, Sun YP. Advances toward bioapplications of carbon nano- tubes. J Mater Chem

IMPACT (Imaging and Molecular Markers for Patients with Lung Cancer: Approaches with Molecular Targets and Complementary, Innovative and Therapeutic Modalities)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

preparation by Ximing Tang et al. b.3. NOTCH3 /JAGGED1 pathway. Notch3 (N3) is a member of the family of Notch transmembrane receptors, which are...Prudkin L, Liu D, Tchinda J, Woods D, Behrens C, Bekele BN, Moran C, Lee C, Aster JC, Zhou B-B, Wistuba II. NOTCH3 /JAGGED1 pathway is involved in non...Behrens C, Bekele BN, Moran C, Lee C, Aster JC, Zhou B-B, Wistuba II. NOTCH3 /JAGGED1 pathway is involved in non-small cell lung cancer pathogenesis

NCEP Air Quality Forecast(AQF). Web designed by Binbin Zhou,

Science.gov Websites

NOAA/NWS/NCEP/EMC 2D Fields 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Select speed: normal 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Select Cycle: 12Z

77 FR 38845 - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-29

... Health, Two Democracy Plaza, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892, (Virtual Meeting). Contact Person: Ruixia Zhou, Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Democracy Two Building...

Simulation of periodically focused, adiabatic thermal beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, C.; Akylas, T. R.; Barton, T. J.

2012-12-21

Self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations are performed to verify earlier theoretical predictions of adiabatic thermal beams in a periodic solenoidal magnetic focusing field [K.R. Samokhvalova, J. Zhou and C. Chen, Phys. Plasma 14, 103102 (2007); J. Zhou, K.R. Samokhvalova and C. Chen, Phys. Plasma 15, 023102 (2008)]. In particular, results are obtained for adiabatic thermal beams that do not rotate in the Larmor frame. For such beams, the theoretical predictions of the rms beam envelope, the conservations of the rms thermal emittances, the adiabatic equation of state, and the Debye length are verified in the simulations. Furthermore, the adiabatic thermal beam ismore » found be stable in the parameter regime where the simulations are performed.« less

75 FR 45663 - In the Matter of: Certain Inkjet Ink Supplies and Components Thereof; Corrected Notice of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-03

... International, 10 C, Garden Building, No. 1083 JiuZhou Road, Jida, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China 519015; Ourway Image... 20436; and (3) For the investigation so instituted, the Honorable Paul J. Luckern, Chief Administrative...

Global Urban Mapping and Modeling for Sustainable Urban Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Y.; Li, X.; Asrar, G.; Yu, S.; Smith, S.; Eom, J.; Imhoff, M. L.

2016-12-01

In the past several decades, the world has experienced fast urbanization, and this trend is expected to continue for decades to come. Urbanization, one of the major land cover and land use changes (LCLUC), is becoming increasingly important in global environmental changes, such as urban heat island (UHI) growth and vegetation phenology change. Better scientific insights and effective decision-making unarguably require reliable science-based information on spatiotemporal changes in urban extent and their environmental impacts. In this study, we developed a globally consistent 20-year urban map series to evaluate the time-reactive nature of global urbanization from the nighttime lights remote sensing data, and projected future urban expansion in the 21st century by employing an integrated modeling framework (Zhou et al. 2014, Zhou et al. 2015). We then evaluated the impacts of urbanization on building energy use and vegetation phenology that affect both ecosystem services and human health. We extended the modeling capability of building energy use in the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) with consideration of UHI effects by coupling the remote sensing based urbanization modeling and explored the impact of UHI on building energy use. We also investigated the impact of urbanization on vegetation phenology by using an improved phenology detection algorithm. The derived spatiotemporal information on historical and potential future urbanization and its implications in building energy use and vegetation phenology will be of great value in sustainable urban design and development for building energy use and human health (e.g., pollen allergy), especially when considered together with other factors such as climate variability and change. Zhou, Y., S. J. Smith, C. D. Elvidge, K. Zhao, A. Thomson & M. Imhoff (2014) A cluster-based method to map urban area from DMSP/OLS nightlights. Remote Sensing of Environment, 147, 173-185. Zhou, Y., S. J. Smith, K. Zhao, M. Imhoff, A

Comments on the status of Xiphidiopsis quadrinotata Bey-Bienko, 1971 and related species with one new genus and species (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae).

PubMed

Shi, Fuming; Bian, Xun; Zhou, Zhijun

2016-04-21

Based on the collections of the Museum of Hebei University, the paper comments Xiphidiopsis quadrinotata Bey-Bienko, 1971 status and reinstates Xizicus (Axizicus) xizangensis Jiao & Shi, 2013 as a valid species. Meanwhile, Alloteratura (Meconemopsis) Karny, 1924 is redefined and one new genus of Meconematinae, Nigrimacula Shi, Bian & Zhou gen. nov., mainly distributed in South China, is erected. The new genus includes three previously known species: Xiphidiopsis quadrinotata Bey-Bienko, 1971, Xizicus (Axizicus) xizangensis Jiao & Shi, 2013 and Meconemopsis paraquadrinotata Wang, Liu & Li, 2015 and one new species, Nigrimacula binotata Shi, Bian & Zhou sp. nov. The male of Xiphidiopsis quadrinotata Bey-Bienko, 1971 and female of Xizicus (Axizicus) xizangensis Jiao & Shi, 2013 are described for the first time. A key to the species based on the morphology and a distribution map are included.

Molecular cloning, polymorphisms, and expression analysis of the RERG gene in indigenous Chinese goats.

PubMed

Sui, M X; Wang, H H; Wang, Z W

2015-11-24

The current study aimed to investigate the coding sequence, polymorphisms, and expression of the RERG gene in indigenous Chinese goats. cDNA of RERG, obtained through reverse transcription PCR was analyzed using bioinformatic techniques. Polymorphisms in the exon regions of the RERG gene were identified and their associations with growth traits in three varieties of indigenous Chinese goats were investigated. Expression of the RERG gene in three goat breeds of the same age was detected using real-time quantitative PCR. The results revealed that the cDNA of RERG, which contained a complete open reading frame of 20-620 bp, was 629 bp in length. The associated accession numbers in GenBank are JN672576, JQ917222, and JN580309 for the QianBei Ma goat, the GuiZhou white goat, and the GuiZhou black goat, respectively. Four consistent SNP sites were found in the exon regions of the RERG gene for the three goat breeds. mRNA expression of the RERG gene differed between different tissues in adult goats of same age. The highest expression was observed in lung and spleen tissues, while the lowest expression was recorded in thymus gland tissue. In addition, the expression of the RERG gene in the muscle of Guizhou white goat, GuiZhou black goat, and QianBei Ma goat decreased sequentially. Our results lay the foundations for further investigation into the role of the RERG gene in goat growth traits.

Improvement of One Quantum Encryption Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Zhengjun; Liu, Lihua

2012-01-01

Zhou et al. proposed a quantum encryption scheme based on quantum computation in 2006 [N. Zhou et al., Physica A362 (2006) 305]. Each qubit of the ciphertext is constrained to two pairs of conjugate states. So, its implementation is feasible with the existing technology. But it is inefficient since it entails six key bits to encrypt one message bit, and the resulting ciphertext for one message bit consists of three qubits. In addition, its security cannot be directly reduced to the well-known BB84 protocol. In this paper, we improve it using the technique developed in BB84 protocol. The new scheme entails only two key bits to encrypt one message bit. The resulting ciphertext is just composed of two qubits. It saves about a half cost without the loss of security. Moreover, the new scheme is probabilistic instead of deterministic.

Ground Based Investigation of Electrostatic Accelerometer in HUST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Y.; Zhou, Z.

2013-12-01

High-precision electrostatic accelerometers with six degrees of freedom (DOF) acceleration measurement were successfully used in CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE missions which to measure the Earth's gravity field. In our group, space inertial sensor based on the capacitance transducer and electrostatic control technique has been investigated for test of equivalence principle (TEPO), searching non-Newtonian force in micrometer range, and satellite Earth's field recovery. The significant techniques of capacitive position sensor with the noise level at 2×10-7pF/Hz1/2 and the μV/Hz1/2 level electrostatic actuator are carried out and all the six servo loop controls by using a discrete PID algorithm are realized in a FPGA device. For testing on ground, in order to compensate one g earth's gravity, the fiber torsion pendulum facility is adopt to measure the parameters of the electrostatic controlled inertial sensor such as the resolution, and the electrostatic stiffness, the cross couple between different DOFs. A short distance and a simple double capsule equipment the valid duration about 0.5 second is set up in our lab for the free fall tests of the engineering model which can directly verify the function of six DOF control. Meanwhile, high voltage suspension method is also realized and preliminary results show that the horizontal axis of acceleration noise is about 10-8m/s2/Hz1/2 level which limited mainly by the seismic noise. Reference: [1] Fen Gao, Ze-Bing Zhou, Jun Luo, Feasibility for Testing the Equivalence Principle with Optical Readout in Space, Chin. Phys. Lett. 28(8) (2011) 080401. [2] Z. Zhu, Z. B. Zhou, L. Cai, Y. Z. Bai, J. Luo, Electrostatic gravity gradiometer design for the advanced GOCE mission, Adv. Sp. Res. 51 (2013) 2269-2276. [3] Z B Zhou, L Liu, H B Tu, Y Z Bai, J Luo, Seismic noise limit for ground-based performance measurements of an inertial sensor using a torsion balance, Class. Quantum Grav. 27 (2010) 175012. [4] H B Tu, Y Z Bai, Z B Zhou, L Liu, L

78 FR 13626 - Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Administrative Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-28

... have subsequently made changes, including, but not limited to, changes to corporate structure... Yes. Furniture Co., (PTE) Ltd. Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Ltd......... Yes. Fortune Furniture Ltd....). Transworld (Zhang Zhou) Furniture Co., Yes. Ltd. Tube-Smith Enterprise (Zhangzhou) Co., Yes. Ltd., Tube-Smith...

75 FR 9869 - Initiation of Administrative Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Wooden Bedroom Furniture...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-04

... proceeding that have subsequently made changes, including, but not limited to, changes to corporate structure...) * Evershine Enterprise Co. Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Ltd.* Fleetwood Fine Furniture LP Fortune Glory... of Yangchun * Yeh Brothers World Trade Inc.* Yuexing Group Co., Ltd. Zhang Zhou Sanlong Wood Product...

Membrane Reflector Vertical Cavity Lasers at Near- and Midwave-Infrared

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-30

independent broadband reflectors based on cross-stacked gratings, Optics Express, (04 2011): 9050. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.009050 Tapas Kumar Saha, Mingyu Lu... Mingyu Lu, Huiqing Zhai, Deyin Zhao, Weidong Zhou. Design of a compact grating coupler with controllable linewidths via transverse resonance and

76 FR 28055 - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-13

... review and evaluate grant applications. Place: National Institutes of Health, Two Democracy Plaza, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892. Contact Person: Ruixia Zhou, PhD, Scientific Review Officer, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Democracy Two Building, Suite 957, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-4773, [email protected

77 FR 71605 - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meetings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-03

... Institutes of Health, Two Democracy Plaza, 951, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892, (Telephone Conference Call). Contact Person: Ruixia Zhou, Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Democracy Two Building, Suite 957, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-4773, [email protected] . Name of Committee...

78 FR 6126 - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meeting.

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-29

... Institutes of Health, Two Democracy Plaza, Suite 920, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892, (Telephone Conference Call). Contact Person: Ruixia Zhou, Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Democracy Two Building, Suite 957, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-4773, [email protected] . Dated...

Hole and Electron Extraction Layers Based on Graphene Oxide Derivatives for High-Performance Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Yuhua Xue , Yunxiang Gao , Dingshan Yu , Michael Durstock , and Liming Dai * Hole and Electron Extraction Layers Based on Graphene Oxide...H. Wu , L. Chen , S. Su , Y. Cao , Adv. Mater. 2011 , 23 , 4636 . [ 29 ] T.-Y. Chu , S.-W. Tsang , J. Zhou , P. G. Verly , J

77 FR 31624 - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-29

... Institutes of Health, Two Democracy Plaza, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Rm. 951, Bethesda, MD 20892, (Telephone Conference Call). Contact Person: Ruixia Zhou, Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Democracy Two Building, Suite 957, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-4773, [email protected] . Dated: May 21...

On the contributions of photorespiration and compartmentation to the contrasting intramolecular 2H profiles of C3 and C4 plant sugars

Treesearch

Youping Zhou; Benli Zhang; Hilary Stuart-Williams; Kliti Grice; Charles H. Hocart; Arthur Gessler; Zachary E. Kayler; Graham D. Farquhar

2018-01-01

Compartmentation of C4 photosynthetic biochemistry into bundle sheath (BS) and mesophyll (M) cells, and photorespiration in C3 plants is predicted to have hydrogen isotopic consequences for metabolites at both molecular and site-specific levels. Molecular-level evidence was recently reported (Zhou et al., 2016), but...

Academic Achievement of Children in China: The 2002 Fulbright Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phelps, LeAdelle

2005-01-01

The 2002 Fulbright team, led by Zheng Zhou of St. John's University, consisted of 12 professionals in the fields of education, counseling psychology, and school psychology. Spending one month visiting elementary schools, universities, governmental bodies, hospitals, and private schools throughout China, the Fulbright team had an opportunity to…

A Synthetical Two-Component Model with Peakon Solutions: One More Bi-Hamiltonian Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mengxia, Zhang; Xiaomin, Yang

2018-05-01

Compatible pairs of Hamiltonian operators for the synthetical two-component model of Xia, Qiao, and Zhou are derived systematically by means of the spectral gradient method. A new two-component system, which is bi-Hamiltonian, is presented. For this new system, the construction of its peakon solutions is considered.

Material for "Substrate temperature controls molecular orientation in two-component vapor- deposited glasses." Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 3265.

DOE Data Explorer

Jiang, Jing [Nanjing University; Walters, Diane M [University of Wisconsin-Madison; Zhou, Dongshan [Nanjing University; Ediger, Mark D [University of Wisconsin-Madison

2016-08-18

Data set for work presented in Jiang, J.; Walters, D. M.; Zhou, D.; Ediger, M. D. “Substrate Temperature Controls Molecular Orientation in Two -Component Vapor-deposited Glasses.” Soft Matt. 2016, 12, 3265. Includes all data presented in the manuscript as well as example raw data and analysis.

The Potential Link Between High Angle Grain Boundary Morphology and Grain Boundary Deformation in a Nickel-Based Superalloy (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

Ghosh, M.K. Samal , Multiscale Crystal Plasticity Modeling of Microtwinning Induced Deformation in Gamma–Gamma Prime Nickel Based Superalloys, Shanghai...University, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China, 2011, pp. 487–488. [3] H. Deuchman, P.J. Phillips, N. Zhou, M. Samal , S. Ghosh, Y. Wang, M.J. Mills

Hypo-Fractionated Conformal Radiation Therapy to the Tumor Bed After Segmental Mastectomy

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-07-01

conserving surgery for breast cancer were first offered slan- speed helical CT scanner . CT images were transferred to dard conventional 6-week RT. Only...Zhou S, Prosnitz RG, et al. The impact of breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy. J Surg im, diated left ventricular volume on the

Deduction and Analysis of the Interacting Stress Response Pathways of Metal/Radionuclide-reducing Bacteria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Jizhong; He, Zhili

2010-02-28

Project Title: Deduction and Analysis of the Interacting Stress Response Pathways of Metal/Radionuclide-reducing Bacteria DOE Grant Number: DE-FG02-06ER64205 Principal Investigator: Jizhong (Joe) Zhou (University of Oklahoma) Key members: Zhili He, Aifen Zhou, Christopher Hemme, Joy Van Nostrand, Ye Deng, and Qichao Tu Collaborators: Terry Hazen, Judy Wall, Adam Arkin, Matthew Fields, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, and David Stahl Summary Three major objectives have been conducted in the Zhou group at the University of Oklahoma (OU): (i) understanding of gene function, regulation, network and evolution of Desulfovibrio vugaris Hildenborough in response to environmental stresses, (ii) development of metagenomics technologies for microbial community analysis,more » and (iii) functional characterization of microbial communities with metagenomic approaches. In the past a few years, we characterized four CRP/FNR regulators, sequenced ancestor and evolved D. vulgaris strains, and functionally analyzed those mutated genes identified in salt-adapted strains. Also, a new version of GeoChip 4.0 has been developed, which also includes stress response genes (StressChip), and a random matrix theory-based conceptual framework for identifying functional molecular ecological networks has been developed with the high throughput functional gene array hybridization data as well as pyrosequencing data from 16S rRNA genes. In addition, GeoChip and sequencing technologies as well as network analysis approaches have been used to analyze microbial communities from different habitats. Those studies provide a comprehensive understanding of gene function, regulation, network, and evolution in D. vulgaris, and microbial community diversity, composition and structure as well as their linkages with environmental factors and ecosystem functioning, which has resulted in more than 60 publications.« less

The Mechanism by which Neurofibromin Suppresses Tumorigenesis

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

et al., 2011; Taichman et al., 2002; Zeelenberg et al., 2003; Zhou et al., 2002), as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (Bertolini et al., 2002), and...underlie the unique pattern of optic glioma growth in neurofibromatosis type Cancer Res 67, 8588-8595. Zeelenberg , I.S., Ruuls-Van Stalle, L., and

Targeted Gene Therapy for Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-08-01

recognizing conformational and polysaccharide epitopes, cell ELISA using NIH3T3 and NIH/189 cells was employed to detect such clones. Cells (lxl04/well...77T 541-542, 1997. 26. Zhou, Y. and Lee, A. S. Mechanism for the suppression of the mammalian stress response by genistein, an anticancer

Proactive and Preventive Coping in Adjustment to College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gan, Yiqun; Hu, Yueqin; Zhang, Yiwen

2010-01-01

The current study compared the relative importance of proactive coping and preventive coping in the adjustment to university life among 403 freshmen at a Chinese university and evaluated the function of proactive coping in the stress process. Participants completed the Future-Oriented Coping Inventory (Gan, Yang, Zhou, & Zhang, 2007), the…

Small Talk: A Missing Skill in the Chinese Communicative Repertoire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui, Xia

2015-01-01

There is growing evidence that social interactions at work with local colleagues present a real challenge for Chinese immigrants to Australia (e.g. Tomazin, 2009; Zhou, Windsor, Coyer, & Theobald, 2010), often leaving them feeling defeated and despairing, and the Australians puzzled or affronted. Seeking to understand the nature, origin, and…

Potential Partners in the Pacific? Soft Power and the SINO-NATO Relationship

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

non-threatening manner. While both NATO and China have interests in Afghanistan, the most fertile ground for a future relationship lies in mutual...Soviet Card’ in the U.S. Opening to China, 1971-1974” Diplomatic History, Vol. 29, No. 3 (June 2005): 487. 22 Zhou-Ye Jianying -Kissinger memcon, 20/6

Self-Concept of Gifted Children Aged 9 to 13 Years Old

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shi, Jiannong; Li, Ying; Zhang, Xingli

2008-01-01

Ninety-four gifted children and 200 nongifted children (aged 9 to 13 years old) were involved in the present study. Their self-concept was assessed by the Revised Song-Hattie Self-Concept Inventory (Zhou & He, 1996). Academic self-concepts pertaining to abilities, school achievements, and grade concepts and nonacademic self-concepts pertaining…

Implicit-shifted Symmetric QR Singular Value Decomposition of 3x3 Matrices

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

Graph 33, 4, 138:1– 138:11. TREFETHEN, L. N., AND BAU III, D. 1997. Numerical linear algebra , vol. 50. Siam. XU, H., SIN, F., ZHU, Y., AND BARBIČ, J...matrices with minimal branching and elementary floating point operations. Tech. rep., University of Wisconsin- Madison. SAITO, S., ZHOU, Z.-Y., AND

Education and Social Selection in Ancient China: Semantics, Conceptual Transformation and Social Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Meiyao

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the transformation in the Zhou dynasty China (1046-256 BC) of the concept of education in relation to the process of social selection, which concerns the distribution both of knowledge and of social ranks. An approach in terms of historical semantics, mainly influenced by Luhmannian sociological theory with some reference…

Type II Superlattice as Low-Temperature Peltier Refrigerator (4K-150K)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-29

SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT...Chuanle  Zhou,  Seda  Ogrenci  Memik,  M.  Grayson,  " IOTA :  Towards   an  integrated  on-­‐chip  thermocouple  array

Combinatorial Strategies and Hypothesis-Based Drug Design in Drug Discovery Targeted to the Protease and Channel Activities of Botulinum Toxin A

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-02-01

62. Naibar, L. V., Craik , D. J., Wade, J. D., Salvatore, D., and McLeish, M. j. 74. Zhou, N. E., Kay, C. M., and Hodges, R. S. (1992) J. Biol. Chem...Salvador Viniegrab, Jennifer A. Biserc, Michael Adler’, Mauricio Montala,* aDepartment of Biology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La

Early Chinese History: The Hundred Schools Period. China's Golden Age of Philosophy. A Unit of Study for Grades 9-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huff, Lehn; Dube, Clayton

In this unit students examine the four most influential Chinese philosophical traditions developed during the Zhou period (roughly 6th-3rd centuries B.C.E.). The four philosophies students study include: (1) Confucianism; (2) Mohism; (3) Daoism (Taoism); and (4) Legalism. In three lessons, students compare the ideas of these schools and explore…

Fast Electromagnetic Solvers for Large-Scale Naval Scattering Problems

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-27

IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 52, no. 8, pp. 2141–2146, 2004. [12] R. J. Burkholder and J. F. Lee, “Fast dual-MGS block-factorization algorithm...Golub and C. F. V. Loan, Matrix Computations. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. [20] W. D. Li, W. Hong, and H. X. Zhou, “Integral

2011 FIRST Robotics Championship

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-07

Chris Collins (l to r), Andy Zhou and Rachel Holladay from Northshore High School in Slidell place FIRST logo pieces during a Jan. 7, 2011 kickoff event for the 2011 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition season. Thirty teams from four states attended the kickoff event at Stennis Space Center.

[Textual research on circulation of the Ming edition of Li Heng's Xiu zhen fang (Pocket Formulary)].

PubMed

Yang, Jinping; Liu, Peng; Lu, Mingjing; Lu, Xing; Li, Shaolin; Jin, Xiumei

2015-03-01

Xiu zhen fang (Pocket Formulary) is a recipe book of the Ming Dynasty, inspired and managed by Zhu Su, compiled by Li Heng of liangyisuo (good physician house) in Zhou wangfu (Zhou's royal palace). The book was compiled and published twice during the reigns of the Hongwu and Yongle Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Because of its high practicability, there were some editions in circulation, and the book was published several times only in the Ming Dynasty. At present, the earliest extanteditionwas the little character version of Yongle, and the version in the 4(th) year of Zhengde Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was a reprinting edition based on the Yongle edition, sharingthe same edition system. Most of the editions appeared after the reign of Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, titled by "kui ben (head version)" and "da quan (complete edition)" were the editionspublished in the local bookshops, which had rather distinct differences from the Yongle edition system not only in the its format but also in its contents.

Origin and lateral migration of linear dunes in the Qaidam Basin of NW China revealed by dune sediments, internal structures, and optically stimulated luminescence ages, with implications for linear dunes on Titan: discussion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rubin, David M.; Rubin, Alan M.

2013-01-01

Zhou et al. (2012) proposed that longitudinal dunes in the Qaidam Basin, China, formed like yardangs: by erosion into sediment that was not deposited by those dunes. Because erosion occurs on the upwind flanks of most migrating dunes (Rubin and Hunter, 1982, 1985), the key to demonstrating a yardang-like origin is to show that the dunes did not deposit the strata that they contain. Zhou et al. made this argument by proposing that: (1) The dunes have not deposited cross-strata in the past 810 yr. (2) Cross-bedding within the dunes was not deposited by the dunes on the present-day land surface, but rather by older dunes that had a different morphology. (3) The present dunes are a later generation, “most likely of erosional origin similar to yardangs with orientations controlled by strikes of joints,” (p. 1147). (4) Rates of deflation in the dune field have been extremely high for the past 810–2440 yr. This commentary reviews these conclusions, reviews contradictory observations, and considers alternative interpretations.

Biotechnology

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-09

Dr. Weijia Zhou, director of the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, inspects the Advanced Astroculture(tm) plant growth unit before its first flight last spring. Coating technology is used inside the miniature plant greenhouse to remove ethylene, a chemical produced by plant leaves that can cause plants to mature too quickly. This same coating technology is used in a new anthrax-killing device. The Space Station experiment is managed by the Space Product Development Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. DuPont is partnering with NASA and the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to grow soybeans aboard the Space Station to find out if they have improved oil, protein, carbohydrates or secondary metabolites that could benefit farmers and consumers. Principal Investigators: Dr. Tom Corbin, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Dupont Company, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dr. Weijia Zhou, Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

p63 in Development and Maintenance of the Prostate Epithelium

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

S Signoretti, J Simko ,G Thomas , P Troncoso, T Tsuzuki, G JLH van Leenders, XJ Yang, M Zhou, W D Figg, A Hoque and M S Lucia. A working group...cell proliferation and cancer progression. Cancer Cell. 2008;14(2):146-55. 8. Sabbisetti V, Di Napoli A, Seeley A, Amato AM, O’Regan E, Ghebremichael

Safety, Codes, and Standards | Hydrogen and Fuel Cells | NREL

Science.gov Websites

to develop and test hydrogen sensor technologies. In addition to partnering with organizations in the and Validation of Prototype Hydrogen Sensors, P.K. Sekhar, J. Zhou, M.B. Post, L. Woo, W.J. Buttner , M.B. Post, C. Rivkin, R. Burgess, and W.J. Buttner, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (March

The Flynn Effect and Its Critics: Rusty Linchpins and "Lookin' for g and Gf in Some of the Wrong Places"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrew, Kevin S.

2010-01-01

The consensus of most intelligence scholars is that the Flynn effect (FE) is real, IQ test batteries are now routinely restandardized on a regular basis. A cornerstone in Flynn's explanation of the FE is his analysis of select Wechsler subtest scores across time. The featured articles by Kaufman and Zhou, Zhu, and Weiss question whether Flynn's…

Using steady-state equations for transient flow calculation in natural gas pipelines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maddox, R.N.; Zhou, P.

1984-04-02

Maddox and Zhou have extended their technique for calculating the unsteady-state behavior of straight gas pipelines to complex pipeline systems and networks. After developing the steady-state flow rate and pressure profile for each pipe in the network, analysts can perform the transient-state analysis in the real-time step-wise manner described for this technique.

The epidemiological characteristics of measles and difficulties of measles elimination in Hang Zhou, China

PubMed Central

Liu, Shijun; Xu, Erping; Zhang, Xiaoping; Liu, Yan; Du, Jian; Wang, Jun; Che, Xinren; Gu, Wenwen

2013-01-01

Objective: Following the national proclaim of Measles Elimination 2012, plenty of activities for controlling the incidence had practiced in Hangzhou. However, the incidence did not decrease to low degree and remained perform as gap to the elimination target. The present study aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics of measles, and proposed reasonable method to the target in Hangzhou.  Method: Cases were collected by the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) from 2004 to 2011. The descriptive epidemiology was employed to analyze characteristics of measles.  Results: A total of 4712 confirmed cases were enrolled by the NNDSS with 7.87 per 100,000 people of incidence rate on average from 2004 to 2011. Individuals lived urban districts had higher risk of measles than counties. Infants aged <1 year observed the highest incidence rate with 239.35/100,000, and the age-specific incidence rate declined along with aged-group but reversed at adults. 52.20% of cases were floating cases and the measles vaccination was significantly different from the local cases (χ2=51.65,p <0.001). February to June was the epidemic period for measles incidence with 81.88% of cases reported in cluster.  Conclusion: The descriptive characteristics of measles suggested that factors included infant and adult individual, floating population, and living urban area might be relate to the elimination target. More efforts were need to ensure susceptible population had accepted qualified measles vaccination.  PMID:23732896

Jordan Macknick | NREL

Science.gov Websites

. Change 7, 793-798. Macknick, J., Zhou, E., O'Connell, M., Brinkman, G., Miara, A., Ibanez, E., Hummon, M . Arent, D, J. Logan, J. Macknick, W. Boyd, K. Medlock, F. O'Sullivan, J. Edmonds, L. Clarke, H unconventional natural gas development in the United States. MRS Energy & Sustainability. 2. Macknick, J

Extraordinary magnetoresistance in shunted chemical vapor deposition grown graphene devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-01

Lett. 10, 3962 (2010). 9Z. Jiang, Y. Zhang, Y.-W. Tan, H. L. Stormer , and P. Kim, Solid State Commun. 143 14 (2007). 10A. K. Geim and K. S. Novoselov...L. Stormer , U. Zeitler, J. C. Maan, G. S. Boebinger, P. Kim, and A. K. Geim, Science 9, 1379 (2007). 20F. Meier, L. Zhou, J. Wiebe, and R

50th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-15

McDowell (Gerogia Tech), Min Zhou () Virtual Characterization of composites with Lamination Defects for wind turbine spar cap MUKUNDAN SRINIVASAN...Zhang (IHCP Singapore) Damage Mechanisms in Irradiated Metallic Glasses Richard Baumer (MIT), Michael Demkowicz (MIT) Slip Avalanches in Amorphous...Michigan, 48090) Atomistic Simulations of c+a Pyramidal Slip in Magnesium Single Crystal under Compression Xiaozhi Tang (MIT & BJTU), Yafang Guo

Identification of Two New Protective Pre-erythrocytic Malaria Vaccine Antigen Candidates

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

Anthony R, Grainger M, Haynes J, Moch J, Muster N, Sacci J, Tabb D, Witney A, Wolters D, Wu Y, Gardner M, Holder A, Sinden R, Yates J, Carucci D: A...proteomic view of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle. Nature 2002, 419:520-526. 16. LeRoch D, Zhou Y, Blair P, Grainger M, Moch J, Haynes J, De La Vega P

Optical Assembly and Characterization System for Nano-Photonics Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

Unlimited Final Report: Optical Assembly and Characterization System for Nano -Photonics Research The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this...reviewed journals: Final Report: Optical Assembly and Characterization System for Nano -Photonics Research Report Title With this equipment funding support...Assembly and Characterization System for Nano -Photonics Research PI: Prof. Weidong Zhou, University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) 500 S. Cooper St

Parallel Computing in Protein Structure Topology Determination

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

model, B) dynamic model. A B 6. REFERENCES Baker, M. L., W. Jiang, et al. (2006). "Ab initio modeling of the herpesvirus VP26 core...skeletons of secondary structures." J Mol Biol 350(3): 571-86. Zhou, Z. H., M. Dougherty, et al. (2000). "Seeing the herpesvirus capsid at 8.5 Å." Science 288(5467): 877-880.

RNA Chimeras as a Gene Signature of Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

respectively, migrated as expected from their formula molecular weight (FMW), when a 10% divergence, i.e 36-44 kD or 23-29 kD, is considered as the wild...yang2, Hai-hong Shen3, Gung-wei Chirn4, Jian-hua Zhou5, Emily Weiss2, Emily Pauline Holman2, D. Joshua Liao2* 1 Guangxi Veterinary Research Institute

Dheepak Krishnamurthy | NREL

Science.gov Websites

. doi: 10.1109/TPWRS.2015.2399171 D. Krishnamurthy; C. Uckun; Z. Zhou; P. Thimmapuram; A. Botterud Systems, vol.PP, no.99, pp.1-1 doi: 10.1109/TPWRS.2017.2685347 A. Pratt, D. Krishnamurthy, M. Ruth, H. Wu : 10.1109/MELE.2016.2614188 D. Krishnamurthy, psst: An open-source power system simulation toolbox in Python

[Herbological studies on Chinese crude drug Ma-huang. Part 1-On the botanical origin of Ma-huang in ancient China and the origin of Japanese Ma-huang].

PubMed

Yoshizawa, Chieko; Kitade, Makiko; Mikage, Masayuki

2005-01-01

The botanical origin of a Chinese crude drug Ma-huang in ancient China and the origin of Japanese Ma-huang were herbologically studied. The results showed that the plants of Ephedra sinica Stapf, E. intermedia Schrenk & C. A. Meyer and E. equisetina Bunge were used as Ma-huang in China, and the first species was considered to be of high quality. The characters of Mao-zhou Ma-huang and Tong-zhou Ma-huang printed in Tu-jing-ben-cao, published in the Song Dynasty in China, were identified as E. likiangensis Florin and E. intermedia, respectively, and both species were recognized as excellent Ma-huang in the Ming Dynasty. The word origin of Katsune-kusa, the Japanese name for Ma-huang in the Heian Era, was etymologically considered as meaning the plant having reddish brown roots. In Japan, the plant of Equisetum ramosissimum Desf. var.japonicum Milde, of the family Equisetaceae, was substituted for Ma-huang in the middle of Edo Era, and it was designated that this action was based on the confusion of Ephedra plants and Equisetum plants those days in China.

[Late Ming treatises on Chinese and Islamic calendrical systems as seen in the Seki Teisyo].

PubMed

Kobayashi, Hiroyuki

2014-01-01

The Seki Teisyo (see text for symbol), a manuscript compiled by Seki Takakazu (see text for symbol)) in 1686, is known to consist of 15 treatises which Seki extracted from an early Qing astronomical and astrological corpus, the Tianwen Dacheng Guankui Jiyao (see text for symbol). Containing a detailed account of the Shoushi Li (see text for symbol) as well as a comparative study of Chinese and Islamic calendrical systems, these treatises have drawn the attention not only of Seki but of modern historians. In this paper, I show that 14 of the 15 treatises Seki selected had been composed by a late Ming scholar, Zhou Shuxue (see text for symbol), who discussed issues with Tang Shunzhi (see text for symbol). Their time predates the era in which the mathematical basis of the Shoushi Li was scrutinized and a new Chinese calendrical system was invented incorporating Western astronomical knowledge. I also mention some earlier works that Tang and Zhou could have consulted. Although Seki never knew the author of the treatises nor their background, his concern centered on themes that seem to have derived from one of those earlier works: the Liyuan(see text for symbol).

The Physical Nature of Polar Broad Absorption Line Quasars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghost, Kajal; Punsly, Brian

2007-01-01

It has been shown based on radio variability arguments that some BALQSOs (broad absorption line quasars) are viewed along the polar axis (o rthogonal to accretion disk) in the recent article of Zhou et a. Thes e arguments are based on the brightness temperature, T(sub b) exceedi ng 10(exp 12) K which leads to the well-known inverse Compton catastr ophe unless the radio jet is relativistic and is viewed along its axi s. In this letter, we expand the Zhou et al sample of polar BALQSOs u sing their techniques applied to SDSS DR5. In the process, we clarify a mistake in their calculation of brightness temperature. The expanded sample of high T(sub b) BALQSOS, has an inordinately large fraction of LoBALQSOs (low ionization BALQSOs). We consider this an important clue to understanding the nature of the polar BALQSOs. This is expec ted in the polar BALQSO analytical/numerical models of Punsly that pr edicted that LoBALQSOs occur when the line of sight is very close to the polar axis, where the outflow density is the highest.

Acquire an Bruker Dimension FastScan (trademark) Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) for Materials, Physical and Biological Science Research and Education

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-14

two super users, Drs. Biswajit Sannigrahi and Guangchang Zhou were trained by the Senior Engineer for Product Service, Dr. Teddy Huang from the... Engineering : The number of undergraduates funded by your agreement who graduated during this period and intend to work for the Department of Defense The...science, mathematics, engineering or technology fields: Student Metrics This section only applies to graduating undergraduates supported by this

Male description and intraspecific variations of Cyrtopsis t-sigillata (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae).

PubMed

Song, Qiong; Du, Bao-Jie; Shi, Fu-Ming

2015-07-16

The paper describes the male of Cyrtopsis t-sigillata Liu, Zhou & Bi, 2010 for the first time, and discusses individual variations in the species. It provides the photos of important morphological features, and offers a distribution map about the genus Cyrtopsis Bey-Bienko, 1962. The examined material is deposited in the Museum of Hebei University. Morphological images were acquired using Leica M205 A digital imaging system.

Ocean Variability Effects on Underwater Acoustic Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

2000. [2] B. Li, J. Huang, S. Zhou, K. Ball, M. Stojanovic, L. Freitag, and P. Willett. MIMO - OFDM for high rate underwater acoustic...alternative to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ( OFDM ) [2], we developed a multiband transceiver, where a wide frequency band is divided into...multiple separated sub-bands. These sub- bands are several kilohertz in width, much wider than OFDM sub-carriers used in underwater channels

Madness and disability in contemporary Chinese film.

PubMed

Knight, Deirdre Sabina

2006-01-01

This article draws on recent research in the medical humanities to analyze two contemporary Chinese films: Zhang Yuan's Sons (1996) and Zhou Xiaowen's The Common People (1998). By portraying psychic and physical anguish in ways that refuse to divorce biology from culture, such films offer rare moral dialogues on biomedical issues and contribute a cross-cultural perspective invaluable to the task of responding to illness and suffering.

The IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (10th) Held in Sydney, Australia on 14-17 December 2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-17

Approach to Modeling Personalized Contexts of Mobile Users Tengfei Bao, Happia Cao, Enhong Chen, Jilei Tian, and Hui Xiong q Fast and Flexible...Kutsuna q Detecting Blackhole and Volcano Patterns in Directed Networks Zhongmou Li, Hui Xiong , Yanchi Liu, and Aoying Zhou q Exploiting Local Data...Density-Based Network Clustering via Structure-Connected Tree Division or Agglomeration Heli Sun, Jianbin Huang, Jiawei Han, Hongbo Deng, Peixiang Zhao

Treatment of osteomyelitis defects by a vancomycin-loaded gelatin/β-tricalcium phosphate composite scaffold

PubMed Central

Zhou, J.; Zhou, X. G.; Wang, J. W.; Zhou, H.; Dong, J.

2018-01-01

Objective In the present study, we aimed to assess whether gelatin/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) composite porous scaffolds could be used as a local controlled release system for vancomycin. We also investigated the efficiency of the scaffolds in eliminating infections and repairing osteomyelitis defects in rabbits. Methods The gelatin scaffolds containing differing amounts of of β-TCP (0%, 10%, 30% and 50%) were prepared for controlled release of vancomycin and were labelled G-TCP0, G-TCP1, G-TCP3 and G-TCP5, respectively. The Kirby-Bauer method was used to examine the release profile. Chronic osteomyelitis models of rabbits were established. After thorough debridement, the osteomyelitis defects were implanted with the scaffolds. Radiographs and histological examinations were carried out to investigate the efficiency of eliminating infections and repairing bone defects. Results The prepared gelatin/β-TCP scaffolds exhibited a homogeneously interconnected 3D porous structure. The G-TCP0 scaffold exhibited the longest duration of vancomycin release with a release duration of eight weeks. With the increase of β-TCP contents, the release duration of the β-TCP-containing composite scaffolds was decreased. The complete release of vancomycin from the G-TCP5 scaffold was achieved within three weeks. In the treatment of osteomyelitis defects in rabbits, the G-TCP3 scaffold showed the most efficacious performance in eliminating infections and repairing bone defects. Conclusions The composite scaffolds could achieve local therapeutic drug levels over an extended duration. The G-TCP3 scaffold possessed the optimal porosity, interconnection and controlled release performance. Therefore, this scaffold could potentially be used in the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis defects. Cite this article: J. Zhou, X. G. Zhou, J. W. Wang, H. Zhou, J. Dong. Treatment of osteomyelitis defects by a vancomycin-loaded gelatin/β-tricalcium phosphate composite scaffold. Bone Joint Res

tRNA and Its Activation Targets as Biomarkers and Regulators of Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

linked tRNA misregulation to cancer. We have previously reported that tRNA levels are significantly elevated in breast cancer and multiple myeloma ...significantly elevated in breast cancer and multiple myeloma cells. To further investigate the cellular and physiological effects of tRNA overexpression, we...tRNA levels are elevated in breast cancer and multiple myeloma cell lines (Pavon-Eternod et al. 2009; Zhou et al. 2009). Though abnormal RNA polymerase

Role of Proinflammatory Cytokines in Thermal Activation of Lymphocyte Recruitment in Breast Tumor Microvessels

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-01

bacterial peritonitis (8), chicken pox (9), and rhinovirus infection (10). In contrast, some studies have shown harmful effects of fever in animal models...March 1 - 6, 2005, Taos, New Mexico . 5. Chen, Q., Passanese, J., Fisher, D., Kucinska, S., Clancy, K., Wang, W.-C., Appenheimer, M., Zhou, L., Repasky...Travel award to attend Keystone Symposium, Leukocyte Trafficking: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms, March 1 - 6, 2005, Taos, New Mexico . 2. Travel

Quantum Algorithms Based on Physical Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-03

quantum walks with hard-core bosons and the graph isomorphism problem,” American Physical Society March meeting, March 2011 Kenneth Rudinger, John...King Gamble, Mark Wellons, Mark Friesen, Dong Zhou, Eric Bach, Robert Joynt, and S.N. Coppersmith, “Quantum random walks of non-interacting bosons on...and noninteracting Bosons to distinguish nonisomorphic graphs. 1) We showed that quantum walks of two hard-core Bosons can distinguish all pairs of

Quantum Algorithms Based on Physical Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-02

quantum walks with hard-core bosons and the graph isomorphism problem,” American Physical Society March meeting, March 2011 Kenneth Rudinger, John...King Gamble, Mark Wellons, Mark Friesen, Dong Zhou, Eric Bach, Robert Joynt, and S.N. Coppersmith, “Quantum random walks of non-interacting bosons on...and noninteracting Bosons to distinguish nonisomorphic graphs. 1) We showed that quantum walks of two hard-core Bosons can distinguish all pairs of

Chemical Polymerization and Langmuir-Blodgett Techniques. 2. The Polymerization of Monolayers of 3-Substituted Pyrroles

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-12

the liquid -air interface could be monitored by changes in the surface area. Deposition of monolayers by Langmuir - Blodgett technique is possible and...polymerization product from the LB trough in chloroform solution. Figure 10 Langmuir - Blodgett transfer of poly (3-hexadecyl pyrrole) onto hydrophobized glass... Langmuir - Blodgett Techniques, 2: The Polymerization of Monolayers of 3-Substituted Pyrroles by W.M. Sigmund, C. Marestin, S. Keil, H. Zhou and R.S

Worldwide Report, Nuclear Development and Proliferation

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-09

Union’s Nuclear Disaster ? This reporter asked Vice Minister Zhou Ping: In your opinion, how should we view the Soviet Union’s recent nuclear accident...statement on Thurs- day announced that Bangladesh environment remained free from pullution follow- ing recent nuclear disaster at Chernobyl Nuclear...Chernobyl were based largely on nuclear disaster . American practice. However, a statement Mr Semark said de- issued yesterday by Es- tailed plans

A Single Crystalline Porphyrinic Titanium MetalOrganic Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-28

22, which was synthesized from preformed titanium -oxo carboxylate clusters and porphyrinic ligands. PCN-22 possesses high porosity and photocatalytic...DOI: 10.1039/c5sc00916b www.rsc.org/chemicalscience 3926 | Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 3926–3930e porphyrinic titanium metal– organic framework† Shuai Yuan...Scott J. Dalgarnoc and Hong-Cai Zhou*a We successfully assembled the photocatalytic titanium -oxo cluster and photosensitizing porphyrinic linker into a

International Congress on the History of Oceanography (5th) Held in La Jolla, California on July 7-14, 1993

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-26

Shang and Zhou Dynasties (21-11 centuries B.C.) fishing gear and marine fishing boats were created and fishing laws initiated. Considerable progress was...secure enactment of fishery reform laws . As the reconstruction effort went forward, the degree to which fisheries effort should be studied...Known as a sensitive reagent since the sixteenth century this test was not regarded as quantitative until Gay- Lussac in 1832 who also introduced a

The Infrastructure of Command Information Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-11-01

Coordinator: Jan Prins RAs: Ed Biagioni (ONR fellow, FYgo-91) Quan Zhou SOFTLAB (infrastructure) Coordinator: Staff: Susanna Schwab (director of...engineer 2 Research Assistants: John Alspaugh * Murray Anderegg mp* Ron Azuma * Mike Bajura mp* David Becker Andrew Bell mp Ed Biagioni ...Jan Prins *Ed Biagioni (ONR fellow, FY90-91), *fall 90 *Dan Poirier *John A. Smith 3 CLOCS (ONR Fellow) Coordinator: RA: Donald F. Stanat *Mark Davis

Places and Bases: The Chinese Navy’s Emerging Support Network in the Indian Ocean

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

year, public statements by Chinese academics and government of- ficials have indicated that there is a debate going on in China over the need to...establish some sort of overseas infrastructure to support deployed naval forces. Rear Admiral Yin Zhou (Retired), chairman of the Chinese Navy...excitement, although in reality he did not say anything that has not already been said by other Chinese government offi- cials and academics. Despite an

Targeting Transcription Elongation Machinery for Breast Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-01

Zhou CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94704 REPORT DATE: May 2016 TYPE OF REPORT: Annual Report...PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER AND ADDRESS(ES) University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA ...without affecting the Brd4 or PTEFb molecules. We have employed the CRISPR /Cas9 genome-editing tool to knock out the gene encoding the SEC component AFF4

Military Nutrition Research: Eight Tasks to Address Medical Factors Limiting Soldier Effectiveness

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-01

a procedure and staging area; b) a new transgenic laboratory with seven adjacent animal rooms; c) seven additional animal rooms for other breeding ...Effect of Dietary Amino Acids on Spatial Memory in Rats Sleep deprived by the Flower -Pot Technique - Bradley Youngblood, David Elkins, Gennady Smagin...1997. 132. Youngblood BD, Zhou J, Smagin GN, Ryan DH, Harris RBS. Sleep deprivation by the " flower pot" technique and spatial reference memory

Lysimachia tianmaensis (Primulaceae), a new species from Anhui, China.

PubMed

Wang, Ying; Ma, Wen; Zhou, Shoubiao; Liu, Kun

2018-01-01

A new species of Lysimachia (Primulaceae), Lysimachia tianmaensis K. Liu, S.B. Zhou & Ying Wang sp. nov. , is described and illustrated from Jinzhai County, Anhui, China. It is endemic to Dabieshan Mountain, China. The new species has yellow flowers and belongs to the subgenus Lysimachia section Nummularia series Grammicae . It is very easily distinguishable from other related species by having alternate leaves with brown patches beneath and an auriculated leaf base.

DAB2IP-Coordinated miRNA Biogenesis

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

been implicated to play a tumor suppressor role in nasal-type natural killer/T-cell lymphoma 11, hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal cancer...the EMT process in several cancer cell lines including PCa, hepatocellular carcinoma and renal cancer (Fig. 1). Most importantly, we elucidated a...blood-2011-07- 364224 (2011). 12 Zhou, P. et al. MicroRNA-363-mediated downregulation of S1PR1 suppresses the proliferation of hepatocellular

Effects of Enhanced Oxygen Delivery by Perfluorocarbons in Spinal Cord Injury

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

spinal cord ischemia. Acta Med Okayama 1997; 51:71–77. 10. Daugherty WP, Levasseur JE, Sun D, Spiess BD, Bullock MR: Perfluorocarbon emulsion improves...cerebral oxygenation and mitochondrial function after fluid percussion brain injury in rats. Neurosurgery 2004; 54:1223–1230. 11. Spiess B...2008; 2: 213-20. 13. Zhou Z, Sun D, Levasseur JE, Merenda A, Hamm RJ, Zhu J, Spiess BD, Bullock MR. Perfluorocarbon emulsions improve cognitive

Interaction of Synuclein and Inflammation in Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-01

synuclein in cell culture. Specific Aim II In vivo studies: we are now optimizing immunostaining for human -synuclein in order to distinguish...responsible for this response. Recent cell culture experiments seem to point us in the right direction for the answer as it has been shown that human BE-M17...synuclein. Furthermore, Zhou et al (2002) showed that, in primary cell cultures derived from the embryonic human mesencephalon overexpressing either

On the Global Regularity for the 3D Magnetohydrodynamics Equations Involving Partial Components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Chenyin

2018-03-01

In this paper, we study the regularity criteria of the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics system in terms of some components of the velocity field and the magnetic field. With a decomposition of the four nonlinear terms of the system, this result gives an improvement of some corresponding previous works (Yamazaki in J Math Fluid Mech 16: 551-570, 2014; Jia and Zhou in Nonlinear Anal Real World Appl 13: 410-418, 2012).

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Follow-up photometry and spectroscopy of KELT-17 (Zhou+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, G.; Rodriguez, J. E.; Collins, K. A.; Beatty, T.; Oberst, T.; Heintz, T. M.; Stassun, K. G.; Latham, D. W.; Kuhn, R. B.; Bieryla, A.; Lund, M. B.; Labadie-Bartz, J.; Siverd, R. J.; Stevens, D. J.; Gaudi, B. S.; Pepper, J.; Buchhave, L. A.; Eastman, J.; Colon, K.; Cargile, P.; James, D.; Gregorio, J.; Reed, P. A.; Jensen, E. L. N.; Cohen, D. H.; McLeod, K. K.; Tan, T. G.; Zambelli, R.; Bayliss, D.; Bento, J.; Esquerdo, G. A.; Berlind, P.; Calkins, M. L.; Blancato, K.; Manner, M.; Samulski, C.; Stockdale, C.; Nelson, P.; Stephens, D.; Curtis, I.; Kielkopf, J.; Fulton, B. J.; Depoy, D. L.; Marshall, J. L.; Pogge, R.; Gould, A.; Trueblood, M.; Trueblood, P.

2017-05-01

KELT-17, the first exoplanet host discovered through the combined observations of both the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT)-North and KELT-South, is located in KELT-South field 06 (KS06) and KELT-North field 14 (KN14), which are both centered on α=07h39m36s δ=+03°00'00'' (J2000). At the time of identification, the post-processed KELT data set included 2092 images from KN14, taken between UT 2011 October 11 and UT 2013 March 26 and 2636 images from KS06 taken between UT 2010 March 02 and 2013 May 10. The discovery light curves from both KELT-North and KELT-South are shown in Figure1. We obtained higher spatial resolution and precision photometric follow-up observations of KELT-17b in multiple filters. An I-band transit was observed on UT 2015 March 05 at the Canela's Robotic Observatory (CROW) with the 0.3m SCT12 telescope, remotely operated from Portalegre, Portugal. Observations were acquired with the ST10XME CCD camera, with a 30'*20' field of view and a 0.86'' pixel scale. A full multi-color (V and I) transit of KELT-17b was observed on UT 2015 March 12 at Kutztown University Observatory (KUO), located on the campus of Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. KUO's main instrument is the 0.6 m Ritchey-Chretien optical telescope with a focal ratio of f/8. The imaging CCD (KAF-6303E) camera has an array of 3K*2K (9μm) pixels and covers a field of view of 19.5'*13.0'. The Peter van de Kamp Observatory (PvdK) at Swarthmore College (near Philadelphia) houses a 0.62m Ritchey-Chretien reflector with a 4K*4K pixel Apogee CCD. The telescope and camera together have a 26'*26' field of view and a 0.61'' pixel scale. PvdK observed KELT-17b on UT 2015 March 12 in the SDSS z' filter. KELT-17b was observed in both g' and i' on UT 2015 March 12 at Wellesley College's Whitin Observatory in Massachusetts. The telescope is a 0.6m Boller and Chivens with a DFM focal reducer yielding an effective focal ratio of f/9.6. We used an Apogee U230 2K*2K camera with a 0.58''/pixel scale and a 20'*20' field of view. One full transit of KELT-17b was observed from the Westminster College Observatory (WCO), PA, on UT 2015 November 4 in the z' filter. The observations employed a 0.35m f/11 Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and SBIG STL-6303E CCD with a ~3K*2K array of 9μm pixels, yielding a 24'*16' field of view and 1.4''/pixel image scale at 3*3 pixel binning. The stellar FWHM was seeing-limited with a typical value of ~3.2''. Three full transits of KELT-17b were observed on UT 2016 February 26 (g' and i') and UT 2016 March 31 (r') using the Manner-Vanderbilt Ritchie-Chrtien (MVRC) telescope located at the Mt. Lemmon summit of Steward Observatory, AZ. The observations employed a 0.6m f/8 RC Optical Systems Ritchie-Chretien telescope and SBIG STX-16803 CCD with a 4K*4K array of 9μm pixels, yielding a 26'*26' field of view and 0.39''/pixel image scale. The telescope was heavily defocused for all three observations resulting in a typical stellar FWHM of ~17''. The Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope (PEST) observatory is a backyard observatory owned and operated by ThiamGuan (TG) Tan, located in Perth, Australia. It is equipped with a 0.3m Meade LX200 SCT f/10 telescope with focal reducer yielding f/5 and an SBIG ST-8XME CCD camera. The telescope and camera combine to have a 31'*21' field of view and a 1.2'' pixel scale. PEST observed KELT-17b on UT 2016 March 06 in the B band. A series of spectroscopic follow-up observations were performed to characterize the KELT-17 system. We performed low-resolution, high-signal-to-noise reconnaissance spectroscopic follow-up of KELT-17 using the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the Australian National University (ANU) 2.3m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia in 2015 February. In-depth spectroscopic characterization of KELT-17 was performed by the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph (TRES) on the 1.5m telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Mount Hopkins, Arizona, USA. TRES has a wavelength coverage of 3900-9100Å over 51 echelle orders, with a resolving power of λ/Δλ R=44000. A total of 12 out-of-transit observations were taken to characterize the radial velocity orbital variations exhibited by KELT-17. In addition, we also observed spectroscopic transits of KELT-17b with TRES on 2016 February 23 and 2016 February 26 UT, gathering 33 and 29 sets of spectra, respectively. (4 data files).

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Differential photometry of the EB* HATS551-027 (Zhou+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, G.; Bayliss, D.; Hartman, J. D.; Rabus, M.; Bakos, G. A.; Jordan, A.; Brahm, R.; Penev, K.; Csubry, Z.; Mancini, L.; Espinoza, N.; de Val-Borro, M.; Bhatti, W.; Ciceri, S.; Henning, T.; Schmidt, B.; Murphy, S. J.; Butler, R. P.; Arriagada, P.; Shectman, S.; Crane, J.; Thompson, I.; Suc, V.; Noyes, R. W.

2017-11-01

The eclipses of HATS551-027 were first identified by observations from the HATSouth survey (Bakos et al. 2013PASP..125..154B). HATSouth is a global network of identical, fully robotic telescopes, providing continuous monitoring of selected 128 deg2 fields of the southern sky. A total of 16622 observations of HATS551-027 were obtained from HATSouth units HS-1, HS-2 in Chile, HS-3, HS-4 in Namibia, and HS-6 in Australia from 2009 September to 2010 September. Two secondary eclipses of HATS551-027 were observed by the Merope camera on 2-m Faulkes Telescope South (FTS), at Siding Spring Observatory, on 2012 December 12 and 2013 March 20. A near-complete primary eclipse of HATS551-027 was observed by the SITe#3 camera on the Swope 1 m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, on 2013 February 26. (1 data file).

The Source Parameters of Echolocation Clicks from Captive and Free-Ranging Yangtze Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis).

PubMed

Fang, Liang; Wang, Ding; Li, Yongtao; Cheng, Zhaolong; Pine, Matthew K; Wang, Kexiong; Li, Songhai

2015-01-01

The clicks of Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) from 7 individuals in the tank of Baiji aquarium, 2 individuals in a netted pen at Shishou Tian-e-zhou Reserve and 4 free-ranging individuals at Tianxingzhou were recorded using a broadband digital recording system with four element hydrophones. The peak-to-peak apparent source level (ASL_pp) of clicks from individuals at the Baiji aquarium was 167 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 133 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 18 kHz and -10 dB duration of 58 μs. The ASL_pp of clicks from individuals at the Shishou Tian-e-zhou Reserve was 180 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 128 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 20 kHz and -10 dB duration of 39 μs. The ASL_pp of clicks from individuals at Tianxingzhou was 176 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 129 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 15 kHz and -10 dB duration of 48 μs. Differences between the source parameters of clicks among the three groups of finless porpoises suggest these animals adapt to their echolocation signals depending on their surroundings.

Trust Relationships, Naming, and Secure Communication In Large Distributed Computer Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

Hemek, Harry Rubin, Keshav Srinivasan, Mark Sullivan, Dinesh Verma and Songnian Zhou for their friend- ship and help. I cannot think of a more dynamic...parents, Nagarathnamma and Prasanna Kumar , who are models of perfection in every walk of life, whose teaching and training have brought me where I...the driving force through out my life. My brother, Sreerang Rajan, has been a source of wisdom, and, my little brother, Srihari Sampath Kumar , has

Polyaminoacid-Induced Growth of Metal Nanoparticles on Layer-by-Layer Templates

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-08-21

15,17 In another study, Zhou et al. used tyrosine residues of silk fibroin for growth of 45 nm core-shell colloidal gold- silk fibroin biocongugates at...fungus,28 or silk fiber-templated29 reduction of gold and silver nanostructures. However, despite the increas- ing interest in using organic substrates...not show any particles on the surface after the identical exposure (Figure 2c). (44) Senior, M.; Gorrell, S.; Hamori, E. Biopolymers 1971, 10, 2387

Civil-Military Change in China: Elites, Institutes, and Ideas After the 16th Party Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

Xiliang, Lang Longxi, Zhou Xupeng, Zhang Hong, Fang Junzhong, Fang Lufeng, Guo Weihu, Zhu Guangzheng, Zhao Heng, Quan Zhixue, Yu Hongtao , Hou Xiaoqin...Deng Hongtao , and Lei Ziyuan, "Vast Numbers of Officers and Men of All Armed Forces and Armed Police Corps Resolutely Support New CPC Central Committee...and Central Military Commission," Jiefangjun bao, November 17, 2002, p. 1. 14. Jiefangjun bao, November 20, 2002. 15. Qian Xiaohu, Xia Hongqing, Han

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Prevent Type 1 Diabetes in Murine Models

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

participating in anti-CD28- mediated tolerance in allo-kidney transplantation ( 15), and ame- lioration of symptoms in the inflammatory bowel disease ...Zhou,* George X. Wang,* Celia M. Divino/ Sofia Casares,§ Shu-Hsia Chen,*’, Wen-Chin Yang/’* and Ping-Ying Pan* Effective immunotherapy for type 1...cell-based tolerogenic therapy in the control of TID and other autoimmune diseases . The Journal of Immunology, 2010, 185: 5828-5834. T ype I

China Report, Red Flag, Number 2, 16 January 1985

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-06

the frustrations we experienced, look at the boom in the film industry and the new situation of unprecedented prosperity since the 3d Plenary...carrying out reforms, and continue to create a new situation in China’s socialist film industry !" At present, reforms are being positively... film industry with Chinese characteristics. This was Comrade Zhou Enlai’s ardent expectation for, faith in, and demand on film artists in his life. We

Sensitivity of Breast Cancer Stem Cells to TRA-8 Anti-DR5 Monoclonal Antibody

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

Janelia Farm , VA, travel award 2010 -­‐ Translational Medicine Symposium, HHMI Peer Cluster Meeting, travel award 2010 -­‐ AACR Annual Conference...lab. Science Education Alliance, Janelia Farm , VA, 2001 3. Londoño-Joshi AI, Forero-Torres A, Fineberg NS, Oliver PG, Zhou T, LoBuglio AF, Buchsbaum...rabbit mAb and cleaved caspase 3 rabbit mAb were purchased from Cell Signaling (Billerica, MA). Secondary antibodies, Alexa fluor 405 goat anti-rabbit

Coherent Structures and Chaos Control in High-Power Microwave and Charged-Particle Beam Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-31

34Equilibrium Theory of an Intense Elliptic Beam for High - Power Ribbon-Beam Klystron Applications," Proc. 2007 Part. Accel. Conf. p. 2316. Courant...34Equilibrium Theory of an Intense Elliptic Beam for High - Power Ribbon-Beam Klystron Applications," C. Chen and J. Zhou, Proc. 2007 Part. Accel. Conf. (2007...accelerator focusing systems. Over 600 high - power , high -efficiency klystrons , for example, may be needed to provide rf power for the acceleration

Probing Nanoparticle Reactivity at the Single-Molecule Level

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-15

nanorod hetero - nuclear particle (top) and a bime- tallic nanorod with two metal components (bottom). Both sys- tems have a metal-metal junction . Au...catalysts for co oxidation . J Am Chem Soc 133, 1978–1986 (2011). 32 F. Liu, J. Y. Lee & W. Zhou. Template preparation of multisegment ptni nanorods as...reactivity at nanoscale metal?metal junctions . (a) Papers published in peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) Enter List of papers submitted or

Polymerization of Conducting Polymers Confined to Free Surfaces: A comparison of the Langmuir-Blodgett Polymerization of 3-Alkyl Pyrroles and 2- Alkyl Anilines

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-19

Confined to Free Surfaces: A Comparison of the Langmuir-Blodgett Polymerization of 3- Alkyl Pyrroles and 2- Alkyl Anilines Submitted for Publication in...Surfaces: A Comparison of the Langmuir Blodgett Polymerizations of 3- alkyl pyrroles and 2- alkyl anilines R. S. Duran and H.C. Zhou Dept. of Chemistry...polymerization reactions in more detail and compare them. To do this, the polymerization reactions were run under two conditions. In the first case

m6A and eIF2α-ⓟ Team Up to Tackle ATF4 Translation during Stress.

PubMed

Powers, Emily Nicole; Brar, Gloria Ann

2018-02-15

While m 6 A modification of mRNAs is now known to be widespread, the cellular roles of this modification remain largely mysterious. In this issue of Molecular Cell, Zhou et al. (2018) show that m 6 A modification unexpectedly contributes to the established uORF- and eIF2α-ⓟ-dependent mechanism of ATF4 translational regulation in response to stress. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Active Structural Fibers for Multifunctional Composite Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-06

capacitors. Lastly, a cathodic electrolytic deposition process has been investigated for the coating of carbon fibers with a PZT shell. The...results have demonstrated the ability to use the process to coat fibers with a thin shell of PZT . The results thus far have demonstrated the feasibility...Journal of Composite Materials, In Review. 2. Zhou, Z., Lin, Y. and Sodano, H.A., Synthesis and Characterization of Textured BaTiO3 Thin Films

Cancer and Stroma-Targeted Immunotherapy with a Genetically Modified DC Vaccine

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

targeting the tumor stroma in addition to breast cancer cells may produce the desired increase in antitumor activity of DC vaccines for breast cancer...vaccination inhibits 4T1-neu progression. We investigated whether DC-shA20-FAP- HER2 may induce more potent anti- stroma and anti-tumor immunity with the...the immunosuppressive tumor microenviroment resulting in potent antitumor activity. Zhu W, Zhou X, Rollins L , Rooney CM, Gottschalk S, Song XT

Short-Sighted Probabilistic Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

2005). The 1st Probabilistic Track of the International Planning Competition. Journal of Artificial Intelli - gence Research, 24(1):851–887. [Zhou and...A short-sighted problem is a relaxed problem in which the state space of the original problem is pruned and artificial goals are added to...A short-sighted problem is a relaxed problem in which the state space of the original problem is pruned and artificial goals are added to heuris

Economic Impact of Above-Label Dosing with Etanercept, Adalimumab, or Ustekinumab in Patients with Psoriasis.

PubMed

Feldman, Steven R; Zhao, Yang; Zhou, Huanxue; Herrera, Vivian; Tian, Haijun; Li, Yunfeng

2017-05-01

above-label use were $19,458 for etanercept, $18,972 for adalimumab, and $21,045 for ustekinumab. Total additional annual costs were $5,623,362 for etanercept, $701,964 for adalimumab, and $1,304,790 for ustekinumab. Psoriasis patients treated with etanercept, adalimumab, or ustekinumab had extensive above-label use over the 12-month follow-up period, which subsequently led to higher costs. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation sponsored this study and the resultant publication. BioScience Communications provided medical writing and editorial support, which was also funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Feldman was engaged by Novartis Pharmaceuticals as a paid clinical expert and scientific advisor for this study. He has received research support and speaking and/or consulting fees from AbbVie, Advance Medical, Amgen, Anacor, Astellas, Baxter, Boehringer Ingelheim, Caremark, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Galderma, GSK/Stiefel, Informa, Janssen, LEO Pharma, Merck, Merz, Mylan, National Biological, National Psoriasis Foundation, Pfizer, Qurient, Suncare Research, UpToDate, and Valeant; is the founder and majority owner of www.DrScore.com ; and is founder and part owner of Causa Research. Zhao, Herrera, Tian, and Li are employees of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Zhou is a paid consultant for Novartis Pharmaceuticals and is an employee of KMK Consulting. Study concept and design were contributed by Feldman, Zhao, Herrera, and Li. Zhou and Li were responsible for data collection. Data were interpreted by Feldman and Zhao, with assistance from Zhou, Herrera, Tian, and Li. The manuscript was written primarily by Feldman and Zhao, with assistance from Zhou and Li. The manuscript was revised by Feldman and Zhao, assisted by Zhou, Herrera, Tian, and Li. Portions of this work were presented at the 34th Anniversary Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1-4, 2015.

Multisensor Analysis of Ice Crystals Backscatter Peak From 5 Years of Collocated POLDER, MODIS and CALIOP Observations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riedi, J.; Labonnote, L. C.; Contaut, F.; Platnick, S. E.; Yang, P.

2016-12-01

Realistic assumptions for representation of ice crystal optical properties are key in deriving meaningful information on ice clouds from spaceborne observations. With the increasing number of multi-sensor analysis it is also of paramount importance that ice crystal models be consistents for the interpretation of both passive and active observations in the solar and thermal infrared spectral domains. There has been significant evidences in the past few years that roughened particles might represent an overall good proxy for ice crystal models being able to simultaneously explain visible and infrared observations obtained from either active or passive sensors (Holz et al, 2016). Nevertheless, details of the exact phase function remain very informative fingerprints of ice crystal shapes and can also be critical parameters for retrievals performed under specific viewing geometries. Analysis of lidar observation for instance remains very sensitive to details of phase function in and around the backscatter direction. The relative magnitude and width of the backscatter peak intensity that appears in phase functions of ice crystal has been shown to carry useful information for characterization of ice crystal habits (Zhou & Yang, 2015). Based on these theoretical results we are revisiting here our previous analysis of coincident POLDER, MODIS and CALIOP observations whereby we were able to study the angular variability of ice clouds reflectance in and around the exact backscatter direction. Statistics from 5 years of observations of peak intensities derived from POLDER have been established in relation to coincident MODIS cloud optical thickness and effective radius retrievals as well as CALIOP layer integrated depolarization ratio and attenuated backscatter. Those are analyzed in view of the theoretical results from Zhou & Yang (2015). In particular, correlation of peak intensity and width with particle size retrieved from MODIS will be presented and implications for ice

Graph-cut Based Interactive Segmentation of 3D Materials-Science Images

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-26

which is available to authorized users. J . Waggoner · Y. Zhou · S. Wang (B) University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA e-mail: songwang@cec.sc.edu... J . Waggoner e-mail: waggonej@email.sc.edu J . Simmons Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Labs, Dayton, USA M. De Graef...sample slices 123 Author’s personal copy J . Waggoner et al. Fig. 1 Two adjacent slices of a titanium image volume [40]. Image intensity inverted for

Identification of a Gene on Chromosome 18q21 Involved in Suppressing Metastatic Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

manuscript: Padalecki SS, Weldon KS, Reveles XT, Buller CL, Grubbs B, Cui Y, Yin JJ, Hall DC, Hummer BT, Weissman BE, Dallas M , Guise TA, Leach RJ...B, Cui Y, Yin JJ, Hall DC, Hummer BT, Weissman BE, Dallas M , Guise TA, Leach RJ, Johnson-Pais TL 2003. Chromosome 18 suppresses prostate cancer...Postdoctoral Fellow Devon C. Hall – Graduate Student References Chen J, Sun M , Lee S, Zhou G, Rowley JD, Wang SM 2002. Identifying novel

N-Cadherin in Prostate Cancer: Downstream Pathways and their Translational Application for Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

2008). 22. Mason , M.J., Fan, G ., Plath, K., Zhou, Q. & Horvath , S. Signed weighted gene co-expression network analysis of transcriptional regulation... G , Gimond C. The dual-specificity MAP kinase phosphatases: critical roles in development and cancer. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol.299:C189-202. 9...Tanaka H. KE, Tran C. P., Miyazaki H., Yamashiro J., Shimomura T., Lada F., Wada R., Juang J., Vessella R. L., An J., Horvath S., Gleave M., Rettig M

Laser Journal (Selected Articles),

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-10

temperature CO2 branch selection laser with a lifetime already exceeding 6500 hours which may be even longer. HIGH POWER LONG LIFE HeCd LASER Qu Shipu...method of plating single crystal gold film in a vacuum with the foreign material extension method. First mica is used as the substrate. Then a special...Hospital) Chen Zhasping Zhou Yiping et al (Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat Hospital, Examination Department, Shanghai Medical School Number 1.) Qu Zhipu et al

Role of SRC-3delta4 in the Progression and Metastasis of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

tyrosine phosphorylation of SRC-3∆4, which was inhibited by the treatment with EGFR inhibitor AG1478. Mutation of Y1159 to phenylalanine (Y1159F...Y1159 to phenylalanine (Y1159F) greatly reduced SRC-3∆4/AR interaction that is stimulated by EGF. Figure 7 Overexpression of SRC-3∆4 promoted...adhesion turnover and matrix metalloproteinase expression. Cancer research 68, 5460-5468. 6. Chung, A.C., Zhou, S., Liao, L ., Tien, J.C., Greenberg

Modeling Concept Dependencies for Event Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-04

Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Jiang et al . [8] provide a summary of experiments for TRECVID MED 2010 . They employ low-level features such as SIFT and...event detection literature. Ballan et al . [2] present a method to introduce temporal information for video event detection with a BoW (bag-of-words...approach. Zhou et al . [24] study video event detection by encoding a video with a set of bag of SIFT feature vectors and describe the distribution with a

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Differential photometry of the F-subgiant HAT-P-67 (Zhou+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, G.; Bakos, G. A.; Hartman, J. D.; Latham, D. W.; Torres, G.; Bhatti, W.; Penev, K.; Buchhave, L.; Kovacs, G.; Bieryla, A.; Quinn, S.; Isaacson, H.; Fulton, B. J.; Falco, E.; Csubry, Z.; Everett, M.; Szklenar, T.; Esquerdo, G.; Berlind, P.; Calkins, M. L.; Beky, B.; Knox, R. P.; Hinz, P.; Horch, E. P.; Hirsch, L.; Howell, S. B.; Noyes, R. W.; Marcy, G.; de Val-Borro, M.; Lazar, J.; Papp, I.; Sari, P.

2018-04-01

The transits of HAT-P-67b were first detected with the HATNet survey (Bakos et al. 2004PASP..116..266B). HATNet employs a network of small, wide field telescopes, located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona and at the Mauna Kea Observatory (MKO) in Hawaii, to photometrically monitor selected 8x8° fields of the sky. A total of 4050 I band observations were taken by HAT-5 and HAT-8 from 2005 January to July, and an additional 4518 observations were obtained in the Cousins R band using HAT-5, HAT-7, and HAT-8 telescopes between 2008 February and August. To better characterize the planetary properties, follow-up photometry of the transits were obtained using the KeplerCam on the FWLO 1.2 m telescope. KeplerCam is a 4Kx4K CCD camera with a pixel scale of 0.672"/pixel at 2x2 pixel binning. The photometry was reduced as per Bakos et al. (2010, J/ApJ/710/1724). A full transit was observed in the Sloan-i band on 2012 May 28, and five partial transits were observed on 2011 April 15, May 19, June 07, and 2013 April 25 in the Sloan-i band, and 2013 May 24 in the Sloan-z band. (1 data file).

One new species of the genus Nigrimacula Shi, Bian & Zhou, 2016 (Orthoptera: Meconematinae) from Sichuan, China.

PubMed

Wang, Hai-Jian; Shi, Fu-Ming

2016-07-01

The paper describels one new species, i.e. Nigrimacula sichuanensis Wang & Shi, sp. nov. from Sichuan, China, and provides photographs of morphological characters. The type material is deposited in the Museum of Hebei University.

The Source Parameters of Echolocation Clicks from Captive and Free-Ranging Yangtze Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis)

PubMed Central

Fang, Liang; Wang, Ding; Li, Yongtao; Cheng, Zhaolong; Pine, Matthew K.; Wang, Kexiong; Li, Songhai

2015-01-01

The clicks of Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) from 7 individuals in the tank of Baiji aquarium, 2 individuals in a netted pen at Shishou Tian-e-zhou Reserve and 4 free-ranging individuals at Tianxingzhou were recorded using a broadband digital recording system with four element hydrophones. The peak-to-peak apparent source level (ASL_pp) of clicks from individuals at the Baiji aquarium was 167 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 133 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 18 kHz and -10 dB duration of 58 μs. The ASL_pp of clicks from individuals at the Shishou Tian-e-zhou Reserve was 180 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 128 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 20 kHz and -10 dB duration of 39 μs. The ASL_pp of clicks from individuals at Tianxingzhou was 176 dB re 1 μPa with mean center frequency of 129 kHz, -3dB bandwidth of 15 kHz and -10 dB duration of 48 μs. Differences between the source parameters of clicks among the three groups of finless porpoises suggest these animals adapt to their echolocation signals depending on their surroundings. PMID:26053758

Learning to Identify Local Flora with Human Feedback (Author’s Manuscript)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-23

UNEP- WCMC, 2002. 1 [4] J . Hays and A. A. Efros. IM2GPS: estimating geographic informa- tion from a single image. In CVPR, 2008. 1 [5] R. Jin, S. Wang...and Y. Zhou. Regularized distance metric learning: Theory and algorithm. In NIPS, 2009. 2 [6] N. Kumar, P. Belhumeur, A. Biswas, D. Jacobs, W. J . Kress...I. Lopez, and J . Soare. Leafsnap: A computer vision system for automatic plant species identification. In ECCV, 2012. 1 [7] A. Oliva and A. Torralba

Characterizing Treatable Causes of Small Fiber Polyneuropathy in Gulf War Veterans

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

autoimmune thyroid disease . Clin Rheumatol 33(7):885–891 31. Ørstavik K, Norheim I, Jorum E (2006) Pain and small-fiber neu- ropathy in patients with ...neuronopathy associated with celiac disease : skin biopsy findings. Arch Neurol 62:1574–1578 38. Chin RL, Latov N (2005) Peripheral neuropathy and celiac dis...patients with biopsy-verified celiac disease . JAMA Neurol 72(7):806–811 40. Tavee J, Zhou L (2009) Small fiber neuropathy: a burning problem. Cleve Clin

Multiscale Mathematics for Nano-Particle-Endowed Active Membranes and Films

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-03

Formation in Biofilms ,” Contemporary Mathematics (586), 2013, 105-116. 2. Yi Sun and Qi Wang, “Modeling and Simulations of Multicellular Aggregate Self...6402. 21. Hua Jiang, Hao Yang, Jun Zeng, Zhiyuan Zhou, Jin Peng, Qi Wang, Analytic Oncology, Electron J Metab Nutr Cancer ，Jun. 2015，Vol. 2， No. 2, 26...30. 22. Chen Chen, Dacheng Ren, Mingming Ren and Qi Wang, “3-D Spatial-Temporal Structures of Biofilms in A Water Channel,” Mathematical Methods

A Method to Measure the Amount of Battlefield Situation Information

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

log)( 20 atS  3.2 Measurement of trends information Kierkegaard once said “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” [8...Towards a theory of s 10 11 , “The Journals of Soren Kierkegaard ”, A selection and translated by Alexander chun, “Formal Description of Command...and 37(2), pp32-64, 1995. [8] Kierkegaard , Soren – Dru , Oxford: Oxford University Press (1938). pp465 [9] ZHOU Dao-an, ZHANG Dong-ge, CHANG Shu

New Acosmetura species (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) from China, with notes on their distribution.

PubMed

Bian, Xun; Shi, Fu-Ming

2015-11-12

One new species of Acosmetura (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) is described from China, namely Acosmetura listrica Bian & Shi, sp. nov. and distinctive characters are illustrated. In addition, a key to the known species with morphological photographs of Acosmetura longicercata Liu, Zhou & Bi, 2008 from Tianmushan, Zhejiang is provided in this paper. Based on the comprehensive physical geographical regionalization, Acosmetura listrica sp. nov. is distributed in Huinan and the middle and lower reaches of Changjiang River, which belongs to the Northern Subtropical Humid Climate Zone.

The Role of Retinal Determination Gene Network (RDGN) in Hormone Signaling Transduction and Prostate Tumorigenes

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

S, Zhang W, Zhou J, Wang J, Ertel A, Li Z, Rui H, Quong A, Lisanti MP, Tozeren A, Tanes C, Addya S, Gormley M, Wang C, McMahon SB, Pestell RG...MP, Wang C, Pestell RG. Acetylation of the cell-fate factor dachshund determines p53 binding and signaling modules in breast cancer. Oncotarget...MP, Quong A, Ertel A, Pestell RG. Cell fate factor DACH1 represses YB-1-mediated oncogenic transcription and translation. Cancer Res. 2014;74(3):829

Role of IKKalpha in the EGFR Signaling Regulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

Stem Cell Biology Epithelial– Mesenchymal Transition Induced by TNF-a Requires NF-kB–Mediated Transcriptional Upregulation of Twist1 Chia-Wei Li1, Weiya... mesenchymal markers in MCF10A-p65 cells with Twist1 siRNA. D, abrogation of p65- mediated cancer stem cell population by Twist1 suppression. E...Mani SA, Guo W, Liao MJ, Eaton EN, Ayyanan A, Zhou AY, et al. The epithelial- mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells . Cell

The Coagulopathy of Trauma: A Review of Mechanisms

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

literature. Although fat embolism syndrome has been associated with a pure DIC-type picture,37 this is rare in the early stages after injury. It appears...Trauma. 1971;18:115–120. 37. Mellor A, Soni N. Fat embolism . Anaesthesia. 2001;56:145–154. 38. Hauser CJ, Zhou X, Joshi P, et al. The immune...Long-bone fractures have also been associated with the de- velopment of a coagulopathy,36 although there is little to support this in the recent

Unraveling the Nature of Chemical Reactivity of Complex Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-13

28 J. Zhou, J. J. Lin, W. Shiu, and K. Liu, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 4997 2003. 29 S. C. Althorpe, F. Fernandez - Alonso , B. D. Bean, J. D. Ayers, A. E...Truhlar DG, Espinosa- Garcia J (2000) Potential energy surface, thermal, and state-selected rate coefficients, and kinetic isotope effects for Cl CH43...HCl CH3. J Chem Phys 112:9375–9389. 22. Rangel C, Navarrete M, Corchado JC, Espinosa- Garcia J (2006) Potential energy surface, kinetics, and

Energy Spectra of Strongly Stratified and Rotating Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahalov, Alex; Nicolaenko, Basil; Zhou, Ye

1998-01-01

Turbulence under strong stratification and rotation is usually characterized as quasi-two dimensional turbulence. We develop a "quasi-two dimensional" energy spectrum which changes smoothly between the Kolmogorov -5/3 law (no stratification), the -2 scalings of Zhou for the case of strong rotation, as well as the -2 scalings for the case of strong rotation and stratification. For strongly stratified turbulence, the model may give the -2 scaling predicted by Herring; and the -5/3 scaling indicated by some mesoscale observations.

Targeting Transcription Elongation Machinery for Breast Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-01

activation of EMT genes in breast cancer cells. 6-30 H. Lu (Zhou) 80% Subtask 2: Determine the molecular basis underlying high sensitivity of EMT and...interaction with the molecular chaperone heat shock protein HSP90 upon the KD. Fig. 1. Knockdown (KD) of HEXIM1 in T47D cells enhances breast cancer EMT...that the observed increase in EMT in ELL2-overexpressing cells was due to the elevated P-TEFb activity. Subtask 2: Determine the molecular basis

Publisher Correction: Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity.

PubMed

Turcot, Valérie; Lu, Yingchang; Highland, Heather M; Schurmann, Claudia; Justice, Anne E; Fine, Rebecca S; Bradfield, Jonathan P; Esko, Tõnu; Giri, Ayush; Graff, Mariaelisa; Guo, Xiuqing; Hendricks, Audrey E; Karaderi, Tugce; Lempradl, Adelheid; Locke, Adam E; Mahajan, Anubha; Marouli, Eirini; Sivapalaratnam, Suthesh; Young, Kristin L; Alfred, Tamuno; Feitosa, Mary F; Masca, Nicholas G D; Manning, Alisa K; Medina-Gomez, Carolina; Mudgal, Poorva; Ng, Maggie C Y; Reiner, Alex P; Vedantam, Sailaja; Willems, Sara M; Winkler, Thomas W; Abecasis, Gonçalo; Aben, Katja K; Alam, Dewan S; Alharthi, Sameer E; Allison, Matthew; Amouyel, Philippe; Asselbergs, Folkert W; Auer, Paul L; Balkau, Beverley; Bang, Lia E; Barroso, Inês; Bastarache, Lisa; Benn, Marianne; Bergmann, Sven; Bielak, Lawrence F; Blüher, Matthias; Boehnke, Michael; Boeing, Heiner; Boerwinkle, Eric; Böger, Carsten A; Bork-Jensen, Jette; Bots, Michiel L; Bottinger, Erwin P; Bowden, Donald W; Brandslund, Ivan; Breen, Gerome; Brilliant, Murray H; Broer, Linda; Brumat, Marco; Burt, Amber A; Butterworth, Adam S; Campbell, Peter T; Cappellani, Stefania; Carey, David J; Catamo, Eulalia; Caulfield, Mark J; Chambers, John C; Chasman, Daniel I; Chen, Yii-Der I; Chowdhury, Rajiv; Christensen, Cramer; Chu, Audrey Y; Cocca, Massimiliano; Collins, Francis S; Cook, James P; Corley, Janie; Corominas Galbany, Jordi; Cox, Amanda J; Crosslin, David S; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; D'Eustacchio, Angela; Danesh, John; Davies, Gail; Bakker, Paul I W; Groot, Mark C H; Mutsert, Renée; Deary, Ian J; Dedoussis, George; Demerath, Ellen W; Heijer, Martin; Hollander, Anneke I; Ruijter, Hester M; Dennis, Joe G; Denny, Josh C; Di Angelantonio, Emanuele; Drenos, Fotios; Du, Mengmeng; Dubé, Marie-Pierre; Dunning, Alison M; Easton, Douglas F; Edwards, Todd L; Ellinghaus, David; Ellinor, Patrick T; Elliott, Paul; Evangelou, Evangelos; Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni; Farooqi, I Sadaf; Faul, Jessica D; Fauser, Sascha; Feng, Shuang; Ferrannini, Ele; Ferrieres, Jean; Florez, Jose C; Ford, Ian; Fornage, Myriam; Franco, Oscar H; Franke, Andre; Franks, Paul W; Friedrich, Nele; Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth; Galesloot, Tessel E; Gan, Wei; Gandin, Ilaria; Gasparini, Paolo; Gibson, Jane; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Gjesing, Anette P; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; Gorski, Mathias; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Grant, Struan F A; Grarup, Niels; Griffiths, Helen L; Grove, Megan L; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Gustafsson, Stefan; Haessler, Jeff; Hakonarson, Hakon; Hammerschlag, Anke R; Hansen, Torben; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Harris, Tamara B; Hattersley, Andrew T; Have, Christian T; Hayward, Caroline; He, Liang; Heard-Costa, Nancy L; Heath, Andrew C; Heid, Iris M; Helgeland, Øyvind; Hernesniemi, Jussi; Hewitt, Alex W; Holmen, Oddgeir L; Hovingh, G Kees; Howson, Joanna M M; Hu, Yao; Huang, Paul L; Huffman, Jennifer E; Ikram, M Arfan; Ingelsson, Erik; Jackson, Anne U; Jansson, Jan-Håkan; Jarvik, Gail P; Jensen, Gorm B; Jia, Yucheng; Johansson, Stefan; Jørgensen, Marit E; Jørgensen, Torben; Jukema, J Wouter; Kahali, Bratati; Kahn, René S; Kähönen, Mika; Kamstrup, Pia R; Kanoni, Stavroula; Kaprio, Jaakko; Karaleftheri, Maria; Kardia, Sharon L R; Karpe, Fredrik; Kathiresan, Sekar; Kee, Frank; Kiemeney, Lambertus A; Kim, Eric; Kitajima, Hidetoshi; Komulainen, Pirjo; Kooner, Jaspal S; Kooperberg, Charles; Korhonen, Tellervo; Kovacs, Peter; Kuivaniemi, Helena; Kutalik, Zoltán; Kuulasmaa, Kari; Kuusisto, Johanna; Laakso, Markku; Lakka, Timo A; Lamparter, David; Lange, Ethan M; Lange, Leslie A; Langenberg, Claudia; Larson, Eric B; Lee, Nanette R; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lewis, Cora E; Li, Huaixing; Li, Jin; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lin, Honghuang; Lin, Keng-Hung; Lin, Li-An; Lin, Xu; Lind, Lars; Lindström, Jaana; Linneberg, Allan; Liu, Ching-Ti; Liu, Dajiang J; Liu, Yongmei; Lo, Ken S; Lophatananon, Artitaya; Lotery, Andrew J; Loukola, Anu; Luan, Jian'an; Lubitz, Steven A; Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka; Männistö, Satu; Marenne, Gaëlle; Mazul, Angela L; McCarthy, Mark I; McKean-Cowdin, Roberta; Medland, Sarah E; Meidtner, Karina; Milani, Lili; Mistry, Vanisha; Mitchell, Paul; Mohlke, Karen L; Moilanen, Leena; Moitry, Marie; Montgomery, Grant W; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O; Moore, Carmel; Mori, Trevor A; Morris, Andrew D; Morris, Andrew P; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Munroe, Patricia B; Nalls, Mike A; Narisu, Narisu; Nelson, Christopher P; Neville, Matt; Nielsen, Sune F; Nikus, Kjell; Njølstad, Pål R; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Nyholt, Dale R; O'Connel, Jeffrey R; O'Donoghue, Michelle L; Olde Loohuis, Loes M; Ophoff, Roel A; Owen, Katharine R; Packard, Chris J; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Palmer, Colin N A; Palmer, Nicholette D; Pasterkamp, Gerard; Patel, Aniruddh P; Pattie, Alison; Pedersen, Oluf; Peissig, Peggy L; Peloso, Gina M; Pennell, Craig E; Perola, Markus; Perry, James A; Perry, John R B; Pers, Tune H; Person, Thomas N; Peters, Annette; Petersen, Eva R B; Peyser, Patricia A; Pirie, Ailith; Polasek, Ozren; Polderman, Tinca J; Puolijoki, Hannu; Raitakari, Olli T; Rasheed, Asif; Rauramaa, Rainer; Reilly, Dermot F; Renström, Frida; Rheinberger, Myriam; Ridker, Paul M; Rioux, John D; Rivas, Manuel A; Roberts, David J; Robertson, Neil R; Robino, Antonietta; Rolandsson, Olov; Rudan, Igor; Ruth, Katherine S; Saleheen, Danish; Salomaa, Veikko; Samani, Nilesh J; Sapkota, Yadav; Sattar, Naveed; Schoen, Robert E; Schreiner, Pamela J; Schulze, Matthias B; Scott, Robert A; Segura-Lepe, Marcelo P; Shah, Svati H; Sheu, Wayne H-H; Sim, Xueling; Slater, Andrew J; Small, Kerrin S; Smith, Albert V; Southam, Lorraine; Spector, Timothy D; Speliotes, Elizabeth K; Starr, John M; Stefansson, Kari; Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur; Stirrups, Kathleen E; Strauch, Konstantin; Stringham, Heather M; Stumvoll, Michael; Sun, Liang; Surendran, Praveen; Swift, Amy J; Tada, Hayato; Tansey, Katherine E; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Taylor, Kent D; Teumer, Alexander; Thompson, Deborah J; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thuesen, Betina H; Tönjes, Anke; Tromp, Gerard; Trompet, Stella; Tsafantakis, Emmanouil; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne; Tyrer, Jonathan P; Uher, Rudolf; Uitterlinden, André G; Uusitupa, Matti; Laan, Sander W; Duijn, Cornelia M; Leeuwen, Nienke; van Setten, Jessica; Vanhala, Mauno; Varbo, Anette; Varga, Tibor V; Varma, Rohit; Velez Edwards, Digna R; Vermeulen, Sita H; Veronesi, Giovanni; Vestergaard, Henrik; Vitart, Veronique; Vogt, Thomas F; Völker, Uwe; Vuckovic, Dragana; Wagenknecht, Lynne E; Walker, Mark; Wallentin, Lars; Wang, Feijie; Wang, Carol A; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Yiqin; Ware, Erin B; Wareham, Nicholas J; Warren, Helen R; Waterworth, Dawn M; Wessel, Jennifer; White, Harvey D; Willer, Cristen J; Wilson, James G; Witte, Daniel R; Wood, Andrew R; Wu, Ying; Yaghootkar, Hanieh; Yao, Jie; Yao, Pang; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M; Young, Robin; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhang, Weihua; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Wei; Zhou, Wei; Zondervan, Krina T; Rotter, Jerome I; Pospisilik, John A; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Borecki, Ingrid B; Deloukas, Panos; Frayling, Timothy M; Lettre, Guillaume; North, Kari E; Lindgren, Cecilia M; Hirschhorn, Joel N; Loos, Ruth J F

2018-05-01

In the version of this article originally published, one of the two authors with the name Wei Zhao was omitted from the author list and the affiliations for both authors were assigned to the single Wei Zhao in the author list. In addition, the ORCID for Wei Zhao (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA) was incorrectly assigned to author Wei Zhou. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

New data on brachypterous Paederus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) of mainland China.

PubMed

Li, Qi-Li; Li, Li-Zhen; Gu, Fuang-Kang; Peng, Zhong

2016-11-07

Material of the brachypterous Paederus of the Chinese provinces Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi was examined. In total, twelve species are recognized, among which two are described here as new: P. daicongchaoi sp. n. (Anhui: Yaolouping) and P. nanlingensis sp. n. (Guangdong: Nanling). One species probably undescribed remains unnamed and one synonymy is proposed: Paederus (Gnathopaederus) bursavacua Willers, 2001 = Paederus (Gnathopaederus) daozhenensis Li & Zhou, 2009, nov. syn. A key to the brachypterous Paederus species of mainland China is provided.

Photoluminescence and Lasing from Deoxyribonucleic Acid Thin Films Doped With Sulforhodamine

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-20

sulforhodamine Z. Yu, W. Li, J. A. Hagen, Y. Zhou, D. Klotzkin, J. G. Grote, and A. J. Steckl Thin solid films of salmon DNA have been fabricated by...study is de- rived from salmon sperm14 and was provided by the Chitose Institute of Science and Technology (CIST) in Japan. After purification and...films. These conditions produced DNA–CTMA films of 80 nm and PMMA films of 140 nm. The films were baked in a vacuum oven at 30 mbars and 80 °C for 60

Theoretical and numerical study of axisymmetric lattice Boltzmann models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Haibo; Lu, Xi-Yun

2009-07-01

The forcing term in the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) is usually used to mimic Navier-Stokes equations with a body force. To derive axisymmetric model, forcing terms are incorporated into the two-dimensional (2D) LBE to mimic the additional axisymmetric contributions in 2D Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates. Many axisymmetric lattice Boltzmann D2Q9 models were obtained through the Chapman-Enskog expansion to recover the 2D Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates [I. Halliday , Phys. Rev. E 64, 011208 (2001); K. N. Premnath and J. Abraham, Phys. Rev. E 71, 056706 (2005); T. S. Lee, H. Huang, and C. Shu, Int. J. Mod. Phys. C 17, 645 (2006); T. Reis and T. N. Phillips, Phys. Rev. E 75, 056703 (2007); J. G. Zhou, Phys. Rev. E 78, 036701 (2008)]. The theoretical differences between them are discussed in detail. Numerical studies were also carried out by simulating two different flows to make a comparison on these models’ accuracy and τ sensitivity. It is found all these models are able to obtain accurate results and have the second-order spatial accuracy. However, the model C [J. G. Zhou, Phys. Rev. E 78, 036701 (2008)] is the most stable one in terms of τ sensitivity. It is also found that if density of fluid is defined in its usual way and not directly relevant to source terms, the lattice Boltzmann model seems more stable.

Just Say No to Carbon Emissions (LBNL Science at the Theater)

ScienceCinema

Ramesh, Ramamoorthy; Zhou, Nan; Oldenburg, Curt

2018-06-15

Learn about three efforts our grandchildren may thank us for: cheap solar energy, bringing energy efficiency to China, and learning how to store carbon deep underground. Can solar energy be dirt cheap? We're all potentially billionaires when it comes to solar energy. The trick is learning how to convert sunlight to electricity using cheap and plentiful materials. Ramamoorthy Ramesh, an innovative materials scientist at Berkeley Lab, will discuss how he and other researchers are working to make photovoltaic cells using the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust -- materials that are literally as common as dirt. Energy efficiency in China: Nan Zhou is a researcher with Berkeley Labs China Energy Group. She will speak about Chinas energy use and the policies that have been implemented to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emission growth. Her work focuses on building China's capacity to evaluate, adopt and implement low-carbon development strategies. Zhou has an architecture degree from China, and a Master and Ph.D. in Engineering from Japan. Understanding geologic carbon sequestration: Even with continued growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, fossil fuels will likely remain cheap and plentiful for decades to come. Geologist Curt Oldenburg, who heads Berkeley Lab's Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program, will discuss a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from coal and natural gas. It involves pumping compressed CO2 captured from large stationary sources into underground rock formations that can store it for geological time scales.

Scale disparity and spectral transfer in anisotropic numerical turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhou, YE; Yeung, P. K.; Brasseur, James G.

1994-01-01

To study the effect of cancellations within long-range interactions on local isotropy at the small scales, we calculate explicitly the degree of cancellation in distant interactions in the simulations of Yeung & Brasseur and Yeung, Brasseur & Wang using the single scale disparity parameter 's' developed by Zhou. In the simulations, initially isotropic simulated turbulence was subjected to coherent anisotropic forcing at the large scales and the smallest scales were found to become anisotropic as a consequence of direct large-small scale couplings. We find that the marginally distant interactions in the simulation do not cancel out under summation and that the development of small-scale anisotropy is indeed a direct consequence of the distant triadic group, as argued by Yeung, et. al. A reduction of anisotropy at later times occurs as a result of the isotropizing influences of more local energy-cascading triadic interactions. Nevertheless, the local-to-nonlocal triadic group persists as an isotropizing influence at later times. We find that, whereas long-range interactions, in general, contribute little to net energy transfer into or out of a high wavenumber shell k, the anisotropic transfer of component energy within the shell increases with increasing scale separations. These results are consistent with results by Zhou, and Brasseur & Wei, and suggest that the anisotropizing influences of long range interactions should persist to higher Reynolds numbers. The residual effect of the forced distant group in this low-Reynolds number simulation is found to be forward cascading, on average.

Sediment Enzyme Activities and Microbial Community Diversity in an Oligotrophic Drinking Water Reservoir, Eastern China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Haihan; Huang, Tinglin; Liu, Tingting

2013-01-01

Drinking water reservoir plays a vital role in the security of urban water supply, yet little is known about microbial community diversity harbored in the sediment of this oligotrophic freshwater environmental ecosystem. In the present study, integrating community level physiological profiles (CLPPs), nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone sequence technologies, we examined the sediment urease and protease activities, bacterial community functional diversity, genetic diversity of bacterial and fungal communities in sediments from six sampling sites of Zhou cun drinking water reservoir, eastern China. The results showed that sediment urease activity was markedly distinct along the sites, ranged from 2.48 to 11.81 mg NH3-N/(g·24h). The highest average well color development (AWCD) was found in site C, indicating the highest metabolic activity of heterotrophic bacterial community. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed tremendous differences in the functional (metabolic) diversity patterns of the sediment bacterial communities from different sites. Meanwhile, DGGE fingerprints also indicated spatial changes of genetic diversity of sediment bacterial and fungal communities. The sequence BLAST analysis of all the sediment samples found that Comamonas sp. was the dominant bacterial species harbored in site A. Alternaria alternate, Allomyces macrogynus and Rhizophydium sp. were most commonly detected fungal species in sediments of the Zhou cun drinking water reservoir. The results from this work provide new insights about the heterogeneity of sediment microbial community metabolic activity and genetic diversity in the oligotrophic drinking water reservoir. PMID:24205265

High Frequency Magneto Dielectric Effects In Self Assembled Ferrite Ferroelectric Core Shell Nanoparticles

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-10

2008). 2 Y. Yang, S. Priya, J. Li , and D. Viehland, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 92, 1552 (2009). 3 J. Ma, J. Hu, Z. Li , and C. W. Nan, Adv. Mater. 23, 1062...2013) 9 Yongke Yan, Yuan Zhou, and Shashank Priya, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 032911 (2014) 10 Gaojian Wu, Tianxiang Nan, Ru Zhang, Ning Zhang, Shandong Li ...Kim, L. T. Schelhas, S. Keller, J. L. Hockel, S. H. Tolbert, and G. P. Carman, Nano Lett. 13, 884 (2013). 13 S. Zhang, Y. G. Zhao, P. S. Li , J. J

Synthesis of Si Nanowires for an Anode Material of Li Batteries

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-04

Zhou, H. Li, H.P. Sun , D.P. Yu, Y.Q. Wang, X.J. Huang, L.Q. Chen, Z. Zhang, Appl. Phys. Lett. 75 (16) (1999) 2447 6. A.M. Wilson, B.M. Way, J.R. Dahn...Y. Liu, Electrochem. Commun. 5 (2003) 165 12. Tatsuo Umeno, Kenji Fukuda, Hongyu Wang, Nikolay Dimov, Takashi Iwao, Masaki Yoshio, Chem. Lett...Hansu Kim, Junghee Choi, Hun-Joon Sohn and Tak Kang, J. Electrochem. Soc. 146 (12) (1999) 4401 18. G.X. Wang, L. Sun , D.H. Bradhurst, S. Zhong, S.X. Dou

Multi-Functional pi-Conjugated Macromolecules Based on Poly(Phenylene Vinylene)

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-14

methacrylate-co-4-vinylpyridine)" (in press). 43. J . Polym. Sci., (with R. Vukovic , G. Bogdanic, V. Kuresevic, M. Tomaskovic and W.J. MacKnight) "Phase...Sokolik I Dr. Zhou Yang Dr. Iwao Teraoka IV. JUNIOR RESEARCH PERSONNEL: J . Neill B. Ma. S.L I U i I I i 5 VI. ABSTRACT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS This report is...chains. I I U I * 14 I VIII. PUBLICATIONS IN PERIOD WITH AFOSR SUPPORT 1. J . Chem. Phys. 98, 712-716 (1993) (with G. Mao, J.E. Fischer and M.J. Winokur

Pondering the Pulvinar.

PubMed

Lakatos, Peter; O'Connell, Monica N; Barczak, Annamaria

2016-01-06

While the function of the pulvinar remains one of the least explored among the thalamic nuclei despite occupying the most thalamic volume in primates, it has long been suspected to play a crucial role in attentive stimulus processing. In this issue of Neuron, Zhou et al. (2016) use simultaneous pulvinar-visual cortex recordings and pulvinar inactivation to provide evidence that the pulvinar is essential for intact stimulus processing, maintenance of neuronal oscillatory dynamics, and mediating the effects of attention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

N-Cadherin in Prostate Cancer: Downstream Pathways and Their Translational Application for Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

with properties of stem cells. Cell 133, 704–715 (2008). 22. Mason , M.J., Fan, G ., Plath, K., Zhou, Q. & Horvath , S. Signed weighted gene co...An J, Horvath S, Gleave M, Rettig MB, Wainberg ZA, Reiter RE. Monoclonal antibody targeting of N-cadherin inhibits prostate cancer growth, metastasis...N at u re A m er ic a, In c. A ll ri g h ts r es er ve d . A r t i c l e s nAture medicine VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 12 | DECEMBER 2010 1415 of in

Acoustics of old Asian bells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossing, Thomas D.

2004-05-01

The art of casting bronze bells developed to a high level of sophistication in China during the Shang dynasty (1766-1123 BC). Many chimes of two-tone bells remain from the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties (1122-249 BC). With the spread of Buddhism from the third century, large round temple bells developed in China and later in Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries. Vibrational modes of some of these bells have been studied by means of holographic interferometry and experimental modal testing. Their musical as well as acoustical properties are discussed.

A Proteomic Approach to Identify Phosphorylation-Dependent Targets of BRCT Domains

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Zhou Songyang, Ph.D. 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER E -Mail: songyang@bcm.tmc.edu 5f...L pSQEY BARD1 SG K H M I pSEDE? ECT2 TG K E R W ? PTIP (560-757) TG K P L L pSQVF pSQEY? TOPBP1...22-207) TS K L L F ? TOPBP1 (1177- 1401) SS K E L A ? XRCC1 SG K E S Y ? BRCTD1 TG K K

Just Say No to Carbon Emissions (LBNL Science at the Theater)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramesh, Ramamoorthy; Zhou, Nan; Oldenburg, Curt

2010-04-26

Learn about three efforts our grandchildren may thank us for: cheap solar energy, bringing energy efficiency to China, and learning how to store carbon deep underground. Can solar energy be dirt cheap? We're all potentially billionaires when it comes to solar energy. The trick is learning how to convert sunlight to electricity using cheap and plentiful materials. Ramamoorthy Ramesh, an innovative materials scientist at Berkeley Lab, will discuss how he and other researchers are working to make photovoltaic cells using the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust -- materials that are literally as common as dirt. Energy efficiency inmore » China: Nan Zhou is a researcher with Berkeley Labs China Energy Group. She will speak about Chinas energy use and the policies that have been implemented to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emission growth. Her work focuses on building China's capacity to evaluate, adopt and implement low-carbon development strategies. Zhou has an architecture degree from China, and a Master and Ph.D. in Engineering from Japan. Understanding geologic carbon sequestration: Even with continued growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, fossil fuels will likely remain cheap and plentiful for decades to come. Geologist Curt Oldenburg, who heads Berkeley Lab's Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program, will discuss a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from coal and natural gas. It involves pumping compressed CO2 captured from large stationary sources into underground rock formations that can store it for geological time scales.« less

Hematologic and biochemical differences between two free ranging Yangtze finless porpoise populations: The implications of habitat

PubMed Central

Hao, Yujiang; Zeng, Xianyuan; Jinsong, Zheng; McLaughlin, Richard W.; Wang, Ding

2017-01-01

The goals of this study were to compare the serum chemistry and hematology values of wild and semi-natural free-ranging Yangtze Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis ssp. asiaeorientalis) populations and to ascertain how these values change with the different environmental condition. For this study, samples were collected from 81 YFPs, 35 living in the wild and 46 living in a semi-natural reserve. Each population was divided into 8 life history categories; Male Calf, Female Calf, Juvenile Male, Juvenile Female, Adult Male, Pregnant, Lactating and Pregnant plus Lactating. Statistically significant differences in the various parameters were observed in the same life history categories for both populations. Generally, Lipid Profile, Hepatic Enzymes, Creatine Kinase, Red Blood Cells, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and Neutrophils were significantly higher in the Tian-E-Zhou Oxbow population while, Creatinine, Phosphate, Lactate Dehydrogenase, Bilirubin and Lymphocytes were significantly higher in the Poyang Lake YFPs. Across the groups in the Tian-E-Zhou Oxbow population, a significant decrease in serum Albumin, Alkaline Phosphatase and Calcium, while a significant increase in the Neutrophils and Platelets was observed. Similarly, in the Poyang Lake, Alkaline Phosphatase levels in the Female Calves group, High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Lactating group, basophil counts in Pregnant plus Lactating group, lymphocytes counts in Juvenile Females group and Globulin and Total Protein levels in Pregnant group were significantly higher. This study in health assessments can help us to understand the effect of sex, age, reproductive status and environmental conditions on the well-being of Yangtze Finless Porpoises. PMID:29190288

Comparisons of Spectra from 3D Kinetic Meteor PIC Simulations with Theory and Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oppenheim, M. M.; Tarnecki, L. K.

2017-12-01

Meteoroids smaller than a grain of sand have significant impacts on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the atmosphere. The processes by which they turbulently diffuse can be studied using collisional kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Spectral analysis is a valuable tool for comparing such simulations of turbulent, non-specular meteor trails with observations. We present three types of spectral information: full spectra along the trail in k-ω space, spectral widths at common radar frequencies, and power as a function of angle with respect to B. These properties can be compared to previously published data. Zhou et al. (2004) use radar theory to predict the power observed by a radar as a function of the angle between the meteor trail and the radar beam and the size of field-aligned irregularities (FAI) within the trail. Close et al. (2008) present observations of meteor trails from the ALTAIR radar, including power returned as a function of angle off B for a small sample of meteors. Close et al. (2008) and Zhou et al. (2004) both suggest a power drop off of 2-3 dB per degree off perpendicular to B. We compare results from our simulations with both theory and observations for a range of conditions, including trail altitude and incident neutral wind speed. For 1m waves, power fell off by 1-3 dB per degree off perpendicular to B. These comparisons help determine if small-scale simulations accurately capture the behavior of real meteors.

Oscillatory hydraulic testing as a strategy for NAPL source zone monitoring: Laboratory experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, YaoQuan; Cardiff, Michael

2017-05-01

Non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) have a complex mode of transport in heterogeneous aquifers, which can result in pools and lenses of NAPLs (the "source zone") that are difficult to detect and can cause long-term contamination via slow dissolution into groundwater (the "dissolved plume"). Characterizing the extent and evolution of NAPL contamination within the source zone is a useful strategy for designing and adapting appropriate remedial actions at many contaminated sites. As a NAPL flows into a given aquifer volume, the effective hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific storage (Ss) of the volume changes associated with the viscosity and compressibility of the impinging fluid, meaning that NAPL movement may be detectable with hydraulic testing. Recently, the use of oscillatory pumping tests - in which sinusoidal pumping variations are implemented and oscillatory pressure changes are detected at monitoring locations - has been suggested as a low-impact hydraulic testing strategy for characterizing aquifer properties (Cardiff et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2016). Here, we investigate this strategy in an experimental laboratory sandbox where dyed vegetable oil is injected and allowed to migrate as a NAPL. Initial qualitative analyses demonstrate that measurable changes in pressure signal amplitude and phase provide clear evidence for NAPL plume emplacement and migration. Using the approach developed in Zhou et al. (2016), we then apply tomographic analyses to estimate the location of effective K changes (representing fluid changes) and their movement throughout time. This approach provides a method for monitoring ongoing NAPL movement without net extraction or injection of fluid, making it advantageous in field remediation applications.

Can we still beat "buy-and-hold" for individual stocks?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, Eddie C. M.; Kevin Chan, Ka Kwan

2014-09-01

Many investors seek for a trading strategy to beat the "buy-and-hold" strategy. In light of this, Hui and Yam (2014) and Hui et al. (2014) derived a trading strategy from the Shiryaev-Zhou index, and found that the resulting strategy outperformed the "buy-and-hold" strategy for western and Asian securitized real estate indices respectively. However, whether the trading strategy works on individual stocks or not is still unknown. This is the first study to test whether the trading strategy can beat the "buy-and-hold" strategy on individual stocks. We construct two trading strategies and compare the resulting profits with the profits arising from the "buy-and-hold" strategy on Hang Seng Index (HSI), Hang Seng Property (HSP) Index and 12 constituent stocks of HSI during the period December 29, 1995-December 31, 2013. The second strategy (Strategy 2) is a new strategy which incorporates short-selling, and has the effect of multiplying the profit. The results show that our trading strategies are less effective on individual stocks than on stock indices, and are more effective on property stocks than on non-property stocks. Moreover, our strategies outperform "buy-and-hold" by a larger extent on stocks of which the Shiryaev-Zhou indices fluctuate less frequently. Furthermore, by tracking the resulting profits of the three strategies at different times along the whole period of observation, our strategies work better during "bad times" than during "good times". This reflects that our trading strategies are especially useful in protecting investors from substantial loss during market downturns.

Controllability of control and mixture weakly dependent siphons in S3PR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Liang; Chao, Daniel Y.

2013-08-01

Deadlocks in a flexible manufacturing system modelled by Petri nets arise from insufficiently marked siphons. Monitors are added to control these siphons to avoid deadlocks rendering the system too complicated since the total number of monitors grows exponentially. Li and Zhou propose to add monitors only to elementary siphons while controlling the other (strongly or weakly) dependent siphons by adjusting control depth variables. To avoid generating new siphons, the control arcs are ended at source transitions of process nets. This disturbs the original model more and hence loses more live states. Negative terms in the controllability make the control policy for weakly dependent siphons rather conservative. We studied earlier on the controllability of strongly dependent siphons and proposed to add monitors in the order of basic, compound, control, partial mixture and full mixture (strongly dependent) siphons to reduce the number of mixed integer programming iterations and redundant monitors. This article further investigates the controllability of siphons derived from weakly 2-compound siphons. We discover that the controllability for weakly and strongly compound siphons is similar. It no longer holds for control and mixture siphons. Some control and mixture siphons, derived from strongly 2-compound siphons are not redundant - no longer so for those derived from weakly 2-compound siphons; that is all control and mixture siphons are redundant. They do not need to be the conservative one as proposed by Li and Zhou. Thus, we can adopt the maximally permissive control policy even though new siphons are generated.

An Improved Algorithm for Retrieving Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation from Satellite Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhou, Yaping; Kratz, David P.; Wilber, Anne C.; Gupta, Shashi K.; Cess, Robert D.

2007-01-01

Zhou and Cess [2001] developed an algorithm for retrieving surface downwelling longwave radiation (SDLW) based upon detailed studies using radiative transfer model calculations and surface radiometric measurements. Their algorithm linked clear sky SDLW with surface upwelling longwave flux and column precipitable water vapor. For cloudy sky cases, they used cloud liquid water path as an additional parameter to account for the effects of clouds. Despite the simplicity of their algorithm, it performed very well for most geographical regions except for those regions where the atmospheric conditions near the surface tend to be extremely cold and dry. Systematic errors were also found for scenes that were covered with ice clouds. An improved version of the algorithm prevents the large errors in the SDLW at low water vapor amounts by taking into account that under such conditions the SDLW and water vapor amount are nearly linear in their relationship. The new algorithm also utilizes cloud fraction and cloud liquid and ice water paths available from the Cloud and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) single scanner footprint (SSF) product to separately compute the clear and cloudy portions of the fluxes. The new algorithm has been validated against surface measurements at 29 stations around the globe for Terra and Aqua satellites. The results show significant improvement over the original version. The revised Zhou-Cess algorithm is also slightly better or comparable to more sophisticated algorithms currently implemented in the CERES processing and will be incorporated as one of the CERES empirical surface radiation algorithms.

Retraction Statement: "High-Volumetric Performance Aligned Nano-Porous Microwave Exfoliated Graphite Oxide-based Electrochemical Capacitors" and "Aligned Nano-Porous Microwave Exfoliated Graphite Oxide Ionic Actuators with High Strain and Elastic Energy Density".

PubMed

2016-11-01

These articles first published on 15 August 2013 and 21 August 2013 on the Wiley Online Library have been retracted at the request of the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) of The Pennsylvania State University, in agreement with the corresponding authors, the journal's Editor-in-Chief, and Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, because portions of the reported results cannot be considered reliable or reproducible. Following an investigation by the RIO of The Pennsylvania State University, it was found that the data in Figure 2a,b and Figure S1a,b (Supporting Information) of the article with DOI: 10.1002/adma.201301243, and Figure S3 (Supporting Information) of the article with DOI: 10.1002/adma.201301370 were falsified. Data regarding the carbon electrode material, A-aMEGO, reported to have a density of 1.15 g cm -3 , in the article with DOI: 10.1002/adma.201301243, were falsified. The RIO of The Pennsylvania State University confirms that the investigation found that the mentioned data were falsified by the first author. No findings of research misconduct were made against the co-authors of these publications. [1] M. Ghaffari, Y. Zhou, H. Xu, M. Lin, T. Y. Kim, R. S. Ruoff, Q. M. Zhang, Adv. Mater. 25: 2013, 4879. doi:10.1002/adma.201301243 [2] M. Ghaffari, W. Kinsman, Y. Zhou, S. Murali, Q. Burlingame, M. Lin, R. S. Ruoff, Q. M. Zhang, Adv. Mater. 25: 2013, 6277. doi:10.1002/adma.201301370. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Eight-dimensional quantum reaction rate calculations for the H+CH{sub 4} and H{sub 2}+CH{sub 3} reactions on recent potential energy surfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Yong; Zhang, Dong H., E-mail: zhangdh@dicp.ac.cn

2014-11-21

Eight-dimensional (8D) transition-state wave packet simulations have been performed on two latest potential energy surfaces (PES), the Zhou-Fu-Wang-Collins-Zhang (ZFWCZ) PES [Y. Zhou, B. Fu, C. Wang, M. A. Collins, and D. H. Zhang, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 064323 (2011)] and the Xu-Chen-Zhang (XCZ)-neural networks (NN) PES [X. Xu, J. Chen, and D. H. Zhang, Chin. J. Chem. Phys. 27, 373 (2014)]. Reaction rate constants for both the H+CH{sub 4} reaction and the H{sub 2}+CH{sub 3} reaction are calculated. Simulations of the H+CH{sub 4} reaction based on the XCZ-NN PES show that the ZFWCZ PES predicts rate constants with reasonable highmore » accuracy for low temperatures while leads to slightly lower results for high temperatures, in line with the distribution of interpolation error associated with the ZFWCZ PES. The 8D H+CH{sub 4} rate constants derived on the ZFWCZ PES compare well with full-dimensional 12D results based on the equivalent m-ZFWCZ PES, with a maximum relative difference of no more than 20%. Additionally, very good agreement is shown by comparing the 8D XCZ-NN rate constants with the 12D results obtained on the ZFWCZ-WM PES, after considering the difference in static barrier height between these two PESs. The reaction rate constants calculated for the H{sub 2}+CH{sub 3} reaction are found to be in good consistency with experimental observations.« less

Lagrangian flows within reflecting internal waves at a horizontal free-slip surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Qi, E-mail: q.zhou@damtp.cam.ac.uk; Diamessis, Peter J.

In this paper sequel to Zhou and Diamessis [“Reflection of an internal gravity wave beam off a horizontal free-slip surface,” Phys. Fluids 25, 036601 (2013)], we consider Lagrangian flows within nonlinear internal waves (IWs) reflecting off a horizontal free-slip rigid lid, the latter being a model of the ocean surface. The problem is approached both analytically using small-amplitude approximations and numerically by tracking Lagrangian fluid particles in direct numerical simulation (DNS) datasets of the Eulerian flow. Inviscid small-amplitude analyses for both plane IWs and IW beams (IWBs) show that Eulerian mean flow due to wave-wave interaction and wave-induced Stokes driftmore » cancels each other out completely at the second order in wave steepness A, i.e., O(A{sup 2}), implying zero Lagrangian mean flow up to that order. However, high-accuracy particle tracking in finite-Reynolds-number fully nonlinear DNS datasets from the work of Zhou and Diamessis suggests that the Euler-Stokes cancelation on O(A{sup 2}) is not complete. This partial cancelation significantly weakens the mean Lagrangian flows but does not entirely eliminate them. As a result, reflecting nonlinear IWBs produce mean Lagrangian drifts on O(A{sup 2}) and thus particle dispersion on O(A{sup 4}). The above findings can be relevant to predicting IW-driven mass transport in the oceanic surface and subsurface region which bears important observational and environmental implications, under circumstances where the effect of Earth rotation can be ignored.« less

Periodic matrix population models: growth rate, basic reproduction number, and entropy.

PubMed

Bacaër, Nicolas

2009-10-01

This article considers three different aspects of periodic matrix population models. First, a formula for the sensitivity analysis of the growth rate lambda is obtained that is simpler than the one obtained by Caswell and Trevisan. Secondly, the formula for the basic reproduction number R0 in a constant environment is generalized to the case of a periodic environment. Some inequalities between lambda and R0 proved by Cushing and Zhou are also generalized to the periodic case. Finally, we add some remarks on Demetrius' notion of evolutionary entropy H and its relationship to the growth rate lambda in the periodic case.

Electrostatic rate enhancement and transient complex of protein-protein association.

PubMed

Alsallaq, Ramzi; Zhou, Huan-Xiang

2008-04-01

The association of two proteins is bounded by the rate at which they, via diffusion, find each other while in appropriate relative orientations. Orientational constraints restrict this rate to approximately 10(5)-10(6) M(-1) s(-1). Proteins with higher association rates generally have complementary electrostatic surfaces; proteins with lower association rates generally are slowed down by conformational changes upon complex formation. Previous studies (Zhou, Biophys J 1997;73:2441-2445) have shown that electrostatic enhancement of the diffusion-limited association rate can be accurately modeled by $k_{\\bf D}$ = $k_{D}0\\ {exp} ( - \\langle U_{el} \\rangle;{\\star}/k_{B} T),$ where k(D) and k(D0) are the rates in the presence and absence of electrostatic interactions, respectively, U(el) is the average electrostatic interaction energy in a "transient-complex" ensemble, and k(B)T is the thermal energy. The transient-complex ensemble separates the bound state from the unbound state. Predictions of the transient-complex theory on four protein complexes were found to agree well with the experiment when the electrostatic interaction energy was calculated with the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation (Alsallaq and Zhou, Structure 2007;15:215-224). Here we show that the agreement is further improved when the nonlinear PB equation is used. These predictions are obtained with the dielectric boundary defined as the protein van der Waals surface. When the dielectric boundary is instead specified as the molecular surface, electrostatic interactions in the transient complex become repulsive and are thus predicted to retard association. Together these results demonstrate that the transient-complex theory is predictive of electrostatic rate enhancement and can help parameterize PB calculations. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Electrostatic Rate Enhancement and Transient Complex of Protein-Protein Association

PubMed Central

Alsallaq, Ramzi; Zhou, Huan-Xiang

2012-01-01

The association of two proteins is bounded by the rate at which they, via diffusion, find each other while in appropriate relative orientations. Orientational constraints restrict this rate to ~105 – 106 M−1s−1. Proteins with higher association rates generally have complementary electrostatic surfaces; proteins with lower association rates generally are slowed down by conformational changes upon complex formation. Previous studies (Zhou, Biophys. J. 1997;73:2441–2445) have shown that electrostatic enhancement of the diffusion-limited association rate can be accurately modeled by kD = kD0 exp(−*/ kBT), where kD and kD0 are the rates in the presence and absence of electrostatic interactions, respectively, * is the average electrostatic interaction energy in a “transient-complex” ensemble, and kBT is thermal energy. The transient-complex ensemble separates the bound state from the unbound state. Predictions of the transient-complex theory on four protein complexes were found to agree well with experiment when the electrostatic interaction energy was calculated with the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation (Alsallaq and Zhou, Structure 2007, 15:215–224). Here we show that the agreement is further improved when the nonlinear PB equation is used. These predictions are obtained with the dielectric boundary defined as the protein van der Waals surface. When the dielectric boundary is instead specified as the molecular surface, electrostatic interactions in the transient complex become repulsive and are thus predicted to retard association. Together these results demonstrate that the transient-complex theory is predictive of electrostatic rate enhancement and can help parameterize PB calculations. PMID:17932929

Semantic text relatedness on Al-Qur’an translation using modified path based method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irwanto, Yudi; Arif Bijaksana, Moch; Adiwijaya

2018-03-01

Abdul Baquee Muhammad [1] have built Corpus that contained AlQur’an domain, WordNet and dictionary. He has did initialisation in the development of knowledges about AlQur’an and the knowledges about relatedness between texts in AlQur’an. The Path based measurement method that proposed by Liu, Zhou and Zheng [3] has never been used in the AlQur’an domain. By using AlQur’an translation dataset in this research, the path based measurement method proposed by Liu, Zhou and Zheng [3] will be used to test this method in AlQur’an domain to obtain similarity values and to measure its correlation value. In this study the degree value is proposed to be used in modifying the path based method that proposed in previous research. Degree Value is the number of links that owned by a lcs (lowest common subsumer) node on a taxonomy. The links owned by a node on the taxonomy represent the semantic relationship that a node has in the taxonomy. By using degree value to modify the path-based method that proposed in previous research is expected that the correlation value obtained will increase. After running some experiment by using proposed method, the correlation measurement value can obtain fairly good correlation ties with 200 Word Pairs derive from Noun POS SimLex-999. The correlation value that be obtained is 93.3% which means their bonds are strong and they have very strong correlation. Whereas for the POS other than Noun POS vocabulary that owned by WordNet is incomplete therefore many pairs of words that the value of its similarity is zero so the correlation value is low.

Space Product Development (SPD)

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-09

This composite image shows soybean plants growing in the Advanced Astroculture experiment aboard the International Space Station during June 11-July 2, 2002. DuPont is partnering with NASA and the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to grow soybeans aboard the Space Station to find out if they have improved oil, protein, carbohydrates or secondary metabolites that could benefit farmers and consumers. Principal Investigators: Dr. Tom Corbin, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Dupont Company, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dr. Weijia Zhou, Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Soybeans Growing inside the Advanced Astroculture Plant Growth Chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

This composite image shows soybean plants growing in the Advanced Astroculture experiment aboard the International Space Station during June 11-July 2, 2002. DuPont is partnering with NASA and the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to grow soybeans aboard the Space Station to find out if they have improved oil, protein, carbohydrates or secondary metabolites that could benefit farmers and consumers. Principal Investigators: Dr. Tom Corbin, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Dupont Company, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dr. Weijia Zhou, Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Deactivating stimulation sites based on low-rate thresholds improves spectral ripple and speech reception thresholds in cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Zhou, Ning

2017-03-01

The study examined whether the benefit of deactivating stimulation sites estimated to have broad neural excitation was attributed to improved spectral resolution in cochlear implant users. The subjects' spatial neural excitation pattern was estimated by measuring low-rate detection thresholds across the array [see Zhou (2016). PLoS One 11, e0165476]. Spectral resolution, as assessed by spectral-ripple discrimination thresholds, significantly improved after deactivation of five high-threshold sites. The magnitude of improvement in spectral-ripple discrimination thresholds predicted the magnitude of improvement in speech reception thresholds after deactivation. Results suggested that a smaller number of relatively independent channels provide a better outcome than using all channels that might interact.

Scientists Inspect Plant Grown onboard the ISS in 2002

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

The Advanced Astroculture (tm) unit is growing plants on its second flight on the International Space Station. Dr. Weijia Zhou (left), director of the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, inspects soybeans grown in the plant growth unit aboard ISS in 2002. Coating technology is used inside the miniature plant greenhouse to remove ethylene, a chemical produced by plant leaves that can cause plants to mature too quickly. This same coating technology is used in a new anthrax-killing device. The Space Station experiment is managed by the Space Partnership Development Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Microscopic spin Hamiltonian approaches for 3d8 and 3d2 ions in a trigonal crystal field - perturbation theory methods versus complete diagonalization methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudowicz, Czeslaw; Yeung, Yau-yuen; Yang, Zi-Yuan; Qin, Jian

2002-06-01

In this paper, we critically review the existing microscopic spin Hamiltonian (MSH) approaches, namely the complete diagonalization method (CDM) and the perturbation theory method (PTM), for 3d8(3d2) ions in a trigonal (C3v, D3, D3d) symmetry crystal field (CF). A new CDM is presented and a CFA/MSH computer package based on our crystal-field analysis (CFA) package for 3dN ions is developed for numerical calculations. Our method takes into account the contribution to the SH parameters (D, g∥ and g⊥) from all 45 CF states for 3d8(3d2) ions and is based on the complete diagonalization of the Hamiltonian including the electrostatic interactions, the CF terms (in the intermediate CF scheme) and the spin-orbit coupling. The CFA/MSH package enables us to study not only the CF energy levels and wavefunctions but also the SH parameters as functions of the CF parameters (B20, B40 and B43 or alternatively Dq, v and v') for 3d8(3d2) ions in trigonal symmetry. Extensive comparative studies of other MSH approaches are carried out using the CFA/MSH package. First, we check the accuracy of the approximate PTM based on the `quasi-fourth-order' perturbation formulae developed by Petrosyan and Mirzakhanyan (PM). The present investigations indicate that the PM formulae for the g-factors (g∥ and g⊥) indeed work well, especially for the cases of small v and v' and large Dq, whereas the PM formula for the zero-field splitting (ZFS) exhibits serious shortcomings. Earlier criticism of the PM approach by Zhou et al (Zhou K W, Zhao S B, Wu P F and Xie J K 1990 Phys. Status Solidi b 162 193) is then revisited. Second, we carry out an extensive comparison of the results of the present CFA/MSH package and those of other CDMs based on the strong- and weak-CF schemes. The CF energy levels and the SH parameters for 3d2 and 3d8 ions at C3v symmetry sites in several crystals are calculated and analysed. Our investigations reveal serious inconsistencies in the CDM results of Zhou et al and Li

A Riemann-Hilbert approach to asymptotic questions for orthogonal polynomials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deift, P.; Kriecherbauer, T.; McLaughlin, K. T.-R.; Venakides, S.; Zhou, X.

2001-08-01

A few years ago the authors introduced a new approach to study asymptotic questions for orthogonal polynomials. In this paper we give an overview of our method and review the results which have been obtained in Deift et al. (Internat. Math. Res. Notices (1997) 759, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 52 (1999) 1491, 1335), Deift (Orthogonal Polynomials and Random Matrices: A Riemann-Hilbert Approach, Courant Lecture Notes, Vol. 3, New York University, 1999), Kriecherbauer and McLaughlin (Internat. Math. Res. Notices (1999) 299) and Baik et al. (J. Amer. Math. Soc. 12 (1999) 1119). We mainly consider orthogonal polynomials with respect to weights on the real line which are either (1) Freud-type weights d[alpha](x)=e-Q(x) dx (Q polynomial or Q(x)=x[beta], [beta]>0), or (2) varying weights d[alpha]n(x)=e-nV(x) dx (V analytic, limx-->[infinity] V(x)/logx=[infinity]). We obtain Plancherel-Rotach-type asymptotics in the entire complex plane as well as asymptotic formulae with error estimates for the leading coefficients, for the recurrence coefficients, and for the zeros of the orthogonal polynomials. Our proof starts from an observation of Fokas et al. (Comm. Math. Phys. 142 (1991) 313) that the orthogonal polynomials can be determined as solutions of certain matrix valued Riemann-Hilbert problems. We analyze the Riemann-Hilbert problems by a steepest descent type method introduced by Deift and Zhou (Ann. Math. 137 (1993) 295) and further developed in Deift and Zhou (Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 48 (1995) 277) and Deift et al. (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 95 (1998) 450). A crucial step in our analysis is the use of the well-known equilibrium measure which describes the asymptotic distribution of the zeros of the orthogonal polynomials.

Excellence of numerical differentiation method in calculating the coefficients of high temperature series expansion of the free energy and convergence problem of the expansion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, S., E-mail: chixiayzsq@yahoo.com; Solana, J. R.

2014-12-28

In this paper, it is shown that the numerical differentiation method in performing the coupling parameter series expansion [S. Zhou, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 144518 (2006); AIP Adv. 1, 040703 (2011)] excels at calculating the coefficients a{sub i} of hard sphere high temperature series expansion (HS-HTSE) of the free energy. Both canonical ensemble and isothermal-isobaric ensemble Monte Carlo simulations for fluid interacting through a hard sphere attractive Yukawa (HSAY) potential with extremely short ranges and at very low temperatures are performed, and the resulting two sets of data of thermodynamic properties are in excellent agreement with each other, and wellmore » qualified to be used for assessing convergence of the HS-HTSE for the HSAY fluid. Results of valuation are that (i) by referring to the results of a hard sphere square well fluid [S. Zhou, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 124111 (2013)], it is found that existence of partial sum limit of the high temperature series expansion series and consistency between the limit value and the true solution depend on both the potential shapes and temperatures considered. (ii) For the extremely short range HSAY potential, the HS-HTSE coefficients a{sub i} falls rapidly with the order i, and the HS-HTSE converges from fourth order; however, it does not converge exactly to the true solution at reduced temperatures lower than 0.5, wherein difference between the partial sum limit of the HS-HTSE series and the simulation result tends to become more evident. Something worth mentioning is that before the convergence order is reached, the preceding truncation is always improved by the succeeding one, and the fourth- and higher-order truncations give the most dependable and qualitatively always correct thermodynamic results for the HSAY fluid even at low reduced temperatures to 0.25.« less

The Peoples Republic of China High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Research Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Robert M. L.

2009-03-01

For the past decade the Peoples Republic of China has been increasingly active in the pursuit of High-Frequency Gravitational Wave (HFGW) research. Much of their progress has been during 2008. An epochal achievement was the publication of the theoretical analysis of the Li-Baker HFGW detector in the European Physical Journal C (Li, et al., 2008), "Perturbative Photon Fluxes Generated by High-Frequency Gravitational Waves and Their Physical Effects"). Many Chinese scientists and graduate students have participated in these HFGW studies and their contributions are briefly discussed. Some of the key scientists and their institutions are as follows: first from Chongqing University: Zhenyun Fang, Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Xing gang Wu, The Institute of Theoretical Physics, Nan Yang, The Institute of Gravitational Physics; Jun Luo, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China, the Head of Gravitational Laboratory, Yang Zhang, University of Science and Technology of China, Associate Dean of the College of Sciences, Biao Li, Institute of Electronic Engineering of China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Chief of Microwave Antenna Division, Chuan-Ming Zhou, Technology Committee of Institute of Electronic Engineering of the CAEP, Jie Zhou, Institute of Electronic Engineering of the CAEP, Chief of the Signal Processing Division; Weijia Wen, Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This Chinese HFGW team includes two parts: (1) Theoretical study and (2) Experimental investigation. These two parts have closed relations, and many cross projects, including cooperation between the American GravWave and Chinese HFGW teams. Referring to financial support, The Institute of Electronic Engineering (i.e., Microwave Laboratory) has already (June 2008) provided support more than three million Yuan for the HFGW detection project and this activity is discussed.

An Improved Algorithm for Retrieving Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation from Satellite Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhou, Yaping; Kratz, David P.; Wilber, Anne C.; Gupta, Shashi K.; Cess, Robert D.

2006-01-01

Retrieving surface longwave radiation from space has been a difficult task since the surface downwelling longwave radiation (SDLW) are integrations from radiation emitted by the entire atmosphere, while those emitted from the upper atmosphere are absorbed before reaching the surface. It is particularly problematic when thick clouds are present since thick clouds will virtually block all the longwave radiation from above, while satellites observe atmosphere emissions mostly from above the clouds. Zhou and Cess developed an algorithm for retrieving SDLW based upon detailed studies using radiative transfer model calculations and surface radiometric measurements. Their algorithm linked clear sky SDLW with surface upwelling longwave flux and column precipitable water vapor. For cloudy sky cases, they used cloud liquid water path as an additional parameter to account for the effects of clouds. Despite the simplicity of their algorithm, it performed very well for most geographical regions except for those regions where the atmospheric conditions near the surface tend to be extremely cold and dry. Systematic errors were also found for areas that were covered with ice clouds. An improved version of the algorithm was developed that prevents the large errors in the SDLW at low water vapor amounts. The new algorithm also utilizes cloud fraction and cloud liquid and ice water paths measured from the Cloud and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellites to separately compute the clear and cloudy portions of the fluxes. The new algorithm has been validated against surface measurements at 29 stations around the globe for the Terra and Aqua satellites. The results show significant improvement over the original version. The revised Zhou-Cess algorithm is also slightly better or comparable to more sophisticated algorithms currently implemented in the CERES processing. It will be incorporated in the CERES project as one of the empirical surface radiation algorithms.

Improving Unstructured Mesh Partitions for Multiple Criteria Using Mesh Adjacencies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Cameron W.; Rasquin, Michel; Ibanez, Dan

The scalability of unstructured mesh based applications depends on partitioning methods that quickly balance the computational work while reducing communication costs. Zhou et al. [SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 32 (2010), pp. 3201{3227; J. Supercomput., 59 (2012), pp. 1218{1228] demonstrated the combination of (hyper)graph methods with vertex and element partition improvement for PHASTA CFD scaling to hundreds of thousands of processes. Our work generalizes partition improvement to support balancing combinations of all the mesh entity dimensions (vertices, edges, faces, regions) in partitions with imbalances exceeding 70%. Improvement results are then presented for multiple entity dimensions on up to one million processesmore » on meshes with over 12 billion tetrahedral elements.« less

The existence of a real pole-free solution of the fourth order analogue of the Painlevé I equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Claeys, T.; Vanlessen, M.

2007-05-01

We establish the existence of a real solution y(x, T) with no poles on the real line of the following fourth order analogue of the Painlevé I equation: \\[ \\begin{equation*}x=Ty-\\left(\\case 1 6 y^3+\\case{1}{24} (y_x^2+2yy_{xx}) +\\case {1}{240} y_{xxxx}\\right).\\end{equation*} \\] This proves the existence part of a conjecture posed by Dubrovin. We obtain our result by proving the solvability of an associated Riemann-Hilbert problem through the approach of a vanishing lemma. In addition, by applying the Deift/Zhou steepest-descent method to this Riemann-Hilbert problem, we obtain the asymptotics for y(x, T) as x → ±∞.

Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China.

PubMed

McGovern, Patrick E; Zhang, Juzhong; Tang, Jigen; Zhang, Zhiqing; Hall, Gretchen R; Moreau, Robert A; Nuñez, Alberto; Butrym, Eric D; Richards, Michael P; Wang, Chen-Shan; Cheng, Guangsheng; Zhao, Zhijun; Wang, Changsui

2004-12-21

Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan province in China have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit (hawthorn fruit and/or grape) was being produced as early as the seventh millennium before Christ (B.C.). This prehistoric drink paved the way for unique cereal beverages of the proto-historic second millennium B.C., remarkably preserved as liquids inside sealed bronze vessels of the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. These findings provide direct evidence for fermented beverages in ancient Chinese culture, which were of considerable social, religious, and medical significance, and help elucidate their earliest descriptions in the Shang Dynasty oracle inscriptions.

Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China

PubMed Central

McGovern, Patrick E.; Zhang, Juzhong; Tang, Jigen; Zhang, Zhiqing; Hall, Gretchen R.; Moreau, Robert A.; Nuñez, Alberto; Butrym, Eric D.; Richards, Michael P.; Wang, Chen-shan; Cheng, Guangsheng; Zhao, Zhijun; Wang, Changsui

2004-01-01

Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan province in China have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit (hawthorn fruit and/or grape) was being produced as early as the seventh millennium before Christ (B.C.). This prehistoric drink paved the way for unique cereal beverages of the proto-historic second millennium B.C., remarkably preserved as liquids inside sealed bronze vessels of the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. These findings provide direct evidence for fermented beverages in ancient Chinese culture, which were of considerable social, religious, and medical significance, and help elucidate their earliest descriptions in the Shang Dynasty oracle inscriptions. PMID:15590771

Improving Unstructured Mesh Partitions for Multiple Criteria Using Mesh Adjacencies

DOE PAGES

Smith, Cameron W.; Rasquin, Michel; Ibanez, Dan; ...

2018-02-13

The scalability of unstructured mesh based applications depends on partitioning methods that quickly balance the computational work while reducing communication costs. Zhou et al. [SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 32 (2010), pp. 3201{3227; J. Supercomput., 59 (2012), pp. 1218{1228] demonstrated the combination of (hyper)graph methods with vertex and element partition improvement for PHASTA CFD scaling to hundreds of thousands of processes. Our work generalizes partition improvement to support balancing combinations of all the mesh entity dimensions (vertices, edges, faces, regions) in partitions with imbalances exceeding 70%. Improvement results are then presented for multiple entity dimensions on up to one million processesmore » on meshes with over 12 billion tetrahedral elements.« less

China’s Nuclear Force Modernization

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

of mass destruction, see 美伊 战 争 引发核竞 赛？[U.S. War on Iraq Initiated Nuclear Races?], 世界新闻报 [World News Journal], 1 May 2003. 41. Lewis and Hua...Plana, Spain, May 2003. ———.美伊 战 争 引发核竞赛？[U.S. War on Iraq Initiated Nuclear Races?], 世界新闻报 [World News Journal], no. 33, 1 May 2003. Lewis, John, Hua...彬 [Zhou Baogen and Li Bin], 党派政治对冷 战 后美国军控政策的 影响 [Impacts of Party Politics on Ameri- can Arms Control Policy after the Cold War], 世界经济与政治论坛 [Forum

Restrictive Factors and Output Forecast of Green Development of Agricultural Industry Based on Gray System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Fengru

2018-01-01

This paper analyzes the characteristics of agricultural products from the perspective of agricultural production, farmers’ income, adjustment of agricultural structure and environmental improvement, and analyzes the characteristics of agricultural products in LanZhou area. Through data mining and empirical analysis, the regional agriculture (1) forecasting model of gray system with dynamic data processing, combined with the output data of lily in 2004-2003, the yield prediction is predicted and the fitting state is good and the error is small. Finally, combined with the relevant characteristics of the local characteristics of the agricultural industry to make reference, by changing the characteristics of agricultural production as the center of the mindset, and agricultural industrialization and organic combination, take the characteristics of efficient industrialization of agricultural products.

Fast Shepard interpolation on graphics processing units: potential energy surfaces and dynamics for H + CH4 → H2 + CH3.

PubMed

Welsch, Ralph; Manthe, Uwe

2013-04-28

A strategy for the fast evaluation of Shepard interpolated potential energy surfaces (PESs) utilizing graphics processing units (GPUs) is presented. Speed ups of several orders of magnitude are gained for the title reaction on the ZFWCZ PES [Y. Zhou, B. Fu, C. Wang, M. A. Collins, and D. H. Zhang, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 064323 (2011)]. Thermal rate constants are calculated employing the quantum transition state concept and the multi-layer multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree approach. Results for the ZFWCZ PES are compared to rate constants obtained for other ab initio PESs and problems are discussed. A revised PES is presented. Thermal rate constants obtained for the revised PES indicate that an accurate description of the anharmonicity around the transition state is crucial.

[History of the term "tan" (phlegm) (II) -- studies of the term "tan" found in medical books before the Liang dynasty].

PubMed

Endo, J; Nakamura, T; Yamaki, H; Miyamoto, H

1993-12-01

The first description of the term "tan" is found in the Shan Han Za Bing Lun published at the end of the later Han dynasty. This book refers to this term as a disorder of the cold fluid in the body. The meaning of this term was revised to a viscous fluid as the years went on. The term "tan" from the Zhou Hou Bai Yi Fang published in the Liang dynasty was the same sense of phlegm as that found in present works. Our studies showed that changes of the words used for the concept "phlegm" in Chinese medical books coincided with those in Chinese Buddhist literature. We suggested that the concept "phlegm" in Buddhist medicine influenced Chinese tradition medicine.

Recombinant Human Parvovirus B19 Vectors: Erythroid Cell-Specific Delivery and Expression of Transduced Genes

PubMed Central

Ponnazhagan, Selvarangan; Weigel, Kirsten A.; Raikwar, Sudhanshu P.; Mukherjee, Pinku; Yoder, Mervin C.; Srivastava, Arun

1998-01-01

A novel packaging strategy combining the salient features of two human parvoviruses, namely the pathogenic parvovirus B19 and the nonpathogenic adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV), was developed to achieve erythroid cell-specific delivery as well as expression of the transduced gene. The development of such a chimeric vector system was accomplished by packaging heterologous DNA sequences cloned within the inverted terminal repeats of AAV and subsequently packaging the DNA inside the capsid structure of B19 virus. Recombinant B19 virus particles were assembled, as evidenced by electron microscopy as well as DNA slot blot analyses. The hybrid vector failed to transduce nonerythroid human cells, such as 293 cells, as expected. However, MB-02 cells, a human megakaryocytic leukemia cell line which can be infected by B19 virus following erythroid differentiation with erythropoietin (N. C. Munshi, S. Z. Zhou, M. J. Woody, D. A. Morgan, and A. Srivastava, J. Virol. 67:562–566, 1993) but lacks the putative receptor for AAV (S. Ponnazhagan, X.-S. Wang, M. J. Woody, F. Luo, L. Y. Kang, M. L. Nallari, N. C. Munshi, S. Z. Zhou, and A. Srivastava, J. Gen. Virol. 77:1111–1122, 1996), were readily transduced by this vector. The hybrid vector was also found to specifically target the erythroid population in primary human bone marrow cells as well as more immature hematopoietic progenitor cells following erythroid differentiation, as evidenced by selective expression of the transduced gene in these target cells. Preincubation with anticapsid antibodies against B19 virus, but not anticapsid antibodies against AAV, inhibited transduction of primary human erythroid cells. The efficiency of transduction of primary human erythroid cells by the recombinant B19 virus vector was significantly higher than that by the recombinant AAV vector. Further development of the AAV-B19 virus hybrid vector system should prove beneficial in gene therapy protocols aimed at the correction of inherited

High energy density capacitors for low cost applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyore, Omokhodion David

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymers with trifluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene and chlorotrifluoroethylene are the most widely investigated ferroelectric polymers, due to their relatively high electromechanical properties and potential to achieve high energy density. [Bauer, 2010; Zhou et al., 2009] The research community has focused primarily on melt pressed or extruded films of PVDF-based polymers to obtain the highest performance with energy density up to 25 Jcm-3. [Zhou et al., 2009] Solution processing offers an inexpensive, low temperature alternative, which is also easily integrated with flexible electronics. This dissertation focuses on the fabrication of solution-based polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene metal-insulator-metal capacitors on flexible substrates using a photolithographic process. Capacitors were optimized for maximum energy density, high dielectric strength and low leakage current density. It is demonstrated that with the right choice of solvent, electrodes, spin-casting and annealing conditions, high energy density thin film capacitors can be fabricated repeatably and reproducibly. The high electric field dielectric constants were measured and the reliabilities of the polymer capacitors were also evaluated via time-zero breakdown and time-dependent breakdown techniques. Chapter 1 develops the motivation for this work and provides a theoretical overview of dielectric materials, polarization, leakage current and dielectric breakdown. Chapter 2 is a literature review of polymer-based high energy density dielectrics and covers ferroelectric polymers, highlighting PVDF and some of its derivatives. Chapter 3 summarizes some preliminary experimental work and presents materials and electrical characterization that support the rationale for materials selection and process development. Chapter 4 discusses the fabrication of solution-processed PVDF-HFP and modification of its properties by photo-crosslinking. It is followed by a

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lv, Mei; Liu, Zengrong; He, Bing

In previous studies, we reported molecular dynamics (MD) simulations showing that single-file water wires confined inside Y-shaped single-walled carbon nanotubes (Y-SWNTs) held strong and robust capability to convert and multiply charge signals [Y. S. Tu, P. Xiu, R. Z. Wan, J. Hu, R. H. Zhou, and H. P. Fang, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 18120 (2009); Y. Tu, H. Lu, Y. Zhang, T. Huynh, and R. Zhou, J. Chem. Phys. 138, 015104 (2013)]. It is fascinating to see whether the signal multiplication can be realized by other kinds of polar molecules with larger dipole moments (which make the experimentalmore » realization easier). In this article, we use MD simulations to study the urea-mediated signal conversion and multiplication with Y-SWNTs. We observe that when a Y-SWNT with an external charge of magnitude 1.0 e (the model of a signal at the single-electron level) is solvated in 1 M urea solutions, urea can induce drying of the Y-SWNT and fill its interiors in single-file, forming Y-shaped urea wires. The external charge can effectively control the dipole orientation of the urea wire inside the main channel (i.e., the signal can be readily converted), and this signal can further be multiplied into 2 (or more) output signals by modulating dipole orientations of urea wires in bifurcated branch channels of the Y-SWNT. This remarkable signal transduction capability arises from the strong dipole-induced ordering of urea wires under extreme confinement. We also discuss the advantage of urea as compared with water in the signal multiplication, as well as the robustness and biological implications of our findings. This study provides the possibility for multiplying signals by using urea molecules (or other polar organic molecules) with Y-shaped nanochannels and might also help understand the mechanism behind signal conduction in both physical and biological systems.« less

Sensory quality evaluation for appearance of needle-shaped green tea based on computer vision and nonlinear tools*

PubMed Central

Dong, Chun-wang; Zhu, Hong-kai; Zhao, Jie-wen; Jiang, Yong-wen; Yuan, Hai-bo; Chen, Quan-sheng

2017-01-01

Tea is one of the three greatest beverages in the world. In China, green tea has the largest consumption, and needle-shaped green tea, such as Maofeng tea and Sparrow Tongue tea, accounts for more than 40% of green tea (Zhu et al., 2017). The appearance of green tea is one of the important indexes during the evaluation of green tea quality. Especially in market transactions, the price of tea is usually determined by its appearance (Zhou et al., 2012). Human sensory evaluation is usually conducted by experts, and is also easily affected by various factors such as light, experience, psychological and visual factors. In the meantime, people may distinguish the slight differences between similar colors or textures, but the specific levels of the tea are hard to determine (Chen et al., 2008). As human description of color and texture is qualitative, it is hard to evaluate the sensory quality accurately, in a standard manner, and objectively. Color is an important visual property of a computer image (Xie et al., 2014; Khulal et al., 2016); texture is a visual performance of image grayscale and color changing with spatial positions, which can be used to describe the roughness and directivity of the surface of an object (Sanaeifar et al., 2016). There are already researchers who have used computer visual image technologies to identify the varieties, levels, and origins of tea (Chen et al., 2008; Xie et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2017). Most of their research targets are crush, tear, and curl (CTC) red (green) broken tea, curly green tea (Bilochun tea), and flat-typed green tea (West Lake Dragon-well green tea) as the information sources. However, the target of the above research is to establish a qualitative evaluation method on tea quality (Fu et al., 2013). There is little literature on the sensory evaluation of the appearance quality of needle-shaped green tea, especially research on a quantitative evaluation model (Zhou et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2017). PMID:28585431

Sensory quality evaluation for appearance of needle-shaped green tea based on computer vision and nonlinear tools.

PubMed

Dong, Chun-Wang; Zhu, Hong-Kai; Zhao, Jie-Wen; Jiang, Yong-Wen; Yuan, Hai-Bo; Chen, Quan-Sheng

2017-06-01

Tea is one of the three greatest beverages in the world. In China, green tea has the largest consumption, and needle-shaped green tea, such as Maofeng tea and Sparrow Tongue tea, accounts for more than 40% of green tea (Zhu et al., 2017). The appearance of green tea is one of the important indexes during the evaluation of green tea quality. Especially in market transactions, the price of tea is usually determined by its appearance (Zhou et al., 2012). Human sensory evaluation is usually conducted by experts, and is also easily affected by various factors such as light, experience, psychological and visual factors. In the meantime, people may distinguish the slight differences between similar colors or textures, but the specific levels of the tea are hard to determine (Chen et al., 2008). As human description of color and texture is qualitative, it is hard to evaluate the sensory quality accurately, in a standard manner, and objectively. Color is an important visual property of a computer image (Xie et al., 2014; Khulal et al., 2016); texture is a visual performance of image grayscale and color changing with spatial positions, which can be used to describe the roughness and directivity of the surface of an object (Sanaeifar et al., 2016). There are already researchers who have used computer visual image technologies to identify the varieties, levels, and origins of tea (Chen et al., 2008; Xie et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2017). Most of their research targets are crush, tear, and curl (CTC) red (green) broken tea, curly green tea (Bilochun tea), and flat-typed green tea (West Lake Dragon-well green tea) as the information sources. However, the target of the above research is to establish a qualitative evaluation method on tea quality (Fu et al., 2013). There is little literature on the sensory evaluation of the appearance quality of needle-shaped green tea, especially research on a quantitative evaluation model (Zhou et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2017).

Inverse U-shaped Association between Sleep Duration and Semen Quality: Longitudinal Observational Study (MARHCS) in Chongqing, China

PubMed Central

Chen, Qing; Yang, Huan; Zhou, Niya; Sun, Lei; Bao, Huaqiong; Tan, Lu; Chen, Hongqiang; Ling, Xi; Zhang, Guowei; Huang, Linping; Li, Lianbing; Ma, Mingfu; Yang, Hao; Wang, Xiaogang; Zou, Peng; Peng, Kaige; Liu, Taixiu; Cui, Zhihong; Ao, Lin; Roenneberg, Till; Zhou, Ziyuan; Cao, Jia

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: To investigate the association between sleep duration and semen parameters as well as reproductive hormone levels. Methods: We designed a cohort of male college students in Chongqing, China. A total of 796 subjects were recruited in 2013 and 656 (82.4%) were followed up in 2014. Each time, semen and peripheral blood samples were collected for semen quality and reproductive hormone measurement. Sleep duration was estimated by revised Munich Chronotype Questionnaire. In 2014, sleep quality was also measured by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: There was a substantial inverse U-shaped association between sleep duration and two semen parameters (semen volume and total sperm number), with 7.0–7.5 h/day of sleep showing highest parameters. Either longer or shorter sleep was associated with decreased semen parameters in a dose-response manner (P = 0.002 and 0.001, respectively). Sleeping > 9.0 h was associated with a 21.5% (95% confidence interval 9.2, 32.2) reduction in semen volume and 39.4% (23.3, 52.1) reduction in total sperm number; sleeping ≤ 6.5 h was associated with 4.6% (−10.5, 22.3) and 25.7% (−1.2, 60.1) reduction. Increase of the two parameters was found in those who changed sleep duration toward 7.0–7.5 h/day from 2013 to 2014. The U-shaped association was independent from PSQI and was replicated in another dataset of 1,346 males. No association found between sleep duration and reproductive hormone. Conclusions: Either restricted or excessive sleep may impair semen quality. Further research is needed to validate this finding. Citation: Chen Q, Yang H, Zhou N, Sun L, Bao H, Tan L, Chen H, Ling X, Zhang G, Huang L, Li L, Ma M, Yang H, Wang X, Zou P, Peng K, Liu T, Cui Z, Ao L, Roenneberg T, Zhou Z, Cao J. Inverse u-shaped association between sleep duration and semen quality: longitudinal observational study (MARHCS) in Chongqing, China. SLEEP 2016;39(1):79–86. PMID:26350472

Remarks on the regularity criteria of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics system in terms of two velocity field components

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamazaki, Kazuo

2014-03-15

We study the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics system and obtain its regularity criteria in terms of only two velocity vector field components eliminating the condition on the third component completely. The proof consists of a new decomposition of the four nonlinear terms of the system and estimating a component of the magnetic vector field in terms of the same component of the velocity vector field. This result may be seen as a component reduction result of many previous works [C. He and Z. Xin, “On the regularity of weak solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic equations,” J. Differ. Equ. 213(2), 234–254 (2005); Y. Zhou,more » “Remarks on regularities for the 3D MHD equations,” Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. 12(5), 881–886 (2005)].« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Childs, Andrew M.; Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; Leung, Debbie W.

We present unified, systematic derivations of schemes in the two known measurement-based models of quantum computation. The first model (introduced by Raussendorf and Briegel, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5188 (2001)]) uses a fixed entangled state, adaptive measurements on single qubits, and feedforward of the measurement results. The second model (proposed by Nielsen, [Phys. Lett. A 308, 96 (2003)] and further simplified by Leung, [Int. J. Quant. Inf. 2, 33 (2004)]) uses adaptive two-qubit measurements that can be applied to arbitrary pairs of qubits, and feedforward of the measurement results. The underlying principle of our derivations is a variant of teleportationmore » introduced by Zhou, Leung, and Chuang, [Phys. Rev. A 62, 052316 (2000)]. Our derivations unify these two measurement-based models of quantum computation and provide significantly simpler schemes.« less

Information filtering via biased heat conduction.

PubMed

Liu, Jian-Guo; Zhou, Tao; Guo, Qiang

2011-09-01

The process of heat conduction has recently found application in personalized recommendation [Zhou et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 4511 (2010)], which is of high diversity but low accuracy. By decreasing the temperatures of small-degree objects, we present an improved algorithm, called biased heat conduction, which could simultaneously enhance the accuracy and diversity. Extensive experimental analyses demonstrate that the accuracy on MovieLens, Netflix, and Delicious datasets could be improved by 43.5%, 55.4% and 19.2%, respectively, compared with the standard heat conduction algorithm and also the diversity is increased or approximately unchanged. Further statistical analyses suggest that the present algorithm could simultaneously identify users' mainstream and special tastes, resulting in better performance than the standard heat conduction algorithm. This work provides a creditable way for highly efficient information filtering.

Controlling resonant photonic transport along optical waveguides by two-level atoms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan Conghua; College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068; Wei Lianfu

2011-10-15

Recent works [Shen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 213001 (2005); Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 100501 (2008)] showed that the incident photons cannot transmit along an optical waveguide containing a resonant two-level atom (TLA). Here we propose an approach to overcome such a difficulty by using asymmetric couplings between the photons and a TLA. Our numerical results show that the transmission spectrum of the photon depends on both the frequency of the incident photons and the photon-TLA couplings. Consequently, this system can serve as a controllable photon attenuator, by which the transmission probability of the resonantly incidentmore » photons can be changed from 0% to 100%. A possible application to explain the recent experimental observations [Astafiev et al., Science 327, 840 (2010)] is also discussed.« less

Constraining some Horndeski gravity theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Sourav; Chakraborty, Sumanta

2017-02-01

We discuss two spherically symmetric solutions admitted by the Horndeski (or scalar-tensor) theory in the context of Solar System and astrophysical scenarios. One of these solutions is derived for Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, while the other originates from the coupling of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant with a scalar field. Specifically, we discuss the perihelion precession and the bending angle of light for these two different spherically symmetric spacetimes derived in Maeda and Dadhich [Phys. Rev. D 75, 044007 (2007), 10.1103/PhysRevD.75.044007] and Sotiriou and Zhou [Phys. Rev. D 90, 124063 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevD.90.124063], respectively. The latter, in particular, applies only to black-hole spacetimes. We further delineate on the numerical bounds of relevant parameters of these theories from such computations.

A Brief History of the Institute of Theoretical Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1978

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jinyan, Liu

2014-03-01

The Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP), Chinese academy of Sciences (CAS), founded in June 1978, is a specialized institute studying major issues in the fundamental research of theoretical physics. ITP has played an important role in the development of theoretical physics in China, especially in organizing and undertaking major national projects, expanding international exchanges and cooperation, and nurturing advanced researchers. My presentation will examine the reasons why ITP was founded in 1978 and why Peng Huanwu and Zhou Guangzhao, two prominent Chinese theorists, were chosen as the first and second directors of ITP. Moreover, I will summarize ITP's scientific activities and achievements in the past 35 years. Last but not least, I will compare ITP with university physics departments and explore its unique characters (both strength and weakness).

Photodissociation of Small Molecules and Photoionization of Free Radicals Using the VUV Velocity-Map Imaging Photoion and Photoelectron Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Hong

The tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser generated through the two-photon resonance-enhanced four-wave mixing scheme is combined with the newly developed time-slice velocity map imaging photoion method to study the photodissociation of small molecules in the VUV region, and with the velocity map imaging photoelectron method to study the photoionization of free radicals. The photodissociation dynamics of NO in the energy region around 13.5 eV has been investigated. Branching ratios of the three lowest dissociation channels of 12C 16O that produce C(3P) + O(3P), C( 1D) + O(3P) and C(3P) + O(1D) are measured for the first time in the VUV region from 102,500 cm-1 to 110,500 cm-1, valuable information of the dissociation dynamics for this prototype system has been deduced. We demonstrated an experiment that has two independently tunable VUV lasers and a time-slice velocity map imaging setup, this provides us a global way to perform systematic state-selected photodissociation of small molecules via state-selected detection of the atomic products in the VUV region. The velocity map imaging photoelectron method was successfully used to obtain the photoelectron spectrum of the propargyl radical (C3H3) via a single VUV photoionization process. The propargyl radical is generated by the 193 nm laser photodissociation of the precursor C3H3Cl. This is the first time that the velocity map imaging photoelectron method is used to get the photoelectron spectra of free radicals, indicating that it is a powerful technique for studying the photoionization of free radicals which are always hard to be produced with high enough number densities for spectroscopic studies. This dissertation is mainly based on the following peer-reviewed journal articles: 1. Hong Gao, Yang Pan, Lei Yang, Jingang Zhou, C. Y. Ng and William M. Jackson. "Time-slice velocity-map ion imaging studies of the Photodissociation of NO in the vacuum ultraviolet region", the Journal of Chemical Physics, 136, 134302

Shock ignition of thermonuclear fuel with high areal density.

PubMed

Betti, R; Zhou, C D; Anderson, K S; Perkins, L J; Theobald, W; Solodov, A A

2007-04-13

A novel method by C. Zhou and R. Betti [Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 50, 140 (2005)] to assemble and ignite thermonuclear fuel is presented. Massive cryogenic shells are first imploded by direct laser light with a low implosion velocity and on a low adiabat leading to fuel assemblies with large areal densities. The assembled fuel is ignited from a central hot spot heated by the collision of a spherically convergent ignitor shock and the return shock. The resulting fuel assembly features a hot-spot pressure greater than the surrounding dense fuel pressure. Such a nonisobaric assembly requires a lower energy threshold for ignition than the conventional isobaric one. The ignitor shock can be launched by a spike in the laser power or by particle beams. The thermonuclear gain can be significantly larger than in conventional isobaric ignition for equal driver energy.

Receptor-like kinases in plant innate immunity.

PubMed

Wu, Ying; Zhou, Jian-Min

2013-12-01

Plants employ a highly effective surveillance system to detect potential pathogens, which is critical for the success of land plants in an environment surrounded by numerous microbes. Recent efforts have led to the identification of a number of immune receptors and components of immune receptor complexes. It is now clear that receptor-like kinases (RLKs) and receptor-like proteins (RLPs) are key pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) for microbe- and plant-derived molecular patterns that are associated with pathogen invasion. RLKs and RLPs involved in immune signaling belong to large gene families in plants and have undergone lineage specific expansion. Molecular evolution and population studies on phytopathogenic molecular signatures and their receptors have provided crucial insight into the co-evolution between plants and pathogens. [Figure: see text] Jian-Min Zhou (Corresponding author). © 2013 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Information filtering via biased heat conduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jian-Guo; Zhou, Tao; Guo, Qiang

2011-09-01

The process of heat conduction has recently found application in personalized recommendation [Zhou , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA PNASA60027-842410.1073/pnas.1000488107107, 4511 (2010)], which is of high diversity but low accuracy. By decreasing the temperatures of small-degree objects, we present an improved algorithm, called biased heat conduction, which could simultaneously enhance the accuracy and diversity. Extensive experimental analyses demonstrate that the accuracy on MovieLens, Netflix, and Delicious datasets could be improved by 43.5%, 55.4% and 19.2%, respectively, compared with the standard heat conduction algorithm and also the diversity is increased or approximately unchanged. Further statistical analyses suggest that the present algorithm could simultaneously identify users' mainstream and special tastes, resulting in better performance than the standard heat conduction algorithm. This work provides a creditable way for highly efficient information filtering.

A new species of Clidicus with asymmetrical parameres (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).

PubMed

JaŁoszyŃski, PaweŁ

2018-03-20

Clidicus Laporte, 1832 currently comprises 27 species distributed in India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra), Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak), Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines (Mindanao), China (Hainan) and Australia (Queensland). Some species have conspicuously large adults reaching 8.5 mm, and they represent the largest known Scydmaeninae. Species of Clidicus were relatively poorly known until recently, when Orousset (2014) revised a large portion of this genus and described several new species. Other major studies include Besuchet (1971), who described Sri Lankan species, Jałoszyński et al. (2003) who recorded four new species from Vietnam and Laos, Jałoszyński (2009) with the first description of a Philippine species, and Zhou Li (2015), who discovered the first species in China. Another new species, representing the second Clidicus occurring in the Philippines, is described below.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Photometric variability search in the CSTAR field (Wang+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S.; Zhang, H.; Zhou, X.; Zhou, J.-L.; Fu, J.-N.; Yang, M.; Liu, H.; Xie, J.; Wang, L.; Wang, L.; Wittenmyer, R. A.; Ashley, M. C. B.; Feng, L.-L.; Gong, X.; Lawrence, J. S.; Liu, Q.; Luong-van, D. M.; Ma, J.; Peng, X.; Storey, J. W. V.; Wu, Z.; Yan, J.; Yang, H.; Yang, J.; Yuan, X.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, X.; Zhu, Z.; Zou, H.

2015-08-01

Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR), controlled from the PLATO autonomous observatory, consists of four fixed co-aligned 14.5cm (effective aperture of 10cm) telescopes, each with a different optical filter in SDSS bands: r, g, i, and open. CSTAR, the first photometric telescope to enter operation at Dome A, was successfully deployed in 2008 January and operated for the subsequent four winters until it was retrieved in 2012 to be repurposed. The data set analyzed in this work was collected from 2008 March 4 to August 8. In this observing season, about 1728hr observations provided some 0.3million i-band frames for 18145 stars with exposure times of 20s or 30s. A detailed description of the CSTAR observations in 2008 is given in Zhou et al. (2010, J/PASP/122/347). (3 data files).

[Try to discuss manipulation of the "Feijing Zouqi" needling technique].

PubMed

Zhou, Dan; Gao, Ying; Wang, Fu-chun

2008-03-01

Based on description of "Feijing Zouqi" needling methods in Jin Zhen Fu (Rhyme Prose of Golden Needle) written by Xu Feng, and explain and analyze the descriptions of "Feijing Zouqi" needling method in Zhenjiu Juying (A Collection of Gems in Acu-Moxibustion) written by Gao Wu, Zhenjiu Wendui written by Wang Ji, Zhenjiu Dacheng (Great Compendium on Acu-Moxibustion) written by Yang Ji-zhou, Yixue Rumen (Elementary Medicine) written by LI Chan and many other works, summarize the technique characteristics of all the "Feijing Zouqi" needling methods. The characteristic of "Qinglong Baiwei" needling method is " first toward the left, then toward the right, slowly move or adjust with the hand"; and "Baihu Yaotou" needling method emphasizes "Tuifang Jinyuan" and "Yaozhen "; key point of "Canggui Tanxue" needling method is "Zuanti Sifang"; Chifeng Yingyuan" needling method emphasizes "Siwei Feixuan".

Pole orientation of 16 Psyche by two independent methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tedesco, E. F.; Taylor, R. C.

1985-01-01

Nineteen new lightcurves of 16 Psyche are presented along with a pole orientation derived using two independent methods, namely, photometric astrometry and magnitude-amplitude-shape-aspect. The pole orientations found using these two methods agree to within 4 deg. The results from applying photometric astrometry were prograde rotation, a sidereal period of 0.1748143 days + or - 0.0000003 days, and a pole at longitude 223 deg and latitude +37 deg, with an uncertainty of 10 deg, and, from applying magnitude-amplitude-shape-aspect a pole at 220 + or - 1 deg, +40 + or - 4 deg, and a modeled triaxial ellipsoid shape (a greater than b greater than c) and a/b = 1.33 + or - 0.07. The discrepancy between the high-pole latitude found here and the low latitudes reported by Lupishko et al. (1982) and Zhou and Yang (1982) is discussed.

Differential utilization of TATA box-binding protein (TBP) and TBP-related factor 1 (TRF1) at different classes of RNA polymerase III promoters.

PubMed

Verma, Neha; Hung, Ko-Hsuan; Kang, Jin Joo; Barakat, Nermeen H; Stumph, William E

2013-09-20

In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, RNA polymerase III transcription was found to be dependent not upon the canonical TATA box-binding protein (TBP) but instead upon the TBP-related factor 1 (TRF1) (Takada, S., Lis, J. T., Zhou, S., and Tjian, R. (2000) Cell 101, 459-469). Here we confirm that transcription of fly tRNA genes requires TRF1. However, we unexpectedly find that U6 snRNA gene promoters are occupied primarily by TBP in cells and that knockdown of TBP, but not TRF1, inhibits U6 transcription in cells. Moreover, U6 transcription in vitro effectively utilizes TBP, whereas TBP cannot substitute for TRF1 to promote tRNA transcription in vitro. Thus, in fruit flies, different classes of RNA polymerase III promoters differentially utilize TBP and TRF1 for the initiation of transcription.

Comprehensive geobiological characterization of a bituminous carbonate facies with Ediacara-type fossils (Shibantan Member, South China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duda, Jan-Peter; Blumenberg, Martin; Thiel, Volker; Simon, Klaus; Zhu, Maoyan; Reitner, Joachim

2015-04-01

�13C = -31.7 to -36.3o VPDB) indicate a significant withdrawal of 12C by primary producers that thrived within the microbial mats. At the same time, sulphurised biomarkers in the bitumen and HyPy-treated extraction residue hint at organic matter decomposition and concomitant sulphide production by sulphate-reducing bacteria. Given the sedimentological evidence for periodical ventilation of the water column by storms, sulphide oxidising bacteria were possibly favoured whenever oxygen became available at the sediment-water interface. Taken together, the environments in which the microbial-mat-associated biota including Ediacara-type fossils throve were highly dynamic due to a complex interplay of geological and biological processes. References Chen Z., Zhou C., Xiao S., Wang W., Guan C., Hua H., Yuan X., 2014. New Ediacara fossils preserved in marine limestone and their ecological implications. Scientific Reports, 4 Ding Q. and Chen Y., 1981. Discovery of soft metazoan from the Sinian System along eastern Yangtze Gorge, Hubei. Journal of the Wuhan College of Geology, 2, 53-57. Shen, B., Xiao S., Zhou C., Yuan X., 2009. Yangtziramulus zhangi New Genus and Species, a Carbonate-Hosted Macrofossil from the Ediacaran Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges Area, South China. Journal of Paleontology, 83(4): 575-587. Sun W., 1986. Late precambrian pennatulids (sea pens) from the eastern Yangtze Gorge, China: Paracharnia gen. nov. Precambrian Research, 31(4), 361-375. Xiao S., Shen B., Zhou C., Xie G., Yuan X., 2005. A uniquely preserved Ediacaran fossil with direct evidence for a quilted bodyplan. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(29), 10227-10232.

Variations of the ionospheric parameters obtained from ground based measurements of ULF magnetic noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ermakova, Elena; Kotik, Dmitry; Bösinger, Tilmann

2016-07-01

The dynamics of the amplitude spectra and polarization parameter (epsilon)[1] of magnetic ULF noise were investigated during different seasons and high geomagnetic activity time using the data on the horizontal magnetic components monitoring at mid-latitude (New Life, Russia, 56 N, 46 E) and low-latitude stations (Crete, 35.15 N, 25.20 E). It was found that abrupt changes in the spectral polarization parameters can be linked as with variation of height of maximum and the electron density of the F-layer, and with a change in ionospheric parameters profiles at lower altitudes, for example, with the appearance of sporadic Es-layers and intermediate layers, located between the E and F-layers. It was detected the peculiarities in the daily dynamics of the epsilon parameter at low latitudes: a) the appearance in some cases more complicated than in the mid-latitudes, epsilon structure of the spectrum associated with the presence of two different values of the boundary frequency fB [2]; b) a decreasing of fB near local midnight observed in 70% of cases; c) observation of typical for dark time epsilon spectra after sunrise in the winter season. The numerical calculations of epsilon parameter were made using the IRI-2012 model with setting the models of sporadic and intermediate layers. The results revealed the dependence of the polarization spectra of the intensity and height of such thin layers. The specific changes in the electron density at altitudes of 80-350 km during the recovery phase of strong magnetic storms were defined basing on a comparative analysis of the experimental spectra and the results of the numerical calculations. References. 1. E. N. Ermakova, D. S. Kotik, A. V.Ryabov, A. V.Pershin, T. B.osinger, and Q. Zhou, Studying the variation of the broadband spectral maximum parameters in the natural ULF fields, Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics, Vol. 55, No. 10-11, March, 2013 p. 605-615. 2. T. Bosinger, A. G. Demekhov, E. N. Ermakova, C. Haldoupis and Q

Phase equilibria modelling and zircon dating for Precambrian metapelites from Xinghuadukou Group in Lvlin Forest of Erguna Massif, NE China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jiulei; Zheng, Changqing; Tajcmanova, Lucie; Zhong, Xin; Xu, Xuechun; Han, Xiaomeng; Wang, Zhaoyuan

2017-04-01

Xinghuadukou Group, the basement metamorphic complex of Erguna Massif in NE China, is considered to be Mesoproterozoic with Sm-Nd age of 1157±32 Ma. However, the new zircon data from these metamorphic supracrustal rocks in Lvlin Forest show that they formed in Neoproterozoic with the age of 800 Ma. Old zircon age with 2.5 Ga, 2.0 Ga and 1.8 Ga, indicate that the Erguna Massif had an affinity to both Columbia and Rodinia continents. Furthermore, we also present 500 Ma metamorphic age in micashists and 500 Ma age of adjacent granitoids that might have thermally influenced its surrounding. No detailed studies have been undertaken on the metamorphic evolution of the Xinghuadukou Complex. The typical paragneissic mineral assemblage of garnet sillimanite mica schist is Grt+Sil+Bt+Mus+Qtz±Kfs. (Zhou et al., 2011) proposed that the Xinghuadukou Complex appears to have undergone similar granulite facies metamorphic conditions based on the similarity of mineral assemblages to the Mashan Complex in the Jiamusi Massif, NE China. However, the new phase equilibria modelling result shows that these rocks are high amphibolite facies product with 650℃. We can easily find K-feldspar formed by partial melting due to the consuming of muscovite. Also the remaining muscovite is directly connected with a fluid channel in thin sections which indicate that the remaining muscovite formed from retrograde with the existence of fluid. The zoned garnet has low MgO and high CaO content in rims and high MgO and low CaO content in core. It seems that this garnet has high pressure and low temperature (HP-LT) in rims and low pressure and high temperature (LP-HT) in core which would point to an anti-clockwise metamorphic evolution. Zhou, J.B., Wilde, S.A., Zhang, X.Z., Zhao, G.C., Liu, F.L., Qiao, D.W., Ren, S.M. and Liu, J.H., 2011b. A> 1300km late Pan-African metamorphic belt in NE China: new evidence from the Xing'an block and its tectonic implications. Tectonophysics, 509(3): 280-292.

Mechanisms for the cooling of the central eastern Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chunlei; Allan, Richard

2017-04-01

The sea surface temperature variation over the Central Eastern Pacific (CEP) controls the global mean surface temperature variation (Kosaka and Xie, 2013). The regional cooling over CEP is directly linked to the surface warming slowdown in last twenty years. It is important to understand the mechanisms of the CEP cooling in the warming climate in order to have a robust prediction of the future climate change. Previous studies showed the CEP cooling is related to the pronounced strengthening in Pacific trade winds over the past two decades, which is sufficient to account for the cooling of the CEP and a substantial slowdown in surface warming through increased subsurface ocean heat uptake in the Pacific shallow overturning cells and equatorial upwelling in the CEP (England et al., 2014). By analysing the cloud data, Zhou et al. (2016) showed the increase of the lower cloud cover (LCC) over the CEP area contributed to the cooling, resulting in positive local feedback and negative global feedback. Using the data from observations, ERA-Interim reanalysis and atmospheric climate simulations, our study shows that the increasing Latent Heat (LH) also plays an important role in the CEP cooling (Liu et al., 2015). After the sensitivity test using the bulk formula, it showed that both wind and total column water vapour content contribute to the cooling trends of the SST in CEP. The observed trends of the wind and LH in CEP also confirmed this. England et al. (2014) Recent intensification of wind-driven circulation in the Pacific and the ongoing warming hiatus, Nat. Clim. Change, 4, 222-227, doi:10.1038/nclimate2106. Kosaka, Y., and S. P. Xie (2013), Recent global-warming hiatus tied to equatorial Pacific surface cooling, Nature, 501, 403-407, doi:10.1038/nature12534. Liu et al. (2015) Combining satellite observations and reanalysis energy transports to estimate global net surface energy fluxes 1985-2012. J. Geophys. Res. , Atmospheres. ISSN 2169-8996 doi: 10.1002/2015JD

The SZ-5 Spaceship Orbit Changes During The 2003 "Halloween Storm"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, C.; Liu, D.; Guo, J.

2017-12-01

We analyse the daily major semi-axis variations of SZ-5 (ShenZhou V) spaceship during Oct. 20 to Dec. 30 in 2003, which includes the period of the 2003 "Halloween Storm". The significant orbital decay has been observed in late October due to the great solar flares and the severe geomagnetic storms. According to the equation of the air-drag-force on a spacecraft and the SZ-5 orbital decay information, we derive the thermospheric density relative changes during the 2003 "Halloween Storm" and compare the results with the Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Radar Extended Model (NRLMSISE-00). The analyses show that the thermosperic density (at the altitude of SZ-5, about 350 km) in storm time enchances to approximately three times as much as that in the quiet time but the empirical model may underestimate the thermospheric density changes during this severe storm.

Momentary Conscious Pairing Eliminates Unconscious-Stimulus Influences on Task Selection

PubMed Central

Zhou, Fanzhi Anita; Davis, Greg

2012-01-01

Task selection, previously thought to operate only under conscious, voluntary control, can be activated by unconsciously-perceived stimuli. In most cases, such activation is observed for unconscious stimuli that closely resemble other conscious, task-relevant stimuli and hence may simply reflect perceptual activation of consciously established stimulus-task associations. However, other studies have reported ‘direct’ unconscious-stimulus influences on task selection in the absence of any conscious, voluntary association between that stimulus and task (e.g., Zhou and Davis, 2012). In new experiments, described here, these latter influences on cued- and free-choice task selection appear robust and long-lived, yet, paradoxically, are suppressed to undetectable levels following momentary conscious prime-task pairing. Assessing, and rejecting, three intuitive explanations for such suppressive effects, we conclude that conscious prime-task pairing minimizes non-strategic influences of unconscious stimuli on task selection, insulating endogenous choice mechanisms from maladaptive external control. PMID:23050012

Intraday return inefficiency and long memory in the volatilities of forex markets and the role of trading volume

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain; Hernandez, Jose Areola; Hanif, Waqas; Kayani, Ghulam Mujtaba

2018-09-01

We investigate the dynamics of efficiency and long memory, and the impact of trading volume on the efficiency of returns and volatilities of four major traded currencies, namely, the EUR, GBP, CHF and JPY. We do so by implementing full sample and rolling window multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) and a quantile-on-quantile (QQ) approach. This paper sheds new light by employing high frequency (5-min interval) data spanning from Jan 1, 2007 to Dec 31, 2016. Realized volatilities are estimated using Andersen et al.'s (2001) measure, while the QQ method employed is drawn from Sim and Zhou (2015). We find evidence of higher efficiency levels in the JPY and CHF currency markets. The impact of trading volume on efficiency is only significant for the JPY and CHF currencies. The GBP currency appears to be the least efficient, followed by the EUR. Implications of the results are discussed.

Exact solution for a two-phase Stefan problem with variable latent heat and a convective boundary condition at the fixed face

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bollati, Julieta; Tarzia, Domingo A.

2018-04-01

Recently, in Tarzia (Thermal Sci 21A:1-11, 2017) for the classical two-phase Lamé-Clapeyron-Stefan problem an equivalence between the temperature and convective boundary conditions at the fixed face under a certain restriction was obtained. Motivated by this article we study the two-phase Stefan problem for a semi-infinite material with a latent heat defined as a power function of the position and a convective boundary condition at the fixed face. An exact solution is constructed using Kummer functions in case that an inequality for the convective transfer coefficient is satisfied generalizing recent works for the corresponding one-phase free boundary problem. We also consider the limit to our problem when that coefficient goes to infinity obtaining a new free boundary problem, which has been recently studied in Zhou et al. (J Eng Math 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10665-017-9921-y).

Supernova 2011by in NGC 3972 = Psn J11554556+5519338

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waagen, Elizabeth O.

2011-04-01

Announces discovery of SN 2011by = PSN J11554556+5519338 by Zhangwei Jin (Ningbo, Zhejiang, China) and Xing Gao (Urumqi, Xinjiang, China) on 2011 Apr. 26.8234 UT at magnitude ~14.2 (unfiltered CCD). Spectra obtained on 2011 Apr. 27.5 UT by T. Zhang and Z. Zhou (National Astronomical Observatories of China) and X. Wang (Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University) show SN 2011by to be a type-Ia supernova about 10 days before maximum. Initially announced in IAU CBAT Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams 2708 (Daniel W. E. Green, ed.). The object was designated PSN J11554556+5519338 when posted on the Central Bureau's Transient Objects Confirmation Page (TOCP) webpage. Finder charts with sequence may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (http://www.aavso.org/vsp). Observations should be submitted to the AAVSO International Database. See full Alert Notice for more details, observations, and links to images.

Controlling resonant photonic transport along optical waveguides by two-level atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Cong-Hua; Wei, Lian-Fu; Jia, Wen-Zhi; Shen, Jung-Tsung

2011-10-01

Recent works [Shen , Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.95.213001 95, 213001 (2005); Zhou , Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.101.100501 101, 100501 (2008)] showed that the incident photons cannot transmit along an optical waveguide containing a resonant two-level atom (TLA). Here we propose an approach to overcome such a difficulty by using asymmetric couplings between the photons and a TLA. Our numerical results show that the transmission spectrum of the photon depends on both the frequency of the incident photons and the photon-TLA couplings. Consequently, this system can serve as a controllable photon attenuator, by which the transmission probability of the resonantly incident photons can be changed from 0% to 100%. A possible application to explain the recent experimental observations [Astafiev , ScienceSCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.1181918 327, 840 (2010)] is also discussed.

SPOT-ligand 2: improving structure-based virtual screening by binding-homology search on an expanded structural template library.

PubMed

Litfin, Thomas; Zhou, Yaoqi; Yang, Yuedong

2017-04-15

The high cost of drug discovery motivates the development of accurate virtual screening tools. Binding-homology, which takes advantage of known protein-ligand binding pairs, has emerged as a powerful discrimination technique. In order to exploit all available binding data, modelled structures of ligand-binding sequences may be used to create an expanded structural binding template library. SPOT-Ligand 2 has demonstrated significantly improved screening performance over its previous version by expanding the template library 15 times over the previous one. It also performed better than or similar to other binding-homology approaches on the DUD and DUD-E benchmarks. The server is available online at http://sparks-lab.org . yaoqi.zhou@griffith.edu.au or yuedong.yang@griffith.edu.au. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

COMMITTEES: SQM2008-International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter SQM2008-International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-04-01

Local Organising Committee Xiangzhou Cai (SINPA) Weiqin Chao (CCAST) Liewen Chen (SJTU) Jianping Cheng (Tsinghua University) Jinghua Fu (CCNU) Yuanning Gao (Tsinghua University) Xiaomei Li (CIAE) Zuotang Liang (Shandong University) Feng Liu (CCNU), Co-chair Yuxin Liu (PKU) Qing Wang (Tsinghua University) Qun Wang (USTC) Hushan Xu (IMP) Daicui Zhou (CCNU) Pengfei Zhuang (Tsinghua University), Co-chair Bingsong Zou (IHEP) International Advisory Committee Jörg Aichelin, Nantes Federico Antinori, Padova Tamás Biró, Budapest Peter Braun-Munzinger, GSI Jean Cleymans, Cape Town László Csernai, Bergen Timothy Hallman, BNL Huan Zhong Huang, UCLA Takeshi Kodama, Rio de Janeiro Carlos Lourenço, CERN Yu-Gang Ma, Shanghai Jes Masden, Aarhus Yasuo Miake, Tsukuba Berndt Müller, Duke Grazyna Odyniec, LBNL Helmut Oeschler, Darmstadt Johann Rafelski, Arizona Hans Georg Ritter, LBNL Karel Šafařík, CERN Jack Sandweiss, Yale George S F Stephans, MIT Horst Stöcker, Frankfurt Thomas Ullrich, BNL Nu Xu, LBNL William A Zajc, Columbia

Studies of Coherent Synchrotron Radiation with the Discontinuous Galerkin Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bizzozero, David A.

In this thesis, we present methods for integrating Maxwell's equations in Frenet-Serret coordinates in several settings using discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method codes in 1D, 2D, and 3D. We apply these routines to the study of coherent synchrotron radiation, an important topic in accelerator physics. We build upon the published computational work of T. Agoh and D. Zhou in solving Maxwell's equations in the frequency-domain using a paraxial approximation which reduces Maxwell's equations to a Schrodinger-like system. We also evolve Maxwell's equations in the time-domain using a Fourier series decomposition with 2D DG motivated by an experiment performed at the Canadian Light Source. A comparison between theory and experiment has been published (Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 204801 (2015)). Lastly, we devise a novel approach to integrating Maxwell's equations with 3D DG using a Galilean transformation and demonstrate proof-of-concept. In the above studies, we examine the accuracy, efficiency, and convergence of DG.

A net reproductive number for periodic matrix models.

PubMed

Cushing, J M; Ackleh, A S

2012-01-01

We give a definition of a net reproductive number R (0) for periodic matrix models of the type used to describe the dynamics of a structured population with periodic parameters. The definition is based on the familiar method of studying a periodic map by means of its (period-length) composite. This composite has an additive decomposition that permits a generalization of the Cushing-Zhou definition of R (0) in the autonomous case. The value of R (0) determines whether the population goes extinct (R (0)<1) or persists (R (0)>1). We discuss the biological interpretation of this definition and derive formulas for R (0) for two cases: scalar periodic maps of arbitrary period and periodic Leslie models of period 2. We illustrate the use of the definition by means of several examples and by applications to case studies found in the literature. We also make some comparisons of this definition of R (0) with another definition given recently by Bacaër.

Good gibbons and evil macaques: a historical review on cognitive features of non-human primates in Chinese traditional culture.

PubMed

Zhang, Peng

2015-07-01

For several thousand years the ancient Chinese have accumulated rich knowledge, in the form of written literature and folklore, on the non-human primates widely distributed in China. I have used critical text analysis and discourse analysis to clarify when and how ancient Chinese distinguished gibbons from macaques. I divided the progress into four main stages, the Pre-Shang to Shang dynasty (before 1046 BC), the Zhou to Han dynasty (1046 BC-220 AD), the six dynasties to Song dynasty (220-1279 AD), and the Yuan to Qing dynasties (1279-1840 AD). I found that China's traditional cognition of gibbons and macaques emphasized the appearance of animals, organoleptic performance, or even whether or not their behavior was "moral". They described them as human-like animals by ethical standards but ignored the species itself. This kind of cognitive style actually embodies the "pursuit of goodness", which is the feature of Chinese traditional culture. This study presents some original views on Chinese traditional knowledge of non-human primates.

[Textual criticism and discrimination on the naming of"Five-abstention Soup of Medical Professional"from the Han-tomb of the Marquis of Haihun].

PubMed

Wang, Y R; Yuan, Y; Xu, C Q; Cao, L J; Wang, Y L; Huang, L Q

2017-05-28

A lacquer vessel with the inscription of Yi gong wu jin tang (Five-abstention Soup of Medical Profession) has been unearthed from the Han-tomb of Marquis of Haihun, in which"Five abstentions"is related to the incantations and abstention therapies prevalent in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The"Five-abstention Law"is the five rituals and methods during the process of practicing incantations and abstentions therapies including"keeping one's thinking ( cun si )","holding the breath( bi qi )","twirling eyes ( nian mu )","stepping after Yu's sample ( yu bu )"and"incanting and blessing ( zhou zhu )". The"Five-abstention Law"uses the medium"soup"to achieve the purpose of treatment."Soup"refers either to"decoction"or to"magic water". The lacquer vessel with the inscription"Five-abstention Soup of Medical professional"could be an instrument for implementing the process of practising the"Five-abstention Law", reflecting the historical facts that Liu He, the Marquis Haihun did accept the incantations and abstention therapies.

Optical quasi-soliton solutions for higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation with variable coefficients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jiefang; Yang, Qin; Dai, Chaoqing

2005-04-01

Optical quasi-soliton solutions for higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation (HNLS) with variable coefficients are considered. Based on the extended tanh-function method, we successfully obtained bright and dark quasi-soliton solutions under certain parametric conditions. We conclude that the parameter k(z) is unnecessary to be zero compared with [R. Yang et al., Opt. Commun. 242 (2004) 285]. Furthermore, we choose appropriate optical fiber parameters D2(z) and D3(z) to control the velocity of quasi-soliton and time shift, and discuss the evolution behavior of the special quasi-soliton. For D3(z) = α(z) = f(z) = 0, that is to say, under the absence of the higher order terms, we give same results as early reported in [R.Y. Hao, L. Li, Z.H. Li, W.R. Xue, G.S. Zhou, Opt. Commun. 236 (2004) 79]. As discussed examples, we also analyze three optical systems with real physical significance and obtain results which can be recovered in earlier papers.

High-throughput metagenomic technologies for complex microbial community analysis: open and closed formats.

PubMed

Zhou, Jizhong; He, Zhili; Yang, Yunfeng; Deng, Ye; Tringe, Susannah G; Alvarez-Cohen, Lisa

2015-01-27

Understanding the structure, functions, activities and dynamics of microbial communities in natural environments is one of the grand challenges of 21st century science. To address this challenge, over the past decade, numerous technologies have been developed for interrogating microbial communities, of which some are amenable to exploratory work (e.g., high-throughput sequencing and phenotypic screening) and others depend on reference genes or genomes (e.g., phylogenetic and functional gene arrays). Here, we provide a critical review and synthesis of the most commonly applied "open-format" and "closed-format" detection technologies. We discuss their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages within the context of environmental applications and focus on analysis of complex microbial systems, such as those in soils, in which diversity is high and reference genomes are few. In addition, we discuss crucial issues and considerations associated with applying complementary high-throughput molecular technologies to address important ecological questions. Copyright © 2015 Zhou et al.

Temperature dependent mechanical property of PZT film: an investigation by nanoindentation.

PubMed

Li, Yingwei; Feng, Shangming; Wu, Wenping; Li, Faxin

2015-01-01

Load-depth curves of an unpoled Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) film composite as a function of temperature were measured by nanoindentation technique. Its reduce modulus and hardness were calculated by the typical Oliver-Pharr method. Then the true modulus and hardness of the PZT film were assessed by decoupling the influence of substrate using methods proposed by Zhou et al. and Korsunsky et al., respectively. Results show that the indentation depth and modulus increase, but the hardness decreases at elevated temperature. The increasing of indentation depth and the decreasing of hardness are thought to be caused by the decreasing of the critical stress needed to excite dislocation initiation at high temperature. The increasing of true modulus is attributed to the reducing of recoverable indentation depth induced by back-switched domains. The influence of residual stress on the indentation behavior of PZT film composite was also investigated by measuring its load-depth curves with pre-load strains.

Temperature Dependent Mechanical Property of PZT Film: An Investigation by Nanoindentation

PubMed Central

Li, Yingwei; Feng, Shangming; Wu, Wenping; Li, Faxin

2015-01-01

Load-depth curves of an unpoled Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) film composite as a function of temperature were measured by nanoindentation technique. Its reduce modulus and hardness were calculated by the typical Oliver-Pharr method. Then the true modulus and hardness of the PZT film were assessed by decoupling the influence of substrate using methods proposed by Zhou et al. and Korsunsky et al., respectively. Results show that the indentation depth and modulus increase, but the hardness decreases at elevated temperature. The increasing of indentation depth and the decreasing of hardness are thought to be caused by the decreasing of the critical stress needed to excite dislocation initiation at high temperature. The increasing of true modulus is attributed to the reducing of recoverable indentation depth induced by back-switched domains. The influence of residual stress on the indentation behavior of PZT film composite was also investigated by measuring its load-depth curves with pre-load strains. PMID:25768957

Equivalence of two approaches for modeling ion permeation through a transmembrane channel with an internal binding site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Huan-Xiang

2011-04-01

Ion permeation through transmembrane channels has traditionally been modeled using two different approaches. In one approach, the translocation of the permeant ion through the channel pore is modeled as continuous diffusion and the rate of ion transport is obtained from solving the steady-state diffusion equation. In the other approach, the translocation of the permeant ion through the pore is modeled as hopping along a discrete set of internal binding sites and the rate of ion transport is obtained from solving a set of steady-state rate equations. In a recent work [Zhou, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 1, 1973 (2010)], the rate constants for binding to an internal site were further calculated by modeling binding as diffusion-influenced reactions. That work provided the foundation for bridging the two approaches. Here we show that, by representing a binding site as an energy well, the two approaches indeed give the same result for the rate of ion transport.

Effects of space flight exposure on cell growth, tumorigenicity and gene expression in cancer cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Cheng; Li, Yuehui; Zhang, Zhijie; Luo, Chen; Tong, Yongqing; Zhou, Guohua; Xie, Pingli; Hu, Jinyue; Li, Guancheng

2008-12-01

It is well recognized that harsh outer space environment, consisting of microgravity and radiation, poses significant health risks for human cells. To investigate potential effects of the space environment exposure on cancer cells we examined the biological changes in Caski cells carried by the "Shen Zhou IV" spaceship. After exposure for 7 days in spaceflight, 1440 survival subclonal cell lines were established and 4 cell lines were screened. 44F10 and 17E3 were selected because of their increased cell proliferation and tumorigenesis, while 48A9 and 31F2 had slower cytological events. Experiments with cell proliferation assay, flow cytometry, soft agar assay, tumorigenesis assay and DNA microarray analysis have shown that selected cell lines presented multiple biological changes in cell morphology, cell growth, tumorigenicity and gene expression. These results suggest that space environment exposure can make significant biological impact on cancer cells and provide an entry point to find the immunological target of tumorigenesis.

Polarized optical absorption and photoluminescence measurements in single-crystal thin films of 4'-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium tosylate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhowmik, Achintya K.; Xu, Jianjun; Thakur, Mrinal

1999-11-01

Single-crystal thin films of the anhydrous (red) and the hydrated (orange) phases of the organic salt 4'-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium tosylate were grown by a modification of the shear method. The optical absorption coefficients of the films were measured with light polarized along and normal to the dipole/molecular axis at both resonant and off-resonant wavelengths, and a strong dichroism was observed at the resonant wavelengths. The absorption measurements are important considering potential applications of these films (red phase) in high-speed single-pass thin-film electro-optic modulators [M. Thakur, J. Xu, A. Bhowmik, and L. Zhou, Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 635 (1999)] and other photonic devices. Highly polarized photoluminescence (PL) has been observed in these films. The PL efficiencies of the red- and orange-phase single-crystal films were measured to be about 12% and 14%, respectively, which are significantly higher than the maximum PL efficiency measured in solution (3%).

Estimation of Carbon Sink in Surface Carbonate Rocks of Guangxi Province by Using Remote Sensing Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, B.; Zhou, G.; Wang, H.; Yue, T.; Huang, W.

2018-04-01

Studies of the imbalance of source sinks in the carbon cycle show that CO2 absorbed during rock weathering is part of the "miss carbon" of the global carbon cycle. The carbon sink contribution of carbonate rocks obviously plays a very important role in the absorption of atmospheric CO2. Estimation of carbon sinks in karst dynamic system of Guangxi province has great significance for further understanding of global karst carbon cycle and global climate research. This paper quotes the rock data from Tao Xiaodong's paper, which is obtained using RS and GIS techniques. At the same time, the dissolution rate model studied by Zhou Guoqing and others was used to estimate the dissolution rate of carbonate rocks in Guangxi Province. Finally, the CO2 content consumed by carbonate karstification in Guangxi Province was 1342910.447 t a-1. The results obtained are in the same order of magnitude as the CO2 content consumed by carbonate rock karstification in Guangxi Province calculated by Tao Xiaodong.

Water use efficiency and integrated water resource management for river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Xiangzheng; Singh, R. B.; Liu, Junguo; Güneralp, Burak

Water use efficiency and management have attracted increasing attention as water has become scare to challenge the world's sustainable development. Water use efficiency is correlated to the land use and cover changes (LUCC), population distribution, industrial structure, economic development, climate changes, and environmental governance. These factors significantly alter water productivity for water balance through the changes in natural environment and socio-economic system (Wang et al., 2015b). Consequently, dynamics of water inefficiency lower the social welfare of water allocation (Wang et al., 2015b), and induce water management alternation interactively and financially (Wang et al., 2015a). This triggers on actual water price changes through both natural resource and socioeconomic system (Zhou et al., 2015). Therefore, it is very important to figure out a mechanism of water allocation in the course of LUCC (Jin et al., 2015) at a global perspective (Zhao et al., 2015), climate and economic changes of ecosystem service at various spatial and temporal scales (Li et al., 2015).

Dynamics of the Spin Liquid Phase of Cs2CuCl4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Ookie; Vachon, Marc-Andre; Mitrovi{Ć}, Vesna F.; Marston, Brad

2008-03-01

The dynamics of a spin-liquid phase of an antiferromagnet on the anisotropic triangular lattice and in a magnetic field are studied with a combination of Gutzwiller-projected wavefunctions and mean-field theory. Candidate ground states that support fermionic gapless spinon excitations include four different U(1) spin liquidsootnotetextY. Zhou, X. G. Wen, cond-mat/0210662 (2003).. The lattice and the states interpolate between limiting cases of 1D decoupled chains (J/J^' = 0) and the isotropic 2D square lattice (J/J^'= ∞). Parameters of the mean field theory are chosen to minimize the ground state energy of the corresponding Gutzwiller-projected wavefunction. The spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1, calculated within the mean-field approximation, is compared to NMR measurementsootnotetextM. A. Vachon, O. Ma, J. B. Marston, V. F. Mitrovi'c, unpublished (2007). in the spin liquid phase of Cs2CuCl4ootnotetextY. Tokiwa, T. Radu, R. Coldea, H. Wilhelm, Z. Tylczynski, F. Steglich, PRB 73, 134414 (2006)..

Physical consequences of the mitochondrial targeting of single-walled carbon nanotubes probed computationally

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chistyakov, V. A.; Zolotukhin, P. V.; Prazdnova, E. V.; Alperovich, I.; Soldatov, A. V.

2015-06-01

Experiments by F. Zhou and coworkers (2010) [16] showed that mitochondria are the main target of the cellular accumulation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Our in silico experiments, based on geometrical optimization of the system consisting of SWCNT+proton within Density Functional Theory, revealed that protons can bind to the outer side of SWCNT so generating a positive charge. Calculation results allow one to propose the following mechanism of SWCNTs mitochondrial targeting. SWCNTs enter the space between inner and outer membranes of mitochondria, where the excess of protons has been formed by diffusion. In this compartment SWCNTs are loaded with protons and acquire positive charges distributed over their surface. Protonation of hydrophobic SWCNTs can also be carried out within the mitochondrial membrane through interaction with the protonated ubiquinone. Such "charge loaded" particles can be transferred as "Sculachev ions" through the inner membrane of the mitochondria due to the potential difference generated by the inner membrane. Physiological consequences of the described mechanism are discussed.

[Development and future of minimally invasive surgery in western China].

PubMed

Yu, Peiwu; Hao, Yingxue

2017-03-25

There are vast land and lots of people in western China, but the economy developing is relatively slow. However, the minimally invasive surgery was carried out firstly in China. Moreover, the type, number and difficulty of the minimally invasive surgery increased year by year. Especially, in the western area of China, Dr Zhou Zongguang, Yu Peiwu and Zheng Shuguo et al. have performed much pioneering work in laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer, gastric cancer and laparoscopic liver resection. They led the standard development of minimally invasive in China. In the future, western China should continue to strengthen the standardized training of minimally invasive surgery, make great effort to carry out evidence-based research of minimally invasive surgery, provide evidences of high level of clinical application in minimally invasive surgery. At the same time, we should carry out the robotic and 3D laparoscopic surgery actively, leading the development of minimally invasive surgery more standardized and more widespread in western China.

Folding free energy surfaces of three small proteins under crowding: validation of the postprocessing method by direct simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Sanbo; Mittal, Jeetain; Zhou, Huan-Xiang

2013-08-01

We have developed a ‘postprocessing’ method for modeling biochemical processes such as protein folding under crowded conditions (Qin and Zhou 2009 Biophys. J. 97 12-19). In contrast to the direct simulation approach, in which the protein undergoing folding is simulated along with crowders, the postprocessing method requires only the folding simulation without crowders. The influence of the crowders is then obtained by taking conformations from the crowder-free simulation and calculating the free energies of transferring to the crowders. This postprocessing yields the folding free energy surface of the protein under crowding. Here the postprocessing results for the folding of three small proteins under ‘repulsive’ crowding are validated by those obtained previously by the direct simulation approach (Mittal and Best 2010 Biophys. J. 98 315-20). This validation confirms the accuracy of the postprocessing approach and highlights its distinct advantages in modeling biochemical processes under cell-like crowded conditions, such as enabling an atomistic representation of the test proteins.

Log-periodic crashes revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsushita, Raul; da Silva, Sergio; Figueiredo, Annibal; Gleria, Iram

2006-05-01

We revisit the finding that crashes can be deterministic and governed by log-periodic formulas [D. Sornette, A. Johansen, Significance of log-periodic precursors to financial crashes, Quant. Finance 1 (2001) 452-471; D. Sornette, W.X. Zhou, The US 2000-2002 market descent: how much longer and deeper?, Quant. Finance 2 (2002) 468-481]. One- and two-harmonic equations are usually employed to fit daily data during bubble episodes. But a three-harmonics has been shown to fit anti-bubbles [A. Johansen, D. Sornette, Financial “anti-bubbles”: log-periodicity in gold and Nikkei collapses, Int. J. Mod. Phys. C 10 (1999) 563-575]. Here we show that the three-harmonic formula can work for bubble episodes as well as anti-bubbles. This is illustrated with daily data from the Brazilian real-US dollar exchange rate. And we also show that the three-harmonics can fit an intraday data set from that foreign exchange rate.

Monodomain dynamics for rigid rod and platelet suspensions in strongly coupled coplanar linear flow and magnetic fields. II. Kinetic theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forest, M. Gregory; Sircar, Sarthok; Wang, Qi; Zhou, Ruhai

2006-10-01

. Zhang, Comm. Math. Sci. 3, 201 (2005); C. Luo, H. Zhang, and P. Zhang, Nonlinearity 18, 379 (2005); I. Fatkullin and V. Slastikov, Nonlinearity 18, 2565 (2005); H. Zhou, H. Wang, Q. Wang, and M. G. Forest, Nonlinearity 18, 2815 (2005)] and extensional flow-induced equilibria [Q. Wang, S. Sircar, and H. Zhou, Comm. Math. Sci. 4, 605 (2005)]. We predict large parameter regions of bi-stable equilibria; the lowest energy state always has principal axis aligned in the flow plane, while another minimum energy state often exists, with primary alignment transverse to the coplanar field.

Recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from alkaline fermentation liquid of waste activated sludge and application of the fermentation liquid to promote biological municipal wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Tong, Juan; Chen, Yinguang

2009-07-01

In previous publications we reported that by controlling the pH at 10.0 the accumulation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) during waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentation was remarkably improved [Yuan, H., Chen, Y., Zhang, H., Jiang, S., Zhou, Q., Gu, G., 2006. Improved bioproduction of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from excess sludge under alkaline conditions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40, 2025-2029], but significant ammonium nitrogen (NH(4)-N) and soluble ortho-phosphorus (SOP) were released [Chen, Y., Jiang, S., Yuan, H., Zhou, Q., Gu, G., 2007. Hydrolysis and acidification of waste activated sludge at different pHs. Water Res. 41, 683-689]. This paper investigated the simultaneous recovery of NH(4)-N and SOP from WAS alkaline fermentation liquid and the application of the fermentation liquid as an additional carbon source for municipal wastewater biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The central composite design (CCD) of the response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize and model the simultaneous NH(4)-N and SOP recovery from WAS alkaline fermentation liquid. Under the optimum conditions, the predicted and experimental recovery efficiency was respectively 73.4 and 75.7% with NH(4)-N, and 82.0 and 83.2% with SOP, which suggested that the developed models described the experiments well. After NH(4)-N and SOP recovery, the alkaline fermentation liquid was added to municipal wastewater, and the influence of volume ratio of fermentation liquid to municipal wastewater (FL/MW) on biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal was investigated. The addition of fermentation liquid didn't significantly affect nitrification. Both SOP and total nitrogen (TN) removal were increased with fermentation liquid, but there was no significant increase at FL/MW greater than 1/35. Compared to the blank test, the removal efficiency of SOP and TN at FL/MW=1/35 was improved from 44.0 to 92.9%, and 63.3 to 83.2%, respectively. The enhancement of phosphorus and nitrogen

Petrology of metabasic and peridotitic rocks of the Songshugou ophiolite, Qinling orogen, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belic, Maximilian; Hauzenberger, Christoph; Dong, Yunpeng

2013-04-01

unclear but probably related to the closure of the Shangdan ocean during the early Paleozoic. The financial support by Eurasia-Pacific Uninet is gratefully acknowledged. Dong, Y.P., Zhou, M.F., Zhang, G.W., Zhou, D.W., Liu, L., Zhang, Q., 2008. The Grenvillian Songshugou ophiolite in the Qinling Mountains, Central China: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Qinling orogenic belt. Journal of Asian Earth Science 32 (5-6), 325-335.

Possible polyphase metamorphic evolution of high grade metabasic rocks from the Songshugou ophiolite, Qinling orogen, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belic, Maximilian; Hauzenberger, Christoph; Dong, Yunpeng; Chen, Danling

2014-05-01

cycle or developed during a separate event. The financial support by Eurasia-Pacific Uninet is gratefully acknowledged. Dong, Y.P., Zhou, M.F., Zhang, G.W., Zhou, D.W., Liu, L., Zhang, Q., 2008. The Grenvillian Songshugou ophiolite in the Qinling Mountains, Central China: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Qinling orogenic belt. Journal of Asian Earth Science 32 (5-6), 325-335. Zhang, Z.J., 1999. Metamorphic evolution of garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibole rocks from the Proterozoic Songshugou mafic-ultramafic complex, Qinling Mountains, central China. The Island Arc, 8, 259-280.

Brunhes-Matuyama Magnetic Polarity Reversal Tracing using Chinese loess10Be

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, W.; Beck, W.; Kong, X.; An, Z.; Qiang, X.; Wu, Z.; Xian, F.; Ao, H.

2014-12-01

The geomagnetic polarity reversal is generally considered to occur synchronously around the world, and is commonly used as a time marker. However, in the case of the most recent reversal, the Brunhes-Matuyama (B-M) reversal (~780 ka), comparison of paleomagnetic studies in Chinese loess-paleosol sequences versus marine sediments revealed a marked discrepancy in timing of this event (Tauxe et al., 1996; Zhou and Shackleton, 1999), leading to the debate on uncertainties of paleoclimatic correlation between the Chinese loess-paleosol sequences and marine sediments (Wang et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2008; Jin and Liu, 2011). Based on this issue, here we propose to use the cosmogenic 10Be to address this conundrum. 10Be is a long-lived radionuclide produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray spallation reactions and carried to the ground attached to aerosols. Its atmospheric production rate is inversely proportional to the geomagnetic field intensity (Masarik and Beer, 1999). This allows us to reconstruct past geomagnetic field intensity variations using 10Be concentrations recorded in different sedimentary archives. We carried out the 10Be studies in Luochuan and Xifeng sections in Chinese Loess Plateau, both loess profiles show that 10Be production rate was at a maximum-an indication of the dipole field reversal-at ca. 780 ± 3 ka BP., in paleosol unit S7corresponding to MIS 19. These results have proven that the timing of B-M reversal recorded in Chinese loess is synchronous with that seen in marine records (Tauxe et al., 1996) and reaffirmed the conventional paleoclimatic correlation of loess-paleosol sequences with marine isotope stages and the standard loess timescale as correct. However, it is ~25 ka younger than the age (depth) of the magnetic polarity reversal recorded in these same Chinese loess-paleosol sequences, demonstrating that loess magnetic overprinting has occurred. 1.Jin, C.S.,et al., 2011,PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL, 299, 309-3172.Liu, Q.S., et al., 2008, EARTH

Melt Extrusion of High-Dose Co-Amorphous Drug-Drug Combinations : Theme: Formulation and Manufacturing of Solid Dosage Forms Guest Editors: Tony Zhou and Tonglei Li.

PubMed

Arnfast, Lærke; Kamruzzaman, Md; Löbmann, Korbinian; Aho, Johanna; Baldursdottir, Stefania; Rades, Thomas; Rantanen, Jukka

2017-12-01

Many future drug products will be based on innovative manufacturing solutions, which will increase the need for a thorough understanding of the interplay between drug material properties and processability. In this study, hot melt extrusion of a drug-drug mixture with minimal amount of polymeric excipient was investigated. Using indomethacin-cimetidine as a model drug-drug system, processability of physical mixtures with and without 5% (w/w) of polyethylene oxide (PEO) were studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (SAOS) rheometry. Extrudates containing a co-amorphous glass solution were produced and the solid-state composition of these was studied with DSC. Rheological analysis indicated that the studied systems display viscosities higher than expected for small molecule melts and addition of PEO decreased the viscosity of the melt. Extrudates of indomethacin-cimetidine alone displayed amorphous-amorphous phase separation after 4 weeks of storage, whereas no phase separation was observed during the 16 week storage of the indomethacin-cimetidine extrudates containing 5% (w/w) PEO. Melt extrusion of co-amorphous extrudates with low amounts of polymer was found to be a feasible manufacturing technique. Addition of 5% (w/w) polymer reduced melt viscosity and prevented phase separation.

How to make thermodynamic perturbation theory to be suitable for low temperature?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Shiqi

2009-02-01

Low temperature unsuitability is a problem plaguing thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT) for years. Present investigation indicates that the low temperature predicament can be overcome by employing as reference system a nonhard sphere potential which incorporates one part of the attractive ingredient in a potential function of interest. In combination with a recently proposed TPT [S. Zhou, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 144518 (2006)] based on a λ expansion (λ being coupling parameter), the new perturbation strategy is employed to predict for several model potentials. It is shown that the new perturbation strategy can very accurately predict various thermodynamic properties even if the potential range is extremely short and hence the temperature of interest is very low and current theoretical formalisms seriously deteriorate or critically fail to predict even the existence of the critical point. Extensive comparison with existing liquid state theories and available computer simulation data discloses a superiority of the present TPT to two Ornstein-Zernike-type integral equation theories, i.e., hierarchical reference theory and self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation.

Modeling collective behavior of molecules in nanoscale direct deposition processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Nam-Kyung; Hong, Seunghun

2006-03-01

We present a theoretical model describing the collective behavior of molecules in nanoscale direct deposition processes such as dip-pen nanolithography. We show that strong intermolecular interactions combined with nonuniform substrate-molecule interactions can produce various shapes of molecular patterns including fractal-like structures. Computer simulations reveal circular and starlike patterns at low and intermediate densities of preferentially attractive surface sites, respectively. At large density of such surface sites, the molecules form a two-dimensional invasion percolation cluster. Previous experimental results showing anisotropic patterns of various chemical and biological molecules correspond to the starlike regime [P. Manandhar et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 115505 (2003); J.-H. Lim and C. A. Mirkin, Adv. Mater. (Weinheim, Ger.) 14, 1474 (2002); D. L. Wilson et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98, 13660 (2001); M. Su et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4200 (2004); R. McKendry et al., Nano Lett. 2, 713 (2002); H. Zhou et al., Appl. Surf. Sci. 236, 18 (2004); G. Agarwal et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 580 (2003)].

Improved hybrid information filtering based on limited time window

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Wen-Jun; Guo, Qiang; Liu, Jian-Guo

2014-12-01

Adopting the entire collecting information of users, the hybrid information filtering of heat conduction and mass diffusion (HHM) (Zhou et al., 2010) was successfully proposed to solve the apparent diversity-accuracy dilemma. Since the recent behaviors are more effective to capture the users' potential interests, we present an improved hybrid information filtering of adopting the partial recent information. We expand the time window to generate a series of training sets, each of which is treated as known information to predict the future links proven by the testing set. The experimental results on one benchmark dataset Netflix indicate that by only using approximately 31% recent rating records, the accuracy could be improved by an average of 4.22% and the diversity could be improved by 13.74%. In addition, the performance on the dataset MovieLens could be preserved by considering approximately 60% recent records. Furthermore, we find that the improved algorithm is effective to solve the cold-start problem. This work could improve the information filtering performance and shorten the computational time.

Coordinated control system modelling of ultra-supercritical unit based on a new T-S fuzzy structure.

PubMed

Hou, Guolian; Du, Huan; Yang, Yu; Huang, Congzhi; Zhang, Jianhua

2018-03-01

The thermal power plant, especially the ultra-supercritical unit is featured with severe nonlinearity, strong multivariable coupling. In order to deal with these difficulties, it is of great importance to build an accurate and simple model of the coordinated control system (CCS) in the ultra-supercritical unit. In this paper, an improved T-S fuzzy model identification approach is proposed. First of all, the k-means++ algorithm is employed to identify the premise parameters so as to guarantee the number of fuzzy rules. Then, the local linearized models are determined by using the incremental historical data around the cluster centers, which are obtained via the stochastic gradient descent algorithm with momentum and variable learning rate. Finally, with the proposed method, the CCS model of a 1000 MW USC unit in Tai Zhou power plant is developed. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated by the given extensive simulation results, and it can be further employed to design the overall advanced controllers for the CCS in an USC unit. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Realization of a gain with electromagnetically induced transparency system using non-degenerate Zeeman sublevels in 87 Rb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Minchuan; Zhou, Zifan; Shahriar, Selim M.

2017-11-01

Previously, we had proposed an optically-pumped five-level Gain EIT (GEIT) system, which has a transparency dip superimposed on a gain profile and exhibits a negative dispersion suitable for the white-light-cavity signal-recycling (WLC-SR) scheme of the interferometric gravitational wave detector (Zhou et al., 2015). Using this system as the negative dispersion medium (NDM) in the WLC-SR, we get an enhancement in the quantum noise (QN) limited sensitivity-bandwidth product by a factor of ∼ 18. Here, we show how to realize this GEIT system in a realistic platform, using non-degenerate Zeeman sublevels in cold Rb atoms, employing anomalous dispersion at 795 nm. Using the Caves model for a phase insensitive linear amplifier, we show that an enhancement of the sensitivity-bandwidth product by a factor of ∼ 17 is possible for potentially realizable experimental parameters. While the current LIGO apparatus uses light at 1064 nm, a future embodiment thereof may operate at a wavelength that is consistent with the wavelength considered here.

Strength of object representation: its key role in object-based attention for determining the competition result between Gestalt and top-down objects.

PubMed

Zhao, Jingjing; Wang, Yonghui; Liu, Donglai; Zhao, Liang; Liu, Peng

2015-10-01

It was found in previous studies that two types of objects (rectangles formed according to the Gestalt principle and Chinese words formed in a top-down fashion) can both induce an object-based effect. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the strength of an object representation affects the result of the competition between these two types of objects based on research carried out by Liu, Wang and Zhou [(2011) Acta Psychologica, 138(3), 397-404]. In Experiment 1, the rectangles were filled with two different colors to increase the strength of Gestalt object representation, and we found that the object effect changed significantly for the different stimulus types. Experiment 2 used Chinese words with various familiarities to manipulate the strength of the top-down object representation. As a result, the object-based effect induced by rectangles was observed only when the Chinese word familiarity was low. These results suggest that the strength of object representation determines the result of competition between different types of objects.

Economic policy uncertainty, equity premium and dependence between their quantiles: Evidence from quantile-on-quantile approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raza, Syed Ali; Zaighum, Isma; Shah, Nida

2018-02-01

This paper examines the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and equity premium in G7 countries over a period of the monthly data from January 1989 to December 2015 using a novel technique namely QQ regression proposed by Sim and Zhou (2015). Based on QQ approach, we estimate how the quantiles of the economic policy uncertainty affect the quantiles of the equity premium. Thus, it provides a comprehensive insight into the overall dependence structure between the equity premium and economic policy uncertainty as compared to traditional techniques like OLS or quantile regression. Overall, our empirical evidence suggests the existence of a negative association between equity premium and EPU predominately in all G7 countries, especially in the extreme low and extreme high tails. However, differences exist among countries and across different quantiles of EPU and the equity premium within each country. The existence of this heterogeneity among countries is due to the differences in terms of dependency on economic policy, other stock markets, and the linkages with other country's equity market.

Quantum neural networks: Current status and prospects for development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altaisky, M. V.; Kaputkina, N. E.; Krylov, V. A.

2014-11-01

The idea of quantum artificial neural networks, first formulated in [34], unites the artificial neural network concept with the quantum computation paradigm. Quantum artificial neural networks were first systematically considered in the PhD thesis by T. Menneer (1998). Based on the works of Menneer and Narayanan [42, 43], Kouda, Matsui, and Nishimura [35, 36], Altaisky [2, 68], Zhou [67], and others, quantum-inspired learning algorithms for neural networks were developed, and are now used in various training programs and computer games [29, 30]. The first practically realizable scaled hardware-implemented model of the quantum artificial neural network is obtained by D-Wave Systems, Inc. [33]. It is a quantum Hopfield network implemented on the basis of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). In this work we analyze possibilities and underlying principles of an alternative way to implement quantum neural networks on the basis of quantum dots. A possibility of using quantum neural network algorithms in automated control systems, associative memory devices, and in modeling biological and social networks is examined.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: LaCoSSPAr in the Southern Galactic Cap. I. (Yang+, 2018)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, M.; Wu, H.; Yang, F.; Lam, M. I.; Cao, T.-W.; Wu, C.-J.; Zhao, P.-S.; Zhang, T.-M.; Zhou, Z.-M.; Wu, X.-B.; Zhang, Y.-X.; Shao, Z.-Y.; Jing, Y.-P.; Shen, S.-Y.; Zhu, Y.-N.; Du, W.; Lei, F.-J.; He, M.; Jin, J.-J.; Shi, J.-R.; Zhang, W.; Wang, J.-L.; Wu, Y.-Z.; Zhang, H.-T.; Luo, A.-L.; Yuan, H.-L.; Bai, Z.-R.; Kong, X.; Gu, Q.-S.; Zhou, X.; Ma, J.; Hu, Z.; Nie, J.-D.; Wang, J.-L.; Zhang, Y.; Hou, Y.-H.; Zhao, Y.-H.

2018-03-01

We have selected two FOVs according to the distribution of galaxy clusters from the Abell rich galaxy clusters catalog (Abell+ 1989, VII/110) in the region of the South Galactic Cap u-band Sky Survey (SCUSS, Zhou+ 2016RAA....16....7Z). The central coordinates of the two FOVs we selected are RA=37.88°,DE=3.44° (Field A) and RA=21.53,DE=-2.20° (Field B) as shown in Figure 1. The observation of LAMOST is automatically managed by the Survey Strategy System (SSS). We conduct the observation from 2012 September to 2014 January (except July through August, which is the maintain period of the telescope). Field A contains 2519 galaxies and 13930 stars in which 2447 (~97%) and 13278 (~95%) of them have been observed with 5 B and 12 F plates (redundant F plates are caused by a technical issue), respectively. Field B contains 3104 galaxies and 11381 stars in which 2995 (~97%) and 10224 (~90%) of them have been observed with six B and five F plates, respectively. (2 data files).

Parabolic single-crystal diamond compound refractive lenses for coherent x-ray imaging (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terentyev, Sergey; Blank, Vladimir D.; Polyakov, Sergey; Zholudev, Sergey; Snigirev, Anatoly A.; Polikarpov, Maxim; Kolodziej, Tomasz; Qian, Jun; Zhou, Hua; Shvyd'ko, Yuri V.

2016-09-01

We demonstrate parabolic single-crystal diamond compound refractive lenses [1] designed for coherent x-ray imaging resilient to extreme thermal and radiation loading expected from next generation light sources. To ensure the preservation of coherence and resilience, the lenses are manufactured from the highest-quality single-crystalline synthetic diamond material grown by a high-pressure high-temperature technique. Picosecond laser milling is applied to machine lenses to parabolic shapes with a 1-micron precision and surface roughness. A compound refractive lens comprised of six lenses with a radius of curvature R=200 microns at the vertex of the parabola and a geometrical aperture A=900 microns focuses 10 keV x-ray photons from an undulator source at the Advanced Photon Source facility to a focal spot size of 10x40 microns^2 with a gain factor of 100. [1] S. Terentyev, V. Blank, S. Polyakov, S. Zholudev, A. Snigirev, M. Polikarpov, T. Kolodziej, J. Qian, H. Zhou, and Yu. Shvyd'ko Applied Physics Letters 107, 111108 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4931357

How to make thermodynamic perturbation theory to be suitable for low temperature?

PubMed

Zhou, Shiqi

2009-02-07

Low temperature unsuitability is a problem plaguing thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT) for years. Present investigation indicates that the low temperature predicament can be overcome by employing as reference system a nonhard sphere potential which incorporates one part of the attractive ingredient in a potential function of interest. In combination with a recently proposed TPT [S. Zhou, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 144518 (2006)] based on a lambda expansion (lambda being coupling parameter), the new perturbation strategy is employed to predict for several model potentials. It is shown that the new perturbation strategy can very accurately predict various thermodynamic properties even if the potential range is extremely short and hence the temperature of interest is very low and current theoretical formalisms seriously deteriorate or critically fail to predict even the existence of the critical point. Extensive comparison with existing liquid state theories and available computer simulation data discloses a superiority of the present TPT to two Ornstein-Zernike-type integral equation theories, i.e., hierarchical reference theory and self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation.

Nonperiodic metallic gratings transparent for broadband terahertz waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Ren-Hao; Ren, Xiao-Ping; Peng, Ru-Wen; Huang, Xian-Rong; Wang, Mu

Recently, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that nonperiodic metallic gratings can become transparent for broadband terahertz waves. Quasiperiodic and disordered metallic gratings effectively weaken and even eliminate Wood's anomalies, which are the diffraction-related characters of periodic gratings. Consequently, both the transparence bandwidth and transmission efficiency are significantly increased due to the structural aperiodicity. Furthermore, we show that for a specific light source, for example, a line source, a corresponding nonperiodic transparent grating can be also designed. We expect that our findings can be applied for transparent conducting panels, perfect white-beam polarizers, antireflective conducting solar cells, and beyond. References: X. P. Ren, R. H. Fan, R. W. Peng, X. R. Huang, D. H. Xu, Y. Zhou, and Mu Wang, Physical Review B, 91, 045111 (2015); R. H. Fan, R. W. Peng, X. R. Huang, J. Li, Y. Liu, Q. Hu, Mu. Wang, and X. Zhang, Advanced Materials, 24, 1980 (2012); and X. R. Huang, R. W. Peng, and R. H. Fan. Physical Review Letters, 105, 243901 (2010).

Another piece in the progranulin puzzle: special binding between progranulin and prosaposin creates additional lysosomal access: An Editorial Comment for 'The interaction between progranulin and prosaposin is mediated by granulins and the linker region between saposin B and C' on page 236.

PubMed

Van Damme, Philip

2017-10-01

Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding the growth factor progranulin cause degeneration of the ageing brain in a dose-dependent manner. While heterozygous mutations result in adult onset frontotemporal dementia, the much rarer homozygous null mutations cause an early onset lysosomal storage disorder. A better understanding of the biology of progranulin in the central nervous system is needed to find solutions for these incurable diseases. This Editorial highlights a study by Zhou et al. in the current issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry, in which the authors provide data that are a step towards this goal. Progranulin is mainly expressed by neurons and microglia and, although it is a secreted protein, it also ends up in lysosomes. Recently, the trafficking of progranulin and the molecular players involved have become better understood. A special interaction between progranulin and its travelling companion, prosaposin, explains how both proteins can use each other's transport receptors to gain access to lysosomes. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Neurochemistry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society for Neurochemistry.

Modified homotopy perturbation method for solving hypersingular integral equations of the first kind.

PubMed

Eshkuvatov, Z K; Zulkarnain, F S; Nik Long, N M A; Muminov, Z

2016-01-01

Modified homotopy perturbation method (HPM) was used to solve the hypersingular integral equations (HSIEs) of the first kind on the interval [-1,1] with the assumption that the kernel of the hypersingular integral is constant on the diagonal of the domain. Existence of inverse of hypersingular integral operator leads to the convergence of HPM in certain cases. Modified HPM and its norm convergence are obtained in Hilbert space. Comparisons between modified HPM, standard HPM, Bernstein polynomials approach Mandal and Bhattacharya (Appl Math Comput 190:1707-1716, 2007), Chebyshev expansion method Mahiub et al. (Int J Pure Appl Math 69(3):265-274, 2011) and reproducing kernel Chen and Zhou (Appl Math Lett 24:636-641, 2011) are made by solving five examples. Theoretical and practical examples revealed that the modified HPM dominates the standard HPM and others. Finally, it is found that the modified HPM is exact, if the solution of the problem is a product of weights and polynomial functions. For rational solution the absolute error decreases very fast by increasing the number of collocation points.

Flow Kills Conductivity of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWNT) Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatt, Sanjiv; Macosko, Christopher

2006-03-01

Most composites of polymer and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) reported in the literature are made by solvent casting or simple compression molding. Commercial utility of these composites requires use of precision injection molding. We have observed a unique behavior wherein the SWNT composites made by injection molding or by extrusion are insulators but upon heating become electrically conductive. This behavior appears to be the result of a relaxation phenomenon in the SWNT composite. During flow into an injection mold or through an extrusion die the well-dispersed SWNT in the polymer matrix tend to align such that they are not in contact with each other and are farther than the minimum required distance, 5 nm (1), to achieve electrical percolation through electron hopping. Upon heating the SWNT relax and either touch each other or are at a distance less than or equal to 5 nm from each other to create a percolating. [1] Du, F., Scogna, R, C., Zhou, W., Brand, Stijn, Fischer, J. E., and Winey, K. I., Macromolecules 2004, 37, 9048-9055.

Coding the presence of visual objects in a recurrent neural network of visual cortex.

PubMed

Zwickel, Timm; Wachtler, Thomas; Eckhorn, Reinhard

2007-01-01

Before we can recognize a visual object, our visual system has to segregate it from its background. This requires a fast mechanism for establishing the presence and location of objects independently of their identity. Recently, border-ownership neurons were recorded in monkey visual cortex which might be involved in this task [Zhou, H., Friedmann, H., von der Heydt, R., 2000. Coding of border ownership in monkey visual cortex. J. Neurosci. 20 (17), 6594-6611]. In order to explain the basic mechanisms required for fast coding of object presence, we have developed a neural network model of visual cortex consisting of three stages. Feed-forward and lateral connections support coding of Gestalt properties, including similarity, good continuation, and convexity. Neurons of the highest area respond to the presence of an object and encode its position, invariant of its form. Feedback connections to the lowest area facilitate orientation detectors activated by contours belonging to potential objects, and thus generate the experimentally observed border-ownership property. This feedback control acts fast and significantly improves the figure-ground segregation required for the consecutive task of object recognition.

Teaching quantum physics by the sum over paths approach and GeoGebra simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malgieri, M.; Onorato, P.; De Ambrosis, A.

2014-09-01

We present a research-based teaching sequence in introductory quantum physics using the Feynman sum over paths approach. Our reconstruction avoids the historical pathway, and starts by reconsidering optics from the standpoint of the quantum nature of light, analysing both traditional and modern experiments. The core of our educational path lies in the treatment of conceptual and epistemological themes, peculiar of quantum theory, based on evidence from quantum optics, such as the single photon Mach-Zehnder and Zhou-Wang-Mandel experiments. The sequence is supported by a collection of interactive simulations, realized in the open source GeoGebra environment, which we used to assist students in learning the basics of the method, and help them explore the proposed experimental situations as modeled in the sum over paths perspective. We tested our approach in the context of a post-graduate training course for pre-service physics teachers; according to the data we collected, student teachers displayed a greatly improved understanding of conceptual issues, and acquired significant abilities in using the sum over path method for problem solving.

Book Reivew: A chance for lasting survival: Ecology and behavior of wild giant pandas

USGS Publications Warehouse

van Manen, Frank T.

2015-01-01

“If we watch species going extinct in front of us, how useful is that we publish 100 or even 1,000 papers by studying them?” (p. 330). This quote from senior author Pan Wenshi captures an important essence of this book. A translation of a 2001 monograph originally published in Chinese, this volume details the findings of a 15-year research program in the Qinling Mountains by Wenshi and his students. Starting in 1984, this Chinese research team from Peking University was only the second to study free-ranging pandas. This is the remarkable journey of a devoted group of field researchers who helped changed the course of giant panda conservation, events that few conservationists outside of China have been aware of until now.Review info: A chance for lasting survival: Ecology and behavior of wild giant pandas. By Pan Wenshi, Lü Zhi, Zhu Xiaojian, Wang Dajun, Wang Hao, Long Yu, Fu Dali, and Zhou Xin; edited by, William J. McShea, Richard B. Harris, David L. Garshelis, and Wang Dajun, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-935623-17-5, 349pp.

Phytochemical variation among the traditional Chinese medicine Mu Dan Pi from Paeonia suffruticosa (tree peony).

PubMed

Li, Shan-Shan; Wu, Qian; Yin, Dan-Dan; Feng, Cheng-Yong; Liu, Zheng-An; Wang, Liang-Sheng

2018-02-01

Mu Dan Pi is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat inflammation, cancer, allergies, diabetes, angiocardiopathy, and neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, the metabolome variation within Mu Dan Pi collected from 372 tree peony cultivars was systematically investigated. In total, 42 metabolites were identified, comprising of 14 monoterpene glucosides, 11 tannins, 8 paeonols, 6 flavonoids, and 3 phenols. All cultivars revealed similar metabolite profiles, however, they were further classified into seven groups on the basis of their varying metabolite contents by hierarchical cluster analysis. Traditional cultivars for Mu Dan Pi were found to have very low metabolite contents, falling into clusters I and II. Cultivars with the highest amounts of metabolites were grouped in clusters VI and VII. Five potential cultivars, namely, 'Bai Yuan Qi Guan', 'Cao Zhou Hong', 'Da Zong Zi', 'Sheng Dan Lu', and 'Cheng Xin', with high contents of monoterpene glycosides, tannins, and paeonols, were further screened. Interestingly, the majority of investigated cultivars had relatively higher metabolite contents compared to the traditional medicinal tree peony cultivars. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influences of pH and Iron Concentration on the Salivary Microbiome in Individual Humans with and without Caries.

PubMed

Zhou, Jianye; Jiang, Nan; Wang, Zhenzhen; Li, Longqing; Zhang, Jumei; Ma, Rui; Nie, Hongbing; Li, Zhiqiang

2017-02-15

This study aimed to identify the differences in the oral microbial communities in saliva from patients with and without caries by performing sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform, as well as to further assess their relationships with environmental factors (salivary pH and iron concentration). Forty-three volunteers were selected, including 21 subjects with and 22 without caries, from one village in Gansu, China. Based on 966,255 trimmed sequences and clustering at the 97% similarity level, 1,303 species-level operational taxonomic units were generated. The sequencing data for the two groups revealed that (i) particular distribution patterns (synergistic effects or competition) existed in the subjects with and without caries at both the genus and species levels and (ii) both the salivary pH and iron concentration had significant influences on the microbial community structure. The significant influences of the oral environment observed in this study increase the current understanding of the salivary microbiome in caries. These results will be useful for expanding research directions and for improving disease diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy. Copyright © 2017 Zhou et al.

NASA MEaSUREs Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borbas, E. E.; Hulley, G. C.; Feltz, M.; Knuteson, R. O.; Hook, S. J.

2016-12-01

A land surface emissivity product of the NASA MEASUREs project called Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL) is being made available as part of the Unified and Coherent Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) Earth System Data Record (ESDR). The CAMEL database has been created by merging the UW MODIS-based baseline-fit emissivity database (UWIREMIS) developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the ASTER Global Emissivity Database (ASTER GED V4) produced at JPL. This poster will introduce the beta version of the database, which is available globally for the period 2003 through 2015 at 5km in mean monthly time-steps and for 13 bands from 3.6-14.3 micron. An algorithm to create a high spectral emissivity on 417 wavenumbers is also provided for high spectral IR applications. On the poster the CAMEL database has been evaluated with the IASI Emissivity Atlas (Zhou et al, 2010) and laboratory measurements, and also through simulation of IASI BTs in the RTTOV Forward model.

Historical development of Chinese dietary patterns and nutrition from the ancient to the modern society.

PubMed

Chen, J D; Xu, H

1996-01-01

Actually, food, diet and diet therapy germinated together with the change of meal patterns and traditional Chinese medicine from very ancient China; they appeared in an embryonic form till the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and received great importance from the governors who arranged officials to manage their diets and banquets. Moreover, food, diet and meal patterns were replenished through the Zhou, Qin, Han and Jin Dynasties and epitomized and reached thriving and prosperous standards till the Tang Dynasty. They then became perfected, developed, and formed a complete theory in the dynasties of Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing. The basis of modern nutrition was made up until the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century, which was the time when natural science, including microbiology, chemistry, food industry, etc. were extended into China, yet it was not fully formed until the established of the People's Republic of China. Practicing, teaching, training and research activities started regularly in 1950. With a big population and poor economy basis, the first problem that the Chinese people has now been basically solved. Chinese nutritional scientists worked hard to find out the nutritional problems and status of the people. Through the broad-scale 'Nationwide Nutrition Survey', we now understand our main problems. On this basis, RDA, dietary goal and dietary guidance have been put forward. Although the problem of adequate food and clothing has been basically solved, the Chinese are still facing both the problem of nutrition insufficiency and nutrition excess. However, although nutrition insufficiency and deficiency still extensively exist, nutrition excess and imbalance are emerging in other sections of the population. There is still a shortage of qualified nutritional scientists and technicians, and the training of nutritionists is urgent. Food supplies, including milk, beef, green vegetables and fruit should be increased, especially for some rural and

Mantle melting and melt refertilization beneath the Southwest Indian Ridge: Mineral composition of abyssal peridotites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ling; Zhu, Jihao; Chu, Fengyou; Dong, Yan-hui; Liu, Jiqiang; Li, Zhenggang; Zhu, Zhimin; Tang, Limei

2017-04-01

As one of the slowest spreading ridges of the global ocean ridge system, the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is characterized by discontinued magmatism. The 53°E segment between the Gallieni fracture zone (FZ) (52°20'E) and the Gazelle FZ (53°30'E) is a typical amagmatic segment (crustal thickness <2km) (Zhou and Dick, 2013) that opens a window to the mantle thus provides a chance to detect the mantle composition directly. We examine the mineral compositions of 17 peridotite samples from the 53°E amagmatic segment. The results show that the peridotites can be divided into two groups. The Group 1 peridotites are characterized by clinopyroxenes having LREE depleted patterns that is typical for the abyssal peridotite, thus are thought to be the residue of the mantle melting. The Group 2 peridotites show the lowest HREE content within the SWIR peridotites but are anomaly enriched in LREE, with flat or U-type REE patterns, thus cannot be the pure residue of mantle melting. Mineral compositions of the Group 2 peridotites are more depleted than that of peridotites sampled near the Bouvet hot spot (Johnson et al., 1990), implying that the depleted mantle beneath the 53°E segment may be the residue of ancient melting event. This hypothesis is supported by the the low Ol/Opx ratios, coarse grain sizes (>1cm) Opx, and Mg-rich mineral compositions akin to harzburgite xenoliths that sample old continental lithospheric mantle (Kelemen et al., 1998). Melt refertilization model shows that Group 2 peridotites were affected by an enriched low-degree partial melt from the garnet stability field. These results indicate that depleted mantle which experiences ancient melting event are more sensitive to melt refertilization, thus may reduce the melt flux, leading to extremely thin crust at 53°E segment. This research was granted by the National Basic Research Programme of China (973 programme) (grant No. 2013CB429705) and the Fundamental Research Funds of Second Institute of

A Review: Development of a Microdose Model for Analysis of Adaptive Response and Bystander Dose Response Behavior

PubMed Central

Leonard, Bobby E.

2008-01-01

Prior work has provided incremental phases to a microdosimetry modeling program to describe the dose response behavior of the radio-protective adaptive response effect. We have here consolidated these prior works (Leonard 2000, 2005, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c) to provide a composite, comprehensive Microdose Model that is also herein modified to include the bystander effect. The nomenclature for the model is also standardized for the benefit of the experimental cellular radio-biologist. It extends the prior work to explicitly encompass separately the analysis of experimental data that is 1.) only dose dependent and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection, 2.) both dose and dose-rate dependent data and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection for spontaneous and challenge dose damage, 3.) only dose dependent data and reflecting both bystander deleterious damage and adaptive response radio-protection (AR-BE model). The Appendix cites the various applications of the model. Here we have used the Microdose Model to analyze the, much more human risk significant, Elmore et al (2006) data for the dose and dose rate influence on the adaptive response radio-protective behavior of HeLa x Skin cells for naturally occurring, spontaneous chromosome damage from a Brachytherapy type 125I photon radiation source. We have also applied the AR-BE Microdose Model to the Chromosome inversion data of Hooker et al (2004) reflecting both low LET bystander and adaptive response effects. The micro-beam facility data of Miller et al (1999), Nagasawa and Little (1999) and Zhou et al (2003) is also examined. For the Zhou et al (2003) data, we use the AR-BE model to estimate the threshold for adaptive response reduction of the bystander effect. The mammogram and diagnostic X-ray induction of AR and protective BE are observed. We show that bystander damage is reduced in the similar manner as spontaneous and challenge dose damage as shown by the Azzam et al (1996) data. We cite

A review: Development of a microdose model for analysis of adaptive response and bystander dose response behavior.

PubMed

Leonard, Bobby E

2008-02-27

Prior work has provided incremental phases to a microdosimetry modeling program to describe the dose response behavior of the radio-protective adaptive response effect. We have here consolidated these prior works (Leonard 2000, 2005, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c) to provide a composite, comprehensive Microdose Model that is also herein modified to include the bystander effect. The nomenclature for the model is also standardized for the benefit of the experimental cellular radio-biologist. It extends the prior work to explicitly encompass separately the analysis of experimental data that is 1.) only dose dependent and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection, 2.) both dose and dose-rate dependent data and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection for spontaneous and challenge dose damage, 3.) only dose dependent data and reflecting both bystander deleterious damage and adaptive response radio-protection (AR-BE model). The Appendix cites the various applications of the model. Here we have used the Microdose Model to analyze the, much more human risk significant, Elmore et al (2006) data for the dose and dose rate influence on the adaptive response radio-protective behavior of HeLa x Skin cells for naturally occurring, spontaneous chromosome damage from a Brachytherapy type (125)I photon radiation source. We have also applied the AR-BE Microdose Model to the Chromosome inversion data of Hooker et al (2004) reflecting both low LET bystander and adaptive response effects. The micro-beam facility data of Miller et al (1999), Nagasawa and Little (1999) and Zhou et al (2003) is also examined. For the Zhou et al (2003) data, we use the AR-BE model to estimate the threshold for adaptive response reduction of the bystander effect. The mammogram and diagnostic X-ray induction of AR and protective BE are observed. We show that bystander damage is reduced in the similar manner as spontaneous and challenge dose damage as shown by the Azzam et al (1996) data. We cite

Intermolecular potentials and the accurate prediction of the thermodynamic properties of water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shvab, I.; Sadus, Richard J., E-mail: rsadus@swin.edu.au

2013-11-21

The ability of intermolecular potentials to correctly predict the thermodynamic properties of liquid water at a density of 0.998 g/cm{sup 3} for a wide range of temperatures (298–650 K) and pressures (0.1–700 MPa) is investigated. Molecular dynamics simulations are reported for the pressure, thermal pressure coefficient, thermal expansion coefficient, isothermal and adiabatic compressibilities, isobaric and isochoric heat capacities, and Joule-Thomson coefficient of liquid water using the non-polarizable SPC/E and TIP4P/2005 potentials. The results are compared with both experiment data and results obtained from the ab initio-based Matsuoka-Clementi-Yoshimine non-additive (MCYna) [J. Li, Z. Zhou, and R. J. Sadus, J. Chem. Phys.more » 127, 154509 (2007)] potential, which includes polarization contributions. The data clearly indicate that both the SPC/E and TIP4P/2005 potentials are only in qualitative agreement with experiment, whereas the polarizable MCYna potential predicts some properties within experimental uncertainty. This highlights the importance of polarizability for the accurate prediction of the thermodynamic properties of water, particularly at temperatures beyond 298 K.« less

Unified Least Squares Methods for the Evaluation of Diagnostic Tests With the Gold Standard

PubMed Central

Tang, Liansheng Larry; Yuan, Ao; Collins, John; Che, Xuan; Chan, Leighton

2017-01-01

The article proposes a unified least squares method to estimate the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) parameters for continuous and ordinal diagnostic tests, such as cancer biomarkers. The method is based on a linear model framework using the empirically estimated sensitivities and specificities as input “data.” It gives consistent estimates for regression and accuracy parameters when the underlying continuous test results are normally distributed after some monotonic transformation. The key difference between the proposed method and the method of Tang and Zhou lies in the response variable. The response variable in the latter is transformed empirical ROC curves at different thresholds. It takes on many values for continuous test results, but few values for ordinal test results. The limited number of values for the response variable makes it impractical for ordinal data. However, the response variable in the proposed method takes on many more distinct values so that the method yields valid estimates for ordinal data. Extensive simulation studies are conducted to investigate and compare the finite sample performance of the proposed method with an existing method, and the method is then used to analyze 2 real cancer diagnostic example as an illustration. PMID:28469385

Novel dynamic tuning of broadband visible metamaterial perfect absorber using graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Xiuli; Wang, Xiaoou; Yuan, Chengxun; Meng, Qingxin; Zhou, Zhongxiang

2016-07-01

We present a novel dynamic tuning of a broadband visible metamaterial absorber consisting of a multilayer-graphene-embedded nano-cross elliptical hole (MGENCEH) structure. It has multiple effects, including excitation of surface plasmon polaritons and extraordinary optical transmission in the first two metal layers. A numerical simulation shows that the MGENCEH structure can realize broadband perfect absorption (BPA) from 5.85 × 1014 to 6.5 × 1014 Hz over a wide incident angle range for transverse magnetic polarized light if the chemical potential of graphene (uc) is tuned to 1.0 eV. Furthermore, it has high broadband absorption (above 96%) from 4.6 × 1014 to 6.6 × 1014 Hz and three areas of narrowband perfect absorption around 4.65 × 1014, 5.1 × 1014, and 5.6 × 1014 Hz. The changes in the absorption spectra as a function of uc can be classically explained by simply considering plasmons as damped harmonic oscillators. This BPA is broader than the result of Zhou et al. [Opt. Express 23, A413-A418 (2015)] and is particularly desirable for various potential applications such as solar energy absorbers.

A Collaboration Network Model Of Cytokine-Protein Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Sheng-Rong; Zhou, Ta; Peng, Yu-Jing; Guo, Zhong-Wei; Gu, Chang-Gui; He, Da-Ren

2008-03-01

Complex networks provide us a new view for investigation of immune systems. We collect data through STRING database and present a network description with cooperation network model. The cytokine-protein network model we consider is constituted by two kinds of nodes, one is immune cytokine types which can be regarded as collaboration acts, the other one is protein type which can be regarded as collaboration actors. From act degree distribution that can be well described by typical SPL (shifted power law) functions [1], we find that HRAS, TNFRSF13C, S100A8, S100A1, MAPK8, S100A7, LIF, CCL4, CXCL13 are highly collaborated with other proteins. It reveals that these mediators are important in cytokine-protein network to regulate immune activity. Dyad in the collaboration networks can be defined as two proteins and they appear in one cytokine collaboration relationship. The dyad act degree distribution can also be well described by typical SPL functions. [1] Assortativity and act degree distribution of some collaboration networks, Hui Chang, Bei-Bei Su, Yue-Ping Zhou, Daren He, Physica A, 383 (2007) 687-702

Renormalization group analysis of the 2000-2002 anti-bubble in the US S&P500 index: explanation of the hierarchy of five crashes and prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Wei-Xing; Sornette, Didier

2003-12-01

We propose a straightforward extension of our previously proposed log-periodic power-law model of the “anti-bubble” regime of the USA stock market since the summer of 2000, in terms of the renormalization group framework to model critical points. Using a previous work by Gluzman and Sornette (Phys. Rev. E 65 (2003) 036142) on the classification of the class of Weierstrass-like functions, we show that the five crashes that occurred since August 2000 can be accurately modeled by this approach, in a fully consistent way with no additional parameters. Our theory suggests an overall consistent organization of the investors forming a collective network which interact to form the pessimistic bearish “anti-bubble” regime with intermittent acceleration of the positive feedbacks of pessimistic sentiment leading to these crashes. We develop retrospective predictions, that confirm the existence of significant arbitrage opportunities for a trader using our model. Finally, we offer a prediction for the unknown future of the US S&P500 index extending over 2003 and 2004, that refines the previous prediction of Sornette and Zhou (Quant. Finance 2 (2002) 468).

Analysis of nonlocal phonon thermal conductivity simulations showing the ballistic to diffusive crossover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Philip B.

2018-04-01

Simulations [e.g., X. W. Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. B 79, 115201 (2009), 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.115201] show nonlocal effects of the ballistic/diffusive crossover. The local temperature has nonlinear spatial variation not contained in the local Fourier law j ⃗(r ⃗) =-κ ∇ ⃗T (r ⃗) . The heat current j ⃗(r ⃗) depends not just on the local temperature gradient ∇ ⃗T (r ⃗) but also on temperatures at points r⃗' within phonon mean free paths, which can be micrometers long. This paper uses the Peierls-Boltzmann transport theory in nonlocal form to analyze the spatial variation Δ T (r ⃗) . The relaxation-time approximation (RTA) is used because the full solution is very challenging. Improved methods of extrapolation to obtain the bulk thermal conductivity κ are proposed. Callaway invented an approximate method of correcting RTA for the q ⃗ (phonon wave vector or crystal momentum) conservation of N (Normal as opposed to Umklapp) anharmonic collisions. This method is generalized to the nonlocal case where κ (k ⃗) depends on the wave vector of the current j ⃗(k ⃗) and temperature gradient i k ⃗Δ T (k ⃗) .

[Revision to origin of northern Artemisia argyi in Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao gangmu)].

PubMed

Huang, Lu-qi; Qiu, Le

2014-12-01

The origin of northern Artemisia argyi recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica(Bencao gangmu) is Fudao(Chinese characters) in Tangyin county, While there is only Fudao(Chinese characters) instead of Fudao(Chinese characters). Whether indeed Fudao(Chinese characters) is Fudao(Chinese characters)? By reviewing the genuine evolution of A. argyi, doing textual research on Fudao(Chinese characters) and combing with field survey data of national census of Chinese Materia Medica resources, this paper concluded that the word Fudao(Chinese characters) firstly emerged in Figure Canon of Chinese Materia Medica(Bencao tujing) of Susong in Song dynasty and was applied in later generations, but the implication was not clear, then emerged both Tangyin and Fudao(Chinese characters) in Compendium of Materia Medica(Bencao gangmu). The place Fudao(Chinese characters) is one of the graves of Bianque, that existed from Shang and Zhou dynasty and never changed until now, the A. argyi of Tangyin was famous from the grave of Bianque in Fudao(Chinese characters), which could infer that Lishizhen considered Fudao (Chinese characters) was Fudao(Chinese characters) indeed, and the origin of northern A. argyi was Fudao(Chinese characters) in Tangyin county.

A Generalizable Methodology for Quantifying User Satisfaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Te-Yuan; Chen, Kuan-Ta; Huang, Polly; Lei, Chin-Laung

Quantifying user satisfaction is essential, because the results can help service providers deliver better services. In this work, we propose a generalizable methodology, based on survival analysis, to quantify user satisfaction in terms of session times, i. e., the length of time users stay with an application. Unlike subjective human surveys, our methodology is based solely on passive measurement, which is more cost-efficient and better able to capture subconscious reactions. Furthermore, by using session times, rather than a specific performance indicator, such as the level of distortion of voice signals, the effects of other factors like loudness and sidetone, can also be captured by the developed models. Like survival analysis, our methodology is characterized by low complexity and a simple model-developing process. The feasibility of our methodology is demonstrated through case studies of ShenZhou Online, a commercial MMORPG in Taiwan, and the most prevalent VoIP application in the world, namely Skype. Through the model development process, we can also identify the most significant performance factors and their impacts on user satisfaction and discuss how they can be exploited to improve user experience and optimize resource allocation.

[Deciphering the argots of the names of materia medica and its dosage in the Yi lin kou pu liu zhi mi shu (A Secret Medical Book of Six Therapies in Rhymes of Medical Professionals)].

PubMed

Zhou, Jian; Lin, Shiyi; Liu, Shijue

2014-11-01

Yi lin kou pu liu zhi mi shu (A Secret Medical Book of Six Therapies in Rhymes of Medical Professionals) was additionally compiled, supplemented and annotated by Zhou Sheng, a famous doctor of the Qing Dynasty, based on Yi lin kou pu (Rhymes of Medical Professionals) which was composed by Lu Qi. The book contains four volumes in total, dealing mainly with the miscellaneous diseases of internal medicine, as well as external medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics etc. The syndrome differentiation and treatment, prescriptions and medications in this book has its own characteristic with rather high academic value and practical significance. There were 20 drug names were deciphered by the argots, for instance, "you che" was the argot of golden thread, and "wu yue (May)" was the argot of medicinal evodia fruit, etc. In addition, the argots were often used to decipher numerals and quantifiers, for example, "su, qi, zi, qi, man" referring to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively, and "huo, pu, xiang, feng, lai" referring to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 respectively, and "qing","zhong","xi" referring to qian, liang and fen respectively. Hence, deciphering of these argots could help to understand and apply these prescriptions correctly.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fromm, Andrea; Bonitz, Michael; Dufty, James

The idea of treating quantum systems by semiclassical representations using effective quantum potentials (forces) has been successfully applied in equilibrium by many authors, see e.g. [D. Bohm, Phys. Rev. 85 (1986) 166 and 180; D.K. Ferry, J.R. Zhou, Phys. Rev. B 48 (1993) 7944; A.V. Filinov, M. Bonitz, W. Ebeling, J. Phys. A 36 (2003) 5957 and references cited therein]. Here, this idea is extended to nonequilibrium quantum systems in an external field. A gauge-invariant quantum kinetic theory for weakly inhomogeneous charged particle systems in a strong electromagnetic field is developed within the framework of nonequilibrium Green's functions. The equationmore » for the spectral density is simplified by introducing a classical (local) form for the kinetics. Nonlocal quantum effects are accounted for in this way by replacing the bare external confinement potential with an effective quantum potential. The equation for this effective potential is identified and solved for weak inhomogeneity in the collisionless limit. The resulting nonequilibrium spectral function is used to determine the density of states and the modification of the Born collision operator in the kinetic equation for the Wigner function due to quantum confinement effects.« less

Freely-tunable broadband polarization rotator for terahertz waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Ru-Wen; Fan, Ren-Hao; Zhou, Yu; Jiang, Shang-Chi; Xiong, Xiang; Huang, Xian-Rong; Wang, Mu

It is known that commercially-available terahertz (THz) emitters usually generate linearly polarized waves only along certain directions, but in practice, a polarization rotator that is capable of rotating the polarization of THz waves to any direction is particularly desirable and it will have various important applications. In this work, we demonstrate a freely tunable polarization rotator for broadband THz waves using a three-rotating-layer metallic grating structure, which can conveniently rotate the polarization of a linearly polarized THz wave to any desired direction with nearly perfect conversion efficiency. The device performance has been experimentally demonstrated by both THz transmission spectra and direct imaging. The polarization rotation originates from multi wave interference in the three-layer grating structure based on the scattering-matrix analysis. We can expect that this active broadband polarization rotator has wide applications in analytical chemistry, biology, communication technology, imaging, etc.. Reference: R. H. Fan, Y. Zhou, X. P. Ren, R. W. Peng, S. C. Jiang, D. H. Xu, X. Xiong, X. R. Huang, and Mu Wang, Advanced Materials 27,1201(2015). Freely-tunable broadband polarization rotator for terahertz waves.

Complexation of carboxylate on smectite surfaces.

PubMed

Liu, Xiandong; Lu, Xiancai; Zhang, Yingchun; Zhang, Chi; Wang, Rucheng

2017-07-19

We report a first principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) study of carboxylate complexation on clay surfaces. By taking acetate as a model carboxylate, we investigate its inner-sphere complexes adsorbed on clay edges (including (010) and (110) surfaces) and in interlayer space. Simulations show that acetate forms stable monodentate complexes on edge surfaces and a bidentate complex with Ca 2+ in the interlayer region. The free energy calculations indicate that the complexation on edge surfaces is slightly more stable than in interlayer space. By integrating pK a s and desorption free energies of Al coordinated water calculated previously (X. Liu, X. Lu, E. J. Meijer, R. Wang and H. Zhou, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2012, 81, 56-68; X. Liu, J. Cheng, M. Sprik, X. Lu and R. Wang, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2014, 140, 410-417), the pH dependence of acetate complexation has been revealed. It shows that acetate forms inner-sphere complexes on (110) in a very limited mildly acidic pH range while it can complex on (010) in the whole common pH range. The results presented in this study form a physical basis for understanding the geochemical processes involving clay-organics interactions.

Interpretation of frequency sweeping of n=0 mode in JET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berk, H. L.

2006-04-01

Persistent rapid up and down frequency chirping modes with a toroidal mode number of zero (n=0) are observed in the JET tokamak when energetic ions, in the range of several hundred keV, are created by high field side ion cyclotron resonance frequency heating. Fokker-Planck calculations demonstrate that the heating method enables the formation of an energetically inverted ion distribution which supplies the free energy for the ions to excite a global geodesic acoustic mode (GGAM). The large frequency shifts of this mode are attributed to the formation of phase space structures whose frequencies, which are locked to an ion orbit resonance frequency, are forced to continually shift so that energetic particle energy can be released to counterbalance the energy dissipation present in the background plasma. In collaboration with C.J. Boswell, MIT; D. Borba, A.C.A. Figueiredo, Center for Nuclear Fusion Association; T. Johnson, Alfven Laboratory, KTH; M.F.F. Nave, Center for Nuclear Fusion Association; S.D. Pinches, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics; S.E. Sharapov, UKEA Culham Science Centre; and T. Zhou, University of Texas at Austin.

A Study of Moisture Sorption and Dielectric Processes of Starch and Sodium Starch Glycolate : Theme: Formulation and Manufacturing of Solid Dosage Forms Guest Editors: Tony Zhou and Tonglei Li.

PubMed

Hiew, Tze Ning; Huang, Rongying; Popov, Ivan; Feldman, Yuri; Heng, Paul Wan Sia

2017-12-01

This study explored the potential of combining the use of moisture sorption isotherms and dielectric relaxation profiles of starch and sodium starch glycolate (SSG) to probe the location of moisture in dried and hydrated samples. Starch and SSG samples, dried and hydrated, were prepared. For hydrated samples, their moisture contents were determined. The samples were probed by dielectric spectroscopy using a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz to investigate their moisture-related relaxation profiles. The moisture sorption and desorption isotherms of starch and SSG were generated using a vapor sorption analyzer, and modeled using the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer equation. A clear high frequency relaxation process was detected in both dried and hydrated starches, while for dried starch, an additional slower low frequency process was also detected. The high frequency relaxation processes in hydrated and dried starches were assigned to the coupled starch-hydrated water relaxation. The low frequency relaxation in dried starch was attributed to the local chain motions of the starch backbone. No relaxation process associated with water was detected in both hydrated and dried SSG within the frequency and temperature range used in this study. The moisture sorption isotherms of SSG suggest the presence of high energy free water, which could have masked the relaxation process of the bound water during dielectric measurements. The combined study of moisture sorption isotherms and dielectric spectroscopy was shown to be beneficial and complementary in probing the effects of moisture on the relaxation processes of starch and SSG.

Dual functions of Macpiwi1 in transposon silencing and stem cell maintenance in the flatworm Macrostomum lignano.

PubMed

Zhou, Xin; Battistoni, Giorgia; El Demerdash, Osama; Gurtowski, James; Wunderer, Julia; Falciatori, Ilaria; Ladurner, Peter; Schatz, Michael C; Hannon, Gregory J; Wasik, Kaja A

2015-11-01

PIWI proteins and piRNA pathways are essential for transposon silencing and some aspects of gene regulation during animal germline development. In contrast to most animal species, some flatworms also express PIWIs and piRNAs in somatic stem cells, where they are required for tissue renewal and regeneration. Here, we have identified and characterized piRNAs and PIWI proteins in the emerging model flatworm Macrostomum lignano. We found that M. lignano encodes at least three PIWI proteins. One of these, Macpiwi1, acts as a key component of the canonical piRNA pathway in the germline and in somatic stem cells. Knockdown of Macpiwi1 dramatically reduces piRNA levels, derepresses transposons, and severely impacts stem cell maintenance. Knockdown of the piRNA biogenesis factor Macvasa caused an even greater reduction in piRNA levels with a corresponding increase in transposons. Yet, in Macvasa knockdown animals, we detected no major impact on stem cell self-renewal. These results may suggest stem cell maintenance functions of PIWI proteins in flatworms that are distinguishable from their impact on transposons and that might function independently of what are considered canonical piRNA populations. © 2015 Zhou et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

Dielectric and structural properties of aqueous nonpolar solute mixtures.

PubMed

Shvab, I; Sadus, Richard J

2012-09-28

The dielectric properties and molecular structure of water mixtures with different nonpolar solutes (methane and noble gases) are studied using molecular dynamics. The water-water, water-solute, and solute-solute interactions are calculated using the combination of a polarizable potential [J. Li, Z. Zhou, and R. J. Sadus, J. Chem. Phys. 127, 154509 (2007)] for water plus the Lennard-Jones potential. The effect of solute size and concentration on the solubility of the system, hydrogen bonding, dielectric constant, and dipole moment are investigated over a temperature range of 278-750 K and solute percentage mole fractions up to 30%. Solute particles affect the structure of water, resulting in the compression of oxygen-oxygen and oxygen-hydrogen radial distribution functions. The influence of the solute extends both to relatively low concentrations and high temperatures. The coordination numbers of aqueous solutions of the nonpolar solutes appear to be proportional to the size of the solute particles. Our study shows the destructive influence of the nonpolar solute on both the tetrahedral water structure and hydrogen bond formation at solute concentrations greater than 30%. The presence of nonpolar particles typically decreases both the dielectric constant and dipole moment. The decrease of dielectric constant and water dipole moment is directly proportional to the solute concentration and temperature.

Auditory perceptual simulation: Simulating speech rates or accents?

PubMed

Zhou, Peiyun; Christianson, Kiel

2016-07-01

When readers engage in Auditory Perceptual Simulation (APS) during silent reading, they mentally simulate characteristics of voices attributed to a particular speaker or a character depicted in the text. Previous research found that auditory perceptual simulation of a faster native English speaker during silent reading led to shorter reading times that auditory perceptual simulation of a slower non-native English speaker. Yet, it was uncertain whether this difference was triggered by the different speech rates of the speakers, or by the difficulty of simulating an unfamiliar accent. The current study investigates this question by comparing faster Indian-English speech and slower American-English speech in the auditory perceptual simulation paradigm. Analyses of reading times of individual words and the full sentence reveal that the auditory perceptual simulation effect again modulated reading rate, and auditory perceptual simulation of the faster Indian-English speech led to faster reading rates compared to auditory perceptual simulation of the slower American-English speech. The comparison between this experiment and the data from Zhou and Christianson (2016) demonstrate further that the "speakers'" speech rates, rather than the difficulty of simulating a non-native accent, is the primary mechanism underlying auditory perceptual simulation effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A recurrent neural model for proto-object based contour integration and figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Hu, Brian; Niebur, Ernst

2017-12-01

Visual processing of objects makes use of both feedforward and feedback streams of information. However, the nature of feedback signals is largely unknown, as is the identity of the neuronal populations in lower visual areas that receive them. Here, we develop a recurrent neural model to address these questions in the context of contour integration and figure-ground segregation. A key feature of our model is the use of grouping neurons whose activity represents tentative objects ("proto-objects") based on the integration of local feature information. Grouping neurons receive input from an organized set of local feature neurons, and project modulatory feedback to those same neurons. Additionally, inhibition at both the local feature level and the object representation level biases the interpretation of the visual scene in agreement with principles from Gestalt psychology. Our model explains several sets of neurophysiological results (Zhou et al. Journal of Neuroscience, 20(17), 6594-6611 2000; Qiu et al. Nature Neuroscience, 10(11), 1492-1499 2007; Chen et al. Neuron, 82(3), 682-694 2014), and makes testable predictions about the influence of neuronal feedback and attentional selection on neural responses across different visual areas. Our model also provides a framework for understanding how object-based attention is able to select both objects and the features associated with them.

Electronic structure of the ingredient planes of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ and Bi2Sr2CuO6 + δ superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xucun

Understanding the mechanism of high transition temperature superconductivity in cuprates has been hindered by the apparent complexity of their multilayered crystal structure. Using a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we report on layer-by-layer probing of the electronic structures of the ingredient planes (BiO, SrO, CuO2) of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ (Bi-2212) and Bi2Sr2CuO6 + δ (Bi-2201) superconductors prepared by argon-ion bombardment and annealing (IBA) technique. We show that the well-known pseudogap (PG) feature observed by STM is inherently a property of the charge reservoir planes and thus irrelevant directly to Cooper pairing. The CuO2 planes are exclusively characterized by a small gap inside the PG. The small gap becomes invisible near Tc, which we identify as the superconducting gap. The results constitute severe constraints on any microscopic model for high Tc superconductivity in cuprates. Contributors: Yan-Feng Lv, Wen-Lin Wang, Hao Ding, Yang Wang, Yong Zhong, Ying Ding, Ruidan Zhong, John Schneeloch, Gen-Da Gu, Lili Wang, Ke He, Shuai-Hua Ji, Lin Zhao, Xing-Jiang Zhou Can-Li Song, and Qi-Kun Xue. NSF and MOST of China.

Determination of important topographic factors for landslide mapping analysis using MLP network.

PubMed

Alkhasawneh, Mutasem Sh; Ngah, Umi Kalthum; Tay, Lea Tien; Mat Isa, Nor Ashidi; Al-batah, Mohammad Subhi

2013-01-01

Landslide is one of the natural disasters that occur in Malaysia. Topographic factors such as elevation, slope angle, slope aspect, general curvature, plan curvature, and profile curvature are considered as the main causes of landslides. In order to determine the dominant topographic factors in landslide mapping analysis, a study was conducted and presented in this paper. There are three main stages involved in this study. The first stage is the extraction of extra topographic factors. Previous landslide studies had identified mainly six topographic factors. Seven new additional factors have been proposed in this study. They are longitude curvature, tangential curvature, cross section curvature, surface area, diagonal line length, surface roughness, and rugosity. The second stage is the specification of the weight of each factor using two methods. The methods are multilayer perceptron (MLP) network classification accuracy and Zhou's algorithm. At the third stage, the factors with higher weights were used to improve the MLP performance. Out of the thirteen factors, eight factors were considered as important factors, which are surface area, longitude curvature, diagonal length, slope angle, elevation, slope aspect, rugosity, and profile curvature. The classification accuracy of multilayer perceptron neural network has increased by 3% after the elimination of five less important factors.

A bipartite graph of Neuroendocrine System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Zhong-Wei; Zou, Sheng-Rong; Peng, Yu-Jing; Zhou, Ta; Gu, Chang-Gui; He, Da-Ren

2008-03-01

We present an empirical investigation on the neuroendocrine system and suggest describe it by a bipartite graph. In the net the cells can be regarded as collaboration acts and the mediators can be regarded as collaboration actors. The act degree stands for the number of the cells that secrete a single mediator. Among them bFGF (the basic fibroblast growth factor) has the largest node act degree. It is the most important mitogenic cytokine, followed by TGF-beta, IL-6, IL1-beta, VEGF, IGF-1and so on. They are critical in neuroendocrine system to maintain bodily healthiness, emotional stabilization and endocrine harmony. The act degree distribution shows a shifted power law (SPL) function forms [1]. The average act degree of neuroendocrine network is h=3.01, It means that each mediator is secreted by three cells on average. The similarity, which stands for the average probability of secreting the same mediators by all neuroendocrine cells, is observed as s=0.14. Our results may be used in the research of the medical treatment of neuroendocrine diseases. [1] Assortativity and act degree distribution of some collaboration networks, Hui Chang, Bei-Bei Su, Yue-Ping Zhou, Daren He, Physica A, 383 (2007) 687-702

Effects of magnetic field on electron-electron intersubband scattering rates in quantum wells.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kempa, K.; Zhou, Y.; Engelbrecht, J.; Bakshi, P.

2001-03-01

Electron-electron scattering dominates the physics of carrier relaxation in quantum nano-structures used as active regions of THz radiation sources. This is the limiting mechanism in achieving population inversion, and reducing its deleterious effects could clear the way to a THz laser. We study here the inter-subband relaxation processes due to the electron-electron scattering in quantum well structures, in a magnetic field. We obtain the scattering rate from the imaginary part of the electron self-energy in the random phase approximation, extending our earlier studies [1] to nonzero magnetic fields. We find that the scattering rate is peaked at two possible sets of arrangements of the Landau levels (LL) of the two subbands of interest. The first set occurs when the LL of both subbands align, and the other when the LL misalign, so that the LL of one subband lie exactly in the middle between those of the other subband. Experiments on various quantum cascade structures show that the misaligned set of transitions is completely suppressed. >From our calculations this implies that there is no population inversion in those structures. Work supported by US Army Research Office. [1] K. Kempa, P. Bakshi, J. R. Engelbrecht, and Y. Zhou, Phys. Rev. B61, 11083 (2000).

Application of 4G wireless network-based system for remote diagnosis and nursing of stomal complications

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiulian; Cao, Yingjuan; Luan, Xiaorong

2014-01-01

Background: This study aims to apply 4G wireless network in the remote diagnosis of stoma complications for the first time. Background: Remote diagnosis and nursing care for a variety of illnesses are urgently needed in clinical settings. Objectives: Combining with relevant clinical manifestations, an Android phone-based intelligent diagnosis system was designed to construct a universe, easy access to exploitation and human-computer interaction database and exploitation environment for applications and programs. Methods: “Production rule” and forward reasoning method were utilized to design arborescence structures and logic reasoner associated with stoma complications. Stoma physicians were responsible for delivering evaluation scores on patients’ health status using analytic hierarchy process. The emphasis of this study is to exploit an “Android phone-based system for remote diagnosis of stoma”, which is of certain universe usage. Results: Such system was tested in the Medicine Information Center of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University and initially applied in the city of De Zhou, Shandong province, China. Conclusions: These results collectively demonstrated that the system is easy to carry, of high utility and free from the limitations of wire network environment, etc. It provides clinical evidence for establishing a novel type model for the exchange between patients and physicians. PMID:25550986

Interplay between Self-Assembled Structures and Energy Level Alignment of Benzenediamine on Au(111) Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Guo; Neaton, Jeffrey

2015-03-01

Using van der Waals-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we study the adsorption of benzene-diamine (BDA) molecules on Au(111) surfaces. We find that at low surface coverage, the adsorbed molecules prefer to stay isolated from each other in a monomer phase, due to the inter-molecular dipole-dipole repulsions. However, when the coverage rises above a critical value of 0.9nm-2, the adsorbed molecules aggregate into linear structures via hydrogen bonding between amine groups, consistent with recent experiments [Haxton, Zhou, Tamblyn, et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 265701 (2013)]. Moreover, we find that these linear structures at high density considerably reduces the Au work function (relative to a monomer phase). Due to reduced surface polarization effects, we estimate that the resonance energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital of the adsorbed BDA molecule relative to the Au Fermi level is significantly lower than the monomer phase by more than 0.5 eV, consistent with the experimental measurements [DellAngela, Kladnik, and Cossaro, et al., Nano Lett. 10, 2470 (2010)]. This work supported by DOE (the JCAP under Award Number DE-SC000499 and the Molecular Foundry of LBNL), and computational resources provided by NERSC.

Low Temperature Thermodynamic Equilibrium of CO2 Dimer Anion Species in Cryogenic Argon and Krypton Matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodrich, Michael E.; Moore, David T.

2016-06-01

The separated CO2 dimer anion, (CO2)(CO2-), is observed by FTIR spectroscopy in matrix isolation experiments at 1652 cm-1 upon deposition of high energy argon ions into an argon matrix doped with 0.5% CO2. It has previously been reported by Andrews that upon annealing the matrix to 25K, the separated species converts to an oxalate-like C2O4- species which appears at 1856 cm-1.a We have observed that subsequently holding the matrix at 10K caused the C2O4- species to fully convert back to (CO2)(CO2-). Upon further investigation, we determined that the two species reversibly interconvert between 19K and 23K, suggesting the species are in thermodynamic equilibrium. The associated van't Hoff plot has a linear trend and indicates an endothermic reaction driven by a large increase in entropy. An analogous experiment in a krypton matrix was performed, and the equilibrium was found to occur between 26K and 31K. Interestingly, analysis revealed the reaction in krypton is more endothermic, but has nearly the same entropy value as was observed in the argon experiment. aZhou, M.; Andrews, L.; J. Chem. Phys. 110, 2414 (1999).

Metallic Electrode: Semiconducting Nanotube Junction Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamada, Toshishige; Biegel, Bryon (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A model is proposed for two observed current-voltage (I-V) patterns in an experiment with a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a carbon nanotube [Collins et al., Science 278, 100 ('97)]. We claim that there are two contact modes for a tip (metal) -nanotube semi conductor) junction depending whether the alignment of the metal and semiconductor band structure is (1) variable (vacuum-gap) or (2) fixed (touching) with V. With the tip grounded, the tunneling case in (1) would produce large dI/dV with V > 0, small dI/dV with V < 0, and I = 0 near V = 0 for an either n- or p-nanotube. However, the Schottky mechanism in (2) would result in forward current with V < 0 for an n-nanotube, while with V > 0 for an p-nanotube. The two observed I-V patterns are thus entirely explained by a tip-nanotube contact of the two types, where the nanotube must be n-type. We apply this picture to the source-drain I-V characteristics in a long nanotube-channel field-effect-transistor (Zhou et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1597 ('00)], and show that two independent metal-semiconductor junctions connected in series are responsible for the observed behavior.

Modeling of Current-Voltage Characteristics in Large Metal-Semiconducting Carbon Nanotube Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamada, Toshishige; Biegel, Bryon A. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

A model is proposed for two observed current-voltage (I-V) patterns in recent experiment with a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a carbon nanotube [Collins et al., Science 278, 100 (1997)]. We claim that there are two contact modes for a tip (metal)-nanotube (semiconductor) junction depending whether the alignment of the metal and the semiconductor band structures is (1) variable (vacuum-gap) or (2) fixed (touching) with V. With the tip grounded, the tunneling case in (1) would produce large dI/dV with V > 0, small dI/dV with V < 0, and I = 0 near V = 0 for an either n- or p-nanotube. However, the Schottky mechanism in (2) would result in forward current with V < 0 for an n-nanotube, while with V > 0 for an p-nanotube. The two observed I-V patterns are thus entirely explained by a tip-nanotube contact of the two types, where the nanotube must be n-type. We apply this model to the source-drain I-V characteristics in a long nanotube-channel field-effect-transistor with metallic electrodes at low temperature [Zhou et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1597 (2000)], and show that two independent metal-semiconductor junctions in series are responsible for the observed behavior.

Fossil endocarps of Aralia (Araliaceae) from the upper Pliocene of Yunnan in southwest China, and their biogeographical implications

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Hai; Jacques, Frederic M. B.; Wang, Li; ...

2015-10-09

Aralia stratosa H. Zhu, Y.J. Huang et Z.K. Zhou sp. nov. is described based on fossil endocarps from the upper Pliocene of northwest Yunnan in southwest China. The endocarps are characterized by a semicircular to elliptic outline in the lateral view, an apical beak-like structure bending towards the ventral side, and a transversely wrinkled surface, collectively indicating taxonomical inclusion in the genus Aralia (Araliaceae). The new fossil taxon is compared with nine extant species of Aralia based on endocarp morphology and anatomy, showing the carpological resemblance to A. echinocaulis. Aralia stratosa sp. nov. represents the first confirmed fossil record frommore » lower latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. This implies a southerly biogeographical range for this genus than was previously interpreted. The fossil record of Aralia suggests a Cretaceous origin in North America and an Eocene dispersal to eastern Asia, likely via the Bering land bridge, followed by Miocene establishment in Europe. The genus likely began to inhabit lower latitudes in eastern Asia no later than the late Pliocene, which is in line with results from molecular analyses. As a result, all these may suggest a southward distributional change probably associated with the global cooling and northern acidification.« less

Determination of Important Topographic Factors for Landslide Mapping Analysis Using MLP Network

PubMed Central

Alkhasawneh, Mutasem Sh.; Ngah, Umi Kalthum; Mat Isa, Nor Ashidi; Al-batah, Mohammad Subhi

2013-01-01

Landslide is one of the natural disasters that occur in Malaysia. Topographic factors such as elevation, slope angle, slope aspect, general curvature, plan curvature, and profile curvature are considered as the main causes of landslides. In order to determine the dominant topographic factors in landslide mapping analysis, a study was conducted and presented in this paper. There are three main stages involved in this study. The first stage is the extraction of extra topographic factors. Previous landslide studies had identified mainly six topographic factors. Seven new additional factors have been proposed in this study. They are longitude curvature, tangential curvature, cross section curvature, surface area, diagonal line length, surface roughness, and rugosity. The second stage is the specification of the weight of each factor using two methods. The methods are multilayer perceptron (MLP) network classification accuracy and Zhou's algorithm. At the third stage, the factors with higher weights were used to improve the MLP performance. Out of the thirteen factors, eight factors were considered as important factors, which are surface area, longitude curvature, diagonal length, slope angle, elevation, slope aspect, rugosity, and profile curvature. The classification accuracy of multilayer perceptron neural network has increased by 3% after the elimination of five less important factors. PMID:24453846

Inexpensive metagenomic DNA extraction protocol with high quality from marine sediments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons.

PubMed

García-Bautista, I; Toledano-Thompson, T; Dantán-González, E; González-Montilla, J; Valdez-Ojeda, R

2017-09-21

Marine environments are a reservoir of relevant information on dangerous contaminants such as hydrocarbons, as well as microbial communities with probable degradation skills. However, to access microbial diversity, it is necessary to obtain high-quality DNA. An inexpensive, reliable, and effective metagenomic DNA (mgDNA) extraction protocol from marine sediments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons was established in this study from modifications to Zhou's protocol. The optimization included pretreatment of sediment with saline solutions for the removal of contaminants, a second precipitation and enzymatic degradation of RNA, followed by purification of mgDNA extracted by electroelution. The results obtained indicated that the modifications applied to 12 sediments with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations from 22.6-174.3 (µg/g dry sediment) yielded 20.3-321.3 ng/µL mgDNA with A 260 /A 280 and A 260 /A 230 ratios of 1.75 ± 0.08 and 1.19 ± 0.22, respectively. The 16S rRNA amplification confirmed the purity of the mgDNA. The suitability of this mgDNA extraction protocol lies in the fact that all chemical solutions utilized are common in all molecular biology laboratories, and the use of dialysis membrane does not require any sophisticated or expensive equipment, only an electrophoretic chamber.

Synchrony and the binding problem in macaque visual cortex

PubMed Central

Dong, Yi; Mihalas, Stefan; Qiu, Fangtu; von der Heydt, Rüdiger; Niebur, Ernst

2009-01-01

We tested the binding-by-synchrony hypothesis which proposes that object representations are formed by synchronizing spike activity between neurons that code features of the same object. We studied responses of 32 pairs of neurons recorded with microelectrodes 3 mm apart in the visual cortex of macaques performing a fixation task. Upon mapping the receptive fields of the neurons, a quadrilateral was generated so that two of its sides were centered in the receptive fields at the optimal orientations. This one-figure condition was compared with a two-figure condition in which the neurons were stimulated by two separate figures, keeping the local edges in the receptive fields identical. For each neuron, we also determined its border ownership selectivity (H. Zhou, H. S. Friedman, & R. von der Heydt, 2000). We examined both synchronization and correlation at nonzero time lag. After correcting for effects of the firing rate, we found that synchrony did not depend on the binding condition. However, finding synchrony in a pair of neurons was correlated with finding border-ownership selectivity in both members of the pair. This suggests that the synchrony reflected the connectivity in the network that generates border ownership assignment. Thus, we have not found evidence to support the binding-by-synchrony hypothesis. PMID:19146262

Hierarchical neural network model of the visual system determining figure/ground relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kikuchi, Masayuki

2017-07-01

One of the most important functions of the visual perception in the brain is figure/ground interpretation from input images. Figural region in 2D image corresponding to object in 3D space are distinguished from background region extended behind the object. Previously the author proposed a neural network model of figure/ground separation constructed on the standpoint that local geometric features such as curvatures and outer angles at corners are extracted and propagated along input contour in a single layer network (Kikuchi & Akashi, 2001). However, such a processing principle has the defect that signal propagation requires manyiterations despite the fact that actual visual system determines figure/ground relation within the short period (Zhou et al., 2000). In order to attain speed-up for determining figure/ground, this study incorporates hierarchical architecture into the previous model. This study confirmed the effect of the hierarchization as for the computation time by simulation. As the number of layers increased, the required computation time reduced. However, such speed-up effect was saturatedas the layers increased to some extent. This study attempted to explain this saturation effect by the notion of average distance between vertices in the area of complex network, and succeeded to mimic the saturation effect by computer simulation.

Demonstration of 40 MHz thin-film electro-optic modulator using an organic molecular salt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhowmik, Achintya; Ahyi, Ayayi; Tan, Shida; Mishra, Alpana; Thakur, Mrinal

2000-03-01

Recently we reported the first demonstration of a single-pass thin-film electro-optic modulator based on a DAST single-crystal film.(M. Thakur, J. Xu, A. Bhowmik, and L. Zhou, Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 635-637 (1999).) In this work, we report a larger modulation depth ( ~80%) and higher speed of operation. Excellent optical quality single-crystal films were prepared by a modified shear method.(M. Thakur and S. Meyler, Macromolecules 18, 2341 (1985); M. Thakur, Y. Shani, G. C. Chi, and K. O'Brien, Synth. Met. 28, D595 (1989).) Thin-film modulator was constructed by depositing electrodes across the polar axis. The beam from a Ti-Sapphire laser, tunable over 720-850 nm, was propagated perpendicular to the film surface. The modulated signal was detected using a fast photodetector, and displayed on a high bandwidth oscilloscope and a spectrum analyzer. The response was independent of the frequency of applied field over the measurement range (2 kHz - 40 MHz). A much higher speed (>100 GHz) of operation should be possible using these films. These modulators involve negligible losses compared to the waveguide structures, and have significant potential for a broad range of applications in high speed optical signal processing.

Fossil endocarps of Aralia (Araliaceae) from the upper Pliocene of Yunnan in southwest China, and their biogeographical implications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Hai; Jacques, Frederic M. B.; Wang, Li

Aralia stratosa H. Zhu, Y.J. Huang et Z.K. Zhou sp. nov. is described based on fossil endocarps from the upper Pliocene of northwest Yunnan in southwest China. The endocarps are characterized by a semicircular to elliptic outline in the lateral view, an apical beak-like structure bending towards the ventral side, and a transversely wrinkled surface, collectively indicating taxonomical inclusion in the genus Aralia (Araliaceae). The new fossil taxon is compared with nine extant species of Aralia based on endocarp morphology and anatomy, showing the carpological resemblance to A. echinocaulis. Aralia stratosa sp. nov. represents the first confirmed fossil record frommore » lower latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. This implies a southerly biogeographical range for this genus than was previously interpreted. The fossil record of Aralia suggests a Cretaceous origin in North America and an Eocene dispersal to eastern Asia, likely via the Bering land bridge, followed by Miocene establishment in Europe. The genus likely began to inhabit lower latitudes in eastern Asia no later than the late Pliocene, which is in line with results from molecular analyses. As a result, all these may suggest a southward distributional change probably associated with the global cooling and northern acidification.« less

Mechanical remodeling of normally sized mammalian cells under a gravity vector.

PubMed

Zhang, Chen; Zhou, Lüwen; Zhang, Fan; Lü, Dongyuan; Li, Ning; Zheng, Lu; Xu, Yanhong; Li, Zhan; Sun, Shujin; Long, Mian

2017-02-01

Translocation of the dense nucleus along a gravity vector initiates mechanical remodeling of a cell, but the underlying mechanisms of cytoskeletal network and focal adhesion complex (FAC) reorganization in a mammalian cell remain unclear. We quantified the remodeling of an MC3T3-E1 cell placed in upward-, downward-, or edge-on-orientated substrate. Nucleus longitudinal translocation presents a high value in downward orientation at 24 h or in edge-on orientation at 72 h, which is consistent with orientation-dependent distribution of perinuclear actin stress fibers and vimentin cords. Redistribution of total FAC area and fractionized super mature adhesion number coordinates this dependence at short duration. This orientation-dependent remodeling is associated with nucleus flattering and lamin A/C phosphorylation. Actin depolymerization or Rho-associated protein kinase signaling inhibition abolishes the orientation dependence of nucleus translocation, whereas tubulin polymerization inhibition or vimentin disruption reserves the dependence. A biomechanical model is therefore proposed for integrating the mechanosensing of nucleus translocation with cytoskeletal remodeling and FAC reorganization induced by a gravity vector.-Zhang, C., Zhou, L., Zhang, F., Lü, D., Li, N., Zheng, L., Xu, Y., Li, Z., Sun, S., Long, M. Mechanical remodeling of normally sized mammalian cells under a gravity vector. © FASEB.

Full Waveform Inversion of Diving & Reflected Waves based on Scale Separation for Velocity and Impedance Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brossier, Romain; Zhou, Wei; Operto, Stéphane; Virieux, Jean

2015-04-01

Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) is an appealing method for quantitative high-resolution subsurface imaging (Virieux et al., 2009). For crustal-scales exploration from surface seismic, FWI generally succeeds in recovering a broadband of wavenumbers in the shallow part of the targeted medium taking advantage of the broad scattering-angle provided by both reflected and diving waves. In contrast, deeper targets are often only illuminated by short-spread reflections, which favor the reconstruction of the short wavelengths at the expense of the longer ones, leading to a possible notch in the intermediate part of the wavenumber spectrum. To update the velocity macromodel from reflection data, image-domain strategies (e.g., Symes & Carazzone, 1991) aim to maximize a semblance criterion in the migrated domain. Alternatively, recent data-domain strategies (e.g., Xu et al., 2012, Ma & Hale, 2013, Brossier et al., 2014), called Reflection FWI (RFWI), inspired by Chavent et al. (1994), rely on a scale separation between the velocity macromodel and prior knowledge of the reflectivity to emphasize the transmission regime in the sensitivity kernel of the inversion. However, all these strategies focus on reflected waves only, discarding the low-wavenumber information carried out by diving waves. With the current development of very long-offset and wide-azimuth acquisitions, a significant part of the recorded energy is provided by diving waves and subcritical reflections, and high-resolution tomographic methods should take advantage of all types of waves. In this presentation, we will first review the issues of classical FWI when applied to reflected waves and how RFWI is able to retrieve the long wavelength of the model. We then propose a unified formulation of FWI (Zhou et al., 2014) to update the low wavenumbers of the velocity model by the joint inversion of diving and reflected arrivals, while the impedance model is updated thanks to reflected wave only. An alternate inversion of

Eugenics discourse and racial improvement in Republican China (1911-1949).

PubMed

Sihn, Kyu-hwan

2010-12-31

This paper aimed to examine the advent of eugenics and its characteristics in republican China. Although eugenics was introduced into China as a discourse to preserve and improve race by the 1898 reformers such as Yan Fu (1854-1921) and Yi Nai (1875-?) in the late imperial period, it was not until the republican period that eugenics discourse started to combine with the discourse and movement related to social reform. The May 4th intellectuals put forward criticisms of Confucian patriarchy, propagating science and democracy. They pointed out that the large family system was a source of every social evil, and argued the need for a small family system based on monogamy. The aim of the small family system was to improve both the race and the environment. Such thinkers argued that freedom of love and the liberation of individuality were necessary for this end. Zhou Jianren (1888-1984), Lu Xun's youngest brother and representative eugenicist in the May 4th period, combined eugenics with freedom of love and the liberation of individuality. Pan Guangdan (1899-1967) and Zhou Jianren debated the eugenics controversy in the 1920s. They raised the freedom of love and the liberation of individuality as central issues related to the eugenics controversy. The eugenics debate was developed into the controversy between biological determinism and environmentalism in the late 1920s. However, these issues did not continue to be brought up in the 1930s. The main issues concerning the eugenics controversy in the 1930s were cultural identity and the population problem. Particularly in the 1930s, the scope of birth control as the solution to the population problem was extended from the individual person and family to nation and race. For eugenicists like Pan Guangdan, birth control violated the aim of eugenics and brought about the degeneration of the race. However, such theorists did not deny the value of birth control itself. The supporters of birth control thought that selecting

The study of the geomagnetic excursions and the relative intensities from Chinese loess 10Be over the past 130 ka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, W.; Xian, F.; Beck, J.; An, Z.; Wu, Z.; Liu, M.; Chen, M.; Priller, A.; Kutschera, W.; Jull, A. T.; Yu, H.; Song, S.; Cheng, P.; Kong, X.

2009-12-01

Chinese loess is well-known archive for the paleogeomagnetic and paleoclimatic studies [Zhou et al., 1990; An et al., 1990; Zhu et al., 2007]. However, earlier efforts to extract weak geomagnetic excursion signals from Chinese loess 10Be were always unsuccessful due to the complexities of loess 10Be, which results in the fact that loess 10Be was only used as a climatic proxy [Shen et al., 1992; Beer et al.,1993; Gu et al.,1996]. Meanwhile, knowledge on the precise stratigraphic horizons of geomagnetic excursions with a reliable dating [Channell, 2006], on whether the short-lived excursions such as Blake can not be recorded in paleosol unit are still controversial. Here, we present the reconstructed past 130ka geomagnetic excursions and relative paleointensities for the first time from 10Be records in two Chinese loess sections. Results are comparative with those of independent geomagnetic research on Atlantic and Pacific sediments. The derived Laschamp and Blake events lie in the loess-paleosol (L1SS1 and S1SS3) corresponding to mid MIS 3 and 5e respectively. Our studies prove the potential application of the complex loess 10Be for long-term geomagnetic tracing and provide new evidence to answer the long-existing debates on the precise stratigraphic horizon of geomagnetic excursions. Our study suggests the potential application of loess-paleosol 10Be for reconstructing geomagnetic intensity variations spanning the whole Quaternary. References 1. Zhou, L. P., F. Oldfield, A. G. Wintle, S. G. Robinson, and J. T. Wang (1990), Partly pedogenic origin of magnetic variations in Chinese loess, Nature, 346, 737-739. 2. An, Z. S., T. S. Liu, Y. C. Lu, S. C. Porter, G. Kukla, X. H. Wu, and Y. M. Hua (1990), The long-term paleomonsoon variation recorded by the loess-paleosol sequence in Central China, Quat. Int., 7-8, 91-95. 3. Zhu, R. X., R. Zhang, C. L. Deng, Y. X. Pan, Q. S. Liu, and Y. B. Sun (2007), Are Chinese loess deposits essentially continuous?, Geophys. Res. Lett

A Multiparticulate Delivery System for Potential Colonic Targeting Using Bovine Serum Albumin as a Model Protein : Theme: Formulation and Manufacturing of Solid Dosage Forms Guest Editors: Tony Zhou and Tonglei Li.

PubMed

Jiang, Bowen; Yu, Hua; Zhang, Yongrong; Feng, Hanping; Hoag, Stephen W

2017-12-01

There are many important diseases whose treatment could be improved by delivering a therapeutic protein to the colon, for example, Clostridium difficile infection, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease. The goal of this project was to investigate the feasibility of colonic delivery of proteins using multiparticulate beads. In this work, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was adopted as a model protein. BSA was spray layered onto beads, followed by coating of an enteric polymer EUDRAGIT® FS 30 D to develop a colonic delivery system. The secondary and tertiary structure change and aggregation of BSA during spray layering process was examined. The BSA layered beads were then challenged in an accelerated stability study using International Council for Harmonization (ICH) conditions. The in vitro release of BSA from enteric coated beads was examined using United States Pharmacopeia (USP) dissolution apparatus 1. No significant changes in the secondary and tertiary structure or aggregation profile of BSA were observed after the spray layering process. Degradation of BSA to different extents was detected after storing at 25°C and 40°C for 38 days. Enteric coated BSA beads were intact in acidic media while released BSA in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer. We showed the feasibility of delivering proteins to colon in vitro using multiparticulate system.

A cubic map chaos criterion theorem with applications in generalized synchronization based pseudorandom number generator and image encryption.

PubMed

Yang, Xiuping; Min, Lequan; Wang, Xue

2015-05-01

This paper sets up a chaos criterion theorem on a kind of cubic polynomial discrete maps. Using this theorem, Zhou-Song's chaos criterion theorem on quadratic polynomial discrete maps and generalized synchronization (GS) theorem construct an eight-dimensional chaotic GS system. Numerical simulations have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of theoretical results. The chaotic GS system is used to design a chaos-based pseudorandom number generator (CPRNG). Using FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2, test suit tests the randomness of two 1000 key streams consisting of 20 000 bits generated by the CPRNG, respectively. The results show that there are 99.9%/98.5% key streams to have passed the FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2 test. Numerical simulations show that the different keystreams have an average 50.001% same codes. The key space of the CPRNG is larger than 2(1345). As an application of the CPRNG, this study gives an image encryption example. Experimental results show that the linear coefficients between the plaintext and the ciphertext and the decrypted ciphertexts via the 100 key streams with perturbed keys are less than 0.00428. The result suggests that the decrypted texts via the keystreams generated via perturbed keys of the CPRNG are almost completely independent on the original image text, and brute attacks are needed to break the cryptographic system.

A cubic map chaos criterion theorem with applications in generalized synchronization based pseudorandom number generator and image encryption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiuping; Min, Lequan; Wang, Xue

2015-05-01

This paper sets up a chaos criterion theorem on a kind of cubic polynomial discrete maps. Using this theorem, Zhou-Song's chaos criterion theorem on quadratic polynomial discrete maps and generalized synchronization (GS) theorem construct an eight-dimensional chaotic GS system. Numerical simulations have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of theoretical results. The chaotic GS system is used to design a chaos-based pseudorandom number generator (CPRNG). Using FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2, test suit tests the randomness of two 1000 key streams consisting of 20 000 bits generated by the CPRNG, respectively. The results show that there are 99.9%/98.5% key streams to have passed the FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2 test. Numerical simulations show that the different keystreams have an average 50.001% same codes. The key space of the CPRNG is larger than 21345. As an application of the CPRNG, this study gives an image encryption example. Experimental results show that the linear coefficients between the plaintext and the ciphertext and the decrypted ciphertexts via the 100 key streams with perturbed keys are less than 0.00428. The result suggests that the decrypted texts via the keystreams generated via perturbed keys of the CPRNG are almost completely independent on the original image text, and brute attacks are needed to break the cryptographic system.

South American Summer Monsoon of 1997/1998 and 1998/1999

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K.-M.; Zhou, Jiayu

2000-01-01

It is well known that during El Nino years severe drought occurs in the area of Amazon and northeastern Brazil. According to the linear model result the reduced latent heating over the Amazon may lead to a weaker than normal upper tropospheric Bolivian high. As a result, some studies have suggested a weaker South American summer monsoon (SASM) during El Nino years. Using re-analysis. Zhou and Lau data found a statistically significant positive correlation between the tropical eastern Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) and the strength of low-level jet (LLJ) along the eastern foothills of the tropical-subtropical Andes. Douglas also showed a strong LLJ at Santa Cruz, Bolivia during a special pilot balloon observation period in 1997/98 El Nino austral summer. Since this LLJ is an integral part of the monsoon system in the summertime, these results indicated that SASM could be stronger than normal in El Nino years. To clarify this issue, we conducted an investigation on SASM anomaly in the recent ENSO event of 1997/98 El Nino and 1998/99 La Nina In the following we first give a brief review on SASM and the interannual variability of summer rainfall over South America. Then, the impact of 1997-99 ENSO on the South American regional thermal structure and its dynamical consequences to SASM will be discussed.

Environmental Applications of Nanotechnology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Arturo A.

2014-07-01

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are currently used in many applications including agriculture (Gruère, 2012; Khot et al. 2012; Lopez-Moreno et al. 2010; Peralta-Videa et al. 2011; Zhao et al. 2012), aerogels (Bigall et al. 2009), aerospace (Baur and Silverman, 2007), automotive (Coelho et al. 2012; Presting and König, 2003; Salonitis et al. 2010), catalysts (Zhou et al. 2011), coatings, paints and pigments (Dhoke et al. 2009; Gopalakrishnan et al. 2011; Khanna, 2008), composites (Borchardt, 2003; Khanna and Bakshi, 2009; Petrov and Georgiev, 2012; Sahoo et al. 2010), construction (Lee et al. 2010), cosmetics (Musee, 2011; Sabitha et al. 2012; Singh and Nanda, 2012), electronics and optics (Alda et al. 2005; Avasthi et al. 2007; Song et al. 2012; Subramanian and Takhee, 2012), energy (Serrano et al. 2009), environmental remediation (Dionysiou 2004; Khin et al. 2012), filtration and purification (Dhakras, 2011; Savage and Diallo, 2005), food products (Blasco and Picó, 2011; Weiss et al. 2006), medical (Boisseau and Loubaton, 2011; Farokhzad and Langer, 2006), packaging (Silvestre et al. 2011), paper and board (Kharisov and Kharissova, 2010), plastics, security (Marín and Merkoçi, 2012), sensors (Ding et al. 2010; Duncan et al. 2012; Su et al. 2012; Tan et al. 2012), and textiles (Qian and Hinestroza, 2004; Wong et al. 2006), and research is underway on many new applications...

Measurements of Positronium Formation Cross Sections for Positron-Kr, Xe Scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauppila, W. E.; Kwan, C. K.; Li, H.; Stein, T. S.; Zhou, S.

1997-04-01

Our experimental approach(S. Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 236 (1994).) for measuring Ps formation cross sections (Q_Ps) involves passing a variable energy positron beam through a gas scattering cell and detecting the 511 keV annihilation gamma rays resulting from the decay of para-Ps and from the interaction of ortho-Ps with the walls of the scattering cell. It is found that the Q_Ps curves for both Kr and Xe rise rapidly from their formation threshold energies of 7.2 and 5.3 eV, reach maxima within about 10 eV of their thresholds and then decrease to become rather small (less than 10% of the peak heights) above 100 eV. At the maxima Q_Ps accounts for more than 50% of the total scattering cross sections. There is some evidence of possible small scale structure in the Q_Ps curves between 10 and 100 eV. The present results are consistent with the prior measurements of Diana et al.( L.M. Diana et al., in "Atomic Physics with Positrons", edited by J.W. Humberston and E.A.G. Armour (Plenum, New York and London, 1987), p. 55; and in "Positron Annihilation", edited by L. Dorikens-Vanpraet et al. (World Scientific, Singapore, 1989), p. 311.) from near threshold to 70 eV for Kr and from 15 to 100 eV for Xe.

Production of bacterial cellulose using different carbon sources and culture media.

PubMed

Mohammadkazemi, Faranak; Azin, Mehrdad; Ashori, Alireza

2015-03-06

In this work, the effects of carbon sources and culture media on the production and structural properties of bacterial cellulose (BC) have been studied. BC nanofibers were synthesized using Gluconacetobacter xylinus strain PTCC 1734. Media used were Hestrin-Schramm (H), Yamanaka (Y), and Zhou (Z). Five different carbon sources, namely date syrup, glucose, mannitol, sucrose, and food-grade sucrose were used in these media. All the produced BC pellicles were characterized in terms of dry weight production, biomass yield, thermal stability, crystallinity and morphology by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The obtained results showed that mannitol lead to the highest yield, followed by sucrose. The highest production efficiency of mannitol might be due to the nitrogen source, which plays an important role. The maximum improvement on the thermal stability of the composites was achieved when mannitol was used in H medium. In addition, the crystallinity was higher in BC formed in H medium compared to other media. FE-SEM micrographs illustrated that the BC pellicles, synthesized in the culture media H and Z, were stable, unlike those in medium Y that were unstable. The micrographs of BC produced in media containing mannitol and sucrose provided evidence of the strong interfacial adhesion between the BC fibers without noticeable aggregates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A phenomenological treatment of rotating turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhou, YE

1995-01-01

The strong similarity between the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and initially isotropic turbulence subject to rotation is noted. We then apply the MHD phenomenologies of Kraichnan and Matthaeus & Zhou to rotating turbulence. When the turbulence is subject to a strong rotation, the energy spectrum is found to scale as E(k) = C(sub Omega)(Omega(sub epsilon))(sup 1/2)k(sup -2), where Omega is the rotation rate, k is the wavenumber, and epsilon is the dissipation rate. This spectral form is consistent with a recent letter by Zeman. However, here the constant C(sub Omega) is found to be related to the Kolmogorov constant and is estimated in the range 1.22 - 1.87 for the typical values of the latter constant. A 'rule' that relates spectral transfer times to the eddy turnover time and the time scale for decay of the triple correlations is deduced. A hypothesis for the triple correlation decay rate leads to the spectral law which varies between the '-5/3' (without rotation) and '-2' laws (with strong rotation). For intermediate rotation rates, the spectrum varies according to the value of a dimensionless parameter that measures the strength of the rotation wavenumber k(sub Omega) = (Omega(sup 3)/epsiolon)(sup 1/2) relative to the wavenumber k. An eddy viscosity is derived with an explicit dependence on the rotation rate.

Redescription and new records of Ontholestes brasilianus Bernhauer, 1906 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae).

PubMed

Costa-Silva, VinÍcius; Asenjo, AngÉlico; Newton, Alfred F; Thyssen, Patricia J

2018-02-28

The genus Ontholestes Ganglbauer includes 35 species distributed mainly in Eurasia, with a few additional species in Africa and North and South America (Herman, 2001; Yang Zhou, 2012; Smetana Shavrin, 2013; Rougemont, 2016). According to Asenjo et al. (2013), the South American record of the Palearctic species Ontholestes murinus (Linnaeus, 1758) for Brazil made by J. Guérin (1953) seems doubtful. Ontholestes murinus was recorded for the first time outside the Palaearctic region by Smetana (1981), from Newfoundland, in Canada, as an adventive species (e.g., Downie and Arnett, 1996; Brunke et al., 2011), but its occurrence in Brazil remains to be confirmed; if the Guérin (1953) record was based on a mistaken identification or mislabeled specimen, this would reduce the number of species distributed in this region from two to one. With respect to O. brasilianus Bernhauer, although it has been confirmed for Peru, Brazil and Argentina (Herman, 2001; Asenjo et al., 2013; Newton, 2015; Newton Caron, 2015), no specific localities of occurrence have been reported since its description in 1906. Thus, to solve problems of misidentification with Neotropical species of this genus, in this study we redescribe Ontholestes brasilianus and provide the first illustrations of the beetle including its aedeagus and a short key for South American species. Additionally, new records from South America are listed here.

Phylogeny and classification of Prunus sensu lato (Rosaceae).

PubMed

Shi, Shuo; Li, Jinlu; Sun, Jiahui; Yu, Jing; Zhou, Shiliang

2013-11-01

The classification of the economically important genus Prunus L. sensu lato (s.l.) is controversial due to the high levels of convergent or the parallel evolution of morphological characters. In the present study, phylogenetic analyses of fifteen main segregates of Prunus s.l. represented by eighty-four species were conducted with maximum parsimony and Bayesian approaches using twelve chloroplast regions (atpB-rbcL, matK, ndhF, psbA-trnH, rbcL, rpL16, rpoC1, rps16, trnS-G, trnL, trnL-F and ycf1) and three nuclear genes (ITS, s6pdh and SbeI) to explore their infrageneric relationships. The results of these analyses were used to develop a new, phylogeny-based classification of Prunus s.l. Our phylogenetic reconstructions resolved three main clades of Prunus s.l. with strong supports. We adopted a broad-sensed genus, Prunus, and recognised three subgenera corresponding to the three main clades: subgenus Padus, subgenus Cerasus and subgenus Prunus. Seven sections of subgenus Prunus were recognised. The dwarf cherries, which were previously assigned to subgenus Cerasus, were included in this subgenus Prunus. One new section name, Prunus L. subgenus Prunus section Persicae (T. T. Yü & L. T. Lu) S. L. Zhou and one new species name, Prunus tianshanica (Pojarkov) S. Shi, were proposed. © 2013 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Go Signaling in Mushroom Bodies Regulates Sleep in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Guo, Fang; Yi, Wei; Zhou, Mingmin; Guo, Aike

2011-01-01

Study Objectives: Sleep is a fundamental physiological process and its biological mechanisms are poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, heterotrimeric Go protein is abundantly expressed in the brain. However, its post-developmental function has not been extensively explored. Design: Locomotor activity was measured using the Drosophila Activity Monitoring System under a 12:12 LD cycle. Sleep was defined as periods of 5 min with no recorded activity. Results: Pan-neuronal elevation of Go signaling induced quiescence accompanied by an increased arousal threshold in flies. By screening region-specific GAL4 lines, we mapped the sleep-regulatory function of Go signaling to mushroom bodies (MBs), a central brain region which modulates memory, decision making, and sleep in Drosophila. Up-regulation of Go activity in these neurons consolidated sleep while inhibition of endogenous Go via expression of Go RNAi or pertussis toxin reduced and fragmented sleep, indicating that the Drosophila sleep requirement is affected by levels of Go activity in the MBs. Genetic interaction results showed that Go signaling serves as a neuronal transmission inhibitor in a cAMP-independent pathway. Conclusion: Go signaling is a novel signaling pathway in MBs that regulates sleep in Drosophila. Citation: Guo F; Yi W; Zhou M; Guo A. Go signaling in mushroom bodies regulates sleep in drosophila. SLEEP 2011;34(3):273-281. PMID:21358844

Resistance properties of coal-water slurry flowing through local piping fittings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meng, L.; Duan, Y.F.

2009-07-15

Local resistance characteristics of coal-water slurry (CWS) flowing through three types of piping components, namely gradual contractions, sudden contractions and 90 horizontal bends, were investigated at a transportation test facility. The results show that CWS exhibits different rheological behaviors, i.e., the shear-thinning, Newtonian, and shear-thicken, at different shear rates. When CWS flows through the gradual contractions, the local pressure loss firstly decreases to a minimum, and then increases as the gradual contraction angle {theta} increases. When the CWS flow through the sudden contractions, with the increase of pipe diameter ratio {beta}, the local pressure loss increases for the two kindsmore » of CWS, SHEN-HUA (S-H) CWS and YAN-ZHOU (Y-Z) CWS whose mass concentration range from 57% to 59% and 59% to 62%, respectively. For 90 horizontal bends, there is an optimal value of the bend diameter ratio (Rc/D) at which the local pressure loss is the least. Furthermore, the local resistance coefficient (K) in the empirical correlations is determined from the experimental data. The correlations show that as Re increases, K of the three fittings declines quickly at first. However, with further increase in Re, K shows different behaviors for the three fittings due to the special rheological property of CWS at higher shear rates. The factors of theta, beta and Rc/D have minor effects on K.« less

Performance of in silico tools for the evaluation of p16INK4a (CDKN2A) variants in CAGI.

PubMed

Carraro, Marco; Minervini, Giovanni; Giollo, Manuel; Bromberg, Yana; Capriotti, Emidio; Casadio, Rita; Dunbrack, Roland; Elefanti, Lisa; Fariselli, Pietro; Ferrari, Carlo; Gough, Julian; Katsonis, Panagiotis; Leonardi, Emanuela; Lichtarge, Olivier; Menin, Chiara; Martelli, Pier Luigi; Niroula, Abhishek; Pal, Lipika R; Repo, Susanna; Scaini, Maria Chiara; Vihinen, Mauno; Wei, Qiong; Xu, Qifang; Yang, Yuedong; Yin, Yizhou; Zaucha, Jan; Zhao, Huiying; Zhou, Yaoqi; Brenner, Steven E; Moult, John; Tosatto, Silvio C E

2017-09-01

Correct phenotypic interpretation of variants of unknown significance for cancer-associated genes is a diagnostic challenge as genetic screenings gain in popularity in the next-generation sequencing era. The Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) experiment aims to test and define the state of the art of genotype-phenotype interpretation. Here, we present the assessment of the CAGI p16INK4a challenge. Participants were asked to predict the effect on cellular proliferation of 10 variants for the p16INK4a tumor suppressor, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor encoded by the CDKN2A gene. Twenty-two pathogenicity predictors were assessed with a variety of accuracy measures for reliability in a medical context. Different assessment measures were combined in an overall ranking to provide more robust results. The R scripts used for assessment are publicly available from a GitHub repository for future use in similar assessment exercises. Despite a limited test-set size, our findings show a variety of results, with some methods performing significantly better. Methods combining different strategies frequently outperform simpler approaches. The best predictor, Yang&Zhou lab, uses a machine learning method combining an empirical energy function measuring protein stability with an evolutionary conservation term. The p16INK4a challenge highlights how subtle structural effects can neutralize otherwise deleterious variants. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Electron self-injection due to a plasma density downramp and gas ionization in a plasma wakefield accelerator in the blowout regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, S. A.; D'Avignon, E. C.; Khudik, V.; Shvets, G.

2010-11-01

We study self-injection into a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) in the blowout regime analytically and through particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. We propose a new injection mechanism into a plasma wakefield accelerator, where growth of the blowout region is enabled through a slow decrease in background plasma density along the direction of propagation. Deepening of the potential well due to this growth causes a reduction of electron Hamiltonian in the co-moving frame. This reduction depends on the shape of the blowout region, its growth rate, and impact parameter of the electron. When the reduction is greater than mc^2 [1,2], the electron becomes trapped inside the bubble. We demonstrate this effect using analytic expressions for the bubble potentials [3], and estimate plasma density gradients, and beam charge and size required for injection. We also apply the injection criterion to electron trapping through gas ionization. This work is supported by the US DOE grants DE-FG02-04ER41321 and DE-FG02-07ER54945. [1] S. Kalmykov, S.A. Yi, V. Khudik, and G. Shvets, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 135004 (2009). [2] S.A. Yi, V. Khudik, S. Kalmykov, and G. Shvets, Plasma Phys. Contr. Fus., in press. [3] W. Lu, C. Huang, M. Zhou, M. Tzoufras et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 056709 (2006).

The microbial community characteristics of ancient painted sculptures in Maijishan Grottoes, China

PubMed Central

He, Dongpeng; Gu, Ji-Dong; Feng, Huyuan; Chen, Tuo; Liu, Guangxiu; An, Lizhe

2017-01-01

In this study, a culture-independent Illumina MiSeq sequencing strategy was applied to investigate the microbial communities colonizing the ancient painted sculptures of the Maijishan Grottoes, a famous World Cultural Heritage site listed by UNESCO in China. Four mixed samples were collected from Cave 4–4 of the Maijishan Grottoes, the so-called Upper Seven Buddha Pavilion, which was built during the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581AD). The 16/18S rRNA gene-based sequences revealed a rich bacterial diversity and a relatively low fungal abundance, including the bacterial groups Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia and the fungal groups Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota. Among them, the bacteria genera of Pseudonocardia and Rubrobacter and unclassified fungi in the order of Capnodiales were dominant. The relative abundance of Pseudonocardia in the painted layer samples was higher than that in the dust sample, while Cyanobacteria dominated in the dust sample. Many of them have been discovered at other cultural heritage sites and associated with the biodeterioration of cultural relics. The presence and activity of these pioneering microorganisms may lead to an unexpected deterioration of the painted sculptures that are preserved in this heritage site. Thus, proper management strategies and potential risk monitoring should be used in the Maijishan Grottoes to improve the conservation of these precious painted sculptures. PMID:28678844

Evaluating the predictive power of multivariate tensor-based morphometry in Alzheimer's disease progression via convex fused sparse group Lasso

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsao, Sinchai; Gajawelli, Niharika; Zhou, Jiayu; Shi, Jie; Ye, Jieping; Wang, Yalin; Lepore, Natasha

2014-03-01

Prediction of Alzheimers disease (AD) progression based on baseline measures allows us to understand disease progression and has implications in decisions concerning treatment strategy. To this end we combine a predictive multi-task machine learning method1 with novel MR-based multivariate morphometric surface map of the hippocampus2 to predict future cognitive scores of patients. Previous work by Zhou et al.1 has shown that a multi-task learning framework that performs prediction of all future time points (or tasks) simultaneously can be used to encode both sparsity as well as temporal smoothness. They showed that this can be used in predicting cognitive outcomes of Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) subjects based on FreeSurfer-based baseline MRI features, MMSE score demographic information and ApoE status. Whilst volumetric information may hold generalized information on brain status, we hypothesized that hippocampus specific information may be more useful in predictive modeling of AD. To this end, we applied Shi et al.2s recently developed multivariate tensor-based (mTBM) parametric surface analysis method to extract features from the hippocampal surface. We show that by combining the power of the multi-task framework with the sensitivity of mTBM features of the hippocampus surface, we are able to improve significantly improve predictive performance of ADAS cognitive scores 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months from baseline.

Soliton Resolution for the Derivative Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Robert; Liu, Jiaqi; Perry, Peter; Sulem, Catherine

2018-05-01

We study the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation for generic initial data in a weighted Sobolev space that can support bright solitons (but exclude spectral singularities). Drawing on previous well-posedness results, we give a full description of the long-time behavior of the solutions in the form of a finite sum of localized solitons and a dispersive component. At leading order and in space-time cones, the solution has the form of a multi-soliton whose parameters are slightly modified from their initial values by soliton-soliton and soliton-radiation interactions. Our analysis provides an explicit expression for the correction dispersive term. We use the nonlinear steepest descent method of Deift and Zhou (Commun Pure Appl Math 56:1029-1077, 2003) revisited by the {\\overline{partial}} -analysis of McLaughlin and Miller (IMRP Int Math Res Pap 48673:1-77, 2006) and Dieng and McLaughlin (Long-time asymptotics for the NLS equation via dbar methods. Preprint, arXiv:0805.2807, 2008), and complemented by the recent work of Borghese et al. (Ann Inst Henri Poincaré Anal Non Linéaire, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anihpc.2017.08.006, 2017) on soliton resolution for the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Our results imply that N-soliton solutions of the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation are asymptotically stable.

The Validity of Online Patient Ratings of Physicians: Analysis of Physician Peer Reviews and Patient Ratings.

PubMed

McGrath, Robert J; Priestley, Jennifer Lewis; Zhou, Yiyun; Culligan, Patrick J

2018-04-09

Information from ratings sites are increasingly informing patient decisions related to health care and the selection of physicians. The current study sought to determine the validity of online patient ratings of physicians through comparison with physician peer review. We extracted 223,715 reviews of 41,104 physicians from 10 of the largest cities in the United States, including 1142 physicians listed as "America's Top Doctors" through physician peer review. Differences in mean online patient ratings were tested for physicians who were listed and those who were not. Overall, no differences were found between the online patient ratings based upon physician peer review status. However, statistical differences were found for four specialties (family medicine, allergists, internal medicine, and pediatrics), with online patient ratings significantly higher for those physicians listed as a peer-reviewed "Top Doctor" versus those who were not. The results of this large-scale study indicate that while online patient ratings are consistent with physician peer review for four nonsurgical, primarily in-office specializations, patient ratings were not consistent with physician peer review for specializations like anesthesiology. This result indicates that the validity of patient ratings varies by medical specialization. ©Robert J McGrath, Jennifer Lewis Priestley, Yiyun Zhou, Patrick J Culligan. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (http://www.i-jmr.org/), 09.04.2018.

Is the structural diversity of tripeptides sufficient for developing functional food additives with satisfactory multiple bioactivities?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian-Hui; Liu, Yong-Le; Ning, Jing-Heng; Yu, Jian; Li, Xiang-Hong; Wang, Fa-Xiang

2013-05-01

Multifunctional peptides have attracted increasing attention in the food science community because of their therapeutic potential, low toxicity and rapid intestinal absorption. However, previous study demonstrated that the limited structural variations make it difficult to optimize dipeptide molecules in a good balance between desirable and undesirable properties (F. Tian, P. Zhou, F. Lv, R. Song, Z. Li, J. Pept. Sci. 13 (2007) 549-566). In the present work, we attempt to answer whether the structural diversity is sufficient for a tripeptide to have satisfactory multiple bioactivities. Statistical test, structural examination and energetic analysis confirm that peptides of three amino acids long can bind tightly to human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and thus exert significant antihypertensive efficacy. Further quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modeling and prediction of all 8000 possible tripeptides reveal that their ACE-inhibitory potency exhibits a good (positive) relationship to antioxidative activity, but has only a quite modest correlation with bitterness. This means that it is possible to find certain tripeptide entities possessing the optimal combination of strong ACE-inhibitory potency, high antioxidative activity and weak bitter taste, which are the promising candidates for developing multifunctional food additives with satisfactory multiple bioactivities. The marked difference between dipeptide and tripeptide can be attributed to the fact that the structural diversity of peptides increases dramatically with a slight change in sequence length.

Toward Rotational State-Selective Photoionization of ThF+ Ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yan; Ng, Kia Boon; Gresh, Dan; Cairncross, William; Grau, Matt; Ni, Yiqi; Cornell, Eric; Ye, Jun

2016-06-01

ThF+ has been chosen to replace HfF+ for a second-generation measurement of the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). Compared to the currently running HfF+ eEDM experiment, ThF+ has several advantages: (i) the eEDM-sensitive state (3Δ1) is the ground state, which facilitates a long coherence time [1]; (ii) its effective electric field (35 GV/cm) is 50% larger than that of HfF+, which promises a direct increase of the eEDM sensitivity [2]; and (iii) the ionization energy of neutral ThF is lower than its dissociation energy, which introduces greater flexibility in rotational state-selective photoionization via core-nonpenetrating Rydberg states [3]. In this talk, we first present our strategy of preparing and utilizing core-nonpenetrating Rydberg states for rotational state-selective ionization. Then, we report spectroscopic data of laser-induced fluorescence of neutral ThF, which provides critical information for multi-photon ionization spectroscopy. [1] D. N. Gresh, K. C. Cossel, Y. Zhou, J. Ye, E. A. Cornell, Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, 319 (2016), 1-9 [2] M. Denis, M. S. Nørby, H. J. A. Jensen, A. S. P. Gomes, M. K. Nayak, S. Knecht, T. Fleig, New Journal of Physics, 17 (2015) 043005. [3] Z. J. Jakubek, R. W. Field, Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy 205 (2001) 197-220.

Comparative Analyses of Two Extremely Fast CMEs Induced Shocks using A H3DMHD Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, S. T.; Wu, C. C.; Liou, K.; Dryer, Ph D., M.; Plunkett, S. P.

2015-12-01

During the last two decades, spacecraft recorded several extremely fast Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) which have resulted in severe geomagnetic storms. Here, we will report results from a comparative study of two extremely fast CME events: one on 29 October 2003 (Halloween 2003 epoch) and the other on 23 July 2012. Both shock events reached 1 AU within ~20 hours. We employed a global three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation model (H3DMHD, Wu et al. 2007, JGR) to study these two events and compared the results with observations (e.g., 1 AU in-situ data, and coronal images from SOHO/LASCO or STEREO/ SECCHI). It was found that: (i) The peak temperature, velocity, and density of the solar wind for the shock/ICME event are 2 x 107 K, 2500 km s-1, and 35 cm-3, respectively. (ii) The peaks of magnetic field (B) are ~60 and 110 nT for the event on 29 October 2003 and 23 July 2012, respectively. Solar wind densities behind the shocks are extremely low which are due to rarefaction of the interplanetary shocks' propagation. We will discuss this issue in the presentation. Simulations are vastly improved and forecasting arrival times should be done as noted in real time by Zhou and Dryer (Space Weather Quarterly, 2014) review, but CME and B therein is still a major challenge for storm prediction.

Human Lung Cancer Risks from Radon – Part I - Influence from Bystander Effects - A Microdose Analysis

PubMed Central

Leonard, Bobby E.; Thompson, Richard E.; Beecher, Georgia C.

2010-01-01

Since the publication of the BEIR VI report in 1999 on health risks from radon, a significant amount of new data has been published showing various mechanisms that may affect the ultimate assessment of radon as a carcinogen, at low domestic and workplace radon levels, in particular the Bystander Effect (BE) and the Adaptive Response radio-protection (AR). We analyzed the microbeam and broadbeam alpha particle data of Miller et al. (1995, 1999), Zhou et al. (2001, 2003, 2004), Nagasawa and Little (1999, 2002), Hei et al. (1999), Sawant et al. (2001a) and found that the shape of the cellular response to alphas is relatively independent of cell species and LET of the alphas. The same alpha particle traversal dose response behavior should be true for human lung tissue exposure to radon progeny alpha particles. In the Bystander Damage Region of the alpha particle response, there is a variation of RBE from about 10 to 35. There is a transition region between the Bystander Damage Region and Direct Damage Region of between one and two microdose alpha particle traversals indicating that perhaps two alpha particle “hits” are necessary to produce the direct damage. Extrapolation of underground miners lung cancer risks to human risks at domestic and workplace levels may not be valid. PMID:21731539

Identification of myogenic-endothelial progenitor cells in the interstitial spaces of skeletal muscle.

PubMed

Tamaki, Tetsuro; Akatsuka, Akira; Ando, Kiyoshi; Nakamura, Yoshihiko; Matsuzawa, Hideyuki; Hotta, Tomomitsu; Roy, Roland R; Edgerton, V Reggie

2002-05-13

Putative myogenic and endothelial (myo-endothelial) cell progenitors were identified in the interstitial spaces of murine skeletal muscle by immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy using CD34 antigen. Enzymatically isolated cells were characterized by fluorescence-activated cell sorting on the basis of cell surface antigen expression, and were sorted as a CD34+ and CD45- fraction. Cells in this fraction were approximately 94% positive for Sca-1, and mostly negative (<3% positive) for CD14, 31, 49, 144, c-kit, and FLK-1. The CD34+/45- cells formed colonies in clonal cell cultures and colony-forming units displayed the potential to differentiate into adipocytes, endothelial, and myogenic cells. The CD34+/45- cells fully differentiated into vascular endothelial cells and skeletal muscle fibers in vivo after transplantation. Immediately after sorting, CD34+/45- cells expressed only c-met mRNA, and did not express any other myogenic cell-related markers such as MyoD, myf-5, myf-6, myogenin, M-cadherin, Pax-3, and Pax-7. However, after 3 d of culture, these cells expressed mRNA for all myogenic markers. CD34+/45- cells were distinct from satellite cells, as they expressed Bcrp1/ABCG2 gene mRNA (Zhou et al., 2001). These findings suggest that myo-endothelial progenitors reside in the interstitial spaces of mammalian skeletal muscles, and that they can potentially contribute to postnatal skeletal muscle growth.

A novel effect of thalidomide and its analogs: suppression of cereblon ubiquitination enhances ubiquitin ligase function

PubMed Central

Liu, Yaobin; Huang, Xiangao; He, Xian; Zhou, Yanqing; Jiang, Xiaogang; Chen-Kiang, Selina; Jaffrey, Samie R.; Xu, Guoqiang

2015-01-01

The immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) thalidomide and its structural analogs lenalidomide and pomalidomide are highly effective in treating clinical indications. Thalidomide binds to cereblon (CRBN), a substrate receptor of the cullin-4 really interesting new gene (RING) E3 ligase complex. Here, we examine the effect of thalidomide and its analogs on CRBN ubiquitination and its functions in human cell lines. We find that the ubiquitin modification of CRBN includes K48-linked polyubiquitin chains and that thalidomide blocks the formation of CRBN-ubiquitin conjugates. Furthermore, we show that ubiquitinated CRBN is targeted for proteasomal degradation. Treatment of human myeloma cell lines such as MM1.S, OPM2, and U266 with thalidomide (100 μM) and its structural analog lenalidomide (10 μM) results in stabilization of CRBN and elevation of CRBN protein levels. This in turn leads to the reduced level of CRBN target proteins and enhances the sensitivity of human multiple myeloma cells to IMiDs. Our results reveal a novel mechanism by which thalidomide and its analogs modulate the CRBN function in cells. Through inhibition of CRBN ubiquitination, thalidomide and its analogs allow CRBN to accumulate, leading to the increased cullin-4 RING E3 ligase-mediated degradation of target proteins.—Liu, Y., Huang, X., He, X., Zhou, Y., Jiang, X., Chen-Kiang, S., Jaffrey, S. R., Xu, G. A novel effect of thalidomide and its analogs: suppression of cereblon ubiquitination enhances ubiquitin ligase function. PMID:26231201

Immune tolerance of vector beetle to its partner plant parasitic nematode modulated by its insect parasitic nematode.

PubMed

Zhou, Jiao; Zhao, Li-Lin; Yu, Hai-Ying; Wang, Yan-Hong; Zhang, Wei; Hu, Song-Nian; Zou, Zhen; Sun, Jiang-Hua

2018-04-02

Immune response of insect vectors to transmitted pathogens or insect hosts against parasites are well studied, whereas the mechanism of tripartite interactions remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the immune interactions of the vector beetle Monochamus alternatus ( Ma) to the devastating plant parasitic nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus ( Bx) and the insect parasitic nematode Howardula phyllotretae ( Hp). We report the unique immune mechanism by which the vector beetle tolerates many devastating Bx in its trachea, yet that immune tolerance is compromised by the parasitic nematode Hp. Contact with either nematode species triggers epithelial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in Ma. Only the entry of Bx, not Hp, infection, induces increased expression of antioxidative genes, through which the ROS levels are balanced in the trachea of beetles. Furthermore, we found that up-regulation of antioxidative genes was induced by the interaction of Toll receptors. In contrast, beetles infected by Hp retain high levels of oxidative stress and melanization in trachea, and as a result, decrease Bx loading. This study highlights the role of Toll receptors in mediating the activation of antioxidative genes in immune tolerance to plant parasitic nematodes, and suggests the use of insect parasites as a biologic control.-Zhou, J., Zhao, L.-L., Yu, H.-Y., Wang, Y.-H., Zhang, W., Hu, S.-N., Zou, Z., Sun, J.-H. Immune tolerance of vector beetle to its partner plant parasitic nematode modulated by its insect parasitic nematode.

RECOVERY ACT: MULTIMODAL IMAGING FOR SOLAR CELL MICROCRACK DETECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Janice Hudgings; Lawrence Domash

2012-02-08

Undetected microcracks in solar cells are a principal cause of failure in service due to subsequent weather exposure, mechanical flexing or diurnal temperature cycles. Existing methods have not been able to detect cracks early enough in the production cycle to prevent inadvertent shipment to customers. This program, sponsored under the DOE Photovoltaic Supply Chain and Cross-Cutting Technologies program, studied the feasibility of quantifying surface micro-discontinuities by use of a novel technique, thermoreflectance imaging, to detect surface temperature gradients with very high spatial resolution, in combination with a suite of conventional imaging methods such as electroluminescence. The project carried out laboratorymore » tests together with computational image analyses using sample solar cells with known defects supplied by industry sources or DOE National Labs. Quantitative comparisons between the effectiveness of the new technique and conventional methods were determined in terms of the smallest detectable crack. Also the robustness of the new technique for reliable microcrack detection was determined at various stages of processing such as before and after antireflectance treatments. An overall assessment is that the new technique compares favorably with existing methods such as lock-in thermography or ultrasonics. The project was 100% completed in Sept, 2010. A detailed report of key findings from this program was published as: Q.Zhou, X.Hu, K.Al-Hemyari, K.McCarthy, L.Domash and J.Hudgings, High spatial resolution characterization of silicon solar cells using thermoreflectance imaging, J. Appl. Phys, 110, 053108 (2011).« less

The Astronomical Instruments from the Tomb of Xiahou Zao (? - 165BCE) Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yunli

2012-09-01

In 1977, archaeologists unearthed a piece of lacquerware from the tomb of Xiahou Zao (?--165BCE), the 2nd Marquis of Ruyin of the Western Han dynasty (206BCE--24ACE). It has been named ``A Lacquerware Article of Unkown Name" for no one understands its function. Our analysis shows that the article is actually a gnomon for the determination of 4 major seasons in ancient Chinese calendar, viz. Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, and the size and function of the article coincide quite well with those of the ``Earth Gnomon-Scale" as described in the Rites of Zhou, a Confucian Classic appeared in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. This is the earliest example of its kind that we have hitherto seen in a complete form. Moreover, the "Disks with 28 Lunar Lodges" from the same tomb have caused a lasting dispute over their possible function. While some scholars believe it to be a pure astrological instrument, others guess that it was an instrument for the measurement of celestial coordinates. Our analysis shows that, with the so-called ``Supporting Frame for the Cosmic Boards" unearthed from the same tomb, the disks can actually be mounted onto the plane of the celestial equator and thus form the earliest and definitely dated example of an equatorial device for astronomical observation that still can be seen in the world.

Intra- and interregional coregulation of opioid genes: broken symmetry in spinal circuits

PubMed Central

Kononenko, Olga; Galatenko, Vladimir; Andersson, Malin; Bazov, Igor; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Zhou, Xing Wu; Iatsyshyna, Anna; Mityakina, Irina; Yakovleva, Tatiana; Sarkisyan, Daniil; Ponomarev, Igor; Krishtal, Oleg; Marklund, Niklas; Tonevitsky, Alex; Adkins, DeAnna L.; Bakalkin, Georgy

2017-01-01

Regulation of the formation and rewiring of neural circuits by neuropeptides may require coordinated production of these signaling molecules and their receptors that may be established at the transcriptional level. Here, we address this hypothesis by comparing absolute expression levels of opioid peptides with their receptors, the largest neuropeptide family, and by characterizing coexpression (transcriptionally coordinated) patterns of these genes. We demonstrated that expression patterns of opioid genes highly correlate within and across functionally and anatomically different areas. Opioid peptide genes, compared with their receptor genes, are transcribed at much greater absolute levels, which suggests formation of a neuropeptide cloud that covers the receptor-expressed circuits. Surprisingly, we found that both expression levels and the proportion of opioid receptors are strongly lateralized in the spinal cord, interregional coexpression patterns are side specific, and intraregional coexpression profiles are affected differently by left- and right-side unilateral body injury. We propose that opioid genes are regulated as interconnected components of the same molecular system distributed between distinct anatomic regions. The striking feature of this system is its asymmetric coexpression patterns, which suggest side-specific regulation of selective neural circuits by opioid neurohormones.—Kononenko, O., Galatenko, V., Andersson, M., Bazov, I., Watanabe, H., Zhou, X. W., Iatsyshyna, A., Mityakina, I., Yakovleva, T., Sarkisyan, D., Ponomarev, I., Krishtal, O., Marklund, N., Tonevitsky, A., Adkins, D. L., Bakalkin, G. Intra- and interregional coregulation of opioid genes: broken symmetry in spinal circuits. PMID:28122917

Improving protein disorder prediction by deep bidirectional long short-term memory recurrent neural networks.

PubMed

Hanson, Jack; Yang, Yuedong; Paliwal, Kuldip; Zhou, Yaoqi

2017-03-01

Capturing long-range interactions between structural but not sequence neighbors of proteins is a long-standing challenging problem in bioinformatics. Recently, long short-term memory (LSTM) networks have significantly improved the accuracy of speech and image classification problems by remembering useful past information in long sequential events. Here, we have implemented deep bidirectional LSTM recurrent neural networks in the problem of protein intrinsic disorder prediction. The new method, named SPOT-Disorder, has steadily improved over a similar method using a traditional, window-based neural network (SPINE-D) in all datasets tested without separate training on short and long disordered regions. Independent tests on four other datasets including the datasets from critical assessment of structure prediction (CASP) techniques and >10 000 annotated proteins from MobiDB, confirmed SPOT-Disorder as one of the best methods in disorder prediction. Moreover, initial studies indicate that the method is more accurate in predicting functional sites in disordered regions. These results highlight the usefulness combining LSTM with deep bidirectional recurrent neural networks in capturing non-local, long-range interactions for bioinformatics applications. SPOT-disorder is available as a web server and as a standalone program at: http://sparks-lab.org/server/SPOT-disorder/index.php . j.hanson@griffith.edu.au or yuedong.yang@griffith.edu.au or yaoqi.zhou@griffith.edu.au. Supplementary data is available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Resistance properties of coal-water slurry flowing through local piping fittings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Meng; Duan, Yu Feng

2009-07-15

Local resistance characteristics of coal-water slurry (CWS) flowing through three types of piping components, namely gradual contractions, sudden contractions and 90 horizontal bends, were investigated at a transportation test facility. The results show that CWS exhibits different rheological behaviors, i.e., the shear-thinning, Newtonian, and shear-thicken, at different shear rates. When CWS flows through the gradual contractions, the local pressure loss firstly decreases to a minimum, and then increases as the gradual contraction angle ({theta}) increases. When the CWS flow through the sudden contractions, with the increase of pipe diameter ratio ({beta}), the local pressure loss increases for the two kindsmore » of CWS, SHEN-HUA (S-H) CWS and YAN-ZHOU (Y-Z) CWS whose mass concentration range from 57% to 59% and 59% to 62%, respectively. For 90 horizontal bends, there is an optimal value of the bend diameter ratio (Rc/D) at which the local pressure loss is the least. Furthermore, the local resistance coefficient (K) in the empirical correlations is determined from the experimental data. The correlations show that as Re increases, K of the three fittings declines quickly at first. However, with further increase in Re, K shows different behaviors for the three fittings due to the special rheological property of CWS at higher shear rates. The factors of {theta}, {beta} and Rc/D have minor effects on K. (author)« less

Using a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to determine product usability: A test case.

PubMed

Zhou, Ronggang; Chan, Alan H S

2017-01-01

In order to take into account the inherent uncertainties during product usability evaluation, Zhou and Chan [1] proposed a comprehensive method of usability evaluation for products by combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy evaluation methods for synthesizing performance data and subjective response data. This method was designed to provide an integrated framework combining the inevitable vague judgments from the multiple stages of the product evaluation process. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the model, this study used a summative usability test case to assess the application and strength of the general fuzzy usability framework. To test the proposed fuzzy usability evaluation framework [1], a standard summative usability test was conducted to benchmark the overall usability of a specific network management software. Based on the test data, the fuzzy method was applied to incorporate both the usability scores and uncertainties involved in the multiple components of the evaluation. Then, with Monte Carlo simulation procedures, confidence intervals were used to compare the reliabilities among the fuzzy approach and two typical conventional methods combining metrics based on percentages. This case study showed that the fuzzy evaluation technique can be applied successfully for combining summative usability testing data to achieve an overall usability quality for the network software evaluated. Greater differences of confidence interval widths between the method of averaging equally percentage and weighted evaluation method, including the method of weighted percentage averages, verified the strength of the fuzzy method.

Fundamental Flux Equations for Fracture-Matrix Interactions with Linear Diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oldenburg, C. M.; Zhou, Q.; Rutqvist, J.; Birkholzer, J. T.

2017-12-01

The conventional dual-continuum models are only applicable for late-time behavior of pressure propagation in fractured rock, while discrete-fracture-network models may explicitly deal with matrix blocks at high computational expense. To address these issues, we developed a unified-form diffusive flux equation for 1D isotropic (spheres, cylinders, slabs) and 2D/3D rectangular matrix blocks (squares, cubes, rectangles, and rectangular parallelepipeds) by partitioning the entire dimensionless-time domain (Zhou et al., 2017a, b). For each matrix block, this flux equation consists of the early-time solution up until a switch-over time after which the late-time solution is applied to create continuity from early to late time. The early-time solutions are based on three-term polynomial functions in terms of square root of dimensionless time, with the coefficients dependent on dimensionless area-to-volume ratio and aspect ratios for rectangular blocks. For the late-time solutions, one exponential term is needed for isotropic blocks, while a few additional exponential terms are needed for highly anisotropic blocks. The time-partitioning method was also used for calculating pressure/concentration/temperature distribution within a matrix block. The approximate solution contains an error-function solution for early times and an exponential solution for late times, with relative errors less than 0.003. These solutions form the kernel of multirate and multidimensional hydraulic, solute and thermal diffusion in fractured reservoirs.

Research on fatigue cracking growth parameters in asphaltic mixtures using computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braz, D.; Lopes, R. T.; Motta, L. M. G.

2004-01-01

Distress of asphalt concrete pavement due to repeated bending from traffic loads has been a well-recognized problem in Brazil. If it is assumed that fatigue cracking growth is governed by the conditions at the crack tip, and that the crack tip conditions can be characterized by the stress intensity factor, then fatigue cracking growth as a function of stress intensity range Δ K can be determined. Computed tomography technique is used to detect crack evolution in asphaltic mixtures which were submitted to fatigue tests. Fatigue tests under conditions of controlled stress were carried out using diametral compression equipment and repeat loading. The aim of this work is imaging several specimens at different stages of the fatigue tests. In preliminary studies it was noted that the trajectory of a crack was influenced by the existence of voids in the originally unloaded specimens. Cracks would first be observed in the central region of a specimen, propagating in the direction of the extremities. Analyzing the graphics, that represent the fatigue cracking growth (d c/d N) as a function of stress intensity factor (Δ K), it is noticed that the curve has practically shown the same behavior for all specimens at the same level of the static tension rupture stress. The experimental values obtained for the constants A and n (of the Paris-Erdogan Law) present good agreement with the results obtained by Liang and Zhou.

Theory of mode coupling in spin torque oscillators coupled to a thermal bath of magnons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yan; Zhang, Shulei; Li, Dong; Heinonen, Olle

Recently, numerous experimental investigations have shown that the dynamics of a single spin torque oscillator (STO) exhibits complex behavior stemming from interactions between two or more modes of the oscillator. Examples are the observed mode-hopping and mode coexistence. There has been some initial work indicating how the theory for a single-mode (macro-spin) spin torque oscillator should be generalized to include several modes and the interactions between them. In this work, we rigorously derive such a theory starting with the generalized Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation in the presence of the current-driven spin transfer torques. We will first show, in general, that how a linear mode coupling would arise through the coupling of the system to a thermal bath of magnons, which implies that the manifold of orbits and fixed points may shift with temperature. We then apply our theory to two experimentally interesting systems: 1) a STO patterned into nano-pillar with circular or elliptical cross-sections and 2) a nano-contact STO. For both cases, we found that in order to get mode coupling, it would be necessary to have either a finite in-plane component of the external field or an Oersted field. We will also discuss the temperature dependence of the linear mode coupling. Y. Zhou acknowledges the support by the Seed Funding Program for Basic Research from the University of Hong Kong, and University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (Contract No. AoE/P-04/08).

Inputs for subject-specific computational fluid dynamics simulation of blood flow in the mouse aorta.

PubMed

Van Doormaal, Mark; Zhou, Yu-Qing; Zhang, Xiaoli; Steinman, David A; Henkelman, R Mark

2014-10-01

Mouse models are an important way for exploring relationships between blood hemodynamics and eventual plaque formation. We have developed a mouse model of aortic regurgitation (AR) that produces large changes in plaque burden with charges in hemodynamics [Zhou et al., 2010, "Aortic Regurgitation Dramatically Alters the Distribution of Atherosclerotic Lesions and Enhances Atherogenesis in Mice," Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 30(6), pp. 1181-1188]. In this paper, we explore the amount of detail needed for realistic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations in this experimental model. The CFD calculations use inputs based on experimental measurements from ultrasound (US), micro computed tomography (CT), and both anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and phase contrast MRI (PC-MRI). The adequacy of five different levels of model complexity (a) subject-specific CT data from a single mouse; (b) subject-specific CT centerlines with radii from US; (c) same as (b) but with MRI derived centerlines; (d) average CT centerlines and averaged vessel radius and branching vessels; and (e) same as (d) but with averaged MRI centerlines) is evaluated by demonstrating their impact on relative residence time (RRT) outputs. The paper concludes by demonstrating the necessity of subject-specific geometry and recommends for inputs the use of CT or anatomical MRI for establishing the aortic centerlines, M-mode US for scaling the aortic diameters, and a combination of PC-MRI and Doppler US for estimating the spatial and temporal characteristics of the input wave forms.

Methods for Determining Likelihood of Tweet Deletion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Few works exist that attempt to build predictive models for tweet deletion. Zhou et al. (2015) focus on a subset of deleted tweets – regrettable tweets. These are tweets that the authors believe to contain inappropriate content. Inappropriate can range from vulgar language to sharing private content such as a personal email address. The presence of inappropriate content doesn’t guarantee that a tweet will be deleted, however intuition dictates it can be in an important factor in the tweet being deleted. In their work, the authors create a predictive model for identifying regrettable tweets. It is important to note themore » authors focus on predicting regrettable tweets that are distinctly not spam and only written in English. Through manual investigation, the authors identify ten major topics including negative sentiment, cursing, and relationships that are prevalent in regrettable tweets. The authors then exploit WordNet and UrbanDictionary to create keyword lists related to the ten topics. Finally, using a combination of existing lexica and the topic keywords as features, the authors build classifiers to test the accuracy of their model. The authors complement 700 manually labeled regrettable tweets with 700 normal tweets to create their evaluation dataset. The authors’ best performance from 10-fold cross-validation was an f1 score of 0.85 using a J48 classifier on a balanced dataset of deleted and non-deleted tweets.« less

Editorial

PubMed Central

Wainwright, CL; McGrath, JC

2009-01-01

A themed section in this issue of Br J Pharmacol, on ‘Advances in Nutritional Pharmacology’, provides a valuable and timely update on progress in this area. The value of dietary components to improvement in health and, particularly, to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer, is frequently reported in the media and therefore often captures the attention of the wider public. Understanding the pharmacological mechanisms by which nutritional elements confer their health benefits enables us to keep the public informed, but also aids in the identification of new targets for drug development. In recent years there has been significant progress in this field. Four rapidly developing areas are reviewed. Vosper (2009) covers the identification of a receptor for niacin and the subsequent development of selective agonists as lipid lowering agents. Wu-Wong (2009) describes the development of new Vitamin D analogues for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. de Roos et al. (2009) provide detailed insight into how omega-3 fatty acids, also known as longchain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) protect against cardiovascular disease. Zhou et al. (2009) cover the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of resveretrol in protection against cancer. These reviews are complimented by three key original articles focusing on endogenous mechanisms of weight control involving endocannabinoids (Izzo et al., 2009), a circulating protein, the soluble leptin receptor (Zhang & Scarpace, 2009) and a treatment, zinc plus cyclo-(His-Pro) (CHP), known to increase insulin metabolism (Song et al., 2009). PMID:19732059

Themed section: Advances in nutritional pharmacology. Editorial.

PubMed

Wainwright, C L; McGrath, J C

2009-09-01

A themed section in this issue of Br J Pharmacol, on 'Advances in Nutritional Pharmacology', provides a valuable and timely update on progress in this area. The value of dietary components to improvement in health and, particularly, to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer, is frequently reported in the media and therefore often captures the attention of the wider public. Understanding the pharmacological mechanisms by which nutritional elements confer their health benefits enables us to keep the public informed, but also aids in the identification of new targets for drug development. In recent years there has been significant progress in this field. Four rapidly developing areas are reviewed. Vosper (2009) covers the identification of a receptor for niacin and the subsequent development of selective agonists as lipid lowering agents. Wu-Wong (2009) describes the development of new Vitamin D analogues for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. de Roos et al. (2009) provide detailed insight into how omega-3 fatty acids, also known as longchain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) protect against cardiovascular disease. Zhou et al. (2009) cover the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of resveretrol in protection against cancer. These reviews are complimented by three key original articles focusing on endogenous mechanisms of weight control involving endocannabinoids (Izzo et al., 2009), a circulating protein, the soluble leptin receptor (Zhang & Scarpace, 2009) and a treatment, zinc plus cyclo-(His-Pro) (CHP), known to increase insulin metabolism (Song et al., 2009).

Molecular dynamic simulation study of plasma etching L10 FePt media in embedded mask patterning (EMP) process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jianxin; Quarterman, P.; Wang, Jian-Ping

2017-05-01

Plasma etching process of single-crystal L10-FePt media [H. Wang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102(5) (2013)] is studied using molecular dynamic simulation. Embedded-Atom Method [M. S. Daw and M. I. Baskes, Phy. Rev. B 29, 6443 (1984); X. W. Zhou, R. A. Johnson and H. N. G. Wadley, Phy. Rev. B 69, 144113 (2004)] is used to calculate the interatomic potential within atoms in FePt alloy, and ZBL potential [J.F. Ziegler, J. P. Biersack and U. Littmark, "The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter," Volume 1, Pergamon,1985] in comparison with conventional Lennard-Jones "12-6" potential is applied to interactions between etching gas ions and metal atoms. It is shown the post-etch structure defects can include amorphized surface layer and lattice interstitial point defects that caused by etchant ions passed through the surface layer. We show that the amorphized or damaged FePt lattice surface layer (or "magnetic dead-layer") thickness after etching increases with ion energy for Ar ion impacts, but significantly small for He ions at up to 250eV ion energy. However, we showed that He sputtering creates more interstitial defects at lower energy levels and defects are deeper below the surface compared to Ar sputtering. We also calculate the interstitial defect level and depth as dependence on ion energy for both Ar and He ions. Media magnetic property loss due to these defects is also discussed.

Structure of weakly 2-dependent siphons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, Daniel Yuh; Chen, Jiun-Ting

2013-09-01

Deadlocks arising from insufficiently marked siphons in flexible manufacturing systems can be controlled by adding monitors to each siphon - too many for large systems. Li and Zhou add monitors to elementary siphons only while controlling the rest of (called dependent) siphons by adjusting control depth variables of elementary siphons. Only a linear number of monitors are required. The control of weakly dependent siphons (WDSs) is rather conservative since only positive terms were considered. The structure for strongly dependent siphons (SDSs) has been studied earlier. Based on this structure, the optimal sequence of adding monitors has been discovered earlier. Better controllability has been discovered to achieve faster and more permissive control. The results have been extended earlier to S3PGR2 (systems of simple sequential processes with general resource requirements). This paper explores the structures for WDSs, which, as found in this paper, involve elementary resource circuits interconnecting at more than (for SDSs, exactly) one resource place. This saves the time to compute compound siphons, their complementary sets and T-characteristic vectors. Also it allows us (1) to improve the controllability of WDSs and control siphons and (2) to avoid the time to find independent vectors for elementary siphons. We propose a sufficient and necessary test for adjusting control depth variables in S3PR (systems of simple sequential processes with resources) to avoid the sufficient-only time-consuming linear integer programming test (LIP) (Nondeterministic Polynomial (NP) time complete problem) required previously for some cases.

Shear wave velocity and attenuation in the upper layer of ocean bottoms from long-range acoustic field measurements.

PubMed

Zhou, Ji-Xun; Zhang, Xue-Zhen

2012-12-01

Several physics-based seabed geoacoustic models (including the Biot theory) predict that compressional wave attenuation α(2) in sandy marine sediments approximately follows quadratic frequency dependence at low frequencies, i.e., α(2)≈kf(n) (dB/m), n=2. A recent paper on broadband geoacoustic inversions from low frequency (LF) field measurements, made at 20 locations around the world, has indicated that the frequency exponent of the effective sound attenuation n≈1.80 in a frequency band of 50-1000 Hz [Zhou et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 2847-2866 (2009)]. Carey and Pierce hypothesize that the discrepancy is due to the inversion models' neglect of shear wave effects [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 124, EL271-EL277 (2008)]. The broadband geoacoustic inversions assume that the seabottom is an equivalent fluid and sound waves interact with the bottom at small grazing angles. The shear wave velocity and attenuation in the upper layer of ocean bottoms are estimated from the LF field-inverted effective bottom attenuations using a near-grazing bottom reflection expression for the equivalent fluid model, derived by Zhang and Tindle [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 3391-3396 (1995)]. The resultant shear wave velocity and attenuation are consistent with the SAX99 measurement at 25 Hz and 1000 Hz. The results are helpful for the analysis of shear wave effects on long-range sound propagation in shallow water.

High Rate Micromechanical Behavior of Grafted Polymer Nanoparticle Films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Edwin

We report the ultra high strain rate behavior of films comprised of polymer grafted nanoparticles (NPs) and compare the results to homopolymer films. The films are formed by flow coating a suspension of polystyrene (PS) chains of 230 kg/mol grafted to 16nm diameter SiO2\\ at a graft density of 0.6 chains/nm2 resulting a film with 1 vol % SiO2. Films of 267 kg/mol PS were also flow coated and both films were impacted at velocities 350-700 ms-1 using 3.7 micron SiO2\\ projectiles to achieve increments in kinetic energy (KE) of 1:2:4. The KE of the projectiles before and after penetration was measured to determine the penetration energy. TEM and SEM suggest the projectile initially induces plastic flow due to the adiabatic temperature rise from impact. As the projectile deforms the film, the lower magnitude, biaxial stress state in the peripherial regions causes material microvoid formation and initiation of craze growth in the radial and tangential directions. The anchoring of the grafted polymer chains to the NPs increases the penetration energy relative to the pure homopolymer by 50% and the films capacity to delocalize the impact by 200%. These results suggest that highly grafted NP films may be useful in lightweight protection systems. In collaboration with Omri Fried, Olawale Lawal, Yang Jiao, Victor Hsaio, Thevamaran Ramathasan, Mujin Zhou, Richard Vaia.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Xiuping, E-mail: yangxiuping-1990@163.com; Min, Lequan, E-mail: minlequan@sina.com; Wang, Xue, E-mail: wangxue-20130818@163.com

This paper sets up a chaos criterion theorem on a kind of cubic polynomial discrete maps. Using this theorem, Zhou-Song's chaos criterion theorem on quadratic polynomial discrete maps and generalized synchronization (GS) theorem construct an eight-dimensional chaotic GS system. Numerical simulations have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of theoretical results. The chaotic GS system is used to design a chaos-based pseudorandom number generator (CPRNG). Using FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2, test suit tests the randomness of two 1000 key streams consisting of 20 000 bits generated by the CPRNG, respectively. The results show that there are 99.9%/98.5% keymore » streams to have passed the FIPS 140-2 test suit/Generalized FIPS 140-2 test. Numerical simulations show that the different keystreams have an average 50.001% same codes. The key space of the CPRNG is larger than 2{sup 1345}. As an application of the CPRNG, this study gives an image encryption example. Experimental results show that the linear coefficients between the plaintext and the ciphertext and the decrypted ciphertexts via the 100 key streams with perturbed keys are less than 0.00428. The result suggests that the decrypted texts via the keystreams generated via perturbed keys of the CPRNG are almost completely independent on the original image text, and brute attacks are needed to break the cryptographic system.« less

Sub-marine groundwater for the supply of drinking water. A review of the hydro-geological potential and its technical and economical feasibility.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haakon Bakken, Tor; Mangset, Lars Erik

2010-05-01

assumptions as Zhou and Tol (2005), it is found that utilisation of sub-marine groundwater can be economically competitive. The calculation gives an expected unit cost of 1,23 US /m3. Performed Monte Carlo-simulations give 5 % and 95 % percentiles equal to the unit cost levels 1,07 and 1,39 US /m3, respectively. This is not far from the proposed feasibility benchmark of 1,14 US /m3 by Zhou and Tol (2005), or the average costs of 1,46 US /m3 derived from their large database of built desalination plants (based on reverse osmosis-technology). The dominating cost driver is considered being the salinity of the sub-marine groundwater, affecting the need for water treatment and consequently energy consumption. Hence it is concluded that a premise for the proposed technical concept is that the sub-marine groundwater holds sufficiently better quality (lower salinity) than the ambient sea water to justify the additional costs related to exploration and exploitation of the sub-marine water resource (i.e. the additional off-shore oil & gas technologies). A review of publications mainly from the US, supported by a limited number of publications originating from European research groups, were all positive in their conclusions that fresh and brackish water can be found on the continental shelf. These indications may therefore suggest that sub-marine groundwater may be a realistic alternative to desalination of sea water, seen from an economic point of view. Lower energy consumption related to treatment of less saline sub-marine groundwater moreover implies that environmental benefits, assuming the use of fossil fuels as energy source to water desalination, may be achieved.

PREFACE: 12th International Symposium on Multiscale, Multifunctional and Functionally Graded Materials (FGM 2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhangjian; Li, Jingfeng; Zhang, Lianmeng; Ge, Changchun

2013-03-01

Technology, and was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China. On behalf of the organizing committee of FGM-2012, I express my great appreciation to their support of the symposium. Nearly 100 scholars and students from Japan, Brazil, Germany, Russia, United States of America, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Singapore, China, and so on, attended FGM-2012, and 57 of the presented papers were collected and selected for publication. The subjects of these papers cover simulation and characterization, advanced fabrication technology, novel application of FGM and layer materials. I cordially thank all of the authors and attendees for their support, and my appreciation is also given to the advisory committee, organizing committee, and the conference volunteers for their hard work. Professor Zhangjian Zhou Proceedings Editor Beijing, December 2012 Committees International Advisory Committee Professor Glaucio H Paulino, USA Professor Marek-Jerzy Pindera, USA Professor Jeong-Ho Kim, USA Professor Emer Fazil Erdogan, USA Professor Dr Monika Willert-Porada, Germany Professor Emer Wolfgang G J Bunk, Germany Professor Omer Van Der Biest, Belgium Professor Michael M Gasik, Finland Professor Evgeny Levashov, Russia Professor Lianmeng Zhang, China Professor Qingjie Zhang, China Professor Wei Pan, China Professor Chang-Chun Ge, China Professor Jing-Feng Li, China Professor Zhangjian Zhou, China Associate Professor Serkan Dag, Turkey Professor Fernando A Rochinha, Brazil Professor Emilio C N Silva, Brazil Professor Luis August Rocha, Portugal Dr Sasa Novak, Slovenia Dr Masayuki Niino, Japan Professor Akira Kawasaki, Japan Professor Ichiro Shiota, Japan Dr Akinaga Kumakawa, Japan Dr Yoshikazu Shinohara, Japan Professor Kiyotaka Matsuura, Japan Professor Yoshinari Miyamoto, Japan Professor Takashi Goto, Japan Professor Yoshimi Watanabe, Japan Professor Kazuhiro Hasezaki, Japan Professor Soshu Kirihara, Japan Professor Emer Toshio Hirai, Japan Mr Choji Endou, Japan Dr

Distributed meandering waveguides (DMWs) for novel photonic circuits (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dag, Ceren B.; Anil, Mehmet Ali; Serpengüzel, Ali

2017-05-01

in special cases. The antisymmetric MR (AMR) is composed of two coupled MLM's. The AMR has the characteristics of an add-drop filter in the general case, and coupled resonator induced transparency (CRIT) filter in a special case. The symmetric MDFB (SMDFB) is composed of multiple coupled MLM's. The antisymmetric MDFB (AMDFB) is composed of multiple coupled MLM's. The SMDFB and AMDFB can be utilized as band-pass, Fano, or Lorentzian filters, or Rabi splitters. Distributed meandering waveguide elements with extremely rich spectral and phase responses can be designed with creative combinations of distributed meandering waveguides structures for various novel photonic circuits. References [1 ] C. B. Dağ, M. A. Anıl, and A. Serpengüzel, "Meandering Waveguide Distributed Feedback Lightwave Circuits," J. Lightwave Technol, vol. 33, no. 9, pp. 1691-1702, May 2015. [2] N. J. Doran and D. Wood, "Nonlinear-optical loop mirror," Opt. Lett. vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 56-58, Jan. 1988. [3] L. Zhou and A. W. Poon, "Fano resonance-based electrically reconfigurable add-drop filters in silicon microring resonator-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometers," Opt. Lett. vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 781-783, Apr. 2007. [4] Z. Zou, L. Zhou, X. Sun, J. Xie, H. Zhu, L. Lu, X. Li, and J. Chen, "Tunable two-stage self-coupled optical waveguide resonators," Opt. Lett. vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 1215-1217, Apr. 2013. [5] C. B. Dağ, M. A. Anıl, and A. Serpengüzel, "Novel distributed feedback lightwave circuit elements," in Proc. SPIE, San Francisco, 2015, vol. 9366, p. 93660A. [6] C. B. Dağ, M. A. Anıl, and A. Serpengüzel, "Meandering Waveguide Distributed Feedback Lightwave Elements: Phasor Diagram Analysis," in Proc. PIERS, Prague, 1986-1990 (2015).

Real-World Adherence and Persistence to Oral Disease-Modifying Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Over 1 Year.

PubMed

Johnson, Kristen M; Zhou, Huanxue; Lin, Feng; Ko, John J; Herrera, Vivian

2017-08-01

and injectable/infused DMT use, relapse history, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score. Relative to fingolimod patients, dimethyl fumarate and teriflunomide patients were significantly less likely to have an MPR ≥ 80% (OR = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.09-0.36; P < 0.001 and OR = 0.19; 95% CI = 0.08-0.42; P < 0.001, respectively). Similarly, relative to fingolimod patients, dimethyl fumarate and teriflunomide patients were significantly less likely to have PDC ≥ 80% (OR = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.33-0.67; P < 0.001 and OR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.23-0.59; P < 0.001, respectively). Additionally, the HR for discontinuation was about 2 times greater for dimethyl fumarate (HR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.44-2.59; P < 0.001) and teriflunomide patients (HR = 2.27; 95% CI = 1.57-3.28; P < 0.001) compared with fingolimod. In a real-world setting, patients taking fingolimod had better adherence and persistence compared with patients taking other oral DMTs over 12 months. Coupled with clinical factors, medication adherence and persistence should be important considerations when determining coverage decisions for MS patients. This research was funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Johnson, Lin, Ko, and Herrera are employed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals and own Novartis stock. Huanxue Zhou is employed by KMK Consulting, which provides consulting services to Novartis. Study concept and design were contributed by Johnson, Lin, Ko, and Herrera. Zhou collected the data, and data interpretation was performed by Johnson, Lin, Ko, and Herrera. All authors were involved in manuscript revision. The abstract for this study was presented at the AMCP Nexus 2015; October 26-29, 2015; Orlando, Florida.

Loess 10Be evidence for an asynchronous Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Weijian; Beck, J. Warren; Kong, Xianghui; An, Zhisheng; Qiang, Xiaoke; Wu, Zhenkun; Xian, Feng; Ao, Hong

2015-04-01

In Chinese loess the Brunhes-Matuyama (B-M) geomagnetic reversal appears to occur about 25 ka prior to the established axial dipole reversal age found in many marine sediments, i.e., in Chinese loess this magnetic reversal boundary is found in glacial loess unit L8 which is thought to be correlated with Marine Isotope Stage 20 (MIS 20), in marine sediment records, however, this boundary is commonly found in interglacial period of MIS 19 (Tauxe et al., 1996; Zhou and Shackleton, 1999), leading to the debate on uncertainties of paleoclimatic correlation between the Chinese loess-paleosol sequences and marine sediments (Wang et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2008; Jin and Liu, 2011). Based on this issue, here we propose to use the cosmogenic 10Be to address this conundrum. 10Be is a long-lived radionuclide produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray spallation reactions and carried to the ground attached to aerosols. Its atmospheric production rate is inversely proportional to the geomagnetic field intensity (Masarik and Beer, 1999). This allows us to reconstruct past geomagnetic field intensity variations using 10Be concentrations recorded in different sedimentary archives. We carried out both the 10Be studies and paleogeomagnetic measurements in Luochuan and Xifeng sections in Chinese Loess Plateau. Both loess profiles show that 10Be production rate was at a maximum-an indication of the dipole field reversal-at ca. 780 ± 3 ka BP., in paleosol unit S7 corresponding to MIS 19, proving that the timing of B-M reversal recorded in Chinese loess is synchronous with that seen in marine records (Tauxe et al., 1996). These results reaffirmed the conventional paleoclimatic correlation of loess-paleosol sequences with marine isotope stages and the standard loess timescale as correct. However, it is ~25 ka younger than the age (depth) of the paleogeomagnetic measurements which show that the B-M boundary is in L8 in these two Chinese loess-paleosol sequences, demonstrating that loess

Using a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to determine product usability: A test case

PubMed Central

Zhou, Ronggang; Chan, Alan H. S.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: In order to take into account the inherent uncertainties during product usability evaluation, Zhou and Chan [1] proposed a comprehensive method of usability evaluation for products by combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy evaluation methods for synthesizing performance data and subjective response data. This method was designed to provide an integrated framework combining the inevitable vague judgments from the multiple stages of the product evaluation process. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the model, this study used a summative usability test case to assess the application and strength of the general fuzzy usability framework. To test the proposed fuzzy usability evaluation framework [1], a standard summative usability test was conducted to benchmark the overall usability of a specific network management software. Based on the test data, the fuzzy method was applied to incorporate both the usability scores and uncertainties involved in the multiple components of the evaluation. Then, with Monte Carlo simulation procedures, confidence intervals were used to compare the reliabilities among the fuzzy approach and two typical conventional methods combining metrics based on percentages. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: This case study showed that the fuzzy evaluation technique can be applied successfully for combining summative usability testing data to achieve an overall usability quality for the network software evaluated. Greater differences of confidence interval widths between the method of averaging equally percentage and weighted evaluation method, including the method of weighted percentage averages, verified the strength of the fuzzy method. PMID:28035942

Meloidogyne aberrans sp. nov. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae), a new root-knot nematode parasitizing kiwifruit in China.

PubMed

Tao, Ye; Xu, Chunling; Yuan, Chunfen; Wang, Honghong; Lin, Borong; Zhuo, Kan; Liao, Jinling

2017-01-01

High infection rates of roots of wild kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch) and soil infestation by a root-knot nematode were found in Anshun, GuiZhou Province, China. Morphology, esterase phenotype and molecular analyses confirmed that this nematode was different from previously described root-knot nematodes. In this report, the species is described, illustrated and named Meloidogyne aberrans sp. nov. The new species has a unique combination of characters. A prominent posterior protuberance, round and faint perineal pattern and a medium-length stylet (13.6-15.5 μm) characterized the females. Second-stage juveniles (J2) were characterized by a smooth lip region with distinctly protruded medial lips and a depression in outline at the oral aperture, a relatively long stylet (15.9-16.8 μm), four incisures in the lateral field and a very short, even poorly defined, hyaline tail terminus (2.2-5.5 μm). More incisures (11-15) existed in the lateral field of males, and the stylet and spicules of males were 18.2-19.6 μm and 22.7-36.8 μm long respectively. Egg masses were typically produced within the roots of kiwifruit. The new species had a rare Est phenotype, S2. Phylogenetic trees inferred from SSU, LSU D2D3, ITS, and partial coxII-16S rRNA revealed that M. aberrans sp. nov. was within the Meloidogyne clade and was distinguished from all described root-knot nematodes. Moreover, from histopathological observations, M. aberrans sp. nov. induced the formation of multinucleate giant cells.

Analytical and phenomenological studies of rotating turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahalov, Alex; Zhou, YE

1995-01-01

A framework, which combines mathematical analysis, closure theory, and phenomenological treatment, is developed to study the spectral transfer process and reduction of dimensionality in turbulent flows that are subject to rotation. First, we outline a mathematical procedure that is particularly appropriate for problems with two disparate time scales. The approach which is based on the Green's method leads to the Poincare velocity variables and the Poincare transformation when applied to rotating turbulence. The effects of the rotation are now reflected in the modifications to the convolution of a nonlinear term. The Poincare transformed equations are used to obtain a time-dependent analog of the Taylor-Proudman theorem valid in the asymptotic limit when the non-dimensional parameter mu is identical to Omega(t) approaches infinity (Omega is the rotation rate and t is the time). The 'split' of the energy transfer in both direct and inverse directions is established. Secondly, we apply the Eddy-Damped-Quasinormal-Markovian (EDQNM) closure to the Poincare transformed Euler/Navier-Stokes equations. This closure leads to expressions for the spectral energy transfer. In particular, an unique triple velocity decorrelation time is derived with an explicit dependence on the rotation rate. This provides an important input for applying the phenomenological treatment of Zhou. In order to characterize the relative strength of rotation, another non-dimensional number, a spectral Rossby number, which is defined as the ratio of rotation and turbulence time scales, is introduced. Finally, the energy spectrum and the spectral eddy viscosity are deduced.

Miocene leaves of Elaeagnus (Elaeagnaceae) from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its modern center of diversity and endemism.

PubMed

Su, Tao; Wilf, Peter; Xu, He; Zhou, Zhe-Kun

2014-08-01

• The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a major center of plant diversity and endemism, but little is known about how this developed due to the region's very scarce paleobotanical record. The silverberry genus Elaeagnus (Elaeagnaceae) reaches its greatest diversity (54 species) and endemism (36 species) in this area. Fossil Elaeagnaceae could provide significant evidence for the phylogeny and biogeography of the family and contribute primary data regarding the evolution of the unique Qinghai-Tibet Plateau flora in its dramatic setting of tectonic and climatic change.• We describe four fossil leaves with diagnostic features of Elaeagnus from the late Miocene of eastern Tibet, modern altitude of 3910 m a.s.l.. We also review prior fossil records of Elaeagnaceae.• The well-preserved, densely packed, stellate scales on fossil leaf surfaces are diagnostic of Elaeagnaceae. We assign these fossil leaves to Elaeagnus tibetensis T. Su et Z.K. Zhou sp. nov., comprising the first confirmed fossil Elaeagnus leaves worldwide.• Elaeagnus was present in eastern Tibet by the late Miocene. Together with previous fossil records, the new species supports a Holarctic history of the family. The diversification of Elaeagnus in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and adjacent areas might have been driven by continuous uplift at least since the late Miocene, causing formation of complex topography and climate with high rainfall seasonality. The characteristic scales on leaf surfaces are likely to be an important functional adaptation to seasonal droughts during early spring. © 2014 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Interaction between P2X and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in glutamate nerve terminals of the rat hippocampus.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Ricardo J; Almeida, Teresa; de Mendonça, Alexandre; Cunha, Rodrigo A

2006-01-01

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs [constituted by pentameric association of alpha2-10 and beta2-4 subunits]) and P2X receptors (P2XRs [activated by ATP and constituted by multimeric association of P2X1-7 subunits]) are both ionotropic receptors permeable to cations, which have in common the disparity between the wealth of data showing their presence in the brain and little evidence of their participation in mediating synaptic transmission. This has led to the proposal that both nAChRs and P2XRs might primarily modulate rather than directly mediate synaptic transmission, which is in accordance with the predominant presynaptic localization of both receptor subtypes (Role and Berg, 1996; Cunha and Ribeiro, 2000). Interestingly, both functional neurochemical (Allgaier et al., 1995; Salgado et al., 2000; Diáz-Hernández et al., 2002) and electrophysiological studies (Barajas-Lopez et al., 1998; Searl et al., 1998; Zhou and Calligan, 1998; Khakh et al., 2000) indicated a close interaction between nAChRs and P2XRs, which is paralleled by a co-release of ATPand ACh from central terminals (e.g., Richardson and Brown, 1987). Because glutamate release in the hippocampus is controlled by both nAChRs (e.g., McGehee et al., 1995) and P2XRs (Khakh et al., 2003; Rodrigues et al., 2005), we investigated if there was a functional interaction between these two presynaptic ionotropic receptors in the control of glutamate release in the rat hippocampus.

Nuclear factor I-C reciprocally regulates adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation via control of canonical Wnt signaling.

PubMed

Zhou, Jie; Wang, Shan; Qi, Qi; Yang, Xiaoyue; Zhu, Endong; Yuan, Hairui; Li, Xuemei; Liu, Ying; Li, Xiaoxia; Wang, Baoli

2017-05-01

Nuclear factor I-C (NFIC) has recently been identified as an important player in osteogenesis and bone homeostasis in vivo However, the molecular mechanisms involved have yet to be defined. In the current study, Nfic expression was altered in primary marrow stromal cells and established progenitor lines after adipogenic and osteogenic treatment. Overexpression of Nfic in stromal cells ST2, mesenchymal cells C3H10T1/2, and primary marrow stromal cells inhibited adipogenic differentiation, whereas it promoted osteogenic differentiation. Conversely, silencing of endogenous Nfic in the cell lines enhanced adipogenic differentiation, whereas it blocked osteogenic differentiation. Mechanism investigations revealed that Nfic overexpression promoted nuclear translocation of β-catenin and increased nuclear protein levels of β-catenin and transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2). Promoter studies and the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay revealed that NFIC directly binds to the promoter of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (Lrp5) and thereafter transactivates the promoter. Finally, inactivation of canonical Wnt signaling in ST2 attenuated the inhibition of adipogenic differentiation and stimulation of osteogenic differentiation by NFIC. Our study suggests that NFIC balances adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation from progenitor cells through controlling canonical Wnt signaling and highlights the potential of NFIC as a target for new therapies to control metabolic disorders like osteoporosis and obesity.-Zhou, J., Wang, S., Qi, Q., Yang, X., Zhu, E., Yuan, H., Li, X., Liu, Y., Li, X., Wang, B. Nuclear factor I-C reciprocally regulates adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation via control of canonical Wnt signaling. © FASEB.

[Textual research on Chen Ye and his Jia cang jing yan fang (Family-preserved Empirical Recipes) of the Song Dynasty].

PubMed

Zhang, Xuedan; Zhang, Ruqing; Chen, Dexing

2014-01-01

Chen Ye, an official of the Southern Song Dynasty, also known as Chen Rihua as his styled name, was born in Changle, Fuzhou in the reign of Shaoxing, and died during the reign of Duanping. He had been consecutively in the positions of Jiang shi lang (Court Gentleman for Ceremonial Service), Zhi zhou (Prefect) of Lingding, the Ti xing (Judicial Commissioner) of Guangdong, the Zong ling (Overseer-general) of Sichuan, Shan ding (Reviser), Shu lin and other positions in Tongzhou, Yuanzhou. His works included 1 volume of Gu ling xian sheng nian pu (Mr. Guling's Chronological Biography), 1 volume of Tan xie (On Humor), 1 volume of Shi hua (Poetry), 8 volumes of Jin yuan li shu (Jin Yuan's Smart Technique), 3 volumes of Yi jian zhi lei bian (Classified Compilation of Yijian's Annals), (Zeng guang) Suo sui lu (Augmented Records of Trivial Matters), 5 volumes of Jia cang jing yan fang (Family-preserved Empirical Recipes). He also compiled the 8-volume Yin jiang zhi (Yinjiang's Annals), published the 2-volume Jia cang ji yao fang (Collected Essential Recipes from Family Preservation), and other proses and poetry. Jia cang jing yan fang was a formulary compiled by Chen Ye, which was lost. Altogether 74 of its recipes were cited in Fu ren da quan liang fang (Complete Effective Prescriptions for Women's Diseases), Shou qin yang lao shu (A Book for Pursuing Seniors' Longevity and Healthcare), Pu ji fang (Prescriptions for Universal Relief) and Yong le da dian (Yongle Encyclopedia).

Bisphenol-A exposure in utero leads to epigenetic alterations in the developmental programming of uterine estrogen response

PubMed Central

Bromer, Jason G.; Zhou, Yuping; Taylor, Melissa B.; Doherty, Leo; Taylor, Hugh S.

2010-01-01

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a nonsteroidal estrogen that is ubiquitous in the environment. The homeobox gene Hoxa10 controls uterine organogenesis, and its expression is affected by in utero BPA exposure. We hypothesized that an epigenetic mechanism underlies BPA-mediated alterations in Hoxa10 expression. We analyzed the expression pattern and methylation profile of Hoxa10 after in utero BPA exposure. Pregnant CD-1 mice were treated with BPA (5 mg/kg IP) or vehicle control on d 9–16 of pregnancy. Hoxa10 mRNA and protein expression were increased by 25% in the reproductive tract of mice exposed in utero. Bisulfite sequencing revealed that cytosine-guanine dinucleotide methylation was decreased from 67 to 14% in the promoter and from 71 to 3% in the intron of Hoxa10 after in utero BPA exposure. Decreased DNA methylation led to an increase in binding of ER-α to the Hoxa10 ERE both in vitro as and in vivo as determined by EMSA and chromatin immunoprecipitation, respectively. Diminished methylation of the ERE-containing promoter sequence resulted in an increase in ERE-driven gene expression in reporter assays. We identify altered methylation as a novel mechanism of BPA-induced altered developmental programming. Permanent epigenetic alteration of ERE sensitivity to estrogen may be a general mechanism through which endocrine disruptors exert their action.—Bromer, J. G., Zhou, Y., Taylor, M. B., Doherty, L., Taylor, H. S.. Bisphenol-A exposure in utero leads to epigenetic alterations in the developmental programming of uterine estrogen response. PMID:20181937

RTV silicone rubber surface modification for cell biocompatibility by negative-ion implantation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Chenlong; Wang, Guangfu; Chu, Yingjie; Xu, Ya; Qiu, Menglin; Xu, Mi

2016-03-01

A negative cluster ion implantation system was built on the injector of a GIC4117 tandem accelerator. Next, the system was used to study the surface modification of room temperature vulcanization silicone rubber (RTV SR) for cell biocompatibility. The water contact angle was observed to decrease from 117.6° to 99.3° as the C1- implantation dose was increased to 1 × 1016 ions/cm2, and the effects of C1-, C2- and O1- implantation result in only small differences in the water contact angle at 3 × 1015 ions/cm2. These findings indicate that the hydrophilicity of RTV SR improves as the dose is increased and that the radiation effect has a greater influence than the doping effect on the hydrophilicity. There are two factors influence hydrophilicity of RTV: (1) based on the XPS and ATR-FTIR results, it can be inferred that ion implantation breaks the hydrophobic functional groups (Sisbnd CH3, Sisbnd Osbnd Si, Csbnd H) of RTV SR and generates hydrophilic functional groups (sbnd COOH, sbnd OH, Sisbnd (O)x (x = 3,4)). (2) SEM reveals that the implanted surface of RTV SR appears the micro roughness such as cracks and wrinkles. The hydrophilicity should be reduced due to the lotus effect (Zhou Rui et al., 2009). These two factors cancel each other out and make the C-implantation sample becomes more hydrophilic in general terms. Finally, cell culture demonstrates that negative ion-implantation is an effective method to improve the cell biocompatibility of RTV SR.

A critical role for plasma kallikrein in the pathogenesis of autoantibody-induced arthritis.

PubMed

Yang, Aizhen; Zhou, Junsong; Wang, Bo; Dai, Jihong; Colman, Robert W; Song, Wenchao; Wu, Yi

2017-12-01

The plasma kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) consists of serine proteases, prekallikrein (pKal) and factor XII (FXII), and a cofactor, high-MW kininogen (HK). Upon activation, activated pKal and FXII cleave HK to release bradykinin. Activation of this system has been noted in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and its pathogenic role has been characterized in animal arthritic models. In this study, we generated 2 knockout mouse strains that lacked pKal and HK and determined the role of KKS in autoantibody-induced arthritis. In a K/BxN serum transfer-induced arthritis (STIA) model, mice that lacked HK, pKal, or bradykinin receptors displayed protective phenotypes in joint swelling, histologic changes in inflammation, and cytokine production; however, FXII-deficient mice developed normal arthritis. Inhibition of Kal ameliorated arthritis severity and incidence at early stage STIA and reduced the levels of major cytokines in joints. In addition to releasing bradykinin from HK, Kal directly activated monocytes to produce proinflammatory cytokines, up-regulated their C5aR and FcRIII expression, and released C5a. Immune complex increased pKal activity, which led to HK cleavage. The absence of HK is associated with a decrease in joint vasopermeability. Thus, we identify a critical role for Kal in autoantibody-induced arthritis with pleiotropic effects, which suggests that it is a new target for the inhibition of arthritis.-Yang, A., Zhou, J., Wang, B., Dai, J., Colman, R. W., Song, W., Wu, Y. A critical role for plasma kallikrein in the pathogenesis of autoantibody-induced arthritis. © FASEB.

Direct numerical simulation of moderate-Reynolds-number flow past arrays of rotating spheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Qiang; Fan, Liang-Shih

2015-07-01

Direct numerical simulations with an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method are used to investigate the effects of particle rotation on flows past random arrays of mono-disperse spheres at moderate particle Reynolds numbers. This study is an extension of a previous study of the authors [Q. Zhou and L.-S. Fan, "Direct numerical simulation of low-Reynolds-number flow past arrays of rotating spheres," J. Fluid Mech. 765, 396-423 (2015)] that explored the effects of particle rotation at low particle Reynolds numbers. The results of this study indicate that as the particle Reynolds number increases, the normalized Magnus lift force decreases rapidly when the particle Reynolds number is in the range lower than 50. For the particle Reynolds number greater than 50, the normalized Magnus lift force approaches a constant value that is invariant with solid volume fractions. The proportional dependence of the Magnus lift force on the rotational Reynolds number (based on the angular velocity and the diameter of the spheres) observed at low particle Reynolds numbers does not change in the present study, making the Magnus lift force another possible factor that can significantly affect the overall dynamics of fluid-particle flows other than the drag force. Moreover, it is found that both the normalized drag force and the normalized torque increase with the increase of the particle Reynolds number and the solid volume fraction. Finally, correlations for the drag force, the Magnus lift force, and the torque in random arrays of rotating spheres at arbitrary solids volume fractions, rotational Reynolds numbers, and particle Reynolds numbers are formulated.

Matsu Cultural Heritage and Its Conservation in Bohai Rim - Case Study on the Hall of Fujian in Yantai

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, S.

2015-08-01

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the belief of Matsu had started to spread from the birthplace to the northern coastal areas in China. Matsu worship developed to the pinnacle with the official promotion on account of the government's dependence on grain transported by sea since the mid-Qing Dynasty. A large amount of Matsu temples emerged in coastal cities of Bohai Rim where it still keeps a large number of them until now. It has much relationship between the spread of Matsu culture and the flow of Fujian population. It was one of the main building way that the Matsu temples attached to the local hall of Fujian in Bohai Rim. The Hall of Fujian in Yantai, Which was built with materials taken from Fujian, in the feature of traditional architectural style from QuanZhou, is very different from the local building style of Yantai. This case indicates that maritime culture of the south area had spread and developed in the north areas under the promotion of the population flow and the economic transaction. The essay introduces briefly about the development of Matsu culture in Bohai Rim and takes the case study of the Hall of Fujian in Yantai analyzing its causes and features, and the value as Matsu heritage. Then the paper will discuss the conservation of Matsu culture mere include the tangible and the intangible culture heritage around the origin area, the heritages of the spread area also have the same importance significance. With the evolution of the society, it calls urgent attention and protection of Matsu culture in Bohai Rim.

LISA 8 Science Organizing Committee and Local Organizing Committee LISA 8 Science Organizing Committee and Local Organizing Committee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-05-01

Science Organising Committee (SOC) Tom Abel, Stanford University Odylio Aguiar, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais Tal Alexander, Wizemann Institute Peter Bender, University of Colorado Pierre Binetruy, APC - College de France Sasha Buchman, Stanford University Robert Byer, Stanford University Manuela Campanelli, University of Texas Joan Centrella, NASA/Goddard Massimo Cerdonio, University of Padova Eugenio Coccia, University of Roma-2 Neil Cornish, Montana State University Michael Cruise, University of Birmingham Curt Cutler, NASA/JPL Karsten Danzmann, University of Hannover Sam Finn, Penn State University Jens Gundlach, NPL Gerhard Heinzel, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik Craig Hogan, University of Washington Jim Hough, University of Glasgow Scott Hughes, MIT Oliver Jennrich, ESTEC Philippe Jetzer, University Zurich Seiji Kawamura, National Observatory, Japan Alberto Lobo, ICE-CSIC and IEEC Avi Loeb, Harvard University Piero Madau, Lick Observatory Yannick Mellier, IAP, Paris Peter Michelson, Stanford University Guido Mueller, University of Florida Sterl Phinney, Caltech Tom Prince, NASA/JPL Doug Richstone, University of Michigan Bernard Schutz, AEI Potsdam Tuck Stebbins, NASA/Goddard Tim Sumner, Imperial College, London Ke-Xun Sun, Stanford University Kip Thorne, Caltech Michele Vallisneri, NASA/JPL Alberto Vecchio, University of Birmingham Jean-Yves Vinet, OCA, Nice Stefano Vitale, University of Trento Rai Weiss, MIT Nick White, NASA/Goddard Local Organising Committee (LOC) Sasha Buchman (Stanford University) Robert Byer (Stanford University) Sara Charbonneau-Lefort (Stanford University) Nancy Christianson (Stanford University) John Conklin (Stanford University) Dan DeBra (Stanford University) Jan Goebel (Stanford University) Vivian Drew (Stanford University) Ke-Xun Sun (Stanford University) Lucy Zhou (Stanford University) Andrea Zoellner (Stanford University)

[Preliminary investigation on the materia medica of the Zhuang ethnic group].

PubMed

Rong, Xiao-Xiang; Li, Gui

2013-09-01

By Zhuang materia medica, it refers to application of medicines under the instructions of medical theory of Zhuang ethnic group. By studying the pronunciation of the Zhuang language for the terms "zhu yu", "bai jiu", and "mi gu" included in the shan hai jing nan shan jing (The Classic of Southern Mountain in Classic of Seas and Mountains) carried out by the Zhuang scholar Qin Bao-lin, it was concluded that the Zhuang minority already applied medicines early in the pre-Qin period. Through extensive cultural communication in different regions in the Wei-Jin-Southern-Northern Dynasties, the medicinal experiences of the Zhuang ethnic group appeared in ancient literature. The antidotes in Zhou hou fang (Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency), for instance, were mostly coming from the Southern Ridge area. Since the Sui-Tang Dynasties, many materia medica recorded in the herbal works and regional gazetteers, and Annals such as the Guangxi Annals, Gazetteer of Nanning County, and Gazetteer of Liuzhou County, Gazetteer of Binzhou County etc., also carry medicines such as Cinnamom twigs and bark, and mangosteen etc., which are similar to those of the Zhuang medicines. In the Republican period, many manuscripts of Zhuang medicines appeared. After 1949, many institutions of Zhuang medicine were set up successively, including The Nanning Medical Institute, The Medical Institute of Wuzhou, The Medical Institute of Guilin. Systematic researches were also done, with publication of a series of works on Zhuang materia medica. Reformation of part of the prescription forms of Zhuang medicine were also accomplished.

Large-scale urban point cloud labeling and reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Liqiang; Li, Zhuqiang; Li, Anjian; Liu, Fangyu

2018-04-01

The large number of object categories and many overlapping or closely neighboring objects in large-scale urban scenes pose great challenges in point cloud classification. In this paper, a novel framework is proposed for classification and reconstruction of airborne laser scanning point cloud data. To label point clouds, we present a rectified linear units neural network named ReLu-NN where the rectified linear units (ReLu) instead of the traditional sigmoid are taken as the activation function in order to speed up the convergence. Since the features of the point cloud are sparse, we reduce the number of neurons by the dropout to avoid over-fitting of the training process. The set of feature descriptors for each 3D point is encoded through self-taught learning, and forms a discriminative feature representation which is taken as the input of the ReLu-NN. The segmented building points are consolidated through an edge-aware point set resampling algorithm, and then they are reconstructed into 3D lightweight models using the 2.5D contouring method (Zhou and Neumann, 2010). Compared with deep learning approaches, the ReLu-NN introduced can easily classify unorganized point clouds without rasterizing the data, and it does not need a large number of training samples. Most of the parameters in the network are learned, and thus the intensive parameter tuning cost is significantly reduced. Experimental results on various datasets demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves better performance than other related algorithms in terms of classification accuracy and reconstruction quality.

In situ intracellular calcium oscillations in osteocytes in intact mouse long bones under dynamic mechanical loading

PubMed Central

Jing, Da; Baik, Andrew D.; Lu, X. Lucas; Zhou, Bin; Lai, Xiaohan; Wang, Liyun; Luo, Erping; Guo, X. Edward

2014-01-01

Osteocytes have been hypothesized to be the major mechanosensors in bone. How in situ osteocytes respond to mechanical stimuli is still unclear because of technical difficulties. In vitro studies have shown that osteocytes exhibited unique calcium (Ca2+) oscillations to fluid shear. However, whether this mechanotransduction phenomenon holds for in situ osteocytes embedded within a mineralized bone matrix under dynamic loading remains unknown. Using a novel synchronized loading/imaging technique, we successfully visualized in real time and quantified Ca2+ responses in osteocytes and bone surface cells in situ under controlled dynamic loading on intact mouse tibia. The resultant fluid-induced shear stress on the osteocyte in the lacunocanalicular system (LCS) was also quantified. Osteocytes, but not surface cells, displayed repetitive Ca2+ spikes in response to dynamic loading, with spike frequency and magnitude dependent on load magnitude, tissue strain, and shear stress in the LCS. The Ca2+ oscillations were significantly reduced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) depletion and P2 purinergic receptor (P2R)/phospholipase C (PLC) inhibition. This study provides direct evidence that osteocytes respond to in situ mechanical loading by Ca2+ oscillations, which are dependent on the P2R/PLC/inositol trisphosphate/ER pathway. This study develops a novel approach in skeletal mechanobiology and also advances our fundamental knowledge of bone mechanotransduction.—Jing, D., Baik, A. D., Lu, X. L., Zhou, B., Lai, X., Wang, L., Luo, E., Guo, X. E. In situ intracellular calcium oscillations in osteocytes in intact mouse long bones under dynamic mechanical loading. PMID:24347610

[History of hot spring bath treatment in China].

PubMed

Hao, Wanpeng; Wang, Xiaojun; Xiang, Yinghong; Gu Li, A Man; Li, Ming; Zhang, Xin

2011-07-01

As early as the 7th century B.C. (Western Zhou Dynasty), there is a recording as 'spring which contains sulfur could treat disease' on the Wentang Stele written by WANG Bao. Wenquan Fu written by ZHANG Heng in the Easten Han Dynasty also mentioned hot spring bath treatment. The distribution of hot springs in China has been summarized by LI Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty in his Shuijingzhu which recorded hot springs in 41 places and interpreted the definition of hot spring. Bencao Shiyi (by CHEN Cangqi, Tang Dynasty) discussed the formation of and indications for hot springs. HU Zai in the Song Dynasty pointed out distinguishing hot springs according to water quality in his book Yuyin Conghua. TANG Shenwei in the Song Dynasty noted in Jingshi Zhenglei Beiji Bencao that hot spring bath treatment should be combined with diet. Shiwu Bencao (Ming Dynasty) classified hot springs into sulfur springs, arsenicum springs, cinnabar springs, aluminite springs, etc. and pointed out their individual indications. Geologists did not start the work on distribution and water quality analysis of hot springs until the first half of the 20th century. There are 972 hot springs in Wenquan Jiyao (written by geologist ZHANG Hongzhao and published in 1956). In July 1982, the First National Geothermal Conference was held and it reported that there were more than 2600 hot springs in China. Since the second half of the 20th century, hot spring sanatoriums and rehabilitation centers have been established, which promoted the development of hot spring bath treatment.

Dynamics of action potential backpropagation in basal dendrites of prefrontal cortical pyramidal neurons.

PubMed

Zhou, Wen-Liang; Yan, Ping; Wuskell, Joseph P; Loew, Leslie M; Antic, Srdjan D

2008-02-01

Basal dendrites of neocortical pyramidal neurons are relatively short and directly attached to the cell body. This allows electrical signals arising in basal dendrites to strongly influence the neuronal output. Likewise, somatic action potentials (APs) should readily propagate back into the basilar dendritic tree to influence synaptic plasticity. Two recent studies, however, determined that sodium APs are severely attenuated in basal dendrites of cortical pyramidal cells, so that they completely fail in distal dendritic segments. Here we used the latest improvements in the voltage-sensitive dye imaging technique (Zhou et al., 2007) to study AP backpropagation in basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons of the rat prefrontal cortex. With a signal-to-noise ratio of > 15 and minimal temporal averaging (only four sweeps) we were able to sample AP waveforms from the very last segments of individual dendritic branches (dendritic tips). We found that in short- (< 150 microm) and medium (150-200 microm in length)-range basal dendrites APs backpropagated with modest changes in AP half-width or AP rise-time. The lack of substantial changes in AP shape and dynamics of rise is inconsistent with the AP-failure model. The lack of substantial amplitude boosting of the third AP in the high-frequency burst also suggests that in short- and medium-range basal dendrites backpropagating APs were not severely attenuated. Our results show that the AP-failure concept does not apply in all basal dendrites of the rat prefrontal cortex. The majority of synaptic contacts in the basilar dendritic tree actually received significant AP-associated electrical and calcium transients.

Physiological loading of joints prevents cartilage degradation through CITED2

PubMed Central

Leong, Daniel J.; Li, Yong H.; Gu, Xiang I.; Sun, Li; Zhou, Zuping; Nasser, Philip; Laudier, Damien M.; Iqbal, Jameel; Majeska, Robert J.; Schaffler, Mitchell B.; Goldring, Mary B.; Cardoso, Luis; Zaidi, Mone; Sun, Hui B.

2011-01-01

Both overuse and disuse of joints up-regulate matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in articular cartilage and cause tissue degradation; however, moderate (physiological) loading maintains cartilage integrity. Here, we test whether CBP/p300-interacting transactivator with ED-rich tail 2 (CITED2), a mechanosensitive transcriptional coregulator, mediates this chondroprotective effect of moderate mechanical loading. In vivo, hind-limb immobilization of Sprague-Dawley rats up-regulates MMP-1 and causes rapid, histologically detectable articular cartilage degradation. One hour of daily passive joint motion prevents these changes and up-regulates articular cartilage CITED2. In vitro, moderate (2.5 MPa, 1 Hz) intermittent hydrostatic pressure (IHP) treatment suppresses basal MMP-1 expression and up-regulates CITED2 in human chondrocytes, whereas high IHP (10 MPa) down-regulates CITED2 and increases MMP-1. Competitive binding and transcription assays demonstrate that CITED2 suppresses MMP-1 expression by competing with MMP transactivator, Ets-1 for its coactivator p300. Furthermore, CITED2 up-regulation in vitro requires the p38δ isoform, which is specifically phosphorylated by moderate IHP. Together, these studies identify a novel regulatory pathway involving CITED2 and p38δ, which may be critical for the maintenance of articular cartilage integrity under normal physical activity levels.—Leong, D. J., Li, Y. H., Gu, X. I., Sun, L., Zhou, Z., Nasser, P., Laudier, D. M., Iqbal, J., Majeska, R. J., Schaffler, M. B., Goldring, M. B., Cardoso, L., Zaidi, M., Sun, H. B. Physiological loading of joints prevents cartilage degradation through CITED2. PMID:20826544

Electronic and structural response of nanomaterials to ultrafast and ultraintense laser pulses.

PubMed

Jiang, Chen-Wei; Zhou, Xiang; Lin, Zhibin; Xie, Rui-Hua; Li, Fu-Li; Allen, Roland E

2014-02-01

The interaction of materials with ultrafast and ultraintense laser pulses is a current frontier of science both experimentally and theoretically. In this review, we briefly discuss some recent theoretical studies by the present authors with our method of semiclassical electron-radiation-ion dynamics (SERID). In particular, Zhou et al. and Jiang et al. respectively, determined the optimal duration and optimal timing for a series of femtosecond scale laser pulses to excite a specific vibrational mode in a general chemical system. A set of such modes can be used as a "fingerprint" for characterizing a particular molecule or a complex in a solid. One can therefore envision many applications, ranging from fundamental studies to detection of chemical or biological agents. Allen et al. proved that dimers are preferentially emitted during photofragmentation of C60 under an ultrafast and ultraintense laser pulse. For interactions between laser pulses and semiconductors, e.g., GaAs, Si and InSb, besides experimentally accessible optical properties--epsilon(omega) and chi(2)-Allen et al. offered many other indicators to confirm the nonthermal nature of structural changes driven by electronic excitations and occurring during the first few hundred femtoseconds. Lin et al. found that, after the application of a femtosecond laser pulse, excited electrons in materials automatically equilibrate to a Fermi-Dirac distribution within roughly 100 fs, solely because of their coupling to the nuclear motion, even though the resulting electronic temperature is one to two orders of magnitude higher than the kinetic temperature defined by the nuclear motion.

Lipidomic analysis of patients with microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity reveals up-regulation of leukotriene B4

PubMed Central

Maddipati, Krishna Rao; Romero, Roberto; Chaiworapongsa, Tinnakorn; Chaemsaithong, Piya; Zhou, Sen-Lin; Xu, Zhonghui; Tarca, Adi L.; Kusanovic, Juan Pedro; Gomez, Ricardo; Chaiyasit, Noppadol; Honn, Kenneth V.

2016-01-01

Bioactive lipids derived from the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids are important mediators of the inflammatory response. Labor per se is considered a sterile inflammatory process. Intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI) due to microorganisms (i.e., intra-amniotic infection) or danger signals (i.e., sterile IAI) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of preterm labor and clinical chorioamnionitis at term. Early and accurate diagnosis of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) requires analysis of amniotic fluid (AF). It is possible that IAI caused by microorganisms is associated with a stereotypic lipidomic profile, and that analysis of AF may help in the identification of patients with this condition. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the fatty acyl lipidome of AF by liquid chromatography—mass spectrometry from patients in spontaneous labor at term and preterm gestations. We report that the AF concentrations of proinflammatory lipid mediators of the 5-lipoxygenase pathway are significantly higher in MIAC than in cases of sterile IAI. These results suggest that the concentrations of 5-lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid, 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, and leukotriene B4 in particular could serve as potential biomarkers of MIAC. This finding could have important implications for the rapid identification of patients who may benefit from anti-microbial treatment.—Maddipati, K. R., Romero, R., Chaiworapongsa ,T., Chaemsaithong, P., Zhou, S.-L., Xu, Z., Tarca, A. L., Kusanovic, J. P., Gomez, R., Chaiyasit, N., Honn, K. V. Lipidomic analysis of patients with microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity reveals up-regulation of leukotriene B4. PMID:27312808

Generation and electric control of spin-valley-coupled circular photogalvanic current in WSe2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Hongtao; Hwang, Harold Y.; Cui, Yi

2015-03-01

Compared to the weak spin-orbit-interaction (SOI) in graphene, layered transitionmetal chalcogenides MX2 have heavy 4d/5d elements with strong atomic SOI, providing a unique way to extend functionalities of novel spintronics and valleytronics devices. Such a valley polarization achieved via valley-selective circular dichroism has been predicted theoretically and demonstrated with optical experiments in MX2 systems. Despite the exciting progresses, the generation of a valley/spin current by valley polarization in MX2 remains elusive and a great challenge. A spin/valley current in MX2 compounds caused by such a valley polarization has never been observed, nor its electric-field control. In this talk, we demonstrated, within an electric-double-layer transistor based on WSe2, the manipulation of a spin-coupled valley photocurrent whose direction and magnitude depend on the degree of circular polarization of the incident radiation and can be further greatly modulated with an external electric field. Such room temperature generation and electric control of valley/spin photocurrent provides a new property of electrons in MX2 systems, thereby enabling new degrees of control for quantum-confined spintronics devices. (In collaboration with S.C. Zhang, Y.L. Chen, Z.X. Shen, B Lian, H.J. Zhang, G Xu, Y Xu, B Zhou, X.Q. Wang, B Shen X.F. Fang) Acknowledge the support from DoE, BES, Division of MSE under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. Acknowledge the support from DoE, BES, Division of MSE under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515.

The contractile ring coordinates curvature-dependent septum assembly during fission yeast cytokinesis.

PubMed

Zhou, Zhou; Munteanu, Emilia Laura; He, Jun; Ursell, Tristan; Bathe, Mark; Huang, Kerwyn Casey; Chang, Fred

2015-01-01

The functions of the actin-myosin-based contractile ring in cytokinesis remain to be elucidated. Recent findings show that in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cleavage furrow ingression is driven by polymerization of cell wall fibers outside the plasma membrane, not by the contractile ring. Here we show that one function of the ring is to spatially coordinate septum cell wall assembly. We develop an improved method for live-cell imaging of the division apparatus by orienting the rod-shaped cells vertically using microfabricated wells. We observe that the septum hole and ring are circular and centered in wild-type cells and that in the absence of a functional ring, the septum continues to ingress but in a disorganized and asymmetric manner. By manipulating the cleavage furrow into different shapes, we show that the ring promotes local septum growth in a curvature-dependent manner, allowing even a misshapen septum to grow into a more regular shape. This curvature-dependent growth suggests a model in which contractile forces of the ring shape the septum cell wall by stimulating the cell wall machinery in a mechanosensitive manner. Mechanical regulation of the cell wall assembly may have general relevance to the morphogenesis of walled cells. © 2015 Zhou et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Analytic approximations of Von Kármán plate under arbitrary uniform pressure—equations in integral form

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, XiaoXu; Liao, ShiJun

2018-01-01

Analytic approximations of the Von Kármán's plate equations in integral form for a circular plate under external uniform pressure to arbitrary magnitude are successfully obtained by means of the homotopy analysis method (HAM), an analytic approximation technique for highly nonlinear problems. Two HAM-based approaches are proposed for either a given external uniform pressure Q or a given central deflection, respectively. Both of them are valid for uniform pressure to arbitrary magnitude by choosing proper values of the so-called convergence-control parameters c 1 and c 2 in the frame of the HAM. Besides, it is found that the HAM-based iteration approaches generally converge much faster than the interpolation iterative method. Furthermore, we prove that the interpolation iterative method is a special case of the first-order HAM iteration approach for a given external uniform pressure Q when c 1 = - θ and c 2 = -1, where θ denotes the interpolation iterative parameter. Therefore, according to the convergence theorem of Zheng and Zhou about the interpolation iterative method, the HAM-based approaches are valid for uniform pressure to arbitrary magnitude at least in the special case c 1 = - θ and c 2 = -1. In addition, we prove that the HAM approach for the Von Kármán's plate equations in differential form is just a special case of the HAM for the Von Kármán's plate equations in integral form mentioned in this paper. All of these illustrate the validity and great potential of the HAM for highly nonlinear problems, and its superiority over perturbation techniques.

Inverse effect of morphotropic phase boundary on the magnetostriction of ferromagnetic Tb1-xGdxCo2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Chao; Ren, Shuai; Bao, Huixin; Yang, Sen; Yao, Yonggang; Ji, Yuanchao; Ren, Xiaobing; Matsushita, Yoshitaka; Katsuya, Yoshio; Tanaka, Masahiko; Kobayashi, Keisuke

2014-03-01

The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) has been utilized extensively in ferroelectrics and recently has attracted interest in ferromagnets [S. Yang, H. Bao, C. Zhou, Y. Wang, X. Ren, Y. Matsushita, Y. Katsuya, M. Tanaka, K. Kobayashi, X. Song, and J. Gao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 197201 (2010), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.197201; R. Bergstrom, M. Wuttig, J. Cullen, P. Zavalij, R. Briber, C. Dennis, V. O. Garlea, and M. Laver, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 017203 (2013), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.017203] for obtaining enhanced large field-induced strain. Here we report that the MPB can also lead to weakening (the inverse effect as compared to the known MPB materials) of field-induced strain, as exhibited in the Tb1-xGdxCo2 system. With synchrotron x-ray diffractometry, the structure symmetry of TbCo2-rich compositions is detected to be rhombohedral below TC and that of GdCo2-rich compositions is tetragonal. The MPB composition Tb0.1Gd0.9Co2, corresponding to the two phases (rhombohedral and tetragonal) of coexistence, shows the exotic minimum (near zero) magnetostriction as well as the largest magnetic susceptibility among all samples. Further analysis suggests that whether MPB can enhance or weaken magnetostriction is determined by the degree of magnetic ordering of two end members that form ferromagnetic MPBs, which was not considered previously. Our work not only reveals a new type of ferromagnetic MPB, but also provides a new recipe for designing functional high-susceptibility and low-strain magnetic materials.

Genetic Variation in SENP1 and ANP32D as Predictors of Chronic Mountain Sickness

PubMed Central

Petousi, Nayia; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L.; Robbins, Peter A.

2014-01-01

Abstract Cole, Amy M., Nayia Petousi, Gianpiero L. Cavalleri, and Peter A. Robbins Genetic variation in SENP1 and ANP32D as predictors of chronic mountain sickness. High Alt Med Biol 15:497–499, 2014.—Chronic mountain sickness (CMS) is a serious illness that affects life-long high-altitude residents. A recent study analyzed whole genome sequence data from residents of Cerro de Pasco (Peru) in an effort to identify the genetic basis of CMS and reported SENP1 (rs7963934) and ANP32D (rs72644851) to show signatures consistent with natural selection and protective against CMS (Zhou et al. 2013). We set out to replicate these observations in two Andean cohorts from Cerro de Pasco, consisting of 84 CMS cases and 91 healthy controls in total. We report evidence of association for rs7963934 (SENP1) in the combined cohorts (meta-analysis p=8.8 x 10−4 OR 2.91, CI 1.56–5.5, I=0). The direction of effect was the same as in the original publication. We did not observe any significant correlation between rs72644851 (ANP32D) and the CMS phenotype, within or across cohorts (meta-analysis p=0.204, OR 1.37, CI 0.84–2.241, I=0). Our results provide independent evidence in support of a role for SENP1 in CMS in individuals of Quechua ancestry and suggest the SENP1 and ANP32D signatures of selection are in tight linkage disequilibrium (LD). PMID:25225945

Improvement on `structure of weakly 2-dependent siphons'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, Daniel Y.

2015-01-01

Li and Zhou propose simpler Petri net controllers based on the concept of elementary siphons (generally much smaller than the set of all strict minimum siphons (SMSs) in large Petri nets) to minimise the addition of control places. SMSs can be divided into two groups: elementary and dependant; characteristic T-vectors of the latter are linear combinations of that of the former. A T-vector η is associated with each siphon S such that η(i) is the number of tokens gained in or lost from S by firing transition ti once. A dependent siphon S0 strongly depends on elementary siphons S1, S2, … , Sk if η0 = a1η1 + a2η2 + ṡṡṡ + akηk with all ai (i = 1, 2, 3, … , k) positive. S0 is a weakly dependent siphon if some ai is negative. The T-vectors (resp. number) for elementary siphons are mutually independent (linear to the size of the net). In an earlier paper, we show that there exists a third siphon S3 such that ηβ = η1 + η2 - η3. This equation (called η relationship) plays an important role for optimal control of weakly dependent siphons. However, it assumes that all above S span between exactly two processes. For a well-known benchmark, however, most dependent siphons span more than two processes. This paper improves by removing this restriction and shows that ηβ = η1 + η2 - η3 holds as long as S1∩S2 is another emptiable siphon.

Coherent microscopic picture for urea-induced denaturation of proteins.

PubMed

Yang, Zaixing; Xiu, Peng; Shi, Biyun; Hua, Lan; Zhou, Ruhong

2012-08-02

In a previous study, we explored the mechanism of urea-induced denaturation of proteins by performing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of hen lysozyme in 8 M urea and supported the "direct interaction mechanism" whereby urea denatures protein via dispersion interaction (Hua, L.; Zhou, R. H.; Thirumalai, D.; Berne, B. J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2008, 105, 16928). Here we perform large scale MD simulations of five representative protein/peptide systems in aqueous urea to investigate if the above mechanism is common to other proteins. In all cases, accumulations of urea around proteins/peptide are observed, suggesting that urea denatures proteins by directly attacking protein backbones and side chains rather than indirectly disrupting water structure as a "water breaker". Consistent with our previous case study of lysozyme, the current energetic analyses with five protein/peptide systems reveal that urea's preferential binding to proteins mainly comes from urea's stronger dispersion interactions with proteins than with bulk solution, whereas the electrostatic (hydrogen-bonded) interactions only play a relatively minor (even negative) role during this denaturation process. Furthermore, the simulations of the peptide system at different urea concentrations (8 and 4.5 M), and with different force fields (CHARMM and OPLSAA) suggest that the above mechanism is robust, independent of the urea concentration and force field used. Last, we emphasize the importance of periodic boundary conditions in pairwise energetic analyses. This article provides a comprehensive study on the physical mechanism of urea-induced protein denaturation and suggests that the "dispersion-interaction-driven" mechanism should be general.

Coastline change and marine geo-hazards in the Yellow River Delta (China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, L.; Liu, J.; Liu, X.

2003-04-01

COASTLINE CHANGE AND MARINE GEO-HAZARDS IN THE YELLOW RIVER DELTA (CHINA) Zhou Liangyong(1,2), Liu Jian(1,3), Liu Xiqing(1) (1)Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology,(2)Ocean University of China,(3)Research Centre for Coastal Geology, CGS qdzliangyong@cgs.gov.cn/Fax: +86-532-5720553 Satellite remote sensing, bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data have been used to examine the coastline change during the period from 1976 to 2001 and the offshore marine geo-hazards in the modern Yellow River Delta. Trends in the temporal sequence of the eight coastlines derived from Landsat images were used in the definition of erosional classes of the coastline. Four classes were distinguished, including rapid erosion (>100 m/yr), moderate erosion (20-100 m/yr), no detectable erosion (-1 - 20 m/yr), and accretion (-200--1 m/yr). We revealed the subtle variations in sea floor morphology and sediment geometries using high-resolution acoustic survey. Many kinds of geo-hazards were identified in the active subaqueous delta lobe and abandoned delta lobes, such as seabed erosions, gas-charged sediments, listric faults, synsedimentary rises, incised palaeo-valleys, infilled gullies, diapirs, active slope failures and sediment collapses. The resultant map of geo-envrionment and geo-hazards presents the coastline change and distribution of geo-hazards mentioned above in the Yellow River Delta. The gas-charged sediment distributes mainly in the abandoned delta lobes. The synsedimentary rise outside of the modern river mouth is a new evidence for the seabed mass-movement which modifies the progradational subaquaeous slopes of modern Yellow River Delta.

Crustal and upper-mantle structure of South China from Rayleigh wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shan, B.; Xiong, X.; Zhao, K. F.; Xie, Z. J.; Zheng, Y.; Zhou, L.

2017-03-01

In this study, we image the crust and upper-mantle seismic velocity structures in South China using teleseismic Rayleigh waves recorded at 354 stations from the Chinese provincial networks (CEArray). We process Rayleigh wave data from 1087 teleseismic events and construct phase velocity maps at periods of 40-150 s. By combining dispersion curves at 6-70 s from Zhou et al. and at 40-150 s from the teleseismic surface wave tomography of this study, we construct a 3-D shear velocity model of the crust and upper mantle of South China. Distinct seismic structures are revealed from the eastern part of South China (including the South China Fold System and the eastern Yangtze Craton) to the western Yangtze Craton. The South China Fold System and eastern Yangtze Craton are characterized by lower velocities and shallow lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (∼90 km), which are similar to the lithospheric thermal and seismic velocity structures of the North China basin. These observations may imply that the lithospheric destruction and thinning occurred not only beneath the North China Craton, but also beneath the eastern part of South China. The western Yangtze Craton, including the Sichuan Basin and Jiangnan Orogen, is underlain by a thicker and colder lithosphere with high velocities. The contrast of the lithosphere structure between the western Yangtze Craton and other parts of South China indicates that the lithospheric destruction and thinning of the east and southeast parts of South China may terminate at the boundary of the Jiangnan Orogen.

Direct numerical simulation of flow around a surface-mounted finite square cylinder at low Reynolds numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Di; Cheng, Liang; An, Hongwei; Zhao, Ming

2017-04-01

With the aid of direct numerical simulation, this paper presents a detailed investigation on the flow around a finite square cylinder at a fixed aspect ratio (AR) of 4 and six Reynolds numbers (Re = 50, 100, 150, 250, 500, and 1000). It is found that the mean streamwise vortex structure is also affected by Re, apart from the AR value. Three types of mean streamwise vortices have been identified and analyzed in detail, namely, "Quadrupole Type" at Re = 50 and Re = 100, "Six-Vortices Type" at Re = 150 and Re = 250, and "Dipole Type" at Re = 500 and Re = 1000. It is the first time that the "Six-Vortices Type" mean streamwise vortices are reported, which is considered as a transitional structure between the other two types. Besides, three kinds of spanwise vortex-shedding models have been observed in this study, namely, "Hairpin Vortex Model" at Re = 150, "C and Reverse-C and Hairpin Vortex Model (Symmetric Shedding)" at Re = 250, and "C and Reverse-C and Hairpin Vortex Model (Symmetric/Antisymmetric Shedding)" at Re = 500 and Re = 1000. The newly proposed "C and Reverse-C and Hairpin Vortex Model" shares some similarities with "Wang's Model" [H. F. Wang and Y. Zhou, "The finite-length square cylinder near wake," J. Fluid Mech. 638, 453-490 (2009)] but differs in aspects such as the absence of the connection line near the free-end and the "C-Shape" vortex structure in the early stage of the formation of the spanwise vortex.

Eicosanomic profiling reveals dominance of the epoxygenase pathway in human amniotic fluid at term in spontaneous labor

PubMed Central

Maddipati, Krishna Rao; Romero, Roberto; Chaiworapongsa, Tinnakorn; Zhou, Sen-Lin; Xu, Zhonghui; Tarca, Adi L.; Kusanovic, Juan Pedro; Munoz, Hernan; Honn, Kenneth V.

2014-01-01

Lipid mediators play an important role in reproductive biology, especially, in parturition. Enhanced biosynthesis of eicosanoids, such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and PGF2α, precedes the onset of labor as a result of increased expression of inducible cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) in placental tissues. Metabolism of arachidonic acid results in bioactive lipid mediators beyond prostaglandins that could significantly influence myometrial activity. Therefore, an unbiased lipidomic approach was used to profile the arachidonic acid metabolome of amniotic fluid. In this study, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used for the first time to quantitate these metabolites in human amniotic fluid by comparing patients at midtrimester, at term but not in labor, and at term and in spontaneous labor. In addition to exposing novel aspects of COX pathway metabolism, this lipidomic study revealed a dramatic increase in epoxygenase- and lipoxygenase-pathway-derived lipid mediators in spontaneous labor with remarkable product selectivity. Despite their recognition as anti-inflammatory lipid mediators and regulators of ion channels, little is known about the epoxygenase pathway in labor. Epoxygenase pathway metabolites are established regulators of vascular homeostasis in cardiovascular and renal physiology. Their presence as the dominant lipid mediators in spontaneous labor at term portends a yet undiscovered physiological function in parturition.—Maddipati, K. R., Romero, R., Chaiworapongsa, T., Zhou, S.-L., Xu, Z., Tarca, A. L., Kusanovic, J. P., Munoz, H., Honn, K. V. Eicosanomic profiling reveals dominance of the epoxygenase pathway in human amniotic fluid at term in spontaneous labor. PMID:25059230

The equilibrium properties and folding kinetics of an all-atom Go model of the Trp-cage.

PubMed

Linhananta, Apichart; Boer, Jesse; MacKay, Ian

2005-03-15

The ultrafast-folding 20-residue Trp-cage protein is quickly becoming a new benchmark for molecular dynamics studies. Already several all-atom simulations have probed its equilibrium and kinetic properties. In this work an all-atom Go model is used to accurately represent the side-chain packing and native atomic contacts of the Trp-cage. The model reproduces the hallmark thermodynamics cooperativity of small proteins. Folding simulations observe that in the fast-folding dominant pathway, partial alpha-helical structure forms before hydrophobic core collapse. In the slow-folding secondary pathway, partial core collapse occurs before helical structure. The slow-folding rate of the secondary pathway is attributed to the loss of side-chain rotational freedom, due to the early core collapse, which impedes the helix formation. A major finding is the observation of a low-temperature kinetic intermediate stabilized by a salt bridge between residues Asp-9 and Arg-16. Similar observations [R. Zhou, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 13280 (2003)] were reported in a recent study using an all-atom model of the Trp-cage in explicit water, in which the salt-bridge stabilized intermediate was hypothesized to be the origin of the ultrafast-folding mechanism. A theoretical mutation that eliminates the Asp-9-Arg-16 salt bridge, but leaves the residues intact, is performed. Folding simulations of the mutant Trp-cage observe a two-state free-energy landscape with no kinetic intermediate and a significant decrease in the folding rate, in support of the hypothesis.

The equilibrium properties and folding kinetics of an all-atom Go xAF model of the Trp-cage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linhananta, Apichart; Boer, Jesse; MacKay, Ian

2005-03-01

The ultrafast-folding 20-residue Trp-cage protein is quickly becoming a new benchmark for molecular dynamics studies. Already several all-atom simulations have probed its equilibrium and kinetic properties. In this work an all-atom Go ¯ model is used to accurately represent the side-chain packing and native atomic contacts of the Trp-cage. The model reproduces the hallmark thermodynamics cooperativity of small proteins. Folding simulations observe that in the fast-folding dominant pathway, partial α-helical structure forms before hydrophobic core collapse. In the slow-folding secondary pathway, partial core collapse occurs before helical structure. The slow-folding rate of the secondary pathway is attributed to the loss of side-chain rotational freedom, due to the early core collapse, which impedes the helix formation. A major finding is the observation of a low-temperature kinetic intermediate stabilized by a salt bridge between residues Asp-9 and Arg-16. Similar observations [R. Zhou, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 13280 (2003)] were reported in a recent study using an all-atom model of the Trp-cage in explicit water, in which the salt-bridge stabilized intermediate was hypothesized to be the origin of the ultrafast-folding mechanism. A theoretical mutation that eliminates the Asp-9-Arg-16 salt bridge, but leaves the residues intact, is performed. Folding simulations of the mutant Trp-cage observe a two-state free-energy landscape with no kinetic intermediate and a significant decrease in the folding rate, in support of the hypothesis.

[Bibliometric analysis of literature regarding integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with emphasis on infectious source control].

PubMed

Qian, Yi-Li; Wang, Wei; Hong, Qing-Biao; Liang, You-Sheng

2014-12-01

To evaluate the outcomes of implementation of integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with emphasis on infectious source control using a bibliometric method. The literature pertaining to integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with emphasis on infectious source control was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfangdata, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, BIOSIS and Google Scholar, and a bibliometric analysis of literature captured was performed. During the period from January 1, 2004 through September 30, 2014, a total of 94 publications regarding integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with emphasis on infectious source control were captured, including 78 Chinese articles (82.98%) and 16 English papers (17.02%). The Chinese literature was published in 21 national journals, and Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control had the largest number of publications, consisting of 37.23% of total publications; 16 English papers were published in 12 international journals, and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases had the largest number of publications (3 publications). There were 37 affiliations publishing these 94 articles, and National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (16 publications), Anhui Institute of Schistosomiasis Control (12 publications) and Hunan Institute of Schistosomiasis Control (9 publications) ranked top three affiliations in number of publications. A total of 157 persons were co-authored in these 94 publications, and Wang, Zhou and Zhang ranked top 3 authors in number of publications. The integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with emphasis on infectious source control has been widely implemented in China, and the achievements obtained from the implementation of this strategy should be summarized and transmitted internationally.

Effects of Space Environment on Genome, Transcriptome, and Proteome of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

PubMed

Guo, Yinghua; Li, Jia; Liu, Jinwen; Wang, Tong; Li, Yinhu; Yuan, Yanting; Zhao, Jiao; Chang, De; Fang, Xiangqun; Li, Tianzhi; Wang, Junfeng; Dai, Wenkui; Fang, Chengxiang; Liu, Changting

2015-11-01

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of space flight on Klebsiella pneumoniae. A strain of K. pneumoniae was sent to space for 398 h aboard the ShenZhou VIII spacecraft during November 1, 2011-November 17, 2011. At the same time, a ground simulation with similar temperature conditions during the space flight was performed as a control. After the space mission, the flight and control strains were analyzed using phenotypic, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic techniques. The flight strains LCT-KP289 exhibited a higher cotrimoxazole resistance level and changes in metabolism relative to the ground control strain LCT-KP214. After the space flight, 73 SNPs and a plasmid copy number variation were identified in the flight strain. Based on the transcriptomic analysis, there are 232 upregulated and 1879 downregulated genes, of which almost all were for metabolism. Proteomic analysis revealed that there were 57 upregulated and 125 downregulated proteins. These differentially expressed proteins had several functions that included energy production and conversion, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, posttranslational modification, protein turnover, and chaperone functions. At a systems biology level, the ytfG gene had a synonymous mutation that resulted in significantly downregulated expression at both transcriptomic and proteomic levels. The mutation of the ytfG gene may influence fructose and mannose metabolic processes of K. pneumoniae during space flight, which may be beneficial to the field of space microbiology, providing potential therapeutic strategies to combat or prevent infection in astronauts. Copyright © 2015 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The applications of statistical quantification techniques in nanomechanics and nanoelectronics.

PubMed

Mai, Wenjie; Deng, Xinwei

2010-10-08

Although nanoscience and nanotechnology have been developing for approximately two decades and have achieved numerous breakthroughs, the experimental results from nanomaterials with a higher noise level and poorer repeatability than those from bulk materials still remain as a practical issue, and challenge many techniques of quantification of nanomaterials. This work proposes a physical-statistical modeling approach and a global fitting statistical method to use all the available discrete data or quasi-continuous curves to quantify a few targeted physical parameters, which can provide more accurate, efficient and reliable parameter estimates, and give reasonable physical explanations. In the resonance method for measuring the elastic modulus of ZnO nanowires (Zhou et al 2006 Solid State Commun. 139 222-6), our statistical technique gives E = 128.33 GPa instead of the original E = 108 GPa, and unveils a negative bias adjustment f(0). The causes are suggested by the systematic bias in measuring the length of the nanowires. In the electronic measurement of the resistivity of a Mo nanowire (Zach et al 2000 Science 290 2120-3), the proposed new method automatically identified the importance of accounting for the Ohmic contact resistance in the model of the Ohmic behavior in nanoelectronics experiments. The 95% confidence interval of resistivity in the proposed one-step procedure is determined to be 3.57 +/- 0.0274 x 10( - 5) ohm cm, which should be a more reliable and precise estimate. The statistical quantification technique should find wide applications in obtaining better estimations from various systematic errors and biased effects that become more significant at the nanoscale.

Protein kinase Cβ activates fat mass and obesity-associated protein by influencing its ubiquitin/proteasome degradation.

PubMed

Tai, Haoran; Wang, Xiaobo; Zhou, Jiao; Han, Xiaojuan; Fang, Tingting; Gong, Hui; Huang, Ning; Chen, Honghan; Qin, Jianqiong; Yang, Ming; Wei, Xiawei; Yang, Li; Xiao, Hengyi

2017-10-01

Protein kinase Cβ (PKCβ) is a serine-threonine kinase associated with obesity and diabetic complications; its activation contributes to weight gain, and deletion of its gene results in resistance to genetic- and diet-induced obesity. Fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein is a recently identified RNA demethylase, and its overexpression in mice leads to increased body weight as well as fat mass. Although sharing some features in anabolism regulation, PKCβ and FTO have not been investigated together; therefore, their relationship has not been established. We report that PKCβ positively regulates FTO on the posttranslation level, evidenced by the facts that PKCβ activation contributes to high-glucose-induced FTO up-regulation, and overexpression of PKCβ suppresses ubiquitin-proteasome degradation of FTO, whereas PKCβ inactivation acts in the opposite manner. It was also found that PKCβ can phosphorylate FTO on threonine, and this phosphorylation requires both catalytic and regulatory domains of PKCβ. Moreover, PKCβ inhibition can suppress 3T3-L1 cell differentiation in normal and FTO-overexpressing cells but not in FTO-silenced or -inhibited cells. We propose that PKCβ acts to suppress the degradation of FTO protein and reveals the associated role of PKCβ and FTO in adipogenesis, suggesting a new pathway that affects the development of obesity and metabolic diseases.-Tai, H., Wang, X., Zhou, J., Han, X., Fang, T., Gong, H., Huang, N., Chen, H., Qin, J., Yang, M., Wei, X., Yang, L., Xiao, H. Protein kinase Cβ activates fat mass and obesity-associated protein by influencing its ubiquitin/proteasome degradation. © FASEB.

Meloidogyne aberrans sp. nov. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae), a new root-knot nematode parasitizing kiwifruit in China

PubMed Central

Yuan, Chunfen; Wang, Honghong; Lin, Borong; Zhuo, Kan; Liao, Jinling

2017-01-01

High infection rates of roots of wild kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch) and soil infestation by a root-knot nematode were found in Anshun, GuiZhou Province, China. Morphology, esterase phenotype and molecular analyses confirmed that this nematode was different from previously described root-knot nematodes. In this report, the species is described, illustrated and named Meloidogyne aberrans sp. nov. The new species has a unique combination of characters. A prominent posterior protuberance, round and faint perineal pattern and a medium-length stylet (13.6–15.5 μm) characterized the females. Second-stage juveniles (J2) were characterized by a smooth lip region with distinctly protruded medial lips and a depression in outline at the oral aperture, a relatively long stylet (15.9–16.8 μm), four incisures in the lateral field and a very short, even poorly defined, hyaline tail terminus (2.2–5.5 μm). More incisures (11–15) existed in the lateral field of males, and the stylet and spicules of males were 18.2–19.6 μm and 22.7–36.8 μm long respectively. Egg masses were typically produced within the roots of kiwifruit. The new species had a rare Est phenotype, S2. Phylogenetic trees inferred from SSU, LSU D2D3, ITS, and partial coxII-16S rRNA revealed that M. aberrans sp. nov. was within the Meloidogyne clade and was distinguished from all described root-knot nematodes. Moreover, from histopathological observations, M. aberrans sp. nov. induced the formation of multinucleate giant cells. PMID:28854186

Notch1 deficiency in postnatal neural progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus leads to emotional and cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Feng, Shufang; Shi, Tianyao; Qiu, Jiangxia; Yang, Haihong; Wu, Yan; Zhou, Wenxia; Wang, Wei; Wu, Haitao

2017-10-01

It is well known that Notch1 signaling plays a crucial role in embryonic neural development and adult neurogenesis. The latest evidence shows that Notch1 also plays a critical role in synaptic plasticity in mature hippocampal neurons. So far, deeper insights into the function of Notch1 signaling during the different steps of adult neurogenesis are still lacking, and the mechanisms by which Notch1 dysfunction is associated with brain disorders are also poorly understood. In the current study, we found that Notch1 was highly expressed in the adult-born immature neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Using a genetic approach to selectively ablate Notch1 signaling in late immature precursors in the postnatal hippocampus by cross-breeding doublecortin (DCX) + neuron-specific proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-α Cre mice with floxed Notch1 mice, we demonstrated a previously unreported pivotal role of Notch1 signaling in survival and function of adult newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus. Moreover, behavioral and functional studies demonstrated that POMC-Notch1 -/- mutant mice showed anxiety and depressive-like behavior with impaired synaptic transmission properties in the dentate gyrus. Finally, our mechanistic study showed significantly compromised phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in Notch1 mutants, suggesting that the dysfunction of Notch1 mutants is associated with the disrupted pCREB signaling in postnatally generated immature neurons in the dentate gyrus.-Feng, S., Shi, T., Qiu, J., Yang, H., Wu, Y., Zhou, W., Wang, W., Wu, H. Notch1 deficiency in postnatal neural progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus leads to emotional and cognitive impairment. © FASEB.

Systematic Review Protocol to Assess the Effectiveness of Usability Questionnaires in mHealth App Studies.

PubMed

Zhou, Leming; Bao, Jie; Parmanto, Bambang

2017-08-01

Usability questionnaires have a wide use in mobile health (mHealth) app usability studies. However, no systematic review has been conducted for assessing the effectiveness of these questionnaires. This paper describes a protocol for conducting a systematic review of published questionnaire-based mHealth app usability studies. In this systematic review, we will select recently published (2008-2017) articles from peer-reviewed journals and conferences that describe mHealth app usability studies and implement at least one usability questionnaire. The search strategy will include terms such as "mobile app" and "usability." Multiple databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and INSPEC will be searched. There will be 2 independent reviewers in charge of screening titles and abstracts as well as determining those articles that should be included for a full-text review. The third reviewer will act as a mediator between the other 2 reviewers. Moreover, a data extraction form will be created and used during the full article data analysis. Notably, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines will be followed in reporting this protocol. A preliminary search produced 1271 articles, 40 of which are duplicate records. The inclusion-exclusion criteria are being strictly followed in performing the ongoing study selection. Usability questionnaires are an important tool in mHealth app usability studies. This review will summarize the usability questionnaires used in published research articles while assessing the efficacy of these questionnaires in determining the usability of mHealth apps. ©Leming Zhou, Jie Bao, Bambang Parmanto. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 01.08.2017.

Using environmental DNA to assess population-wide spatiotemporal reserve use.

PubMed

Stewart, Kathryn; Ma, Hongjuan; Zheng, Jinsong; Zhao, Jianfu

2017-10-01

Scientists increasingly rely on protected areas to assist in biodiversity conservation, yet the efficacy of these areas is rarely systematically assessed, often because of underfunding. Still, adaptive management strategies to maximize conservation success often rely on understanding the temporal and spatial dynamism of populations therein. Examination of environmental DNA (eDNA) is a time and cost-effective way to monitor species' distribution, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) provides information on organismal abundance. To date, however, such techniques remain underused for population assessments in protected areas. We determined eDNA concentration of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) to describe its occurrence, range, and use of the Tian e-Zhou National Nature Reserve in Hubei, China, across seasons and hydrological depths. Despite the observation that total eDNA concentrations were highest in surface waters in summer, finless porpoise eDNA concentrations were significantly higher in deeper waters than in surface waters in summer. During the breeding season (spring), eDNA signals were site specific and restricted to the core area of the reserve. However, postbreeding eDNA concentrations were widespread across the reserve, encompassing sites previously thought to be unfrequented by the species. Our results suggest spatiotemporal idiosyncrasies in site, depth, and seasonal use of the reserve and a propensity for postbreeding population dispersal. With eDNA and qPCR we were able to assess an entire population's use of a protected area. Illuminating nuances in habitat use via eDNA could be valuable to set pragmatic conservation goals for this, and other, species. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Pharmacological inhibition of myostatin suppresses systemic inflammation and muscle atrophy in mice with chronic kidney disease

PubMed Central

Zhang, Liping; Rajan, Vik; Lin, Eugene; Hu, Zhaoyong; Han, H. Q.; Zhou, Xiaolan; Song, Yanping; Min, Hosung; Wang, Xiaonan; Du, Jie; Mitch, William E.

2011-01-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and several other catabolic conditions are characterized by increased circulating inflammatory cytokines, defects in IGF-1 signaling, abnormal muscle protein metabolism, and progressive muscle atrophy. In these conditions, no reliable treatments successfully block the development of muscle atrophy. In mice with CKD, we found a 2- to 3-fold increase in myostatin expression in muscle. Its pharmacological inhibition by subcutaneous injections of an anti-myostatin peptibody into CKD mice (IC50 ∼1.2 nM) reversed the loss of body weight (≈5–7% increase in body mass) and muscle mass (∼10% increase in muscle mass) and suppressed circulating inflammatory cytokines vs. results from CKD mice injected with PBS. Pharmacological myostatin inhibition also decreased the rate of protein degradation (16.38±1.29%; P<0.05), increased protein synthesis in extensor digitorum longus muscles (13.21±1.09%; P<0.05), markedly enhanced satellite cell function, and improved IGF-1 intracellular signaling. In cultured muscle cells, TNF-α increased myostatin expression via a NF-κB-dependent pathway, whereas muscle cells exposed to myostatin stimulated IL-6 production via p38 MAPK and MEK1 pathways. Because IL-6 stimulates muscle protein breakdown, we conclude that CKD increases myostatin through cytokine-activated pathways, leading to muscle atrophy. Myostatin antagonism might become a therapeutic strategy for improving muscle growth in CKD and other conditions with similar characteristics.—Zhang, L., Rajan, V., Lin, E., Hu, Z., Han, H.Q., Zhou, X., Song, Y., Min, H., Wang, X., Du, J., Mitch, W. E. Pharmacological inhibition of myostatin suppresses systemic inflammation and muscle atrophy in mice with chronic kidney disease. PMID:21282204

Hyperspectral chemical plume detection algorithms based on multidimensional iterative filtering decomposition.

PubMed

Cicone, A; Liu, J; Zhou, H

2016-04-13

Chemicals released in the air can be extremely dangerous for human beings and the environment. Hyperspectral images can be used to identify chemical plumes, however the task can be extremely challenging. Assuming we know a priori that some chemical plume, with a known frequency spectrum, has been photographed using a hyperspectral sensor, we can use standard techniques such as the so-called matched filter or adaptive cosine estimator, plus a properly chosen threshold value, to identify the position of the chemical plume. However, due to noise and inadequate sensing, the accurate identification of chemical pixels is not easy even in this apparently simple situation. In this paper, we present a post-processing tool that, in a completely adaptive and data-driven fashion, allows us to improve the performance of any classification methods in identifying the boundaries of a plume. This is done using the multidimensional iterative filtering (MIF) algorithm (Cicone et al. 2014 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.6051); Cicone & Zhou 2015 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1507.07173)), which is a non-stationary signal decomposition method like the pioneering empirical mode decomposition method (Huang et al. 1998 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 454, 903. (doi:10.1098/rspa.1998.0193)). Moreover, based on the MIF technique, we propose also a pre-processing method that allows us to decorrelate and mean-centre a hyperspectral dataset. The cosine similarity measure, which often fails in practice, appears to become a successful and outperforming classifier when equipped with such a pre-processing method. We show some examples of the proposed methods when applied to real-life problems. © 2016 The Author(s).

Space-borne Chlorophyll Fluorescence, Greenness, Vegetation Models and Interannual Variability of Photosynthetic Activity: Spatio-temporal Patterns, Mechanisms, and Environmental Sensitivities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walther, S.; Guanter, L.; Jung, M.; Frankenberg, C.; Sun, Y.; Forkel, M.; Zhang, Y.; Duveiller, G.; Cescatti, A.; Camps-Valls, G.; Köhler, P.

2016-12-01

It is much debated whether respiration or photosynthesis drive net ecosystem productivity andwhich regions contribute strongest to the observed interannual variability (IAV) of the strengthof the land sink. Several studies point to photosynthetic productivity in semi-arid regions as avery important factor influencing atmospheric CO2 variability globally (e.g. Jung et al., 2011;Poulter et al., 2014; Ahlstr ̈ om et al., 2015). Here, we aim at a comprehensive comparison ofthe strength, timing and spatial extent of anomalies of photosynthesis as they are indicated bysatellite observations of greenness, vegetation optical depth, and sun-induced chlorophyll fluo-rescence (SIF). We will compare them to the results of diagnostic, empirical and process-basedvegetation models. Except for the evergreen tropics, the spatio-temporal patterns of monthlydominant vegetation variability are generally consistently shown in semi-arid areas, albeit withdiffering magnitudes between greenness and photosynthesis globally. Relative anomalies (to themean seasonal cycle) are particularly widespread in high northern latitudes. Further researchsteps will include i) the repeated analysis at higher temporal resolution to better refine the dif-ferent time scales of reaction between light-use-efficiency and APAR and between forestedand non-forested ecosystems, ii) investigate on characteristic time scales at which the proxies(dis-)agree and why, iii) study the relative contributions of anomalies in peak and length of thegrowing season to IAV (similar to Xia et al., 2015; Zhou et al., 2016), iv) analyse the proxiesfor possibly differing hydrological sensitivities, and v) vegetation models have long been knownto have very diverse abilities to capture GPP IAV. Our preliminary results confirm this and wewill further study possible limitations and possible ways for improvement of the simulations.

The limits of boundaries: unpacking localization and cognitive mapping relative to a boundary.

PubMed

Zhou, Ruojing; Mou, Weimin

2018-05-01

Previous research (Zhou, Mou, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 42(8):1316-1323, 2016) showed that learning individual locations relative to a single landmark, compared to learning relative to a boundary, led to more accurate inferences of inter-object spatial relations (cognitive mapping of multiple locations). Following our past findings, the current study investigated whether the larger number of reference points provided by a homogeneous circular boundary, as well as less accessible knowledge of direct spatial relations among the multiple reference points, would lead to less effective cognitive mapping relative to the boundary. Accordingly, we manipulated (a) the number of primary reference points (one segment drawn from a circular boundary, four such segments, vs. the complete boundary) available when participants were localizing four objects sequentially (Experiment 1) and (b) the extendedness of each of the four segments (Experiment 2). The results showed that cognitive mapping was the least accurate in the whole boundary condition. However, expanding each of the four segments did not affect the accuracy of cognitive mapping until the four were connected to form a continuous boundary. These findings indicate that when encoding locations relative to a homogeneous boundary, participants segmented the boundary into differentiated pieces and subsequently chose the most informative local part (i.e., the segment closest in distance to one location) as the primary reference point for a particular location. During this process, direct spatial relations among the reference points were likely not attended to. These findings suggest that people might encode and represent bounded space in a fragmented fashion when localizing within a homogeneous boundary.

A Micromagnetic Study of Medium Orientation Ratio Effects in High Areal Density Recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plumer, Martin; van Ek, Johannes

2000-03-01

An extensive analysis of written tracks on granular media with anisotropy axes preferentially oriented either in the down-track or cross-track direction was performed with a newly developed micromagnetic model of magnetic recording [1]. The response of planar media to writer head fields, derived from the Finite-Element-Method, is calculated by solving the LLG equations. Signal from the written transitions is determined through a micromagnetic model of a GMR spin-valve device. Using fields from a generic 10Gb/in2 head (TPWG=0.6um, gap=0.2um, 1.8T materials around the gap), dibits were written at high linear density. Relative to the isotropic case, both erase bands and read-back voltage deteriorate for cross-track oriented media and improve in the down-track orientation case. For an orientation ratio of 1.23, the read-back signal at 200 kbpi drops by 15% in the radial case and increases by 15% in the circumferential case. Although the cross-track coercivity is smaller for down-track oriented media, and thus easier to write with the corners of the head, the remnant cross-track magnetization is correspondingly smaller. Track edge distortion is thus less severe than for isotropic media. Oriented media is of interest due to enhanced thermal stability and faster switching times [2]. [1] J. van Ek, M.L. Plumer, H. Zhou and H.N. Bertram, ``A Micromagnetic Recording Model for Write and Read-back," in preparation. Also see the GMAG symposium, this conference. [2] E.N. Abarra, I. Okamoto and M. Shinohara, IEEE Trans. Mag. 35, 2709 (1999).

Conservation Laws and Ponderomotive Force for Non-WKB, MHD Waves in the Solar Wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenzie, J. F.; Webb, G. M.; Zank, G. P.; Kaghashvili, E. K.; Ratkiewicz, R. E.

2004-12-01

The interaction of non-WKB Alfvén waves in the Solar Wind was investigated by Heinemann and Olbert (1980), MacGregor and Charbonneau (1994) and others. MacGregor and Charbonneau (1994) investigated non-WKB Alfvén wave driven winds. We discuss both the canonical and physical wave stress energy tensors for non-WKB, MHD waves and the ponderomotive force exerted by the waves on the wind for the case where both compressible (magneto-acoustic type waves) and incompressible waves (Alfvén waves) are present. The equations for the waves include the effects of wave mixing (i.e. the interaction of the waves with each other via gradients in the background flow). Wave mixing is known to be an important element of turbulence theory in the Solar Wind. However, only the wave mixing of Alfvénic type disturbances have been accounted for in present models of Solar Wind turbulence (e.g. Zhou and Matthaeus, 1990), which use Elssässer variables to describe the perturbations. The relationship between the present analysis and nearly incompressible MHD (reduced MHD) is at present unclear. Also unclear is the relationship between the present analysis and theories using wave-mean field interactions (e.g. Grimshaw (1984), Holm (1999)). The analysis is based on a theory for wave and background stress-energy tensors developed by Webb et al. (2004a,b) using a Lagrangian formulation of the total system of waves and background plasma (see e.g. Dewar (1970) for the WKB case). Conservation laws for the total system of waves and background plasma result from application of Noether's theorems relating Lie symmetries of the action to conservation laws.

IFN regulatory factor 1 restricts hepatitis E virus replication by activating STAT1 to induce antiviral IFN-stimulated genes.

PubMed

Xu, Lei; Zhou, Xinying; Wang, Wenshi; Wang, Yijin; Yin, Yuebang; Laan, Luc J W van der; Sprengers, Dave; Metselaar, Herold J; Peppelenbosch, Maikel P; Pan, Qiuwei

2016-10-01

IFN regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) is one of the most important IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) in cellular antiviral immunity. Although hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis worldwide, how ISGs counteract HEV infection is largely unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of IRF1 on HEV replication. Multiple cell lines were used in 2 models that harbor HEV. In different HEV cell culture systems, IRF1 effectively inhibited HEV replication. IRF1 did not trigger IFN production, and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data analysis revealed that IRF1 bound to the promoter region of signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1). Functional assay confirmed that IRF1 could drive the transcription of STAT1, resulting in elevation of total and phosphorylated STAT1 proteins and further activating the transcription of a panel of downstream antiviral ISGs. By pharmacological inhibitors and RNAi-mediated gene-silencing approaches, we revealed that antiviral function of IRF1 is dependent on the JAK-STAT cascade. Furthermore, induction of ISGs and the anti-HEV effect of IRF1 overlapped that of IFNα, but was potentiated by ribavirin. We demonstrated that IRF1 effectively inhibits HEV replication through the activation of the JAK-STAT pathway, and the subsequent transcription of antiviral ISGs, but independent of IFN production.-Xu, L., Zhou, X., Wang, W., Wang, Y., Yin, Y., van der Laan, L. J. W., Sprengers, D., Metselaar, H. J., Peppelenbosch, M. P., Pan, Q. IFN regulatory factor 1 restricts hepatitis E virus replication by activating STAT1 to induce antiviral IFN-stimulated genes. © FASEB.

The validation and preference among different EAM potentials to describe the solid-liquid transition of aluminum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Yewei; Luo, Jie; Wu, Yongquan

2017-06-01

Empirical potential is vital to the classic atomic simulation, especially for the study of phase transitions, as well as the solid-interface. In this paper, we attempt to set up a uniform procedure for the validation among different potentials before the formal simulation study of phase transitions of metals. Two main steps are involved: (1) the prediction of the structures of both solid and liquid phases and their mutual transitions, i.e. melting and crystallization; (2) the prediction of vital thermodynamic (the equilibrium melting point at ambient pressure) and dynamic properties (the degrees of superheating and undercooling). We applied this procedure to the testing of seven published embedded-atom potentials (MKBA (Mendelev et al 2008 Philos. Mag. 88 1723), MFMP (Mishin et al 1999 Phys. Rev. B 59 3393), MDSL (Sturgeon and Laird 2000 Phys. Rev. B 62 14720), ZM (Zope and Mishin 2003 Phys. Rev. B 68 024102), LEA (Liu et al 2004 Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 12 665), WKG (Winey et al 2009 Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 17 055004) and ZJW (Zhou et al 2004 Phys. Rev. B 69 144113)) for the description of the solid-liquid transition of Al. All the predictions of structure, melting point and superheating/undercooling degrees were compared with the experiments or theoretical calculations. Then, two of them, MKBA and MDSL, were proven suitable for the study of the solid-liquid transition of Al while the residuals were unqualified. However, potential MKBA is more accurate to predict the structures of solid and liquid, while MDSL works a little better in the thermodynamic and dynamic predictions of solid-liquid transitions.

A long noncoding RNA, lincRNA-Tnfaip3, acts as a coregulator of NF-κB to modulate inflammatory gene transcription in mouse macrophages.

PubMed

Ma, Shibin; Ming, Zhenping; Gong, Ai-Yu; Wang, Yang; Chen, Xiqiang; Hu, Guoku; Zhou, Rui; Shibata, Annemarie; Swanson, Patrick C; Chen, Xian-Ming

2017-03-01

Long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) are long noncoding transcripts (>200 nt) from the intergenic regions of annotated protein-coding genes. We report here that the lincRNA gene lincRNA-Tnfaip3 , located at mouse chromosome 10 proximal to the tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 3 ( Tnfaip3 ) gene, is an early-primary response gene controlled by nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling in murine macrophages. Functionally, lincRNA- Tnfaip3 appears to mediate both the activation and repression of distinct classes of inflammatory genes in macrophages. Specifically, induction of lincRNA-Tnfaip3 is required for the transactivation of NF-κB-regulated inflammatory genes in response to bacterial LPSs stimulation. LincRNA-Tnfaip3 physically interacts with the high-mobility group box 1 (Hmgb1), assembling a NF-κB/Hmgb1/lincRNA-Tnfaip3 complex in macrophages after LPS stimulation. This resultant NF-κB/Hmgb1/lincRNA-Tnfaip3 complex can modulate Hmgb1-associated histone modifications and, ultimately, transactivation of inflammatory genes in mouse macrophages in response to microbial challenge. Therefore, our data indicate a new regulatory role of NF-κB-induced lincRNA-Tnfaip3 to act as a coactivator of NF-κB for the transcription of inflammatory genes in innate immune cells through modulation of epigenetic chromatin remodeling.-Ma, S., Ming, Z., Gong, A.-Y., Wang, Y., Chen, X., Hu, G., Zhou, R., Shibata, A., Swanson, P. C., Chen, X.-M. A long noncoding RNA, LincRNA-Tnfaip3, acts as a coregulator of NF-κB to modulate inflammatory gene transcription in mouse macrophages. © FASEB.

Sleep-dependent consolidation benefits fast transfer of time interval training.

PubMed

Chen, Lihan; Guo, Lu; Bao, Ming

2017-03-01

Previous study has shown that short training (15 min) for explicitly discriminating temporal intervals between two paired auditory beeps, or between two paired tactile taps, can significantly improve observers' ability to classify the perceptual states of visual Ternus apparent motion while the training of task-irrelevant sensory properties did not help to improve visual timing (Chen and Zhou in Exp Brain Res 232(6):1855-1864, 2014). The present study examined the role of 'consolidation' after training of temporal task-irrelevant properties, or whether a pure delay (i.e., blank consolidation) following pretest of the target task would give rise to improved ability of visual interval timing, typified in visual Ternus display. A procedure of pretest-training-posttest was adopted, with the probe of discriminating Ternus apparent motion. The extended implicit training of timing in which the time intervals between paired auditory beeps or paired tactile taps were manipulated but the task was discrimination of the auditory pitches or tactile intensities, did not lead to the training benefits (Exps 1 and 3); however, a delay of 24 h after implicit training of timing, including solving 'Sudoku puzzles,' made the otherwise absent training benefits observable (Exps 2, 4, 5 and 6). The above improvements in performance were not due to a practice effect of Ternus motion (Exp 7). A general 'blank' consolidation period of 24 h also made improvements of visual timing observable (Exp 8). Taken together, the current findings indicated that sleep-dependent consolidation imposed a general effect, by potentially triggering and maintaining neuroplastic changes in the intrinsic (timing) network to enhance the ability of time perception.

Reduced Crystallization Temperature Methodology for Polymer Selection in Amorphous Solid Dispersions: Stability Perspective.

PubMed

Bhugra, Chandan; Telang, Chitra; Schwabe, Robert; Zhong, Li

2016-09-06

API-polymer interactions, used to select the right polymeric matrix with an aim to stabilize an amorphous dispersion, are routinely studied using spectroscopic and/or calorimetric techniques (i.e., melting point depression). An alternate selection tool has been explored to rank order polymers for formation of stable amorphous dispersions as a pragmatic method for polymer selection. Reduced crystallization temperature of API, a parameter introduced by Zhou et al.,1 was utilized in this study for rank ordering interactions in API-polymeric systems. The trends in reduced crystallization temperature monitored over polymer concentration range of up to 20% polymer loading were utilized to calculate "crystallization parameter" or CP for two model systems (nifedipine and BI ABC). The rank order of CP, i.e., a measure of API-polymer interaction, for nifedipine followed the order PVP > PVP-VA > Soluplus > HPMCAS > PV Ac > PAA. This rank ordering was correlated to published results of molecular interactions and physical stability for nifedipine. A different rank ordering was observed for BI ABC: PAA > PVP > HPMCAS > Soluplus > PVPV-VA > PVAc. Interactions for BI ABC were not as differentiated when compared to nifedipine based on CP trends. BI ABC dispersions at drug loadings between 40 and 60% were physically stable for prolonged periods under ICH conditions as well as accelerated stress. We propose that large CP differences among polymers could be predictive of stability outcomes. Acceptable stability at pharmaceutically relevant drug loadings would suggest that the relative influence of downstream processes, such as polymer solubility in various solvents, process suitability and selection, and more importantly supersaturation potential, should be higher compared to stability considerations while developing compounds like BI ABC.

Using R to implement spatial analysis in open source environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Yixi; Chen, Dong; Zhao, Bo

2007-06-01

R is an open source (GPL) language and environment for spatial analysis, statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. In the Open Source environment it plays an important role in doing spatial analysis. So, to implement spatial analysis in the Open Source environment which we called the Open Source geocomputation is using the R data analysis language integrated with GRASS GIS and MySQL or PostgreSQL. This paper explains the architecture of the Open Source GIS environment and emphasizes the role R plays in the aspect of spatial analysis. Furthermore, one apt illustration of the functions of R is given in this paper through the project of constructing CZPGIS (Cheng Zhou Population GIS) supported by Changzhou Government, China. In this project we use R to implement the geostatistics in the Open Source GIS environment to evaluate the spatial correlation of land price and estimate it by Kriging Interpolation. We also use R integrated with MapServer and php to show how R and other Open Source software cooperate with each other in WebGIS environment, which represents the advantages of using R to implement spatial analysis in Open Source GIS environment. And in the end, we points out that the packages for spatial analysis in R is still scattered and the limited memory is still a bottleneck when large sum of clients connect at the same time. Therefore further work is to group the extensive packages in order or design normative packages and make R cooperate better with other commercial software such as ArcIMS. Also we look forward to developing packages for land price evaluation.

The Relationship between Mental Health and Addiction to Mobile Phones among University Students of Shahrekord, Iran.

PubMed

Babadi-Akashe, Zahra; Zamani, Bibi Eshrat; Abedini, Yasamin; Akbari, Hojaetolah; Hedayati, Nasim

2014-01-01

The risk of cell phone addiction is a social and psychological problem which has been proposed by psychologists, psychiatrists, and educational supervisors. The present study aimed to investigate the behavior of mobile phone addicts and mental health of university students of Shahrekord, Iran. This study was an applied research survey for the purposes of this study. The study population ýconsisted of all the students of Payame Noor University, Islamic Azad University, and University of Medical Sciences. The study population consisted of 296 students who were randomly selected from the target population. To collect data, two types of questionnaires were used, the Symptom Checklist-90-R(SCL-90-R) questionnaire, and the 32-point scale questionnaire of behavior associated with ýmobile phone use (Hooper and Zhou, 2007). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software, statistical analysis, frequency distribution, mean, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and LSD (Least significance difference). The results showed that university students of Shahrekord, based on the six categories of mobile ýaddiction behaviors, were mostly placed in habitual behaviors (21.49%), addiction (21.49%), and intentional (21.49%) categories. By reviewing mental health indicators, it was found that students were affected with depressive disorder (17.30%), obsessive compulsive disorder (14.20%), and interpersonal sensitivity (13.80%). The results showed that there was a significant inverse relationship ýbetween mental health and habitual behaviors (r = -0.417), dependence (r = -0.317), addiction (r = -0.330), and incontinence (r = -0.309) in using mobile phone (P < 0.001). Survey results showed that with increased and improved mental health, the student's rate of cell phone addiction reduced.

The Relationship between Mental Health and Addiction to Mobile Phones among University Students of Shahrekord, Iran

PubMed Central

Babadi-Akashe, Zahra; Zamani, Bibi Eshrat; Abedini, Yasamin; Akbari, Hojaetolah; Hedayati, Nasim

2014-01-01

Background The risk of cell phone addiction is a social and psychological problem which has been proposed by psychologists, psychiatrists, and educational supervisors. The present study aimed to investigate the behavior of mobile phone addicts and mental health of university students of Shahrekord, Iran. Methods This study was an applied research survey for the purposes of this study. The study population ýconsisted of all the students of Payame Noor University, Islamic Azad University, and University of Medical Sciences. The study population consisted of 296 students who were randomly selected from the target population. To collect data, two types of questionnaires were used, the Symptom Checklist-90-R(SCL-90-R) questionnaire, and the 32-point scale questionnaire of behavior associated with ýmobile phone use (Hooper and Zhou, 2007). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software, statistical analysis, frequency distribution, mean, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and LSD (Least significance difference). Findings The results showed that university students of Shahrekord, based on the six categories of mobile ýaddiction behaviors, were mostly placed in habitual behaviors (21.49%), addiction (21.49%), and intentional (21.49%) categories. By reviewing mental health indicators, it was found that students were affected with depressive disorder (17.30%), obsessive compulsive disorder (14.20%), and interpersonal sensitivity (13.80%). The results showed that there was a significant inverse relationship ýbetween mental health and habitual behaviors (r = -0.417), dependence (r = -0.317), addiction (r = -0.330), and incontinence (r = -0.309) in using mobile phone (P < 0.001). Conclusion Survey results showed that with increased and improved mental health, the student’s rate of cell phone addiction reduced. PMID:25984275

UO₂²⁺ uptake by proteins: understanding the binding features of the super uranyl binding protein and design of a protein with higher affinity.

PubMed

Odoh, Samuel O; Bondarevsky, Gary D; Karpus, Jason; Cui, Qiang; He, Chuan; Spezia, Riccardo; Gagliardi, Laura

2014-12-17

The capture of uranyl, UO2(2+), by a recently engineered protein (Zhou et al. Nat. Chem. 2014, 6, 236) with high selectivity and femtomolar sensitivity has been examined by a combination of density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and free-energy simulations. It was found that UO2(2+) is coordinated to five carboxylate oxygen atoms from four amino acid residues of the super uranyl binding protein (SUP). A network of hydrogen bonds between the amino acid residues coordinated to UO2(2+) and residues in its second coordination sphere also affects the protein's uranyl binding affinity. Free-energy simulations show how UO2(2+) capture is governed by the nature of the amino acid residues in the binding site, the integrity and strength of the second-sphere hydrogen bond network, and the number of water molecules in the first coordination sphere. Alteration of any of these three factors through mutations generally results in a reduction of the binding free energy of UO2(2+) to the aqueous protein as well as of the difference between the binding free energies of UO2(2+) and other ions (Ca(2+), Cu(2+), Mg(2+), and Zn(2+)), a proxy for the protein's selectivity over these ions. The results of our free-energy simulations confirmed the previously reported experimental results and allowed us to discover a mutant of SUP, specifically the GLU64ASP mutant, that not only binds UO2(2+) more strongly than SUP but that is also more selective for UO2(2+) over other ions. The predictions from the computations were confirmed experimentally.

Exchanges between the shelf and the deep Black Sea: an integrated analysis of physical mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, Georgy; Wobus, Fred; Zatsepin, Andrei; Akivis, Tatiana; Zhou, Feng

2017-04-01

the analysis of propagation of cold waters formed on the NW Black Sea shelf we use a passive tracer method. The tracer is treated as an artificial dye that "stains" a water parcel within the defined area as soon as it cooled below a 7°C temperature. To quantify the shelf-deep sea exchange, the transport of water, salt and heat between the NW shelf and deep-sea regions is calculated across an enclosed boundary (a "fence") approximating the 200 m isobath on the NW shelf plus two short segments connected to the coast. Partial transports are also calculated for the surface layer (top 20 m) and the under-surface layer (from 20 m to the bottom). The 20 m level is approximately equal to the Ekman depth in summer. It is also close to the depth of the biologically active euphotic layer. For validation of the NEMO-BLS24 configuration we present comparisons of the model with satellite-derived sea surface temperature measurements and with ship-derived cross-sections that show the vertical structure. We also compare the model to observations carried out during Black Sea cruises in 2004, 2007 and 2008. The model represents well the sea surface temperature, the depth of the upper mixed layer and the depth of the CIL, while overestimating the temperature in the core of the CIL by approx. 0.5 °C. Mechanism 1: exchanges due to a frontal eddy. Numerical simulations for the year 2005 (for which comprehensive remote sensed data is available) shows that a significant cross-shelf transport was generated by a long-lived anticyclonic eddy impinging on the shelf, sometimes assisted by a cyclonic meander of the Rim Current. Over 69 days between April 23 and June 30, 2005, a volume of 2.84×10^12 m3 of water (102% of the entire volume of the shelf waters) was transported out of the shelf and a similar amount onto the shelf (see details in Zhou et al. 2014). Mechanism 2: exchanges due to Ekman drift. During the short but intensive wind events of April 15 - 22 and July 1 - 4, 2005, 23% and 16

The Genetic Basis for Variation in Sensitivity to Lead Toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Zhou, Shanshan; Morozova, Tatiana V; Hussain, Yasmeen N; Luoma, Sarah E; McCoy, Lenovia; Yamamoto, Akihiko; Mackay, Trudy F C; Anholt, Robert R H

2016-07-01

Lead toxicity presents a worldwide health problem, especially due to its adverse effects on cognitive development in children. However, identifying genes that give rise to individual variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity is challenging in human populations. Our goal was to use Drosophila melanogaster to identify evolutionarily conserved candidate genes associated with individual variation in susceptibility to lead exposure. To identify candidate genes associated with variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity, we measured effects of lead exposure on development time, viability and adult activity in the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) and performed genome-wide association analyses to identify candidate genes. We used mutants to assess functional causality of candidate genes and constructed a genetic network associated with variation in sensitivity to lead exposure, on which we could superimpose human orthologs. We found substantial heritabilities for all three traits and identified candidate genes associated with variation in susceptibility to lead exposure for each phenotype. The genetic architectures that determine variation in sensitivity to lead exposure are highly polygenic. Gene ontology and network analyses showed enrichment of genes associated with early development and function of the nervous system. Drosophila melanogaster presents an advantageous model to study the genetic underpinnings of variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity. Evolutionary conservation of cellular pathways that respond to toxic exposure allows predictions regarding orthologous genes and pathways across phyla. Thus, studies in the D. melanogaster model system can identify candidate susceptibility genes to guide subsequent studies in human populations. Zhou S, Morozova TV, Hussain YN, Luoma SE, McCoy L, Yamamoto A, Mackay TF, Anholt RR. 2016. The genetic basis for variation in sensitivity to lead toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster. Environ Health

Early Cretaceous adakitic magmatism in central eastern China controlled by ridge subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, M.; Luo, Z.; Sun, W.

2017-12-01

Early Cretaceous adakites are widely distributed in central eastern China, e.g., Lower Yangtze River Belt (LYRB), Dabie orogen and south Tan-Lu Fault (STLF) area. Adakite from the LYRB is closely associated with mineralization, while adakites from Dabie orogen and STLF are ore barren. Their origins, however, remain controversial. Detailed geochemical comparison between these adakites indicates that the LYRB adakite are formed by partial melting of oceanic crust, i.e., slab melting, whereas those from Dabie orogen and STLF (e.g., Guandian pluton) have origin of lower continental crust (LCC) 1,2. Base on the distribution of igneous rocks, e.g., adakite, A-type granite and Nb-enriched basalts, as well as other lines of evidence, ridge subduction of the Pacific and Izanagi plates was proposed to explain the genesis of Cretaceous magmatism and associated mineralization in the LYRB 1. Ridge subduction is a special plate tectonic process that can provide both physical erosion and thermal erosion 3. Flat subduction of a spreading ridge will result in strong physical subduction-related erosion, and trigger destruction (e.g., in the Dabie orogen) or delamination (e.g., in the STLF) of the thickened LCC. Subsequently, ridge subduction, accompanied by opening of a slab window, will facilitate partial melting of the LCC by thermal erosion. References: 1. Ling, M. X. et al. Cretaceous ridge subduction along the Lower Yangtze river belt, eastern China. Econ. Geol. 104, 303-321, doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.104.2.303 (2009). 2. Ling, M. X., Wang, F. Y., Ding, X., Zhou, J. B. & Sun, W. D. Different origins of adakites from the Dabie Mountains and the Lower Yangtze River Belt, eastern China: Geochemical constraints. International Geology Review 53, 727-740 (2011). 3. Ling, M. X. et al. Destruction of the North China Craton Induced by Ridge Subductions. Journal of Geology 121, 197-213 (2013).

Mechanical behaviors of multi-filament twist superconducting strand under tensile and cyclic loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xu; Li, Yingxu; Gao, Yuanwen

2016-01-01

The superconducting strand, serving as the basic unit cell of the cable-in-conduit-conductors (CICCs), is a typical multi-filament twist composite which is always subjected to a cyclic loading under the operating condition. Meanwhile, the superconducting material Nb3Sn in the strand is sensitive to strain frequently relating to the performance degradation of the superconductivity. Therefore, a comprehensive study on the mechanical behavior of the strand helps understanding the superconducting performance of the strained Nb3Sn strands. To address this issue, taking the LMI (internal tin) strand as an example, a three-dimensional structural finite element model, named as the Multi-filament twist model, of the strand with the real configuration of the LMI strand is built to study the influences of the plasticity of the component materials, the twist of the filament bundle, the initial thermal residual stress and the breakage and its evolution of the filaments on the mechanical behaviors of the strand. The effective properties of superconducting filament bundle with random filament breakage and its evolution versus strain are obtained based on the damage theory of fiber-reinforced composite materials proposed by Curtin and Zhou. From the calculation results of this model, we find that the occurrence of the hysteresis loop in the cyclic loading curve is determined by the reverse yielding of the elastic-plastic materials in the strand. Both the initial thermal residual stress in the strand and the pitch length of the filaments have significant impacts on the axial and hysteretic behaviors of the strand. The damage of the filaments also affects the axial mechanical behavior of the strand remarkably at large axial strain. The critical current of the strand is calculated by the scaling law with the results of the Multi-filament twist model. The predicted results of the Multi-filament twist model show an acceptable agreement with the experiment.

Fast and accurate non-sequential protein structure alignment using a new asymmetric linear sum assignment heuristic.

PubMed

Brown, Peter; Pullan, Wayne; Yang, Yuedong; Zhou, Yaoqi

2016-02-01

The three dimensional tertiary structure of a protein at near atomic level resolution provides insight alluding to its function and evolution. As protein structure decides its functionality, similarity in structure usually implies similarity in function. As such, structure alignment techniques are often useful in the classifications of protein function. Given the rapidly growing rate of new, experimentally determined structures being made available from repositories such as the Protein Data Bank, fast and accurate computational structure comparison tools are required. This paper presents SPalignNS, a non-sequential protein structure alignment tool using a novel asymmetrical greedy search technique. The performance of SPalignNS was evaluated against existing sequential and non-sequential structure alignment methods by performing trials with commonly used datasets. These benchmark datasets used to gauge alignment accuracy include (i) 9538 pairwise alignments implied by the HOMSTRAD database of homologous proteins; (ii) a subset of 64 difficult alignments from set (i) that have low structure similarity; (iii) 199 pairwise alignments of proteins with similar structure but different topology; and (iv) a subset of 20 pairwise alignments from the RIPC set. SPalignNS is shown to achieve greater alignment accuracy (lower or comparable root-mean squared distance with increased structure overlap coverage) for all datasets, and the highest agreement with reference alignments from the challenging dataset (iv) above, when compared with both sequentially constrained alignments and other non-sequential alignments. SPalignNS was implemented in C++. The source code, binary executable, and a web server version is freely available at: http://sparks-lab.org yaoqi.zhou@griffith.edu.au. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Concentration effect on inter-mineral equilibrium isotope fractionation: insights from Mg and Ca isotopic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, F.; Wang, W.; Zhou, C.; Kang, J.; Wu, Z.

2017-12-01

Many naturally occurring minerals, such as carbonate, garnet, pyroxene, and feldspar, are solid solutions with large variations in chemical compositions. Such variations may affect mineral structures and modify the chemical bonding environment around atoms, which further impacts the equilibrium isotope fractionation factors among minerals. Here we investigated the effects of Mg content on equilibrium Mg and Ca isotope fractionation among carbonates and Ca content on equilibrium Ca isotope fractionation between orthopyroxene (opx) and clinopyroxene (cpx) using first-principles calculations. Our results show that the average Mg-O bond length increases with decreasing Mg/(Mg+Ca) in calcite when it is greater than 1/48[1] and the average Ca-O bond length significantly decreases with decreasing Ca/(Ca+Mg+Fe) in opx when it ranges from 2/16 to 1/48[2]. Equilibrium isotope fractionation is mainly controlled by bond strengths, which could be measured by bond lengths. Thus, 103lnα26Mg/24Mg between dolomite and calcite dramatically increases with decreasing Mg/(Mg+Ca) in calcite [1] and it reaches a constant value when it is lower than 1/48. 103lnα44Ca/40Ca between opx and cpx significantly increases with decreasing Ca content in opx when Ca/(Ca+Mg+Fe) ranges from 2/16 to 1/48 [2]. If Ca/(Ca+Mg+Fe) is below 1/48, 103lnα44Ca/40Ca is not sensitive to Ca content. Based on our results, we conclude that the concentration effect on equilibrium isotope fractionation could be significant within a certain range of chemical composition of minerals, which should be a ubiquitous phenomenon in solid solution systems. [1] Wang, W., Qin, T., Zhou, C., Huang, S., Wu, Z., Huang, F., 2017. GCA 208, 185-197. [2] Feng, C., Qin, T., Huang, S., Wu, Z., Huang, F., 2014. GCA 143, 132-142.

Fully Convolutional Neural Networks Improve Abdominal Organ Segmentation.

PubMed

Bobo, Meg F; Bao, Shunxing; Huo, Yuankai; Yao, Yuang; Virostko, Jack; Plassard, Andrew J; Lyu, Ilwoo; Assad, Albert; Abramson, Richard G; Hilmes, Melissa A; Landman, Bennett A

2018-03-01

Abdominal image segmentation is a challenging, yet important clinical problem. Variations in body size, position, and relative organ positions greatly complicate the segmentation process. Historically, multi-atlas methods have achieved leading results across imaging modalities and anatomical targets. However, deep learning is rapidly overtaking classical approaches for image segmentation. Recently, Zhou et al. showed that fully convolutional networks produce excellent results in abdominal organ segmentation of computed tomography (CT) scans. Yet, deep learning approaches have not been applied to whole abdomen magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation. Herein, we evaluate the applicability of an existing fully convolutional neural network (FCNN) designed for CT imaging to segment abdominal organs on T2 weighted (T2w) MRI's with two examples. In the primary example, we compare a classical multi-atlas approach with FCNN on forty-five T2w MRI's acquired from splenomegaly patients with five organs labeled (liver, spleen, left kidney, right kidney, and stomach). Thirty-six images were used for training while nine were used for testing. The FCNN resulted in a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.930 in spleens, 0.730 in left kidneys, 0.780 in right kidneys, 0.913 in livers, and 0.556 in stomachs. The performance measures for livers, spleens, right kidneys, and stomachs were significantly better than multi-atlas (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). In a secondary example, we compare the multi-atlas approach with FCNN on 138 distinct T2w MRI's with manually labeled pancreases (one label). On the pancreas dataset, the FCNN resulted in a median DSC of 0.691 in pancreases versus 0.287 for multi-atlas. The results are highly promising given relatively limited training data and without specific training of the FCNN model and illustrate the potential of deep learning approaches to transcend imaging modalities.

Particle-in-cell Simulation of Dipolarization Front Associated Whistlers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, D.; Scales, W.; Ganguli, G.; Crabtree, C. E.

2017-12-01

Dipolarization fronts (DFs) are dipolarized magnetic field embedded in the Earthward propagating bursty bulk flows (BBFs), which separates the hot, tenuous high-speed flow from the cold, dense, and slowly convecting surrounding plasma [Runov et al. 2011]. Broadband fluctuations have been observed at DFs including the electromagnetic whistler waves and electrostatic lower hybrid waves in the Very Low Frequency (VLF) range [e.g., Zhou et al. 2009, Deng et al. 2010]. There waves are suggested to be able heat electrons and play a critical role in the plasma sheet dynamics [Chaston et al., 2012, Angelopoulos et al., 2013]. However, their generation mechanism and role in the energy conversion are still under debate. The gradient scale of magnetic field, plasma density at DFs in the near-Earth magnetotail is comparable to or lower than the ion gyro radius [Runov et al., 2011, Fu et al., 2012, Breuillard et al., 2016]. Such strongly inhomogeneous configuration could be unstable to the electron-ion hybrid (EIH) instability, which arises from strongly sheared transverse flow and is in the VLF range [Ganguli et al. 1988, Ganguli et al. 2014]. The equilibrium of the EIH theory implies an anisotropy of electron temperature, which are likely to drive the whistler waves observed in DFs [Deng et al., 2010, Gary et al., 2011]. In order to better understand how the whistler waves are generated in DFs and whether the EIH theory is applicable, a fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell (EMPIC) model is used to simulate the EIH instability with similar equilibrium configurations in DF observations. The EMPIC model deals with three dimensions in the velocity space and two dimensions in the configuration space, which is quite ready to include the third configuration dimension. Simulation results will be shown in this presentation.

Epitaxially influenced boundary layer model for size effect in thin metallic films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bažant, Zdeněk P.; Guo, Zaoyang; Espinosa, Horacio D.; Zhu, Yong; Peng, Bei

2005-04-01

It is shown that the size effect recently observed by Espinosa et al., [J. Mech. Phys. Solids51, 47 (2003)] in pure tension tests on free thin metallic films can be explained by the existence of a boundary layer of fixed thickness, located at the surface of the film that was attached onto the substrate during deposition. The boundary layer is influenced by the epitaxial effects of crystal growth on the dislocation density and texture (manifested by prevalent crystal plane orientations). This influence is assumed to cause significantly elevated yield strength. Furthermore, the observed gradual postpeak softening, along with its size independence, which is observed in short film strips subjected to pure tension, is explained by slip localization, originating at notch-like defects, and by damage, which can propagate in a stable manner when the film strip under pure tension is sufficiently thin and short. For general applications, the present epitaxially influenced boundary layer model may be combined with the classical strain-gradient plasticity proposed by Gao et al., [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47, 1239 (1999)], and it is shown that this combination is necessary to fit the test data on both pure tension and bending of thin films by one and the same theory. To deal with films having different crystal grain sizes, the Hall-Petch relation for the yield strength dependence on the grain size needs to be incorporated into the combined theory. For very thin films, in which a flattened grain fills the whole film thickness, the Hall-Petch relation needs a cutoff, and the asymptotic increase of yield strength with diminishing film thickness is then described by the extension of Nix's model of misfit dislocations by Zhang and Zhou [J. Adv. Mater. 38, 51 (2002)]. The final result is a proposal of a general theory for strength, size effect, hardening, and softening of thin metallic films.

The Genetic Basis for Variation in Sensitivity to Lead Toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Zhou, Shanshan; Morozova, Tatiana V.; Hussain, Yasmeen N.; Luoma, Sarah E.; McCoy, Lenovia; Yamamoto, Akihiko; Mackay, Trudy F.C.; Anholt, Robert R.H.

2016-01-01

Background: Lead toxicity presents a worldwide health problem, especially due to its adverse effects on cognitive development in children. However, identifying genes that give rise to individual variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity is challenging in human populations. Objectives: Our goal was to use Drosophila melanogaster to identify evolutionarily conserved candidate genes associated with individual variation in susceptibility to lead exposure. Methods: To identify candidate genes associated with variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity, we measured effects of lead exposure on development time, viability and adult activity in the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) and performed genome-wide association analyses to identify candidate genes. We used mutants to assess functional causality of candidate genes and constructed a genetic network associated with variation in sensitivity to lead exposure, on which we could superimpose human orthologs. Results: We found substantial heritabilities for all three traits and identified candidate genes associated with variation in susceptibility to lead exposure for each phenotype. The genetic architectures that determine variation in sensitivity to lead exposure are highly polygenic. Gene ontology and network analyses showed enrichment of genes associated with early development and function of the nervous system. Conclusions: Drosophila melanogaster presents an advantageous model to study the genetic underpinnings of variation in susceptibility to lead toxicity. Evolutionary conservation of cellular pathways that respond to toxic exposure allows predictions regarding orthologous genes and pathways across phyla. Thus, studies in the D. melanogaster model system can identify candidate susceptibility genes to guide subsequent studies in human populations. Citation: Zhou S, Morozova TV, Hussain YN, Luoma SE, McCoy L, Yamamoto A, Mackay TF, Anholt RR. 2016. The genetic basis for variation in

Systematic Analysis of the Effect of Small Scale Permeability Heterogeneity on Hyporheic Exchange Flux and Residence Times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laube, G.; Schmidt, C.; Fleckenstein, J. H.

2014-12-01

The hyporheic zone (HZ) contributes significantly to whole stream biogeochemical cycling. Biogeochemical reactions within the HZ are often transport limited, thus, understanding these reactions requires knowledge about the magnitude of hyporheic fluxes (HF) and the residence time (RT) of these fluxes within the HZ. While the hydraulics of HF are relatively well understood, studies addressing the influence of permeability heterogeneity lack systematic analysis and have even produced contradictory results (e.g. [1] vs. [2]). In order to close this gap, this study uses a statistical numerical approach to elucidate the influence of permeability heterogeneity on HF and RT. We simulated and evaluated 3750 2D-scenarios of sediment heterogeneity by means of Gaussian random fields with focus on total HF and RT distribution. The scenarios were based on ten realizations of each of all possible combinations of 15 different correlation lengths, 5 dipping angles and 5 permeability variances. Roughly 500 hyporheic stream traces were analyzed per simulation, for a total of almost two million stream traces analyzed for correlations between permeability heterogeneity, HF, and RT. Total HF and the RT variance positively correlated with permeability variance while the mean RT negatively correlated with permeability variance. In contrast, changes in correlation lengths and dipping angles had little effect on the examined properties RT and HF. These results provide a possible explanation of the seemingly contradictory conclusions of recent studies, given that the permeability variances in these studies differ by several orders of magnitude. [1] Bardini, L., Boano, F., Cardenas, M.B, Sawyer, A.H, Revelli, R. and Ridolfi, L. "Small-Scale Permeability Heterogeneity Has Negligible Effects on Nutrient Cycling in Streambeds." Geophysical Research Letters, 2013. doi:10.1002/grl.50224. [2] Zhou, Y., Ritzi, R. W., Soltanian, M. R. and Dominic, D. F. "The Influence of Streambed Heterogeneity on

Impact of Illness and Medical Expenditure on Household Consumptions: A Survey in Western China

PubMed Central

Fang, Kuangnan; Jiang, Yefei; Shia, BenChang; Ma, Shuangge

2012-01-01

Background The main goal of this study is to examine the associations between illness conditions and out-of-pocket medical expenditure with other types of household consumptions. In November and December of 2011, a survey was conducted in three cities in western China, namely Lan Zhou, Gui Lin and Xi An, and their surrounding rural areas. Results Information on demographics, income and consumption was collected on 2,899 households. Data analysis suggested that the presence of household members with chronic diseases was not associated with characteristics of households or household heads. The presence of inpatient treatments was significantly associated with the age of household head (p-value 0.03). The level of per capita medical expense was significantly associated with household size, presence of members younger than 18, older than 65, basic health insurance coverage, per capita income, and household head occupation. Adjusting for confounding effects, the presence of chronic diseases was negatively associated with the amount of basic consumption (p-value 0.02) and the percentage of basic consumption (p-value 0.01), but positively associated with the percentage of insurance expense (p-value 0.02). Medical expenditure was positively associated with all other types of consumptions, including basic, education, saving and investment, entertainment, insurance, durable goods, and alcohol/tobacco. It was negatively associated with the percentage of basic consumption, saving and investment, and insurance. Conclusions Early studies conducted in other Asian countries and rural China found negative associations between illness conditions and medical expenditure with other types of consumptions. This study was conducted in three major cities and surrounding areas in western China, which had not been well investigated in published literature. The observed consumption patterns were different from those in early studies, and the negative associations were not observed. This

Urbanization Level and Vulnerability to Heat-Related Mortality in Jiangsu Province, China

PubMed Central

Chen, Kai; Zhou, Lian; Chen, Xiaodong; Ma, Zongwei; Liu, Yang; Huang, Lei; Bi, Jun; Kinney, Patrick L.

2016-01-01

Background: Although adverse effects of high temperature on mortality have been studied extensively in urban areas, little is known of the heat–mortality associations outside of cities. Objective: We investigated whether heat–mortality associations differed between urban and nonurban areas and how urbanicity affected the vulnerability to heat-related mortality. Methods: We first analyzed heat-related mortality risk in each of 102 counties in Jiangsu Province, China, during 2009–2013 using a distributed-lag nonlinear model. The county-specific estimates were then pooled for more urban (percentage of urban population ≥ 57.11%) and less urban (percentage of urban population < 57.11%) counties using a Bayesian hierarchical model. To explain the spatial variation in associations by county, county-level characteristics affecting heat vulnerability were also examined. Results: We found that the overall mortality risk comparing the 99th vs. 75th percentiles of temperature was 1.43 [95% posterior intervals (PI): 1.36, 1.50] in less urban counties and 1.26 (95% PI: 1.23, 1.30) in more urban counties. The heat effects on cardiorespiratory mortality followed a similar pattern. Higher education level and prevalence of air conditioning were significantly associated with counties having lower risks, whereas percentage of elderly people was significantly associated with increased risks. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that nonurban areas have significant heat-related mortality risks in Jiangsu, China. These results suggest the need for enhanced adaptation planning in Chinese nonurban areas under a changing climate. Citation: Chen K, Zhou L, Chen X, Ma Z, Liu Y, Huang L, Bi J, Kinney PL. 2016. Urbanization level and vulnerability to heat-related mortality in Jiangsu Province, China. Environ Health Perspect 124:1863–1869; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP204 PMID:27152420

Urbanization Level and Vulnerability to Heat-Related Mortality in Jiangsu Province, China.

PubMed

Chen, Kai; Zhou, Lian; Chen, Xiaodong; Ma, Zongwei; Liu, Yang; Huang, Lei; Bi, Jun; Kinney, Patrick L

2016-12-01

Although adverse effects of high temperature on mortality have been studied extensively in urban areas, little is known of the heat-mortality associations outside of cities. We investigated whether heat-mortality associations differed between urban and nonurban areas and how urbanicity affected the vulnerability to heat-related mortality. We first analyzed heat-related mortality risk in each of 102 counties in Jiangsu Province, China, during 2009-2013 using a distributed-lag nonlinear model. The county-specific estimates were then pooled for more urban (percentage of urban population ≥ 57.11%) and less urban (percentage of urban population < 57.11%) counties using a Bayesian hierarchical model. To explain the spatial variation in associations by county, county-level characteristics affecting heat vulnerability were also examined. We found that the overall mortality risk comparing the 99th vs. 75th percentiles of temperature was 1.43 [95% posterior intervals (PI): 1.36, 1.50] in less urban counties and 1.26 (95% PI: 1.23, 1.30) in more urban counties. The heat effects on cardiorespiratory mortality followed a similar pattern. Higher education level and prevalence of air conditioning were significantly associated with counties having lower risks, whereas percentage of elderly people was significantly associated with increased risks. Our findings reveal that nonurban areas have significant heat-related mortality risks in Jiangsu, China. These results suggest the need for enhanced adaptation planning in Chinese nonurban areas under a changing climate. Citation: Chen K, Zhou L, Chen X, Ma Z, Liu Y, Huang L, Bi J, Kinney PL. 2016. Urbanization level and vulnerability to heat-related mortality in Jiangsu Province, China. Environ Health Perspect 124:1863-1869; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP204.

Influence of Flavors on the Propagation of E-Cigarette-Related Information: Social Media Study.

PubMed

Zhou, Jiaqi; Zhang, Qingpeng; Zeng, Daniel Dajun; Tsui, Kwok Leung

2018-03-23

Modeling the influence of e-cigarette flavors on information propagation could provide quantitative policy decision support concerning smoking initiation and contagion, as well as e-cigarette regulations. The objective of this study was to characterize the influence of flavors on e-cigarette-related information propagation on social media. We collected a comprehensive dataset of e-cigarette-related discussions from public Pages on Facebook. We identified 11 categories of flavors based on commonly used categorizations. Each post's frequency of being shared served as a proxy measure of information propagation. We evaluated a set of regression models and chose the hurdle negative binomial model to characterize the influence of different flavors and nonflavor control variables on e-cigarette-related information propagation. We found that 5 flavors (sweet, dessert & bakery, fruits, herbs & spices, and tobacco) had significantly negative influences on e-cigarette-related information propagation, indicating the users' tendency not to share posts related to these flavors. We did not find a positive significance of any flavors, which is contradictory to previous research. In addition, we found that a set of nonflavor-related factors were associated with information propagation. Mentions of flavors in posts did not enhance the popularity of e-cigarette-related information. Certain flavors could even have reduced the popularity of information, indicating users' lack of interest in flavors. Promoting e-cigarette-related information with mention of flavors is not an effective marketing approach. This study implies the potential concern of users about flavorings and suggests a need to regulate the use of flavorings in e-cigarettes. ©Jiaqi Zhou, Qingpeng Zhang, Daniel Dajun Zeng, Kwok Leung Tsui. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 23.03.2018.

Bose gases near resonance: Renormalized interactions in a condensate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Fei, E-mail: feizhou@phas.ubc.ca; Mashayekhi, Mohammad S.

2013-01-15

Bose gases at large scattering lengths or beyond the usual dilute limit for a long time have been one of the most challenging problems in many-body physics. In this article, we investigate the fundamental properties of a near-resonance Bose gas and illustrate that three-dimensional Bose gases become nearly fermionized near resonance when the chemical potential as a function of scattering lengths reaches a maximum and the atomic condensates lose metastability. The instability and accompanying maximum are shown to be a precursor of the sign change of g{sub 2}, the renormalized two-body interaction between condensed atoms. g{sub 2} changes from effectivelymore » repulsive to attractive when approaching resonance from the molecular side, even though the scattering length is still positive. This occurs when dimers, under the influence of condensates, emerge at zero energy in the atomic gases at a finite positive scattering length. We carry out our studies of Bose gases via applying a self-consistent renormalization group equation which is further subject to a boundary condition. We also comment on the relation between the approach here and the diagrammatic calculation in an early article [D. Borzov, M.S. Mashayekhi, S. Zhang, J.-L. Song, F. Zhou, Phys. Rev. A 85 (2012) 023620]. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A Bose gas becomes nearly fermionized when its chemical potential approaches a maximum near resonance. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer At the maximum, an onset instability sets in at a positive scattering length. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Condensates strongly influence the renormalization flow of few-body running coupling constants. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The effective two-body interaction constant changes its sign at a positive scattering length.« less

Fully convolutional neural networks improve abdominal organ segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobo, Meg F.; Bao, Shunxing; Huo, Yuankai; Yao, Yuang; Virostko, Jack; Plassard, Andrew J.; Lyu, Ilwoo; Assad, Albert; Abramson, Richard G.; Hilmes, Melissa A.; Landman, Bennett A.

2018-03-01

Abdominal image segmentation is a challenging, yet important clinical problem. Variations in body size, position, and relative organ positions greatly complicate the segmentation process. Historically, multi-atlas methods have achieved leading results across imaging modalities and anatomical targets. However, deep learning is rapidly overtaking classical approaches for image segmentation. Recently, Zhou et al. showed that fully convolutional networks produce excellent results in abdominal organ segmentation of computed tomography (CT) scans. Yet, deep learning approaches have not been applied to whole abdomen magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation. Herein, we evaluate the applicability of an existing fully convolutional neural network (FCNN) designed for CT imaging to segment abdominal organs on T2 weighted (T2w) MRI's with two examples. In the primary example, we compare a classical multi-atlas approach with FCNN on forty-five T2w MRI's acquired from splenomegaly patients with five organs labeled (liver, spleen, left kidney, right kidney, and stomach). Thirty-six images were used for training while nine were used for testing. The FCNN resulted in a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.930 in spleens, 0.730 in left kidneys, 0.780 in right kidneys, 0.913 in livers, and 0.556 in stomachs. The performance measures for livers, spleens, right kidneys, and stomachs were significantly better than multi-atlas (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). In a secondary example, we compare the multi-atlas approach with FCNN on 138 distinct T2w MRI's with manually labeled pancreases (one label). On the pancreas dataset, the FCNN resulted in a median DSC of 0.691 in pancreases versus 0.287 for multi-atlas. The results are highly promising given relatively limited training data and without specific training of the FCNN model and illustrate the potential of deep learning approaches to transcend imaging modalities. 1

Population-Based in Vitro Hazard and Concentration–Response Assessment of Chemicals: The 1000 Genomes High-Throughput Screening Study

PubMed Central

Abdo, Nour; Xia, Menghang; Brown, Chad C.; Kosyk, Oksana; Huang, Ruili; Sakamuru, Srilatha; Zhou, Yi-Hui; Jack, John R.; Gallins, Paul; Xia, Kai; Li, Yun; Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Motsinger-Reif, Alison A.; Austin, Christopher P.; Tice, Raymond R.

2015-01-01

Background: Understanding of human variation in toxicity to environmental chemicals remains limited, so human health risk assessments still largely rely on a generic 10-fold factor (10½ each for toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics) to account for sensitive individuals or subpopulations. Objectives: We tested a hypothesis that population-wide in vitro cytotoxicity screening can rapidly inform both the magnitude of and molecular causes for interindividual toxicodynamic variability. Methods: We used 1,086 lymphoblastoid cell lines from the 1000 Genomes Project, representing nine populations from five continents, to assess variation in cytotoxic response to 179 chemicals. Analysis included assessments of population variation and heritability, and genome-wide association mapping, with attention to phenotypic relevance to human exposures. Results: For about half the tested compounds, cytotoxic response in the 1% most “sensitive” individual occurred at concentrations within a factor of 10½ (i.e., approximately 3) of that in the median individual; however, for some compounds, this factor was > 10. Genetic mapping suggested important roles for variation in membrane and transmembrane genes, with a number of chemicals showing association with SNP rs13120371 in the solute carrier SLC7A11, previously implicated in chemoresistance. Conclusions: This experimental approach fills critical gaps unaddressed by recent large-scale toxicity testing programs, providing quantitative, experimentally based estimates of human toxicodynamic variability, and also testable hypotheses about mechanisms contributing to interindividual variation. Citation: Abdo N, Xia M, Brown CC, Kosyk O, Huang R, Sakamuru S, Zhou YH, Jack JR, Gallins P, Xia K, Li Y, Chiu WA, Motsinger-Reif AA, Austin CP, Tice RR, Rusyn I, Wright FA. 2015. Population-based in vitro hazard and concentration–response assessment of chemicals: the 1000 Genomes high-throughput screening study. Environ Health Perspect 123:458�

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Modeling of Interstrain Variability in Trichloroethylene Metabolism in the Mouse

PubMed Central

Campbell, Jerry L.; Clewell, Harvey J.; Zhou, Yi-Hui; Wright, Fred A.; Guyton, Kathryn Z.

2014-01-01

. Citation: Chiu WA, Campbell JL Jr, Clewell HJ III, Zhou YH, Wright FA, Guyton KZ, Rusyn I. 2014. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of interstrain variability in trichloroethylene metabolism in the mouse. Environ Health Perspect 122:456–463; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307623 PMID:24518055

Thermal and exhumation history of the central Tianshan (NW China): Constraints by U-Pb geochronology and Ar-Ar and (U-Th)/He thermochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, J.; Chen, W.; Hodges, K. V.; Xiao, W.; Van Soest, M. C.; Cai, K.; Zhang, B.; Mercer, C. M.; Yuan, C.

2015-12-01

Geochronology and thermochronology using multiple mineral-isotopic chronometers reveals the thermo-tectonic history of the central Tianshan (NW China) from emplacement to exhumation. Granites from the central Tianshan, which are associated with the southward subduction of the northern Tianshan Ocean, have been dated at 362-354 Ma using the LA-ICP-MS Zircon U-Pb method. A younger diorite sample (282 ± 1 Ma, Zircon U-Pb method by LA-ICP-MS) from northern Tianshan formed during the final closure of the Northern Tianshan Ocean when the Junggar Block collided with the Yili-Central Tianshan Block. 40Ar/39Ar step-wise heating plateau dates (biotite Ar/Ar: 312-293 Ma; Plagioclase Ar/Ar: 270-229 Ma) from the Central Tianshan show rapid post-magmatic cooling during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian followed by a more modest rate of cooling from the middle Permian to the middle Jurassic. The northern Tianshan diorite (biotite Ar/Ar: 240 ± 1 Ma) also reveals a middle Jurassic cooling. Apatite (U-Th )/He dates from the central Tianshan samples range from ca. 130 Ma to ca. 116 Ma. The Apatite (U-Th )/He date for the northern Tianshan sample is ca. 27 Ma. Previous studies also reported Apatite (U-Th)/He ages of ca. 44 Ma-11 Ma in the Baluntai area of the southern Central Tianshan[1]. Two episodes of cooling are distinguished by thermal history modelling: (1) Mesozoic cooling occurred as the result of the exhumation and tectonic reactivation of the central Tianshan; and (2) The Tianshan orogenic belt has been rapidly exhumed since the Middle Cenozoic. References [1] Lü, H.H., Chang, Y., Wang, W., Zhou, Z.Y., 2013. Rapid exhumation of the Tianshan Mountains since the early Miocene: Evidence from combined apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology. Science China: Earth Sciences, 43(12): 1964-1974 (in Chinese).

2K09 and thereafter : the coming era of integrative bioinformatics, systems biology and intelligent computing for functional genomics and personalized medicine research.

PubMed

Yang, Jack Y; Niemierko, Andrzej; Bajcsy, Ruzena; Xu, Dong; Athey, Brian D; Zhang, Aidong; Ersoy, Okan K; Li, Guo-Zheng; Borodovsky, Mark; Zhang, Joe C; Arabnia, Hamid R; Deng, Youping; Dunker, A Keith; Liu, Yunlong; Ghafoor, Arif

2010-12-01

Austin), Dr. Aidong Zhang (Buffalo) and Dr. Zhi-Hua Zhou (Nanjing) for their significant contributions to the field of intelligent biological medicine.

Direct evidence of hydration into mantle during shearing below a trasform fault: Prince Edward transform fault, Southwest Indian Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michibayashi, K.; Kakihata, Y.; Dick, H. J.

2017-12-01

Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is located to the southwest of Rodriguez Triple Junction, where three Indian ocean ridges meet (Zhou & Dick, 2013, Nature). SWIR is one of the slowest spreading ocean ridges in the world. In this study, we studied microstructural development of 21 peridotite samples obtained from Prince Edward transform fault of SWIR by PROTEA5 cruise in 1983. The peridotites consist dominantly of olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene with minor amounts of amphibole and plagioclase as well as secondary minerals such as serpentine and magnetite. The peridotites were classified into four groups based on their microstructures: 3 ultramylonites mostly consisting of extremely fine crystals (3-5µm), 13 heterogeneous tectonites consisting of coarse-grained crystals and fine-grained matrix, 1 cataclasite and 4 intensely serpentinized peridotites. Olivine Mg# is 0.90-0.91 and spinel Cr# is 0.1-0.35. Amphibole crystals have chemical compositions of tremolite and magnesio-hornblende and they were intensely deformed within the ultramylonites and the heterogeneous tectonites, indicating that they have occurred before or during intense shearing in mantle. Moreover, extremely fine grain sizes of olivine and microboudin textures in both pyroxene and spinel crystals suggest that these peridotites have been sheared under high stress conditions. Furthermore, olivine crystal-fabrics within the amphibole bearing peridotites have B and E types that could be developed under hydrous conditions, whereas olivine fabrics within the other peridotites have A and D types that could be developed under anhydrous conditions (Karato et al., 2008, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.). Consequently, the petrophysical characteristics of peridotites in this study indicate that the uppermost mantle below the Prince Edward transform fault has been locally but intensely hydrated during shearing due to transform movement.

2K09 and thereafter : the coming era of integrative bioinformatics, systems biology and intelligent computing for functional genomics and personalized medicine research

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Austin), Dr. Aidong Zhang (Buffalo) and Dr. Zhi-Hua Zhou (Nanjing) for their significant contributions to the field of intelligent biological medicine. PMID:21143775

Full Spatial Resolution Infrared Sounding Application in the Preconvection Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.; Liu, G.; Lin, T.

2013-12-01

Advanced infrared (IR) sounders such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) provide atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles with high vertical resolution and high accuracy in preconvection environments. The derived atmospheric stability indices such as convective available potential energy (CAPE) and lifted index (LI) from advanced IR soundings can provide critical information 1 ; 6 h before the development of severe convective storms. Three convective storms are selected for the evaluation of applying AIRS full spatial resolution soundings and the derived products on providing warning information in the preconvection environments. In the first case, the AIRS full spatial resolution soundings revealed local extremely high atmospheric instability 3 h ahead of the convection on the leading edge of a frontal system, while the second case demonstrates that the extremely high atmospheric instability is associated with the local development of severe thunderstorm in the following hours. The third case is a local severe storm that occurred on 7-8 August 2010 in Zhou Qu, China, which caused more than 1400 deaths and left another 300 or more people missing. The AIRS full spatial resolution LI product shows the atmospheric instability 3.5 h before the storm genesis. The CAPE and LI from AIRS full spatial resolution and operational AIRS/AMSU soundings along with Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Sounder derived product image (DPI) products were analyzed and compared. Case studies show that full spatial resolution AIRS retrievals provide more useful warning information in the preconvection environments for determining favorable locations for convective initiation (CI) than do the coarser spatial resolution operational soundings and lower spectral resolution GOES Sounder retrievals. The retrieved soundings are also tested in a regional data assimilation WRF 3D-var system to evaluate the

Spatiotemporal distribution and mass loadings of perfluoroalkyl substances in the Yangtze River of China.

PubMed

Pan, Chang-Gui; Ying, Guang-Guo; Zhao, Jian-Liang; Liu, You-Sheng; Jiang, Yu-Xia; Zhang, Qian-Qian

2014-09-15

A systematic investigation into contamination profiles of eighteen perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in both surface water and sediments of Yangtze River was carried out by using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in summer and winter of 2013. The total concentrations of the PFASs in the water and sediment of Yangtze River ranged from 2.2 to 74.56 ng/L and 0.05 to 1.44 ng/g dry weights (dw), respectively. The PFAS concentrations were correlated to some selected water quality parameters such as pH, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and conductivity in water, and some sediment properties, such as total organic carbon (TOC), TP, and TN in sediment. The monitoring results for the water and sediment samples showed no obvious seasonal variations. Among the selected 18 PFASs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the dominant PFAS compound found both in water and sediment for the two seasons with its maximum concentration of 18.03 ng/L in water and 0.72 ng/g in sediment, followed by perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) with its maximum concentration of 41.9 ng/L in water in Wuhan, whereas the lowest concentrations of PFASs were observed at Poyang lake. The annual loadings of PFOA, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), PFBS, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and the total PFASs in the Yangtze River were 6.8 tons, 2.2 tons, 8.2 tons, 0.88 tons, and 20.7 tons, respectively. Wuhan and Er'zhou of Hubei contributed the most amounts of PFASs into the Yangtze River. A correlation was found between some PFASs, for example PFBS and PFOS, which suggests that both of these PFASs originate from common sources in the region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NASA MEaSUREs Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL) Uncertainty Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltz, M.; Borbas, E. E.; Knuteson, R. O.; Hulley, G. C.; Hook, S. J.

2016-12-01

Under the NASA MEASUREs project a new global, land surface emissivity database is being made available as part of the Unified and Coherent Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Earth System Data Record. This new CAMEL emissivity database is created by the merging of the MODIS baseline-fit emissivity database (UWIREMIS) developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset v4 produced at the Jet Propulsion Labratory. The combined CAMEL product leverages the ability of ASTER's 5 bands to more accurately resolve the TIR (8-12 micron) region and the ability of UWIREMIS to provide information throughout the 3.6-12 micron IR region. It will be made available for 2000 through 2017 at monthly mean, 5 km resolution for 13 bands within the 3.6-14.3 micron region, and will also be extended to 417 infrared spectral channels using a principal component regression approach. Uncertainty estimates of the CAMEL will be provided that combine temporal, spatial, and algorithm variability as part of a total uncertainty estimate for the emissivity product. The spatial and temporal uncertainties are calculated as the standard deviation of the surrounding 5x5 pixels and 3 neighboring months respectively while the algorithm uncertainty is calculated using a measure of the difference between the two CAMEL emissivity inputs—the ASTER GED and MODIS baseline-fit products. This work describes these uncertainty estimation methods in detail and shows first results. Global, monthly results for different seasons are shown as well as case study examples at locations with different land surface types. Comparisons of the case studies to both lab values and an independent emissivity climatology derived from IASI measurements (Dan Zhou et al., IEEE Trans., 2011) are included.

Manufacturing in the Eye of the Storm:Shen Hong and the Nine Great Installations Project During China's Cultural Revolution.

PubMed

Sun, Lie; Hu, Danian

2017-09-01

The construction of nine high-end technical installations (hereafter Project NGI, for Nine Great Installations or ) in the 1960s and 1970s was an indispensable part of the development of China's defense and heavy industries. The project put more than 1400 machines into operation or trial operation during the Culture Revolution (1966-1976), and they served essential technical functions in sectors such as aviation, aerospace, machinery, metallurgy, and electronics, and directly advancing the development of these fields. It took more than a decade for Project NGI to go from planning to completion-a surprisingly uninterrupted and steady development while China fell into unprecedented turmoil. One important reason for Project NGI's success was the vital leadership of Shen Hong (, 1906-1998), the technical director of the project and a high-ranking official. Supported by state leaders such as Zhou Enlai and Nie Rongzhen, Shen and his colleagues adopted a suitable roadmap for technological development, coordinated the best-performing manufacturing forces in the country, and successfully manufactured the NGI machines. Project NGI is significant for the history of Chinese science, technology, and medicine during the Cultural Revolution not because it was technologically original, but because it represents an extraordinary case, in which the project's technological development seemed to be largely exempted from the interference of the turbulent Cultural Revolution. The project's national defense orientation, its pragmatism, and the contemporary dogma of self-reliance (), in addition to Shen Hong's political maneuvering, all contributed to the creation of a relatively calm and favorable environment around Project NGI. Despite the widespread turmoil in the country, Shen managed to assemble a stable and continuously productive team, which executed experiments, absorbed previously introduced Soviet technologies, stayed informed about advanced European and American technologies

Effect of aldosterone on BK channel expression in mammalian cortical collecting duct

PubMed Central

Estilo, Genevieve; Liu, Wen; Pastor-Soler, Nuria; Mitchell, Phillip; Carattino, Marcelo D.; Kleyman, Thomas R.; Satlin, Lisa M.

2008-01-01

Apical large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels in the cortical collecting duct (CCD) mediate flow-stimulated K+ secretion. Dietary K+ loading for 10–14 days leads to an increase in BK channel mRNA abundance, enhanced flow-stimulated K+ secretion in microperfused CCDs, and a redistribution of immunodetectable channels from an intracellular pool to the apical membrane (Najjar F, Zhou H, Morimoto T, Bruns JB, Li HS, Liu W, Kleyman TR, Satlin LM. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 289: F922–F932, 2005). To test whether this adaptation was mediated by a K+-induced increase in aldosterone, New Zealand White rabbits were fed a low-Na+ (LS) or high-Na+ (HS) diet for 7–10 days to alter circulating levels of aldosterone but not serum K+ concentration. Single CCDs were isolated for quantitation of BK channel subunit (total, α-splice variants, β-isoforms) mRNA abundance by real-time PCR and measurement of net transepithelial Na+ (JNa) and K+ (JK) transport by microperfusion; kidneys were processed for immunolocalization of BK α-subunit by immunofluorescence microscopy. At the time of death, LS rabbits excreted no urinary Na+ and had higher circulating levels of aldosterone than HS animals. The relative abundance of BK α-, β2-, and β4-subunit mRNA and localization of immunodetectable α-subunit were similar in CCDs from LS and HS animals. In response to an increase in tubular flow rate from ∼1 to 5 nl·min−1·mm−1, the increase in JNa was greater in LS vs. HS rabbits, yet the flow-stimulated increase in JK was similar in both groups. These data suggest that aldosterone does not contribute to the regulation of BK channel expression/activity in response to dietary K+ loading. PMID:18579708

Plexin C1 deficiency permits synaptotagmin 7–mediated macrophage migration and enhances mammalian lung fibrosis

PubMed Central

Peng, Xueyan; Moore, Meagan; Mathur, Aditi; Zhou, Yang; Sun, Huanxing; Gan, Ye; Herazo-Maya, Jose D.; Kaminski, Naftali; Hu, Xinyuan; Pan, Hongyi; Ryu, Changwan; Osafo-Addo, Awo; Homer, Robert J.; Feghali-Bostwick, Carol; Fares, Wassim H.; Gulati, Mridu; Hu, Buqu; Lee, Chun-Geun; Elias, Jack A.; Herzog, Erica L.

2016-01-01

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and often fatal condition that is believed to be partially orchestrated by macrophages. Mechanisms that control migration of these cells into and within the lung remain undefined. We evaluated the contributions of the semaphorin receptor, plexin C1 (PLXNC1), and the exocytic calcium sensor, synaptotagmin 7 (Syt7), in these processes. We evaluated the role of PLXNC1 in macrophage migration by using Boyden chambers and scratch tests, characterized its contribution to experimentally induced lung fibrosis in mice, and defined the mechanism for our observations. Our findings reveal that relative to control participants, patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis demonstrate excessive monocyte migration and underexpression of PLXNC1 in the lungs and circulation, a finding that is recapitulated in the setting of scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease. Relative to wild type, PLXNC1−/− mouse macrophages are excessively migratory, and PLXNC1−/− mice show exacerbated collagen accumulation in response to either inhaled bleomycin or inducible lung targeted TGF-β1 overexpression. These findings are ameliorated by replacement of PLXNC1 on bone marrow–derived cells or by genetic deletion of Syt7. These data demonstrate the previously unrecognized observation that PLXNC1 deficiency permits Syt7-mediated macrophage migration and enhances mammalian lung fibrosis.—Peng, X., Moore, M., Mathur, A., Zhou, Y., Sun, H., Gan, Y., Herazo-Maya, J. D., Kaminski, N., Hu, X., Pan, H., Ryu, C., Osafo-Addo, A., Homer, R. J., Feghali-Bostwick, C., Fares, W. H., Gulati, M., Hu, B., Lee, C.-G., Elias, J. A., Herzog, E. L. Plexin C1 deficiency permits synaptotagmin 7–mediated macrophage migration and enhances mammalian lung fibrosis. PMID:27609773

Exploring the Phase Diagram SiO2-CO2 at High Pressures and Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kavner, A.

2015-12-01

CO2 is an important volatile system relevant for planetary sciences and fundamental chemistry. Molecular CO2 has doubly bonded O=C=O units but high pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) studies have recently shown its transformation into a three-dimensional network of corner-linked [CO4] units analogous to the silica mineral polymorphs, through intermediate non-molecular phases. Here, we report P-V-T data on CO2-IV ice from time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments, which allow determining the compressibility and thermal expansivity of this intermediate molecular-to-non-molecular phase.1 Aditionally, we have explored the SiO2-CO2 phase diagram and the potential formation of silicon carbonate compounds. New data obtained by laser-heating diamond-anvil experiments in CO2-filled microporous silica polymorphs will be shown. In particular, these HP-HT experiments explore the existence of potential CO2/SiO2 compounds with tetrahedrally-coordinated C/Si atoms by oxygens, which are predicted to be stable (or metastable) by state-of-the-art ab initio simulations.2,3 These theoretical predictions were supported by a recent study that reports the formation of a cristobalite-type Si0.4C0.6O2 solid solution at high-pressures and temperatures, which can be retained as a metastable solid down to ambient conditions.4 Entirely new families of structures could exist based on [CO4]4- units in various degrees of polymerisation, giving rise to a range of chain, sheet and framework solids like those found in silicate chemistry. References[1] S. Palaich et al., Am. Mineral. Submitted (2015) [2] A. Morales-Garcia et al., Theor. Chem. Acc. 132, 1308 (2013) [3] R. Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. X, 4, 011030 (2014) [4] M. Santoro et al. Nature Commun. 5, 3761 (2014)

Silica-induced initiation of circular ZC3H4 RNA/ZC3H4 pathway promotes the pulmonary macrophage activation.

PubMed

Yang, Xiyue; Wang, Jing; Zhou, Zewei; Jiang, Rong; Huang, Jie; Chen, Lulu; Cao, Zhouli; Chu, Han; Han, Bing; Cheng, Yusi; Chao, Jie

2018-06-01

Phagocytosis of silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) into lung cells causes an inflammatory cascade that results in fibroblast proliferation and migration, followed by fibrosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a subclass of noncoding RNAs that are present within mammalian cells; however, researchers have not determined whether circRNAs are involved in the pathophysiologic process of silicosis. To elucidate the role of these RNAs in SiO 2 -induced inflammation in pulmonary macrophages, we investigated the upstream molecular mechanisms and functional effects of circRNAs on cell apoptosis, proliferation, and migration. Primary cultures of alveolar macrophages from healthy donors and from patients and the RAW264.7 macrophage cell line were used to explore the functions of circZC3H4 RNA in macrophage activation. The experimental results indicated the following: 1) SiO 2 concomitantly increased circZC3H4 RNA expression and increased ZC3H4 protein levels; 2) circular ZC3H4 (circZC3H4) RNA and ZC3H4 protein participated in SiO 2 -induced macrophage activation; and 3) SiO 2 -activated macrophages promoted fibroblast proliferation and migration via the circZC3H4 RNA/ZC3H4 pathway. The up-regulation of the ZC3H4 protein was confirmed in tissue samples from patients with silicosis. Our study elucidates a link between SiO 2 -induced macrophage activation and the circZC3H4 RNA/ZC3H4 pathway, thereby providing novel insight into the potential use of ZC3H4 to develop novel therapeutic strategies for silicosis.-Yang, X., Wang, J., Zhou, Z., Jiang, R., Huang, J., Chen, L., Cao, Z., Chu, H., Han, B., Cheng, Y., Chao, J. Silica-induced initiation of circular ZC3H4 RNA/ZC3H4 pathway promotes the pulmonary macrophage activation.

Clinical and immunological characteristics in 552 systemic lupus erythematosus patients in a southern province of China.

PubMed

Li, Wen-Gen; Ye, Zhi-Zhong; Yin, Zhi-Hua; Zhang, Ke

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Hakka populations. We studied the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics in a cohort of 552 SLE patients diagnosed at the Rheumatology Department in MeiZhou People's Hospital from January 2008 to December 2012. There were 495 women and 57 men (8.7 : 1) with a mean age of 35.3 years (range 12-78 years). The mean age at disease onset and the mean disease duration were 31.8 ± 14.4 years and 3.3 ± 2.8 years, respectively. The most common clinical manifestations were arthritis (61.6%), followed by malar rash (52.7%), photosensitivity (22.8%), mouth ulcers (17.0%) and discoid lupus (14.7%). The prevalence was 46.7% for nephritis (by biopsy), 18.3% for pleuritis, 15.6% for pericarditis and 4.9% for neuropsychiatric manifestations. The most common hematological manifestations were anemia (63.8%), followed by leucopenia (29.0%) and thrombocytopenia (14.9%). Antinuclear antibodies were detected in 99.8% of patients, followed by anti-double-stranded DNA (81.3%), anti-SSA (Sjögren's syndrome antigen A)/Ro (58.7%), anti-ribonucleoprotein (36.8%), anti-Sm (35.7%), and anti-SSB/La (15.0%). Anti-cardiolipin immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM were detected in 18.3% and 14.1% of patients, respectively. Active disease and infections were the two major causes of death. The clinical and immunological characteristics of the SLE patients in our study place our population in the middle of the spectrum between other Asian and Caucasian populations. © 2015 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

CHAPTER: In-Situ Characterization of Stimulating Microelectrode Arrays: Study of an Idealized Structure Based on Argus II Retinal implantsBOOK TITLE: Implantable Neural Prostheses 2: Techniques and Engineering Approaches, D.M. Zhou and E. Greenbaum, Eds., Springer, NY 2009

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenbaum, Elias; Sanders, Charlene A; Kandagor, Vincent

The development of a retinal prosthesis for artificial sight includes a study of the factors affecting the structural and functional stability of chronically implanted microelectrode arrays. Although neuron depolarization and propagation of electrical signals have been studied for nearly a century, the use of multielectrode stimulation as a proposed therapy to treat blindness is a frontier area of modern ophthalmology research. Mapping and characterizing the topographic information contained in the electric field potentials and understanding how this information is transmitted and interpreted in the visual cortex is still very much a work in progress. In order to characterize the electricalmore » field patterns generated by the device, an in vitro prototype that mimics several of the physical and chemical parameters of the in vivo visual implant device was fabricated. We carried out multiple electrical measurements in a model 'eye,' beginning with a single electrode, followed by a 9-electrode array structure, both idealized components based on the Argus II retinal implants. Correlating the information contained in the topographic features of the electric fields with psychophysical testing in patients may help reduce the time required for patients to convert the electrical patterns into graphic signals.« less

EDITORIAL: Designer fabrication: nanotemplates get in shape Designer fabrication: nanotemplates get in shape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demming, Anna

2013-02-01

formation of single crystal silver nanowires. More recently Hyungjun Kim and colleagues at the Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea combined atomic layer deposition of ruthenium with AAO templates to fabricate a range of metal nanostructures directly onto silicon substrates, including nanodots, nanowires and nanowire array devices [5]. Ruthenium has been intensively studied for semiconductor devices, for use in metal gate electrodes, capacitor electrodes for dynamic random access memories and seed layers for electrochemical plating of copper interconnect formation. The work may prove significant in the semiconductor device industry where the ability to integrate with existing silicon technology is an important advantage. According to recent research in China AAO templates may also benefit LED devices. Zhou and colleagues reported the fabrication of GaN LEDs by soft UV nanoimprint lithography based on a replication stamp of self-ordered AAO membrane for the first time [6]. Photonic crystal nanostructures had been mooted as a possible solution to the total internal reflection that diminishes the external quantum efficiency of GaN LED devices compared with the performance that theory predicts. Conventional approaches to photonic crystal fabrication, such as electron-beam lithography or focused ion-beam techniques are problematic to scale up to industrial scales. In contrast to this, AAO templates are well suited to scaling up. Zhou et al reported an enhancement to the photoluminescence intensity from their nano-patterned GaN LED sample of 41% [6]. The fan-out AAO channel structure reported by Liu and colleagues in this issue introduces a new versatility in the application of AAO templates [1]. They allow mapping of information from a small area at one end of the channels to a large area at the other end with a one-to-one correspondence, and may benefit building integrated circuits containing many elements. As the researchers explain, planar fan-out probes have

Adverse Associations of both Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Organophosphorous Pesticides with Infant Neurodevelopment in an Agricultural Area of Jiangsu Province, China

PubMed Central

Liu, Ping; Wu, Chunhua; Chang, Xiuli; Qi, Xiaojuan; Zheng, Minglan; Zhou, Zhijun

2016-01-01

Background: Prenatal exposure to organophosphorous (OP) pesticides has been found to be associated with adverse effects on child neurodevelopment, but evidence on potential effects induced by both prenatal and postnatal OP exposure in infants is limited. Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the associations of both prenatal and postnatal OP exposure with birth outcomes and infant neurodevelopment. Methods: Exposure to OP in 310 mother–infant pairs was assessed by measuring dimethylphosphate (DM), diethylphosphate (DE), and total dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites in urines from pregnant women and their children at 2 years of age. The Gesell Developmental Schedules was administered to examine neurodevelopment of 2-year-old children. Results: Based on the Gesell Developmental Schedules, the proportions of children with developmental delays were < 6%. Adverse associations between head circumference at birth and prenatal OP exposure were demonstrated. Both prenatal and postnatal OP exposure was significantly associated with increased risk of being developmentally delayed. Specifically, odds ratio (OR) value for prenatal DEs was 9.75 (95% CI: 1.28, 73.98, p = 0.028) in the adaptive area, whereas in the social area, OR values for postnatal DEs and DAPs were 9.56 (95% CI: 1.59, 57.57, p = 0.014) and 12.00 (95% CI: 1.23, 117.37, p = 0.033), respectively. Adverse associations were observed only in boys, not in girls. Conclusions: Both prenatal and postnatal OP exposure may adversely affect the neurodevelopment of infants living in the agricultural area. The present study adds to the accumulating evidence on associations of prenatal and postnatal OP exposure with infant neurodevelopment. Citation: Liu P, Wu C, Chang X, Qi X, Zheng M, Zhou Z. 2016. Adverse associations of both prenatal and postnatal exposure to organophosphorous pesticides with infant neurodevelopment in an agricultural area of Jiangsu Province, China. Environ Health Perspect 124:1637–1643; http

Water Use Efficiency of China's Terrestrial Ecosystems and Responses to Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Xiao, J.; Ju, W.; Zhou, Y.; Wang, S.; Wu, X.

2015-12-01

Yibo Liu1, 2, Jingfeng Xiao2, Weimin Ju3, Yanlian Zhou4, Shaoqiang Wang5, Xiaocui Wu31 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Agricultural Meteorology, School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China, 2Earth Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA, 3 International Institute for Earth System Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China, 4 School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China, 5 Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China Water use efficiency (WUE) measures the trade-off between carbon gain and water loss of terrestrial ecosystems, and better understanding its dynamics and controlling factors is essential for predicting ecosystem responses to climate change. We assessed the magnitude, spatial patterns, and trends of WUE of China's terrestrial ecosystems and its responses to drought using a process-based ecosystem model. During the period from 2000 to 2011, the national average annual WUE (net primary productivity (NPP)/evapotranspiration (ET)) of China was 0.79 g C kg-1 H2O. Annual WUE decreased in the southern regions because of the decrease in NPP and increase in ET and increased in most northern regions mainly because of the increase in NPP. Droughts usually increased annual WUE in Northeast China and central Inner Mongolia but decreased annual WUE in central China. "Turning-points" were observed for southern China where moderate and extreme drought reduced annual WUE and severe drought slightly increased annual WUE. The cumulative lagged effect of drought on monthly WUE varied by region. Our findings have implications for ecosystem management and climate policy making. WUE is expected to continue to change under future climate

The combined use of kartogenin and platelet-rich plasma promotes fibrocartilage formation in the wounded rat Achilles tendon entheses.

PubMed

Zhang, J; Yuan, T; Zheng, N; Zhou, Y; Hogan, M V; Wang, J H-C

2017-04-01

After an injury, the biological reattachment of tendon to bone is a challenge because healing takes place between a soft (tendon) and a hard (bone) tissue. Even after healing, the transition zone in the enthesis is not completely regenerated, making it susceptible to re-injury. In this study, we aimed to regenerate Achilles tendon entheses (ATEs) in wounded rats using a combination of kartogenin (KGN) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Wounds created in rat ATEs were given three different treatments: kartogenin platelet-rich plasma (KGN-PRP); PRP; or saline (control), followed by histological and immunochemical analyses, and mechanical testing of the rat ATEs after three months of healing. Histological analysis showed well organised arrangement of collagen fibres and proteoglycan formation in the wounded ATEs in the KGN-PRP group. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis revealed fibrocartilage formation in the KGN-PRP-treated ATEs, evidenced by the presence of both collagen I and II in the healed ATE. Larger positively stained collagen III areas were found in both PRP and saline groups than those in the KGN-PRP group. Chondrocyte-related genes, SOX9 and collagen II, and tenocyte-related genes, collagen I and scleraxis (SCX), were also upregulated by KGN-PRP. Moreover, mechanical testing results showed higher ultimate tensile strength in the KGN-PRP group than in the saline control group. In contrast, PRP treatment appeared to have healed the injured ATE but induced no apparent formation of fibrocartilage. The saline-treated group showed poor healing without fibrocartilage tissue formation in the ATEs. Our results show that injection of KGN-PRP induces fibrocartilage formation in the wounded rat ATEs. Hence, KGN-PRP may be a clinically relevant, biological approach to regenerate injured enthesis effectively. Cite this article: J. Zhang, T. Yuan, N. Zheng, Y. Zhou, M. V. Hogan, J. H-C. Wang. The combined use of kartogenin and platelet-rich plasma promotes

Altered Sleep Stage Transitions of REM Sleep: A Novel and Stable Biomarker of Narcolepsy

PubMed Central

Liu, Yaping; Zhang, Jihui; Lam, Venny; Ho, Crover Kwok Wah; Zhou, Junying; Li, Shirley Xin; Lam, Siu Ping; Yu, Mandy Wai Man; Tang, Xiangdong; Wing, Yun-Kwok

2015-01-01

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic values, longitudinal stability, and HLA association of the sleep stage transitions in narcolepsy. Methods: To compare the baseline differences in the sleep stage transition to REM sleep among 35 patients with type 1 narcolepsy, 39 patients with type 2 narcolepsy, 26 unaffected relatives, and 159 non-narcoleptic sleep patient controls, followed by a reassessment at a mean duration of 37.4 months. Results: The highest prevalence of altered transition from stage non-N2/N3 to stage R in multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) and nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG) was found in patients with type 1 narcolepsy (92.0% and 57.1%), followed by patients with type 2 narcolepsy (69.4% and 12.8%), unaffected relatives (46.2% and 0%), and controls (39.3% and 1.3%). Individual sleep variables had varied sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing narcolepsy. By incorporating a combination of sleep variables, the decision tree analysis improved the sensitivity to 94.3% and 82.1% and enhanced specificity to 82.4% and 83% for the diagnosis of type 1 and type 2 narcolepsy, respectively. There was a significant association of DBQ1*0602 with the altered sleep stage transition (OR = 16.0, 95% CI: 1.7–149.8, p = 0.015). The persistence of the altered sleep stage transition in both MSLT and NPSG was high for both type 1 (90.5% and 64.7%) and type 2 narcolepsy (92.3% and 100%), respectively. Conclusions: Altered sleep stage transition is a significant and stable marker of narcolepsy, which suggests a vulnerable wake-sleep dysregulation trait in narcolepsy. Altered sleep stage transition has a significant diagnostic value in the differential diagnosis of hypersomnias, especially when combined with other diagnostic sleep variables in decision tree analysis. Citation: Liu Y, Zhang J, Lam V, Ho CK, Zhou J, Li SX, Lam SP, Yu MW, Tang X, Wing YK. Altered sleep stage transitions of REM sleep: a novel and stable biomarker of narcolepsy. J Clin Sleep Med 2015

Effects of carbon ion beam irradiation on the shoot regeneration from in vitro axillary bud explants of the Impatiens hawkeri

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Libin; Zhou, Libin; Li, Wenjian; Li, Ping; Dong, Xicun; Qu, Ying; Ma, Shuang; Li, Qiang

Accelerated ion beams is an excellent mutagen in plant breeding which can induce higher mutation frequencies and wider mutation spectrum than those of low linear energy transfer (LET) irradiations, such as X-rays (Okamura et al. 2003, Yamaguchi et al. 2003). Mutation breeding operation of two Saintpaulia ionahta cultivars using the method combining plant tissue culture technique and carbon ion beam irradiations were set out at Institute of Modern Physics from 2005 (Zhou et al. 2006). The effects of 960 MeV carbon ion beam and 8 MeV X-ray irradiations on regenerated shoots of Impatiens hawkeri from another kind of explants named in vitro axillary buds explants were studied recently. The biology endpoints in this study included relative number of roots (RNR), relative length of roots (RLR), relative height of shoots (RHS), relative number of nodes (RNN), survival fraction (SF) and morphology changes in the regenerated shoots. The experimental results showed that carbon ion beams inhibited the root and stem developments of axillary bud explants more severely than X-rays did. And the 50% lethal dose (LD50 ) is about 23.3 Gy for the carbon ion beam and 49.1 Gy for the X-rays, respectively. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of Impatiens hawkeri with respect to X-rays according to 50% SF was about two. Secondly, the percentage of shoots regenerated with malformed shoots including curliness, carnification, nicks in all Impatiens hawkeri axillary bud explants irradiated with carbon ion beam at 20 Gy accounted for 55.6%, while the highest number for the 40 Gy X-ray irradiation was 40%. Last, many regenerated shoots whose vascular bundle fused together were obtained only from explants irradiated with carbon ion beams. Based on the results above, it can be concluded that the effect of mutation induction by carbon ion beam irradiation on the axillary explants of Impatiens hawkeri is better than that by X-ray irradiation; and the optimal mutagenic dose varies from 20 Gy

Effect of microgravity on primordial germ cells (PGCs) in silk chicken offspring ( Gallus gallus domesticus)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhenming; Li, Zandong

2011-08-01

Primordial germ cells (PGCs), precursors of germline cells, display a variety of antigens during their migration to target gonads. Here, we used silk chicken offspring ( Gallus gallus domesticus) embryos subjected to space microgravity to investigate the influence of microgravity on PGCs. The ShenZhou-3 unmanned spaceship carried nine fertilized silk chicken eggs, named the flight group, returned to Earth after 7 days space flight. And the control group has the same clan with the flight group. PGCs from flight and control group silk chicken offspring embryos were examined during migration by using two antibodies (2C9 and anti-SSEA-1), in combination with the horseradish peroxidase detection system, and using periodic acid-Schiff's solution (PAS) reaction. After incubation for about 30 h, SSEA-1 and 2C9 positive cells were detected in the germinal crescent of flight and control group silk chicken offspring embryos. After incubation of eggs for 2-2.5 days, SSEA-1 and 2C9 positive cells were detected in embryonic blood vessels of flight and control group silk chicken offspring embryos. After incubation of eggs for 5.5 days, PGCs in the dorsal mesentery and gonad could also be identified in flight and control group silk chicken offspring embryos by using SSEA-1 and 2C9 antibodies. Based on location and PAS staining, these cells were identified as PGCs. Meanwhile, at the stage of PGCs migration and then becoming established in the germinal ridges, no difference in SSEA-1 or 2C9 staining was detected between female and male PGCs in flight and control group silk chicken offspring embryos. Although there were differences in the profiles of PGC concentration between male and female embryos during the special circulating stage, changing profile of PGCs concentration was similar in same sex between flight and control group offspring embryos. We concluded that there is little effect on PGCs in offspring embryos of microgravity-treated chicken and that PGC development appears

National- to port-level inventories of shipping emissions in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Mingliang; Liu, Huan; Jin, Xinxin; He, Kebin

2017-11-01

Shipping in China plays a global role, and has led worldwide maritime transportation for the last decade. However, without taking national or local port boundaries into account, it is impossible to determine the responsibility that each local authority has on emission controls, nor compare them with land-based emissions to determine the priority for controlling these emissions. In this study, we provide national- to port-level inventories for China. The results show that in 2013, the total emissions of CO, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), particulate matter (PM), SO2 and CO2 were 0.0741 ± 0.0004 Tg•yr-1, 0.0691 ± 0.0004 Tg•yr-1, 1.91 ± 0.01 Tg•yr-1, 0.164 ± 0.001 Tg•yr-1, 1.30 ± 0.01 Tg•yr-1 and 86.3 ± 0.3 Tg•yr-1 in China, respectively. By providing high-resolution spatial distribution maps of these emissions, we identify three hotspots, centered on the Bohai Rim Area, the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. These three hotspots account for 8% of the ocean area evaluated in this study, but contribute around 37% of total shipping emissions. Compared with on-road mobile source emissions, NO x and PM emissions from ships are equivalent to about 34% and 29% of the total mobile vehicle emissions in China. Moreover, this study provides detailed emission inventories for 24 ports in the country, which also greatly contributes to our understanding of global shipping emissions, given that eight of these ports rank within the top twenty of the port league table. Several ports in China suffer emissions 12-147 times higher than those at Los Angeles port. The ports of Ningbo-Zhou Shan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dalian dominate the port-level inventories, with individual emissions accounting for 28%-31%, 10%-14%, 10%-12% and 8%-14% of total emissions, respectively.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zimmerman, Jonathan A.; Jones, Reese E.; Templeton, Jeremy Alan

J.Delph, Remi Dingreville, James W. Foulk III, Robert J. Hardy, Richard Lehoucq, Alejandro Mota,Gregory J. Wagner, Edmund B. Webb III and Xiaowang Zhou. Support for this project was pro-vided by the Enabling Predictive Simulation Investment Area of Sandia's Laboratory DirectedResearch and Development (LDRD) program.5« less

The Circadian Clock Gene Csnk1e Regulates Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Amount, and Nonrapid Eye Movement Sleep Architecture in Mice

PubMed Central

Zhou, Lili; Bryant, Camron D.; Loudon, Andrew; Palmer, Abraham A.; Vitaterna, Martha Hotz; Turek, Fred W.

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: Efforts to identify the genetic basis of mammalian sleep have included quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and gene targeting of known core circadian clock genes. We combined three different genetic approaches to identify and test a positional candidate sleep gene — the circadian gene casein kinase 1 epsilon (Csnk1e), which is located in a QTL we identified for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep on chromosome 15. Measurements and Results: Using electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) recordings, baseline sleep was examined in a 12-h light:12-h dark (LD 12:12) cycle in mice of seven genotypes, including Csnk1etau/tau and Csnk1e-/- mutant mice, Csnk1eB6.D2 and Csnk1eD2.B6 congenic mice, and their respective wild-type littermate control mice. Additionally, Csnk1etau/tau and wild-type mice were examined in constant darkness (DD). Csnk1etau/tau mutant mice and both Csnk1eB6.D2 and Csnk1eD2.B6 congenic mice showed significantly higher proportion of sleep time spent in REM sleep during the dark period than wild-type controls — the original phenotype for which the QTL on chromosome 15 was identified. This phenotype persisted in Csnk1etau/tau mice while under free-running DD conditions. Other sleep phenotypes observed in Csnk1etau/tau mice and congenics included a decreased number of bouts of nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and an increased average NREM sleep bout duration. Conclusions: These results demonstrate a role for Csnk1e in regulating not only the timing of sleep, but also the REM sleep amount and NREM sleep architecture, and support Csnk1e as a causal gene in the sleep QTL on chromosome 15. Citation: Zhou L; Bryant CD; Loudon A; Palmer AA; Vitaterna MH; Turek FW. The circadian clock gene Csnk1e regulates rapid eye movement sleep amount, and nonrapid eye movement sleep architecture in mice. SLEEP 2014;37(4):785-793. PMID:24744456

Towards Molecular Characterization of Mineral-Organic Matter Interface Using In Situ Liquid Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Z.; Yu, X. Y.

2017-12-01

microscopy. References:1 Hua, X. et al. Analyst 139, 1609-1613, (2014).2 Zhou, Y. F. et al. J Am Soc Mass Spectr 27, 2006-2013, (2016).3 Ding, Y. Z. et al. Anal Chem 88, 11244-11252, (2016).

Switching of the substrate specificity of protein tyrosine phosphatase N12 by cyclin-dependent kinase 2 phosphorylation orchestrating 2 oncogenic pathways.

PubMed

Li, Hui; Yang, Duxiao; Ning, Shanglei; Xu, Yinghui; Yang, Fan; Yin, Rusha; Feng, Taihu; Han, Shouqing; Guo, Lu; Zhang, Pengju; Qu, Wenjie; Guo, Renbo; Song, Chen; Xiao, Peng; Zhou, Chengjun; Xu, Zhigang; Sun, Jin-Peng; Yu, Xiao

2018-01-01

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 12 (PTPN12) is a multifunctional protein and has elicited much research attention because its decreased protein level has been associated with poor prognosis of several types of cancers. Recently, we have solved the crystal structure of the phosphatase domain of PTPN12, which disclosed a specific PTPN12-insert-loop harboring a cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) phosphorylation site. However, the functional significance of this phosphorylation is undefined. In the present study, we found that S19 site phosphorylation of PTPN12 by CDK2 discharged its antitumor activity by down-regulation of its inhibitory role in cell migration, but not affecting its other regulatory functions. Phosphorylation of PTPN12 at the S19 site changed its substrate interface, and by doing so, selectively decreased its activity toward the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)- pY 1196 site, but not other HER2 phosphorylation sites or other known PTPN12 substrates. A further in-depth mechanism study revealed that the phosphorylation of PTPN12 by CDK2 impaired recruitment of the serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (PAK1) to HER2, resulted in the blockade of the HER2-pY 1196 -PAK1-T 423 signaling pathway, thus increased tumor cell motility. Taken together, our results identified a new phosphorylation-based substrate recognition mechanism of PTPN12 by CDK2, which orchestrated signaling crosstalk between the oncogenic CDK2 and HER2 pathways. The newly identified governing mechanism of the substrate selectivity of a particular phosphatase was previously unappreciated and exemplifies how a phospho-network is precisely controlled in different cellular contexts.-Li, H., Yang, D., Ning, S., Xu, Y., Yang, F., Yin, R., Feng, T., Han, S., Guo, L., Zhang, P., Qu, W., Guo, R., Song, C., Xiao, P., Zhou, C., Xu, Z., Sun, J.-P., Yu, X. Switching of the substrate specificity of protein tyrosine phosphatase N12 by cyclin-dependent kinase 2 phosphorylation

Neutron Spectroscopy on the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knauer, J. P.

2012-10-01

The performance of cryogenic fuel implosion experiments in progress at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is measured by an experimental threshold factorfootnotetextM. J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 051003 (2011). (ITFX) and a generalized Lawson Criterion.footnotetextC. D. Zhou and R. Betti, Phys. Plasmas 15, 102707 (2008); P. Y. Chang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 135002 (2010); and R. Betti et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 058102 (2010). The ITFX metric is determined by the fusion yield and the areal density of an assembled deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel mass. Typical neutron yields from NIF implosions are greater than 10^14 allowing the neutron energy spectrum to be measured with unprecedented precision. A NIF spectrum is composed of neutrons created by fusion (DT, DD, and TT reactions) and neutrons scattered by the dense, cold fuel layer. Neutron scattering is used to determine the areal density of a NIF implosion and is measured along four lines of sight by two neutron time-of-flight detectors, a neutron imaging system, and the magnetic recoil spectrometer. An accurate measurement of the instrument response function for these detectors allows for the routine production of neutron spectra showing DT fuel areal densities up to 1.3 g/cm^2. Spectra over neutron energies of 10 to 17 MeV show areal-density asymmetries of 20% that are inconsistent with simulations. New calibrations and analyses have expended the spectral coverage down to energies less than the deuterium backscatter edge (1.5 MeV for 14 MeV neutrons). These data and analyses are presented along with a compilation of other nuclear diagnostic data that show a larger-than-expected variation in the areal density over the cold fuel mass. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No DE-FC52-08NA28302. In collaboration with NIC.

A novel tarantula toxin stabilizes the deactivated voltage sensor of bacterial sodium channel.

PubMed

Tang, Cheng; Zhou, Xi; Nguyen, Phuong Tran; Zhang, Yunxiao; Hu, Zhaotun; Zhang, Changxin; Yarov-Yarovoy, Vladimir; DeCaen, Paul G; Liang, Songping; Liu, Zhonghua

2017-07-01

Voltage-gated sodium channels (Na V s) are activated by transiting the voltage sensor from the deactivated to the activated state. The crystal structures of several bacterial Na V s have captured the voltage sensor module (VSM) in an activated state, but structure of the deactivated voltage sensor remains elusive. In this study, we sought to identify peptide toxins stabilizing the deactivated VSM of bacterial Na V s. We screened fractions from several venoms and characterized a cystine knot toxin called JZTx-27 from the venom of tarantula Chilobrachys jingzhao as a high-affinity antagonist of the prokaryotic Na V s Ns V Ba (nonselective voltage-gated Bacillus alcalophilus ) and NaChBac (bacterial sodium channel from Bacillus halodurans ) (IC 50 = 112 nM and 30 nM, respectively). JZTx-27 was more efficacious at weaker depolarizing voltages and significantly slowed the activation but accelerated the deactivation of Ns V Ba, whereas the local anesthetic drug lidocaine was shown to antagonize Ns V Ba without affecting channel gating. Mutation analysis confirmed that JZTx-27 bound to S3-4 linker of Ns V Ba, with F98 being the critical residue in determining toxin affinity. All electrophysiological data and in silico analysis suggested that JZTx-27 trapped VSM of Ns V Ba in one of the deactivated states. In mammalian Na V s, JZTx-27 preferably inhibited the inactivation of Na V 1.5 by targeting the fourth transmembrane domain. To our knowledge, this is the first report of peptide antagonist for prokaryotic Na V s. More important, we proposed that JZTx-27 stabilized the Ns V Ba VSM in the deactivated state and may be used as a probe to determine the structure of the deactivated VSM of Na V s.-Tang, C., Zhou, X., Nguyen, P. T., Zhang, Y., Hu, Z., Zhang, C., Yarov-Yarovoy, V., DeCaen, P. G., Liang, S., Liu, Z. A novel tarantula toxin stabilizes the deactivated voltage sensor of bacterial sodium channel. © FASEB.

Use of the Attribute Hierarchy Method for Development of Student Cognitive Models and Diagnostic Assessments in Geoscience Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corrigan, S.; Brodsky, L. M.; Loper, S.; Brown, N.; Curley, J.; Baker, J.; Goss, M.; Castek, J.; Barber, J.

2010-12-01

There is a recognized need to better understand student learning in the geosciences (Stofflet, 1994; Zalles, Quallmalz, Gobert and Pallant, 2007). Educators, cognitive psychologists and practicing scientists have also called for instructional approaches that support deep conceptual development (Manduca, Mogk and Stillings, 2004, Libarkin and Kurdziel, 2006). In both cases there is an important role for educational measures that can generate descriptions of how student understanding develops over time and inform instruction. The presenters will suggest one way of responding to these needs by describing the Attribute Hierarchy Method (AHM) of assessment (Leighton, Gierl and Hunka, 2004; Gierl, Cui, Wang and Zhou, 2008) as enacted in a large-scale earth science curriculum development project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The AHM is one approach to criterion referenced, diagnostic assessment that ties measure design to cognitive models of student learning in order to support justified inferences about students’ understanding and the knowledge required for continued development. The Attribute Hierarchy Method bears potential for researchers and practitioners interested in learning progressions and solves many problems associated with making meaningful, justified inferences about students’ understanding based on their assessment performances. The process followed to design and develop the project’s cognitive models as well as a description of how they are used in subsequent assessment task design will be emphasized in order to demonstrate how the AHM may be applied in the context of geoscience education. Results from over twenty student cognitive interviews, and two hypothesized cognitive models -- one describing a student pathway for understanding rock formation and a second describing a student pathway for increasingly sophisticated use of maps and models in the geosciences - are also described. Sample assessment items will be provided as

Study on Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds (CMB) in Pearl River Delta region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Shao, M.; Lu, S.; Chang, C.; Wang, C. J.; Wang, B.

2007-05-01

The profiles of major Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sources including vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapor, painting, asphalt, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biomass burning and petrochemical industry in Pearl River Delta were experimentally determined. Source samples were taken by using dilution chamber for mobile and stationary sources, laboratory simulation for biomass burning. The concentrations of 108 VOC species of sources were quantified by using canister with pre-concentration-GC/MS system, from which 52 PAMS hydrocarbons and one kind of chlorinated hydrocarbon were deployed to build the source profiles for source apportionment of VOCs. Based the measurement of source profiles, the possible tracers for various emission sources were identified, e.g 2-methylbutane and 1,3-butadiene were the tracers for motor vehicle exhaust, the characteristic compounds of architectural and furnishing coatings are aromatics such as toluene and m/p-xylene; the light hydrocarbons, namely n-butane, trans-2-butene and n-pentane, dominated the composition of gasoline vapor; and the nonane, decane and undecane are found to represent the asphalt emissions etc.. The CMB receptor model was applied to source apportionment of 58 hydrocarbons measured at seven sites during the PRD campaign, 2004. The 12 kinds of VOC sources include gasoline/diesel-powered vehicle exhaust, gasoline/diesel headspace vapor, vehicle evaporative emissions, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) leakage, painting vapors, asphalt emission from paved road, biomass burning, coal burning, chemical industry and petroleum refinery. Vehicle exhaust was the largest sources contributing over half of the ambient VOCs at the three urban sites (GuangZhou, FoShan and ZhongShan). LPG leakage played an important role with the percentage of 8- 16% in most sites in PRD. Contributions from solvents usage were highest at DongGuan, an industrial site. At XinKen, the solvents and coatings had the largest percentage of 31% probably due to the

Identification of Causal Genes, Networks, and Transcriptional Regulators of REM Sleep and Wake

PubMed Central

Millstein, Joshua; Winrow, Christopher J.; Kasarskis, Andrew; Owens, Joseph R.; Zhou, Lili; Summa, Keith C.; Fitzpatrick, Karrie; Zhang, Bin; Vitaterna, Martha H.; Schadt, Eric E.; Renger, John J.; Turek, Fred W.

2011-01-01

Study Objective: Sleep-wake traits are well-known to be under substantial genetic control, but the specific genes and gene networks underlying primary sleep-wake traits have largely eluded identification using conventional approaches, especially in mammals. Thus, the aim of this study was to use systems genetics and statistical approaches to uncover the genetic networks underlying 2 primary sleep traits in the mouse: 24-h duration of REM sleep and wake. Design: Genome-wide RNA expression data from 3 tissues (anterior cortex, hypothalamus, thalamus/midbrain) were used in conjunction with high-density genotyping to identify candidate causal genes and networks mediating the effects of 2 QTL regulating the 24-h duration of REM sleep and one regulating the 24-h duration of wake. Setting: Basic sleep research laboratory. Patients or Participants: Male [C57BL/6J × (BALB/cByJ × C57BL/6J*) F1] N2 mice (n = 283). Interventions: None. Measurements and Results: The genetic variation of a mouse N2 mapping cross was leveraged against sleep-state phenotypic variation as well as quantitative gene expression measurement in key brain regions using integrative genomics approaches to uncover multiple causal sleep-state regulatory genes, including several surprising novel candidates, which interact as components of networks that modulate REM sleep and wake. In particular, it was discovered that a core network module, consisting of 20 genes, involved in the regulation of REM sleep duration is conserved across the cortex, hypothalamus, and thalamus. A novel application of a formal causal inference test was also used to identify those genes directly regulating sleep via control of expression. Conclusion: Systems genetics approaches reveal novel candidate genes, complex networks and specific transcriptional regulators of REM sleep and wake duration in mammals. Citation: Millstein J; Winrow CJ; Kasarskis A; Owens JR; Zhou L; Summa KC; Fitzpatrick K; Zhang B; Vitaterna MH; Schadt EE

Activation of Nrf2 contributes to the protective effect of Exendin-4 against angiotensin II-induced vascular smooth muscle cell senescence.

PubMed

Zhou, Tengfei; Zhang, Mengqian; Zhao, Liang; Li, Aiqin; Qin, Xiaomei

2016-10-01

Oxidative stress and impaired antioxidant defense are believed to be contributors to the cardiovascular aging process. The transcription factor nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a key role in orchestrating cellular antioxidant defenses and maintaining redox homeostasis. Our previous study showed that Exendin-4, a glucagon-like peptide-1 analog, alleviates angiotensin II (ANG II)-induced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) senescence by inhibiting Rac1 activation via cAMP/PKA (Zhao L, Li AQ, Zhou TF, Zhang MQ, Qin XM. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 307: C1130-C1141, 2014). The objective of this study is to investigate if Nrf2 mediates the antisenescent effect of Exendin-4 in ANG II-induced VSMCs. Here we report that Exendin-4 triggered Nrf2 nuclear translocation, a downstream target of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB) and expressions of antioxidant genes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, knock-down of Nrf2 attenuated the inhibitory effects of Exendin-4 on ANG II-induced superoxidant generation and VSMC senescence. PKA/CREB pathway participated in the upregulations of HO-1 and NQO-1 induced by Exendin-4. Notably, our study revealed that Exendin-4 dose-dependently increased the acetylation of Nrf2 and the recruitment of transcriptional coactivator CREB binding protein (CBP) to Nrf2. The Exendin-4-induced Nrf2 transactivation was diminished in the presence of CBP small interfering RNA. Microscope imaging of Nrf2, as well as immunoblotting for Nrf2, showed that the Exendin-4-evoked Nrf2 acetylation favored its nuclear retention. Importantly, CBP silencing attenuated the suppressing effects of Exendin-4 on ANG II-induced VSMC senescence and superoxidant production. In conclusion, these results provide a mechanistic insight into how Nrf2 signaling mediates the antisenescent and antioxidative effects induced by Exendin-4 in VSMCs. Copyright © 2016 the American

Reconstructing the spatial pattern of historical forest land in China in the past 300 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xuhong; Jin, Xiaobin; Xiang, Xiaomin; Fan, Yeting; Shan, Wei; Zhou, Yinkang

2018-06-01

The reconstruction of the historical forest spatial distribution is of a great significance to understanding land surface cover in historical periods as well as its climate and ecological effects. Based on the maximum scope of historical forest land before human intervention, the characteristics of human behaviors in farmland reclamation and deforestation for heating and timber, we create a spatial evolution model to reconstruct the spatial pattern of historical forest land. The model integrates the land suitability for reclamation, the difficulty of deforestation, the attractiveness of timber trading markets and the abundance of forest resources to calibrate the potential scope of historical forest land with the rationale that the higher the probability of deforestation for reclamation and wood, the greater the likelihood that the forest land will be deforested. Compared to the satellite-based forest land distribution in 2000, about 78.5% of our reconstructed historical forest grids are of the absolute error between 25% and -25% while as many as 95.85% of those grids are of the absolute error between 50% and -50%, which indirectly validates the feasibility of our reconstructed model. Then, we simulate the spatial distribution of forest land in China in 1661, 1724, 1820, 1887, 1933 and 1952 with the grid resolution of 1 km × 1 km. Our result shows that (1) the reconstructed historical forest land in China in the past 300 years concentrates in DaXingAnLing, XiaoXingAnLing, ChangBaiShan, HengDuanShan, DaBaShan, WuYiShan, DaBieShan, XueFengShang and etc.; (2) in terms of the spatial evolution, historical forest land shrank gradually in LiaoHe plains, SongHuaJiang-NenJiang plains and SanJiang plains of eastnorth of China, Sichuan basins and YunNan-GuiZhou Plateaus; and (3) these observations are consistent to the proceeding of agriculture reclamation in China in past 300 years towards Northeast China and Southwest China.

Size-Fractionated Particle Number Concentrations and Daily Mortality in a Chinese City

PubMed Central

Meng, Xia; Ma, Yanjun; Chen, Renjie; Zhou, Zhijun; Chen, Bingheng

2013-01-01

Background: Associations between airborne particles and health outcomes have been documented worldwide; however, there is limited information regarding health effects associated with different particle sizes. Objectives: We explored the association between size-fractionated particle number concentrations (PNCs) and daily mortality in Shenyang, China. Methods: We collected daily data on cause-specific mortality and PNCs for particles measuring 0.25–10 μm in diameter between 1 December 2006 and 30 November 2008. We used quasi-Poisson regression generalized additive models to estimate associations between PNCs and mortality, and we used natural spline smoothing functions to adjust for time-varying covariates and long-term and seasonal trends. Results: Mean numbers of daily deaths were 67, 32, and 7 for all natural causes, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases, respectively. Interquartile range (IQR) increases in PNCs for particles measuring 0.25–0.50 μm were significantly associated with total and cardiovascular mortality, but not respiratory mortality. Effect estimates were larger for PNCs during the warm season than the cool season, and increased with decreasing particle size. IQR increases in PNCs of 0.25–0.28 μm, 0.35–0.40 μm, and 0.45–0.50 μm particles were associated with 2.41% (95% CI: 1.23, 3.58%), 1.31% (95% CI: 0.52, 2.09%), and 0.45% (95% CI: 0.04, 0.87%) higher total mortality, respectively. Associations were generally stable after adjustment for mass concentrations of ambient particles and gaseous pollutants. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that particles < 0.5 μm in diameter may be most responsible for adverse health effects of particulate air pollution and that adverse health effects may increase with decreasing particle size. Citation: Meng X, Ma Y, Chen R, Zhou Z, Chen B, Kan H. 2013. Size-fractionated particle number concentrations and daily mortality in a Chinese city. Environ Health Perspect 121:1174–1178;�

Capturing non-local interactions by long short-term memory bidirectional recurrent neural networks for improving prediction of protein secondary structure, backbone angles, contact numbers and solvent accessibility.

PubMed

Heffernan, Rhys; Yang, Yuedong; Paliwal, Kuldip; Zhou, Yaoqi

2017-09-15

The accuracy of predicting protein local and global structural properties such as secondary structure and solvent accessible surface area has been stagnant for many years because of the challenge of accounting for non-local interactions between amino acid residues that are close in three-dimensional structural space but far from each other in their sequence positions. All existing machine-learning techniques relied on a sliding window of 10-20 amino acid residues to capture some 'short to intermediate' non-local interactions. Here, we employed Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Networks (BRNNs) which are capable of capturing long range interactions without using a window. We showed that the application of LSTM-BRNN to the prediction of protein structural properties makes the most significant improvement for residues with the most long-range contacts (|i-j| >19) over a previous window-based, deep-learning method SPIDER2. Capturing long-range interactions allows the accuracy of three-state secondary structure prediction to reach 84% and the correlation coefficient between predicted and actual solvent accessible surface areas to reach 0.80, plus a reduction of 5%, 10%, 5% and 10% in the mean absolute error for backbone ϕ , ψ , θ and τ angles, respectively, from SPIDER2. More significantly, 27% of 182724 40-residue models directly constructed from predicted C α atom-based θ and τ have similar structures to their corresponding native structures (6Å RMSD or less), which is 3% better than models built by ϕ and ψ angles. We expect the method to be useful for assisting protein structure and function prediction. The method is available as a SPIDER3 server and standalone package at http://sparks-lab.org . yaoqi.zhou@griffith.edu.au or yuedong.yang@griffith.edu.au. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email

Controlled Neutralization of Anions in Cryogenic Matrices by Near-Threshold Photodetachment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludwig, Ryan M.; Moore, David T.

2014-06-01

Using matrix isolation FTIR, we have observed the formation of anionic copper carbonyl complexes [Cu(CO)n]- (n=1-3) following co-deposition of Cu- and counter-cations (Ar+ or Kr+) into argon matrices doped with CO. The infrared bands have been previously assigned in argon matrix studies employing laser ablation, however they were quite weak compared to the bands for the corresponding neutral species. In the current study, when the deposition is carried out in fully darkened conditions at 10 K with high CO concentrations (1-2%), only the bands for the anionic complexes are observed initially via FTIR. However, upon mild irradiation with broadband visible light, the anionic bands are rapidly depleted, with concomitant appearance of bands corresponding to neutral copper carbonyl complexes. This photo-triggered neutralization is attributed to photodetachment of electrons from the anions, which then "flow" through the solid argon matrix to recombine in the matrix with non-adjacent trapping sites. This mechanism is supported by the appearance of a new band near 1515 wn, assigned to the (CO)2- species in argon. The wavelength dependence of the photodetachment will be discussed in detail, although preliminary indications are that the thresholds for the copper carbonyls, which are normally in the infrared, are shifted into the visible region of the spectrum in argon matrices. This likely occurs because the conduction band of solid argon is known to lie about 1 eV above the vacuum level, and thus the electron must have at least this much energy in order to escape into the matrix and find a trapping site. Funding support from NSF CAREER Award CHE-0955637 is gratefully acknowledged Ryan M. Ludwig and David T. Moore, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 244202 (2013) Zhou, M.; Andrews, L., J. Chem. Phys. 111, 4548 (1999). Thompson, W.E.; Jacox, M.E.; J. Chem. Phys. 91, 735 (1991). Stanzel, J. et al.; Collect. Czech. Chem. Comm. 72, 1 (2007). Harbich, W. et al.; Phys. Rev. B. 76, 104306 (2007).

Estimation and Uncertainty Analysis of Impacts of Future Heat Waves on Mortality in the Eastern United States

PubMed Central

Wu, Jianyong; Zhou, Ying; Gao, Yang; Fu, Joshua S.; Johnson, Brent A.; Huang, Cheng; Kim, Young-Min

2013-01-01

Background: Climate change is anticipated to influence heat-related mortality in the future. However, estimates of excess mortality attributable to future heat waves are subject to large uncertainties and have not been projected under the latest greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Objectives: We estimated future heat wave mortality in the eastern United States (approximately 1,700 counties) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and investigated sources of uncertainty. Methods: Using dynamically downscaled hourly temperature projections for 2057–2059, we projected heat wave days that were defined using four heat wave metrics and estimated the excess mortality attributable to them. We apportioned the sources of uncertainty in excess mortality estimates using a variance-decomposition method. Results: Estimates suggest that excess mortality attributable to heat waves in the eastern United States would result in 200–7,807 deaths/year (mean 2,379 deaths/year) in 2057–2059. Average excess mortality projections under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios were 1,403 and 3,556 deaths/year, respectively. Excess mortality would be relatively high in the southern states and eastern coastal areas (excluding Maine). The major sources of uncertainty were the relative risk estimates for mortality on heat wave versus non–heat wave days, the RCP scenarios, and the heat wave definitions. Conclusions: Mortality risks from future heat waves may be an order of magnitude higher than the mortality risks reported in 2002–2004, with thousands of heat wave–related deaths per year in the study area projected under the RCP8.5 scenario. Substantial spatial variability in county-level heat mortality estimates suggests that effective mitigation and adaptation measures should be developed based on spatially resolved data. Citation: Wu J, Zhou Y, Gao Y, Fu JS, Johnson BA, Huang C, Kim YM, Liu Y. 2014. Estimation and uncertainty analysis of impacts of future heat waves on mortality

Fast Mechanically Driven Daughter Cell Separation Is Widespread in Actinobacteria.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaoxue; Halladin, David K; Theriot, Julie A

2016-08-30

among the Actinobacteria, a diverse group that includes significant pathogens as well as bacteria that generate medically important antibiotics. Copyright © 2016 Zhou et al.

Advanced Materials and Processing 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunfeng; Su, Chun Wei; Xia, Hui; Xiao, Pengfei

2011-06-01

wires / Shuling Zhang, Dawei Xing and Jianfei Sun -- Effect of Yb addition on the microstructure and tensile properties of Mg-5Al alloy / Su Mi Jo ... [et al.] -- Finite element analysis of the warm deep-drawing process of magnesium matrix composite reinforced with CNTs / Li Weixue and Zhang Hujun -- Effect of ultrasonic shot peening on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of SUS304 / Deokgi Ahn ... [et al.] -- Microstructure of Fe-Cr surface infiltrated composite layer on gray iron substrate / Gui-Rong Yang ... [et al.] -- Effect of carbon contents and Ti addition on the microstructure of ultra-low carbon steel / Yinsheng He ... [et al.].Microstructure and mechanical property of laser direct manufacturing metal thin wall cylinder / X. D. Zhang ... [et al.] -- Evolution of morphology and composition of the carbides in Cr-Mo-V steel after service exposure / Jiling Dong ... [et al.] -- Thermal annealing treatment to achieve switchable and reversible wettability on ZnO nanowires surface / Changsong Liu ... [et al.] -- Physical and electrochemical properties of nanostructured nickel sulfide as a cathode material for lithium ion batteries / Seong-Ju Sim ... [et al.] -- Effect of heat treatment on fatigue behavior of biomedical Ni-Ti alloy wires under ultrasonic conditions / Zhou Huimin ... [et al.] -- The electrochemical behavior of Mg-Ce-Zn system / Kyung Chul Park ... [et al.] -- Fabrication of highly-oleophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces on microtextured Al substrates / Changsong Liu ... [et al.] -- Effect of cooling rate on microstructure and properties of Fe3Al intermetallics / Li Ya-Min, Liu Hong-Jun and Hao Yuan -- Calculation of laser transformation hardening with a circle beam / Binggong Yan and Jichang Liu -- The application of the unified homogeneous periodical boundary conditions to the prediction of effective elastic stiffness in a widespread field / Dong Yu, Hong Yang and Dong-Mei Luo -- Cyclic visco-plastic behavior of API X80 line

Effects of ice storm on forest ecosystem of southern China in 2008 Shaoqiang Wang1, Lei Zhou1, Weimin Ju2, Kun Huang1 1Key Lab of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, 10010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shaoqiang

2014-05-01

Evidence is mounting that an increase in extreme climate events has begun to occur worldwide during the recent decades, which affect biosphere function and biodiversity. Ecosystems returned to its original structures and functions to maintain its sustainability, which was closely dependent on ecosystem resilience. Understanding the resilience and recovery capacity of ecosystem to extreme climate events is essential to predicting future ecosystem responses to climate change. Given the overwhelming importance of this region in the overall carbon cycle of forest ecosystems in China, south China suffered a destructive ice storm in 2008. In this study, we used the number of freezing day and a process-based model (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator, BEPS) to characterize the spatial distribution of ice storm region in southeastern China and explore the impacts on carbon cycle of forest ecosystem over the past decade. The ecosystem variables, i.e. Net primary productivity (NPP), Evapotranspiration (ET), and Water use efficiency (WUE, the ratio of NPP to ET) from the outputs of BEPS models were used to detect the resistance and resilience of forest ecosystem in southern China. The pattern of ice storm-induced forest productivity widespread decline was closely related to the number of freezing day during the ice storm period. The NPP of forest area suffered heavy ice storm returned to normal status after five months with high temperature and ample moisture, indicated a high resilience of subtropical forest in China. The long-term changes of forest WUE remain stable, behaving an inherent sensitivity of ecosystem to extreme climate events. In addition, ground visits suggested that the recovery of forest productivity was attributed to rapid growth of understory. Understanding the variability and recovery threshold of ecosystem following extreme climate events help us to better simulate and predict the variability of ecosystem structure and function under current and future climate change.

The digits of the wing of birds are 1, 2, and 3. A review.

PubMed

Vargas, Alexander O; Fallon, John F

2005-05-15

Fossil evidence documenting the evolutionary transition from theropod dinosaurs to birds indicates unambiguously that the digits of the wing of birds are digits 1, 2, and 3. However, some embryological evidence suggests that these digits are 2, 3, and 4. This apparent lack of correspondence has been described as the greatest challenge to the widely accepted theropod-bird link (Zhou 2004. Naturwissenschaften 91:455-471). Here we review the pertinent literature regarding the debate on the origin of birds and wing digital identity and the evidence in favor of a 1, 2, 3 identity of the wing digits. Recent molecular evidence shows that the expression of Hoxd12 and Hoxd13 in the developing wing supports the theropod-bird link. In the chicken foot and in the mouse hand and foot, digit 1 is the only digit to combine the expression of Hoxd13 with the absence of expression of Hoxd12. The same is observed in the anterior digit of the wing, suggesting it is a digit 1, as expected for a theropod. Nevertheless, Galis et al. (2005. J Exp Zool (Mol Dev Evol) in press), argue that Hoxd12 and Hoxd13 expression patterns in mutant limbs do not allow distinguishing the most anterior digit in the bird wing from digit 2. They also argue that constraints to the evolution of limb development support the 2, 3, 4 identity of the wing digits. However, the case put forward by Galis et al. is biased and flawed with regard to interpretation of mutant limbs, developmental mechanisms, stages observed, and the description of the evolutionary variation of limb development. Importantly, Galis et al. do not present evidence from wild-type limbs that counters the conclusions of Vargas and Fallon (2005. J Exp Zool (Mol Dev Evol) 304B(1):85-89), and fail to provide molecular evidence to specifically support the hypothesis that the wing digits are 2, 3, and 4. The expression of Hoxd12 and Hoxd13 in the developing wing is consistent with the hypothesis that birds are living dinosaurs; this view can lead to

Seismic evidence of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary beneath Izu-Bonin area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, H.; Gao, Y.; Zhou, Y.

2016-12-01

The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), separating the rigid lithosphere and the ductile asthenosphere layers, is the seismic discontinuity with the negative velocity contrast of the Earth's interior [Fischer et al., 2010]. The LAB has been also termed the Gutenberg (G) discontinuity that defines the top of the low velocity zone in the upper mantle [Gutenberg, 1959; Revenaugh and Jordan, 1991]. The seismic velocity, viscosity, resistivity and other physical parameters change rapidly with the depths across the boundary [Eaton et al., 2009]. Seismic detections on the LAB in subduction zone regions are of great help to understand the interactions between the lithosphere and asthenosphere layers and the geodynamic processes related with the slab subductions. In this study, the vertical broadband waveforms are collected from three deep earthquake events occurring from 2000 to 2014 with the focal depths of 400 600 km beneath the Izu-Bonin area. The waveform data is processed with the linear slant stack method [Zang and Zhou, 2002] to obtain the vespagrams in the relative travel-time to slowness domain and the stacked waveforms. The sP precursors reflected on the LAB (sLABP), which have the negative polarities with the amplitude ratios of 0.17 0.21 relative to the sP phases, are successfully extracted. Based on the one-dimensional modified velocity model (IASP91-IB), we obtain the distributions for six reflected points of the sLABP phases near the source region. Our results reveal that the LAB depths range between 58 and 65 km beneath the Izu-Bonin Arc, with the average depth of 62 km and the small topography of 7 km. Compared with the results of the tectonic stable areas in Philippine Sea [Kawakatsu et al., 2009; Kumar and Kawakatsu, 2011], the oceanic lithosphere beneath the Izu-Bonin Arc shows the obvious thinning phenomena. We infer that the lithospheric thinning is closely related with the partial melting, which is caused by the volatiles continuously released

Atmospheric Fossil Fuel CO2 Tracing By 14C In Some Chinese Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, W.; Niu, Z.; Zhu, Y., Sr.

2016-12-01

CO2 plays an important role in global climate as a primary greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Moreover, it has been shown that more than 70% of global fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff) emissions are concentrated in urban areas (Duren and Miller, 2012). Our study focuses on atmospheric CO2ff concentrations in 15 Chinese cities using accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) to measure 14C. Our objectives are: (1) to document atmospheric CO2ff concentrations in a variety of urban environments, (2) to differentiate the spatial-temporal variations in CO2ff among these cities, and (3) to ascertain the factors that control the observed variations. For about two years (winter 2014 to winter 2016), the CO2ff concentrations we observed from all sites varied from 5.1±4.5 ppm to 65.8±39.0 ppm. We observed that inland cities display much higher CO2ff concentrations and overall temporal variations than coastal cities in winter, and that northern cities have higher CO2ff concentrations than those of southern cities in winter. For inland cities relatively high CO2ff values are observed in winter and low values in summer; while seasonal variations are not distinct in the coastal cities. No significant (p > 0.05) differences in CO2ff values are found between weekdays and weekends as was shown previously in Xi'an (Zhou et al., 2014). Diurnal CO2ff variations are plainly evident, with high values between midnight and 4:00 am, and during morning and afternoon rush hours (Niu et al., 2016). The high CO2ff concentrations in northern inland cities in winter results mainly from the substantial consumption of fossil fuels for heating. The high CO2ff concentrations seen in diurnal measurements result mainly from variations in atmospheric dispersion, and from vehicle emissions related to traffic flows. The inter-annual variations in CO2ff in cities could provide a useful reference for local governments to develop policy around the effect of energy conservation and emission reduction strategies.

Comets C/2003 X5-X11 and Y2-Y10 (SOHO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battams, K.; Boschat, M.; Zhou, X.-M.; Hoffman, T.; Leprette, X.; Matson, R.; Kracht, R.; Sachs, J.; Marsden, B. G.; Kisala, R.

2004-06-01

Further to IAUC 8356, K. Battams reports measurements for additional Kreutz sungrazing comets found on SOHO website C2 images by M. Boschat (C/2003 X5, X7, Y5, Y8), X.-m. Zhou (C/2003 X6, X9, X11), T. Hoffman (C/2003 X8), X. Leprette (C/2003 X10, Y2), R. Matson (2003 Y3, Y9, Y10), R. Kracht (C/2003 Y4, Y7), and J. Sachs (C/2003 Y6). C/2003 Y6 and Y7 were also visible on C3 images. The reductions by B. G. Marsden (and by R. Kisala for C/2003 Y8, Y9, Y10) and orbital elements by Marsden appear on the MPECs cited below. Comet 2003 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. MPEC C/2003 X5 Dec. 4.896 16 46.9 -24 12 2004-L24 C/2003 X6 6.396 16 52.2 -24 20 2004-L24 C/2003 X7 7.829 16 58.6 -24 27 2004-L24 C/2003 X8 8.246 17 00.9 -24 31 2004-L24 C/2003 X9 8.621 17 02.2 -24 34 2004-L24 C/2003 X10 11.188 17 14.5 -24 41 2004-L25 C/2003 X11 13.588 17 25.7 -24 57 2004-L25 C/2003 Y2 19.621 17 53.6 -25 08 2004-L25 C/2003 Y3 19.979 17 55.0 -25 02 2004-L25 C/2003 Y4 20.729 17 58.8 -25 14 2004-L25 C/2003 Y5 22.771 18 08.5 -25 08 2004-L25 C/2003 Y6 23.571 18 14.3 -27 22 2004-L26 C/2003 Y7 24.638 18 20.0 -27 44 2004-L26 C/2003 Y8 25.288 18 19.6 -25 00 2004-L67 C/2003 Y9 25.479 18 20.7 -24 46 2004-L67 C/2003 Y10 26.064 18 23.5 -24 50 2004-L67

Origin of Fe-Ti Oxide Mineralization in the Middle Paleoproterozoic Elet'ozero Syenite-Gabbro Intrusive Complex (Northern Karelia, Russia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharkov, E. V.; Chistyakov, A. V.; Shchiptsov, V. V.; Bogina, M. M.; Frolov, P. V.

2018-03-01

Magmatic oxide mineralization widely developed in syenite-gabbro intrusive complexes is an important Fe and Ti resource. However, its origin is hotly debatable. Some researchers believe that the oxide ores were formed through precipitation of dense Ti-magnetite in an initial ferrogabbroic magma (Bai et al., 2012), whereas others consider them as a product of immiscible splitting of Fe-rich liquid during crystallization of Fe-Ti basaltic magma (Zhou et al., 2013). We consider this problem with a study of the Middle Paleoproterozoic (2086 ± 30 Ma) Elet'ozero Ti-bearing layered intrusive complex in northern Karelia (Baltic Shield). The first ore-bearing phase of the complex is mainly made up of diverse ferrogabbros, with subordinate clinopyroxenites and peridotites. Fe-Ti oxides (magnetite, Ti-magnetite, and ilmenite) usually account for 10-15 vol %, reaching 30-70% in ore varieties. The second intrusive phase is formed by alkaline and nepheline syenites. Petrographical, mineralogical, and geochemical data indicate that the first phase of the intrusion was derived from a moderately alkaline Fe-Ti basaltic melt, while the parental melt of the second phase was close in composition to alkaline trachyte. The orebodies comprise disseminated and massive ores. The disseminated Fe-Ti oxide ores make up lenses and layers conformable to general layering. Massive ores occur in subordinate amounts as layers and lenses, as well as cross-cutting veins. Elevated Nb and Ta contents in Fe-Ti oxides makes it possible to consider them complex ores. It is shown that the Fe-Ti oxide mineralization is related to the formation of a residual (Fe,Ti)-rich liquid, which lasted for the entire solidification history of the first intrusive phase. The liquid originated through multiple enrichment of Fe and Ti in the crystallization zone of the intrusion owing to the following processes: (1) precipitation of silicate minerals in the crystallization zone with a corresponding increase in the Fe and

Alkalic Basalt in Ridge Axis of 53˚E Amagmatic Segment Center, Southwest Indian Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, H.; Wang, J.; Liu, Y.; Ji, F.; Dick, H. J.

2014-12-01

Mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) is key tracer of composition and process in the mantle. It is interesting to notice that some alkalic basalts occur in amagmatic spreading center of ultraslow spreading ridges, for examples, 9-16˚E of the Southwest Indian ridge (Standish et al., 2008) and Lena Trough of Arctic Ocean (Snow et al., 2011). The latter is interpreted as the result of the pre-existence of continental transform fault or the especially cold thermal structure of ancient continental lithosphere. 53˚E segment, east of the Gallieni transform fault, was discovered as an amagmatic segment (Zhou and Dick, 2013). On both sides of the ridge axis, peridotites with a little gabbro are exposed in an area more than 3200 km2. Basalts exist in the southern portion of 53˚E segment, indicating the transformation from magmatic to amagmatic spreading about 9.4 million years ago. In April of 2014, Leg 4 of the RV Dayang Yihao cruise 30, basaltic glasses was dredged at one location (3500 m water depth) in the ridge axis of 53˚E segment center. It is shown by electric probe analysis that the samples have extremely high sodium content (4.0-4.49 wt% Na­2O ), relative higher potassium content (0.27-0.32 wt% K2O) and silica (50.67-51.87 wt% SiO2), and lower MgO content (5.9-6.4 wt% MgO). Mg-number is 0.55-0.59. It is distinctly different from the N-MORB (2.42-2.68 wt% Na2O, 0.03-0.06 wt% K2O, 48.6-49.6 wt% Si2O, 8.8-9.0 wt% MgO, Mg-numbers 0.63) distributed in the 560-km-long supersegment, west of the Gallieni transform fault, where the active Dragon Flag hydrothermal field was discovered at 49.6˚E in 2007. The reasons for the alkalic basalt in the ridge axis of 53˚E amagmatic segment center, either by low melting degree of garnet stability field, by melting from an ancient subcontinental lithospheric mantle, or by sodium-metasomatism or even other mantle processes or their combination in the deep mantle, are under further studies.

A novel herbal formula induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in association with suppressing the PI3K/AKT pathway in human lung cancer A549 cells.

PubMed

Xiong, Fei; Jiang, Miao; Huang, Zhenzhou; Chen, Meijuan; Chen, Kejun; Zhou, Jing; Yin, Lian; Tang, Yuping; Wang, Mingyan; Ye, Lihong; Zhan, Zhen; Duan, Jinao; Fu, Haian; Zhang, Xu

2014-03-01

In recent years, the incidence of lung cancer, as well as the mortality rate from this disease, has increased. Moreover, because of acquired drug resistance and adverse side effects, the effectiveness of current therapeutics used for the treatment of lung cancer has decreased significantly. Chinese medicine has been shown to have significant antitumor effects and is increasingly being used for the treatment of cancer. However, as the mechanisms of action for many Chinese medicines are undefined, the application of Chinese medicine for the treatment of cancer is limited. The formula tested has been used clinically by the China National Traditional Chinese Medicine Master, Professor Zhonging Zhou for treatment of cancer. In this article, we examine the efficacy of Ke formula in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and elucidate its mechanism of action. A Balb/c nude mouse xenograft model using A549 cells was previously established. The mice were randomly divided into normal, mock, Ke, cisplatin (DDP), and co-formulated (Ke + DDP) groups. After 15 days of drug administration, the animals were sacrificed, body weight and tumor volume were recorded, and the tumor-inhibiting rate was calculated. A cancer pathway finder polymerase chain reaction array was used to monitor the expression of 88 genes in tumor tissue samples. The potential antiproliferation mechanism was also investigated by Western blot analysis. Ke formula minimized chemotherapy-related weight loss in tumor-bearing mice without exhibiting distinct toxicity. Ke formula also inhibited tumor growth, which was associated with the downregulation of genes in the PI3K/AKT, MAPK, and WNT/β-catenin pathways. The results from Western blot analyses further indicated that Ke blocked the cell cycle progression at the G1/S phase and induced apoptosis mainly via the PI3K/AKT pathway. Ke formula inhibits tumor growth in an A549 xenograft mouse model with no obvious side effects. Moreover, Ke exhibits synergistic

Recent Variability Observations of Solar System Giant Planets: Fresh Context for Understanding Exoplanet and Brown Dwarf Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marley, Mark S.; Kepler Giant Planet Variability Team, Spitzer Ice Giant Variability Team

2016-10-01

Over the past several years a number of of high cadence photometric observations of solar system giant planets have been acquired by various platforms. Such observations are of interest as they provide points of comparison to the already expansive set of brown dwarf variability observations and the small, but growing, set of exoplanet variability observations. By measuring how rapidly the integrated light from solar system giant planets can evolve, variability observations of substellar objects that are unlikely to ever be resolved can be placed in a fuller context. Examples of brown dwarf variability observations include extensive work from the ground (e.g., Radigan et al. 2014), Spitzer (e.g., Metchev et al. 2015), Kepler (Gizis et al. 2015), and HST (Yang et al. 2015). Variability has been measured on the planetary mass companion to the brown dwarf 2MASS 1207b (Zhou et al. 2016) and further searches are planned in thermal emission for the known directly imaged planets with ground based telescopes (Apai et al. 2016) and in reflected light with future space based telescopes. Recent solar system variability observations include Kepler monitoring of Neptune (Simon et al. 2016) and Uranus, Spitzer observations of Neptune (Stauffer et al. 2016), and Cassini observations of Jupiter (West et al. in prep). The Cassini observations are of particular interest as they measured the variability of Jupiter at a phase angle of ˜60○, comparable to the viewing geometry expected for space based direct imaging of cool extrasolar Jupiters in reflected light. These solar system analog observations capture many of the characteristics seen in brown dwarf variability, including large amplitudes and rapid light curve evolution on timescales as short as a few rotation periods. Simon et al. (2016) attribute such variations at Neptune to a combination of large scale, stable cloud structures along with smaller, more rapidly varying, cloud patches. The observed brown dwarf and exoplanet

Ionic size effects to molecular solvation energy and to ion current across a channel resulted from the nonuniform size-modified PNP equations.

PubMed

Qiao, Yu; Tu, Bin; Lu, Benzhuo

2014-05-07

Ionic finite size can impose considerable effects to both the equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of a solvated molecular system, such as the solvation energy, ionic concentration, and transport in a channel. As discussed in our former work [B. Lu and Y. C. Zhou, Biophys. J. 100, 2475 (2011)], a class of size-modified Poisson-Boltzmann (PB)/Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) models can be uniformly studied through the general nonuniform size-modified PNP (SMPNP) equations deduced from the extended free energy functional of Borukhov et al. [I. Borukhov, D. Andelman, and H. Orland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 435 (1997)] This work focuses on the nonuniform size effects to molecular solvation energy and to ion current across a channel for real biomolecular systems. The main contributions are: (1) we prove that for solvation energy calculation with nonuniform size effects (through equilibrium SMPNP simulation), there exists a simplified approximation formulation which is the same as the widely used one in PB community. This approximate form avoids integration over the whole domain and makes energy calculations convenient. (2) Numerical calculations show that ionic size effects tend to negate the solvation effects, which indicates that a higher molecular solvation energy (lower absolute value) is to be predicted when ionic size effects are considered. For both calculations on a protein and a DNA fragment systems in a 0.5M 1:1 ionic solution, a difference about 10 kcal/mol in solvation energies is found between the PB and the SMPNP predictions. Moreover, it is observed that the solvation energy decreases as ionic strength increases, which behavior is similar as those predicted by the traditional PB equation (without size effect) and by the uniform size-modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation. (3) Nonequilibrium SMPNP simulations of ion permeation through a gramicidin A channel show that the ionic size effects lead to reduced ion current inside the channel compared with the results

Noble Gases as tracers of fluid migration in the Haynesville shale and overlying strata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, D. J.; Barry, P. H.; Lawson, M.; Ballentine, C. J.

2017-12-01

itself, suggesting that this excess Xe and Kr originates from within the source-rock, and is subsequently shifted towards normal Xe/Kr values by mixing with groundwater-derived noble gases during migration. [1] Barry et al., 2016, GCA 194, 291-309; [2] Darrah et al., 2014, PNAS 111, 14076-81; [3] Zhou et al., 2005, GCA 69, 5413-28

Processing Rhythmic Pattern during Chinese Sentence Reading: An Eye Movement Study

PubMed Central

Luo, Yingyi; Duan, Yunyan; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O) combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010). Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2 + 1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively) and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1 + 1] or [2 + 2]). This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader's eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed), less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis processing at the

Processing Rhythmic Pattern during Chinese Sentence Reading: An Eye Movement Study.

PubMed

Luo, Yingyi; Duan, Yunyan; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O) combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010). Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2 + 1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively) and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1 + 1] or [2 + 2]). This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader's eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed), less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis processing at the

Observations of Sprites above Haiti/Dominican Republic Thunderstorms from Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasko, V. P.; Stanley, M.; Mathews, J. D.; Inan, U. S.; Wood, T. G.; Cummer, S. A.; Williams, E. R.; Heavner, M. J.

2002-12-01

grateful to M. Robinson of ITT Industries for support of our program. We thank W. Lyons for useful discussions. We are indebted to S. Gonzalez, Q. Zhou, M. Sulzer, C. Tepley, J. Friedman, E. Robles, A. Venkataraman and E. Castro for support of our observations at Arecibo Observatory.

ULF Narrowband Emissions Analysis in the Terrestrial Polar Cusps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grison, B.; Pisa, D.

2013-05-01

Polar cusps are known to be a key region for transfer of mass and momentum between the adjacent magnetosheath and the magnetosphere. The 4 spacecraft of the Cluster ESA mission crossed the polar cusps in their most distant part to the Earth in the early years of the mission (2000-2004) because of their highly eccentric orbit. The ULF wave activity in the cusp region has been linked with the magnetosheath plasma penetration since HEOS observations (D'Angelo et al., 1974). Wave and particle interaction play an important role in this colisionless plasma. The observed wave activity certainly results from both distant and local generation mechanisms. From Cluster case studies we propose to focus on one aspect for each of this place of generation. Concerning the distant generation, the possibility of a wave generation at the magnetopause itself is investigated. For this purpose we compare the propagation of the emissions on each side of the magnetopasue, i.e. in the cusp and in the magnetosheath. Concerning the local generation, the presence of locally generated waves above the local proton gyrofrequency that display a left hand polarization has been reported in Polar and Cluster studies (Le et al., 2001; Nykyri et al., 2003 ). The Doppler shift was not large enough to explain the observed frequency. We propose here to combine various techniques (k-filtering analysis, WHAMP simulations) to achieve a precise wave vector estimation and to explain these observations. References: D'Angelo, N., A. Bahnsen, and H. Rosenbauer (1974), Wave and particle measurements at the polar cusp, J. Geophys. Res., 79( 22), 3129-3134, doi:10.1029/JA079i022p03129. Le, G., X. Blanco-Cano, C. T. Russell, X.-W. Zhou, F. Mozer, K. J. Trattner, S. A. Fuselier, and B. J. Anderson (2001), Electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves in the high-altitude cusp: Polar observations, J. Geophys. Res., 106(A9), 19067-19079, doi:10.1029/2000JA900163. Nykyri, K., P. J. Cargill, E. A. Lucek, T. S. Horbury, A. Balogh

Developing an Age Model for the Cryogenian: the South China perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Condon, D. J.; Zhu, M.; Macdonald, F. A.; Tapster, S.

2014-12-01

of proxy records. They will also provide further tests and input data for numerical models that seek to simulate Cryogenian climate drivers and responses. 1. D. Condon et al., (2005) Science308, 95; 2. C. M. Zhou et al., (2004) Geology32, 437; 3. S. Zhang, et al., (2008) Terra Nova20, 289; 4. S. Zhang et al., (2005) Geology 33, 473

Recent Variability Observations of Solar System Giant Planets: Fresh Context for Understanding Exoplanet and Brown Dwarf Weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marley, Mark Scott

2016-01-01

Over the past several years a number of high cadence photometric observations of solar system giant planets have been acquired by various platforms. Such observations are of interest as they provide points of comparison to the already expansive set of brown dwarf variability observations and the small, but growing, set of exoplanet variability observations. By measuring how rapidly the integrated light from solar system giant planets can evolve, variability observations of substellar objects that are unlikely to ever be resolved can be placed in a fuller context. Examples of brown dwarf variability observations include extensive work from the ground (e.g., Radigen et al. 2014), Spitzer (e.g., Metchev et al. 2015), Kepler (Gizis et al. 2015), and HST (Yang et al. 2015).Variability has been measured on the planetary mass companion to the brown dwarf 2MASS 1207b (Zhou et al. 2016) and further searches are planned in thermal emission for the known directly imaged planets with ground based telescopes (Apai et al. 2016) and in reflected light with future space based telescopes. Recent solar system variability observations include Kepler monitoring of Neptune (Simon et al. 2016) and Uranus, Spitzer observations of Neptune (Stauffer et al. 2016), and Cassini observations of Jupiter (West et al. in prep). The Cassini observations are of particular interest as they measured the variability of Jupiter at a phase angle of approximately 60 deg, comparable to the viewing geometry expected for space based direct imaging of cool extrasolar Jupiters in reflected light. These solar system analog observations capture many of the characteristics seen in brown dwarf variability, including large amplitudes and rapid light curve evolution on timescales as short as a few rotation periods. Simon et al. (2016) attribute such variations at Neptune to a combination of large scale, stable cloud structures along with smaller, more rapidly varying, cloud patches. The observed brown dwarf and