Organic, ionic soil stabilizers (OISS) are designed to regulate directly the hydration properties of clay minerals to improve their engineering behavior. The steps involved in this regulation by OISS are unclear and this might limit their application in the current construction environment in China. The purpose of the present study was to reveal the origin of changes in hydration properties of four typical clay samples (with clay mineral contents of >90 wt.%: Na-bentonite, Ca-bentonite, illite, and kaolinite) as affected by OISS. The water-retention capacity of each clay was measured first through liquid limit and water-vapor adsorption tests. Then, the changes in hydration sites, such as exchangeable cations and the surfaces of minerals, were investigated by a series of microscopic measuring and testing techniques. Finally, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and thermal analysis were performed to verify the regulation of hydration properties by OISS. The results suggested that the exchangeable cation and surface changes controlled the regulation of hydration properties. OISS could cause some of the exchangeable cations to become free ions and disrupt the interaction between some cations and water molecules by its long organic chains; thus, the amount of hydrated cations decreased. In addition, the long organic chains covered the mineral surface and weakened its adsorption capacity. Furthermore, the long chains had cementitious qualities, connecting them to the crystalline layer and resulting in more aggregated clay particles and a smaller specific surface area (SSA). With the decrease in the number of cations and in the SSA by OISS, the hydration of the four clay samples decreased, especially in the case of bentonite.

We presented the first photometric and orbital period investigations for four W Ursae Majoris-type binaries: V473 And, V805 And, LQ Com, and EG CVn. The photometric solutions suggested that V805 And and LQ Com are two total-eclipse contact binaries, while V473 And and EG CVn are partial-eclipse ones. V473 And and LQ Com belong to the A-subtype contact binaries, while V805 And and EG CVn belong to the W subtype. The O’Connell effects found in the light curves of V805 And, LQ Com, and EG CVn can be interpreted as a result of a cool spot on the surface of their less massive and hotter primary components. Based on two different methods, the absolute physical parameters were properly determined. Combining the eclipse timings derived from our observations and survey’s data with those collected from literature, we investigated their orbital period variations. The results show that the orbital periods of V473 And, V805 And, and EG CVn are undergoing a secular decrease/increase superposed a periodic variation, while LQ Com exhibits a possible cyclic period variation with a small amplitude. The secular period changes are caused mainly by the mass transfer between two components, while the cyclic period oscillations may be interpreted as the results of either the light-time effect due to the third body or the cyclic magnetic activity. Finally, we made a statistical investigation for nearly 200 contact binaries with reliable physical parameters. The statistical results suggested that the W-subtype systems are more evolved than the A-subtype ones. Furthermore, the evolutionary direction of A-subtype into W-subtype systems is also discussed. The opposite evolutionary direction seems to be unlikely because it requires an increase of the total mass, the orbital angular momentum, and the temperature differences between two components of a binary system.

Most glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau have experienced continuous mass losses in response to global warming. However, the seasonal dynamics of glaciers on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau have rarely been reported in terms of glacier surface elevation and velocity. This paper presents a first attempt to explore the seasonal dynamics of the debris-covered Dagongba Glacier within the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. We use the multitemporal unoccupied aerial vehicle images collected over the lower ablation zone on 8 June and 17 October 2018, and 13 May 2019, and then perform an analysis concerning climatic fluctuations. The results reveal that the mean surface elevation decrease of the Dagongba Glacier during the warm season ($2.81\pm 0.44$ m) was remarkably higher than the cold season ($0.72\pm 0.45$ m). Particularly notable glacier surface elevation changes were found around supraglacial lakes and ice cliffs where ice ablation rates were $\sim$3 times higher than the average. In addition, a larger longitudinal decline of glacier surface velocity was observed in the warm season than that in the cold season. In terms of further comparative analysis, the Dagongba Glacier experienced a decrease in surface velocity between 1982–83 and 2018–19, with a decrease in the warm season possibly twice as large as that in the cold season.

This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of supplementing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in breeder hens diet on development and hepatic lipid metabolism of chick offspring. Hy-Line Brown breeder hens were allocated into two groups, supplemented with 0 (control (CT)) or 0·5 % CLA for 8 weeks. Offspring chicks were grouped according to the mother generation and fed for 7 d. CLA treatment had no significant influence on development, egg quality and fertility of breeder hens but darkened the egg yolks in shade and increased yolk sac mass compared with the CT group. Addition of CLA resulted in increased body mass and liver mass and decreased deposition of subcutaneous adipose tissue in chick offspring. The serum TAG and total cholesterol levels of chick offspring were decreased in CLA group. CLA treatment increased the incorporation of both CLA isomers (c9t11 and t10c12) in the liver of chick offspring, accompanied by the decreased hepatic TAG levels, related to the significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) enzyme activities and the increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) enzyme activity. Meanwhile, CLA treatment reduced the mRNA expression of genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS, ACC and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c) and induced the expression of genes related to β-oxidative (CPT1, AMP-activated protein kinase and PPARα) in chick offspring liver. In summary, the addition of CLA in breeder hens diet significantly increased the incorporation of CLA in the liver of chick offspring, which further regulate hepatic lipid metabolism.

CrFeNiTix (x = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 molar ratio) compositionally complex alloys were fabricated by vacuum arc melting to investigate the microstructure, hardness, and compressive properties. The results revealed that CrFeNiTix alloys consisted of the principal face-centered cubic (FCC) phase and body-centered cubic (BCC) solid solution, with an amount of (Ni, Ti)-rich hexagonal close-packed phase. CrFeNiTix alloys exhibited the typical dendrite. Ti0.2 and Ti0.3 alloys were composed of FCC and BCC solid solutions in the dendrite, as well as ε (Ni3Ti) and R (Ni2.67Ti1.33) phases in the inter-dendrite, simultaneously. For Ti0.4, Ti0.5, and Ti0.6 alloys, (Fe, Cr)-rich solid solution separated out and ε phase transformed into R phase gradually. Meanwhile, TEM analysis indicated that Ti0.4 alloy matrix consisted of the principal FCC phase containing (Ni, Ti)-rich intragranular nanoprecipitates. The hardness values of CrFeNiTix alloys were increased with the addition of Ti content and the high compressive strength of CrFeNiTix alloys was maintained, which was attributed to the solid solution strengthening and precipitation hardening.

The exaggerated grain growth, anisotropic crystallite morphology, and thermal expansion are the main reasons for the microcracking of sintered TiB2, wherein grain coarsening and anisotropic crystallite morphology are believed to be controlled by the surface stabilities of TiB2. To deeply understand the grain growth mechanism, the anisotropic stability and bonding features of TiB2 surfaces, including $\left( {11\bar 20} \right)$ , two types of (0001), and three types of $\left( {10\bar 10} \right)$ , are investigated by first-principles calculations. By employing the two-region modeling method, surface energies are calculated and the $\left( {11\bar 20} \right)$ surface is found to be more stable than (0001) and $\left( {10\bar 10} \right)$ surfaces. Hexagonal plate-like grain morphology is predicted. The different bonding conditions of surface Ti and B atoms contribute to the difference of surface structure relaxation between surfaces with Ti- and B-termination, which lead the B-terminated ones to be more stable. It is also found that the surface energies of TiB2 are much higher than those of ZrB2 with a similar structure, which may be responsible for the easy coarsening of TiB2.

This study was conducted to investigate the pattern of DNA methylation in vitrified–thawed mouse oocytes and their in vitro fertilized early embryos. Firstly, mouse oocytes at metaphase II (MII) stage of meiosis were allocated randomly into three groups: (1) untreated (control); (2) exposed to vitrification solution without being plunged into liquid nitrogen (toxicity); or (3) vitrified by open-pulled straw (OPS) method (vitrification). Oocytes from all three groups were fertilized subsequently in vitro. The level of DNA methylation in the MII oocytes and their early embryos was then examined by immunofluorescence using an anti-5-methylcytosine (anti-5-MeC) monoclonal antibody and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG. Developmental rates to 2-cell embryos (62.28%) and blastocysts (43.68%) of the vitrified–thawed oocytes were lower (P < 0.01) than those of fresh oocytes (81.47%, 61.99%) and vitrification solution treated (79.20%, 60.04%) oocytes. DNA methylation (as reflected by 5-MeC fluorescence intensity) in the vitrification group was less (P < 0.01) for MII oocyte and 2- to 8-cell stages compared with that in the control and toxicity groups. Accordingly, a reduction in global genomic methylation due to vitrification of MII oocytes may result in compromised in vitro developmental potential in early mouse embryos.

Twins could play a crucial role in our understanding of genetic contributions to numerous etiologically complex disorders. In China, although adult twins are relatively rare, twins will become increasingly available due to increasing twin birth rates. Thus, child twin data will be a valuable resource to contribute to the field of child and adolescent psychopathology. The first twin database of children aged from 6 to 16 was established in Chongqing, R.P., China. In this article, we will discuss our experiences in establishing the twin database, completed in three steps — the first step being to search and identify twins, the second being to keep contact with the twins and the final being to seek cooperation with the twin families, and its future prospects. Our twin database has proven to be an efficient method for the investigation and data collection of twin children in China. The results of our present study suggest that the inclusion of twin information in the residence registration of the public security bureaus in the future may ensure a smooth run of research based on the demographic resources. We propose that school networks may be adopted as the preferred method of collection of twin records for future studies.

In low-cost self-contained pedestrian navigation systems, traditional Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) solutions utilize accelerometers to derive the speed as well as the distance travelled, and obtain the walking heading from magnetic compasses or gyros. However, these measurements are sensitive to instrument errors and disturbances from ambient environment. To be totally different from these signals in nature, the electromyography (EMG) signal is a typical kind of biomedical signal that measures electrical potentials generated by muscle contractions from the human body. This kind of signal would reflect muscle activities during human locomotion, so that it can not only be used for speed estimation, but also disclose the azimuth information from the contractions of lumbar muscles when changing the direction of walking. Therefore, investigating how to utilize the EMG signal for PDR is interesting and promising. In this paper, a novel EMG-based speed estimation method is presented, including setup of the EMG equipment, pre-processing procedure, stride detection and stride length estimation. Furthermore, this method suggested is compared with the traditional one based on accelerometers by means of several field tests. The results demonstrate that the EMG-based method is effective and its performance in PDR can be comparable to that of the accelerometer-based method.

Cryopreservation can cause cumulus cell damage around the immature oocytes, which may result in poor subsequent development. To evaluate the effect of the meiosis stage on the cumulus cell cryoinjury and determine the suitable stage for cryopreservation in immature oocytes, mouse oocytes at germinal vesicle (GV) and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) stages were vitrified using open pulled straw (OPS) method. Cumulus cells damage was scored immediately after thawing by double-fluorescent staining. The survival rate of the oocytes was evaluated and the subsequent development of oocytes was assessed through in vitro culture (IVC) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) separately. After vitrification, a higher proportion of cumulus cells of GV oocytes were damaged than those of GVBD and untreated control groups. The survival rate of vitrified GVBD oocytes (94.1%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of GV oocytes (85.4%). Oocytes vitrified at GVBD stage (55.7%) showed similar cleavage rate compared to those at GV stage (49.2%), but significantly higher (p < 0.05) blastocyst rate (40.9% vs. 27.4%). These results demonstrate that oocytes at GVBD stage remain better cumulus membrane integrity and developmental ability during vitrification than those at GV stage, indicating they are more suitable for immature oocytes cryopreservation in mice.

The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti (Colobinae), categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, is endemic to the Trans-Himalayas (the Hengduan Mountains) of north-west Yunnan and south-east Tibet. To evaluate the species’ current status in Tibet we surveyed six sites in Honglaxueshan National Nature Reserve, believed to be the area's only remaining location of R. bieti. Sites were identified from previous surveys and interviews with villagers and local officials. Three sub-populations, with a total of >300 individuals, were located in conifer and evergreen broad-leaf forests, which together comprise 971 km2. One of the sub-populations, in Zhina, is a new discovery, and is the northernmost known sub-population of R. bieti. Identified threats to the species include habitat destruction through wood extraction, uncontrolled grass fires, cutting of oak Quercus aquifolioides branches, inappropriate attitudes to R. bieti when people carry out economic activities in the forest, and hunting. Opportunities for conservation include the existence of sacred mountains, the limited possibilities for agriculture, and the economic dependency of villagers on the forest. We recommend the development of a sustainable ecosystem to reduce pressure on R. bieti and its forest habitat, including use of solar energy for heating and cheap electricity for cooking to minimize dependence on firewood, introduction of techniques for high crop yields to improve food supplies, and release of some farmland for planting grass, which can be used to raise livestock in enclosures and thus reduce the cutting of oak.