p53, DNA damage regulated gene (PDRG) and apoptosis-stimulating p53 protein 2 (ASPP2) are p53-related genes which can promote apoptosis. The full-length cDNA sequence of the Px-pdrg and Px-aspp2 genes were characterized and their mRNA expression dynamics under heat stress were studied in diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella collected from Fuzhou, China. The full-length cDNA of Px-pdrg and Px-aspp2 spans 721 and 4201 bp, containing 395 and 3216 bp of the open reading frame, which encode a putative protein comprising 130 and 1072 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 14.58 and 118.91 kDa, respectively. As compared to 25°C, both Px-pdrg and Px-aspp2 were upregulated in chlorpyrifos-resistant (Rc) and -susceptible (Sm) strains of DBM adults and pupae under heat stress. In addition, Rc DBM showed a significantly higher expression level of Px-pdrg and Px-aspp2 in contrast to Sm DBM. The results indicate that high temperature can significantly promote apoptosis process, especially in Rc-DBM. Significant fitness cost in Rc-DBM might be associated with drastically higher transcript abundance of Px-pdrg and Px-aspp2 under the heat stress.

Isolated gametes can be used to investigate fertilization mechanisms, and probe distant hybridization between different species. Pollen grains of wheat and Setaria viridis are tricellular, containing sperm cells at anthesis. Sperm from these plants were isolated by breaking open pollen grains in a osmotic solution. Wheat ovules were digested in an enzyme solution for 20 min, and then transferred to an isolation solution without enzymes to separate egg cells from ovules. The fusion of wheat egg cells with wheat and S. viridis sperm was conducted using an electro-fusion apparatus. Under suitable osmotic pressure (10% mannitol), calcium concentration of 0.001% (CaCl2·2H2O), and a 30–35 V alternating electric field for 15 s, egg cells and sperm adhered to each other and became arranged in a line. Electroporation of the plasma membrane of egg cells and sperm using a 300–500 V direct-current electric field (45 µs amplitude pulse) caused them to fuse.

Employing atomic-scale simulations, the response of a high-angle grain boundary (GB), the soft/hard GB, against external loading was systematically investigated. Under tensile loading close to the hard orientation, strain-induced dynamic recrystallization was observed to initiate through direct soft-to-hard grain reorientation, which was triggered by stress mismatch, inhibited by surface tension from the soft-hard GB, and proceeded by interface ledges. Such grain reorientation corresponds with expansion and contraction of the hard grain along and perpendicular to the loading direction, respectively, accompanied by local atomic shuffling, providing relatively large normal strain of 8.3% with activation energy of 0.04 eV per atom. Tensile strain and residual dislocations on the hard/soft GB facilitate the initiation of dynamic recrystallization by lowering the energy barrier and the critical stress for grain reorientation, respectively.

Let $\mathfrak{D}$ be a residually finite Dedekind domain and let $\mathfrak{n}$ be a nonzero ideal of $\mathfrak{D}$ . We consider counting problems for the ideal chains in $\mathfrak{D}/\mathfrak{n}$ . By using the Cauchy–Frobenius–Burnside lemma, we also obtain some further extensions of Menon’s identity.

Numerical oscillation of the total energy can be observed when the Kohn- Sham equation is solved by real-space methods to simulate the translational move of an electronic system. Effectively remove or reduce the unphysical oscillation is crucial not only for the optimization of the geometry of the electronic structure, but also for the study of molecular dynamics. In this paper, we study such unphysical oscillation based on the numerical framework in [G. Bao, G. H. Hu, and D. Liu, An h-adaptive finite element solver for the calculations of the electronic structures, Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 231, Issue 14, Pages 4967–4979, 2012], and deliver some numerical methods to constrain such unphysical effect for both pseudopotential and all-electron calculations, including a stabilized cubature strategy for Hamiltonian operator, and an a posteriori error estimator of the finite element methods for Kohn-Sham equation. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on restraining unphysical oscillation of the total energies.

Microstructural and property evolution of 1050 commercial pure aluminum subjected to high-strain-rate deformation (1.2–2.3 × 103 s−1) by split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) and subsequent annealing treatment were investigated. The as-deformed and their annealed samples at 373–523 K were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microhardness tests. TEM observations reveal that the as-deformed sample is mainly composed of a lamellar structure, whose transverse/longitudinal average subgrain/cell sizes are 293 and 694 nm, respectively. The initial coarse grains are refined significantly. The initial lamellar grain structures are subdivided into pancake-shaped subgrains due to a gradual transition by triple junction motion at 473 K, and then a dramatic microstructural coarsening is observed at 523 K. It is suggested that annealing behavior of this dynamic loading structure is better considered as a continuous process of grain coarsening or continuous recovery.

Postnatal rapid growth by excess intake of nutrients has been associated with an increased susceptibility to diseases in neonates with intra-uterine growth restricted (IUGR). The aim of the present study was to determine whether postnatal nutritional restriction could improve intestinal development and immune function of neonates with IUGR using piglets as model. A total of twelve pairs of normal-birth weight (NBW) and IUGR piglets (7 d old) were randomly assigned to receive adequate nutrient intake or restricted nutrient intake (RNI) by artificially liquid feeding for a period of 21 d. Blood samples and intestinal tissues were collected at necropsy and were analysed for morphology, digestive enzyme activities, immune cells and expression of innate immunity-related genes. The results indicated that both IUGR and postnatal nutritional restriction delayed the growth rate during the sucking period. Irrespective of nutrient intake, piglets with IUGR had a significantly lower villous height and crypt depth in the ileum than the NBW piglets. Moreover, IUGR decreased alkaline phosphatase activity while enhanced lactase activity in the jejunum and mRNA expressions of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) in the ileum of piglets. Irrespective of body weight, RNI significantly decreased the number and/or percentage of peripheral leucocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes of piglets, whereas the percentage of neutrophils and the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ were increased. Furthermore, RNI markedly enhanced the mRNA expression of TLR-9 and DNMT1, but decreased the expression of NOD2 and TRAF-6 in the ileum of piglets. In summary, postnatal nutritional restriction led to abnormal cellular and innate immune response, as well as delayed the growth and intestinal development of IUGR piglets.

We make use of a large sample of transaction-level institutional trading data to test an extended version of Brennan and Hughes’ (1991) information production theory of stock splits. We compare brokerage commissions paid by institutional investors before and after a split, assess the private information held by them, and relate the informativeness of their trading to brokerage commissions paid. We show that institutions make abnormal profits net of brokerage commissions by trading in splitting stocks. We also show that the information asymmetry faced by firms goes down after stock splits. Overall, our empirical results support the information production theory.

Introduction: The mortality of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and its associated risk factors among clinically definite PD patients in China has been rarely investigated. Our study aimed to identify the mortality rates and predictors of death in PD patients in China. Methods: 157 consecutive, clinically definite PD patients from the urban area of Shanghai were recruited from a central hospital based movement disorder clinic in 2006. All patients were regularly followed up at the clinic until December 31, 2011, or death. Mortality and associations with baseline demographics, health and medical factors were then determined within the cohort. Results: After 5 years, 11(7%) patients had died. The standardised mortality ratio was 0.62 (95% CI 0.32 to 1.07, P=0.104). The main causes of death were pneumonia (54.5%, 6/11) and digestive disorders (18.2%, 2/11), respectively. Age at onset, independent living, the mini mental state examination score, the Parkinson’s disease sleep scale score and the Epworth sleepiness scale score at baseline were statistically significantly different between the survival group and the deceased group (P<0.05). Across all participants, risk factors for death included low mini mental state examination score, and high Epworth sleepiness scale score according to a binary variable logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: This study confirms the similar survival of patients with PD to the control population up to a follow-up of 5 years. Interventions tailored to potential risk factors associated with death may offer further benefits.

This study mainly focused on the key technologies, the photon dose calculation based on the Monte Carlo Finite-Size Pencil Beam (MCFSPB) model in the Accurate Radiotherapy System (ARTS). In the MCFSPB model, the acquisition of pencil beam kernel is one of the most important technologies. In this study, by analyzing the demerits of the clinical pencil beam dose calculation methods, a new pencil beam kernel model was developed based on the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and the technology of medical accelerator energy spectrum reconstruction. which greatly improved the accuracy of calculated result. According to the axial symmetry principle, only part of simulation results was used for the data of pencil beam kernel, which greatly reduced the data quantity of the pencil beam and reduced calculated time. Based on the above studies, the MCFSPB method was designed and implemented by the Visual C++ development tool. With several tests including the comparisons among the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) No. 55 Report sample and the ion chamber measurement of lung-simulating inhomogeneous phantom in clinical treatment plan, the results showed that the maximum error of most calculated point was less than 0.5% in the homogeneous phantom and less than 3% in the heterogeneous phantom. This method met the clinical criteria, and would be expected to be used as a fast and accurate dose engine for clinic TPS.

From September 2009 to September 2010 we undertook a survey of the Endangered François’ langur Trachypithecus francoisi in south-east Chongqing to compare the species' present status with historical records from the 1990s. Based on a literature review, interviews with local people and our survey we found François’ langurs in only three isolated sites, across four counties, with a total area of occurrence of c. 57 km2. The total population was estimated to be c. 200 individuals in 27 mixed sex groups. There were 21 groups (149 individuals) within a reserve (Jinfoshan), and four groups (36) in Furongjiang and two groups (13) in Heishangu were not within any reserve. The primary threat to the langur is habitat loss caused by traditional firewood use and agricultural encroachment but there is also increasing loss of forest to hydroelectric projects and construction of tourism infrastructure and facilities such as highways, hotels and telephone lines. The three sites in southern Chongqing province are adjacent to four areas in north-east Guizhou province that contain c. 60% of the wild population of the species in China. The seven sites combined are the main stronghold of this species and the geographical proximity of the sites raises the possibility of setting up ecological corridors between some of them.

Ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) is believed to be the most promising candidate for the next generation non-volatile memory due to its fast access time and low power consumption. Fabrication technologies of FeRAM can be divided into two parts: CMOS technologies for circuits which are standard and can be shared with traditional IC process line, and process relating to ferroelectric which is separated with CMOS process and defined as backend module. This paper described technologies for integrating ferroelectric capacitors into standard CMOS, mainly about modeling of ferroelectric capacitors and backend fabrication technologies. Hysteresis loop of the ferroelectric capacitor is the basis for FeRAM to store data. Models to describe this characteristic are the key for the design of FeRAM. A transient behavioral ferroelectric capacitor model based on C-V relation for circuit simulation is developed. The arc tangent function is used to describe the hysteresis loop. “Negative capacitance” phenomenon at reversing points of applied voltage is analyzed and introduced to the model to describe transient behaviors of the capacitor. Compact equivalent circuits are introduced to integrate this model into HSPICE for circuit simulation. Ferroelectric materials fabrication, electrodes integration and etching are the main technologies of FeRAM fabrication process. An metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process is developed to fabricate high quality Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 (PZT) films. Pt is known to cause the fatigue problems when used as electrodes with PZT. Ir is used as electrodes to improve the fatigue property of PZT based capacitors, and mechanism of the fatigue is analyzed. Hard mask is used to reduce the size of the capacitors and damage caused in etching process. In our process, Al2O3 is developed as hard mask, which simplifies the FeRAM backend integration process.

In this paper, polycrystalline CuIn(SxSe1–x)2 thin films with tunable x and Eg (band gap) values were prepared by controlling the sulfurization temperature (T) of CuInSe2 thin films. X-ray diffraction indicated the CuIn(SxSe1–x)2 films exhibited a homogeneous chalcopyrite structure. When T increases from 150 to 500 °C, x increases from 0 to 1, and Eg increases from 0.96 to 1.43 eV. The relations between x and Eg and the sulfurization process of CuIn(SxSe1–x)2 thin films have been discussed. This work provides an easy and low-cost technique for preparing large area absorber layers of solar cell with tunable Eg.