Radiocarbon (14C) has become a unique and powerful tracer in source apportionment of atmospheric carbonaceous particles. In this study, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) held in Beijing in 2014 was used as a demonstration to research the source apportionment of atmosphere PM2.5. We used a 200 kV single stage accelerator mass spectrometer recently completed at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). The PM2.5 samples related to above case were collected, and the characteristics of radiocarbon in organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in samples were analyzed using the AMS. The results show that the Before-APEC pollution emission mode is different from the During-APEC and After-APEC pollution emission modes. For Before-APEC, During-APEC and After-APEC, the average values of fossil carbon fraction of OC are 0.463, 0.431 and 0.615, respectively, and those of EC are 0.644, 0.561 and 0.687. The fossil source contributions of traffic activities using fossil fuels to OC and EC are 15.8 % and 21.9 %, respectively. The fossil source contributions of industrial activities to OC and EC are 38.0 % and 8.2 %, respectively. It is about 7–10 days that is needed to take to regenerate the PM2.5 pollution caused by human activities.

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 objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium (PQQ·Na2) supplementation on the reproductive performance and intestinal barrier functions of gestating and lactating female Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats and their offspring. Dietary supplementation with PQQ·Na2 increased the number of implanted embryos per litter during gestation and lactation at GD 20 and increased the number of viable fetuses per litter, and the weight of uterine horns with fetuses increased at 1 d of newborn. The mRNA expression levels of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx2), superoxide dismutase (SOD1), solute carrier family 2 member 1 (Slc2a1) and solute carrier family 2 member 3 (Slc2a3) in the placenta were increased with dietary PQQ·Na2 supplementation. Dietary supplementation with PQQ·Na2 in gestating and lactating rats increased the CAT, SOD and GPx activities of the jejunal mucosa of weaned rats on PD 21. Dietary supplementation with PQQ·Na2 in female rats affected the expression of tight junction proteins (claudin, zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin) in the jejunal mucosa of their offspring by increasing the expression of ZO-1 mRNA in the expression of ZO-1 and claudin mRNA in the jejunal mucosa of weaned rats on PD 21. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with PQQ·Na2 in gestating and lactating female rats had positive effects on their reproductive performance and on the intestinal barrier of weaned rats.

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are highly susceptible to lipid oxidation because DDGS contain about 10% crude fat, which is largely composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids. l-carnitine serves an important function in fatty acids β-oxidation, and also has antioxidant properties. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of l-carnitine in the DDGS diet of gestating and lactating sows on reproductive performance, milk composition and antioxidant status of sows and their offspring. One hundred and twenty sows (Landrace×Large white, mean parity 4.2, initial BW 230 kg) were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments (n=30 sows/treatment). Treatments were arranged as a 2×2 factorial with two levels of dietary DDGS (0 v. 250 g/kg in gestating diets and 400 g/kg in lactating diets) and two levels of dietary l-carnitine (0 v. 100 mg/kg in gestating diets and 0 v. 200 mg/kg in lactating diets). Distillers dried grains with solubles had no significant effect on litter size but significantly reduced the birth weights and weaning weights of piglets (P<0.05). Distillers dried grains with solubles reduced the antioxidant enzyme activities (P<0.05) and increased the malondialdehyde level in the plasma of sows on day 60 of gestation (P=0.004) and day 14 of lactation (P=0.008). The compositions of colostrum and milk were not affected by inclusion of DDGS and dietary l-carnitine (P>0.05). Supplementing the diets with l-carnitine had no significant effect of total litter size (P>0.05) but increased the number of piglets born alive and piglets weaned, birth weight and weaning weight of piglets and litter weight at birth and weaning (P<0.05). l-carnitine supplementation also increased the concentration of l-carnitine in milk and l-carnitine status of piglets (P<0.05). The antioxidant enzyme activities of new born and weaning piglets were increased (P<0.05) by maternal dietary l-carnitine but this did not extend to finishing pigs. In conclusion, including DDGS in the sows diet could induce oxidative stress, which may be associated with the reduced individual birth and weaning weight of piglets. Dietary l-carnitine supplementation improved the antioxidant and l-carnitine status of sows, which may be associated with the improved reproduction and piglet performance and the antioxidant status of piglets at birth and weaning. There were no interactions between DDGS and l-carnitine.

Political leaders and elites play an enormous role in shaping a country's political development. Participatory and deliberative governance represents a major trend of political development around the world; while many studies focus on the ordinary people involved in public deliberation, little is known about the roles elites play in facilitating or impeding the progress of this deliberation. Utilizing a new survey on Chinese officials, we offer the first empirical study that reveals Chinese officials’ perceptions and practices of deliberative democracy. We find that cultural and political traditions alongside personal and social factors have deeply shaped elites’ understandings of democracy, especially the new socialist deliberative democracy. Chinese officials understand democracy largely according to the Confucian tradition of minben and the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) political heritage of mass line, both of which emphasize that officials should listen to the people and make benevolent policies for them. While many embrace the significance of deliberative institutions for improving democratic governance, others emphasize the pragmatic value of consolidating the status quo, or believe it is merely a political show. Democratic oriented officials in the Chinese sense – those who view themselves as servants of the people who should respond to their needs, value public input, are willing to converse with the people in an equal manner, and are less concerned about risks in social stability – are more likely to engage the public in daily decision-making through various channels. Our study suggests that different practices of authoritarian deliberation may lead toward distinct prospects for democracy.

A function has been proposed to evaluate the electron density model constructed by inverse Fourier transform using the observed structure amplitudes and trial phase set. The strategy of this function is applying an imaginary electron density modification to the model, and then measuring how well the calculated structure amplitudes of the modified model matches the expected structure amplitudes for the modified correct model. Since the correct model is not available in advance, a method has been developed to estimate the structure amplitudes of the modified correct model. With the estimated structure amplitudes of the modified correct model, the evaluation function can be calculated approximately. Limited tests on simulated diffraction data indicate that this evaluation function may be valid at the data resolution better than 2.5 Å.

An apparatus design is described. It is for detecting VHE gamma ray point sources by means of the atmospheric Cerenkov technique. Obviously, the improvement of flux sensitivity and discrimination between gamma ray and isotropic proton showers is still a key problem. Of course, it is necessary to set up more observatories and to track an object continuously with several facilities. With this in mind, we decided to develop an experiment for observing VHE gamma ray sources in China. As a first step, we will set up an apparatus which consists of three 1.5 m diameter searchlight morrors at Xinglong station of Beijing Observatory, Xinglong county, Hebei province (40°. 4N, 117°.5E, altitude 940 m). The observation will start in 1988. Then, the second apparatus will be set up at Delingha station of Purple Mountain Observatory, Delingha county, Qinghai porvince (37°.22N, altitude 3204 m). Both the sites are far from air and light pollution, and have suitable meteological condition for Cerenkov light detection as well as quite convenient facilities for transportation. Some probable technical improvements are also discussed in this paper.

As lack of forage resource, alternative roughage sources have been developed for ruminant production and their inclusion would exert a great effect on the dietary nutrition, consequently affecting animal performance. Four silages (corn silage (CS), corn stalk silage (SS), inoculated CS and inoculated SS) were separately offered to 60 Bohai Black cattle (15 cattle/group) during a 24-week finishing period, in which the growth performance, carcass trait, beef quality and oxidative stability of steers were determined. Neither silage material nor silage inoculant exerted a significant effect on the growth performance, carcass trait and oxidative stability of beef cattle (P>0.05). As to beef quality, cattle offered CS had higher (P<0.05) contents of intramuscular fat than those offered SS along with a lower moisture content (P<0.05). The contents (mg/g muscle) of C10 : 0, C12 : 0, C14 : 1, C16 : 0, C16 : 1, C18 : 1n9c, C18 : 2n6c, C18 : 3n3, C20 : 1n9, C20 : 2, C20 : 3n6, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and n-6 fatty acids were higher (P<0.05) in the beef muscle of animals offered CS than those offered SS, whereas inoculated treatment made no difference (P>0.05) on the proximate components and fatty acids profile of beef muscle. There was neither an interaction (P>0.05) between inoculated treatment and silage material. There were no differences (P>0.05) in cholesterol content and meat quality traits in animals fed alternative silages. The collective findings suggest that it is not economical to substitute high-quality forage for relative low-quality forage in a high-concentrate finishing ration of beef cattle and silage inoculant inclusion would not exert a direct effect on animal performance.

In this paper, we characterize Borel $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$ -fields of the set of all fuzzy numbers endowed with different metrics. The main result is that the Borel $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$ -fields with respect to all known separable metrics are identical. This Borel field is the Borel $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$ -field making all level cut functions of fuzzy mappings from any measurable space to the fuzzy number space measurable with respect to the Hausdorff metric on the cut sets. The relation between the Borel $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$ -field with respect to the supremum metric $d_{\infty }$ is also demonstrated. We prove that the Borel field is induced by a separable and complete metric. A global characterization of measurability of fuzzy-valued functions is given via the main result. Applications to fuzzy-valued integrals are given, and an approximation method is presented for integrals of fuzzy-valued functions. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the applications of these results in economics. This example shows that the results in this paper are basic to the theory of fuzzy-valued functions, such as the fuzzy version of Lebesgue-like integrals of fuzzy-valued functions, and are useful in applied fields.

An effective multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the simultaneous detection of three major pathogens, Nosema bombycis Nägeli (Microsporidia: Nosematidae), Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (Baculoviridae: genus Alphabaculovirus) (NPV), and Bombyx mori densovirus (Parvoviridae: genus Iteravirus) (DNV), in silkworms (Bombyx mori (Linnaeus); Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) was developed in this study. Polymerase chain reaction and real-time PCR tests and basic local alignment search tool searches revealed that the primers and probes used in this study had high specificities for their target species. The ability of each primer/probe set to detect pure pathogen DNA was determined using a plasmid dilution panel, in which under optimal conditions the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed high efficiency in the detection of three mixed target plasmids with a detection limit of 8.5×103 copies for N. bombycis and Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV) and 8.5×104 copies for Bombyx mori DNV (BmDNV). When the ability to detect these three pathogens was examined in artificially inoculated silkworms, our method presented a number of advantages over traditional microscopy, including specificity, sensitivity, and high-throughput capabilities. Under the optimal volume ratio for the three primer/probe sets (3:2:2=N. bombycis:BmNPV:BmDNV), the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed early detection of BmNPV and BmDNV by day 1 post inoculation using DNA templates of the three pathogens in various combinations from individually infected silkworms; the early detection of N. bombycis was possible by day 3 post inoculation using the DNA isolated from the midgut of N. bombycis-infected silkworms.

Al1.3CrFeNi eutectic high entropy alloy was designed and prepared by arc-melting to investigate the microstructure and oxidation behaviors at 1000 °C. The XRD pattern shows that this alloy had a double bcc/B2 structure. SEM images indicates that the microstructure of the alloy is composed of two precipitates of [Cr, Fe] solid solution and NiAl intermetallic, which form the typical eutectic structure. To explore the thermal application of Al1.3CrFeNi alloy, the oxidation behavior of Al1.3CrFeNi alloy at 1000 °C was investigated. From XRD and SEM results, it could be concluded that Al2O3 and Cr2O3 were the predominant oxides during the oxidation process. In addition, spinel like FeCr2O4 was also observed in the oxide scale. According to the analysis of oxide precipitates, the whole process of oxides’ formation was discussed and a simplified oxidation dynamic model of Al1.3CrFeNi alloy at 1000 °C was obtained. This could promote the development of thermal applications in multi-component alloys field.

In the present paper, 10 vol%TiC/Ti–6Al–3Sn–3.5Zr–0.4Mo–0.75Nb–0.35Si composite produced via in situ casting technique was tested in the temperature range from room temperature to 900 °C and much attention was paid on the microstructural evolution during high-temperature tensile test. It was found that the variation of microstructures in deformation zones with strain exhibited different trends at different temperatures. Below 600 °C, dislocation density increased with strain over the entire strain range. As temperature increased to 700 °C, dislocations proliferated rapidly in the initial deformation and then dislocation annihilated through dynamic recovery. Above 800 °C, the variation of microstructures in deformation zones with strain was similar to that at 700 °C at the beginning but at higher strain, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurred, leading to the formation of equiaxed microstructure. Microstructural evolution in deformation zones corresponded to the variation of tensile stress–strain characteristics with temperature, reflecting the hardening or softening feature of matrix. Dynamic recovery ascribed to the flow softening of the composite at 700 °C, while flow softening is owing to dynamic recovery and DRX above 800 °C. In addition, matrix softening should show different trends in different temperature ranges.

The study reported in this Regional Research Communication aimed to analyse the genetic polymorphisms of β-casein in Chinese Holstein cows. β-casein has received considerable research interest in the dairy industry and animal breeding in recent years as a source not only of high quality protein, but also of bioactive peptides that may be linked to health effects. Morever, the polymorphic nature of β-casein and its association with milk production traits, composition, and quality also attracted several efforts in evaluating the allelic distribution of β-casein locus as a potential dairy trait marker. However, few data on beta-casein variants are available for the Chinese Holstein cow. In the present paper, one hundred and thirty three Holstein cows were included in the analysis. Results revealed the presence of 5 variants (A1, A2, A3, B and I), preponderance of the genotype A1A2 (0·353) and superiorities of A1/A2 alleles (0·432 and 0·459, respectively) in the population. Sequence analysis of β-casein gene in the cows showed four nucleotide changes in exon 7. Our study can provide reference and guidance for selection for superior milk for industrial applications and crossbreeding and genetic improvement programmes.

Indentation method has been widely used in the measurement of material mechanical properties and residual stress for its simple, fast and nondestructive characteristics. In the indentation test, because of the plastic deformation of the material, the material accumulation and subsidence occurs around the indentation. It is found that the deformation amount of the indentation, especially the maximum pile-up around the indentation after unloading, is related to the magnitude and direction of the residual stress. In this paper, an experimental study on the pile-up morphology around an indentation for determining the direction and magnitude of residual stress is reported. Nonsymmetrical morphology of spherical indenting deformation on artificially strained steel specimen was measured with a laser scanning confocal system. A unique relationship between pile-up after unloading and biaxial residual stress was set up based on the experimental results. The direction and components of nonequibiaxial residual stress can be determined by the proposed method.

We introduce a method to measure accurately surface residual stresses in the pre-equilibrium state, which were generated in workpieces during the milling process. The method takes into account strain changes and uses the inverse calculation. Material in the stress layer was removed layer by layer, and the strain change on the opposite side of the machined surface was measured. We also consider the change of the bending moment caused by the changed neutral layer. The stress values were calculated from the last layer to the first layer, and the residual stresses generated by milling are measured. We created a finite element model of a real workpiece and the measured stress values were used as inputs for the model. The measuring method was validated using finite element analysis. We find that our measuring method can be successfully used in practice to measure surface residual stresses and it provides reliable indicators for evaluating the surface properties of machined workpieces.