The fenofibrate functions in mammals could be affected by many factors such as dietary nutrient levels and physiological status. However, this phenomenon has not been well studied in fish. The goal of our study was to investigate the effect of dietary protein contents on metabolic regulation of fenofibrate in Nile tilapia. An 8-week experiment was conducted to feed fish with four diets at two protein levels (28% and 38%) with or without the supplementation of fenofibrate (200 mg/kg body weight/day). After the trial, the body morphometric parameters, plasma biochemical parameters and qPCR data were examined. These results showed that fenofibrate significantly reduced the feeding intake and weight gain rate, increased the oxidative stress (increased plasma methane dicarboxylic aldehyde, MDA) and liver/body ratio (increased hepatosomatic index, HSI) in the LP (low protein)-fed fish. In contrast, fenofibrate exhibited a lipid-lowering (reduced hepatic lipid) effect and up-regulated the expressions of the genes related to lipid catabolism, transport and anabolic metabolism in the HP (high protein) fed-fish. The present study suggested that lipid-lowering effect of fenofibrate would be strengthened in the fish fed with HP diet containing high energy, but in the fish fed with the LP diet containing low energy, the fenofibrate treatment would cause adverse effects for metabolism. Taking together, our study showed that the metabolic regulation of fenofibrate in Nile tilapia was not only dependent on feed energy content, but also dependent on dietary nutrient composition, such as dietary protein and/or lipid levels.

Guangxi, a province in southwestern China, has the second highest reported number of HIV/AIDS cases in China. This study aimed to develop an accurate and effective model to describe the tendency of HIV and to predict its incidence in Guangxi. HIV incidence data of Guangxi from 2005 to 2016 were obtained from the database of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network models, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, generalised regression neural network (GRNN) models and exponential smoothing (ES) were used to fit the incidence data. Data from 2015 and 2016 were used to validate the most suitable models. The model performances were evaluated by evaluating metrics, including mean square error (MSE), root mean square error, mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error. The LSTM model had the lowest MSE when the N value (time step) was 12. The most appropriate ARIMA models for incidence in 2015 and 2016 were ARIMA (1, 1, 2) (0, 1, 2)12 and ARIMA (2, 1, 0) (1, 1, 2)12, respectively. The accuracy of GRNN and ES models in forecasting HIV incidence in Guangxi was relatively poor. Four performance metrics of the LSTM model were all lower than the ARIMA, GRNN and ES models. The LSTM model was more effective than other time-series models and is important for the monitoring and control of local HIV epidemics.

Findings from observational studies on the associations between vitamin E intake and stroke risk remain controversial, and the dose–response relationship between vitamin E intake and risk of stroke remains to be determined. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective studies aiming to clarify the relationships between vitamin E intake and risk of stroke. Relevant studies were identified by searching online databases through to June 2018. We computed summary relative risks (RR) with corresponding 95 % CI. Among 3156 articles retrieved from online databases and relevant bibliographies, nine studies involving 3284 events and 220 371 participants were included in the final analyses. High dietary vitamin E intake was inversely associated with the risk of overall stroke (RR=0·83, 95 % CI 0·73, 0·94), and with the risk of stroke for individuals who were followed-up for <10 (RR=0·84, 95 % CI 0·72, 0·91). There was a non-linear association between dietary vitamin E intake and stroke risk (P=0·0249). Omission of any single study did not alter the summary result. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that there is a significant inverse relationship between dietary vitamin E intake and stroke risk. This meta-analysis provides evidence that a higher dietary vitamin E intake is associated with a lower stroke risk.

The micro-nano rough structure promotes the formation of superhydrophobic surfaces, while the formation of superoleophobic surfaces requires the support of re-entrant structures. Electrochemical etching and boiling water treatment methods were used to process the superoleophobic surface in the Al–Mg alloy substrate. The differences between the potential of the aluminum and the magnesium promoted the formation of the surface microstructure under the current stimulation, and the surface was formed into dense nanoscale needle-like coating after boiling water treatment. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and contact angle measurement were performed to characterize the morphological features, chemical composition, and surface wettability, respectively. The so-prepared superoleophobic surfaces showed high contact angles and small sliding angles for water, ethylene glycol, and hexadecane. In addition, surface topography, reaction mechanism, and experimental parameters were also studied.

Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum has useful traits for bread wheat improvement. The synthesis of Triticum turgidum–T. monococcum amphiploids is an essential step for transferring genes from T. monococcum into bread wheat. In this study, 264 wide hybridization combinations were done by crossing 60 T. turgidum lines belonging to five subspecies with 83 T. monococcum accessions. Without embryo rescue and hormone treatment, from the 10,810 florets pollinated, 1983 seeds were obtained, with a mean crossability of 18.34% (range 0–89.29%). Many hybrid seeds (90.73%, 923/1017) could germinate and produce plants. A total of 56 new amphiploids (AABBAmAm) were produced by colchicine treatment of T. turgidum × T. monococcum F1 hybrids. The chromosome constitution of amphiploids was characterized by fluorescence in situ hybridization using oligonucleotides probes with different chromosome and sub-chromosome specificities. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis indicated that the Glu-A1m-b, Glu-A1m-c, Glu-A1m-d and Glu-A1m-h proteins of T. monococcum were expressed in some amphiploids. Despite resistance reduction in several cases, 45 out of 56 amphiploids exhibited resistance to the current predominant Chinese stripe rust races at both the seedling and adult plant stage. These novel amphiploids provide new germplasm for the potential improvement of bread wheat quality and stripe rust resistance.

The majority of improvements to LIB technology have come through the development of new novel cathode materials. One promising cathode material is Li2FeSiO4 (LFS), desirable for its low cost and high theoretical capacity. However, the ionic conduction and transport mechanisms within this material are still not well understood, and require further investigation to improve upon cycling rate performance. To this end combined measurements of XRD & XANES have been performed in operando on LFS during electrochemical cycling, i.e. at selected electrochemical states of charge during the formation cycle the crystalline structure and the transition metal oxidation state as well as the site symmetry were characterized via the two aforementioned techniques. These in operando measurements expose once more a charging rate-dependent phase evolution during the formation cycle, which can be well characterized using a simplified equivalent circuit analogue.

This study attempted to investigate and validate whether epididymis cold storage could be a suitable alternative for short-term preservation of spermatozoa. Mouse cauda epididymides and spermatozoa were preserved at 4–8°C from 1 day to 6 weeks. From days 1 to 10, motility and fertility were daily examined when motility loss occurred. From week 1, spermatozoa were used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) at weekly intervals to test their fertility, and spermatozoa DNA integrity was determined by comet assay. We found that motility and progressive motility scores gradually decreased with storage time. In nearly all spermatozoa, DNA integrity was maintained from days 1 to 10, but the percentage of spermatozoa with damaged DNA significantly increased from week 2 to week 6. Spermatozoa retained fertility until day 6, although fertility gradually decreased after day 3. From week 1 to week 5, fertilization rates by ICSI were more than 82.69% but decreased gradually after week 3. We found that spermatozoa preserved in the epididymis at 4–8°C had progressively lower motility, fertility and proportion of undamaged DNA, but could still fertilize oocytes. However, all the parameters of cold-preserved spermatozoa were completely inferior to that from cold-preserved cauda epididymides. The results imply that cold storage of cauda epididymides could be conducive to short-term preservation of spermatozoa, and the cold-stored spermatozoa can resist DNA denaturation, which is necessary for maintaining reproductive ability.

Paleoenvironmental and paleogeomagnetic tracing studies from Chinese loess 10Be have progressed in recent years (Zhou et al. 2007a,b, 2010). In this approach, 10Be flux determined from sediment concentration and accumulation rate may be used to recover information about paleomonsoon rainfall rates as well as past variations in the geomagnetic field strength. However, these methods require that a correction be made for residual undecayed 10Be in remobilized dust. To better understand the feature of the 10Be signals related to the remobilized dust, we report the first observational study on 10Be concentration of modern falling dust using the 3MV multi-element accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) in the Xi'an AMS Center. Ten samples collected at Ansai observation station (109°19′E, 36°51′N) in northern China from May 2008 to June 2009 are measured along with 3 chemical blanks. The results clearly show that the 10Be content of modern falling dust is relatively uniform, with a mean value of 1.21 x 108 atoms/g, a measurement similar to that of Chinese loess (Zhou et al. 2007a) and to the value found in the study by Shen et al. (2009) on dust 10Be falling near Dingbian, China (1.25 ± 0.06 x 108 atoms/g). Despite the fact that modern dust flux is much higher in spring relative to summer in northern China, 10Be concentration in falling dust remains fairly constant. In addition, we find that dust 10Be concentration is roughly independent of the local precipitation changes. This feature might be considered as an analogue to improve our understanding on the fundamental information of the source component contained in loess 10Be records and its spatial/temporal distribution features.

Recent studies have suggested an association between vitamin D and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, some results are subject to debate. This study was carried out to evaluate the correlation between NAFLD and vitamin D in men and women in East China. The data were obtained from a cross-sectional study that focused on the health and metabolic status of adults in sixteen areas of East China. According to ultrasonic assessments, the patients were divided into normal and NAFLD groups. Demographic characteristics and biochemical measurements were obtained. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association. In total, 5066 subjects were enrolled, and 2193 (43·3 %) were diagnosed with NAFLD; 84·56 % of the subjects showed vitamin D deficiency. Subjects with high vitamin D levels had a lower prevalence of NAFLD, particularly male subjects. Within the highest quartile of vitamin D levels, the prevalence of NAFLD was 40·8 %, whereas the lowest quartile of vitamin D levels showed a prevalence of 62·2 %, which was unchanged in women across the vitamin D levels. Binary logistic analysis showed that decreased vitamin D levels were associated with an increased risk of NAFLD (OR 1·54; 95 % CI 1·26, 1·88). This study suggests that vitamin D levels are significantly associated with NAFLD and that vitamin D acts as an independent factor for NAFLD prevalence, particularly in males in East China. Vitamin D interventional treatment might be a new target for controlling NAFLD; elucidating the mechanism requires further research.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is the most sensitive method for measuring 129I in environmental samples available today, with a detection limit of about 10–15 for 129I/127I. A drawback of the technique is the time-consuming chemical separation required to prepare AMS targets from raw samples. This step significantly limits applications requiring rapid analyses and large numbers of samples, for example, in monitoring studies associated with nuclear accidents. This work introduces a direct method for 129I measurements by AMS that does not require chemical separation. In this approach, stable iodine (127I) is added to a matrix of niobium (Nb) powder and mixed with dried raw sample. This mixture is pressed directly into a sputter target for AMS analysis. Two types of environmental samples have been tested in this work, seaweed and sediment. No anomalous behavior was noted in the Cs+ sputtering behavior of the targets prepared from these materials. The 129I/127I ratios and 129I concentrations measured by this rapid method were found to be in agreement with reported values that used a conventional AMS method for the same material. Based on our findings, we expect that such rapid measurements can be applied to a wide variety of materials, in addition to seaweed and sediment, as long as the sputtering-induced adverse effects do not prevent the stable operation of the ion source. The method is especially useful for screening large numbers of samples before more precise analyses are made.

This study constructs the relationship between work stressors and the desire for organizational construction and the moderating role of leader–member exchange. The study is conducted by integrating social exchange and uncertainty management theory. Through investigating 204 employees and performing a scenario study in China, this research confirms that challenge stressors are positively related to desire for organizational construction. The relationship between hindrance stressors and desire for organizational construction tends to be U-shaped in the condition of high leader–member exchange, and the relationship tends to have an inverted U-shape in the condition of low leader–member exchange. This study has important implications for discerning the scope of application for both social exchange and uncertainty management theory, as managers seek to explain the relationship between negative treatment of employees and their desire for organizational construction.

We conducted a semiclassical study on carrier movement in curved graphene. A previous attempt was made to show that curved graphene is a readily available and cheap laboratory material used to study general relativity effects, especially if the electron energies satisfy ${\rm 4}\:\mu {\rm eV}\,\ll\,\left| E \right|\,\ll\,{\rm 3}\:{\rm eV}$ . Furthermore, a gravitational-like lens can be constructed based on a special graphene ripple; this lens has neither chromatic nor cometic aberration. One can design an ideal electron lens using a graphene ripple.

In the present era of big data and the Internet of things (the interconnection of computing devices in the Internet infrastructure), the fabrication of mobile and other electronic devices by three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) is receiving wide attention. The concept of using 3D ICs to extend the limit of Moore’s Law of two-dimensional ICs, by combining chip technology and packaging technology, has existed for more than 10 years. However, we still do not mass produce 3D IC devices due to low yield and reliability, as well as high cost. Most problems are caused by materials selection and integration at the small scale. This issue offers a review of 3D ICs and emphasizes the materials challenges of this new technology.

The widespread decline of migratory shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) is one of the greatest crises for migrating birds. Among the migratory species with known population trends, 88% (22 of 25 species) show population declines, and seven have been listed as threatened or Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List. The decline of migratory shorebirds is related to the deterioration of stopping sites (including staging and stopping sites) in the Yellow Sea, including loss of intertidal wetlands, spread of invasive smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora on intertidal flats, an increase in pollution, and an increase in human disturbance. We review research concerning shorebird migration through the Yellow Sea and highlight key research activities required for the conservation of shorebirds in the region. These activities include: confirming the population consequences of loss of stopping sites, estimating migration timing and numbers of shorebirds at stopping sites, determining the differing abilities of species to use alternative habitats, understanding intra- and interspecific differences in the use of stopping sites, maintaining and expanding surveys on shorebirds and habitat condition, and identifying threats to shorebirds beyond habitat loss by reclamation. The information generated by these research activities is required for the design and selection of effective conservation actions to reverse the decline in shorebird populations.

In this work, sulfurizing metal precursors prepared by magnetron sputtering was applied in Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film fabrication. Three precursor structures, namely substrate/ Zn/(Cu&Sn), substrate/Zn/Cu/Sn/Cu and substrate/Zn/Sn/Cu, were compared for their synthesized CZTS film quality. It is notable that CZTS film made of the precursor structure of substrate/Zn/(Cu&Sn) has the best film quality with no obvious voids and biggest average grain size. When applying this precursor structure into device fabrication, a working CZTS device with an efficiency of 2.26% was made. The impact of metal precursors on the structural property of CZTS film were characterised by SEM, XRD, Raman and TEM. Thick MoS2 interfacial layer (∼200nm) between absorber and back Mo contact and ZnS formed in the front and back absorber regions are the possible reasons limiting short-circuit current and fill factor of the cell.

Recent evidence shows that excess nicotinamide can cause epigenetic changes in developing rats. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of maternal nicotinamide supplementation on the fetus. Female rats were randomised into four groups fed a standard chow diet (control group) or diets supplemented with 1 g/kg of nicotinamide (low-dose group), 4 g/kg of nicotinamide (high-dose group) or 4 g/kg of nicotinamide plus 2 g/kg of betaine (betaine group) for 14–16 d before mating and throughout the study. Fetal tissue samples were collected on the 20th day of pregnancy. Compared with the control group, the high-dose group had a higher fetal death rate, and the average fetal body weight was higher in the low-dose group but lower in the high-dose group. Nicotinamide supplementation led to a decrease in placental and fetal hepatic genomic DNA methylation and genomic uracil contents (a factor modifying DNA for diversity) in the placenta and fetal liver and brain, which could be completely or partially prevented by betaine. Moreover, nicotinamide supplementation induced tissue-specific alterations in the mRNA expression of the genes encoding nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, DNA methyltransferase 1, catalase and tumour protein p53 in the placenta and fetal liver. High-dose nicotinamide supplementation increased fetal hepatic α-fetoprotein mRNA level, which was prevented by betaine supplementation. It is concluded that maternal nicotinamide supplementation can induce changes in fetal epigenetic modification and DNA base composition. The present study raises the concern that maternal nicotinamide supplementation may play a role in the development of epigenetic-related diseases in the offspring.