Seed reserves play vital roles in seed germination and seedling growth and their variation may be related to various environment factors, plant traits and phylogenetic history. Here, the evolutionary correlation associated with seed mass and altitude and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) allocation of seeds among 253 alpine herbaceous plants was tested. In this study, phylogeny had strong limitations on nutrient allocation of seeds across species, and species from younger phylogenetic groups tended to have higher N and P contents, which might be considered as the evolutionary selection of seed plants. Higher seed N and P content would help seedlings to gain more survival chance and stronger competitive capacity, and their progeny would be more likely to be preserved. When phylogeny was considered, altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content, but the negative effects on seed mass were all expressed. The independent effects of altitude and seed mass suggest that the nutrient allocation of seeds might be affected by both environment and plant traits. In addition, altitude and seed mass displayed partial overlapping effects on nutrient allocation of seeds. The negative effects of seed mass were affected slightly by altitude, whereas altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content when seed mass was controlled. Above all, seed P content showed obvious and general correlations with seed mass, altitude and age of clade, which indicated that higher seed P content might be an adaptive selection of species associated with growth and survival of progeny.

Recent studies indicate that early postnatal period is a critical window for gut microbiota manipulation to optimise the immunity and body growth. This study investigated the effects of maternal faecal microbiota orally administered to neonatal piglets after birth on growth performance, selected microbial populations, intestinal permeability and the development of intestinal mucosal immune system. In total, 12 litters of crossbred newborn piglets were selected in this study. Litter size was standardised to 10 piglets. On day 1, 10 piglets in each litter were randomly allotted to the faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and control groups. Piglets in the FMT group were orally administrated with 2ml faecal suspension of their nursing sow per day from the age of 1 to 3 days; piglets in the control group were treated with the same dose of a placebo (0.1M potassium phosphate buffer containing 10% glycerol (vol/vol)) inoculant. The experiment lasted 21 days. On days 7, 14 and 21, plasma and faecal samples were collected for the analysis of growth-related hormones and cytokines in plasma and lipocalin-2, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), selected microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in faeces. Faecal microbiota transplantation increased the average daily gain of piglets during week 3 and the whole experiment period. Compared with the control group, the FMT group had increased concentrations of plasma growth hormone and IGF-1 on days 14 and 21. Faecal microbiota transplantation also reduced the incidence of diarrhoea during weeks 1 and 3 and plasma concentrations of zonulin, endotoxin and diamine oxidase activities in piglets on days 7 and 14. The populations of Lactobacillus spp. and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and the concentrations of faecal and plasma acetate, butyrate and total SCFAs in FMT group were higher than those in the control group on day 21. Moreover, the FMT piglets have higher concentrations of plasma transforming growth factor-β and immunoglobulin G, and faecal sIgA than the control piglets on day 21. These findings indicate that early intervention with maternal faecal microbiota improves growth performance, decreases intestinal permeability, stimulates sIgA secretion, and modulates gut microbiota composition and metabolism in suckling piglets.

A high power laser system was used to drive the ignition of inertial confinement fusion (ICF), of which the high energy, the uniform focal spot, the accurate laser waveform, and the synchronization between the laser beams are key parameters. To accomplish this, global laser characteristics control should be assured, which was the main purpose of the injection laser system. In this paper, the key technological progress involved in the improvement of the performance of the injection laser of SG-II is reported, including frequency domain control, time domain control, near-field spatial shaping, pre-amplifier technology, and the optical parametric chirped pulse amplification pump source.

Optical damages, which severely degrade the output energy performance of Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers, are discussed in detail in this paper. By a series of experiments, it has been confirmed that these damages result from laser-induced contamination. Based on this work, several improvements are made to boost output energy performance of the regenerative amplifier. The output energy of the regenerative amplifier after improvements declines 4% after 1000 h of operation, much less than it used to, 60% after 560 h of operation.

With increasing output of petroleum coke, the value-added exploitation of petroleum coke has become a tough problem. Preparing porous carbons is a traditional way to the value-added exploitation of petroleum coke. Here, we used a facile and efficient hard-templating strategy to synthesize mesoporous carbon with high surface area from petroleum coke. N2 adsorption analyses show that the BET specific area and pore volume of the carbons can reach up to 864 m2/g and 1.37 cm3/g, respectively. To utilize the abundant mesopores of the carbons, anthraquinone-modified mesoporous carbon was tested as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications. Electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the specific capacitance reached up to 366 F/g at the current density of 1 A/g, indicating a promising prospect of using this carbon in electrochemical energy-storage field. More importantly, the strategy used in this work can be easily modified to prepare other nano-carbon materials from petroleum coke.

The effect of nitrogen gas addition in Ar-based double-layer shielding gas on the impact toughness of welded ultra-ferritic stainless steel during an autogenous gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process was investigated. The nitrogen behavior was proposed. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture surface morphology of the weld metals have been evaluated. More equiaxed crystals, refined grain, narrow HAZ width, and increased microhardness were produced with nitrogen addition. Experimental findings indicated that nitrogen diffused into HAZ and dissolved into weld pool. The solute distribution was changed thus bringing significant constitutional supercooling and decreased temperature gradient of weld pool, which contributed to fine microstructure. Impact toughness at room temperature was enhanced from 2J to 9J (welds), 5J–13J (HAZ). Ductile fracture zone was produced about 0.3–0.5 mm thickness distance from the weld surface. A significant increased impact toughness of weld metal was due to the refinement of microstructure and element addition.

SG-III laser facility is now the largest laser driver for inertial confinement fusion research in China. The whole laser facility can deliver 180 kJ energy and 60 TW power ultraviolet laser onto target, with power balance better than 10%. We review the laser system and introduce the SG-III laser performance here.

Widespread loess deposits in the Central Shandong Mountains yield valuable paleoclimatic records for this currently semi-humid monsoonal region of northern China. The grain-size distribution and major element composition for bulk samples and two grain-size fractions (< 20 and 20–63 μm) for the loess in the Central Shandong Mountains were compared with loess from the Chinese Loess Plateau and sediment from the Yellow River to help determine its provenance. The presence of a significant percentage of medium- and coarse-silt, and the difference in relatively immobile major element ratios of TiO2/Al2O3 and K2O/Al2O3 for the < 20 and 20–63 μm fractions, suggests that sediment that forms the loess deposits in the Central Shandong Mountains was not blown directly from the northern deserts of China as is the case for the loess deposits of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Rather, this suggests that sediments exposed during glacial times on the North China fluvial plain, including the floodplain of the Yellow River, were the major dust source for the loess in the Central Shangong Mountains. In addition, the wide distribution of perimontane loess in the Central Shandong Mountains region indicates the occurrence of strengthened local aridification during glacial times since the middle Pleistocene.

Bilateral facial nerve palsy is an exceedingly rare condition and presents a diagnostic challenge. Bilateral facial nerve palsy may result from cranial trauma, congenital abnormalities, inflammation, infiltration, or infection, but is rarely associated with syphilis. Here, we report a case of syphilis in which bilateral facial nerve palsy was the only initial symptom.

A 22-year-old man presented at our emergency department with isolated bilateral facial nerve palsy. Results for initial serum and cerebrospinal fluid examinations were normal, including the rapid plasma reagin titer. One week later, the patient developed rashes on the torso, palms, and soles. At this time, a high serum rapid plasma reagin titer was detected, and the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination test was positive. Once the tests were confirmed, the patient admitted to a history of unprotected sexual behavior. Penicillin G treatment was effective, and a 3-month follow-up examination demonstrated a complete recovery.

We recommend that syphilis be considered when diagnosing sexually experienced young men presenting with bilateral facial nerve palsy, even in the absence of skin manifestations. Failure to recognize facial signs of syphilis could result in inappropriate management, affecting the patient’s clinical outcome.

The unsteady flow separation of airfoil with a local flexible structure (LFS) is studied numerically in Lagrangian frames in detail, in order to investigate the nature of its high aerodynamic performance. For such aeroelastic system, the characteristic-based split (CBS) scheme combined with arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework is developed firstly for the numerical analysis of unsteady flow, and Galerkin method is used to approach the flexible structure. The local flexible skin of airfoil, which can lead to self-induced oscillations, is considered as unsteady perturbation to the flow. Then, the ensuing high aerodynamic performances and complex unsteady flow separation at low Reynolds number are studied by Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs). The results show that the LFS has a significant influence on the unsteady flow separation, which is the key point for the lift enhancement. Specifically, the oscillations of the LFS can induce the generations of moving separation and vortex, which can enhance the kinetic energy transport from main flow to the boundary layer. The results could give a deep understand of the dynamics in unsteady flow separation and flow control for the flow over airfoil.

Round spermatid injection (ROSI) into mammalian oocytes can result in the development of viable embryos and offspring. One current limitation to this technique is the identification of suitable round spermatids. In the current paper, round spermatids were selected from testicular cells with phase contrast microscopy (PCM) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and ROSI was performed in two strains of mice. The rates of fertilization, embryonic development and offspring achieved were the same in all strains. Significantly, round spermatids selected by PCM and FACS were effectively used to rescue the infertile Pten-null mouse. The current results indicate that FACS selection of round spermatids can not only provide high-purity and viable round spermatids for use in ROSI, but also has no harmful effects on the developmental capacity of subsequently fertilized embryos. It was concluded that round spermatids selected by FACS are useful for mouse strain rederivation and rescue of infertile males; ROSI should be considered as a powerful addition to the armamentarium of assisted reproduction techniques applicable in the mouse.

We have fabricated Ag-decorated ZnO nanoplate arrays by combining water-bath heating toward ZnO hexagonal nanoplate arrays and subsequent decoration of Ag films or nanoparticles on the ZnO surfaces by magnetron sputtering or photoreduction. Experimental surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) results show that Ag-film–ZnO hybrid substrates with different Ag sputtering times exhibit a large difference in enhanced SERS signals for Rhodamine 6G (10−7 M). Atomic force microscope analysis reveals that two kinds of positions create abundant “hot spots” in this SERS substrate: one is located at the gap between adjacent separate Ag-film–ZnO hybrid nanoplates, and the other is located at the V-grooves formed by two adjacent interlaced Ag-film–ZnO hybrid nanoplates. The effects of simultaneous changes in interplate spacing and groove wall angle are considered to be the key factors affecting the SERS of our prepared Ag-film–ZnO hybrid substrates, which have also been evaluated by finite-difference time-domain simulation.

To date, there has been little improvement in cryopreservation of bull sperm due to lack of understanding of the freezing mechanisms. Therefore, this study set out to investigate expression levels of fertility-associated proteins in bull sperm, and in particular the relationship between the 90 kDa heat-shock protein (HSP90) and the sperm characteristics after freezing–thawing. Semen was collected from eight Holstein bulls by artificial vagina. Characteristics of these fresh semen, including sperm motility, morphology, viability and concentration, were evaluated. Sperm quality was also assessed after freezing–thawing. Eight ejaculates were divided into two groups based on freezing resistance and sperm motility. Sperm proteins were extracted and sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis and western blotting were performed. SDS-PAGE results showed that there was substantial diversity in 90 kDa proteins in the frozen–thawed sperm and HSP90 was confirmed as one of the 90 kDa proteins by western blot. This study indicated that HSP90 expression correlated positively with sperm quality. The amount of expressed 90 kDa proteins in the high freezing resistance (HFR) group was significantly higher than that in the low freezing resistance (LFR) group (P < 0.05). Thus, higher expression of HSP90 could probably lead to the higher motility and freezing resistance of sperm found after freezing–thawing. Therefore, we concluded that level of HSP90 expression could be used to predict reliably and simply the freezing resistance of bull sperm.

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known to protect boar sperm during freezing–thawing, but little information is known about the effects of LDL extracted from different avian egg yolks on post-thaw boar semen quality. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the effects of LDL at various concentrations and different species on boar sperm quality after freezing–thawing. LDL extracted from the yolk of hen egg, duck egg, quail egg, pigeon egg or ostrich egg was added to the extender at the concentrations of 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09 and 0.1 g/ml, respectively, and their effects on frozen–thawed boar sperm quality were assessed. According to all measured parameters, the results showed that sperm motility, acrosome integrity and plasma membrane integrity were 43.20%, 52.57% and 48.13%, respectively, after being frozen–thawed with 0.09 g/ml LDL extracted from pigeon egg yolk. All these quality parameters were higher than that of other groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results confirmed that LDL extracted from pigeon egg yolk had the best cryoprotective effects on frozen–thawed boar sperm among all of the groups supplemented with LDL from five kinds of avian egg in extender. The optimum concentration of LDL extracted from pigeon egg in boar semen freezing extender was 0.09 g/ml.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a mid- and old-age population who experienced Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan.

Methods: One hundred and twenty people, who were mostly Taiwanese aboriginal people aged 55 years and above, were invited to participate in this study. PTSD symptoms were assessed using the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS-I). Information regarding demographic characteristics, relocation, personal injury, family death, property damage, and self-perceived health was collected.

Results: 29.2% of study participants presented significant PTSD symptomatology during the previous month. Development of PTSD symptomatology after the disaster was significantly associated with being female (OR 3.63, 95% CI = 1.11–11.88), experiencing relocation (OR 5.64, 95% CI = 1.60–19.88), and having poorer self-perceived health (OR 4.24, 95% CI = 1.53–11.78) after controlling for age, education, personal injury, family death, and property damage. Further, by adding depression into the analysis, we found the risk factors were being female (OR 4.66, 95% CI = 1.16–18.80), experiencing relocation (OR 27.91, 95% CI = 3.74–229.80), family death (OR 67.62, 95% CI = 2.85–1063.68), and poorer self-perceived health (OR 28.69, 95% CI = 4.52–182.06).

Conclusion: Nearly 30% of the elderly people studied who experienced Typhoon Morakot developed significant PTSD symptomatology. The risk factors for PTSD symptoms were female gender, poorer self-perceived health, relocation, family death, and depression. The elderly people who were relocated by governmental programs were more likely to develop PTSD symptomatology after experiencing trauma. Resettlement and rehabilitation programs after a disaster need to be more concerned with their psychological effects on victims.

In this work, high quality silicon dioxide (SiO2) films were prepared by large-area plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (LA-PECVD) using tetraethylorthosilicate(TEOS)-oxygen based chemistry. The effects of various short-time plasma treatments on these as-deposited TEOS oxide were also investigated. Different plasma treatments such as O2, N2O, and NH3 were used in our experiments. Electrical characteristics were exploited to examine the effects of plasma treatments. It was shown that after N2O, and NH3 plasma treatments, the electrical strength of oxide was enhanced. Besides, NH3 plasma treatment exhibited the highest enhancement efficiency. O2- plasma treatment, however, showed some harmful effects on the electrical properties of the TEOS oxide. The reliability tests including charge to breakdown (Qbd) and bias temperature stress (BTS) were also analyzed in these samples. Although better pre-stress characteristics were observed in those samples treated by NH3-plasma, samples with N2O plasma treatment showed superior stress endurance. Consequently, N2O plasma treatment seems to be the best candidate for future TFTs under the consideration of long-term reliability.