The core toroidal plasma intrinsic rotation has been studied by experiments and simulations in the Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT). The direction of core intrinsic rotation in the J-TEXT plasma is counter-current. As the plasma density ramps up, the rotation velocity increases in the counter-current direction. By comparing four different electron densities, linear local gyrokinetic simulations have been performed by the Gyrokinetic Electromagnetic Numerical Experiment code for the first time on J-TEXT. It is found that the most dominant turbulence is the ion temperature gradient at $0.2a$ , where $a$ is the minor radius of the plasma and this is unchanged during the plasma density ramp up. By scanning the radial wave vectors, it is found that the residual stress term reverses from negative to positive when the plasma density exceeds a certain threshold. The pinch term is larger than the residual stress term at all four electron densities, which means that the pinch term is always dominant in the core of a J-TEXT plasma.

Thermal barrier coating is a high-temperature protective technology widely used in industrial gas turbines. However, the failure of coating peeling because of the generation of thermally grown oxide (TGO) at the interface during service hinders its further application. In this study, Raman spectroscopy and wedge indentation are used to determine the TGO residual stress and the interface energy release rate, respectively. The effect of TGO on the interfacial fracture toughness during the growth process was discussed. Raman spectroscopy test results show that the residual stress of TGO is about 0.5 GPa. Wedge indentation test results illustrate that high-temperature heat treatment could accelerate the interface degradation of thermal barrier coatings. Stress analysis and test research demonstrate that the microcracks induced by compressive stress of TGO will propagate with increasing heating time, ending with failure of barrier coatings.

In recent years, there have been a significant influenza activity and emerging influenza strains in China, resulting in an increasing number of influenza virus infections and leading to public health concerns. The aims of this study were to identify the epidemiological and aetiological characteristics of influenza and establish seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models for forecasting the percentage of visits for influenza-like illness (ILI%) in urban and rural areas of Shenyang. Influenza surveillance data were obtained for ILI cases and influenza virus positivity from 18 sentinel hospitals. The SARIMA models were constructed to predict ILI% for January–December 2019. During 2010–2018, the influenza activity was higher in urban than in rural areas. The age distribution of ILI cases showed the highest rate in young children aged 0–4 years. Seasonal A/H3N2, influenza B virus and pandemic A/H1N1 continuously co-circulated in winter and spring seasons. In addition, the SARIMA (0, 1, 0) (0, 1, 2)12 model for the urban area and the SARIMA (1, 1, 1) (1, 1, 0)12 model for the rural area were appropriate for predicting influenza incidence. Our findings suggested that there were regional and seasonal distinctions of ILI activity in Shenyang. A co-epidemic pattern of influenza strains was evident in terms of seasonal influenza activity. Young children were more susceptible to influenza virus infection than adults. These results provide a reference for future influenza prevention and control strategies in the study area.

'Missing wedge' problem exists in some kind of CT imaging situations, such as electron microscopy, x-ray nano-CT image, etc. Method such as iterative reconstruction algorithms, total variation based method were applied to improve the reconstruction quality, but the 'missing wedge' artifacts are still inevitable. In this paper, a method based on image processing technique was proposed to locate the 'missing wedge' artifacts in CT reconstruction. The result showed good performance on locating the artifacts, which also showed the potential in CT reconstruction and image analysis in nano-CT.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an important technique for life science research. However, most SCNT embryos fail to develop to term due to undefined reprogramming defects. Here, we show that abnormal Xi occurs in somatic cell NT blastocysts, whereas in female blastocysts derived from cumulus cell nuclear transfer, both X chromosomes were inactive. H3K27me3 removal by Kdm6a mRNA overexpression could significantly improve preimplantation development of NT embryos, and even reached a 70.2% blastocyst rate of cleaved embryos compared with the 38.5% rate of the control. H3K27me3 levels were significantly reduced in blastomeres from cloned blastocysts after overexpression of Kdm6a. qPCR indicated that rDNA transcription increased in both NT embryos and 293T cells after overexpression of Kdm6a. Our findings demonstrate that overexpression of Kdm6a improved the development of cloned mouse embryos by reducing H3K27me3 and increasing rDNA transcription.

Babesiosis is an emerging tick-transmitted zoonosis prevalent in large parts of the world. This study was designed to determine the rates of Babesia microti infection among small rodents in Yunnan province, where human cases of babesiosis have been reported. Currently, distribution of Babesia in its endemic regions is largely unknown. In this study, we cataloged 1672 small wild rodents, comprising 4 orders, from nine areas in western Yunnan province between 2009 and 2011. Babesia microti DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in 4·3% (72/1672) of the rodents analyzed. The most frequently infected rodent species included Apodemus chevrieri and Niviventer fulvescens. Rodents from forests and shrublands had significantly higher Babesia infection rates. Genetic comparisons revealed that Babesia was most similar to the Kobe- and Otsu-type strains identified in Japan. A variety of rodent species might be involved in the enzootic maintenance and transmission of B. microti, supporting the need for further serological investigations in humans.

A “RE-free” and I-phase-containing Mg–8Sn-based alloy system was developed and successfully fabricated through the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) process. The influence of the Zn/Al mass ratio on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the as-ECAPed Mg–8Sn–(5,6,7)Zn–2(wt%)Al alloys was investigated using an optical microscope, an X-ray diffractometer, a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope, and a universal testing machine. Grain size, dynamic recrystallization behavior, and texture were found to be greatly affected by the Zn/Al mass ratio. Furthermore, the ultimate tensile strength (250 MPa) and elongation (14.5%) of the alloy with a Zn/Al mass ratio of 3 were considerably increased compared to those of the as-ECAPed alloys with Zn/Al ratios of 2.5 and 3.5 (ultimate tensile strength and elongation of 215 MPa and 13% and 184 MPa and 10%, respectively). This significant enhancement was attributed to extensive grain boundary strengthening, precipitation strengthening, and higher work hardening capacity as well as texture randomization. The strength and ductility of the as-ECAPed alloys are also discussed in terms of the I-phase and Mg2Sn formation.

This article outlines the evolution of a rescue team in responding to adenovirus prevention with a deployable field hospital. The local governments mobilized a shelter hospital and a rescue team consisting of 59 members to assist with rescue and response efforts after an epidemic outbreak of adenovirus. We describe and evaluate the challenges of preparing for deployment, field hospital maintenance, treatment mode, and primary treatment methods. The field hospital established at the rescue scene consisted of a medical command vehicle, a computed tomography shelter, an X-ray shelter, a special laboratory shelter, an oxygen and electricity supply vehicle, and epidemic prevention and protection equipment. The rescue team comprised paramedics, physicians, X-ray technicians, respiratory therapists, and logistical personnel. In 22 days, more than 3000 patients with suspected adenovirus infection underwent initial examinations. All patients were properly treated, and no deaths occurred. After emergency measures were implemented, the spread of adenovirus was eventually controlled. An emergency involving infectious diseases in less-developed regions demands the rapid development of a field facility with specialized medical personnel when local hospital facilities are either unavailable or unusable. An appropriate and detailed prearranged action plan is important for infectious diseases prevention. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:109–114)

The on-site hydrogen supply is a key issue for the commercialization of the fuel cells, which is one of the important ways for realizing a hydrogen-economy society. Composite NaNH2–NaBH4 is regarded as a promising high-capacity hydrogen storage material. In this paper, the composite NaNH2–NaBH4 (2/1) was synthesized via a solid-state ball milling method. To improve the hydrogen generation kinetics, a multiplex metal boride Mg–Co–B was selected as the catalyst. It was found that Na3BN2 and metal Na were byproducts in the thermal decomposed sample by X-ray diffraction analysis. Thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis indicated that the main decomposition stages of the catalyst promoted NaNH2–NaBH4 material were split into three stages. The activation energy of the Mg–Co–B promoted NaNH2–NaBH4 (2/1) material below 300 °C was 76.4 KJ/mol, which is only 47.9% of that of the pristine NaNH2–NaBH4 (2/1), and implying much better hydrogen generation kinetics.

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 late Palaeoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks of southwestern China are characterized by a number of mafic intrusions and dykes. However, the origin and tectonic implications of these mafic intrusions and dykes remain unclear. The Hekou mafic intrusion, intruding into the Hekou Group in the Hekou area, SW China, is the biggest and most representative one. The intrusion is mainly composed of coarse-grained in the central zone (CZ) and medium- to fine-grained gabbroic rocks in the outer zone (OZ). Cameca secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) U–Pb zircon ages, and geochemical and Nd isotopic results for the intrusion are reported in this paper. SIMS U–Pb zircon ages indicate that the gabbroic rocks from the CZ and OZ were emplaced at 1735±6.5 Ma and 1736±4.0 Ma, respectively. This suggests that the Hekou intrusion originated from c. 1.7 Ga mafic magmatism in the southwestern Yangtze Block. The coarse-grained rocks in the CZ of the intrusion show fairly homogeneous major- and trace-element compositions. In contrast, the medium- to fine-grained rocks from the OZ display slightly evolved compositions, with relatively lower Mg nos, MgO, Al2O3, Cr and Ni contents, and higher SiO2, CaO and Zr concentrations than those of the rocks from the CZ. Although the gabbroic rocks of the intrusion have low total rare earth element (REE) contents (REE = 29.3–40.2 ppm) with slightly light REE (LREE)-enriched and heavy REE (HREE)-depleted patterns, they exhibit distinct trace-element and Nd isotopic features. The rocks from the CZ are characterized by slightly LREE-enriched and ‘convex upwards’ incompatible trace-element patterns with significant Th depletion and insignificant Nb and Ta depletion relative to La. However, the rocks from the OZ have relatively flatter REE patterns than those of the rocks from the CZ. In addition, the rocks from the OZ are slightly enriched in Th and depleted in Nb and Ta relative to La. The εNd(T) values of the CZ and the OZ rocks are +0.70 to +2.3 and −0.30 to +0.24, respectively. The parental magma for the Hekou gabbroic intrusion exhibits affinity with a subalkaline basaltic magma, which was possibly generated by relatively high degrees of partial melting of a slightly depleted asthenospheric mantle source. Their geochemical and isotopic variations were due to slight crystal fractionation with varying degrees of crustal contamination. The Hekou intrusion was therefore supposed to form in an anorogenic extensional environment. It is further suggested that c. 1.7 Ga is an important onset timing of widespread anorogenic magmatism in the southwestern Yangtze Block. We interpret the late Palaeoproterozoic gabbroic intrusion to represent anorogenic mafic magmatism, which was most likely related to the break-up of the Columbia supercontinent.