A 328.58 m drill core (XK12) was recovered from lacustrine–alluvial sediments in the Xingkai Basin, northeast China, with the aim of obtaining a high-resolution pollen record of East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) evolution since 3.6 Ma. An index based on the pollen record of thermophilous trees and terrestrial herbs is used as an indicator of winter temperature conditions controlled by the EAWM, at the glacial–interglacial scale. Primary age control was established based on lithostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy, and then the pollen index was correlated to the LR04 global benthic δ18O record and finally tuned to Earth orbital obliquity to produce a high-resolution astronomical time scale. The pollen record indicates that the EAWM underwent two stepwise enhancements at 2.8 and 1.6 Ma. These events are consistent with paleoclimatic records of mean quartz grain size from the Chinese Loess Plateau, and they are also in accord with the initiation and intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Our findings suggest that the variability of the EAWM since 3.6 Ma was primarily controlled by changes in global ice volume and climatic cooling.

The effect of maternal folate intake on small-for-gestational-age (SGA) births remains inconclusive. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of maternal folate intake from diet and supplements with the risk of SGA births using data from a cross-sectional study in Shaanxi Province of Northwest China. A total of 7307 women who were within 12 months (median 3; 10th–90th percentile 0–7) after delivery were included. Two-level models were adopted to examine the associations of folate (dietary folate, supplemental folic acid and total folate) intake with the risk of SGA births and birth weight Z score, controlling for a minimum set of confounders that were identified in a directed acyclic graph. Results showed that a higher supplemental folic acid intake during the first trimester was negatively associated with the risk of SGA births (≤60 d v. non-use: OR 0·80; 95 % CI 0·66, 0·96; >60 d v. non-use: OR 0·78; 95 % CI 0·65, 0·94; Ptrend = 0·010; per 10-d increase: OR 0·97; 95 % CI 0·95, 0·99). A higher total folate intake during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of SGA births (highest tertile v. lowest tertile: OR 0·77; 95 % CI 0·64, 0·94; Ptrend = 0·010; per one-unit increase in the log-transformed value: OR 0·81; 95 % CI 0·69, 0·95). A similar pattern was observed for the birth weight Z score. Our study suggested that folic acid supplementation during the first trimester and a higher total folate intake during pregnancy were associated with a reduced risk of SGA births.

We assessed inheritance of resistance to sugarcane brown rust (Puccinia melanocephala) in selfing F1 populations of wild sugarcane germplasm Erianthus rockii ‘Yundian 95-19’ and E. rockii ‘Yundian 95-20’. We tested parent and selfing F1 individuals for the brown rust resistance gene, Bru1, that has been shown to confer resistance to brown rust in sugarcane. The Bru1 gene was not detected in E. rockii ‘Yundian 95-19’, E. rockii ‘Yundian 95-20’ or their selfing F1 individuals, and we found there was segregation of resistance in the two selfing F1 populations (segregation ratio: 3:1). The results confirmed resistance in E. rockii ‘Yundian 95-19’ and E. rockii ‘Yundian 95-20’ to sugarcane brown rust is controlled by a novel, single dominant gene.

In this paper, a novel multilayer substrate integrated dual-mode dielectric resonator (DR) filter is proposed. The square dual-mode DR is made of the high permittivity substrate by removing the undesired portions and the surface coppers so that the relatively high unloaded quality factor of the dominate TM11 pair can be obtained which compared to these fully dielectric-filled substrate integrated waveguides. Meanwhile, it can be easily integrated in an equivalent cavity implemented by multilayer printed circuit boards for filter design, showcasing low in-band loss, light weight, and compact size. For demonstration, a multilayer substrate integrated DR bandpass filter centered at X-band is designed and measured. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results can be observed, and the measured insertion loss at the passband center frequency (8.38 GHz) is 1.1 dB.

A band-stop angular filter (BSF) based on hump volume Bragg gratings (HVBGs) is proposed. Band-stop filtering in a two-stage amplifier laser system is discussed and simulated. Simulation results show that small-scale self-focusing effects in the laser system can be effectively suppressed with the BSF due to the control of fast nonlinear growth in a specific range of spatial frequencies in the laser beam. Near-field modulation of the output beam from the laser system was decreased from 2.69 to 1.37 by controlling the fast nonlinear growth of spatial frequencies ranging from $0.6~\text{mm}^{-1}$ to $1.2~\text{mm}^{-1}$ with the BSF. In addition, the BSF can be used in a plug-and-play scheme and has potential applications in high-power laser systems.

Few studies have examined the association of various types of Fe with colorectal cancer risk. The aim of this study was to investigate different forms and sources of Fe in relation to colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population. A total of 2138 patients with colorectal cancer and 2144 sex- and age-matched (5-year interval) controls were recruited from July 2010 to November 2017. Dietary information was assessed by face-to-face interviews using a validated FFQ. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the OR and 95 % CI on models. Intake of Fe from plants and Fe from white meat were inversely associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, while haem Fe and Fe from red meat were positively associated with colorectal cancer risk. The multivariable OR for the highest quartile v. the lowest quartile were 0·72 (95 % CI 0·59, 0·87, Ptrend<0·001) for Fe from plants, 0·54 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·66, Ptrend<0·001) for Fe from white meat, 1·26 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·53, Ptrend=0·005) for haem Fe and 1·83 (95 % CI 1·49, 2·24, Ptrend<0·001) for Fe from red meat intake, respectively. However, no significant association was found between the consumption of total dietary Fe, non-haem Fe, Fe from meat and colorectal cancer risk. This study showed that lower intake of Fe from plants and white meat, as well as higher intake of haem Fe and Fe from red meat, were associated with colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population.

Identifying the relative importance of urban and non-urban land-use types for potential denitrification derived N2O at a regional scale is critical for quantifying the impacts of human activities on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission under changing environments. In this study we used a regional dataset from China including 197 soil samples and six land-use types to evaluate the main predictors (land use, heavy metals, soil pH, soil moisture, substrate availability, functional and broad microbial abundances) of potential denitrification using multivariate and pathway analysis. Our results provide empirical evidence that soils on farms have the greatest potential denitrifying ability (PDA) (10.92±6.08ng N2O-N·g–1 dry soil·min–1) followed by urban soil (6.80±5.35ng N2O-N·g–1 dry soil·min–1). Our models indicate that land use (low vs. high human activity), followed by total nitrogen (TN) and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd) was the most important driver of PDA. In addition, our path analysis suggests that at least part of the impacts of land use on potential denitrification were mediated via microbial abundance, soil pH and substrates including TN, dissolved organic carbon and nitrate. This study identifies the main predictors of denitrification at a regional scale which is needed to quantify the impact of human activities on ecosystem functionality under changing conditions.

The composites were synthesized by the reaction of Bi(NO3)3·5H2O, KI, and MoS2 and were prepared with different molar ratios of Bi/Mo (1:5, 1:2, 1:1, and 4:1) by altering the amount of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate. The phase composition and chemical bonds of the composites were characterized via X-ray diffraction and FT-IR, and the morphologies of the samples were characterized via scanning electron microscopy. With the increase of lanthanum source, the lamellar structure of the sample surface became more and more obvious. The results showed that the phase composition of the composites with different ratios of Bi/Mo was different. When the Bi/Mo reached 4:1, the composite material was Bi2MoO6/BiOI. The heterojunction structure formed between Bi2MoO6 and BiOI effectively promotes the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes and improved the photocatalytic activity. Therefore, the effect of the composites on the degradation of RhB was better than pure BiOI under the irradiation of a 350-W xenon lamp.

In the Venus capture period, it is difficult for celestial autonomous navigation to satisfy the requirement of high precision. To improve autonomous navigation performance, a Direction, Distance and Velocity (DDV) measurements deeply integrated navigation method is proposed. The “deeply” integrated navigation reflects the fact that the direction and velocity measurements suppress the Doppler effects in the pulsar signals. In the pulsar observation period, the direction and velocity measurements are utilised to compensate for Doppler effects in the pulsar signals. By these means, the residual effects can be ignored. When the direction, distance or velocity measurements are obtained, they are fused to improve the navigation performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the DDV measurements deeply integrated navigation filter converges very well, and provides highly accurate position estimation without a high quality requirement on navigation sensors.

The Chinese Solar and Geophysical Data (CSGD) was first issued at the Beijing Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences (now the headquarter of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences) in 1971, when China’s satellite-industry was booming. CSGD covers the observational data (observations of the sunspots, solar flares, solar radio bursts, ionospheric storm and geomagnetic storm) from a couple of domestic observatories and the forecast data. The compiler of CSGD still keeps the data exchange with other institutes worldwide. The type of the dataset includes texts, tables, figures and so on. Up to now, we have electronized all the historic archives, making them easily accessible to people who are interested in them.

Observational studies and treatment trials investigating nutrition and cognitive function, with a focus on folate and soya and dementia, were reviewed. Data suggested that effects of folic acid based interventions may only be shown before cognitive decline is evident and/or if people are folate deficient. In older people in Indonesia, Hawai'i and China, tofu, which can contain high levels of phytoestrogens, was found to increase dementia risk. This association was not mediated by a vegetarian diet, socioeconomic status, formaldehyde, thyroid function, or loss of teeth. On the other hand, human observational and animal treatment studies suggested that tempe, a fermented soya product containing phytoestrogens and folate, reduced dementia risk and improved memory. High oestrogen levels were found to increase dementia risk in older women. However, in women with adequate serum folate, high oestrogen levels did not confer additional dementia risk and may protect ageing neurons. In conclusion, reviews seem to suggest that folic acid interventions are only effective on cognitive outcomes in people who are folate deficient and do not have cognitive impairment. Frequent consumption of tofu may have detrimental effects on memory and increase dementia risk in older East Asian people, while tempe may reduce these risks. Possibly folate in tempe offsets the potential negative effects of oestrogenic compounds on ageing neurons.

In this paper, drop-weight impact test was carried out on an integrated composite sandwich panel of aluminum honeycomb and epoxy resin to investigate its failure modes and typical force–displacement curves, and the influences of different parameters on plateau phase duration time, nominal stress, and energy absorption capacity were analyzed. Dynamic impact test results indicated that this integrated composite sandwich panel had good integrality, stability, and energy absorption capacity. The force–displacement curves of flat-bottom impactor and gradual impactor respectively had seven and five phases. Impact velocity, impactor shape, and specimen thickness had significant influences on the plateau phase duration time, nominal stress, and energy absorption capacity of the composite panel. It can be found from our results that the mechanical properties of the integrated composite sandwich panel were superior to those of traditional sandwich panels.

Singular systems simultaneously capture the dynamics and algebraic constraints in many practical applications. Output feedback admissible control for singular systems through a delta operator method is considered in this article. Two novel admissibility conditions, derived for the singular delta operator system (SDOS) from a singular continuous system through sampling, can not only produce unified admissibility for both continuous and discrete singular systems but also practical procedures. To solve the problem of output feedback admissible control for the SDOS, an existence condition and design procedure is given for the determination of a physically realisable observer for the state estimation, and then a suitable state-feedback-like admissible controller design based on the observer is developed. All of the conditions presented are necessary and sufficient, involving strict linear matrix inequalities (LMI) with feasible solutions obtained with low computational costs. Numerical examples illustrate our approach.

The propagation of a pre-existing center crack in single crystal tungsten under cyclic loading was examined by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at various temperatures. The results indicated that the deformation mechanism and fracture behavior at crack tip were differences for variously oriented cracks. The [001](010) crack propagated as the form of the formation of slip, while the deformation mechanisms of [10−1](101) crack were blunting voids at 300 K. At higher temperature, many more slip systems were activated resulting in the change of mode of crack propagation. Simulated results showed that the effect of temperature on deformation mechanism and fracture behavior of [001](010) crack was more sensitive than that of [10−1](101) crack. Meanwhile, the influence of a 5〈310〉{110} model grain boundary (GB) on crack propagation was also discussed. Detailed analysis showed that the grain boundary resisted the crack growth by changing the deformation mechanisms and the path of crack propagation at crack tip before the crack reached the grain boundary, and had an important influence on the crack growth rate.

This study examines the usage of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in Chinese students aged from 10 to 25 within four age groups (N = 5,510): early adolescence (10–13 years old, n = 1,258), middle adolescence (14–17 years old, n = 1,987), late adolescence (18–21 years old, n = 1,950) and early adulthood (22–25 years old, n = 315); and analyses the structure and levels of meaning in life, as well as the relationship between meaning in life and mental health. Results showed that: (1) the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in the four age groups of Chinese students had good construct validity and internal consistency reliability; (2) the average levels of the presence of meaning and search for meaning of Chinese students were moderate or above, and had obvious differences according to gender and family location (i.e., urban vs. rural); (3) the level of presence of meaning showed a trend of rising rapidly in middle adolescence and the level of search for meaning continued to rise in early adolescence and fell rapidly towards the end of adolescence; (4) presence of meaning was positively related to life satisfaction and positive affect and negatively related to depression and negative affect, and the same correlations were found with search for meaning.

For the prevention and control of newly emergent or sudden infectious diseases, we built an on-site, modularized prevention and control system and tested the equipment by using the clustering analysis method. On the basis of this system, we propose a modular equipment allocation method and 4 applications of this method for different types of infectious disease prevention and control. This will help to improve the efficiency and productivity of anti-epidemic emergency forces and will provide strong technical support for implementing more universal and serialized equipment in China. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:375–382)

In this paper, a W-band (80 GHz) sub-harmonic mixer (SHM) IC is designed, fabricated and measured in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The presented SHM IC makes use of a common emitter common collector transistor pair structure with a bottom-LO-configuration to decrease the LO power requirement and a tail current source to flatten the conversion gain. On-chip Marchand balun is designed for W-band on-wafer measurements. The SHM IC presented in this paper has exhibited a conversion gain of 3.9 dB at 80 GHz RF signal with an LO power of only −7 dBm at 39.5 GHz. The mixer core consumes only 0.68 mA at a supply voltage of 3.3 V.

In this work, fluorescent Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) cells were developed as probes for imaging applications and to explore behaviorial interaction between B. subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A novel biological strategy of coupling intracellular biochemical reactions for controllable biosynthesis of CdSe quantum dots by living B. subtilis cells was demonstrated, through which highly luminant and photostable fluorescent B. subtilis cells were achieved with good uniformity. With the help of the obtained fluorescent B. subtilis cells probes, S. aureus cells responded to co-cultured B. subtilis and to aggregate. The degree of aggregation was calculated and nonlinearly fitted to a polynomial model. Systematic investigations of their interactions implied that B. subtilis cells inhibit the growth of neighboring S. aureus cells, and this inhibition was affected by both the growth stage and the amount of surrounding B. subtilis cells. Compared to traditional methods of studying bacterial interaction between two species, such as solid culture medium colony observation and imaging mass spectrometry detection, the procedures were more simple, vivid, and photostable due to the efficient fluorescence intralabeling with less influence on the cells’ surface, which might provide a new paradigm for future visualization of microbial behavior.