The Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) typically displays bivoltinism at altitudes below 1700 m in the Qinling Mountains, China. The periods of host colonization and larval overwintering are two important phases in the life cycle of bark beetles, as it is during these periods that they have to contend with host plant defences and periods of intense cold, respectively. Although during different seasons, the females and males of Chinese white pine beetles show varying tolerances to host plant terpenoids, the sex ratio and survival physiology condition of the two beetle generations are unknown. We investigated the sex ratio of individuals, and also examined the body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes of males and females in each of the two generations in order to determine the overall population stability of each generation. We identified a female-biased sex ratio among adults in both generations. Furthermore, patterns of body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes were found to differ between the two sexes and two seasons. Compared with the males, the females have a larger body mass and higher amounts of stored lipids, which are assumed to be adaptations designed to overcome host resistance and facilitate subsequent oviposition.

This paper presents new LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb chronology, whole-rock geochemical and zircon Hf isotopic data for the felsic lavas of the Huili Group from the southwestern Yangtze Block. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating shows that these rocks were emplaced in Late Mesoproterozoic time (∼1028 to 1019 Ma). Relative to typical I-type and S-type granitoids, all the samples are characterized by low Sr and Eu, and high high-field-strength element contents, high TFeO/MgO, enriched rare earth element compositions and negative Eu anomalies, indicating that they share the geochemical signatures of A-type granitoid. They can be further divided into two groups: Group I and Group II. Group I are A1-type felsic rocks and were produced by fractional crystallization of alkaline basaltic magmas. The Group II felsic lavas belong to the A2-type and were derived by partial melting of a crustal source with mixing of mantle-derived magmas. Both Group I and Group II felsic lavas may erupt in a continental back-arc setting. The coexistence of A1- and A2-type rocks in the southwestern Yangtze Block suggests that they can occur in the same tectonic setting.

Heavy metal contamination in the paddy soils of China is a serious concern because of its health risk through transfer in food chains. A field experiment was conducted in 2014–2015 to investigate the long-term effects of different biochar amendments on cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) immobilisation in a contaminated paddy field in southern China. Two types of biochar, a rice-straw-derived biochar (RB) and a coconut-by-product-derived biochar (CB), were amended separately to determine their impacts on rice yield and their efficacy in reducing Cd and As in rice. The two-year field experiment showed that biochar amendments significantly improved the rice yields and that CB is superior to RB, especially in the first growth season. Using a large amount of biochar amendment (22.5tha–1) significantly increased soil pH and total organic carbon, and concomitantly decreased the Cd content in rice grains over the four growth seasons, regardless of biochar type and application rate. Arsenic levels in rice were similar to the control, and results from this study suggest that there was a sustainable effect of biochar on Cd sequestration in soil and reduction of Cd accumulation in rice for at least two years. Biochar amendment in soil could be considered as a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective option to remediate heavy metal contamination in paddy fields for long periods.

We provide novel evidence that hedge fund performance is persistent following weak hedge fund markets but is not persistent following strong markets. Specifically, we construct two performance measures, RET_DOWN and RET_UP, conditioned on the level of overall hedge fund sector returns. After adjusting for risks, funds in the highest RET_DOWN quintile outperform funds in the lowest quintile by approximately 7% in the subsequent year, whereas funds with better RET_UP do not outperform subsequently. The RET_DOWN measure can predict future fund performance over a horizon as long as 3 years, for both winners and losers and for funds with few share restrictions.

To determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in dairy cattle in Guangdong Province, South China, 1440 fecal samples were collected from 10 farms and screened for Cryptosporidium with PCR. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 4.38% (63/1440), and the infection rates in preweaned calves, postweaned calves, heifers and adults were 6.4% (19/297), 6.19% (33/533), 1.48% (4/271) and 2.06% (7/339), respectively. Three Cryptosporidium species, Cryptosporidium andersoni (n = 33), Cryptosporidium bovis (n = 22) and Cryptosporidium ryanae (n = 8) were detected by DNA sequence analysis of the 63 positive samples, and C. andersoni was identified as the most common species on the dairy cattle farms. In preweaned calves, C. bovis was the most prevalent species (9/19, 47.4%). In contrast, C. andersoni was the predominant species (19/33, 57.6%) in postweaned calves and the only species found in heifers and adults. The zoonotic species Cryptosporidium parvum was not detected in this study. Twenty-four C. andersoni isolates were successfully classified into three multilocus sequence typing (MLST) subtypes. MLST subtype A4,A4,A4,A1 was the predominant subtype, and MLST subtype A2,A5,A2,A1, previously found in sheep, was detected in cattle for the first time. A linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that the C. andersoni isolates had a clonal genetic population structure. However, further molecular studies are required to better understand the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium in Guangdong.

MicroRNA (miR)-29b plays a crucial role during somatic cell reprogramming. The aim of the current study was to explore the effects of miR-29b on the developmental competence of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos, as well as the underlying mechanisms of action. The expression level of miR-29b was lower in bovine SCNT embryos at the pronuclear, 8-cell, and blastocyst stages compared with in vitro fertilized embryos. In addition, miR-29b regulates the expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt3a/3b and Dnmt1) in bovine SCNT embryos. We further investigated SCNT embryo developmental competence and found that miR-29b overexpression during bovine SCNT embryonic development does not improve developmental potency and downregulation inhibits developmental potency. Nevertheless, the quality of bovine SCNT embryos at the blastocyst stage improved significantly. The expression of pluripotency factors and cellular proliferation were significantly higher in blastocysts from the miR-29b overexpression group than the control and downregulation groups. In addition, outgrowth potential in blastocysts after miR-29b overexpression was also significantly greater in the miR-29b overexpression group than in the control and downregulation groups. Taken together, these results demonstrated that miR-29b plays an important role in bovine SCNT embryo development.

The Safety Level Approach (SLA) is a structured application of risk-based methodologies for the International Maritime Organization's (IMO's) rule-making process. When the SLA is applied, safety goals have to be provided. In order to set appropriate levels for safety goals, it is necessary to measure the tolerance degree of the current safety level. Based on the consistency with individual risk criteria and the principle of continuous improvement, this paper proposes an approach to establish the societal risk criteria, which can be used for setting safety goals in the context of the IMO's SLA. Furthermore, by defining dynamic factors to express risk aversion, a method for tolerance measurement of the current societal risk is developed. Finally, a case study into the societal risk evaluation of cruise ships and Roll-On Roll-Off (RO-RO) passenger ships is conducted.

The surface hardening of Cu is an effective way to keep good electrical conductivity and increase chemical inertness. Here, Cr and Zr are introduced into Cu films to stabilize N and increase the film hardness. CuN-based alloy films are prepared on single-crystal Si(100) substrates using magnetron sputtering. Cu(Cr, N) films are mainly composed of Cu and Cr2N nanocrystals while Cu and Zr2N nanocrystals compose Cu(Zr, N) films. The thermal stability of the ternary films comes from the strong interaction between Cr (or Zr) and N which is contributing to the generation of stable nitrides. In terms of resistivity and hardness, the Cu(Cr, N) and Cu(Zr, N) films prepared at the N2/Ar ratio of 1/10 show preferable properties. Especially, the Cu86.1Zr6.1N7.8 film exhibits the highest hardness (∼4.7 GPa) and lowest resistivity (63.6 μΩ·cm). The chemical inertness of Cu film can also be improved by adding Cr–N and Zr–N. These ternary films are expected to apply for Cu surface nitrogenization.

There are six strains of the complete genomic sequences of black queen cell virus (BQCV) published in the GenBank, including South Africa (AF183905), South Korea (JX149531), Hungary 10 (EF517515), Poland 4 (EF517519), Poland 5 (EF517520) and Poland 6 (EF517521). Based on the six BQCV strains published in the GenBank, ten pairs of primers were designed in the present study using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to obtain the first complete genome sequence of a BQCV strain in China, called the BQCV China-JL1 strain (KP119603). A phylogenetic tree was then built to analyse their genetic relationships. The BQCV China-JL1 strain showed 86–93% similarity with the six strains published in the GenBank. The BQCV China-JL1 strain consisted of 8358 nucleotides (nt). The 5′-proximal open reading frame (ORF1) initiated at nt position 546 and terminated at nt position 4676, ORF3 initiated at nt position 4891 and terminated at nt position 5433, and the 3′-proximal ORF (ORF2) was located between nt positions 5750 and 8203.

Zeolite–zeolite composite composed of alumina-rich hierarchically porous ZSM-5 cores and high-silicon MFI shells was prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis procedure, in which a commercial ZSM-5 zeolite with a SiO2/Al2O3 of 36 was treated by an alkaline solution and then used as a supporter for epitaxial growth of a polycrystalline Silicalite-1 zeolite shell (denoted as MMZsa). Acid sites associated with framework Al on exterior surfaces of ZSM-5 zeolite cores are therefore passivated in different degrees by the epitaxial MFI zeolite shell. The structural, crystalline, and textural properties of the as-synthesized samples were characterized by x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), N2 adsorption-desorption, in situ IR spectra of pyridine and NH3-TPD. Aluminum species were observed to transfer from the alumina-rich cores to the high-silica shells. The adjustable thickness and SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of the shell offer the as-synthesized composite a potential and high-efficiency catalyst for methanol conversion into gasoline and diesel. As compared with the commercial ZSM-5 zeolite, the composite catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic performances with a longer catalytic life as well as a higher conversion and a slightly higher yield of diesel oil.

Ice algae have successfully adapted to the extreme environmental conditions in the Antarctic, however the underlying mechanisms involved in the regulation and response of thylakoid membranes and chloroplast to low-temperature stress are still not well understood. In this study, changes in pigment concentrations, lipids, fatty acids and pigment protein complexes in thylakoid membranes and chloroplast after exposure to low temperature conditions were investigated using the Antarctic ice algae Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L. Results showed that the chloroplasts of Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L are distributed throughout the cell except in the nuclear region in the form of thylakoid lamellas which exists in the gap between organelles and the starch granules. Also, the structure of mitochondria has no obvious change after cold stress. Concentrations of Chl a, Chl b, monogalactosyl diacylglycerol, digalactosyl diacylglycerol and fatty acids were also observed to exhibit changes with temperature, suggesting possible adaptations to cold environments. The light harvesting complex, lutein and β-carotene played an important role for adaptation of ICE-L, and increasing of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol and digalactosyl diacylglycerol improved the overall degree of unsaturation of thylakoid membranes, thereby maintaining liquidity of thylakoid membranes. The pigments, lipids, fatty acids and pigment-protein complexes maintained the stability of the thylakoid membranes and the normal physiological function of Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L.

Carbon nanodots (CDs) have generated enormous excitement because of their superiority in water solubility, chemical inertness, low toxicity, ease of functionalization and resistance to photobleaching. Here we report a facile thermal pyrolysis route to prepare CDs with high quantum yield (QY) using citric acid as the carbon source and ethylene diamine derivatives (EDAs) including triethylenetetramine (TETA), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and polyene polyamine (PEPA) as the passivation agents. We find that the CDs prepared from EDAs, such as TETA, TEPA and PEPA, show relatively high photoluminescence (PL) QY (11.4, 10.6, and 9.8%, respectively) at λex of 465 nm. The cytotoxicity of the CDs has been investigated through in vitro and in vivo bio-imaging studies. The results indicate that these CDs possess low toxicity and good biocompatibility. The unique properties such as the high PL QY at large excitation wave length and the low toxicity of the resulting CDs make them promising fluorescent nanoprobes for applications in optical bio-imaging and biosensing.

Heat-resistant Al–8.5Fe–1.3V–1.7Si (wt%) aluminum alloy components were fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM). The as-built samples were examined in terms of density, chemical composition, surface morphologies, microstructures, and mechanical behavior. The results show that nearly full dense samples with the relative density of 99.3% can be produced. The chemical composition of the deposited material is close to that of the powder, presenting a limited aluminum loss and a low oxygen pickup. The SLM specimens consist of three typical zones: the fusion zone (FZ), the remelting border zone (RBZ), and the heat-affected zone (HAZ). Ultrafine continuous cellular α-Al networks are observed in the FZ. The HAZ exhibits fine rounded Al12(Fe,V)3Si particles (10–70 nm) distributed homogeneously in the α-Al matrix, while the rectangle-like Al m Fe-type phase (m = 4.0–4.4) with 100–500 nm in size is preferably formed in the RBZ. The microhardness of the parts shows directional independent, with a mean value of 246 HV0.1.

We developed a new GaN on SiC growth method by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) using of a single 2-dimension-growth step. Prior to epitaxy, to inhibit pre-reaction of Si-face SiC substrate with TMGa and NH3, TMAl was flowed without NH3. 1.5 μm of undoped crack-free GaN was grown on 6H-SiC (Si-face). Without buffer layer, the vertical resistance of GaN/SiC structure was found to be around 82.1Ω as determined by I-V characteristic. Further reduction in vertical resistance is expected by growth of n-GaN (1.5μm)/SiC structure (300μm). We also expect a SiC-based GaN heterostructure vertical FET will achieve high power and high switching speed performance.