Many waterflooding oil fields, injecting water into an oil-bearing reservoir for pressure maintenance, are in their middle to late stages of development. To explore the geological conditions and improve oilfield recovery of the most important well group of the Hu 136 block, located on the border areas of three provinces (Henan, Shandong, and Hebei), Zhongyuan Oilfield, Sinopec, central China, a 14C cross-well tracer monitoring technology was developed and applied in monitoring the development status and recognize the heterogeneity of oil reservoirs. The tracer response in the production well was tracked, and the water drive speed, swept volume of the injection fluid were obtained. Finally, the reservoir heterogeneity characteristics, such as the dilution coefficient, porosity, permeability, and average pore-throat radius, were fitted according to the mathematical model of the heterogeneous multi-layer inter-well theory. The 14C-AMS technique developed in this work is expected to be a potential analytical method for evaluating underground reservoir characteristics and providing crucial scientific guidance for the mid to late oil field recovery process.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

The aim of this study was to explore the effects and mechanisms of different starvation treatments on the compensatory growth of Acipenser dabryanus. A total of 120 fish (60·532 (sem 0·284) g) were randomly assigned to four groups (fasting 0, 3, 7 or 14 d and then refed for 14 d). During fasting, middle body weight decreased significantly with prolonged starvation. The whole-body and muscle composition, serum biochemical indexes, visceral indexes and digestive enzyme activities had been effected with varying degrees of changes. The growth hormone (GH) level in serum was significantly increased in 14D; however, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) showed the opposite trend. The neuropeptide Y (npy) mRNA level in brain was significantly improved in 7D; peptide YY (pyy) mRNA level in intestine was significantly decreased during fasting. After refeeding, the final body weight, percentage weight gain, specific growth rate, feed intake, feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio showed no difference between 0D and 3D. The changes of whole-body and muscle composition, serum biochemical indexes, visceral indexes and digestive enzyme activities had taken place in varying degrees. GH levels in 3D and 7D were significantly higher than those in the 0D; the IGF-1 content decreased significantly during refeeding. There was no significant difference in npy and pyy mRNA levels. These results indicated that short-term fasting followed by refeeding resulted in full compensation and the physiological and biochemical effects on A. dabryanus were the lowest after 3 d of starvation and 14 d of refeeding. Additionally, compensation in A. dabryanus may be mediated by appetite genes and GH, and the degree of compensation is also affected by the duration of starvation.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2 virus) has been sustained in China since December 2019, and has become a pandemic. The mental health of frontline medical staff is a concern. In this study, we aimed to identify the factors influencing medical worker anxiety in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. We conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of anxiety among medical staff in China from 10 February 2020 to 20 February 2020 using the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to assess anxiety, with the criteria of normal (⩽49), mild (50–59), moderate (60–70) and severe anxiety (⩾70). We used multivariable linear regression to determine the factors (e.g. having direct contact when treating infected patients, being a medical staff worker from Hubei province, being a suspect case) for anxiety. We also used adjusted models to confirm independent factors for anxiety after adjusting for gender, age, education and marital status. Of 512 medical staff in China, 164 (32.03%) had had direct contact treating infected patients. The prevalence of anxiety was 12.5%, with 53 workers suffering from mild (10.35%), seven workers suffering from moderate (1.36%) and four workers suffering from severe anxiety (0.78%). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, education and marital status), medical staff who had had direct contact treating infected patients experienced higher anxiety scores than those who had not had direct contact (β value = 2.33, confidence interval (CI) 0.65–4.00; P = 0.0068). A similar trend was observed in medical staff from Hubei province, compared with those from other parts of China (β value = 3.67, CI 1.44–5.89; P = 0.0013). The most important variable was suspect cases with high anxiety scores, compared to non-suspect cases (β value = 4.44, CI 1.55–7.33; P = 0.0028). In this survey of hospital medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we found that study participants experienced anxiety symptoms, especially those who had direct clinical contact with infected patients; as did those in the worst affected areas, including Hubei province; and those who were suspect cases. Governments and healthcare authorities should proactively implement appropriate psychological intervention programmes, to prevent, alleviate or treat increased anxiety.

To study the interface characteristics between substrates and homoepitaxially grown single crystalline diamond layers, the high-pressure/high-temperature Ib diamond seeds with homoepitaxial diamond layers were annealed by low-pressure/high-temperature treatment in a hydrogen environment. The stress evolution and related impurity transformation near the interface were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and micro-infrared spectroscopy before and after annealing. It is found that the stress is the smallest in a 100 μm wide zone near the interface, accompanying with the similar change in substitutional nitrogen (Ns) concentration. After annealing at 1050 °C, 1250 °C, and 1450 °C, the local compressive stress is released gradually with temperature change. It is decreased by 1.03 GPa in maximum after annealing at 1450 °C. The concentration of nitrogen–vacancy (NV) complexes in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) layer is dramatically reduced at 1450 °C. The value of ${{I_{{\rm{NV}}^ \hbox- } } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{I_{{\rm{NV}}^ - } } {I_{{\rm{diamond}}} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {I_{{\rm{diamond}}} }}$ decreases much more than ${{I_{{\rm{NV}}^0 } } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{I_{{\rm{NV}}^0 } } {I_{{\rm{diamond}}} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {I_{{\rm{diamond}}} }}$ in the CVD layer, which is due to the lower stability of NV− compared with NV0 at high temperature.

The Wulanba granite, consisting of biotite monzogranite and syenogranite, is located in the southern part of the Great Xing’an Range, NE China. Whole-rock major- and trace-element geochemistry suggests the Wulanba granite is a high-K–shoshonitic, slightly peraluminous and highly differentiated I-type granite. The Sr–Nd–Hf isotopes indicate that it originated from partial melting of juvenile crust derived from the depleted mantle with a minor input of old crust. The relatively young T2DM and tDM2 ages indicate it was most likely derived from a Late Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic source. We have demonstrated that the biotite monzogranite is the ore-related intrusion of the Haobugao Zn–Fe mineralization based on the following geological, geochronological and geochemical evidence: (1) the chalcopyrite/pyrite in the biotite monzogranite and the continuous mineralization of drill core ZK2508; (2) the consistence of the emplacement age of the biotite monzogranite (~141–140/138 Ma) with the skarn mineralization age (~142 Ma); and (3) the presence of rich ore-forming elements (Fe–Zn–Cu) in the biotite monzogranite, and the similar Pb compositions of the sulfides from the Haobugao deposit and the biotite monzogranite. Compared to the barren syenogranite, the fertile biotite monzogranite is more oxidized, while the edges of the apatite grains in the biotite monzogranite are more oxidized than the centres. The average F/Cl ratio of the fertile biotite monzogranite (~123.45) is much higher than that of the barren syenogranite (~73.98). We conclude that these differences reflect unique geochemical signatures, and the geochemical composition of the apatite can be used to infer the economic potential of granites.

Maternal supraphysiological estradiol (E2) environment during pregnancy leads to adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the influence of oocyte exposure to high E2 levels on perinatal outcomes remains unknown. Thus, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effect of high E2 level induced by controlled ovarian stimulation (COH) on further outcomes after frozen embryo transfer (FET). The study included all FET cycles (n = 10,581) between 2014 and 2017. All cycles were categorized into three groups according to the E2 level on the day of the human Chorionic Gonadotropin trigger. Odds ratios (ORs) and their confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between E2 level during COH and pregnancy outcomes and subsequent neonatal outcomes. From our findings, higher E2 level was associated with lower percentage of chemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth as well as increased frequency of early miscarriage. Preterm births were more common among singletons in women with higher E2 level during COH (aOR1 = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.22–3.06; aOR2 = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.33–3.06). Incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) was more common in both singletons (aOR1 = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.30–3.11; aOR2 = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.69–3.74) and multiples (aOR1 = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.03–2.45; aOR2 = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.05–3.84) among women with relatively higher E2 level. No association was found between high E2 level during COH and the percentage of macrosomia or large for gestational age. In summary, oocyte exposure to high E2 level during COH should be brought to our attention, since the pregnancy rate decreasing and the risk of preterm birth and SGA increasing following FET.

The jungles of Linyun and Longlin Autonomous Prefecture, located in the heart of the southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, are home to the oldest tea trees (Camellia sinensis) in the world. In the absence of regular annual rings, radiocarbon (14C) dating is one of the most powerful tools that can assist in the determination of the ages and growth rates of these plants. In this work, cores were extracted from large ancient tea trees in a central Longlin rain forest; extraction of carbon was performed with an automated sample preparation system. The 14C levels in the tree cores were measured using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at the University of Tsukuba. These measurements indicated that contrary to conventional views, the ages of trees in these forests range up to ~700 years, and the growth rate of this species is notably slow, exhibiting a long-term radial growth rate of 0.039±0.006 cm/yr. It was demonstrated that 14C analyses provide accurate determination of ages and growth rates for subtropical wild tea trees.

Existing data on folate status and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis are scarce. We prospectively examined whether serum folate concentrations at diagnosis were associated with liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) and overall survival (OS) among 982 patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated HCC, who were enrolled in the Guangdong Liver Cancer Cohort (GLCC) study between September 2013 and February 2017. Serum folate concentrations were measured using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI by sex-specific quartile of serum folate. Compared with patients in the third quartile of serum folate, patients in the lowest quartile had significantly inferior LCSS (HR = 1·48; 95 % CI 1·05, 2·09) and OS (HR = 1·43; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·99) after adjustment for non-clinical and clinical prognostic factors. The associations were not significantly modified by sex, age at diagnosis, alcohol drinking status and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. However, there were statistically significant interactions on both multiplicative and additive scale between serum folate and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels or smoking status and the associations of lower serum folate with worse LCSS and OS were only evident among patients with CRP > 3·0 mg/l or current smokers. An inverse association with LCSS were also observed among patients with liver damage score ≥3. These results suggest that lower serum folate concentrations at diagnosis are independently associated with worse HCC survival, most prominently among patients with systemic inflammation and current smokers. A future trial of folate supplementation seems to be promising in HCC patients with lower folate status.

We numerically investigate the mechanism leading to the entrapment of spheres at the gas–liquid interface after impact. Upon impact onto a liquid pool, a hydrophobic sphere is seen to follow one of the three regimes identified in the experiment (Lee & Kim, Langmuir, vol. 24, 2008, pp. 142–145): sinking, bouncing or being entrapped at the interface. It is important to understand the role of wettability in this process of flow–structure interaction with dynamic wetting, and in particular, to what extent the wettability can determine whether the sphere is entrapped at the interface. For this purpose, a diffuse-interface immersed boundary method is adopted in the numerical simulations. We expand the parameter space considered previously, provide the phase diagrams and identify the key phenomena in the impact dynamics. Then, we propose the scaling models to interpret the critical conditions for the occurrence of sphere entrapment, accounting for the wettability of the sphere. The models are shown to provide a good correlation among the impact inertia of the drop, the surface tension, the wettability and the density ratio of the sphere to the liquid.

Enhancement of heat transport across a fluid layer is of fundamental interest as well as great technological importance. For decades, Rayleigh–Bénard convection has been a paradigm for the study of convective heat transport, and how to improve its overall heat-transfer efficiency is still an open question. Here, we report an experimental and numerical study that reveals a novel mechanism that leads to much enhanced heat transport. When vertical partitions are inserted into a convection cell with thin gaps left open between the partition walls and the cooling/heating plates, it is found that the convective flow becomes self-organized and more coherent, leading to an unprecedented heat-transport enhancement. In particular, our experiments show that with six partition walls inserted, the heat flux can be increased by approximately 30 %. Numerical simulations show a remarkable heat-flux enhancement of up to 2.3 times (with 28 partition walls) that without any partitions.

Long-term fertilization experiment has been conducted since 1981 to study the effect of soil management practices on soil fertility, soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration, soil culturable microbe counts and crop yields at the Nanhu Experimental Station in the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences (situated in the middle reach of the Yangtze River and the rice–wheat cropping system). The experiment was designed with the following eight treatments: (1) unfertilized treatment: Control; (2) inorganic nitrogen fertilizer treatment: N; (3) inorganic nitrogen plus inorganic phosphorus fertilizer treatment: NP; (4) inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus plus inorganic potassium fertilizer treatment: NPK; (5) pig dung compost (manure) treatment: M; (6) inorganic nitrogen fertilizer plus manure: NM; (7) inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus fertilizer plus manure treatment: NPM and (8) inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, inorganic potassium fertilizer plus manure treatment: NPKM. The results showed that long-term application of organic manure in combination with inorganic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) increased soil organic C concentrations compared with the corresponding inorganic fertilizers alone. Soil organic C contents were significantly (p < 0.05) increased in balanced application of NPK fertilizers in comparison to unbalanced application of fertilizers. After 30 years of experiment, soil organic C and total N sequestration rate averagely were 0.48 t ha−1 year−1 and 28.3 kg ha−1 year−1 in the fertilized treatments respectively; nevertheless, it were 0.27 t ha−1 year−1 and 9.7 kg ha−1 year−1 in the unfertilized treatment. Application of organic fertilizer in combination with inorganic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) increased culturable microbial counts compared with the corresponding inorganic fertilizers alone. The balanced application of NPK fertilizers significantly (p < 0.05) increased culturable microbial counts compared with unbalanced application of fertilizers. The average grain yield of wheat and rice was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in organic manure combined with inorganic fertilizer treatment than in inorganic fertilizer alone and unfertilized control. Therefore, long-term application of organic manure combined with inorganic fertilizer and balanced application of NPK fertilizers could increase soil organic C and total N sequestration, culturable microbial counts and crop grain yields.

Recently, the translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO), previously called peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) and both the starting point and an important rate-limiting step in neurosteroidogenesis, has received increased attention in the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because it affects the production of neurosteroids, reinforcing the hypothesis that selective TSPO ligands could potentially be used as anti-PTSD drugs. As expected, we showed that chronic treatment with YL-IPA08 [N-ethyl-N-(2-pyridinylmethyl)-2-(3,4-ichlorophenyl)-7-methylimidazo [1,2-a] pyridine-3-acetamide hydrochloride], a potent and selective TSPO ligand synthesized by our institute, caused significant suppression of enhanced anxiety and contextual fear induced in the inescapable electric foot-shock-induced mouse model of PTSD and the time-dependent sensitization (TDS) procedure. These effects were completely blocked by the TSPO antagonist PK11195. Furthermore, YL-IPA08 could increase the level of allopregnanolone in the prefrontal cortex and serum of post-TDS rats, and these effects were antagonized by PK11195. In summary, the findings from the current study showed that YL-IPA08, a potent and selective TSPO ligand, had a clear anti-PTSD-like effect, which might be partially mediated by binding to TSPO and the subsequent synthesis of allopregnanolone.

In order to better understand the individual-level motives for ticket-splitting, Taiwan's Election and Democratization Study has since 2001 included a question aimed at measuring respondents’ preferences for checks and balances. We argue that this set of questions, designed to measure a combination of Fiorina's policy-balancing hypothesis and Ladd's cognitive Madisonianism, is inconsistent with principles of survey methodology and thus produces data that are suboptimal. Following a method developed by Carsey and Layman, we propose an alternative concept, the policy-balancing index derived from the perceived ideological distance between respondent and political parties, which both avoids methodological violations and provides us with a more precise concept to work with. We test the index and find it to be a significant determinant of ticket-splitting behavior.

A crucial problem is the risk that a manipulator arm would be damaged by twisting or bending during and after contacting a target satellite. This paper presents a solution to minimize the risk of damage to the arm and thereby enhance contact performance. First, a hand-eye servo controller is proposed as a method for accurately tracking and capturing a target satellite. Next, a motion planning strategy is employed to obtain the best-fit contacting moments. Also, an impedance control law is implemented to increase protection during operation and to ensure more accurate compliance. Finally, to overcome the challenge of verifying algorithms for a space manipulator while on the ground, a novel experimental system with a 6-DOF (degree of freedom) manipulator on a chaser field robot is presented and implemented to capture a target field robot; the proposed methods are then validated using the experimental platform.

Iron oxides, including maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), have been widely applied in many fields. For technological advances in the future, further improvements of their ferromagnetic properties are desirable. The development of iron ferrites with a large coercive field (Hc) is one of issues of consequence. For ferrites, however, enlarging the Hc value is not easy because of their low magnetocrystalling anisotropy constant. Here we report single-crystalline Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires in which the controlled diameter (70–100 nm) and the graded Cu dopant (7, 10, and 15%) are directly obtained by a simple chemical vapor deposition technique. In particular, the coercive value (over 2 T) of 10% Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires is much higher than that (<80 Oe) of undoped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires at room temperature. On the basis of the experimental magnetization data, the achievement of such a higher coercive field of Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 (10%) nanowires is tentatively suggested.