Nicotine 2,6-dihydroxybenzoate is a nicotine salt that can be used as the nicotine source in tobacco products. X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for nicotine 2,6-dihydroxybenzoate, C10H15N2⋅C7H5O4, are reported [a = 7.726(8) Å, b = 11.724(3) Å, c = 9.437(1) Å, α = 90°, β = 109.081(3)°, γ = 90°, unit-cell volume V = 802.902 Å3, Z = 2, ρcal = 1.309 g cm−3, and space group P21] at room temperature. All measured lines were indexed and were consistent with the P21 space group.

We present a family of counterexamples to a question proposed recently by Moretó concerning the character codegrees and the element orders of a finite solvable group.

Diarrhoea caused by pathogens such as enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is a serious threat to the health of young animals and human infants. Here, we investigated the protective effect of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on the intestinal epithelium with ETEC challenge in a weaned piglet model. Twenty-four weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups: (1) non-ETEC-challenged control (CON); (2) ETEC-challenged control (ECON); and (3) ETEC challenge + 2·5 g/kg FOS (EFOS). On day 19, the CON pigs were orally infused with sterile culture, while the ECON and EFOS pigs were orally infused with active ETEC (2·5 × 109 colony-forming units). On day 21, pigs were slaughtered to collect venous blood and small intestine. Result showed that the pre-treatment of FOS improved the antioxidant capacity and the integrity of intestinal barrier in the ETEC-challenged pigs without affecting their growth performance. Specifically, compared with ECON pigs, the level of GSH peroxidase and catalase in the plasma and intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs was increased (P < 0·05), and the intestinal barrier marked by zonula occluden-1 and plasmatic diamine oxidase was also improved in EFOS pigs. A lower level (P < 0·05) of inflammatory cytokines in the intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs might be involved in the inhibition of TLR4/MYD88/NF-κB pathway. The apoptosis of jejunal cells in EFOS pigs was also lower than that in ECON pigs (P < 0·05). Our findings provide convincing evidence of possible prebiotic and protective effect of FOS on the maintenance of intestinal epithelial function under the attack of pathogens.

To uncover the chewing mechanism of Cyrtotrachelus buqueti Guer, a mathematical model was created and a kinematic analysis of its rostrum mouthparts was conducted for, to our knowledge, the first time. To reduce noise and improve the quality of scanning electron micrographs of the weevil's mouthparts, nonlocal means and integral nonlocal means algorithms were proposed. Additionally, based on a comparison and analysis of five classical edge detection algorithms, a multiscale edge detection algorithm based on the B-spline wavelet was used to obtain the boundaries of structural features. The least squares method was used to analyze the data of the mouthparts to fit the mathematical model and fitted curves were obtained using Gaussian equations. The results show that curvature and concave–convex variations of the weevil's mouthparts can highlight fluctuations in friction effects when it chews bamboo shoots, which is helpful in preventing debris from bamboo shoots or other debris from sticking to the mouthpart surfaces. Moreover, this paper highlights the utility of micro-computed tomography (microCT) for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and a flowchart is suggested. The reconstructed slices were 9.0 μm thick and an accurate 3D rendered model was obtained from a series of microCT slices. Finally, a real model of the rostrum mouthparts was analyzed using finite-element analysis. The results provide a biological template for the design of a novel bionic drilling mechanism.

The FNDC5 gene encodes the fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 that is a membrane protein mainly expressed in skeletal muscle, and the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism may be associated with liver disease severity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the influence of the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the relationship between sarcopenia and the histological severity of NAFLD. A total of 370 adult individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD were studied. The association between the key exposure sarcopenia and the outcome liver histological severity was investigated by binary logistic regression. Stratified analyses were undertaken to examine the impact of FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the association between sarcopenia and the severity of NAFLD histology. Patients with sarcopenia had more severe histological grades of steatosis and a higher prevalence of significant fibrosis and definite non-alcoholic steatohepatitis than those without sarcopenia. There was a significant association between sarcopenia and significant fibrosis (adjusted OR 2·79, 95 % CI 1·31, 5·95, P = 0·008), independent of established risk factors and potential confounders. Among patients with sarcopenia, significant fibrosis occurred more frequently in the rs3480 AA genotype carriers than in those carrying the FNDC5 rs3480 G genotype (43·8 v. 17·2 %, P = 0·031). In the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis, there was a significant interaction between the FNDC5 genotype and sarcopenia status (P value for interaction = 0·006). Sarcopenia is independently associated with significant liver fibrosis, and the FNDC5 rs3480 G variant influences the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Chlamydia spp. are a group of obligate intracellular pathogens causing a number of diseases in animals and humans. Avian chlamydiosis (AC), caused by Chlamydia psittaci (C. psittaci) as well as new emerging C. avium, C. gallinacea and C. ibidis, have been described in nearly 500 avian species worldwidely. The Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) is a world endangered avian species with limited population and vulnerable for various infections. To get a better understanding of the prevalence of Chlamydia spp. in the endangered Crested Ibis, faecal samples were collected and analysed. The results confirmed that 20.20% (20/99) of the faecal samples were positive for Chlamydiaceae and were identified as C. ibidis with co-existence of C. psittaci in one of the 20 positive samples. In addition, ompA sequence of C. psittaci obtained in this study was classified into the provisional genotype Matt116, while that of C. ibidis showed high genetic diversity, sharing only 77% identity with C. ibidis reference strain 10-1398/6. We report for the first time the presence of C. ibidis and C. psittaci in the Crested Ibis, which may indicate a potential threat to the endangered birds and should be aware of the future protection practice.

In this paper, we review the status of the multifunctional experimental platform at the National Laboratory of High Power Laser and Physics (NLHPLP). The platform, including the SG-II laser facility, SG-II 9th beam, SG-II upgrade (SG-II UP) facility, and SG-II 5 PW facility, is operational and available for interested scientists studying inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and a broad range of high-energy-density physics. These facilities can provide important experimental capabilities by combining different pulse widths of nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond scales. In addition, the SG-II UP facility, consisting of a single petawatt system and an eight-beam nanosecond system, is introduced including several laser technologies that have been developed to ensure the performance of the facility. Recent developments of the SG-II 5 PW facility are also presented.

In this paper, a novel class of balun bandpass filters is presented on slot-line resonator (SLR) toward intrinsic balanced performance in amplitude and phase. The proposed balun filter consists of three inductive-coupled SLRs in the middle, one single-ended unbalanced port, and one balanced port with two terminals. According to the distinct field conversion from the slotline to the microstrip feeding line, good balanced performance in amplitude, and phase performance can be intrinsically realized over a wide frequency range. To validate the proposed technique, a prototype third-order balun filter is designed, fabricated, and measured. Both the simulated and measured results have demonstrated that the proposed balun filter can not only achieve good frequency selectivity but also exhibit intrinsic balanced performance in amplitude and phase.

In high power laser facility for inertial confinement fusion research, final optics assembly (FOA) plays a critical role in the frequency conversion, beam focusing, color separation, beam sampling and debris shielding. The design and performance of FOA in SG-II Upgrade laser facility are mainly introduced here. Due to the limited space and short focal length, a coaxial aspheric wedged focus lens is designed and applied in the FOA configuration. Then the ghost image analysis, the focus characteristic analysis, the B integral control design and the optomechanical design are carried out in the FOA design phase. In order to ensure the FOA performance, two key technologies are developed including measurement and adjustment technique of the wedged focus lens and the stray light management technique based on ground glass. Experimental results show that the design specifications including laser fluence, frequency conversion efficiency and perforation efficiency of the focus spot have been achieved, which meet the requirements of physical experiments well.

The Shen-Guang II Upgrade (SG-II-U) laser facility consists of eight high-power nanosecond laser beams and one short-pulse picosecond petawatt laser. It is designed for the study of inertial confinement fusion (ICF), especially for conducting fast ignition (FI) research in China and other basic science experiments. To perform FI successfully with hohlraum targets containing a golden cone, the long-pulse beam and cylindrical hohlraum as well as the short-pulse beam and cone target alignment must satisfy tight specifications (30 and $20~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ rms for each case). To explore new ICF ignition targets with six laser entrance holes (LEHs), a rotation sensor was adapted to meet the requirements of a three-dimensional target and correct beam alignment. In this paper, the strategy for aligning the nanosecond beam based on target alignment sensor (TAS) is introduced and improved to meet requirements of the picosecond lasers and the new six LEHs hohlraum targets in the SG-II-U facility. The expected performance of the alignment system is presented, and the alignment error is also discussed.

This study attempted to investigate and validate whether epididymis cold storage could be a suitable alternative for short-term preservation of spermatozoa. Mouse cauda epididymides and spermatozoa were preserved at 4–8°C from 1 day to 6 weeks. From days 1 to 10, motility and fertility were daily examined when motility loss occurred. From week 1, spermatozoa were used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) at weekly intervals to test their fertility, and spermatozoa DNA integrity was determined by comet assay. We found that motility and progressive motility scores gradually decreased with storage time. In nearly all spermatozoa, DNA integrity was maintained from days 1 to 10, but the percentage of spermatozoa with damaged DNA significantly increased from week 2 to week 6. Spermatozoa retained fertility until day 6, although fertility gradually decreased after day 3. From week 1 to week 5, fertilization rates by ICSI were more than 82.69% but decreased gradually after week 3. We found that spermatozoa preserved in the epididymis at 4–8°C had progressively lower motility, fertility and proportion of undamaged DNA, but could still fertilize oocytes. However, all the parameters of cold-preserved spermatozoa were completely inferior to that from cold-preserved cauda epididymides. The results imply that cold storage of cauda epididymides could be conducive to short-term preservation of spermatozoa, and the cold-stored spermatozoa can resist DNA denaturation, which is necessary for maintaining reproductive ability.

0.7(0.1BiYbO3-0.9PbTiO3)-0.3 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (0.7BYPT-0.3PMN) ternary piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by a columbite precursor method. The effects of sintering temperature on the crystalline phase, microstructure, and electrical properties of the ceramics were systematically investigated. There were two phases coexisting in the 0.7BYPT-0.3PMN ceramics sintered at 1100–1250 °C, one is the perovskite host phase with tetragonal symmetry and the other is Yb2Ti2O7 impurity phase. It was observed that, with increasing sintering temperature, the piezoelectric constant d33, dielectric constant εr, planar electromechanical coupling coefficient kp, and Curie temperature TC increased initially and then decreased. An apparent structure distortion could also be observed in samples synthesized at high sintering temperature due to the severe volatilization of Pb and Bi. The optimum performances of the material were obtained for samples sintered at 1150 °C with d33 = 100 pC/N, εr = 494, kp = 25.4%, and TC = 380 °C, respectively. It can be ascribed to the combined effect of a higher density, structural homogeneity with decreased tetragonality as well as a small amount of pyrochlore phase.

Oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) ferritic alloys are fascinating materials for future high temperature energy production technologies. MgAl2O4 ODS alloy incorporating nanoscale oxide particles were produced by mechanical milling (MM) followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The MgAl2O4 nanoscale oxide particles were formed during the HIP process by the addition of MgO and Al2O3 to the Fe–Cr matrix. Microstructural evolution of ODS alloys was structurally characterized at each step of the elaboration processes by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The observations of structure of the mixed powders in ODS alloys after MM indicated that the initial powders, coupled with the original MgO and Al2O3 powders, got fractured by severe plastic deformation and ultrafine bcc grains (∼17 nm) of the matrix and amorphous phase composed of Mg, Al, and O were formed during MM. The main driving force for the formation of amorphous phase comes from the increase of volume fraction of bcc Fe grain boundary and the increase of interfacial energy due to the decrease in the size of MgO and Al2O3 powders. The MgAl2O4 nanoscale oxide particles formed at 1173 K which was far below the traditional sintering temperature of the raw material. And the structures of MgAl2O4 nanoscale oxide particles were observed by TEM.

Excimer fluorescence of two-component thin films made of pyrene (Py) and polystyrene (PS) can be quenched by the vapor of nitro-aromatic and nitro-ester explosives with a high selectivity and sensitivity. Normally, an electrospun film can be quenched in minutes by the vapor of the explosives. In order to understand the origin of the mechanism, we have investigated the fluorescence quenching rate of the binary thin films as functions of the molecular weights (MW) of the polystyrene (from 2,500 to 900,000 g/mol) and film thicknesses (110nm and 610 nm) in presence of the vapor of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT, a type of nitro-explosives). The diffusion coefficients of 2, 4-DNT in the solid films are found nearly independent of MW but have strong dependence on the film thicknesses.