To assess the role of dietary creatine on myofibre characteristics and protein synthesis in muscle, we fed grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus, initial body weight: 88·47 ± 1·44 g) creatine-supplemented diets (1·84, 5·91, 8·48 and 15·44 g/kg diet) for 8 weeks. Creatine supplementation did not affect growth performance, but significantly increased creatine contents in muscle and liver. At 8·48 g/kg, creatine decreased the activities of alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase in serum and improved hardness and chewiness of muscle due to shorter myofibre mean diameter, higher myofibre density and the frequencies of the diameters of classes I and III and collagen content, longer sarcomere length and upregulated mRNA levels of slow myosin heavy chains. Creatine supplementation upregulated the mRNA expressions of myogenic regulatory factors. The 8·48 g/kg creatine-supplemented diet significantly increased the contents of protein, total amino acids (AA), essential AA and free flavour AAs in muscle, the protein levels of insulin-like growth factor I, myogenic differentiation antigen and PPAR-γ coactlvator-1α in muscle and stimulated the phosphorylation of target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway in muscle. In summary, 8·48 mg/kg creatine improved fish health and skeletal muscle growth and increased hardness and protein synthesis in muscle of grass carp by affecting myofibre characteristics and the TOR signalling pathway. A second-order regression model revealed that the optimal dietary creatine supplementation of grass carp ranges between 8·48 and 12·04 g/kg.

The aim of the present study was to compare the rate of preterm birth (PTB) and growth from birth to 18 years between twins conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and twins conceived by spontaneous conception (SC) in mainland China. The retrospective cohort study included 1164 twins resulting from IVF and 25,654 twins conceived spontaneously, of which 494 from IVF and 6338 from SC were opposite-sex twins. PTB and low birth weight (LBW), and growth, including length/height and weight, were compared between the two groups at five stages: infancy (0 year), toddler period (1–2 years), preschool (3–5 years), primary or elementary school (6–11 years), and adolescence (10–18 years). Few statistically significant differences were found for LBW and growth between the two groups after adjusting for PTB and other confounders. Twins born by IVF faced an increased risk of PTB compared with those born by SC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 8.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] [3.19, 21.13], p < .001 in all twins and aOR 10.12, 95% CI [2.32, 44.04], p = .002 in opposite-sex twins). Twins born by IVF experienced a similar growth at five stages (0–18 years old) when compared with those born by SC. PTB risk, however, is significantly higher for twins conceived by IVF than those conceived by SC.

The Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR), initiated in 2001, has now become the largest twin registry in Asia. From 2015 to 2018, the CNTR continued to receive Chinese government funding and had recruited 61,566 twin-pairs by 2019 to study twins discordant for specific exposures such as environmental factors, and twins discordant for disease outcomes or measures of morbidity. Omic data, including genetics, genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, and gut microbiome will be tested. The integration of omics and digital technologies in public health will advance our understanding of precision public health. This review introduces the updates of the CNTR, including study design, sample size, biobank, zygosity assessment, advances in research and future systems epidemiologic research.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing rapidly in many countries. Socioeconomic inequalities might be important for this increase. The aim of this study was to determine associations of body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity with educational level and marital status in Chinese twins. Participants were adult twins recruited through the Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR), aged 18 to 79 years, and the sample comprised 10,448 same-sex twin pairs. Current height, weight, educational attainment, and marital status were self-reported. Regression analyses and structural equation models were conducted to evaluate BMI, overweight, and obesity associated with educational level and marital status in both sexes. At an individual level, both educational level and marital status were associated with higher BMI and higher risk of being overweight and obesity in men, while in women the effects of educational level on BMI were in the opposite direction. In within-Monozygotic (MZ) twin-pair analyses, the effects of educational level on BMI disappeared in females. Bivariate structural equation models showed that genetic factors and shared environmental confounded the relationship between education and BMI in females, whereas marital status was associated with BMI on account of significant positive unique environmental correlation apart in both sexes. The present data suggested that marital status and BMI were associated, independent of familiar factors, for both sexes of this study population, while common genetic and shared environmental factors contributed to education-associated disparities in BMI in females.

This study examined the genetic and environmental effects on variances in weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) under 18 years in a population-based sample from China. We selected 6,644 monozygotic and 5,969 dizygotic twin pairs from the Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR) aged under 18 years (n = 12,613). Classic twin analyses with sex limitation were used to estimate the genetic and environmental components of weight, height, and BMI in six age groups. Sex-limitation of genetic and shared environmental effects was observed, especially when puberty begins. Heritability for weight, height, and BMI was low at 0–2 years old (less than 20% for both sexes) but increased over time, accounting for half or more of the variance in the 15–17 year age group for boys. For girls, heritabilities for weight, height and BMI was maintained at approximately 30% after puberty. Common environmental effects on all body measures were high for girls (59–87%) and presented a small peak during puberty. Genetics appear to play an increasingly important role in explaining the variation in weight, height, and BMI from early childhood to late adolescence, particularly in boys. Common environmental factors exert their strongest and most independent influence specifically in the pre-adolescent period and more significantly in girls. These findings emphasize the need to target family and social environmental interventions in early childhood years, especially for females. Further studies about puberty-related genes and social environment are needed to clarify the mechanism of sex differences.

To control an input energy for a load, an impedance control with a gap distance of an electron beam diode was studied using an intense pulsed-power generator. The output current of the pulsed-power generator as a function of the gap distance of electron beam diode was measured. It indicated that the behaviors of the experimentally obtained peak current and the theoretically obtained space-charge limited current were found to decrease with an increase in the gap distance. The input energy for the load was estimated from the output current, which decreased with an increase in the gap distance. It also revealed the space-charge limited current suppresses the input energy for the load with a decade.

Twins reared apart provide a fascinating experiment to distinguish genetic from environmental influences. However, there is as yet no broad report on distribution of twins reared apart, especially in the Chinese population. In this study, information on 18,295 volunteer twin pairs of all age groups was compiled in nine provinces or cities of China, and questionnaires were used for zygosity determination. It was discovered that twins reared apart from 0 to 10 years of age accounted for 2.2% of all twin interviewees, with the proportion of this 0–10 group separated before 1, 2, and 5 years old, accounting for 65.3%, 76.1%, and 91.3%, respectively. The proportion of twins reared apart is not significantly related to zygosity or gender, but it is related to region and twin age. As the age of twins lowers, the proportion of those reared apart gradually decreases. Twins reared apart will become rarer in the future and therefore should be cherished as a resource.

The characteristic of the over-volted breakdown and the gaseous recovery in short nitrogen gaps was experimentally studied. It was found that the breakdown voltage of the gap changes from shot to shot even with the same experimental conditions and obeys Gaussian distribution. The over-volted factor is reduced with an increasing pressure. With a 2.7-mm gap the over-volted factors are 4.53 for 0.1 MPa pressure and 1.74 for 0.4 MPa. The over-volted breakdown voltage depends individually on the gap spacing d and the gas pressure p, rather than on the product of pd. An empirical formula of the breakdown voltage as a function of p and d was derived. The time-dependent recovery of the breakdown voltage, RVb, was obtained using a two-pulse technique. The second breakdown voltage also obeys Gaussian distribution, but it is normally with a smaller standard deviation especially when the interpulse spacing of Δt is relatively short. As a whole, RVb rises with the increase of Δt. However, an intermediate plateau is always observed and it starts when the second breakdown voltage is a little bit higher than the static breakdown voltage of the gap. The first rising edge of the RVb curve corresponds to the recovery of the electro-neutrality and the density. The intermediate plateau and the following rising edge take the spark gap much longer time to recover. The processes governing these two latter phases are as yet not fully clear. It is attributed to the delayed recombination of the residual nitrogen atoms on the cathode to produce the initial electrons for the second breakdown. An increase in pressure has resulted in an upward shift of the intermediate plateau and a shortening in the recovery time of the gaps. The second spark generally does not follow the path of the first spark.

Polycrystalline alkaline-earth hexaborides (MB6: M =Ca, Sr, Ba) were synthesized and their thermoelectric and transport properties were examined to discuss their possibility as high temperature thermoelectric materials. Hall measurements showed that carrier concentration of the BaB6 was the highest among the three hexaborides and that of CaB6 was the lowest. Substitution of part of the alkaline earth metals with one of the others changed the carrier concentration of the hexaboride. As the carrier concentration increased, Seebeck coefficient increased and electrical conductivity decreased. These results suggest that the thermoelectric properties of the divalent hexaborides depend largely on the carrier concentration, and optimum carrier concentration which gives maximum power factor was estimated to be approximately 2x1026 m−3. Consequently, such a substitution enables us to control Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the hexaborides, and will also be effective to reduce the lattice heat conduction due to the alloying effect. A thermoelectric device was fabricated using SrB6 and boron carbide thin films as n-type and p-type elements, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a thermoelectric device composed of only boron-rich solids.

A novel preparation method of thin films has been successfully developed by high-density ablation plasma produced by pulsed ion-beam evaporation method. The preparation is available with extremely high deposition rate (with cm/s), without heating the substrate, in a vacuum, with good stoichiometry. As an example, the preparation of phosphoresecent SrAl2O4:Eu, Dy thin films will be shown. Furthermore, a new method has been developed of the synthesis of ultrafine nanosize powders by use of microexplosion of pulsed wire discharge. As an example, the synthesis of NiFe2O4 powders will be shown, where two wires of nickel and iron were exploded by pulsed current. In addition, we have succeeded in the preparation of tungsten thin films within via holes in LSI by use of pulsed ion beam-evaporation method. In addition to the huge power per shot, a new machine has been developed of highly repetitive, pulsed power machine for the industrial applications.

Thin films of boron carbide (B12+xC3-x) were prepared on glass substrates by a pulsed ion-beam evaporation method. A pulsed proton beam with an energy of 1 MV (peak) and a current of 60 kA was focused on sintered B12+xC3-x targets. Ablation plasma was formed from the irradiated targets and thin films were prepared on Pyrex and SiO2 glass substrates at room temperature. From results of X-ray diffraction, the thin films consisted of a B12+xC3-x phase. Using a known relationship between the composition and the lattice parameters, the composition of B12+x1C3-x thin films was estimated to be x = 0.3 and 1.0, which were close to the nominal composition of the targets. These results indicate that B12+x1C3-x with different carbon contents has been successfully prepared by IBE without substrate heating or sample annealing. Thermoelectric properties of the thin films were measured. A B12+x1C3-x thin film with estimated composition of x =0.9 exhibited the highest power factor at room temperature among the B12+x1C3-x samples reported.

Nanoparticulates of aluminum nitride (AlN) have been synthesized by novel dry process, namely pulsed wire discharge where aluminum wire is exploded by an intense pulsed current (10-20 kA at the peak, half cycle of 10 μs) in NH3/N2 gas. The average size of the nanoparticulates was found to be 28 nm. Furthermore, narrow particle distribution of the particulates was observed, where geometric standard deviation was 1.29. Increasing charging energy enhances the nitridation of aluminum. The maximum content of AlN in synthesized particulates was ∼95 %. The sintered body with 80 % of density has been obtained by sintering at 1, 600°C for one hour.

Thin films of titanium iron (TiFe) were prepared by a pulsed ion-beam evaporation (IBE) method. A pulsed ion beam of proton accelerated at 1 MV (peak) with a pulse width of 50 ns and a current of 70 kA was focused on TiFe alloy targets. Soda lime glass substrates were placed in front of the targets. Phases in the thin films were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD results revealed that the thin films deposited on the glass substrates consist of a TiFe phase. Crystallized Ti-Fe thin films without oxides were successfully obtained. Surface roughness of the thin film was 0.16 m m.

Chromium aluminum oxynitride (Cr-Al-N-O) thin films have been successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Experiments were carried out by changing surface area ratio of the targets (SR = SAlN / (S +SAlN)) from 0 to 100 %. The composition of the thin film prepared at SR = 75 % was determined to be Cr0.11Al0.39N0.25O0.25 by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The hardness of the Cr-Al-N-O thin film was found to be above HV 4000 when the aluminum content in cations (x) was 25 at. %. The high hardness can be explained by solid solution hardening and/or increasing bulk modulus. The oxidation of the Cr-Al-N-O thin film occurred above 900°C. From the result of grazing angle X-ray diffractometry (GXRD), the oxidation resistance of the Cr-Al-N-O thin film was found to be improved due to the fact that Cr2O3 and -Al2O3 grains are formed at the outermost surface of the thin film.

Using intense pulsed ion-beam evaporation technique, we have succeeded in the preparation of polycrystalline silicon thin films on silicon substrate without impurities. Good crystallinity and high deposition rate have been achieved without heating the substrate. The crystallinity of poly-Si film has been improved with increasing the density of the ablation plasma. The intense diffraction peaks of poly-Si thin films can be obtained by using the substrate bias system. The crystallinity and the deposition rate of poly-Si thin films are increased by negative bias voltage for the substrate.

Experiments and the associated simulations for the evaluation of the focusibility of spherical Plasma focus diode (SPFD) were carried out. To evaluate the ion beam focusibility, two types of time-integrated Rutherford scattering pinhole camera were used: angle-integrated and angle-resolved type. From the former method, the ion beam has been found to focus in a cylindrical area with 4.5mmφ × 6.0 mm. The ion density profile shows a peak at 2.5 mm downstream from the geometric focusing point. From the latter method, it is found that a large fraction of the ion beam is produced from the downstream region of the diode. In simulations, the influence of an initial ion thermal energy was evaluated on the ion beam focusibility. When the initial energy is 20 eV, the ion beam focused in a cylindrical area of 0.4 mmφ × 2.4 mm. The experimental focusing parameters seem to be much worse than those evaluated numerically presumably due to the aiming error of ion beam.

A new type of ion-beam diode, self-magnetically insulated, spherical plasma focus diode (SPFD), was developed. With the SPFD, three-dimensional focusing of an intense pulsed light-ion beam was obtained. Experiments and simulations were carried out to study the behavior of the SPFD. In the experiments, diagnostic results of the Rutherford scattering pinhole camera and the shadow-box showed that the ion beam was focused into a small cylindrical area with ∽0.5 mm in diameter and ∽2.5 mm in length. The average ion-beam current density at the anode surface was found to be ∽2 kA/cm2. In the simulations, it was observed that most of the diode gap is well insulated by the self-magnetic field induced by the diode current. The electron sheath in the diode gap significantly enhances the ion flow from the anode. As a result, the ion current density is several times higher than the single-species space-charge limited value.

A steady-state analytical model is used to calculate the operational parameters of a coaxial-type, self-magnetically insulated ion-beam diode, called a plasma focus diode (PFD). The electrons are described by nonlaminar flow with a constant radial density distribution instead of the density profile determined self-consistently by one-dimensional laminar flow. The calculated results were compared with the experimental results obtained at the peak power, and good agreement was obtained between them. From the theoretical understanding of the PFD we obtained the scaling relations of diode impedance and the ion-current efficiency and used them to discuss the possible ways to increase the coupling efficiency and the ion-current efficiency and to reduce the instabilities in the diode operation.

A new and simple type of self-magnetically insulated, vacuum ion diode named “Plasma Focus Diode” has been successfully developed with a large solid angle of irradiation and low divergence angle. The diode has a pair of coaxial cylindrical electrodes similar to a Mather-type plasma focus device. Ion-current density of 1·9 kA/cm2 has been obtained on the anode surface under the experimental conditions of diode voltage ∼1·4 MV, diode current ∼180 kA, and pulse width ∼75 ns. The generated ion beam has been two-dimensionally focused (line focusing) with a focusing radius of ∼0·18 mm, giving a maximum ion current density and beam power density at the axis of ∼0·14 MA/cm2 and ∼0·18 TW/cm2, respectively. The motion of electrons in the gap has been numerically simulated by use of a newly developed particle-in-cell computer simulation code, and good agreement has been obtained between the simulation and the experiment.