In this paper, an automatic obstacle avoidance trajectory planning strategy is proposed for the simultaneous motion of multi-robots, which perform anthropomorphic skill operations in a large curved preformed three-dimensional (3D) weaving environment with multiple obstacles and limited space, to eliminate tedious manual calibration work of robot path in engineering. Firstly, an Adaptive Goal-guided Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (AGG-RRT) algorithm is proposed, combined with the robot obstacle avoidance strategy, to search the discrete position of the collision-free path of the end-effector gradually from the starting point to the ending point. Then the optimization of the path is completed by bidirectional pruning of redundant nodes and cubic non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curve fitting. And finally, the robot trajectory is interpolated based on S-shaped acceleration/deceleration planning to ensure smooth robot joint motion. The simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the AGG-RRT algorithm over the basic RRT algorithm and related improved algorithms in terms of search time and success rate. The simulated experiments also achieve the smooth trajectory planning of multiple robotic arms with the synchronous obstacle avoidance motion, which shows that the AGG-RRT algorithm is successfully applied and the collision-free trajectory planning strategy is effective.

Prolonged parturition duration has been widely demonstrated to be a risk factor for incidence of stillbirth. This study evaluated the supply of dietary fibre on the parturition duration, gut microbiota and metabolome using sows as a model. A total of 40 Yorkshire sows were randomly given diet containing normal level of dietary fibre (NDF, 17·5 % dietary fibre) or high level of dietary fibre (HDF, 33·5 % dietary fibre). Faecal microbiota profiled with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, SCFA and metabolome in the faeces and plasma around parturition were compared between the dietary groups. Correlation analysis was conducted to further explore the potential associations between specific bacterial taxa and metabolites. Results showed that HDF diet significantly improved the parturition process as presented by the shorter parturition duration. HDF diet increased the abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes and multiple genera. Except for butyrate, SCFA levels in the faeces and plasma of sows at parturition were elevated in HDF group. The abundances of fifteen and twelve metabolites in the faeces and plasma, respectively, markedly differ between HDF and NDF sows. These metabolites are involved in energy metabolism and bacterial metabolism. Correlation analysis also showed associations between specific bacteria taxa and metabolites. Collectively, our study indicates that the improvement of parturition duration by high fibre intake in late gestation is associated with gut microbiota, production of SCFA and other metabolites, potentially serving for energy metabolism.

Carbon nanotube foams (CNFs) have been successfully used as near-critical-density targets in the laser-driven acceleration of high-energy ions and electrons. Here we report the recent advances in the fabrication technique of such targets. With the further developed floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD) method, large-area ($>25\kern0.5em {\mathrm{cm}}^2$) and highly uniform CNFs are successfully deposited on nanometer-thin metal or plastic foils as double-layer targets. The density and thickness of the CNF can be controlled in the range of $1{-}13\kern0.5em \mathrm{mg}/{\mathrm{cm}}^3$ and $10{-}200\kern0.5em \mu \mathrm{m}$, respectively, by varying the synthesis parameters. The dependence of the target properties on the synthesis parameters and the details of the target characterization methods are presented for the first time.

To investigate the effects of dietary fibre on follicular atresia in pigs fed a high-fat diet, we fed thirty-two prepubescent gilts a basal diet (CON) or a CON diet supplemented with 300 g/d dietary fibre (fibre), 240 g/d soya oil (SO) or both (fibre + SO). At the 19th day of the 4th oestrus cycle, gilts fed the SO diet showed 112 % more atretic follicles and greater expression of the apoptotic markers, Bax and caspase-3, and these effects were reversed by the fibre diet. The abundance of SCFA-producing microbes was decreased by the SO diet, but this effect was reversed by fibre treatment. Concentrations of serotonin and melatonin in the serum and follicular fluid were increased by the fibre diet. Overall, dietary fibre protected against high fat feeding-induced follicular atresia at least partly via gut microbiota-related serotonin–melatonin synthesis. These results provide insight into preventing negative effects on fertility in humans consuming a high-energy diet.

Bile acids (BA) have emerged as signalling molecules regulating intestinal physiology. The importance of intestinal microbiota in production of secondary BA, for example, lithocholic acid (LCA) which impairs enterocyte proliferation and permeability, triggered us to determine the effects of oral probiotics on intestinal BA metabolism. Piglets were weaned at 28 d of age and allocated into control (CON, n 14) or probiotic (PRO, n 14) group fed 50 mg of Lactobacillus plantarum daily, and gut microbiota and BA profile were determined. To test the potential interaction of LCA with bacteria endotoxins in inducing damage of enterocytes, IPEC-J2 cells were treated with LCA, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LCA + LPS and expressions of genes related to inflammation, antioxidant capacity and nutrient transport were determined. Compared with the CON group, the PRO group showed lower total LCA level in the ileum and higher relative abundance of the Lactobacillus genus in faeces. In contrast, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Parabacteroides and Ruminococcus_1, important bacteria genera in BA biotransformation, were all lower in the PRO than in the CON group. Moreover, PRO piglets had lower postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1 level, while higher glucose level than CON piglets. Co-administration of LPS and LCA led to down-regulated expression of glucose and peptide transporter genes in IPEC-J2 cells. Altogether, oral L. plantarum altered BA profile probably by modulating relative abundances of gut microbial genera that play key roles in BA metabolism and might consequently impact glucose homoeostasis. The detrimental effect of LCA on nutrient transport in enterocytes might be aggravated under LPS challenge.

The phase transition behavior of [011]- and [001]-oriented 0.24PIN–0.43PMN–0.33PT single crystals was investigated through dielectric measurement in the process of heating and direct current (DC) bias. The phase transformation sequence in the [011]-oriented crystals is rhombohedral (R) → monoclinic (MB) → orthorhombic (O) → monoclinic (MC) → tetragonal (T) → cubic (C). The phase transition temperatures of R to MB$\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{\rm{R}} - {{\rm{M}}_{\rm{B}}}}}} \right)$ and MB to O $\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{{\rm{M}}_{\rm{B}}} - {\rm{O}}}}} \right)$ decrease; meanwhile, the transition temperatures of O to MC$\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{\rm{O}} - {{\rm{M}}_{\rm{C}}}}}} \right)$ phase, MC to T $\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{{\rm{M}}_{\rm{C}}} - {\rm{T}}}}} \right)$ phase, and T to C (TT–C) phase increase with the increase of DC bias. The phase transformation sequence in the [001]-oriented crystals is R → T → C. As DC bias increases, the transition temperature TR–T of R to T phase declines and the transition temperature TT–C rises. Intermediate phases MB, O, and MC are only found in the [011]-oriented crystal. The phase transition characteristics of the [011]-oriented crystals are rather more complex than those along [001] direction. The micro–macro domain transition at Tf is related to crystal orientation and DC bias voltage. The phase diagram in terms of temperature and bias voltage is established for [011]- and [001]-oriented 0.24PIN–0.43PMN–0.33PT crystals. The DC bias dependent dielectric properties and phase transition characteristics are also compared with the crystals along [111] direction.

To explore the effects of maternal nutrition on offspring muscle characteristics, a total of 56 sows were assigned to one of the four dietary groups during gestation: control (CON), or control diets supplemented with methyl donor (MET), bisphenol A (BPA), and combined BPA and MET (BPA+MET). Compared with CON offspring, MET offspring showed a higher meat redness value, but lower glycogen content in the longissimus thoracis (LT). Moreover, compared with CON offspring, MET offspring showed lower LT glycogen synthase (GS) mRNA levels at birth and the finishing stage, and increased methylation at the GS promoter. Prenatal BPA exposure reduced the pH and redness value of meat, but increased the lightness value, lactate content, glycolytic potential and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity in the LT muscle. Prenatal BPA exposure increased LDH mRNA levels in the LT muscle at birth and the finishing stage, and reduced methylation at the LDH promoter. Thus, maternal MET affects muscle GS and LDH expression via DNA methylation, thereby resulting in persistent effects on pork quality.

We conducted a semiclassical study on carrier movement in curved graphene. A previous attempt was made to show that curved graphene is a readily available and cheap laboratory material used to study general relativity effects, especially if the electron energies satisfy ${\rm 4}\:\mu {\rm eV}\,\ll\,\left| E \right|\,\ll\,{\rm 3}\:{\rm eV}$ . Furthermore, a gravitational-like lens can be constructed based on a special graphene ripple; this lens has neither chromatic nor cometic aberration. One can design an ideal electron lens using a graphene ripple.

The issue on the muzzle blast flow with gas-particle mixtures was numerically investigated in this paper. The propellant gas in the cannon was assumed to be gas-particle mixtures consisting of a variety of gaseous species and particles. The model made use of the Eulerian-Eulerican approach, where the particle were modeled as a second fluid with parameters like bulk density, velocity and temperature, interacting with the gas flow. A high-resolution upwind scheme(AUSMPW+) and detailed reaction kinetics model were employed to solve the chemical non-equilibrium Euler equations for gas phase. The Euler equations for particle phase were solved by MacCormack scheme. The particle diameter and the mass fraction of particle were tested to show their effects on the development process of muzzle blast flow with gas-particle mixtures. The distribution of the main flow parameters of both gas and particle were obtained at different time intervals. The results show the evolution of the muzzle blast flow with gas-particle mixtures and demonstrate the effects of key parameter on the flow field of the gas-particle flow. This paper is a significant investigation for understanding the muzzle blast flow with gas-particle mixtures, which can provide valuable reference for the research on the muzzle blast flow.

To assess the importance of climate variables for the distribution of modern pollen data in China, we present a continental-scale dataset consisting of 1374 samples. Boosted regression trees and constrained ordination techniques are employed to quantify the importance of six climate variables (annual precipitation, PANN; actual/potential evapotranspiration ratio, Alpha; mean annual temperature, TANN; mean temperature of the warmest month, MTWA; mean temperature of the coldest month, MTCO; annual sum of the growing degree days above 5°C, GDD5) for the distribution of individual pollen taxa and modern pollen assemblages. The results show that taxon-specific responses to the climate variables display a wide regional diversity and that the climate variables with low collinearity that best account for the spatial variability of modern pollen assemblages differ regionally. PANN is the most important variable in northwestern and northeastern China and the Tibetan Plateau, while MTWA and MTCO are the dominant variables in east-central and southern China. This suggests that the climate variables that can be optimally reconstructed from fossil pollen data vary in different bioclimatic regions of China. This feature is typical to many continental-scale modern pollen datasets and needs to be considered in pollen-based climate reconstructions.

Laser light trapping in cavities in near-critical density plasmas is studied by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The laser ponderomotive force can create in the plasma a vacuum cavity bounded by a thin overcritical-density wall. The laser light is self-consistently trapped as a half-cycle electromagnetic wave in the form of an oscillon-caviton structure until it is slowly depleted through interaction with the cavity wall. When the near-critical density plasma contains a preformed cavity, laser light can become a standing wave in the latter. The trapped light is characterized as multi-peak structure. The overdense plasma wall around the self-generated and preformed cavities induced by the laser ponderomotive force is found to be crucial for pulse trapping. Once this wall forms, the trapped pulse can hardly penetrate.

Hemispherical electron plasma waves generated from ultraintense laser interacting with a solid target having a subcritical preplasma is studied using particle-in-cell simulation. As the laser pulse propagates inside the preplasma, it becomes self-focused due to the response of the plasma electrons to the ponderomotive force. The electrons are mainly heated via betatron resonance absorption and their thermal energy can become higher than the ponderomotive energy. The hot electrons easily penetrate through the thin solid target and appear behind it as periodic hemispherical shell-like layers separated by the laser wavelength.

Energetic divergent proton beams can be generated in the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with solid-density foil targets via target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA). In this paper, a scheme using a capillary to reduce the proton beam divergence is proposed. By two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, it is shown that strong transverse electric and magnetic fields rapidly grow at the inner surface of the capillary when the laser-driven hot electrons propagate through the target and into the capillary. The spontaneous magnetic field collimates the electron flow, and the ions dragged from the capillary wall by hot electrons neutralize the negative charge and thus restrain the transverse extension of the sheath field set up by electrons. The proton beam divergence, which is mainly determined by the accelerating sheath field, is therefore reduced by the transverse limitation of the sheath field in the capillary.

β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides play an important role in cognition deficits, neuroinflammation, and apoptosis observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Activation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) signalling enhances memory and inhibits inflammatory and apoptotic responses. However, it is not known whether inhibition of phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), a critical controller of intracellular cAMP concentrations, affects AD-associated neuroinflammatory and apoptotic responses and whether these responses contribute to deficits of memory mediated by cAMP signalling. We addressed these issues using memory tests and neurochemical measures. Specifically, rats microinfused with aggregated Aβ25-35 (10 μg/side) into bilateral CA1 subregions displayed deficits in learning ability and memory, as evidenced by decreases in escape latency during acquisition trials and exploratory activities in the probe trial in the water-maze task and 24-h retention in the passive avoidance test. These effects were reversed by rolipram (0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg.d i.p.), a prototypic PDE4 inhibitor, in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, Aβ25-35-treated rats also displayed decreases in expression of phosphorylated cAMP response-element binding protein (pCREB) and Bcl-2, but increases in expression of NF-κB p65 and Bax in the hippocampus; these effects were also reversed by rolipram in a dose-dependent manner. Similar neurochemical results were observed by replacing Aβ25-35 with Aβ1-42, a full-length amyloid peptide that quickly forms toxic oligomers. These results suggest that PDE4 inhibitors such as rolipram may reverse Aβ-induced memory deficits at least in part via the attenuation of neuronal inflammation and apoptosis mediated by cAMP/CREB signalling. PDE4 could be a target for treatment of memory loss associated with AD.

Solid solutions 0.7Bi1−xLax (Fe0.9Cr0.1) O3–0.1BaTiO3–0.2PbTiO3 (BLxFOC-BT-PT, with x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07) solid solutions were prepared by the traditional ceramic process. X-ray diffraction results reveal that all samples show pure pseudocubic perovskites structure. The lattice parameter of the solid solutions increases linearly with the La content, indicating that La ions have entered crystal lattices to form a solid solution. The Curie temperature of the solid solutions decreases with the La content. Room-temperature polarization–electric field (P–E) curves indicate that the samples with x = 0.03 and 0.05 exhibit saturated P–E loops. Piezoelectric constant d33 of the solid solutions increases firstly and then decreases. Magnetizations of the solid solutions decrease with the La content. The evidence of weak ferromagnetism and saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops in BLxFOC–BT–PT system at room temperature makes it a good candidate for multiferroic applications.

Bulk metallic glasses have been formed over a fairly wide composition range (54–62 at.% Ni, 32–36 at.% Nb, and 3–11 at.% Sn) in the Ni–Nb–Sn ternary system. Partial substitution of Co for Ni and Hf for Nb improves the glass-forming ability, eventually leading to 4 mm glassy rods at the Ni56Co3Nb28Hf8Sn5 composition. The positive effects of these alloying elements have been explained based on a systematic monitoring of the amount and morphology of the competing crystalline phases as a function of the Co and Hf contents.

Neonates with congenital cardiac disease are a special population. They are often critically ill, and need prolonged intravenous access. To date, no study has evaluated the efficacy and safety of peripherally inserted central venous catheters placed in this unique population. Our goal was to evaluate the use of such catheters in neonates with critical congenital cardiac disease, and to study features such as duration of use, reasons for removal of catheters, and complications. We inserted a total of 124 catheters in 115 neonates with critical congenital cardiac disease who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Texas Children's Hospital from August 2002 to August 2004. The patients had a mean age of 10 days, and a mean weight of 3.1 kilograms. The peripherally inserted catheters were in place for a mean of 22.3 days. Therapy was completed in 76.6% patients at the time of removal of the catheter. The incidence of occlusion, dislodgement, and thrombus was 4.0%, 2.4%, and 1.6%, respectively. The infection rate was 3.6 per 1000 catheter-days, with a median onset on 37 days after placement. We conclude that central venous catheters, when inserted peripherally, provide reliable and safe access for prolonged intravenous therapy in neonates with critical congenital cardiac disease.

To investigate the effects of partially substitution of lanthanum for bismuth in the BiScO3-PbTiO3 (BSPT) ceramics, the 0.38(Bi1−xLax)ScO3-0.62PbTiO3 (BLSPTx) ceramics were prepared by using conventional solid state process. It was found that the partial replacement of lanthanum for bismuth do not affects the crystalline structure of the BSPT ceramics. With increasing of the lanthanum content, the grains of BLSPTx ceramics grown much bigger than those of BSPT ceramics when BLSPTx and BSPT ceramics were sintered at the same temperature. The temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity of BLSPTx ceramics shows that the Curie temperature (Tc) shifts toward lower temperature with the increasing of lanthanum content, and the BLSPTx samples for x=0.02 show the highest value of the dielectric constant at Tc.