Local Torrential Rainfall Event within a Mei-Yu Season Mesoscale Convective System:Importance of Back-Building Processes

An extreme rainfall event occurred over Hangzhou,China,during the afternoon hours on 24 June 2013.This event occurred under suitable synoptic conditions and the maximum 4-h cumulative rainfall amount was over 150 mm.This rainfall event had two major rainbands.One was caused by a quasi-stationary convective line,and the other by a backbuilding convective line related to the interaction of the outflow boundary from the first rainband and an existing low-level mesoscale convergence line associated with a mei-yu frontal system.The rainfall event lasted 4 h,while the back-building process occurred in 2 h when the extreme rainfall center formed.So far,few studies have examined the back-building processes in the mei-yu season that are caused by the interaction of a mesoscale convergence line and a convective cold pool.The two rainbands are successfully reproduced by the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF)model with fourlevel,two-way interactive nesting.In the model,new cells repeatedly occur at the west side of older cells,and the backbuilding process occurs in an environment with large CAPE,a low LFC,and plenty of water vapor.Outflows from older cells enhance the low-level convergence that forces new cells.High precipitation efficiency of the back-building training cells leads to accumulated precipitation of over 150 mm.Sensitivity experiments without evaporation of rainwater show that the convective cold pool plays an important role in the organization of the back-building process in the current extreme precipitation case.

Mitigating Lattice Distortion of High‑Voltage LiCoO_(2)via Core‑Shell Structure Induced by Cationic Heterogeneous Co‑Doping for Lithium‑Ion Batteries

Inactive elemental doping is commonly used to improve the structural stability of high-voltage layered transition-metal oxide cathodes.However,the one-step co-doping strategy usually results in small grain size since the low diffusivity ions such as Ti^(4+)will be concentrated on grain boundaries,which hinders the grain growth.In order to synthesize large single-crystal layered oxide cathodes,considering the different diffusivities of different dopant ions,we propose a simple two-step multi-element co-doping strategy to fabricate core–shell structured LiCoO_(2)(CS-LCO).In the current work,the high-diffusivity Al^(3+)/Mg^(2+)ions occupy the core of single-crystal grain while the low diffusivity Ti^(4+)ions enrich the shell layer.The Ti^(4+)-enriched shell layer(~12 nm)with Co/Ti substitution and stronger Ti–O bond gives rise to less oxygen ligand holes.In-situ XRD demonstrates the constrained contraction of c-axis lattice parameter and mitigated structural distortion.Under a high upper cut-off voltage of 4.6 V,the single-crystal CS-LCO maintains a reversible capacity of 159.8 mAh g^(−1)with a good retention of~89%after 300 cycles,and reaches a high specific capacity of 163.8 mAh g^(−1)at 5C.The proposed strategy can be extended to other pairs of low-(Zr^(4+),Ta^(5+),and W6+,etc.)and high-diffusivity cations(Zn^(2+),Ni^(2+),and Fe^(3+),etc.)for rational design of advanced layered oxide core–shell structured cathodes for lithium-ion batteries.

Effect of aging treatment on the precipitation transformation and age hardening of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy

In this study, the precipitation transformation and age hardening of solution-treated Mg-9Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr(wt.%) alloy were investigated at different aging treatment parameters. The precipitation sequences of the alloy aged at 200℃, 250℃ and 300℃ are β’’(DO19) → β’(BCO) → β(FCC), β’’(DO19) → β’(BCO) → β_(1)(FCC) → β(FCC) and β(FCC), respectively. The streaks sequences of the alloy aged at 200℃, 250℃ and 300℃ are SF, SF → 14H-LPSO and SF → 14H-LPSO, respectively. For the alloy aged at 200℃ and 250℃, the increase in hardness with increasing aging time is contributed from the increase in precipitate volume fraction and the transformation from β’’ to β’ phase with basal → prismatic and spherical → spindle-like precipitate changes. The decrease in hardness after the peak-aging stage is attributed to the appearance of micro-sized β precipitates. Because of the smaller size of precipitates and the triangular arrangement of β’ precipitate, the hardness of the alloy aged at 200℃ is higher than that aged at 250℃. For the alloy aged at 300℃, the appearance of only micro-sized β precipitate and its coarsening with increasing aging time leads to the lowest hardness and an overall decrease in hardness with the aging time.

IDENTIFICATION OF ELASTIC-PLASTIC MECHANICAL PROPERTIES FOR BIMETALLIC SHEETS BY HYBRID-INVERSE APPROACH

Analysis, evaluation and interpretation of measured signals become important components in engineering research and practice, especially for material characteristic parameters which can not be obtained directly by experimental measurements. The present paper proposes a hybrid-inverse analysis method for the identification of the nonlinear material parameters of any individual component from the mechanical responses of a global composite. The method couples experimental approach, numerical simulation with inverse search method. The experimental approach is used to provide basic data. Then parameter identification and numerical simulation are utilized to identify elasto-plastic material properties by the experimental data obtained and inverse searching algorithm. A numerical example of a stainless steel clad copper sheet is consid- ered to verify and show the applicability of the proposed hybrid-inverse method. In this example, a set of material parameters in an elasto-plastic constitutive model have been identified by using the obtained experimental data.

A bi-functional catalyst strategy to selectively regulate sulfur redox kinetics in lithium-sulfur batteries

Designing electrochemical catalysts has become a research hotspot due to their accelerating the polysulfide conversion of the sulfur cathode to inhibit the“shuttle effect”in lithium-sulfur batteries.However,it is still a great challenge to design the heterogeneous selective electrochemical catalyst for inhibiting the“shuttle effect”.Herein,nickel cobalt phosphide and cobalt phosphide as the heterogeneous catalyst active sites embedded in the nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanocages(NiCoP@CoP/NC)are reported,used for multi-step and multi-phase sulfur electrode reaction,and it is found that metal-sulfur d-p hybridization can effectively indicate the intrinsic catalytic activity of metal site.Division of labor and cooperation of the bi-active NiCoP@CoP as heterogeneous catalysts propel the stepwise polysulfide conversion.NiCoP and CoP sites preferentially accelerate the long-chain polysulfide conversion reaction(S_(8)■LiPSs)and the short-chain polysulfide conversion reactions(LiPSs■Li_(2)S),respectively.Moreover,the hollow and porous N-doped carbon structure can successfully suppress the volume effect and improve the conductivity of the sulfur cathode.The unique design can obtain an effective inhibition of the shuttle effect and rapid electrode reaction.As a result,Li-S batteries demonstrate a high initial capacity of 1063 mAh g^(-1) and a low-capacity decay of 0.04% per cycle within 1000 cycles.Our work provides a feasible idea for the design of host materials in Li-S batteries.

Characterization and Fine Mapping of a Novel Rice Albino Mutant low temperature albino 1

Albino mutants are useful genetic resource for studying chlorophyll biosynthesis and chloroplast development and cloning genes involved in these processes in plants. Here we report a novel rice mutant low temperature albino I （ltal） that showed albino leaves before 4-leaf stage when grown under temperature lower than 20℃, but developed normal green leaves under temperature higher than 24℃ or similar morphological phenotypes in dark as did the wild-type （WT）. Our analysis showed that the contents of chlorophylls and chlo- rophyll precursors were remarkably decreased in the Ital mutant under low temperature compared to WT. Transmission electron microscope observation revealed that chloroplasts were defectively developed in the albino ltal leaves, which lacked of well-stacked granum and contained less stroma lamellae. These results suggested that the ltal mutation may delay the light-induced thylakoid assembly under low temperature. Genetic analysis indicated that the albino phenotype was controlled by a single recessive locus. Through map-based approach, we finally located the Ltal gene to a region of 40.3 kb on the short arm of chromosome 11. There are 8 predicted open reading frames （ORFs） in this region and two of them were deleted in ltal genome compared with the WT genome. The further characterization of the Ltal gene would provide a good approach to uncover the novel molecular mechanisms involved in chloroplast development under low temperature stress.

Pathogenesis of allergic diseases and implications for therapeutic interventions

Allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (AR), allergic asthma (AAS), atopic dermatitis (AD), food allergy (FA), and eczema aresystemic diseases caused by an impaired immune system. Accompanied by high recurrence rates, the steadily rising incidence ratesof these diseases are attracting increasing attention. The pathogenesis of allergic diseases is complex and involves many factors,including maternal-fetal environment, living environment, genetics, epigenetics, and the body’s immune status. The pathogenesisof allergic diseases exhibits a marked heterogeneity, with phenotype and endotype defining visible features and associatedmolecular mechanisms, respectively. With the rapid development of immunology, molecular biology, and biotechnology, manynew biological drugs have been designed for the treatment of allergic diseases, including anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE), antiinterleukin(IL)-5, and anti-thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)/IL-4, to control symptoms. For doctors and scientists, it is becomingmore and more important to understand the influencing factors, pathogenesis, and treatment progress of allergic diseases. Thisreview aimed to assess the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic interventions of allergic diseases, including AR, AAS, AD,and FA. We hope to help doctors and scientists understand allergic diseases systematically.

Inhibitive effect on apoptosis in splenic lymphocytes of mice pretreated with Lingzhi (GanodermaLucidum) spores

OBJECTIVE： To investigate how the pretreatment of mice with Ganoderma spores affected the apop- tosis of their splenic lymphocytes induced by dexa- methasone after 19 days treatment. METHODS： Sixty Kunming mice were randomly di- vided into six groups： blank control groupdrenched with normal saline; a drug control group drenched with 150 mg/mL Ganoderma spores; a model group treated with saline; a low dose group with S0 mg/mL Ganoderma spores; a moderate dose group with 100 mg/mL Ganoderma spores; and a high dose group with 150 mg/mL Ganoderma spores. The effect of Ganoderma spores on apoptosis in spleen lymphocytes was analyzed. All groups were treated for 19 days. On day 20, the model group and the 3 treatment groups were intraperitoneally injected dexamethasone to induce apoptosis. Splenic index and apoptosis indes were employed to measure cell apoptosis RESULTS： The results showed that Ganoderma spores reduced the splenic index to different de- grees in each group and the best effect was seen in the high dose group （P〈0.05）. Terminal dexynucleo- tidyl transferase （TdT）-mediated 2＇-Deoxyuridine 5＇-Triphosphate nick end labeling staining revealed that the apoptotic index in all groups administered Ganoderma spores differed significantly from the model group, and a dose-response was observed. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that spleen lym- phocyte apoptosis in the model group was exten- sive. Each dose of Ganoderma spores inhibited dexamethasone-induced apoptosis in spleen lym- phocytes, and a dose-response was observed as well. The highest dose of Ganoderma spores de- creased Malondialdehyde content in serum in- duced by dexamethasone （P〈0.05）. CONCLUSION： The findings imply that the pretreat- ment of the mice with Ganoderma spores could re- duce the apoptosis rate induced by dexametha- sone in their splenic lymphocytes.

Reduction of Low-grade Manganese Dioxide Ore Pellets by Biomass Wheat Stalk

An investigation on reducing low-grade manganese dioxide ore pellets was carried out by using wheat stalk as reductant. The main impact factors of reduction percent such as particle size, biomass/ore ratio, heating rate, nitrogen flow rate, temperature and time in reduction process were discussed. The morphology and component of manganese dioxide ore particle at different stages were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS）. The results show the increase of the reduction temperature and time, biomass/ore ratio, and the decrease of particle size, heating rate and nitrogen flow rate can significantly enhance reduction efficiency. The reduction kinetic of the manganese ore is controlled by three-dimensional mass diffusion of gaseous reductive volatiles passing from the surface to the core of the ore particles. The activation energy E and frequency factor A were calculated to be 24.15 kJ.mol^-1 and 166 min^-1, respectively. Biomass pyrolysis volatiles adsorbed onto the surface of the ore particle leads to serious variation of the microstructures and chemical composition of the manganese ore particles.

Isolation and characterization of Zika virus imported to China using C6/36 mosquito cells

Dear Editor,Zika virus（ZIKV）is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that usually causes asymptomatic infections or mild illness in humans.However,the unprecedented epidemics of ZIKV in Latin America since early 2015 have made this flavivirus an international health risk（Liu and Zhang,2016）.

An investigation on stability of biomass reduced manganese dioxide ore

In this study, how to improve the stability of reduced manganese oxide ore was dis- cussed by investigating reoxidation conditions and kinetics mechanism in the cooling process of manganese dioxide ore reduced by biomass. The effects of the temperature and time, chip size of biomass, raw materials thickness and different additives on stability of the products were determined. The valence variation of manganese in ore and the reoxidation kinetics of reduced products were studied. The results show that decrease of reduction temperature and time, and increase of raw materials thickness and little H2SO4 additive are favorable for the stability of the reduced products. The kinetics mechanism of the reoxidation is controlled by diffusion with dynamic appar- ent activation energy of E1--25.10 kJ.mol-1, and conformation of manganese in the process is changed from MnO to Mn3O4.

Hailstorm Formation Enhanced by Meso-γ Vortices along a Low-Level Convergence Line

During a hailstorm event,near-surface meso-γvortices along a convergence line interact with hail cells.Herein we investigate this interaction by using observational data and a high-resolution simulation of a hailstorm that occurred over Taizhou(Zhejiang,China)on 19 March 2014.The 10-m surface wind data from automatic weather stations show that several meso-γvortices or vortex-like disturbances existed over the convergence zone and played a vital role in the evolution of the hailstorm and the location of the hail.The model results agree with the observations and present a closer correlation between the hail and the low-level meso-γvortices than those observed.The model simulation indicates that such low-level meso-γvortices can be used to predict the next 10-min hail fallout zone.The lowlevel meso-γvortices originated over the convergence zone and then fed back into the convergence field and provoked a stronger updraft.Vorticity was initiated primarily by stretching and was extended by tilting.A three-dimensional(3-D)flow analysis shows that the existence of low-level meso-γvortices could help enhance a local updraft.Furthermore,the simulation reveals that the low-level meso-γvortices formed in the bounded weak echo region(WER)at the front of the hail cell,enhancing convergence and strengthening updrafts.Graupel was broadly located between the 0°C isothermal line and the top of the clouds,roughly between the 0 and-20°C isothermal lines.Accordingly,the hailstones grew rapidly.The suitable environment and the positive effect of the meso-γvortices on the updrafts enabled hailstorm formation.