A List of Insects on Stored Traditional Chinese Medicinal (TCM) Materials in Anhui Province of China

[ Objective ] The paper was to ascertain the insects on the stored traditional Chinese medicinal （TCM） materials in Anhui Province of China, so as to control pests on stored TCM materials effectually. [ Method] The insects on stored TCM materials in 17 regions of Anhui Province were investigated from 2009 to 2012 and 873 kinds of insect samples on TCM materials were collected. [ Result] Investigation showed that a total of 94 species of insects on stored TCM materials belonging to 38 families, 9 orders in Anhui Province had been identified, among which 81 species of pests belonged to 31 families, 5 orders, and 13 species of natu- ral enemies belonged to 7 families, 4 orders ; additionally, 24 species of insects were newly recorded in Anhui Province. The distribution and hosts of 94 species of insects were also described. [ Conclusion] The results could provide scientific basis for controlling pests of the stored traditional Chinese medicinal materials in An- hui Province.

Effects of alcohol on H3K9 acetylation in mouse preimplantation embryos

It is well known that excessive long-term alcohol consumption is harmful, especially in pregnant women. In the present study, the Kunming white mouse was used as an animal model and indirect immunofluorescence was performed to analyze the toxic effects of alcohol on early pre-implantation embryos. H3K9 acetylation immunofluorescence could not be detected in MII oocytes. H3K9 acetylation levels in the treatment group were higher than in the control group during the morula stage, and contrary to results during the blastocyst stage. Other stages showed no obvious differences for in vivo embryos. For in vitro embryos, almost no difference was found between the two experimental groups across all stages, and both groups showed increasing H3K9 acetylation levels（except at the 2-cell stage）. This study shows that H3K9 acetylation levels in early pre-implantation embryos are notably impacted by excessive alcohol ingestion by females. These data are the first step in understanding the epigenetic mechanism of alcohol toxicity in early preimplantation mouse embryos.

Effect of Magnetic Field Configuration on Stray-Crystal Formation with Different Platform Sizes during Directional Solidification of Single-Crystal Superalloy

The magnetic field is an effective means to control the solidification structure and the defects of metal and semiconductor crystals.This work investigates the effects of Cusp magnetic field(CMF)and longitudinal magnetic field(LMF)on the stray-crystal formation in the platform regions during the directional solidification of single-crystal superalloy with the different cross section sizes.The application of CMF reduces the formation of platform stray-crystal,while LMF increases its generation.As the platform size increases,the stray-crystal ratio increases regardless of whether the magnetic fields are applied or not,the effectiveness of CMF increases,while that of LMF decreases.The reason that the effects of CMF and LMF on the platform stray-crystal formation could be attributed to the change of flow structure from the distribution characteristics of the thermoelectric magnetic force and the magnetic damping force near the liquid-solid interface.

Effect of axial static magnetic field on cleanliness and microstructure in magnetically controlled electroslag remelted bearing steel

The effect of the axial static magnetic field(ASMF)on cleanliness and microstructure in magnetically controlled electroslag remelted GCr15 bearing steel ingots was investigated experimentally.The results show that a magnetically controlled spin-vibration induced by the interaction of the ASMFs and the remelting current exists at the consumable electrode tip,resulting in thinner liquid melt film and smaller droplets.With the increase in magnetic flux density,the optimization effect of ASMFs on electroslag remelting process increases and reaches the peak with a 40 mT ASMF,then decreases.The cleanliness of the ingots was improved,and the count of inclusions larger than 5μm was reduced.The microstructure of the ingots processed with a 40 mT ASMF was significantly refined.The depth of the metallic molten pool was reduced from 45.2 to 17.5 mm with the application of 40 mT ASMF.The tensile strength,impact toughness,and Rockwell hardness of the ingots obtained under the 40 mT ASMF were significantly improved.The mechanisms of the spin-vibration occurring at the electrode tip end were interpreted in detail to elucidate the effect of ASMFs.

Motion and removal behavior of inclusions in electrode tip during magnetically controlled electroslag remelting:X-ray microtomography characterization and modeling verification

Detailed three-dimensional(3 D)microtomography characterizations of inclusions in electrode matrix,mushy zone(MZ)and liquid melt film(LMF)were performed to elucidate the motion and removal behavior of inclusions in electrode tip during magnetically controlled electroslag remelting(MC-ESR)process.A transient 2 D numerical model was also built to verify the experimental results and proposed mechanisms.The number and size of inclusions exhibited an obvious increasing trend from edge to mid region in LMF,while remained almost the same in electrode matrix and MZ.The inclusions in LMF migrated from edge to mid region of LMF,accompanied with removal process.In addition,the kinetic conditions for inclusion migrating to LMF/slag interface(LSI)were enhanced during MC-ESR process,thereby improving the inclusion removal efficiency in LMF.This work highlights the 3 D characterization and motion/removal mechanisms of inclusions in electrode tip,as well as sheds new light on preparing high purity materials.

Inhibition of Cusp magnetic field on stray-crystal formation in platform region during directionally solidified single-crystal superalloy

The stray crystal in the platform region is one of the common main defects in single-crystal superalloy blades. The simple and effective method to eliminate this defect is urgent to be explored. This work found that the Cusp magnetic field can effectively inhibit the stray-crystal formation in the platform. The tendency of stray-crystal formation decreases as the magnetic-field strength increases at a certain withdrawal rate and temperature-gradient. The suppressing effect decreases as the withdrawal rate or the temperature-gradient increases. Finally, the inhibiting mechanism on the stray-crystal formation from the Cusp magnetic field is proposed based on the experiments and the numerical simulation. The magneticfield application strengthens the flow velocity and changes the flow structure near the liquid-solid interface, and further reduces the radial temperature difference. Accordingly, the secondary dendrites in the heat-conduction undercooled zone expands towards the corner in a faster speed, which reduces the stray-crystal formation in the platform corner. This study provides an effective and simple method for decreasing the stray-crystal formation during the preparation of single-crystal with platform region.

OsRFPH2-10,a RING-H2 Finger E3 Ubiquitin Ligase,Is Involved in Rice Antiviral Defense in the Early Stages of Rice dwarf virus Infection

Dear Editor,Rice dwarf virus(RDV),a member of the Phytoreoviurs genus,is transmitted to rice(Oryza sativa)plants by leaf-hopper(Nephotettix cincticeps)in a propagative manner.Infection by RDV results in severe stunting growth pheno-types and a dramatic reduction in grain yield.The genome of RDV is composed of 12-segmented double-stranded RNAs(S1-S12 based on their migration rates in agarose gel electro-phoresis).The 12 segments encode seven structural proteins(P1,P2,P3,P5,P7,P8,and P9 as the products of Sl,S2,S3,S5,S7,S8,and S9,respectively)and five nonstructural proteins(Pns4,Pns6,Pnsl0,Pns11,and Pns12 as the products of S4,S6,S10,S11,and S12,respectively).The outer capsid protein P2 is essential for RDV infection of insects and thus influences transmission of RDV by the insect vector(Omura et al.,1998;Zhou et al.,2007).P2 also contributes to the dwarf phenotype of infected rice by interfering with gibberellic acid synthesis(Zhu et al.,2005).When RDV-infected rice plants were main-tained via vegetative propagation for several years without insect transmission,they regained normal growth height due to loss of RDV P2 and Pnsl0 proteins(Pu et al.,2011).

Viroids:Small Probes for Exploring the Vast Universe of RNA Trafficking in Plants

Cell-to-cell and long-distance trafficking of RNA is a rapidly evolving frontier of integrative plant biology that broadly impacts studies on plant growth and development, spread of infectious agents and plant defense responses. The fundamental questions being pursued at the forefronts revolve around function, mechanism and evolution. In the present review, we will first use specific examples to illustrate the biological importance of cell-to-cell and long-distance trafficking of RNA. We then focus our discussion on research findings obtained using viroids that have advanced our understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in RNA trafficking. We further use viroid examples to illustrate the great diversity of trafficking machinery evolved by plants, as well as the promise for new insights in the years ahead. Finally, we discuss the prospect of integrating findings from different experimental systems to achieve a systems-based understanding of RNA trafficking function, mechanism and evolution.

Enhanced electrical,mechanical and tribological properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloys by continuous extrusion forming and subsequent aging treatment

As a promising material for the new generation of high-speed railway contact wires,the comprehensive optimization of the electrical conductivity,strength,hardness and wear resistance of the Cu-Cr-Zr alloy has received extensive attention.In this paper,a high-performance Cu-1Cr-0.1Zr alloy with an ultimate tensile strength of 599.1 MPa,a uniform elongation of 8.6%,a microhardness of 195.7 HV_(0.2) and an electrical conductivity of 80.07%IACS was achieved by the continuous extrusion forming(CEF)and subsequent peak-aging treatment.The grain refinement strengthening,dislocation strengthening and precipitation strengthening are identified to be responsible for the excellent electrical and mechanical properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy.The wear behavior of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy was investigated by examining the evolution of worn surface morphology and subsurface microstructure.The microhardness(H)and reduced elastic modulus(E_(r))of the subsurface below the worn surface measured by nanoindentation were calculated to gage the tribological performance of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy.Results show that the continuously extruded and subsequently peak-aged specimen has the best wear resistance,which indicates that the tribological properties of CuCr-Zr alloy strongly depend on its strength and hardness.It can be concluded that the CEF and subsequent aging treatment process provides a new and high-efficiency procedure for the continuous preparation of Cu-Cr-Zr alloys.

Construction of multiple shRNA vectors targeting PEDV and TGEV and production of transgenic SCNT porcine embryos in vitro

Porcine viral diarrhea is an acute and highly contagious enteric disease of pigs that causes huge economic losses worldwide. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus(PEDV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus(TGEV) are the main pathogens responsible for piglet viral diarrhea. However, currently there is no speci?c drug available for the effective treatment of viral diarrhea.Therefore, it is necessary to seek an effective method to diminish PEDV and TGEV infection rates. RNA interference has been applied successfully to inhibit the virus replication. It provides a potential strategy for breeding resistant pigs. In this study, four promoters and four short hairpin RNA(shRNA) vectors with LoxP sites at each end of the selectable marker genes were constructed to target PEDV and TGEV. These vectors were then transfected into porcine fetal ?broblasts, G418 resistant transfectants were con?rmed by PCR and transgenic SCNT porcine blastocysts were obtained. These results have paved the way for future production of marker-free transgenic resistant to PEDV and TEGV pigs by SCNT.