Resting-state brain network remodeling after different nerve reconstruction surgeries:a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in brachial plexus injury rats

Distinct brain remodeling has been found after different nerve reconstruction strategies,including motor representation of the affected limb.However,differences among reconstruction strategies at the brain network level have not been elucidated.This study aimed to explore intranetwork changes related to altered peripheral neural pathways after different nerve reconstruction surgeries,including nerve repair,endto-end nerve transfer,and end-to-side nerve transfer.Sprague–Dawley rats underwent complete left brachial plexus transection and were divided into four equal groups of eight:no nerve repair,grafted nerve repair,phrenic nerve end-to-end transfer,and end-to-side transfer with a graft sutured to the anterior upper trunk.Resting-state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained 7 months after surgery.The independent component analysis algorithm was utilized to identify group-level network components of interest and extract resting-state functional connectivity values of each voxel within the component.Alterations in intra-network resting-state functional connectivity were compared among the groups.Target muscle reinnervation was assessed by behavioral observation(elbow flexion)and electromyography.The results showed that alterations in the sensorimotor and interoception networks were mostly related to changes in the peripheral neural pathway.Nerve repair was related to enhanced connectivity within the sensorimotor network,while end-to-side nerve transfer might be more beneficial for restoring control over the affected limb by the original motor representation.The thalamic-cortical pathway was enhanced within the interoception network after nerve repair and end-to-end nerve transfer.Brain areas related to cognition and emotion were enhanced after end-to-side nerve transfer.Our study revealed important brain networks related to different nerve reconstructions.These networks may be potential targets for enhancing motor recovery.

Gasification of iron coke and cogasification behavior of iron coke and coke under simulated hydrogen-rich blast furnace condition

To explore the iron coke application in hydrogen-rich blast furnace,which is an effective method to achieve the purpose of low carbon emissions,the initial gasification temperature of iron coke in CO_(2) and H_(2)O atmosphere and its cogasification reaction mechanism with coke were systematically studied.Iron coke was prepared under laboratory conditions,with a 0-7wt%iron ore powder addition.The properties of iron cokes were tested by coke reactivity index(CRI)and coke strength after reaction(CSR),and their phases and morphology were evolution discussed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis.The results indicated that the initial gasification temperature of iron coke decreased with the increase in the iron ore powder content under the CO_(2) and H_(2)O_((g))atmosphere.In the 40vol%H_(2)O+60vol%CO_(2) atmosphere,CRI of iron coke with the addition of 3wt%iron ore powder reached 58.7%,and its CSR reached 56.5%.Because of the catalytic action of iron,the reaction capacity of iron coke was greater than that of coke.As iron coke was preferentially gasified,the CRI and CSR of coke were reduced and increased,respectively,when iron coke and coke were cogasified.The results showed that the skeleton function of the coke can be protected by iron coke.

Design of two-stage membrane reactor for the conversion of coke-oven gas to H_2 and CO

The catalyst function was achieved in two regions in an oxygen permeation membrane reactor： H2 dissociated and reacted with lattice oxygen or oxygen ions to form H20 near the membrane surface. The H20 formed could react with the residual CH4 away from the membrane surface area.

Genome-wide analyses on transcription factors and their potential microRNA regulators involved in maize male fertility

Anther development is a programmed biological process crucial to plant male reproduction. Genomewide analyses on the functions of transcriptional factor(TF) genes and their microRNA(miRNA) regulators contributing to anther development have not been comprehensively performed in maize. Here, using published RNA-Seq and small RNA-Seq(sRNA-Seq) data from maize anthers at ten developmental stages in three genic male-sterility(GMS) mutants(ocl4, mac1, and ms23) and wild type W23, as well as newly sequenced maize anther transcriptomes of ms7-6007 and lob30 GMS mutants and their WT lines, we analyzed and found 1079 stage-differentially expressed(stage-DE) TF genes that can be grouped into six(premeiotic, meiotic, postmeiotic, premeiotic-meiotic, premeiotic-postmeiotic, and meiotic-postmeiotic clusters) expression clusters. Functional enrichment combined with cytological and physiological analyses revealed specific functions of genes in each expression cluster. In addition, 118 stage-DE miRNAs and99 miRNA-TF gene pairs were identified in maize anthers. Further analyses revealed the regulatory roles of zma-miR319 and zma-miR159 as well as ZmMs7 and ZmLOB30 on ZmGAMYB expression. Moreover,ZmGAMYB and its paralog ZmGAMYB-2 were demonstrated as novel maize GMS genes by CRISPR/Cas9 knockout analysis. These results extend our understanding on the functions of miRNA-TF gene regulatory pairs and GMS TF genes contributing to male fertility in plants.

Microstructure evolution and oxidation states of Co in perovskite-type oxide Ba_(1.0)Co_(0.7)Fe_(0.2)Nb_(0.1)O_(3-δ) annealed in CO_2 atmosphere

Ba1.0Co0.7Fe0.2Nb0.1O3-γ（BCFN） oxide with perovskite cubic structure was synthesized by solid state reaction method. COa corrosion of BCFN membrane was investigated by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier- transformed spectroscopy （DRIFT） and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy （XAFS）. Cobalt （Co） K-edge absorption spectra of BCFN annealed in COa reveal that the oxidation states of Co in all the samples were larger than ＋3 and they decreased with the increase of calcination time. At 800 ℃, 1% CO2 introduced into He could speed up the reduction of Co cations in comparison with pure He. In addition, sulfate ions in the bulk of BCFN membrane preferred to migrate to the surface under CO2 calcination and form monoclinic Ba（CO3）0.9（SO4）0.1 besides orthorhombic witherite. Moreover, SEM results indicate that the nucleation and growth of carbonates grains started at the grain boundary of the membrane.

Sintering reaction and microstructure of MAl(M=Ni,Fe,and Mg)nanoparticles through molecular dynamics simulation

The sintering-alloying processes of nickel(Ni),iron(Fe),and magnesium(Mg) with aluminum(Al) nanoparticles were studied by molecular dynamics simulation with the analytic embedded-atom model(AEAM) potential.Potential energy,mean heterogeneous coordination number NAB,and surface atomic number Nsurf-A were used to monitor the sintering-reaction processes.The effects of surface segregation,heat of formation,and melting point on the sinteringalloying processes were discussed.Results revealed that sintering proceeded in two stages.First,atoms with low surface energy diffused onto the surface of atoms with high surface energy;second,metal atoms diffused with one another with increased system temperature to a threshold value.Under the same initial conditions,the sintering reaction rate of the three systems increased in the order MgAl <FeAl <NiAl.Depending on the initial reaction temperature,the final core-shell(FeAl and MgAl) and alloyed(NiAl and FeAl) nanoconfigurations can be observed.

Regulation of pathological blood-brain barrier for intracranial enhanced drug delivery and anti-glioblastoma therapeutics

The blood-brain barrier(BBB)is an essential component in regulating and maintaining the homeostatic microenvironment of the central nervous system(CNS).During the occurrence and development of glioblastoma(GBM),BBB is pathologically destroyed with a marked increase in permeability.Due to the obstruction of the BBB,current strategies for GBM therapeutics still obtain a meager success rate and may lead to systemic toxicity.Moreover,chemotherapy could promote pathological BBB functional restoration,which results in significantly reduced intracerebral transport of therapeutic agents during multiple administrations of GBM and the eventual failure of GBM chemotherapy.The effective delivery of intracerebral drugs still faces severe challenges.However,strategies that regulate the pathological BBB to enhance the transport of therapeutic agents across the barrier may provide new opportunities for the effective and safe treatment of GBM.This article reviews the structure and function of BBB in physiological states,the mechanisms underlying BBB pathological fenestration during the development of GBM,and the therapeutic strategies of GBM based on BBB intervention and medicinal drugs transporting across the BBB.

Experimental Investigation on the Pressure Characteristics of Cavity Closure Region

在 cavitating 流动和压力分发的最复杂的部件是在洞闭合线的流动。cavitating 流动和压力分发在这个区域提供流动域细节的批评方面。水动力学的压力结果的积分强迫，在 supercavitating 车辆的设计显示支配。一个实验在一条水隧道被执行调查洞闭合区域的压力特征。通风方法被采用产生人工的洞，并且通风率因此被调整获得需要的洞长度。一连串的压力变换器在洞闭合线下面被生在这个区域捕获压力分发。当流动是 non-axisymmetric 时，在洞闭合区域有一座压力山峰的试验性的结果表演，和在空间的压力的上升率趋于在迎风的方面更高。短暂压力变化也在洞形成过程期间是现在。在这份报纸的测量的方法能被工程师引用。学习洞闭合的流动模式的结果帮助区域，和它能也被用来分析 supercavitating 车辆水动力学的形成。

Research on the Teaching and Learning of Traditional Gold and Silver Color Embroidery Technique for Out-of-school Education ——Taking the Design of Practical Activities of "Inheritance and Innovation of Gold and Silver Color Embroidery" as an Example

Gold and silver color embroidery is a process in which gold and silver platinum paper are wound on a silk thread to form gold and silver threads, which are then discarded into various patterns or contour lines, and then colored lines are used to fasten the pattern lines on the base material. Gold and silver color embroidery has a long history as a representative embroidery skill in traditional embroidery techniques. It has complex techniques and deep deposits. Due to the particularity of its materials and techniques, it is faced with many problems in its inheritance in the off-campus education. This paper discusses the problems of the traditional gold and silver color embroidery techniques for off-campus education, the innovation in the process of teaching, the design of practical activities, and their significance, so that traditional skills can promote the national spirit in the new concept and teaching of out-ofschool education, inheriting the human civilization, serving the social harmonious and cultural development, thus achieving the goal of education.

Bioorthogonal microglia-inspired mesenchymal stem cell bioengineering system creates livable niches for enhancing ischemic stroke recovery via the hormesis

Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)experience substantial viability issues in the stroke infarct region,limiting their therapeutic efficacy and clinical translation.High levels of deadly reactive oxygen radicals(ROS)and proinflammatory cytokines(PC)in the infarct milieu kill transplanted MSCs,whereas low levels of beneficial ROS and PC stimulate and improve engrafted MSCs’viability.Based on the intrinsic hormesis effects in cellular biology,we built a microglia-inspired MSC bioengineering system to transform detrimental high-level ROS and PC into vitality enhancers for strengthening MSC therapy.This system is achieved by bioorthogonally arming metabolic glycoengineered MSCs with microglial membrane-coated nanoparticles and an antioxidative extracellular protective layer.In this system,extracellular ROSscavenging and PC-absorbing layers effectively buffer the deleterious effects and establish a microlivable niche at the level of a single MSC for transplantation.Meanwhile,the infarct’s inanimate milieu is transformed at the tissue level into a new living niche to facilitate healing.The engineered MSCs achieved viability five times higher than natural MSCs at seven days after transplantation and exhibited a superior therapeutic effect for stroke recovery up to 28 days.This vitality-augmented system demonstrates the potential to accelerate the clinical translation of MSC treatment and boost stroke recovery.

ZmMs30 Encoding a Novel GDSL Lipase Is Essential for Male Fertility and Valuable for Hybrid Breeding in Maize

Genic male sterility (GMS) is very useful for hybrid vigor utilization and hybrid seed production. Although a large number of GMS genes have been identified in plants, little is known about the roles of GDSL lipase members in anther and pollen development. Here, we report a maize GMS gene, ZmMs30, which encodes a novel type of GDSL lipase with diverged catalytic residues. Enzyme kinetics and activity assays show that ZmMs30 has lipase activity and prefers to substrates with a short carbon chain. ZmMs30 is specifically expressed in maize anthers during stages 7-9. Loss of ZmMs30 function resulted in defective anther cuticle, irregular foot layer of pollen exine, and complete male sterility. Cytological and lipidomics analyses demonstrate that ZmMs30 is crucial for the aliphatic metabolic pathway required for pollen exine formation and anther cuticle development. Furthermore, we found that male sterility caused by loss of ZmMs30 function was stable in various inbred lines with different genetic background, and that it didn't show any negative effect on maize heterosis and production, suggesting that ZmMs30 is valuable for crossbreeding and hybrid seed production. We then developed a new multi-control sterility system using ZmMs30 and its mutant line, and demonstrated it is feasible for generating desirable GMS lines and valu. able for hybrid maize seed production. Taken together, our study sheds new light on the mechanisms of anther and pollen development, and provides a valuable male-sterility system for hybrid breeding maize.

Targeted inhibition of GRK2 kinase domain by CP-25 to reverse fibroblast-like synoviocytes dysfunction and improve collagen-induced arthritis in rats

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA)is an autoimmune disease and is mainly characterized by abnormal proliferation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes(FLS).The up-regulated cellular membrane expression of G protein coupled receptor kinase 2(GRK2)of FLS plays a critical role in RA progression,the increase of GRK2 translocation activity promotes dysfunctional prostaglandin E4 receptor(EP4)signaling and FLS abnormal proliferation.Recently,although our group found that paeoniflorin-6’-O-benzene sulfonate(CP-25),a novel compound,could reverse FLS dysfunction via GRK2,little is known as to how GRK2 translocation activity is suppressed.Our findings revealed that GRK2 expression up-regulated and EP4 expression down-regulated in synovial tissues of RA patients and collagen-induced arthritis(CIA)rats,and prostaglandin E2(PGE2)level increased in arthritis.CP-25 could down-regulate GRK2 expression,up-regulate EP4 expression,and improve synovitis of CIA rats.CP-25 and GRK2 inhibitors(paroxetine or GSK180736 A)inhibited the abnormal proliferation of FLS in RA patients and CIA rats by down-regulating GRK2 translocation to EP4 receptor.The results of microscale thermophoresis(MST),cellular thermal shift assay,and inhibition of kinase activity assay indicated that CP-25 could directly target GRK2,increase the protein stability of GRK2 in cells,and inhibit GRK2 kinase activity.The docking of CP-25 and GRK2 suggested that the kinase domain of GRK2 might be an important active pocket for CP-25.G201,K220,K230,A321,and D335 in kinase domain of GRK2 might form hydrogen bonds with CP-25.Site-directed mutagenesis and co-immunoprecipitation assay further revealed that CP-25 down-regulated the interaction of GRK2 and EP4 via controlling the key amino acid residue of Ala321 of GRK2.Our data demonstrate that FLS proliferation is regulated by GRK2 translocation to EP4.Targeted inhibition of GRK2 kinase domain by CP-25 improves FLS function and represents an innovative drug for the treatment of RA by targeting GRK2.

Design and application of an Electric Tail Rotor Drive Control(ETRDC) for helicopters with performance tests

With the development of electric helicopters’ motor technology and the widespread use of electric drive rotors, more aircraft use electric rotors to provide thrust and directional control.For a helicopter tail rotor, the wake of the main rotor influences the tail rotor’s inflow and wake.In the procedure of controlling, crosswind will also cause changes to the tail disk load. This paper describes requirements and design principles of an electric motor drive and variable pitch tail rotor system. A particular spoke-type architecture of the motor is designed, and the performance of blades is analyzed by the CFD method. The demand for simplicity of moving parts and strict constraints on the weight of a helicopter makes the design of electrical and mechanical components challenging. Different solutions have been investigated to propose an effective alternative to the mechanical actuation system. A test platform is constructed which can collect the dynamic response of the thrust control. The enhancement of the response speed due to an individual motor speed control and variable-pitch system is validated.

Local Non－Similarity Solution of Coupled Heat－Mass Transfer of a Flat Plate with Uniform Heat Flux in a Laminar Parallel Flow

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Economic evaluation of reverse osmosis desalination system coupled with tidal energy

A reverse osmosis （RO） desalination system coupled with tidal energy is proposed. The mechanical energy produced by the tidal energy through hydraulic turbine is directly used to drive the RO unit. The system performances and the water cost of the conventional and tidal energy RO systems are compared. It is found that the proposed tidal energy RO system can save water cost in the range of 31.0%-41.7% in comparison with the conventional RO system. There is an optimum feed pressure that leads to the lowest water cost. The tidal RO system can save more costs at a high feed pressure or a high water recovery rate. The optimum feed pressure of the tidal energy RO system is higher than that of the conventional RO system. The longer lifetime of the tidal energy RO system can save even more water cost. When the site development cost rate is lower than 40%, the water cost of the tidal energy RO system will be lower than that of the conventional RO system. The proposed technology will be an effective alternative desalination method in the future.

Ultrafast solid-liquid-vapor irradiated by femtosecond phase change of a thin gold fi laser pulses and pulse trains

Effects of different parameters on the melting, vaporization and resolidification processes of thin gold film irradiated by femtosecond pulses and pulse train were systematically studied. The classical two-temperature model was adopted to depict the non-equilibrium heat transfer in electrons and lattice, the melting and resolidification processes, which was~ characterized by the solid-liquid interfacial velocity, as well as elevated melting temperature and depressed solidifcation tempera- ture, was obtained by considering the interfacial energy balance and nucleation dynamics. Vaporization process which leads to ablation was described by tracking the location of liquid-vapor interface with an iterative procedure based on energy balance and gas kinetics law. The parameters in discussion included film thickness, laser fluence, pulse duration, pulse number, repetition rate, pulse train number, etc. Their effects on the maximum lattice temperature, melting depth and ablation depth were discussed based on the simulation results.

G9a/GLP-sensitivity of H3K9me2 Demarcates Two Types of Genomic Compartments

In the nucleus, chromatin is folded into hierarchical architecture that is tightly linked to various nuclear functions. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that confer these architectures remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the functional roles of H3 lysine 9 dimethylation(H3 K9 me2), one of the abundant histone modifications, in three-dimensional(3 D)genome organization. Unlike in mouse embryonic stem cells, inhibition of methyltransferases G9 a and GLP in differentiated cells eliminated H3 K9 me2 predominantly at A-type(active) genomic compartments, and the level of residual H3 K9 me2 modifications was strongly associated with B-type(inactive) genomic compartments. Furthermore, chemical inhibition of G9 a/GLP in mouse hepatocytes led to decreased chromatin-nuclear lamina interactions mainly at G9 a/GLP-sensitive regions, increased degree of genomic compartmentalization, and up-regulation of hundreds of genes that were associated with alterations of the 3 D chromatin. Collectively, our data demonstrated essential roles of H3 K9 me2 in 3 D genome organization.

Impacts of cone-structured interface and aperiodicity on nanoscalethermal transport in Si/Gesuperlattices

Si/Gesuperlattices are promising thermoelec- tric materials to convert thermal energy into electric power. The nanoscale thermal transport in Si/Gesuperlattices is investigated via molecular dynamics （MD） simulation in this short communication. The impact of Si and Ge interface on the cross-plane thermal conductivity reduction in the Si/Gesuperlattices is studied by designing cone- structured interface and aperiodicity between the Si and Ge layers. The temperature difference between the left and right sides of the Si/Gesuperlattices is set up for none- quilibrium MD simulation. The spatial distribution of temperature is recorded to examine whether the steady- state has been reached. As a crucial factor to quantify thermal transport, the temporal evolution of heat flux flowing through Si/Gesuperlattices is calculated. Com- pared with the even interface, the cone-structured interface contributes remarkable resistance to the thermal transport, whereas the aperiodic arrangement of Si and Ge layers with unequal thicknesses has a marginal influence on the reduction of effective thermal conductivity. The interface with divergent cone-structure shows the most excellent performance of all the simulated cases, which brings a 33% reduction of the average thermal conductivity to the other Si/Gesuperlattices with even, convergent cone-structured interfaces and aperiodic arrangements. The design of divergent cone-structured interface sheds promising lighton enhancing the thermoelectric efficiency of Si/Ge based materials.

Performance of vertical axis water turbine with eye-shaped baffle for pico hydropower

t A series of inline pico hydropower systems,which could be used in confined space,especially for water distribution networks(WDNs),was designed and investigated.The turbine with an eye-shaped vertical water baffle was developed to evaluate the hydraulic performance.A three-dimensional dynamic mesh was employed and the inlet velocity was considered as the inlet boundary condition,whereas the outlet boundary was set as the outflow.Then,numerical simulations were conducted and the standard k-εturbulence model was found to be the best capable of predicting flow features through the comparison with the experimental results.The effects of the opening diameter of the water baffle and installation angle of the rotor on the flow field in the turbine were investigated.The results suggested that the water baffle opening at d=30 mm and the rotor at a 52°angle could achieve the highest efficiency of 5.93%.The proper eye-shaped baffle not only accelerates the fluid flow and generates positive hydrodynamic torque,but also eliminates the flow separation.The scheme proposed in this paper can be exploited for practical applications in the water pipelines at various conditions and power requirements.

The nuclear bodies formed by histone demethylase KDM7A

Dear Editor,In the nucleus of higher eukaryotes,chromatin occupies only a small proportion of the nuclear space,while many proteins and RNAs segregate into membrane-less nuclear bodies(NBs).These NBs follow a stochastic or ordered assembly model and constantly exchange components with the surrounding nucleoplasm(Jain et al.,2016).