Blast response of clay brick masonry unit walls unreinforced and reinforced with polyurea elastomer

Clay brick masonry unit(CBMU) walls are widely used in building structures,and its damage and protection under explosion loads have been a matter of concern in the field of engineering protection.In this paper,a series of full-scale experiments of the response characteristics of 24 cm CMBU walls unreinforced and reinforced with polyurea elastomer subjected to blast loading were carried out.Through setting 5.0 kg TNT charges at different stand-off distances,the damage characteristics of masonry walls at different scaled distances were obtained.The reinforcement effect of different polyurea coating thicknesses and methods on the blast resistance performance of masonry walls under single and repeated loads were also explored.Five failure grades were summarized according to the dynamic response features of masonry walls.Based on the stress wave propagation pattern in multi-media composite structures,the internal stress distribution of masonry walls were analyzed,and the division basis of the masonry walls’ failure grades was then quantified.Combined with Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM)images,the deformation characteristics of soft and hard segments of polyurea and effects of detonation products on microstructures were revealed respectively,which provides an important reference for the design and application of polyurea in the blast resistance of clay brick masonry walls.

Identification of risk genes in Chinese nonobstructive azoospermia patients based on whole-exome sequencing

Nonobstructive azoospermia(NOA)is a severe condition in infertile men,and increasing numbers of causative genes have been identified during the last few decades.Although certain causative genes can explain the presence of NOA in some patients,a proportion of NOA patients remain to be addressed.This study aimed to investigate potential high-risk genes associated with spermatogenesis in idiopathic NOA patients by whole-exome sequencing.Whole-exome sequencing was performed in 46 male patients diagnosed with NOA.First,screening was performed for 119 genes known to be related to male infertility.Next,further screening was performed to determine potential high-risk causative genes for NOA by comparisons with 68 healthy male controls.Finally,risk genes with high/specific expression in the testes were selected and their expression fluctuations during spermatogenesis were graphed.The frequency of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator(CFTR)gene pathogenic variant carriers was higher in the NOA patients compared with the healthy controls.Potential risk genes that may be causes of NOA were identified,including seven genes that were highly/specifically expressed in the testes.Four risk genes previously reported to be involved in spermatogenesis(MutS homolog 5[MSH5],cilia-and flagella-associated protein 54[CFAP54],MAP7 domain containing 3[MAP7D3],and coiled-coil domain containing 33[CCDC33])and three novel risk genes(coiled-coil domain containing 168[CCDC168],chromosome 16 open reading frame 96[C16orf96],and serine protease 48[PRSS48])were identified to be highly or specifically expressed in the testes and significantly different in the 46 NOA patients compared with 68 healthy controls.This study on clinical NOA patients provides further evidence for the four previously reported risk genes.The present findings pave the way for further functional investigations and provide candidate risk genes for genetic diagnosis of NOA.

Evaluation of Beauveria bassiana （Hyphomycetes） isolates as potential agents for control of Dendroctonus valens

The red turpentine beetle （RTB）, Dendroctonus valens LeConte, as a destructive invasive pest, has become one of the most economically important forest pest in China. Effective control measures are desperately needed. Entomopathogenic fungi, such as Beauveria bassiana, have shown great potential for the management of some bark beetle species. In this study, 12 isolates of B. bassiana from bark beetle were examined for biological characteristics and virulence, to assess their potential as biocontrol agents for RTB. There were significant differences （at P = 0.05） in colony growth rate, conidial yield, conidial germination, tolerance to UV light and extracellular proteases activity among the tested B. bassiana isolates. Isolates, including Bbl801, Bb1906, Bb789 and Bb773, exhibited the best characteristics, because they have faster hyphal growth rate, higher spore production and faster spore germination, higher UV tolerance and protease （Prl） production. The results of a pathogenicity test ofB. bassiana on RTB larvae showed that most isolates of B. bassiana have demonstrated high efficacy and the highest virulent isolate was Bb 1801, which killed 100% of the treated insects and had a median lethal time （LT50） of 4.60 days at a concentration of 1 ×107 conidia/mL. Therefore, isolate Bb1801 has a great potential for sustainable control of RTB in the forest. The correlation between biological characteristics and virulence of the fungal isolates is discussed and the possibility of combination of entomopathogenic fungi with semiochemicals, as one of the promising strategy for RTB control, is considered.

A Comparative Analysis of Embryo and Endosperm Proteome from Seeds of Jatropha curcas

Jatropha curcas is an important economic plant for biodiesel, which is extracted mainly from the endosperm of its mature seeds. Despite the morphological and functional differences between the embryo and endosperm, proteomic characteristics of the two tissues are not yet known. Similar proteomic profiles were observed in the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis maps from the two tissues. There were 380 and 533 major protein spots in the embryo and endosperm, respectively. Fourteen identical spots, showing a notable change, were selected and identified by tandem mass spectrometry. Among these proteins, dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase （spot 27） participates in tricarboxylic acid cycle, which is an amphibolic pathway. The two parts both included proteins related to stress （spots 8, 115, 118, 125, 130） and signal transduction （spots 7, 100, 108）. According to the volume percentage of proteins in embryo and endosperm, the proteins in endosperm （spots 54, 61, 73） were catabolism-related enzymes and reserves to provide the nutrition for seed germination; the proteins in embryo （spots 27, 62, 122） were inclined to anabolism and utilized the nutrition from the endosperm to generate a new life.

Six-step synthesis of Leonurine and toxicity study on zebrafish

Leonurine（1）,an important ingredient in leonurus sibiricus L,can be used for some gynecological disease.We have developed a concise and efficient synthetic route of Leonurine,which can be optimized for mass production.Commercially available compound 6 and 2,3-dihydrofuran（7） were used as starting materials.And the toxicity study on zebrafish shows that Leonurine would promote the hatching of zebrafish embryos at low concentration and result in acute death or chronic lethal toxicity at high concentration.