Nuclear Crisis Affects Global Village

At Beijing’s large restaurants, the table talk recently has all been about seafood. Some believe that not only are fish from Japan polluted, but that seafood from the Chinese coast is also not safe.Maybe it’s still too early to say how serious the Fukushima nuclear accident is,but it can be certain that its influence has moved beyond Japan, helped along withthe Pacific air and ocean current, as traces

AFFECTS OF CHINESE NEW YEAR ON PRODUCTION

With trade of over $100 billion in 2009, the importance of China and Africa bilateral exchanges are growing daily. This blooming relationship increases the need of understanding the ways of doing business.This regular column will provide a practical insight of doing business in China, including tips and advice based on experience.

Maternal Separation Affects Mothers’ Affective and Reproductive Behaviors as Well as Second Offspring’s Emotionality

Daily separation of rat pups from their mothers while the preweaning period has an impact on behavior and stress response of pups. We hypothesized that maternal separation may create a depression-like state in mother rats from which we separate the rat pups and decrease their reproductive function and fertility. Also, we aimed to evaluate the transmission degree of depression and anxiety across generations. Females aged 3 months were divided in two groups of 10 rats each. After a first mating and a first parturition, we conducted maternal separation 3 h during 22 days for the experienced group while the control group mothers kept their pups. At 4 months of age, females underwent behavioral tests and a second mating. Second generation’s pups were also subjected to behavioral tests. Behavioral tests showed that mothers which experienced separation were more depressive and anxious than control ones, also they had a lower litter size. Rats pups of the second generation whose mothers experienced maternal separation also revealed behavior changes akin to depression and anxiety. Thus, maternal separation causes depressive and anxious-likestates on mother rats which experienced separation and has an impact on their litter size. Also, consequences of maternal separation seem to last throughout generations.

The Oceanic Imagination: Affects, Surreal Images and Strings

The creative forces of affects are considered to be a mysterious power within our immanence. Although creators exist like lonely islands and may be more vulnerable to poor health, it is problematic to draw an inference that mental illness nourishes creativity. Artists, philosophers, and scientists have to struggle with chaos to create a new vision into their works. This paper argues that first, the creativity of affects is a mysterious power of our immanence, not nourished by pathology;second, the surreal images of curved and juxtaposed spaces by the artists resonate with the scientific experiments conducted by string physicists who propose the existence of multiverse with the possibility of 11-dimensional spaces. Therefore, the creators have shared the equally-important status as the singular beings in their different modes of lives. Deleuze’s and Guattari’s creative concepts of philosophy help improve the better understanding of the mysterious power of oceanic affects within our immanence. Thus, the general opinion that creativity and mental illness are infamously connected should be entirely re-questioned and re-examined.

Functional dissection of parabrachial substrates in processing nociceptive information

Painful stimuli elicit first-line reflexive defensive reactions and,in many cases,also evoke second-line recuperative behaviors,the latter of which reflects the sensing of tissue damage and the alleviation of suffering.The lateral parabrachial nucleus(lPBN),composed of external-(elPBN),dorsal-(dlPBN),and central/superior-subnuclei(jointly referred to as slPBN),receives sensory inputs from spinal projection neurons and plays important roles in processing affective information from external threats and body integrity disruption.However,the organizational rules of lPBN neurons that provoke diverse behaviors in response to different painful stimuli from cutaneous and deep tissues remain unclear.In this study,we used region-specific neuronal depletion or silencing approaches combined with a battery of behavioral assays to show that slPBN neurons expressing substance P receptor(NK1R)(lPBNNK1R)are crucial for driving pain-associated self-care behaviors evoked by sustained noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli applied to skin or bone/muscle,while elPBN neurons are dispensable for driving such reactions.Notably,lPBNNK1R neurons are specifically required for forming sustained somatic pain-induced negative teaching signals and aversive memory but are not necessary for fear-learning or escape behaviors elicited by external threats.Lastly,both lPBNNK1R and elPBN neurons contribute to chemical irritant-induced nocifensive reactions.Our results reveal the functional organization of parabrachial substrates that drive distinct behavioral outcomes in response to sustained pain versus external danger under physiological conditions.

Dek42 encodes an RNA-binding protein that affects alternative pre-m RNA splicing and maize kernel development

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play an important role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. However, the functions of RBPs in plants remain poorly understood. Maize kernel mutant dek42 has small defective kernels and lethal seedlings. Dek42 was cloned by Mutator tag isolation and further confirmed by an independent mutant allele and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 materials. Dek42 encodes an RRM_RBM48 type RNA-binding protein that localizes to the nucleus. Dek42 is constitutively expressed in various maize tissues. The dek42 mutation caused a significant reduction in the accumulation of DEK42 protein in mutant kernels. RNA-seq analysis showed that the dek42 mutation significantly disturbed the expression of thousands of genes during maize kernel development. Sequence analysis also showed that the dek42 mutation significantly changed alternative splicing in expressed genes, which were especially enriched for the U12-type intron-retained type. Yeast two-hybrid screening identified SF3a1 as a DEK42-interacting protein. DEK42 also interacts with the spliceosome component U1-70K. These results suggested that DEK42 participates in the regulation of pre-messenger RNA splicing through its interaction with other spliceosome components. This study showed the function of a newly identified RBP and provided insights into alternative splicing regulation during maize kernel development.

Mutation in a novel gene SMALL AND CORDATELEAF 1 affects leaf morphology in cucumber

Plant species exhibit substantial variation in leaf morphology.VWe isolated a recessive mutant gene termed small and cordate leaf 1（sclh）that causes alteration in both leaf size and shape of cucumber.Compared to wild type leaves,the sclh mutant had fewer numbers of epidermal pavement cells.A single nucleotide polymorphism was associated with this leaf phenotype,which occurred in a putative nucleoside bisphosphate phosphatase.RNA-seq analysis of the wild type and sclh mutant leaves suggested that SCL;regulation may not involve known hormonal pathways.Our work identified a candidate gene for SCL;that may play a role in leaf development.

OsPKpa_1 encodes a plastidic pyruvate kinase that affects starch biosynthesis in the rice endosperm

Pyruvate kinase （PK） is a key enzyme in glycolysis and carbon metabolism. Here, we isolated a rice （Oryza sativa） mutant, w59, with a white-core floury endosperm. Map-based cloning of w59 identified a mutation in OsPKpα1, which encodes a plastidic isoform of PK （PKp）. OsPKpα1 localizes to the amyloplast stroma in the developing endosperm, and the mutation of OsPKpα1 in w59 decreases the plastidic PK activity, resulting in dramatic changes to the lipid biosynthesis in seeds. The w59 grains were also characterized by a marked decrease in starch content. Consistent with a decrease in number and size of the w59 amyloplasts, large empty spaces were observed in the central region of the w59 endosperm, at the early grain-filling stage. Moreover, a phylogenetic analysis revealed four potential rice isoforms of OsPKp. We validated the in vitro PK activity of these OsPKps through reconstituting active PKp complexes derived from inactive individual OsPKps, revealing the heteromeric structure of rice PKps, which was further confirmed using a protein- protein interaction analysis. These findings suggest a functional connection between lipid and starch synthesis in rice endosperm amyloplasts.

Development in oxide metallurgy for improving the weldability of high -strength low-alloy steel-Combined deoxidizers and microalloying elements

The mechanisms of oxide metallurgy include inducing the formation of intragranular acicular ferrite(IAF)using micron-sized inclusions and restricting the growth of prior austenite grains(PAGs)by nanosized particles during welding.The chaotically oriented IAF and refined PAGs inhibit crack initiation and propagation in the steel,resulting in high impact toughness.This work summarizes the com-bined effect of deoxidizers and alloying elements,with the aim to provide a new perspective for the research and practice related to im-proving the impact toughness of the heat affected zone(HAZ)during the high heat input welding.Ti complex deoxidation with other strong deoxidants,such as Mg,Ca,Zr,and rare earth metals(REMs),can improve the toughness of the heat-affected zone(HAZ)by re-fining PAGs or increasing IAF contents.However,it is difficult to identify the specific phase responsible for IAF nucleation because ef-fective inclusions formed by complex deoxidation are usually multiphase.Increasing alloying elements,such as C,Si,Al,Nb,or Cr,con-tents can impair HAZ toughness.A high C content typically increases the number of coarse carbides and decreases the potency of IAF formation.Si,Cr,or Al addition leads to the formation of undesirable microstructures.Nb reduces the high-temperature stability of the precipitates.Mo,V,and B can enhance HAZ toughness.Mo-containing precipitates present good thermal stability.VN or V(C,N)is ef-fective in promoting IAF nucleation due to its good coherent crystallographic relationship with ferrite.The formation of the B-depleted zone around the inclusion promotes IAF formation.The interactions between alloying elements are complex,and the effect of adding dif-ferent alloying elements remains to be evaluated.In the future,the interactions between various alloying elements and their effects on ox-ide metallurgy,as well as the calculation of the nucleation effects of effective inclusions using first principles calculations will become the focus of oxide metallurgy.

Better understanding of c-reactive protein and leukocytes in psychiatric inpatients with affective disorders:A biopsychosocial approach

BACKGROUND Affective disorders(AD)have been linked to inflammatory processes,although the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are still not fully elucidated.It is hypothesized that demographic,somatic,lifestyle,and personality variables predict inflammatory parameters in AD.AIM To identify biopsychosocial factors contributing to inflammation in AD measured with two parameters,C-reactive protein(CRP)and leukocytes.METHODS This observational study investigated 186 hospital inpatients diagnosed with AD using demographic parameters,serum inflammatory markers,somatic variables,psychological questionnaires,and lifestyle parameters.Hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict inflammatory markers from demographic,somatic,lifestyle,and personality variables.RESULTS Analyses showed that 33.8%of the variance of CRP was explained by body mass index and other somatic medication(e.g.anti-diabetics),age and education,and age of affective disorder diagnosis.For leukocytes,20.1%of the variance was explained by smoking,diet,metabolic syndrome(MetS),and anti-inflammatory medication(e.g.non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).Other psychiatric or behavioural variables did not reach significance.CONCLUSION Metabolic components seem important,with mounting evidence for a metabolic affective disorder subtype.Lifestyle modifications and psychoeducation should be employed to prevent or treat MetS in AD.

Impaired implicit emotion regulation in patients with panic disorder:An event-related potential study on affect labeling

BACKGROUND Panic disorder(PD)involves emotion dysregulation,but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.Previous research suggests that implicit emotion regulation may play a central role in PD-related emotion dysregulation and symptom maintenance.However,there is a lack of studies exploring the neural mechanisms of implicit emotion regulation in PD using neurophysiological indicators.AIM To study the neural mechanisms of implicit emotion regulation in PD with eventrelated potentials(ERP).METHODS A total of 25 PD patients and 20 healthy controls(HC)underwent clinical evaluations.The study utilized a case-control design with random sampling,selecting participants for the case group from March to December 2018.Participants performed an affect labeling task,using affect labeling as the experimental condition and gender labeling as the control condition.ERP and behavioral data were recorded to compare the late positive potential(LPP)within and between the groups.RESULTS Both PD and HC groups showed longer reaction times and decreased accuracy under the affect labeling.In the HC group,late LPP amplitudes exhibited a dynamic pattern of initial increase followed by decrease.Importantly,a significant group×condition interaction effect was observed.Simple effect analysis revealed a reduction in the differences of late LPP amplitudes between the affect labeling and gender labeling conditions in the PD group compared to the HC group.Furthermore,among PD patients under the affect labeling,the late LPP was negatively correlated with disease severity,symptom frequency,and intensity.CONCLUSION PD patients demonstrate abnormalities in implicit emotion regulation,hampering their ability to mobilize cognitive resources for downregulating negative emotions.The late LPP amplitude in response to affect labeling may serve as a potentially valuable clinical indicator of PD severity.

Streptomyces lydicus A_(01) affects soil microbial diversity, improving growth and resilience in tomato

The actinomycete Streptomyces lydicus A_(01) promotes tomato seedling growth; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. In this study, we investigated whether changes in soil microbial diversity, following Streptomyces lydicus A_(01) treatment, were responsible for the increased tomato seedling growth. Eukaryotic 18 S ribosomal DNA(rDNA) sequencing showed that S. lydicus A_(01)-treated and untreated soil shared 193 operational taxonomic units(OTUs), whereas bacterial 16 S rDNA sequencing identified 1,219 shared OTUs between the treated and untreated soil. Of the 42 dominant eukaryotic OTUs, eight were significantly increased and six were significantly decreased after A_(01) treatment. Of the 25 dominant bacterial OTUs, 12 were significantly increased and eight were significantly decreased after A_(01) treatment.Most of the eukaryotes and bacteria that increased in abundance exhibited growth promoting characteristics,which were mainly predicted to be associated with mineralization of nitrogen and phosphorus, phosphate solubilization, nutrient accumulation, and secretion of auxin, whereas some were related to plant protection,such as the degradation of toxic and hazardous substances. Soil composition tests showed that S. lydicus A_(01) treatment enhanced the utilization of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in tomato seedlings. Thus, microbial fertilizers based on S. lydicus A_(01) may improve plant growth, without the detriment effects of chemical fertilizers.

ON HOW CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AFFECTS TOEFL SCORES

This paper presents a study of the effect of cultur-al background on TOEFL scores.It proceeds from therelation between culture and language,then illus-trates with actual questions from various sections ofTOEFL tests how American cultural background exertsa remarkable influence on TOEFL scores,and con-cludes with revelations with regard to English teachingin this country.

An epiallele of rice AK1 affects photosynthetic capacity

Summary Epigenetic gene variants, termed epialleles, can broaden genetic and phenotypic diversity in eukaryotes. Here, we identify a natural epiallele of OsAK1, which encodes a rice adenylate kinase. The Epiak1 plants show albino in young leaf and panicle with abnormal chloroplast structures.

Effects of Drilling in Mastoid Cavity over Hearing in the Contralateral Ear

In advanced otological surgeries, powered instruments form an indispensable part. The risk of deterioration to hearing in the operated ear is a commonly discussed issue, however, there remains a possibility of affecting the hearing in the contralateral ear due to transcranial vibration. So in this study we aimed to assess the possibility of the non-operated ear being affected by the noise generated during ear surgeries and whether it is temporary or permanent in nature. Methodology: This study included 63 patients diagnosed with unilateral disease who underwent mastoid surgery. Preoperatively all the patients were subjected to Pure tone audiometry (PTA), Transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) and Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE). Patients were operated using both cutting and diamond burrs of ranging from sizes 1 - 6 mm. Total drilling time was recorded. Results: Post-operative hearing evaluation was done at 1 week, 4 weeks and 12 weeks. The sound emitted by various burrs was recorded by Sound Level Meter. Out of the total 58 patients that followed up, 46 showed change in at least one of the hearing parameters. Patients showing changes had a higher drilling time as compared to those with no changes. Of these, the changes associated with the total drilling time and with cutting burr time were found to be significant. The hearing changes seen on PTA, TEOAE and DPOAE were transient in nature with only one patient having a persistent decreased high frequency threshold at the end of 12 weeks. It was also found that cutting burrs produce more sound as compared to diamond burrs and a larger size burr of a type produces more sound than a smaller one of its type. Conclusion: The drilling of mastoid bone during ear surgeries can transiently impair the hearing in the contralateral ear which is of great significance in patients with only one hearing ear.

Antigen loading on dendritic cells affects the lell function in stimulating T cells.

Objective: To study the effect of antigen loading on dendritic cells (DC). Methods: DCs collected from peripheral blood monocytes were loaded with a tumor antigen from XG-7 cell line. These DCs were then co-cultured with allogeneic T cells and were compared with those DCs without antigen exposure.

Mild Iron Deficiency Affects Thinking, Study Shows

[提示]此文值得女士细读。哪怕是微量缺铁,还没有达到贫血程度,女士的思考能力和记忆能力将受到相当程度的损害。根据本文提供的材料,我们可以得出如此结论,我国的女性的缺铁者约占女性人数之30％,而孕妇中的缺铁者的比例则可能更高。实验证明,一旦人体补充了铁,情况马上就会改善。

Climate Change Affects Deep Sea Life

众所周知,臭氧层日渐稀薄、温室效应、酸雨等现象已对人类的生活环境形成了巨大的威胁,而气候变化也无时无刻不在影响着陆地上的所有生物。那么,在遥远、黑暗的海洋中,又是怎样一番情形呢?本文中寥寥数百字为您撕开了海洋的一层神秘面纱。

Texture development of mesophase in reservoir pyrobitumen and the temperature-pressure converting of the gas reservoir in the Chuanzhong Uplift, Southwestern China

The Neoproterozoic-Lower Paleozoic dolostone gas reservoirs in the Chuanzhong Uplift in Southwestern China contain the mesophase pyrobitumen (pyrobitumen with mesophase). The mesophase in the pyrobitumen is mostly composed of a mixture of condensed macromolecule polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and has been mostly converted to various grain, flow, and domain textures. The volcanic activity nearby the Chuanzhong Uplift may have generated very hot (over 300 °C) hydrothermal fluid, with migration of the fluid into the dolostone reservoir transforming the hydrocarbons in the reservoir into an anisotropic carbon by-product, which formed under high temperature and pressure conditions;over 300 °C and 200 MPa according to fluid inclusion analysis. The high temperature-pressure in reservoir was caused by sudden devolatilization of the hydrocarbons due to hydrothermal heating, which formed the unusual texture of the mesophase. The elliptical mesophase grains (EG), the honeycomb structure of pyrobitumen, and the occurrence of polarized classes of mesophase in single pyrobitumen deposits are all unusual textures. This study investigates the texture development of this pressure-affected pyrobitumen. Observation and study of the mesophase suggest that the class of mesophase in pyrobitumen is determined by temperature, while pressure (assessed from associated fluid inclusions) significantly affected the texture. Analysis of the texture of the pyrobitumen in conjunction with previous thermometry results from methane inclusions suggests that the high class mesophase of the pyrobitumen could be applied as a temperature indicator for geological conditions. Furthermore, the unusual textures of the pyrobitumen including elliptical mesophase grains (EG), the honeycomb structure of pyrobitumen, and the occurrence of polarized classes of mesophase in single pyrobitumen could reflect the abnormal high formation pressure.

Crushing Mechanism of Spherical Tungsten Alloy Fragments Penetrate Thick Steel Plate Target

Against protection requirements for high-speed fragments on the ground weapons,we carried out the research work of crushing mechanism at different impact speeds ofφ8.7 mm spherical tungsten alloy,the penetration to 603 armor steel was completed by 20 mm ballistic gun,and the ANSYS/LS-DYNA software was used to complete the numerical calculation of the penetration.We find that there are different crushing mechanisms of spherical tungsten alloy with different speeds and low speed,the crushing mechanism of fragment is mainly controlled by overall plastic deformation,shearing stripping,and squeezing at a high pressure and a high speed.The crushing mechanism will have a spallation phenomenon in addition to the crushing mechanism under high pressure.