Generation and regulation of electromagnetic pulses generated by femtosecond lasers interacting with multitargets

Ultrashort and powerful laser interactions with a target generate intense wideband electromagnetic pulses(EMPs).In this study,we report EMPs generated by the interactions between petawatt(30 fs,1.4×10^(20) W/cm^(2))femtosecond(fs)lasers with metal flat,plastic flat,and plastic nanowire-array(NWA)targets.Detailed analyses are conducted on the EMPs in terms of their spatial distribution,time and frequency domains,radiation energy,and protection.The results indicate that EMPs from metal targets exhibit larger amplitudes at varying angles than those generated by other types of targets and are enhanced significantly for NWA targets.Using a plastic target holder and increasing the laser focal spot can significantly decrease the radiation energy of the EMPs.Moreover,the composite shielding materials indicate an effective shielding effect against EMPs.The simulation results show that the NWA targets exert a collimating effect on thermal electrons,which directly affects the distribution of EMPs.This study provides guidance for regulating EMPs by controlling the laser focal spot,target parameters,and target rod material and is beneficial for electromagnetic-shielding design.

Multi-decadal Changes of the Impact of El Niño Events on Tibetan Plateau Summer Precipitation

Precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau(TP)has an important effect on the water supply and demand of the downstream population.Involving recent climate change,the multi-decadal variations of the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)events on regional climate were observed.In this work,the authors investigated the changes in summer precipitation over TP during 1950-2019.At the multi-decadal scale,the authors found that the inhabiting impact of El Niño events on the TP summer precipitation has strengthened since the late 1970s.The main factor contributing to this phenomenon is the significant amplification in the decadal amplitude of El Niño during 1978-2019 accompanied by a discernible escalation in the frequency of El Niño events.This phenomenon induces anomalous perturbations in sea surface temperatures(SST)within the tropical Indo-Pacific region,consequently weakening the atmospheric vapor transport from the western Pacific to the TP.Additionally,conspicuous anomalies in subsidence motion are observed longitudinally and latitudinally across the TP which significantly contributes to a curtailed supply of atmospheric moisture.These results bear profound implications for the multi-decadal prediction of the TP climate.

Molecular Spectrum ofα-andβ-Thalassemia among Young Individuals of Marriageable Age in Guangdong Province,China

Thalassemia is a group of genetically heterogeneous diseases characterized by hemolytic anemia.To investigate molecular characteristics ofα-andβ-thalassemia among young individuals of marriageable age in Guangdong Province,24,788 subjects with suspected thalassemia were genetically tested forα-andβ-thalassemia by GapPCR and reverse dot blot during 2018–2019.For suspected rare thalassemia cases,DNA sequencing was performed to identify rare and unknown thalassemia gene mutations.A total of 14,346 thalassemia carriers were detected,including 7,556 cases ofα-thalassemia with 25 genotypes and 8α-gene mutations identified,5,860 cases ofβ-thalassemia with 18 genotypes and 18β-gene mutations identified,and 930 cases of compoundα/β-thalassemia.Among them,the frequency of--SEA deletion was the highest inα-thalassemia(66.01%),followed by-α3.7(17.98%)and-α.24(8.22%),and the frequency of CD41-42(-TCTT)mutation was the highest inβ-thalassemia(38.38%),followed by IVS-II-654(C>T)(25.67%),-28(A>G)(15.76%),and CD17(10.01%).In addition,5 rare mutations(--THAI and HKαα,CD113,-90,and CD56)were found in the study population.Our results revealed molecular epidemiological background ofα-andβ-thalassemia in Guangdong Province,which can support optimization of thalassemia prevention and control strategies.We demonstrated that thalassemia is heterogeneous with significant geographical differences and population specificity.

Effectiveness of Using Mean Corpuscular Volume and Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin for Beta-thalassemia Carrier Screening in the Guangdong Population of China

Beta(β)-thalassemia is one of the most common hemoglobinopathies worldwide,creating major public health problems and social burdens in many regions.Screening forβ-thalassemia carriers is crucial for controlling this condition.To investigate the?effectiveness?of?mean?corpuscular?volume?(MCV)and mean corpuscular hemoglobin(MCH)for screeningβ-thalassemia,retrospective data were analyzed for 6,779β-thalassemia carriers subjected to genetic testing following thalassemia screening in Guangdong province between January 2018 and December 2019.

Knockdown of NADPH oxidase 4 reduces mitochondrial oxidative stress and neuronal pyroptosis following intracerebral hemorrhage

Intracerebral hemorrhage is often accompanied by oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species,which causes abnormal mitochondrial function and secondary reactive oxygen species generation.This creates a vicious cycle leading to reactive oxygen species accumulation,resulting in progression of the pathological process.Therefore,breaking the cycle to inhibit reactive oxygen species accumulation is critical for reducing neuronal death after intracerebral hemorrhage.Our previous study found that increased expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4(NADPH oxidase 4,NOX4)led to neuronal apoptosis and damage to the blood-brain barrier after intracerebral hemorrhage.The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of NOX4 in the circle involving the neuronal tolerance to oxidative stress,mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and modes of neuronal death other than apoptosis after intracerebral hemorrhage.We found that NOX4 knockdown by adeno-associated virus(AAV-NOX4)in rats enhanced neuronal tolerance to oxidative stress,enabling them to better resist the oxidative stress caused by intracerebral hemorrhage.Knockdown of NOX4 also reduced the production of reactive oxygen species in the mitochondria,relieved mitochondrial damage,prevented secondary reactive oxygen species accumulation,reduced neuronal pyroptosis and contributed to relieving secondary brain injury after intracerebral hemorrhage in rats.Finally,we used a mitochondria-targeted superoxide dismutase mimetic to explore the relationship between reactive oxygen species and NOX4.The mitochondria-targeted superoxide dismutase mimetic inhibited the expression of NOX4 and neuronal pyroptosis,which is similar to the effect of AAV-NOX4.This indicates that NOX4 is likely to be an important target for inhibiting mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production,and NOX4 inhibitors can be used to alleviate oxidative stress response induced by intracerebral hemorrhage.

Mechanism and Path of Deepening the Marine Economic Cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN in the Context of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Construction

The strategy of 21st Century Maritime Silk Road provides favorable policy environment for deepening the economic cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN,actively promoting the transformation and upgrading of the marine economic structure,and establishing win-win marine economic cooperative development platform. For deepening the marine cooperation with ASEAN,Guangdong has significant advantages in geographical location,humanistic foundation,marine resources and economic strength. Based on interest demands of Guangdong and ASEAN,Guangdong should build the marine economic cooperation mode and mechanism from the overall mechanism and sub-mechanism,establish a three-dimensional marine economic cooperation path with characteristics of Guangdong and ASEAN from top design,to specific cooperation level,then to implementation of supporting facilities,and expand fields of the marine economic cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN,to promote strategic construction of 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Structural Characterization and Biological Activity of Oligopeptides from Isochrysis zhanjiangensis:Based on Quantum Mechanics,Molecular Docking and in Vitro Experiments

DAPTMGY(DTY)is an oligopeptide derived from marine microalgae with proven potential to combat oxidative stress in previous research.The composition,ordering,and active sites of amino acids play a key role in activity studies and are also the research trends in recent years.As an oligopeptide with a molecular weight of less than 1000 Da,DTY is of great significance to explore the active site and structure-activity relationship.This study used quantum mechanics to optimize DTY’s structure and predict the active site through molecular orbits,energy,and charge.In addition,an LPS-treated HUVEC cell was established as an oxidative-stress model.DTY could reduce mitochondrial oxidative stress and inhibit ROS production by enhancing the antioxidant enzymes SOD,GPX,and HO-1.Moreover,it was confirmed to inhibit inflammation and apoptosis through the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways.Lastly,the correlation of the oligopeptide DTY’s active site and antioxidative-stress activity was verified by molecular docking,showing that hydrogen bonding is the main force,which was also the main factor for antioxidant activity.

Cloning and Functional Validation of Mung Bean VrPR Gene

For the purpose of functional validation,the mung bean(Vigna radiata)VrPR gene was cloned and overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana.Thefindings revealed that the ORF of VrPR contained 1200 bp,in which 399 amino acids were encoded.Bioinformatics analysis showed that the VrPR protein belonged to the NADB Rossmann superfamily,which was one of the non-transmembrane hydrophilic proteins.VrPR was assumed to have 44 amino acid phosphorylation sites and be contained in chloroplasts.The VrPR secondary structure comprised of random coil,αhelix,βangle,and extended chain,all of which were quite compatible with the anticipated tertiary structure.Moreover,analysis of the phylogenetic tree indicated that the soybean PR(Glyma.12G222200)and VrPR were closely related.Furthermore,chlorophyll content in leaves is markedly increased in Arabidopsis when VrPR is overexpressed.Ourfindings will serve as a reference for more functional studies on the PR genes in mung bean.

Wind-Thermal Environmental Characteristic of Multi-Variable Passive Enhanced Natural Ventilation System for High and Large Space Building

Natural ventilation effects in high and large space buildings of tropical areas greatlya ffect the air conditioning energy consumption.Aiming at nearly zero energy building design,thisp aper mainly contributes to provide theoretical basis and reference for thermal comfortable air conditioning system design of high and large space buildings.Taking a theatre in Hainan as study object,a newly composite enhanced natural ventilation system is proposed by integrating theu nderground tunnel-based earth to air heat exchange system and the solar chimney.Ventilationq uantity,air velocity and air temperature field,human vertical temperature gradient differenceu nder24simulation working conditions are considered and analyzed by using ANSYS Fluent.Fort he underground tunnel,results show that Group Two with double underground tunnels and side airs upply location shows its advantages in cooling effects and air supply uniformity.Then for the solar chimney,results show that the solar radiation intensity contributes to larger difference int ransmission power and leads to different cooling effects.On the whole,the system under workingc ondition No.7with120m long,side air supply,double underground tunnel and20m high,1mw ide,0.6°absorber plate angle solar chimney shows its priority in better comprehensive performance.

Design and calibration of an elliptical crystal spectrometer for the diagnosis of proton-induced x-ray emission(PIXE)

Laser-driven proton-induced x-ray emission(laser-PIXE) is a nuclear analysis method based on the compact laser ion accelerator. Due to the transient process of ion acceleration, the laser-PIXE signals are usually spurted within nanoseconds and accompanied by strong electromagnetic pulses(EMP), so traditional multi-channel detectors are no longer applicable.In this work, we designed a reflective elliptical crystal spectrometer for the diagnosis of laser-PIXE. The device can detect the energy range of 1 keV–11 ke V with a high resolution. A calibration experiment was completed on the electrostatic accelerator of Peking University using samples of Al, Ti, Cu, and ceramic artifacts. The detection efficiency of the elliptical crystal spectrometer was obtained in the order of 10-9.

Cloning and Bioinformatics Analysis of vscB Gene of T3SS Chaperone of Vibrio alginolyticus

[Objectives]To clone and analyze the vscB gene of Vibrio alginolyticus HY9901 by bioinformatics.[Methods]A pair of specific primers were designed according to the vscB gene sequence of Vibrio alginolyticus HY9901.The full length of the primers was cloned by PCR and analyzed by bioinformatics.[Results]The vscB gene was 429 bp long,encoding 142 amino acids,with a theoretical molecular weight of 16.4 kDa and a pI value of 5.48.Amino acid sequence analysis of VscB showed that VscB was not a secretory protein,without signal peptide and transmembrane region,and there were protein kinase C phosphorylation site and casein kinase II phosphorylation site in the sequence.Homologous comparison of amino acid sequences showed that VscB of V.alginolyticus had the highest protein similarity with Vibrio Parahaemolyticus,reaching 91%.Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the corresponding proteins of V.alginolyticus VscB,Vibrio Parahaemolyticus and Vibrio diabolicus were clustered in the same subfamily.Functional domain analysis showed that it had CesT family domain.Tertiary structure prediction showed that there were 3α-helices and 5β-turns in VscB protein.[Conclusions]This study provided a theoretical basis for further study on the function of chaperone of V.alginolyticus.

The pharmacological mechanism and molecular details of Platycodon grandiflorum in the treatment of novel coronavirus Pneumonia(COVID-19)

Background:Novel coronavirus pneumonia(COVID-19)has developed as a pandemic of global concern.There is an urgent need to develop effective and safe therapies.Platycodon grandiflorum(PG),one of the most famous traditional Chinese herbs,may be satisfied.In this study,we explored the pharmacological mechanism of PG in the treatment of COVID-19.Method:The active compounds and potential targets were acquired from public databases.The protein-protein interaction,the Gene Ontology,and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were determined through bioinformatics analysis.Molecular docking and molecular dynamics were performed to further verify the findings.Result:A total of 38 bioactive ingredients and 276 gene targets of PG were identified.There were 78 intersected targets of PG and COVID-19.The network analysis revealed that luteolin,Platycogenic acid A,Platycogenic acid C,Polygalacic acid,and acacetin may be candidate agents.The AKT1,VEGFA,TP53,MAPK3,TNF,IL6,CASP3,EGFR,STAT3,and CCND1 were the important potential drug targets.Gene Ontology terms are involved in biological processes,which are mainly concentrated in inorganic substances and apoptosis,etc.The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway was involved in several aspects,such as Virus infection and immune regulation-related pathways.Molecular docking results showed that compounds of PG are closely bound to related targets.Molecular dynamics further found that Robin,Flavplatycoside,and dimethyl 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosylplatycogenate A can maintain good stability and flexibility in the composite system.Conclusion:PG has multicomponent,multitarget,and multichannel characteristics,which can provide an important theoretical basis to treat patients with COVID-19.

Experimental investigation on using CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion with high water cut in enhanced oil recovery

CO_(2) emulsions used for EOR have received a lot of interest because of its good performance on CO_(2)mobility reduction.However,most of them have been focusing on the high quality CO_(2) emulsion(high CO_(2) fraction),while CO_(2) emulsion with high water cut has been rarely researched.In this paper,we carried out a comprehensive experimental study of using high water cut CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion for enhancing oil recovery.Firstly,a nonionic surfactant,alkyl glycosides(APG),was selected to stabilize CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion,and the corresponding morphology and stability were evaluated with a transparent PVT cell.Subsequently,plugging capacity and apparent viscosity of CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion were measured systematically by a sand pack displacement apparatus connected with a 1.95-m long capillary tube.Furthermore,a high water cut(40 vol%) CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion was selected for flooding experiments in a long sand pack and a core sample,and the oil recovery,the rate of oil recovery,and the pressure gradients were analyzed.The results indicated that APG had a good performance on emulsifying and stabilizing CO_(2) emulsion.An inversion from H_(2)O/CO_(2) emulsion to CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion with the increase in water cut was confirmed.CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsions with lower water cuts presented higher apparent viscosity,while the optimal plugging capacity of CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion occurred at a certain water cut.Eventually,the displacement using CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion provided 18.98% and 13.36% additional oil recovery than that using pure CO_(2) in long sand pack and core tests,respectively.This work may provide guidelines for EOR using CO_(2) emulsions with high water cut.

Tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene-6 ameliorates early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage by suppressing NLRC4 inflammasome-mediated astrocyte pyroptosis

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is associated with high morbidity and mortality and lacks effective treatment.Pyroptosis is a crucial mechanism underlying early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.Previous studies have confirmed that tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene-6(TSG-6)can exert a neuroprotective effect by suppressing oxidative stress and apoptosis.However,no study to date has explored whether TSG-6 can alleviate pyroptosis in early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.In this study,a C57BL/6J mouse model of subarachnoid hemorrhage was established using the endovascular perforation method.Our results indicated that TSG-6 expression was predominantly detected in astrocytes,along with NLRC4 and gasdermin-D(GSDMD).The expression of NLRC4,GSDMD and its N-terminal domain(GSDMD-N),and cleaved caspase-1 was significantly enhanced after subarachnoid hemorrhage and accompanied by brain edema and neurological impairment.To explore how TSG-6 affects pyroptosis during early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage,recombinant human TSG-6 or a siRNA targeting TSG-6 was injected into the cerebral ventricles.Exogenous TSG-6 administration downregulated the expression of NLRC4 and pyroptosis-associated proteins and alleviated brain edema and neurological deficits.Moreover,TSG-6 knockdown further increased the expression of NLRC4,which was accompanied by more severe astrocyte pyroptosis.In summary,our study revealed that TSG-6 provides neuroprotection against early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage by suppressing NLRC4 inflammasome activation-induced astrocyte pyroptosis.

Excitation and Detection of Shear Horizontal Waves with Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers for Nondestructive Testing of Plates

The fundamental shear horizontal（SH0） wave has several unique features that are attractive for long-range nondestructive testing（NDT）. By a careful design of the geometric configuration, electromagnetic acoustic transducers（EMATs） have the capability to generate a wide range of guided wave modes, such as Lamb waves and shear-horizontal（SH） waves in plates. However, the performance of EMATs is influenced by their parameters. To evaluate the performance of periodic permanent magnet（PPM） EMATs, a distributed-line-source model is developed to calculate the angular acoustic field cross-section in the far-field. Numerical analysis is conducted to investigate the performance of such EMATs with different geometric parameters, such as period and number of magnet arrays, and inner and outer coil widths. Such parameters have a great influence on the directivity of the generated SH0 waves that arises mainly in the amplitude and width of both main and side lobes. According to the numerical analysis, these parameters are optimized to obtain better directivity. Optimized PPM EMATs are designed and used for NDT of strip plates. Experimental results show that the lateral boundary of the strip plate has no perceivable influence on SHO-wave propagation, thus validating their used in NDT. The proposed model predicts the radiation pattern ofPPM EMATs, and can be used for their parameter optimization.

An Improved Equalization with Real Interference Prediction Scheme of the FBMC/OQAM System

FBMC/OQAM transmission system has a better spectral efficiency than OFDM.However,its orthogonality condition is only considered in the real field.In the presence of fading channels,the real orthogonality of FBMC/OQAM might be lost,which calls for new equalization schemes.In this paper,an improved equalizer with real interference prediction(ERIP)scheme of FBMC/OQAM is proposed.We analyze the correlation between the real and the neighboring imaginary interference components taking Doppler shifts into account,and derive the improved ERIP scheme.The simulation results show that the proposed scheme can outperform the original ERIP and the one-tap equalization in time-varying multipath scenarios with an affordable complexity.

Basal internode elongation of rice as affected by light intensity and leaf area

Short basal internodes are important for lodging resistance of rice(Oryza sativa L.).Several canopy indices affect the elongation of basal internodes,but uncertainty as to the key factors determining elongation of basal internodes persists.The objectives of this study were(1)to identify key factors affecting the elongation of basal internodes and(2)to establish a quantitative relationship between basal internode length and canopy indices.An inbred rice cultivar,Yinjingruanzhan,was grown in two split-plot field experiments with three N rates(0,75,and 150 kg N ha−1 in early season and 0,90,and 180 kg N ha−1 in late season)as main plots,three seedling densities(16.7,75.0,and 187.5 seedlings m−2)as subplots,and three replications in the 2015 early and late seasons in Guangzhou,China.Light intensity at base of canopy(Lb),light quality as determined from red/far-red light ratio(R/FR),light transmission ratio(LTR),leaf area index(LAI),leaf N concentration(NLV)and final length of second internode(counted from soil surface upward)(FIL)were recorded.Higher N rate and seedling density resulted in significantly longer FIL.FIL was negatively correlated with Lb,LTR,and R/FR(P<0.01)and positively correlated with LAI(P<0.01),but not correlated with NLV(P>0.05).Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that FIL was strongly associated with Lb and LAI(R2=0.82).Heavy N application to pot-grown rice at the beginning of first internode elongation did not change FIL.We conclude that FIL is determined mainly by Lb and LAI at jointing stage.NLV has no direct effect on the elongation of basal internodes.N application indirectly affects FIL by changing LAI and light conditions in the rice canopy.Reducing LAI and improving canopy light transmission at jointing stage can shorten the basal internodes and increase the lodging resistance of rice.

Application of response surface methodology to the chemical cleaning process of ultrafiltration membrane

A numerical model was established to predict and optimise the chemical cleaning process of Polyvinylidene Fluoride(PVDF)Ultra filtration(UF)membranes with the results from the experiment that applied the Response Surface Method(RSM)and Central Composite Design(CCD).The factors considered in the experimental design were sodium hydroxide(NaOH)concentration,sodium hypochlorite concentration(NaClO),citric acid concentration and cleaning duration.The interactions between the factors were investigated with the numerical model.Humic acid(20 mg·L-1)was used as the model foulant,and chemical enhanced back flush(CEB)was employed to simulate the chemical cleaning process.The concentrations of sodium hydroxide,sodium hypochlorite,citric acid and cleaning duration tested during the experiments were in the range of 0.1%–0.3%,100–300 mg·L-1,1%–3%and 0.5–1.5 h,respectively.Among the variables,the sodium hypochlorite concentration and the cleaning duration showed a positive relationship involving the increased ef ficiency of the chemical cleaning.The chemical cleaning ef ficiency was hardly improved with increasing concentrations of sodium hydroxide.However,the data was sharply decreased when at a low level of sodium hydroxide concentration.In total,54 sets of cleaning schemes with 80%to 100%cleaning ef ficiency were observed with the RSM model after calibration.

Seismic behavior of large-scale FRP–recycled aggregate concrete–steel columns with shear connectors

The application of fi ber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for the development of high-performance composite structural systems has received signifi cant recent research attention. A composite of FRP–recycled aggregate concrete (RAC)–steel column (FRSC), consisting of an outer FRP tube, an inner steel tube and annular RAC fi lled between two tubes, is proposed herein to facilitate green disposal of demolished concrete and to improve the ductility of concrete columns for earthquake resistance. To better understand the seismic behavior of FRSCs, quasi-static tests of large-scale basalt FRSCs with shear connectors were conducted. The infl uence of the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement percentage, shear connectors and axial loading method on the lateral load and deformation capacity, energy dissipation and cumulative damage were analyzed to evaluate the seismic behavior of FRSCs. The test results show that FRSCs have good seismic behavior, which was evidenced by high lateral loads, excellent ductility and energy dissipation capacity, indicating RAC is applicable in FRSCs. Shear connectors can signifi cantly postpone the steel buckling and increase the lateral loads of FRSCs, but weaken the deformation capacity and energy dissipation performance.

Synthesis of HTPB based PU-PS IPN Membrane for Pervaporation Recovery of Butanol

Hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene（HTPB） based polyurethane（PU）-polystyrene（PS） interpenetrating polymer network（IPN） was prepared and characterized by FTIR, TGA, WCA, swelling experiments, and SEM. The IPN was used for pervaporation（PV） recovery of butanol. Both the permeation flux and separation factor increased with feed temperature, and both water and butanol fluxes increased with feed concentration while no obvious effect of concentration on separation factor was found. Through the formation of IPN structure, the total flux of HTPB based PU increased greatly with the decrease of separation factor. At the feed temperature of 60 °C, the IPN membrane obtained a total flux of 613.3 g/m^2 h with a separation factor of 6.15.