The AIMTB rapid test assay is an emerging test, which adopted a fluorescence immunochromatographic assay to measure interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production following stimulation of effector memory T cells in whole blood by mycobacterial proteins. The aim of this article was to explore the ability of AIMTB rapid test assay in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection compared with the widely applied QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) test among rural doctors in China. In total, 511 participants were included in the survey. The concordance between the QFT-Plus test and the AIMTB rapid test assay was 94.47% with a Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ) of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.79–0.90). Improved concordance between the two tests was observed in males and in participants with 26 or more years of service as rural doctors. The quantitative values of the QFT-Plus test was higher in individuals with a result of QFT-Plus-/AIMTB+ as compared to those with a result of QFT-Plus-/AIMTB- (p < 0.001). Overall, our study found that there was an excellent consistency between the AIMTB rapid test assay and the QFT-Plus test in a Chinese population. As the AIMTB rapid test assay is fast and easy to operate, it has the potential to improve latent tuberculosis infection testing and treatment at the community level in resource-limited settings.

Despite the challenges associated with motherhood, studies have not consistently identified factors contributing to first-time mothers’ dissatisfaction with motherhood in resource-limited regions. To fill this research gap, this study investigates how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) result in first-time mothers’ dissatisfaction with motherhood through emotional distress in Nigeria. Results from the partial least square structural equation model suggests that ACEs are associated with dissatisfaction with motherhood ($ \beta $ = 0.092; p < 0.01) and emotional distress ($ \beta $ = 0.367; p < 0.001). There is also a significant association between emotional distress and dissatisfaction with motherhood ($ \beta $ = 0.728; p < 0.001). Indirect path from first-time mothers’ ACEs to dissatisfaction with motherhood through emotional distress shows significance ($ \beta $ = 0.267; 95% CI (0.213, 0.323); p < 0.001). In addition, the indirect path from first-time mothers’ ACEs to dissatisfaction with motherhood through child emotional closeness showed significant dampening effects ($ \beta $ = 0.044; 95% CI (0.025, 0.066); p < 0.001). No serial impact of emotional distress and child emotional closeness was found in the study. The findings based on child gender indicated that only among first-time mothers of female children are ACEs predictors of dissatisfaction with motherhood. Trauma-informed interventions should be introduced in primary care settings to screen for ACEs and emotional dysfunctions among first-time mothers.

In preparation for an experiment with a laser-generated intense proton beam at the Laser Fusion Research Center at Mianyang to investigate the 11B(p,α)2α reaction, we performed a measurement at very low proton energy between 140 keV and 172 keV using the high-voltage platform at the Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou. The aim of the experiment was to test the ability to use CR-39 track detectors for cross-section measurements and to remeasure the cross-section of this reaction close to the first resonance using the thick target approach. We obtained the cross-section σ = 45.6 ± 12.5 mb near 156 keV. Our result confirms the feasibility of CR-39 type track detector for nuclear reaction measurement also in low-energy regions.

This paper proposes a map-based localization system for autonomous vehicle self-localization in urban environments, which is composed of a pose graph mapping method and 3D curvature feature points – Monte Carlo Localization algorithm (3DCF-MCL). The advantage of 3DCF-MCL is that it combines the high accuracy of the 3D feature points registration and the robustness of particle filter. Experimental results show that 3DCF-MCL can provide an accurate localization for autonomous vehicles with the 3D point cloud map that generated by our mapping method. Compared with other map-based localization algorithms, it demonstrates that 3DCF-MCL outperforms them.

N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) regulates oocyte-to-embryo transition and the reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. However, the role of m6A methylation in porcine early embryonic development and its reprogramming characteristics in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos are yet to be known. Here, we showed that m6A methylation was essential for normal early embryonic development and its aberrant reprogramming in SCNT embryos. We identified a persistent occurrence of m6A methylation in embryos between 1-cell to blastocyst stages and m6A levels abruptly increased during the morula-to-blastocyst transition. Cycloleucine (methylation inhibitor, 20 mM) treatment efficiently reduced m6A levels, significantly decreased the rates of 4-cell embryos and blastocysts, and disrupted normal lineage allocation. Moreover, cycloleucine treatment also led to higher levels in both apoptosis and autophagy in blastocysts. Furthermore, m6A levels in SCNT embryos at the 4-cell and 8-cell stages were significantly lower than that in parthenogenetic activation (PA) embryos, suggesting an abnormal reprogramming of m6A methylation in SCNT embryos. Correspondingly, expression levels of m6A writers (METTL3 and METTL14) and eraser (FTO) were apparently higher in SCNT 8-cell embryos compared with their PA counterparts. Taken together, these results indicated that aberrant nuclear transfer-mediated reprogramming of m6A methylation was involved in regulating porcine early embryonic development.

The experimental study on thermocapillary convection in liquid bridges of large Prandtl number has been carried out on Tiangong-2 in space. The purpose of these experiments is to study the oscillation instability of thermocapillary convection, and to discover and recognize the mechanism of destabilization of thermocapillary convection in the microgravity environment in space. In this paper, the geometry of a half-floating-zone liquid bridge is featured by the aspect ratio Ar and volume ratio Vr, and its influence on critical conditions of oscillatory thermocapillary convection is studied. More than 700 sets of space experiments have been finished. The critical conditions and oscillation characteristics of thermocapillary convection instability in the Ar–Vr parameter space have been fully obtained under microgravity conditions for the first time. It is found that the Ar–Vr parameter space can be divided into two regions of different critical conditions and oscillation characteristics: the region of low frequency oscillation, and the region of high frequency oscillation. More importantly, we obtain the complete configuration of these two stability neutral curves, and find that the low frequency mode is a ‘’ type curve. Based on this, we discuss the influence of heating rate on the oscillation mode. It is found that the heating rate affects the selection of critical mode, which results in a jump change of critical temperature difference. The findings of this study are helpful to better understand the critical modes and transition processes of thermocapillary convection in liquid bridges with different configurations.

Thermocapillary convection has always been one of the most important research topics in microgravity fluid physics. A space experimental study on the thermocapillary convection in an open annular liquid pool – a typical thermocapillary flow system – has been conducted on the SJ-10 satellite of China. This space experiment has observed the spatial temperature distribution of the liquid free surface using an infrared thermal imager, obtained the flow pattern transition process, analysed the oscillation characteristics and revealed the instability mechanism of themocapillary convection. The shape effects on the flow instability are researched by changing the volume ratio, Vr, which denotes the ratio of the liquid volume to the volume of the cylindrical gap between the walls. The volume ratio effect has been focused on for the first time. For a certain volume ratio, the flow pattern would transform from the steady state to the oscillation state accompanied by directional propagating hydrothermal waves with increasing temperature difference. In addition, the significant influences of the volume ratio on the critical conditions and wavenumber selection have been analysed in detail.

Seed reserves play vital roles in seed germination and seedling growth and their variation may be related to various environment factors, plant traits and phylogenetic history. Here, the evolutionary correlation associated with seed mass and altitude and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) allocation of seeds among 253 alpine herbaceous plants was tested. In this study, phylogeny had strong limitations on nutrient allocation of seeds across species, and species from younger phylogenetic groups tended to have higher N and P contents, which might be considered as the evolutionary selection of seed plants. Higher seed N and P content would help seedlings to gain more survival chance and stronger competitive capacity, and their progeny would be more likely to be preserved. When phylogeny was considered, altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content, but the negative effects on seed mass were all expressed. The independent effects of altitude and seed mass suggest that the nutrient allocation of seeds might be affected by both environment and plant traits. In addition, altitude and seed mass displayed partial overlapping effects on nutrient allocation of seeds. The negative effects of seed mass were affected slightly by altitude, whereas altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content when seed mass was controlled. Above all, seed P content showed obvious and general correlations with seed mass, altitude and age of clade, which indicated that higher seed P content might be an adaptive selection of species associated with growth and survival of progeny.

Introduction: The mortality of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and its associated risk factors among clinically definite PD patients in China has been rarely investigated. Our study aimed to identify the mortality rates and predictors of death in PD patients in China. Methods: 157 consecutive, clinically definite PD patients from the urban area of Shanghai were recruited from a central hospital based movement disorder clinic in 2006. All patients were regularly followed up at the clinic until December 31, 2011, or death. Mortality and associations with baseline demographics, health and medical factors were then determined within the cohort. Results: After 5 years, 11(7%) patients had died. The standardised mortality ratio was 0.62 (95% CI 0.32 to 1.07, P=0.104). The main causes of death were pneumonia (54.5%, 6/11) and digestive disorders (18.2%, 2/11), respectively. Age at onset, independent living, the mini mental state examination score, the Parkinson’s disease sleep scale score and the Epworth sleepiness scale score at baseline were statistically significantly different between the survival group and the deceased group (P<0.05). Across all participants, risk factors for death included low mini mental state examination score, and high Epworth sleepiness scale score according to a binary variable logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: This study confirms the similar survival of patients with PD to the control population up to a follow-up of 5 years. Interventions tailored to potential risk factors associated with death may offer further benefits.

The aluminothermic reduction and nitridation method using microsized Al powder and nanosized alumina powder was employed to fabricate AlON powder under N2 atmosphere. Single-phase aluminum oxynitride (AlON) can be prepared at a relatively low temperature (1700 °C) with a holding time of 3 h. The powder is ball milled, doped with different amounts of Y2O3 (0.1–0.9 wt%) as a sintering additive, and then shaped into pellets. The pellet sintering is carried out at two relatively low temperatures (1860 and 1880 °C) for 10 h. The transmittance and hardness of the obtained samples varies as the amount of Y2O3 varies. The sample sintered under optimal conditions can reach an ultimate transmittance of 65% with 2 mm thickness. The Vickers hardness of highly transparent AlON ceramic is about 15.95 ± 0.17 GPa, indicating that our method has a promising future in transparent AlON ceramic production. The sintering promoting mechanisms of Y2O3 are also discussed in detail.

An in vitro model of embryo production was used to examine the effects of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I on maturation and developmental competence of oocytes exposed to heat shock. Cumulus–oocyte complexes were matured at 38.5°C or exposed to acute heat shock (HS; 41.5°C), with or without 100 ng/ml IGF-I, for 22 h through in vitro maturation. The experimental groups were control (C), C + IGF-I, HS, and HS + IGF-I. Oocytes were fertilized at the end of maturation, and the proportion of cleaved embryos was recorded 44 h later. HS during maturation increased the proportion of TUNEL-positive oocytes (P < 0.05). HS did not have any effect on cortical granule translocation but impaired resumption of meiosis, expressed as a decreased proportion of oocytes with nuclei in metaphase I (P < 0.05) and metaphase II (MII; P < 0.05). HS decreased the proportion of oocytes that cleaved (P < 0.05), in particular those oocytes that further developed to 4-cell-stage embryos (P < 0.05). IGF-I alleviated, to some extent, the deleterious effects of HS on the oocytes as reflected by a reduced proportion of TUNEL-positive oocytes (P < 0.03). While not significant, IGF-I tended to increase the proportion of MII-stage oocytes (P < 0.08) and 4-cell-stage cleaved embryos (P < 0.06). Further examination is required to explore whether IGF-I also affects the developmental competence of oocytes exposed to HS.

A fossil mayfly nymph Caenoephemera shangyuanensis, gen.nov., sp.nov., discovered in the lower part of the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Jianshangou, Beipiao district, West Liaoning, China, is described. It has several archaic features typical of Paleozoic mayfly nymphs, such as 5 tarsal segments and hind wing pads not covered by fore wing pads, but also exhibits specialized modern features, such as a short metathorax, abdominal tracheal gills, and cerci. It appears to be intermediate in structure between Paleozoic and extant mayfly nymphs.

Ball milling of ammonothermally synthesized GaN powders was performed in an ethanol solution for a variety of durations, resulting in average particle sizes of nanometer. The ball milled powders showed an obviously brightened color and improved dispersability, indicating reduced levels of aggregation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks of the ball milled GaN powders were significantly broadened compared to those of the as-synthesized powders. The broadening of the XRD peaks was partially attributed to the reduction in the average particle size, which was confirmed through SEM analyses. On the other hand, rare earth doping of commercial GaN powders was also achieved through a ball mill assisted solid state reaction process. Rare earth salts were mixed with GaN powder by ball milling. The as-milled powders were heat treated under different conditions to facilitate the dopant diffusion. Luminescence properties of the rare earth doped GaN powders at near infrared range were investigated and the results were discussed.

A simple novel route to synthesize aqueous tantalum and niobium precursors has been developed using cheap and stable Nb2O5 or Ta2O5 as starting source, based on basic flux technique. Various analytical techniques have been employed to characterize the purity, and thermal decomposition features of the precursors. Using home-made Ta and Nb precursors, several photocatalysts and ferroelectric powders such as LiNbO3, LiTaO3, Sr0.75Ba0.25Nb2O6, and SrBi2Ta2O9 have been prepared at lower processing temperature by a polymerizable complex route successfully.

Zr/Ti an Hf/Ti composite nitrate were developed as single-source precursors for deposition of multi-component metal oxide films. X-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed that ZrxTi1-xO2 and HfxTi1-xO2 films were successfully prepared by the CVD technique from these composite precursors. The Zr/Ti nitrate can be taken as a solid solution of the individual Zr and Ti nitrate, and the Zr/Ti molar ratio in as-deposited ZrxTi1-xO2 films is nicely consistent with that of the precursor. The Hf/Ti nitrate appears to be a mixture of the Zr and Ti nitrates and the composition of the as-deposited HfxTi1-xO2 films depends remarkably on the heating time of precursor. Both ZrxTi1-xO2 and HfxTi1-xO2 films exhibit trading-off properties between band gap and dielectric constant, which suggesting that ZrxTi1-xO2 and HfxTi1-xO2 can be the promising candidates for gate dielectric application to improve the scalability and reduce the leakage current of the next generation complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (CMOS) devices.