Schistosomiasis, a parasite infectious disease caused by Schistosoma japonicum, often leads to egg granuloma and fibrosis due to the inflammatory reaction triggered by egg antigens released in the host liver. This study focuses on the role of the egg antigens CP1412 protein of S. japonicum (SjCP1412) with RNase activity in promoting liver fibrosis. In this study, the recombinant egg ribonuclease SjCP1412, which had RNase activity, was successfully prepared. By analysing the serum of the population, it has been proven that the anti-SjCP1412 IgG in the serum of patients with advanced schistosomiasis was moderately correlated with liver fibrosis, and SjCP1412 may be an important antigen associated with liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis. In vitro, the rSjCP1412 protein induced the human liver cancer cell line Hep G2 and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells apoptosis and necrosis and the release of proinflammatory damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). In mice infected with schistosomes, rSjCP1412 immunization or antibody neutralization of SjCP1412 activity significantly reduced cell apoptosis and necroptosis in liver tissue, thereby reducing inflammation and liver fibrosis. In summary, the SjCP1412 protein plays a crucial role in promoting liver fibrosis during schistosomiasis through mediating the liver cells apoptosis and necroptosis to release DAMPs inducing an inflammatory reaction. Blocking SjCP1412 activity could inhibit its proapoptotic and necrotic effects and alleviate hepatic fibrosis. These findings suggest that SjCP1412 may be served as a promising drug target for managing liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis japonica.

Typical unconventional gas/liquid plays of China were studied using field-emission/focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for clay mineralogy and microstructural development. The SEM microstructural investigations of clay-rich shale and mudstone reservoirs provided significant information about clay mineral type, size, distribution and aggregates, which allows for interpretations regarding porosity preservation and petrophysical variability. The major clay-hosted porosity types are interparticle clay pores, intraparticle clay pores and aggregate pores. Interparticle clay pores occur in open spaces of the clay aggregates and include four subtypes: (1) elongated pores, (2) packed pores, (3) jagged pores and (4) card-house pores. Intraparticle clay pores are present within clay particles and have mostly secondary origin. These pores are diagenesis dependent and are restricted to secondary illite particles during the transformation of clay minerals from smectite to illite. Intraparticle clay pores constitute only isolated porosity and could not contribute to hydrocarbon molecule storage and migration. Aggregate pores were predominantly encountered in association with organic–clay and pyrite–clay aggregates. In places, organic–pyrite–clay aggregates can also display polymerization, but they do not contribute significantly to overall porosity and permeability. Combining SEM morphological analyses with the software ImageJ is critical in clay microstructure and porosity analyses via semi-quantitative characterization of the 3D pore surface, 2D pore profile, pore quantity, pore size, areal porosity, etc. These visual and semi-quantitative results highlight the significance of jagged pores and pyrite–clay aggregate pores in shale gas/liquid reservoirs because they may be important facilitators of gas storage and transmission.

The vitamin B group, including riboflavin, plays paramount roles in one-carbon metabolism (OCM), and disorders related to this pathway have been linked to cancer development. The variants of genes encoding OCM enzymes and the insufficiency of B vitamins could contribute to carcinogenesis. Very few observational studies have revealed a relationship between riboflavin and gastric cancer (GC), especially under conditions of modified genetic factors. We carried out a study examining the association of riboflavin intake and its interaction with MTRR (rs1532268) genetic variants with GC risk among 756 controls and 377 cases. The OR and 95 % CI were evaluated using unconditional logistic regression models. We observed protective effects of riboflavin intake against GC, particularly in the female subgroup (OR = 0·52, 95 % CI 0·28, 0·97, Ptrend = 0·031). In the MTRR (rs1532268) genotypes analysis, the dominant model showed that the effects of riboflavin differed between the CC and CT + TT genotypes. Compared with CC carriers, low riboflavin intake in T+ carriers was significantly associated with a 93 % higher GC risk (OR = 1·93, 95 % CI 1·09, 3·42, Pinteraction = 0·037). In general, higher riboflavin intake might help reduce the risk of GC in both CC and TC + TT carriers, particularly the T+ carriers, with marginal significance (OR = 0·54, 95 % CI 0·28, 1·02, Pinteraction = 0·037). Our study indicates a protective effect of riboflavin intake against GC. Those who carry at least one minor allele and have low riboflavin intake could modify this association to increase GC risk in the Korean population.

Signal-in-space (SIS) continuity and availability are important indicators of performance assessment for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs). The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Open Service Performance Standard (BDS-OS-PS-1.0) has been released, and the corresponding public performance indicators have been provided, but the actual SIS performance is uncertain to users. SIS continuity and availability are primarily related to unscheduled outages (failures). Therefore, based on the existing failure classification system and actual operation modes, four types of failure modes are first analysed: long-term failure related to satellite service period, maintenance failure related to satellite manoeuvring, short-term failure associated with random repairable anomalies and equivalent failure corresponding to a combination of the above three types of failures. Second, based on the failure classification and selected precise and broadcast ephemerides from 2015–2016, the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) of each failure type are obtained using appropriate detection methods. Finally, using a corresponding assessment model, the SIS continuity and availability of BeiDou are calculated for individual and equivalent failure cases, and these are compared with the provided index in the BDS Open Service Performance Standard.

Environmental filtering and competitive interactions are important ecological processes in community assembly. The contribution of the two processes to community assembly can be evaluated by shifts in functional diversity patterns. We examined the correlations between functional diversity of six traits (leaf chlorophyll concentration, dry matter content, size, specific leaf area, thickness and wood density) and environmental gradients (topography and soil) for 92 species in the 20-ha Dinghushan forest plot in China. A partial Mantel test showed that most of the community-weighted mean trait values changed with terrain convexity and soil fertility, which implied that environmental filtering was occurring. Functional diversity of many traits significantly increased with increasing terrain convexity and soil fertility, which was associated with increased light and below-ground resources respectively. These results suggest that co-occurring species are functionally convergent in regions of strong abiotic stress under the environmental filtering, but functionally divergent in more benign environments due to resource partitioning and competitive interactions. Single-trait diversity and multivariate functional diversity had different relationships with environmental factors, indicating that traits were related to different niche axes, and associated with different ecological processes, which demonstrated the importance of focusing niche axes in traits selection. Between 9% and 41% of variation in functional diversity of different traits was explained by environmental factors in stepwise multiple regression models. Terrain convexity and soil fertility were the best predictors of functional diversity, which contributed 30.5% and 29.0% of total R2 to the model. These provided essential evidence that different environmental factors had distinguishing impacts on regulating diversity of traits.

We report on a systematic experimental study on the fluorescence spectra produced from a femtosecond laser filament in air under a high electric field. The electric field alone was strong enough to create corona discharge (CD). Fluorescence spectra from neutral and ionic air molecules were measured and compared with pure high-voltage CD and pure laser filamentation (FIL). Among them, high electric field assisted laser FIL produced nitrogen fluorescence more efficiently than either pure CD or pure FIL processes. The nonlinear enhancement of fluorescence from the interaction of the laser filament and corona discharging electric field resulted in a more efficient ionization along the laser filament zone, which was confirmed by the spectroscopic measurement of both ionization-induced fluorescence and plasma-scattered 800 nm laser pulses. This is believed to be the key precursor process for filament-guided discharge.

We numerically investigate the thermally unstable accretion discs around spinning black holes with different spins. We adopted an additional evolutionary viscosity equation to replace the standard alpha-prescription based on the results of two MHD simulations. We find an interesting oscillation when accretion switches to slim disc mode. The oscillation arises from the sonic point of accretion flow and propagates outwards. We mimic the bolometric light-curve and find a series of harmonics on its power spectrum. The frequency ratio of those harmonics is a regular integer series. The lowest frequency of the harmonics is identical to the prediction of trapped p-mode in QPO theory.

There have been efforts to develop alternative transparent conductors to replace indium tin oxide (ITO). A hybrid transparent conductor that integrates a metallic Cu grid and graphene film promises to be a suitable candidate. Flexibility, sheet resistance, and transmittance comparable to ITO have been demonstrated. Here, we show that the optical and electrical properties of the hybrid transparent conductor can be easily tuned by clever design of the metal grid. The outcome of our study provides unprecedented guidelines for future design of metal grids integrated in transparent conductors. We also find that the graphene film forms an effective barrier to retard the degradation of the copper grid when the hybrid transparent conductor is heated in air up to high temperatures for an extended period of time. Hence, a superior hybrid transparent conductor, which can be carefully engineered to display desirable properties, has been demonstrated.

The system of accretion disk and black hole is usually considered as the central engine of Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs). It is usually thought that the disk in the central engine of GRBs is the advection-dominated accretion disk, which is developed from a massive (mass Mdisk) torus at radius rdisk. We find a positive correlation between the isotropic gamma-ray energy Eiso and duration (so-called T90) for GRBs. We interpret this correlation within the advection-dominated accretion disk model, associating Eiso and T90 with Mdisk and viscous timescale respectively.

The model of a bimodal accretion disk, which consists of an Shakura-Sunyaev disk (SSD) as the outer part and an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) as the inner part, has been quite successfully applied to many black hole X-ray binaries. However, the precise physical mechanism through which such a transition occurs remains a matter of debate. We review briefly SSD-ADAF transition mechanisms presented in the literature, and offer a proposal that in the case of moderately strong viscosity, the thermal instability of a radiation pressure-supported SSD can trigger the transition.

A CVD-based low κ film was evaluated for inter-metal dielectric in < 0.18 [.proportional]m generation devices. The film was deposited by conventional rf PECVD method using organosilane compound and oxygen. The measured dielectric constant of the film was 2.7∼2.75. The κ value of the film was stable over several weeks and the moisture absorption was minimal. The chemical composition was in the form of SiOxCyHz, where the carbon content was less than 5 atomic %. Blanket film integration study was conducted to find out the manufacturing compatibility. The largest increase in κ value occurred during etching and ashing steps. However, SIMS compositional analysis revealed that the damage from these steps were limited to within top 300 Å, and the initial low κ value was recovered after the top damaged layer was removed by CMP. The final integrated dielectric constant was less than 3.0. The film density was measured as 1.4, compared to 2.3 g/cm3 of conventional SiO2. The low density of the film resulted from the termination of SiO2 network structures by Si-CH3 and Si-H.

We obtain the global transonic solutions by solving numerically a set of equations describing advection dominated accretion flows around black holes. We find that the sonic points can locate themselves at almost any radius, independent of the viscosity parameter α and the polytropic index γ.

We study the effects of different shock conditions upon shock properties, such as their location and strength. We find that it is very important to include the effects of radiative energy loss in the shock front.

We study shock formation in a stationary, axisymmetric, adiabatic flow of a perfect fluid in the equatorial plane of a Kerr geometry. For such a flow, there exist two intrinsic constants of motion along a fluid world line, namely the specific total energy, E = −hut, and the specific angular momentum, l = −uφ/ut, where the uμ’s are the four velocity components, h is the specific enthalpy, i.e., h = (P + ε)/ρ, with P, ε, and ρ being the pressure, the mass-energy density, and the rest-mass density, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 1 (Fig. la is for a Schwarzschild black hole, i.e. the hole’s specific angular momentum a = 0; Fig. lb is for a rapid Kerr hole, i.e. a = 0.99M, where M is the black-hole mass, and prograde flows: and Fig. 1c is for a = 0.99M and retrograde flows), in the parameter space spanned by E and l there is a strictly defined region bounded by four lines: three characteristic functional curves lk(E), lmax(E), and lmin(E), and the vertical line E = 1. Only such a flow with parameters located within this region can have two physically realizable sonic points, the inner one rin, and the outer one rout. In between there is still one more, but unrealizable, sonic point, rmid. The region is divided by another characteristic functional curve lc(E) into two parts: in region I (= Ia + Ib) only τout is realized in a shock-free global solution (i.e., that joining the black-hole horizon to large distances), while in region II (= IIa + IIb) only rin is realized.