Rehabilitation services play a vital role in the quality of life for children with disabilities. China has established a system of rehabilitation services, in which eligible children with disabilities are entitled to free rehabilitation services at designated institutions. This study reveals, however, that some rural families decide to discontinue the free rehabilitation services. This study attempts to explore the reasons for their decision through qualitative methods. We find that the ideology of developmentalism with its emphasis on efficiency dominates policy actors’ thinking and actions. In a cultural discourse that prioritises utility and economic development, children with disabilities are regarded by policy implementers as a ‘non-priority’, by their service providers as an opportunity for profit, and by their parents as ‘futureless’. That these families discontinue using these free services seems to result from the policy attitudes mentioned above.

Pebrine disease, caused by Nosema bombycis (Nb) infection in silkworms, is a severe and long-standing disease that threatens sericulture. As parasitic pathogens, a complex relationship exists between microsporidia and their hosts at the mitochondrial level. Previous studies have found that the translocator protein (TSPO) is involved in various biological functions, such as membrane potential regulation, mitochondrial autophagy, immune responses, calcium ion channel regulation, and cell apoptosis. In the present study, we found that TSPO expression in silkworms (BmTSPO) was upregulated following Nb infection, leading to an increase in cytoplasmic calcium, adenosine triphosphate, and reactive oxygen species levels. Knockdown and overexpression of BmTSPO resulted in the promotion and inhibition of Nb proliferation, respectively. We also demonstrated that the overexpression of BmTSPO promotes host cell apoptosis and significantly increases the expression of genes involved in the immune deficiency and Janus kinase-signal transducer and the activator of the transcription pathways. These findings suggest that BmTSPO activates the innate immune signalling pathway in silkworms to regulate Nb proliferation. Targeting TSPO represents a promising approach for the development of new treatments for microsporidian infections.

Annexin A2 (ANXA2) is reported to be associated with cancer development. To investigate the roles ANXA2 plays during the development of cancer, the RNAi method was used to inhibit the ANXA2 expression in caco2 (human colorectal cancer cell line) and SMMC7721 (human hepatocarcinoma cell line) cells. The results showed that when the expression of ANXA2 was efficiently inhibited, the growth and motility of both cell lines were significantly decreased, and the development of the motility relevant microstructures, such as pseudopodia, filopodia, and the polymerization of microfilaments and microtubules were obviously inhibited. The cancer cell apoptosis was enhanced without obvious significance. The possible regulating pathway in the process was also predicted and discussed. Our results suggested that ANXA2 plays important roles in maintaining the malignancy of colorectal and hepatic cancer by enhancing the cell proliferation, motility, and development of the motility associated microstructures of cancer cells based on a possible complicated signal pathway.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

Previous studies have supported the theory that there is a positive association between ferritin and carotid atherosclerosis in Western people. Diet plays an important role in determining serum ferritin concentration. Asian dietary patterns are different from Western dietary patterns, implying that there may be a difference in the association of ferritin with carotid atherosclerosis between Asian and Western people. However, few studies focus on the association between ferritin and carotid atherosclerosis among Asians. The aim of this study was to investigate how serum ferritin levels are associated with carotid atherosclerosis in an Asian adult population. A cross-sectional assessment was performed in 8302 adults in Tianjin, China. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques were assessed using ultrasonography, and serum ferritin was measured using the protein chip-chemiluminescence method. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between quartiles of serum ferritin concentration and carotid atherosclerosis. In the present study, the overall prevalence of IMT and carotid plaques in participants is 29·2 and 22·7 %, respectively. In women, after adjustments for potentially confounding factors, the OR of IMT and carotid plaques by increasing serum ferritin quartiles were 1·00, 1·39 (95 % CI 0·98–1·99), 1·39 (95 % CI 0·99–1·97), 1·81 (95 % CI 1·30–2·55) (Pfor trend<0·001) and 1·00, 1·24 (95 % CI 0·89–1·73), 1·18 (95 % CI 0·85–1·65), 1·59 (95 % CI 1·15–2·20) (Pfor trend<0·01), respectively. However, no association was found between serum ferritin and carotid atherosclerosis in men. The study demonstrated that increased serum ferritin levels are independently associated with IMT and carotid plaques in Asian women but not in Asian men.

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the number of structural changes in multiple linear regression models via group fused Lasso. We show that with probability tending to one, our method can correctly determine the unknown number of breaks, and the estimated break dates are sufficiently close to the true break dates. We obtain estimates of the regression coefficients via post Lasso and establish the asymptotic distributions of the estimates of both break ratios and regression coefficients. We also propose and validate a data-driven method to determine the tuning parameter. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the proposed method works well in finite samples. We illustrate the use of our method with a predictive regression of the equity premium on fundamental information.

As multifunctional electroactive materials, ferroelectric polymers are unique owing to their exceptionally high dielectric strength (>600 MV/m), high flexibility, and easy and low-temperature fabrication into required shapes. Although polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)-based ferroelectric polymers have been known for several decades, recent findings reveal the potential of this class of electroactive polymers (EAPs) to achieve giant electroactive responses by tuning the molecular, nano, and meso-structures. This paper presents these advances, including giant electrocaloric effect, giant electroactuation, and large, hysteresis-free polarization response. New developments in materials benefit applications, such as environmentally benign and potentially highly energy-efficient electrical field controlled solid-state refrigeration, artificial muscles, and high-energy and power density electric energy storage devices. The challenges in developing these materials to realize these applications, and strategies to further improve the responses of EAPs will be also discussed.

Genetic polymorphisms of the LMP/TAP gene coded by the HLA-II region may be associated with outcomes of HBV infection. We conducted a case-control study to test the hypothesis, including a persistent group of 155 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 36 healthy carriers, a recovered group of 165 individuals spontaneously recovered from HBV infection, and an uninfected group of 278 healthy normal controls. Genotypes of eight polymorphisms of the LMP/TAP gene were analysed by PCR–RFLP. A logistic regression model was used to analyse statistical differences in polymorphisms or haplotypes in different groups. Of the eight polymorphisms, two (TAP1 codon 637 and LMP7 codon 145) were observed to have statistically significant association with outcomes of HBV infection (P<0·05). The two-locus haplotype constructed with two such polymorphisms was analysed. The frequencies of haplotypes B (Asp-Lys), C (Gly-Gln), and D (Gly-Lys) were found to be increased significantly in the persistent group, compared to healthy controls (OR 2·26, 95% CI 1·62–3·15, P<0·001; OR 2·37, 95% CI 1·69–3·32, P<0·001; OR 4·38, 95% CI 1·78–10·77, P=0·001, respectively). The prevalence of haplotypes B (Asp-Lys), C (Gly-Gln), and D (Gly-Lys) were also significantly higher in the persistent infectious group than in the recovered group (OR 2·68, 95% CI 1·81–3·98, P<0·001; OR 2·40, 95% CI 1·62–3·55, P<0·001; OR 3·03, 95% CI 1·22–7·55, P=0·017, respectively). These findings indicated that genetic polymorphisms of the LMP/TAP gene might be an important factor in determining the outcome of HBV infection.

The present work further develops the microbridge testing method to characterize mechanical properties of bilayer thin films. A closed-form formula for deflection versus load under small deflection is derived with consideration of the substrate deformation and residual stress in each layer. The analysis shows that the solution for bending a bilayer beam is equivalent to that for bending a single-layer beam with an equivalent bending stiffness, an equivalent residual force and a residual moment. One can estimate the Young's modulus and residual stress in a layer if the corresponding values in the other layer are known. The analytic results are confirmed by finite element calculations. The microbridge tests are conducted on low-temperature-silicon oxide (LTO)/silicon nitride bilayer films as well as on silicon nitride single-layer films. All microbridge specimens are prepared by the microfabricating technique. The tests on the single-layer films provide the material properties of the silicon nitride films. Then, applying the proposed method for bilayer films under small deflection yields the Young's modulus of 37 GPa and the residual stress of -148 MPa for LTO films.

The present work proposes a novel microbridge testing method to simultaneously evaluate the Young's modulus, residual stress of thin films under small deformation. Theoretic analysis and finite element calculation are conducted on microbridge deformation to provide a closed formula of deflection versus load, considering both substrate deformation and residual stress in the film. Silicon nitride films fabricated by low pressure chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates are tested to demonstrate the proposed method. The results show that the Young's modulus and residual stress for the annealed silicon nitride film are respectively 202 GPa and 334.9 MPa.