The transition route and bifurcations of the buoyant flows developing on a heated horizontal circular surface are elaborated using direct numerical simulations and direct stability analysis. A series of bifurcations, as a function of Rayleigh numbers ($Ra$) ranging from $10^6$ to $6.0\times 10^7$, are found on the route to chaos of the flows at $Pr=7$. When $Ra<1.0\times 10^3$, the buoyant flows above the heated horizontal surface are dominated by conduction, because of which the distinct thermal boundary layer and plume are not present. At $Ra=1.1\times 10^6$, a Hopf bifurcation occurs, resulting in the flow transition from a steady state to a periodic puffing state. As $Ra$ increases further, the flow enters a periodic rotating state at $Ra=1.9\times 10^6$, which is a unique state that was rarely discussed in the literature. These critical transitions, leaving from a steady state and subsequently entering a series of periodic states (puffing, rotating, flapping and period-doubling) and finally leading to chaos, are diagnosed using two-dimensional Fourier transforms. Moreover, direct stability analysis is conducted by introducing random numerical perturbations into the boundary condition of the surface heating. We find that when the state of a flow is in the vicinity of critical values (e.g. $Ra=2.0\times 10^6$), the flow is conditionally unstable to perturbations, and it can bifurcate from the rotating state to the flapping state in advance. However, for relatively stable flow states, such as at $Ra=1.5\times 10^6$, the flow remains in its periodic puffing state even though it is being perturbed.

In this paper, the notion of locally algebraic intersection structure is introduced for algebraic L-domains. Essentially, every locally algebraic intersection structure is a family of sets, which forms an algebraic L-domain ordered by inclusion. It is shown that there is a locally algebraic intersection structure which is order-isomorphic to a given algebraic L-domain. This result extends the classic Stone’s representation theorem for Boolean algebras to the case of algebraic L-domains. In addition, it can be seen that many well-known representations of algebraic L-domains, such as logical algebras, information systems, closure spaces, and formal concept analysis, can be analyzed in the framework of locally algebraic intersection structures. Then, a set-theoretic uniformity across different representations of algebraic L-domains is established.

Glyphosate is a universal herbicide with genital toxicity, but the effect of glyphosate on oocytes has not been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of glyphosate (0, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mM) on bovine oocyte in vitro maturation. We showed that 50 mM glyphosate adversely affects the development of bovine oocytes. Exposure of oocytes to 50 mM glyphosate caused an abnormal reduction in oxidative (redox) levels compared with that in the control group, with a significantly higher reactive oxide species level (P < 0.05) and significantly lower glutathione (GSH) expression (P < 0.05). Additionally, the mRNA levels of antioxidant genes (SOD1, SOD2, SIRT2, SIRT3) and the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Furthermore, treatment with 50 mM glyphosate-induced apoptosis, and the mRNA levels of the apoptotic genes Caspase-3 and Caspase-4 were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05); however, the mRNA level of BAX was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.01). Additionally, the mRNA levels of the anti-apoptotic genes Survivin and BCL-XL were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and oocyte quality was adversely affected. Together, our results confirmed that glyphosate impairs the quality of oocytes by promoting abnormal oocyte redox levels and apoptosis.

While the detrimental effect of interparental conflict on adolescent depression is well-established, the underlying mechanisms linking the two continue to be inadequately understood. This study investigated the mediating role of family functioning and the moderating role of cultural beliefs about adversity in the association between interparental conflict and adolescent depression. The samples included 651 Chinese adolescents (mean age at Time 1 = 13.27 years; 56.5% girls) from a two-wave longitudinal study with data spanning 1 year. The findings from path modeling analyses provided evidence for the mediating role of family functioning; these findings indicated that interparental conflict can damage family functioning, which in turn exacerbates the risk of adolescent depression. The moderating role of cultural beliefs about adversity was also demonstrated by interactions between interparental conflict and cultural beliefs about adversity, as well as, family functioning and cultural beliefs about adversity. The results indicated a buffering role of cultural beliefs about adversity on the deleterious effect of interparental conflict on adolescent depression. They also suggested that lower levels of family functioning was associated with increased depression among adolescents were lower in cultural beliefs about adversity.

Four putative knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations have been documented in the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) gene of Cimex hemipterus from several countries. However, no information regarding kdr mutations in any Chinese tropical bed bug population is available to date. In this study, a double-mutation（M918I + L1014F）kdr allele was identified in six C. hemipterus populations across Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. The frequency of this allele was 100% in all the six examined populations. In addition, only two cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene haplotypes, with one synonymous nucleotide variation, were identified in a total of 48 individuals from six locations. The fixation and broad geographic distribution of this resistant allele questions the continued use of pyrethroids in the treatment of tropical bed bug infestations. The very low genetic diversity within and among these populations indicates that these bed bugs may have a single origin.

Kaempferol (KAE) is one of the most common dietary flavonols possessing biological activities such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Although previous studies have reported the biological activity of KAE on a variety of cells, it is not clear whether KAE plays a similar role in oocyte and embryo in vitro culture systems. This study investigated the effect of KAE addition to in vitro maturation on the antioxidant capacity of embryos in porcine oocytes after parthenogenetic activation. The effects of kaempferol on oocyte quality in porcine oocytes were studied based on the expression of related genes, reactive oxygen species, glutathione and mitochondrial membrane potential as criteria. The rate of blastocyst formation was significantly higher in oocytes treated with 0.1 µm KAE than in control oocytes. The mRNA level of the apoptosis-related gene Caspase-3 was significantly lower in the blastocysts derived from KAE-treated oocytes than in the control group and the mRNA expression of the embryo development-related genes COX2 and SOX2 was significantly increased in the KAE-treated group compared with that in the control group. Furthermore, the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species was significantly decreased and that of glutathione was significantly increased after KAE treatment. Mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) was increased and the activity of Caspase-3 was significantly decreased in the KAE-treated group compared with that in the control group. Taken together, these results suggested that KAE is beneficial for the improvement of embryo development by inhibiting oxidative stress in porcine oocytes.

Nanocrystalline zirconia sols with a metastable cubic phase were synthesized from diglycol-modified zirconium n-propoxide via a novel method, alcohol thermal synthesis. The chemical bonding of diglycol with zirconium was found to be important in obtaining stable nanocrystalline zirconia sols. Sols produced in this way were translucent with the primary particles of 4-nm crystallites, and the corresponding gel was shown to be mesoporous with a pore size from 2.5 to 3.8 nm and Brunauer—Emmett—Teller surface areas between 130 and 266 m2 g−1. This indicates that alcohol thermal synthesis shares the advantages of both the sol-gel process and hydrothermal synthesis.