The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different levels of seminal plasma (SP) on boar sperm quality, antioxidant capacity and bacterial concentrations during liquid storage at 17°C. Boar sperm was diluted with Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS) consisting of 0, 25, 50 and 75% (v/v) of SP. Total motility, progressive motility and dynamic parameters were assessed by the computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system. Acrosome and plasma membrane integrity were measured by FITC-PNA/DAPI and SYBR-14/PI staining, respectively. In addition, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected using commercial assay kits. Bacterial concentrations were assessed by turbidimetric assay. Our results showed that 25% SP markedly improved total motility, progressive motility, sperm dynamic parameters, acrosome integrity compared with 0, 50 and 75% SP (P < 0.05). In addition, 25% SP significantly increased T-AOC but decreased MDA content and ROS levels compared with 0, and 75% SP (P < 0.05). Moreover, 25% SP significantly decreased the bacterial concentrations in extended semen compared with 50% and 75% SP, however, which was higher than with 0% SP (P < 0.05). These results suggest that 25% SP can promote boar sperm quality through enhancing its antioxidant capacity during liquid storage.

Reduced graphene oxide supported titanium dioxide (GO/TiO2) heterojunction composites as highly active photocatalysts were synthesized via simple ultrasonic mixing and hydrothermal reaction using TiCl3 and GO as precursors. Their structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectra, UV-vis spectroscopy, and thermogravimetic analysis. The GO/TiO2 heterojunction composites were used to degrade methyl orange (MO). The adsorption and photocatalytic degradation rate of the prepared GO/TiO2 composites increased by nearly three times compared with that of pristine TiO2 or GO, which reached up 90%, to degrade MO after 4 h, which provides a simple method to obtain photocatalytic materials.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by an urge to move and uncomfortable sensations. Genetic studies have identified polymorphisms in up to 19 risk loci, including MEIS1 and BTBD9. Rodents deficient in either homolog show RLS-like phenotypes. However, whether MEIS1 and BTBD9 interact in vivo is unclear. Here, with C. elegans, we observed that the hyperactive egg-laying behavior caused by loss of BTBD9 homolog was counteracted by knockdown of MEIS1 homolog. This was further investigated in mutant mice with Btbd9, Meis1, or both knocked out. The double knockout mice showed an earlier onset of the motor deficit in a wheel running test but did not have increased sensitivity to heat stimuli as observed in single knock outs. Meis1 protein level was not influenced by Btbd9 deficiency, and Btbd9 transcription was not affected by Meis1 haploinsufficiency. Our results demonstrate that MEIS1 and BTBD9 do not regulate each other.

This study aims to ascertain the long-term epidemic trends of malaria and evaluates the probability of achieving the eradication goal by 2020 in China. Data on malaria incidence and deaths were extracted from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. The epidemic trends by sex, age and spatial distribution and predictions of malaria were estimated by using Joinpoint and Poisson regressions. From 1950 to 2016, 227 668 374 malaria cases were reported in China, with an annualised average incidence of 337.02 (336.98–337.07, 95% confidence interval (CI)) per 100 000 population. The incidence decreased with an average annual per cent change (AAPC) of −11.4% (−16.6 to −6.0). There were 36 085 malaria deaths, with an annualised average mortality of 0.534 (0.529–0.540) per 1 000 000 population. The mortality decreased with an AAPC of −8.7% (−13.7 to −3.4). The predicted number of malaria cases and deaths for 2020 is 2 562 and 10, respectively, and zero for indigenous cases. The disease burden of malaria dramatically decreased in China. Though, the goal of malaria elimination is realistic by 2020 in China, routine clinical and entomological surveillance should be continually conducted, especially for the cross-border areas and imported malaria cases.

A robust adaptive nonlinear asymptotic regulating control law is designed for dynamically positioned vessels exposed to unknown time-varying external disturbances incorporating Fuzzy Logic Systems (FLSs), projection operators, and the “robustifying” term into the vectorial backstepping technique. The FLSs approximate the vessel unknown dynamics and the update laws based on the online projection operators update the fuzzy weight vectors. The robustifying term handles the external disturbances and the fuzzy approximation errors. The designed Dynamic Positioning (DP) control law achieves asymptotic regulation of the vessel's position and heading and makes the other signals in the DP closed-loop control system of vessels be uniformly ultimately bounded. Simulations based on the Marine System Simulator toolbox validate the designed DP control law.

An effective path planner is critical for autonomous traversal of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in harsh environments. This paper describes a novel path planning method considering Bézier curves and a two-layer planning framework. In the two-layer framework, a road centerline (RCL) estimator located on the upper layer works as a global planner to obtain the local target for the bottom local planner. The RCL is estimated from a series of candidate Bézier curves based on a safety criterion. In the bottom layer, an optimal trajectory planner and a speed planner make up the local planner to obtain the desired steering turning angle and linear speed. The criteria for optimal trajectory selection are designed for comfortable driving. Road safety is considered in the speed planner for robust driving. Three sets of simulations are used to evaluate and quantify the relative performance of variations of our path planning algorithm. The proposed path planning method is implemented on a modified Polaris RZR 800 UGV, too. Two experiments based on this UGV are set up in the country road environment to demonstrate the viability of the proposed method.

To investigate the impact of viral and bacterial co-infection in hospitalised children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP). Retrospective analysis of 396 children with RMPP in our hospital admitted between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2016 was performed. Nasal aspirate samples were collected for pathogen detection and clinical data were collected. We analysed clinical characteristics, lung imaging characteristics and pathogenic species among these children. Of the 396 RMPP cases, 107 (27.02%) had co-infection with other pathogen, with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Staphylococcus aureus being the most common bacteria of infection and human bocavirus (HBoV), human rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus being the most common viruses of infection. Children with co-infection were younger than that with single infection (P = 0.010). Children with both virus and bacteria co-infection had been the youngest (P = 0.040). Children with co-infection had a longer fever process, higher leukocyte count, higher C-reactive protein compared with single infection (P < 0.05). Children with co-infection had a higher percentage of pnemothorax and diffuse large area of inflammation in chest X-ray manifestation compared with children with single infection (P < 0.05). S. pneumonia and HBoV was the leading cause of co-infection in RMPP. Co-infections led to more disease severity in children with RMPP compared with single infections.

A Celestial Navigation System (CNS) is a feasible and economical autonomous navigation system for deep-space probes. Ephemeris errors have a great influence on the performance of CNSs during the Mars approach phase, but there are few research studies on this problem. In this paper, the analysis shows that the ephemeris error of Mars is slowly-varying, while the ephemeris error of Phobos and Deimos is periodical. The influence of the ephemeris errors of Mars and its satellites is analysed in relation to both the Sun-centred frame and the Mars-centred frame. The simulations show that the position error of a probe relative to the Sun caused by the Mars ephemeris error is almost equal to the ephemeris error itself, that the velocity error is affected slightly, and that the position and velocity relative to Mars are hardly affected. The navigation result of a Mars probe is also greatly affected by the quantities and periodicities of the ephemeris errors of Phobos and Deimos, especially that of Deimos.

H3PW12O40/polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/polycaprolactam (PA6) nanofibrous membrane with a sandwich structure was prepared by electrospinning. Characterization with Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that H3PW12O40 has been successfully loaded into the upper and bottom layers of the sandwich membrane and its Keggin structure was not destroyed. The photocatalytic efficiency of the sandwich membranes were much higher (≥87.2%) than that of H3PW12O40 only (15.6%) and H3PW12O40/PMMA composite nanofibrous membrane (11.6%) in the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under ultraviolet irradiation. It may be caused by two factors: one was the photoreduction mechanism induced by the electron donating from PA6 to H3PW12O40, the other was the double contact area between H3PW12O40 and MO due to the sandwich structure of the laminated membrane. What is noteworthy is that the sandwich membranes were stable in water, so that they could be easily separated from the aqueous MO solution and reused without appreciable losses in photocatalytic activity after three photocatalytic cycles. In view of this, H3PW12O40/PMMA/PA6 sandwich nanofibrous membrane is promising as a photocatalyst to remove organic pollutants from practical wastewater.

Much attention has been given to constructing Lie and Lie superalgebra for integrable systems in soliton theory, which often have significant scientific applications. However, this has mostly been confined to (1+1)-dimensional integrable systems, and there has been very little work on (2+1)-dimensional integrable systems. In this article, we construct a class of generalised Lie superalgebra that differs from more common Lie superalgebra to generate a (2+1)-dimensional super modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) hierarchy, via a generalised Tu scheme based on the Lax pair method where the Hamiltonian structure derives from a generalised supertrace identity. We also obtain some solutions of the (2+1)-dimensional mKdV equation using the G′/G2 method.

Staging sites are vital for large-sized migratory cranes, which require high-protein food sources during migration. In this study, we used field surveys and faecal analysis to determine the migration patterns and dietary composition of the globally threatened Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis population that migrates and stages at the Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve (YRDNR), Eastern China. Analysis of 135 faecal samples collected during the migration season in 2008, 2010 and 2011 showed that 78.8% of the faeces comprised > 90% dry mass of tidal mudflat crab Helice tientsinensis remains, suggesting that tidal mudflat crab was an important source of food for these Red-crowned Cranes. Smaller percentages of two other crab species (Eriocheir sinensis, Macrophthalmus dilatatum), fish remains, ragworms Hediste diversicolor and vegetation were also detected in the faecal samples. Consumption of tidal mudflat crabs was found to increase from autumn through to spring. Surveys of tidal mudflat crabs from YRDNR revealed that female crabs have significantly smaller body size (dry mass) but higher energy reserve ratio (ash-free dry mass per body mass) compared to males. Red-crowned Cranes fed predominantly on small and medium-sized female crabs, with a female to male ratio of 5:1 in the diet, compared with the 1:2 ratio of female to male crabs found within the coastal wetland crab population. Our findings suggest that tidal mudflat crabs represent a critical food source for the migratory Red-crowned Crane population in YRDNR, and future crane conservation strategies should encompass the necessary measures to conserve the tidal mudflat crab population at this staging site.