In order to establish a compact all-optical Thomson scattering source, experimental studies were conducted on the 45 TW Ti: sapphire laser facility. By including a steel wafer, mixed gas, and plasma mirror into a double-exit jet, several mechanisms, such as shock-assisted ionization injection, ionization injection, and driving laser reflection, were integrated into one source. So, the source of complexity was remarkably reduced. Electron bunches with central energy fluctuating from 90 to 160 MeV can be produced. Plasma mirrors were used to reflect the driving laser. The scattering of the reflected laser on the electron bunches led to the generation of X-ray photons. Through comparing the X-ray spots under different experimental conditions, it is confirmed that the X-ray photons are generated by Thomson scattering. For further application, the energy spectra and source size of the Thomson scattering source were measured. The unfolded spectrum contains a large amount of low-energy photons besides a peak near 67 keV. Through importing the electron energy spectrum into the Monte Carlo simulation code, the different contributions of the photons with small and large emitting angles can be used to explain the origin of the unfolded spectrum. The maximum photon energy extended to about 500 keV. The total photon production was 107/pulse. The FWHM source size was about 12 μm.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

The influence of temperature and strain rate on hot deformation behavior and microstructure of Cu–10Ni–3Al–0.8Si alloy was investigated. The true stress increased rapidly initially until it approached the peak values. The peak value of true stress and the Zener–Hollomon parameter decreased with the increase of temperature and the decrease of strain rate. The thermal activation energy of the alloy was about 396.57 kJ/mol, the processing map was established and the appropriate compression temperature was between 900 and 950 °C. The 〈001〉 and 〈011〉 fiber texture was the main type of texture. The increase of temperature or strain rate accelerated the formation of 〈001〉 fiber texture. Dynamic recrystallization nucleated and deformation bands formed at 750 °C. Recrystallization was accelerated with the increase of temperature and the decrease of Zener–Hollomon parameter. Both continuous recrystallization resulting from dynamic recovery and dynamic discontinuous recrystallization were softening mechanisms.

The variation of properties and evolution of microstructure of Cu–10Ni–3Al–0.8Si alloy during isothermal and aging treatment was studied. The time–temperature–property curves of the alloy were established. The nose temperature of the alloy was about 662 °C, and the alloy presented high quench sensitivity when quenched in the nose temperature zone. Discontinuous precipitation occurred when Cu–10Ni–3Al–0.8Si alloy was isothermally treated at 550 °C, and the discontinuous precipitates at the grain boundary became coarse when the isothermal temperature increased to 650 °C. Further increasing the isothermal temperature to 750 °C, cellular precipitation occurred in the alloy. Both Ni3Al precipitates with L12 ordered structure and δ-Ni2Si precipitates with DO22 ordered structure precipitated in the isothermally treated Cu–10Ni–3Al–0.8Si alloy. The orientation relationships between the precipitates and matrix were determined as ${[001]_{{\rm{Cu}}}}{\left\| {{{[001]}_{{\rm{N}}{{\rm{i}}_3}{\rm{Al}}}}\left\| {[001]} \right.} \right._\delta }$, ${(110)_{{\rm{Cu}}}}{\left\| {{{(110)}_{{\rm{N}}{{\rm{i}}_3}{\rm{Al}}}}\left\| {(010)} \right.} \right._\delta }$, and ${(1\bar 10)_{{\rm{Cu}}}}\left\| {{{(1\bar 10)}_{{\rm{N}}{{\rm{i}}_3}{\rm{Al}}}}} \right\|{(100)_\delta }$.

This study reviews the results of the surgical management of 154 cases of ruptured aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva. Of the patients0 73% were male, with an average age of 28 years. An associated ventricular septal defect was found in 40% and 23% had aortic valvar regurgitation. The aneurysms originated from the right coronary sinus in 79% and from the non-coronary sinus in the remainders. The aneurysms ruptured into the right ventricle in 73%, into the right atrium in 27% and into the left ventricle in less than 1%. Operative mortality was 4.5%. Long-term follow-up was achieved in 80% of patients, with a mean duration of 5.7 years and a range from two months to 29 years. Preoperative aortic regurgitation and preoperative functional class (NYHA III or IV) were both predictive of a worse long-term outcome. The optimal surgical approach was closure of the distal end of the fistula by direct suture together with reinforcement of the aortic sinus with a Dacron patch.

The hollow mesoporous spheres (HMS) with cubic pore network have been synthesized via a simple two-step method. Two drugs of different molecules size, Aspirin and Gentamicin, were tested by one simple adsorption process. Up to 336 mg Aspirin molecules can be stored in 1.0 g HMS, while Gentamicin molecules of much larger size are much more difficult to be introduced into the pore channels of HMS. The same results can be obtained by using MCM-48 and MCM-41 as comparative mesoporous carriers. The HMS shows significantly higher storage amount of Aspirin than conventional MCM-48 and MCM-41 due to its hollow core structure. The release process of HMS-Aspirin, MCM-48-Aspirin and MCM-41-Aspirin are found to have a sustained-release property and follow a Fickian diffusion mechanism. Moreover, the HMS is suitable for storage of drug molecules of much smaller size.