Charge-Dependent Directed Flow in Cu+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

We present the first measurement of charge-dependent directed flow in Cu+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. The results are presented as a function of the particle transverse momentum and pseudorapidity for different centralities. A finite difference between the directed flow of positive and negative charged particles is observed that qualitatively agrees with the expectations from the effects of the initial strong electric field between two colliding ions with different nuclear charges. The measured difference in directed flow is much smaller than that obtained from the parton-hadron-string-dynamics model, which suggests that most of the electric charges, i.e., quarks and antiquarks, have not yet been created during the lifetime of the strong electric field, which is of the order of, or less than, 1  fm/c.

[The fees of patients with knee osteoarthritis]

Objective: To assess the cost of illness, the current medication treatment status and health service utilization of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: From January 2014 to May 2015, 250 patients in Arthritis Clinic and Research Center, Peking University People's Hospital were recruited and followed up for 12 months. There were four visits during the follow-up, i. e. baseline, 1, 6 and 12 month. Data on sociodemographic variables, direct cost of illness, medication utilization and health service utilization were obtained by the questionnaire for the analyses. Results: Two hundred and twelve participants had accomplished the 12-month follow-up. The direct cost of knee OA was (8 858±5 120) yuan per year , median number was 7 020 yuan. Medical-related cost was (7 184±4 890) yuan per year , median number was 5 420 yuan; comprising 81.1% of the direct cost, whereas the non-medical related cost was( 1 674±924) yuan(RMB) per year , median number (1 239) yuan, comprising 18.9% of the direct cost. The medication cost was (5 484±3 510) yuan , median number was 4 046 yuan, accounting for the largest proportion (76.3%) of the medical-related cost. As for the medication utilization, glucosamine was most commonly prescribed (64.8%), followed by the Chinese herbals (61.2%) and NSAIDs (48.8%). The average amount of the hospital-visit per year was (11.8±4.1). Most knee OA patients (68.8%) took the tertiary care hospital as their first choice when they consulted orthopedists or physicians for OA. Conclusion: The direct cost of OA patients is considerable. OA patients may take medicine blindly and not follow the current guidelines. The prevention and treatment of OA needs to be further standardized in the future.

A novel supramolecular preorganization route for improving g-C3N4/g-C3N4 metal-free homojunction photocatalysis

Enhancing the novel g-C₃N₄/g-C₃N₄ metal-free homojunction photocatalysis: efficient solar energy harvesting and charge transfer.

Efficient photocatalytic dye degradation over Er-doped BiOBr hollow microspheres wrapped with graphene nanosheets: enhanced solar energy harvesting and charge separation

Er-doped BiOBr hollow microspheres wrapped with graphene nanosheets realizing efficient solar energy harvesting and charge separation for dye degradation.

The controllable fabrication of a novel hierarchical nanosheet-assembled Bi2MoO6 hollow micronbox with ultra-high surface area for excellent solar to chemical energy conversion

In this study, we demonstrated that a novel controllable nano-sheet assembled Bi₂MoO₆ micronbox had higher activity for nitrogen fixation and dye degradation.

Interfacial defect engineering over fusiform bismuth vanadate photocatalyst enables to excellent solar-to-chemical energy coupling

The existence of oxygen vacancy on BiVO₄ surface can effect enhancement of the photoactivity and extending the photoresponse wavelength range.

Hydrogenated Bismuth Molybdate Nanoframe for Efficient Sunlight-Driven Nitrogen Fixation from Air

Sunlight-driven dinitrogen fixation can lead to a novel concept for the production of ammonia under mild conditions. However, the efficient artificial photosynthesis of ammonia from ordinary air (instead of high pure N₂ ) has never been implemented. Here, we report for the first time the intrinsic catalytic activity of Bi₂ MoO₆ catalyst for direct ammonia synthesis under light irradiation. The edge-exposed coordinatively unsaturated Mo atoms in an Mo-O coordination polyhedron can act as activation centers to achieve the chemisorption, activation, and photoreduction of dinitrogen efficiently. Using that insight as a starting point, through rational structure and defect engineering, the optimized Bi₂ MoO₆ sunlight-driven nitrogen fixation system, which simultaneously possesses robust nitrogen activation ability, excellent light-harvesting performance, and efficient charge transmission was successfully constructed. As a surprising achievement, this photocatalytic system demonstrated for the first time ultra-efficient (1.3 mmol g^-1  h^-1 ) and stable sunlight-driven nitrogen fixation from air in the absence of any organic scavengers.

Utilization of phosphorus loaded alkaline residue to immobilize lead in a shooting range soil

The alkaline residue generated from the production of soda ash using the ammonia-soda method has been successfully used in removing phosphorus (P) from aqueous solution. But the accumulation of P-containing solid after P removal is an undesirable menace to the environment. To achieve the goal of recycling, this study explored the feasibility of reusing the P loaded alkaline residue as an amendment for immobilization of lead (Pb) in a shooting range soil. The main crystalline phase and micromorphology of amendments were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersion spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) methods. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), sequential extraction procedure, and physiologically based extraction test (PBET) were employed to evaluate the effectiveness of Pb immobilization in soil after 45 d incubation. Treatment with P loaded alkaline residue was significantly effective in reducing the TCLP and PBET extractable Pb concentrations in contrast to the untreated soil. Moreover, a positive change in the distribution of Pb fractions was observed in the treated soil, i.e., more than 60% of soil-Pb was transformed to the residual fraction compared to the original soil. On the other hand, P loaded amendments also resulted in a drastic reduction in phytoavailable Pb to the winter wheat and a mild release of P as a nutrient in treated soil, which also confirmed the improvement of soil quality.

Oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis on rumen fermentation and the bacterial community in calves

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of dietary probiotics on rumen fermentation and the bacterial community in dairy calves. Twelve Holstein calves were randomly allocated to three treatments: a basal diet, the basal diet supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum GF103 (LB) or basal diet supplemented with a mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum GF103 and Bacillus subtilis B27 (LBS). A milk replacer was fed to calves from 8 days of age. A starter and alfalfa hay was offered ad libitum from 21 and 28 days of age, respectively, and the orts were weighted daily. The ruminal fluid was sampled at 56 and 83 days of age to determine the rumen fermentation characteristics. The bacterial community was analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the number of certain bacteria was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The ratio of total dry matter intake to average body wieght was higher in the control (P < 0.05). The DGGE fingerprint of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was affected by the blended probiotics at 83 days of age. The number of Ruminococcus albus was lower in the LB and LBS treatment (P < 0.05). Oral administration of the probiotics affected the rumen bacterial community and the numbers of cellulolytic bacteria decreased.

Correlated anomalous phase diffusion of coupled phononic modes in a sideband-driven resonator

The dynamical backaction from a periodically driven optical cavity can reduce the damping of a mechanical resonator, leading to parametric instability accompanied by self-sustained oscillations. Here we study experimentally and theoretically new aspects of the backaction and the discrete time-translation symmetry of a driven system using a micromechanical resonator with two nonlinearly coupled vibrational modes with strongly differing frequencies and decay rates. We find self-sustained oscillations in both the low- and high-frequency modes. Their frequencies and amplitudes are determined by the nonlinearity, which also leads to bistability and hysteresis. The phase fluctuations of the two modes show near-perfect anti-correlation, a consequence of the discrete time-translation symmetry. Concurrently, the phase of each mode undergoes anomalous diffusion. The phase variance follows a power law time dependence, with an exponent determined by the 1/f-type resonator frequency noise. Our findings enable compensating for the fluctuations using a feedback scheme to achieve stable frequency downconversion.

Dynamical backaction from a periodically driven cavity can reduce the damping of a mechanical resonator causing parametric instability. Here, the authors observe simultaneous self-sustained oscillations in both the mechanical and cavity modes and their correlated phase diffusion.

Abstract 2499: Sox2 enhances breast tumor angiogenesis by promoting the transition of cancer cell to CD31+ and LYVE-1+ cells

Angiogenesis plays an important role during the development of tumor. Sox2 is one of the transcription factors involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, its function during the process of tumor angiogenesis and lymphogenesis is still poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that down-regulation of Sox2 significantly reduced the tumor angiogenesis and lymphogenesis as reflected by attenuated immunofluorescence staining of CD31 and LYVE-1 and improved prognosis in xenograft models of breast tumor. Furthermore, Sox2 also promoted the recruitment of bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells (MDEPC) to tumor microenvironment. Most importantly, we demonstrated that some of CD31+ and LYVE-1+ cells were derived from Sox2+ cancer cells and silencing of Sox2 could inhibit this transition. We revealed that Sox2 promoted the expression of LYVE-1, VEGFs and enhanced the phosphorylation of VEGFR2 in breast cancer. ChIP-seq and dual-luciferase assay further revealed the binding of Sox2 protein on proximate promoter region of VEGFB and LYVE1 to regulate their transcriptional activities, disclosing the underlying molecular mechanism on the regulatory effects of Sox2 on angiogenesis and lymphogenesis. Our study indicated that Sox2 improved tumor angiogenesis and lymphogenesis through regulating the related genes and unveiled a novel function of Sox2 in tumor progression.

Citation Format: Rongrong Wang, Xuefei Li, Yingxi Xu, Tongchao Sun, Weijun Su, Chenhua Yu, Xiaoli Dong, Rong Xiang, Na Li. Sox2 enhances breast tumor angiogenesis by promoting the transition of cancer cell to CD31+ and LYVE-1+ cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2499.

Environmental Breviatea harbour mutualistic Arcobacter epibionts

Breviatea form a lineage of free living, unicellular protists, distantly related to animals and fungi. This lineage emerged almost one billion years ago, when the oceanic oxygen content was low, and extant Breviatea have evolved or retained an anaerobic lifestyle. Here we report the cultivation of Lenisia limosa, gen. et sp. nov., a newly discovered breviate colonized by relatives of animal-associated Arcobacter. Physiological experiments show that the association of L. limosa with Arcobacter is driven by the transfer of hydrogen and is mutualistic, providing benefits to both partners. With whole-genome sequencing and differential proteomics, we show that an experimentally observed fitness gain of L. limosa could be explained by the activity of a so far unknown type of NAD(P)H-accepting hydrogenase, which is expressed in the presence, but not in the absence, of Arcobacter. Differential proteomics further reveal that the presence of Lenisia stimulates expression of known 'virulence' factors by Arcobacter. These proteins typically enable colonization of animal cells during infection, but may in the present case act for mutual benefit. Finally, re-investigation of two currently available transcriptomic data sets of other Breviatea reveals the presence and activity of related hydrogen-consuming Arcobacter, indicating that mutualistic interaction between these two groups of microbes might be pervasive. Our results support the notion that molecular mechanisms involved in virulence can also support mutualism, as shown here for Arcobacter and Breviatea.

iTRAQ technology-based identification of human peripheral serum proteins associated with depression

Clinical depression is one of the most common and debilitating psychiatric disorders and contributes to increased risks of disability and suicide. Differentially expressed serum proteins may serve as biomarkers for diagnosing depression. In this study, samples from depressed patients are aggregated into a pool (22×100μL serum was used) and samples from healthy volunteers are aggregated into the other pool (20×100μL serum was used). Isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technology and tandem mass spectrometry were employed to screen for differentially expressed serum protein in two separate pools. We identified 472 proteins in the serum samples, and 154 of these presented differences in abundance between the depression and control groups. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was employed to identify the highest scoring proteins in signaling pathway networks. Finally, four differentially expressed proteins were validated by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). Proteomic studies revealed that levels of c-reaction protein (CRP), inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4 (ITIH4), serum amyloid A1 (SAA1) and angiopoietin-like 3 (ANGPTL3) were substantially increased in depressed patients compared with the healthy control group. Therefore, these differentially expressed proteins may represent potential markers for the clinical diagnosis of depression.