ALBERT

Description: The small cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae, is an important pest of cruciferous corps, and Pteromalus puparum is a predominant pupal endoparasitoid wasp of this butterfly. For successful development of parasitoid offspring, female parasitoids usually introduce one or several kinds of maternal factors into the hemocoels during oviposition to suppress host immunity. To investigate the early changes in host immune-related genes following parasitization, we analyzed transcriptomes of parasitized and unparasitized, control, host pupae. Approximately 17.7 and 19.3 million paired-end reads were generated from nonparasitized and parasitized host pupae, and assembled de novo into 45,639 transcripts and 27,659 nonredundant unigenes. The average unigene length was 790 bp. A total 18,377 of 27,659 unigenes were annotated and we identified 557 differentially expressed unigenes in host pupae at 1 h after parasitization, of which 21 were immune-related. Parasitization led to downregulation of most pattern recognition receptors and upregulation of all serine protease inhibitors. The transcirptomic profile of P. rapae is considerably affected by parasitization. This study provides valuable sources for future investigations of the molecular interaction between P. puparum and its host P. rapae.

Description: ABSTRACT Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is believed to be involved in lung fibrosis process induced by paraquat (PQ); however, the molecular mechanism of this process has not been clearly established. The present study investigated the potential involvement of EMT after PQ poisoning. The expressions of EMT markers, such as E-cadherin and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), at multiple time points after exposure to different concentrations of PQ were evaluated by western blot analysis. Following PQ treatment, EMT induction was observed under microscopy. Related fibrosis genes, including Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2), Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), collagens type I (COL I), and type III (COL III), were also evaluated by measuring their mRNA levels using RT-PCR analysis. Signaling pathways were analyzed using selective pharmacological inhibitors for MAPK. Cell migration ability was evaluated by scratch wound and Transwell assays. The data showed that PQ-induced epithelial RLE-6NT cells to develop mesenchymal cell characteristics, as indicated by a significant decrease in the epithelial marker E-cadherin and a significant increase in the extracellular matrix (ECM) marker α-smooth muscle actin in a dose and time-dependent manner. Moreover, PQ-treated RLE-6NT cells had an EMT-like phenotype with elevated expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, and COL I and COL III and enhanced migration ability. Signal pathway analysis revealed that PQ-induced EMT led to ERK-1 and Smad2 phosphorylation through activation of the MAPK pathway. The results of the current study indicate that PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis occurs via EMT, which is mediated by the MAPK pathway. This implies that the MAPK pathway is a promising therapeutic target in alveolar epithelial cells. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2015.

Description: Five satellite precipitation products, including Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMOPRH), Precipitation Estimation From Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Network (PERSIANN), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Missing (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) version 7 products 3B41RTV7, 3B42RTV7, and 3B42V7, are systematically evaluated by comparing to the daily precipitation data collected from ~2400 gauge stations over China during January 2000 to December 2014. Satellite estimates generally capture the overall spatial-temporal variation of precipitation over China with relatively better ability in warm seasons than in cold seasons. Meanwhile, satellite precipitation estimates also tend to show better agreement with gauge observations over humid regions than over arid and alpine regions. Analysis of the systematic and random error components suggests that the uncertainties in both TRMM3B42RTV7 and TRMM3B42V7 precipitation estimates are significantly reduced over most parts of China compared to the other 3 satellite products. Among the five products, the research product TRMM3B42V7 with bias adjustments agrees the most with the gauge observation in terms of spatio-temporal variation, amplitude and pattern of variability, occurrence of rainy events, and probability distribution function of the precipitation amount for different rain rates over most parts of China; the near-real-time product TRMM3B42RTV7 with the application of improved retrieval algorithms and more satellite data performs the second best over most sub-regions of eastern China. The improvements of TRMM3B42RTV7 without bias adjustments over eastern China relative to CMORPH, PERSIANN and TRMM3B41RTV7 are encouraging and favorable for the operational applications.

Description: Elucidating the spatial dynamic and core gut microbiome related to wild bar-headed goose is of crucial importance for probiotics development that may meet the demands of bar-headed goose artificial breeding industries and accelerate the domestication of this species. However, the core microbial communities in the wild bar-headed geese remain totally unknown. Here, for the first time, we present a comprehensive survey of bar-headed geese gut microbial communities by Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology using nine individuals from three distinct wintering locations in Tibet. A total of 236,676 sequences were analyzed, and 607 OTUs were identified. We show that the gut microbial communities of bar-headed geese have representatives of 14 phyla and are dominated by Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , Actinobacteria , and Bacteroidetes . The additive abundance of these four most dominant phyla was above 96% across all the samples. At the genus level, the sequences represented 150 genera. A set of 19 genera were present in all samples and considered as core gut microbiome. The top seven most abundant core genera were distributed in that four dominant phyla. Among them, four genera ( Lactococcus , Bacillus , Solibacillus , and Streptococcus ) belonged to Firmicutes , while for other three phyla, each containing one genus, such as Proteobacteria (genus Pseudomonas ), Actinobacteria (genus Arthrobacter ), and Bacteroidetes (genus Bacteroides ). This broad survey represents the most in-depth assessment, to date, of the gut microbes that associated with bar-headed geese. These data create a baseline for future bar-headed goose microbiology research, and make an original contribution to probiotics development for bar-headed goose artificial breeding industries. We show that the gut microbial communities of bar-headed geese have representatives of 14 phyla and are dominated by Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , Actinobacteria , and Bacteroidetes . The additive abundance of these four most dominant phyla was above 96% across all the samples. At the genus level, the sequences represented 150 genera. A set of 19 genera were present in all samples and considered as core gut microbiome.

Description: Aiming at the need of coiled tubing sand washing operation for the low-pressure and leaking gas pool in Qinghai gas reservoir, we developed a kind of low density nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid technology, which is composed of a new type of composite foaming agent, temporary plugging agent, composite stabilizing foam agent and the nitrogen. Observing by a microscope, we can find that the micro bubble structure is composed of a core of gas, two membranes, three layers, which has high stability (higher stability than ordinary foam stability). The performance evaluation results show that, the temperature resistance of nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid is up to 120 ℃. Compression resistance can reach 20 Mpa. API filter loss is only 11.3 ml. The high temperature and high pressure filtration is only 16.6 ml. Anti-salt can reach 10%. Anti-calcium can reach 3% and the resistance to oil pollution is more than 15%. The recovery rate of core permeability is up to 89%. The system can not only reduce the fluid column pressure and reduce the pressure difference, but the formation of micro bubble in the leakage areas on the surface of formation is widespread, and has a certain strength and toughness, and also has a certain deformability matching leakage channel of formation, which can achieve the purpose of anti-leaking. This technology was applied in Qinghai gas field for 2 wells, with an efficiency of 100%. The sand washing operation was successfully completed, with no leakage. Key words : Low density nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid; Micro bubble; Qinghai gas field

Description: Cr 3+ –Yb 3+ codoped transparent glass-ceramics containing Y 3 Al 5 O 12 nanocrystals were prepared by heat treatment of as-prepared glass sample and characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The efficient energy transfer from Cr 3+ to Yb 3+ ions through multi-phonon-assisted process was confirmed by the luminescence spectrum and fluorescent lifetime measurements. When excited by the lights from a solar simulator in the wavelength region of 400–800 nm, greatly enhanced near-infrared emission around 1 μm was achieved from Cr 3+ –Yb 3+ codoped glass ceramic compared with that from as-prepared glass and Ce 3+ –Yb 3+ codoped glass ceramic. These results demonstrate that the Cr 3+ –Yb 3+ codoped glass ceramic is a promising material for enhancement of the efficiency of solar energy utilization.

Description: Bar-headed goose ( Anser indicus ), a species endemic to Asia, has become one of the most popular species in recent years for rare bird breeding industries in several provinces of China. There has been no information on the gut metagenome configuration in both wild and artificially reared Bar-headed geese, even though the importance of gut microbiome in vertebrate nutrient and energy metabolism, immune homeostasis and reproduction is widely acknowledged. In this study, metagenomic methods have been used to describe the microbial community structure and composition of functional genes associated with both wild and artificially reared Bar-headed goose. Taxonomic analyses revealed that Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the four most abundant phyla in the gut of Bar-headed geese. Bacteroidetes were significantly abundant in the artificially reared group compared to wild group. Through functional profiling, we found that artificially reared Bar-headed geese had higher bacterial gene content related to carbohydrate transport and metabolism, energy metabolism and coenzyme transport, and metabolism. A comprehensive gene catalog of Bar-headed geese metagenome was built, and the metabolism of carbohydrate, amino acid, nucleotide, and energy were found to be the four most abundant categories. These results create a baseline for future Bar-headed goose microbiology research, and make an original contribution to the artificial rearing of this bird. In this study, high-throughput and sequence-based comparative metagenomics were applied on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform (1) to investigate and to compare the gut microbiota associated with both wild and artificially reared Bar-headed geese, and (2) to try to relate the functional genes of the gut microbial communities to the biological characteristics of this species.

Description: Aiming at the need of coiled tubing sand washing operation for the low-pressure and leaking gas pool in Qinghai gas reservoir, we developed a kind of low density nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid technology, which is composed of a new type of composite foaming agent, temporary plugging agent, composite stabilizing foam agent and the nitrogen. Observing by a microscope, we can find that the micro bubble structure is composed of a core of gas, two membranes, three layers, which has high stability (higher stability than ordinary foam stability). The performance evaluation results show that, the temperature resistance of nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid is up to 120 ℃. Compression resistance can reach 20 Mpa. API filter loss is only 11.3 ml. The high temperature and high pressure filtration is only 16.6 ml. Anti-salt can reach 10%. Anti-calcium can reach 3% and the resistance to oil pollution is more than 15%. The recovery rate of core permeability is up to 89%. The system can not only reduce the fluid column pressure and reduce the pressure difference, but the formation of micro bubble in the leakage areas on the surface of formation is widespread, and has a certain strength and toughness, and also has a certain deformability matching leakage channel of formation, which can achieve the purpose of anti-leaking. This technology was applied in Qinghai gas field for 2 wells, with an efficiency of 100%. The sand washing operation was successfully completed, with no leakage. Key words : Low density nitrogen micro bubble workover fluid; Micro bubble; Qinghai gas field

Description: Two heterospin complexes [Cu(NIT3Py)(cda)H 2 O] · H 2 O ( 1 ) and [Cu(NIT2Py)(cda)H 2 O] · H 2 O · CH 3 OH ( 2 ) with Cu II ions and pyridyl-substituted nitronyl nitroxide radicals (NIT x Py = 2-( x ′-pyridyl)-4, 4, 5, 5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide, x = 3, 2; H 2 cda = 4-hydroxy-pyridine-2, 6-dicarboxylic acid) were synthesized and characterized structurally and magnetically. The single crystal structures show that the two complexes are both two-spin complexes, in which the different radicals make the two complexes have different hydrogen bonding interactions to form 2D and 1D supramolecular network for complexes 1 and 2 , respectively. The magnetic measurements indicate that complexes 1 and 2 both exhibit antiferromagnetic interactions between Cu II and radicals.

Description: Sr 2 Si 5 N 8 :Eu 2+ nitride phosphors application for light emitting diodes were synthesized for the first time using less-expensive and air-stable entire oxides raw materials, SrCO 3 , SiO 2 , and Eu 2 O 3 , through a carbothermal reduction and nitridation (CTRN) route. The reaction dynamic processes of the CTRN route and the phase components, photoluminescent properties, quantum efficiency as well as thermal stability for the resultant Sr 2 Si 5 N 8 :Eu 2+ phosphors were investigated in detail. High-crystalline pure Sr 2 Si 5 N 8 :Eu 2+ red-emitting phosphor with acceptant luminescent performances could be obtained through finely controlling addition amount of carbon reductant agent and carefully removing the residual carbon without oxidation damage. An economic route is outlined in this work for the synthesis of nitride phosphors using cost-effective entire oxides raw materials, thereby driving the development and practical application of nitrides phosphors.