ALBERT

Description: Recovery of tide-receiving is considered to improve the water quality in the Lianjiang River, a severely polluted and tide-influenced river connected to the South China Sea. A tide-receiving scenario, i.e., keeping the tide gate open, is compared with the other scenario representing the non-tide-receiving condition, i.e., blocking the tide flow during the flood phase, by numerical simulations based on the EFDC (Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code) model. The impacts of tide receiving were evaluated by the variation in the concentration of ammonia and its exporting fluxes, mainly in the downstream part of the river. With more water mass coming into the river, in the tide-receiving scenario, the averaged concentration of ammonia reduced by 20–40%, with the most significant decrease of 0.64 g m−3. However, the exporting flux of ammonia has decreased in the tide-receiving scenario, as the consequence of the back–forth oscillation of tidal current. In the tide-receiving scenario, the time series of ammonia concentration approximately followed the tidal oscillation, with increased concentration during the ebb tide and reduction in the flood tide. In the non-tide-receiving scenario, the ammonia concentration decreases when the tide gate is open which results in further intrusion of seawater. This was followed by an increase in ammonia concentration again after the currents shift seaward and water mass with higher concentration from the upstream part is transported downstream. Given the identical ammonia input and river runoff, the ammonia concentration stays lower in the tide-receiving scenario, except for short periods after the tide gate opening and neap tides in the downstream part which lasts for around half a day. This study highlights the importance of hydrodynamic condition, specifically tidal oscillation, in the semi-diurnal and fortnight cycles, for the transportation of waterborne materials. Furthermore, the operation of the tide gate was additionally discussed based on potential varied practical conditions and evaluation criteria.

Description: Background: Neutral lipid storage is enhanced by nitrogen deprivation (ND) in numbers of green microalgal species. However, little is known about the metabolic pathways whose transcription levels are most significantly altered following ND in green microalgae, especially the nonmodel species. Results: To start gaining knowledge on this, we performed transcriptome profiling of the nonmodel green microalga Botryosphaerella sudeticus cells in response to ND. Transcriptome of B. sudeticus is de novo assembled based on millions of HiSEQ short sequence reads using CLC Genomics Workbench software. The resulting non-redundant ESTs are annotated based on the best hits generated from the BLASTX homology comparison against the "best" proteins in the model microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlorella variabilis. By using a pathway-based approach according to KEGG databases, we show that ESTs encoding ribosomal proteins and photosynthetic functions are the most abundantly expressed ESTs in the rapidly growing B. sudeticus cells. We find that ESTs encoding photosynthetic function but not the ribosomal proteins are most drastically downregulated upon ND. Notably, ESTs encoding lipid metabolic pathways are not significantly upregulated. Further analyses indicate that chlorophyll content is markedly decreased by 3-fold and total lipid content is only slightly increased by 50%, consistent with the transcriptional profiling. On the other hand, carbon content and photosynthesis efficiency are only marginally decreased by 7% and 20%, respectively, indicating that photosynthesis is only slightly reduced upon drastic downregulation of photosynthetic ESTs and chlorophyll content upon ND. In addition, TAG content is found to be greatly increased by 50-fold, though total lipid content is only slightly increased by 1.5-fold. Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggest that light-harvesting proteins and chlorophylls are in excess in B. sudeticus. Degradation of excess photosynthesis proteins is most likely a mechanism for recycling of nitrogen-rich molecules to synthesize new proteins for preparation of gametogenesis and zygospore formation in adaptation and survival upon ND. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that TAG accumulation is largely attributed to the modification of other pre-existing lipid molecules, rather than de novo synthesis. We propose that this is likely an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in many green microalgae species.

Description: Background: Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and thrombosis. This study is aimed at evaluating the potential association of 3'-UTR-C188T and G501C in LOX-1 gene with cerebral infarction. Methods: A total of 386 patients with cerebral infarction and 386 healthy controls were included in the study, which were unrelated Chinese Han population in the Liaoning Province of northern China. The single nucleotide polymorphisms, 3'-UTR-C188T and G501C, were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-ligation detection reaction method. Results: The frequencies of CC + GC genotype, GC genotype and C allele of G501C in the patients with cerebral infarction were significantly higher than those in the controls (P 〈 0.01, P 〈 0.01, P = 0.04, respectively). These correlations still remained after adjusting for confounding risk factors of cerebral infarction. In addition, no significant association was observed between 3'-UTR-C188T and cerebral infarction. Conclusions: The study indicated that the G501C variant in LOX-1 gene may be associated with susceptibility to cerebral infarction, independent of other common risk factors, in northern Chinese Han population.

Description: Embedded encryption devices and smart sensors are vulnerable to physical attacks. Due to the continuous shrinking of chip size, laser injection, particle radiation and electromagnetic transient injection are possible methods that introduce transient multiple faults. In the fault analysis stage, the adversary is unclear about the actual number of faults injected. Typically, the single-nibble fault analysis encounters difficulties. Therefore, in this paper, we propose novel ciphertext-only impossible differentials that can analyze the number of random faults to six nibbles. We use the impossible differentials to exclude the secret key that definitely does not exist, and then gradually obtain the unique secret key through inverse difference equations. Using software simulation, we conducted 32,000 random multiple fault attacks on Midori. The experiments were carried out to verify the theoretical model of multiple fault attacks. We obtain the relationship between fault injection and information content. To reduce the number of fault attacks, we further optimized the fault attack method. The secret key can be obtained at least 11 times. The proposed ciphertext-only impossible differential analysis provides an effective method for random multiple faults analysis, which would be helpful for improving the security of block ciphers.

Description: Total maximum allocated load (TMAL) is the maximum sum total of all the pollutant loading a water body can carry without surpassing the water quality criterion, which is dependent on hydrodynamics and water quality conditions. A coupled hydrodynamic and water quality model combined with field observation was used to study pollutant transport and TMAL for water environment management in Qinhuangdao (QHD) sea in the Bohai Sea in northeastern China for the first time. Temporal and spatial variations of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration were investigated based on MIKE suite (Danish Hydraulic Institute, Hørsholm, Denmark). A systematic optimization approach of adjusting the upstream pollutant emission load was used to calculate TMAL derived from the predicted COD concentration. The pollutant emission load, TMAL, and pollutant reduction of Luanhe River were the largest due to the massive runoff, which was identified as the most influential driving factor for water environmental capacity and total carrying capacity of COD. The correlation analysis and Spearman coefficient indicate strong links between TMAL and forcing factors such as runoff, kinetic energy, and pollutant emission load. A comparison of total carrying capacity in 2011 and 2013 confirms that the upstream pollutant control scheme is an effective strategy to improve water quality along the river and coast. Although, the present model results suggest that a monitoring system could provide more efficient total capacity control. The outcome of this study establishes the theoretical foundation for coastal water environment management strategy in this region and worldwide.

Description: Mn-Ce-Zr-O catalysts doped with varying Mn content were prepared and assessed for the catalytic combustion of chlorobenzene (CB). Nanosized MCZ-0.67 catalyst with amorphous phase exhibited a high and stable catalytic activity among the studied catalysts, achieving 90% CB conversion at 226 °C and withstanding stability tests, including time-based stability and the successive influence of various operating conditions. Meanwhile, the MCZ-0.67 catalyst used showed good recyclability by calcination in air. Characterization results suggested that Mn doping played a dominant role in improving the catalytic performance, resulting in larger surface area, better redox properties and greater amounts of surface active oxygen. In addition, the introduction of Zr was also indispensable for maintaining the good catalytic performance of catalysts. Finally, trace amounts of polychlorinated by-products during CB oxidation were monitored and the oxidation process was discussed.

Description: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON) exposure on the inflammatory injury nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway in intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2 cells) of pig. The different concentrations of DON (0, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000 ng/mL) were added to the culture solution for treatment. The NF-κB pathway inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) was used as a reference. The results showed that when the DON concentration increased, the cell density decreased and seemed damaged. With the increase of DON concentration in the culture medium, the action of diamine oxidase (DAO) in the culture supernatant also increased. The activities of IL-6, TNF-α, and NO in the cells were increased with the increasing DON concentration. The relative mRNA expression of IL-1β and IL-6 were increased in the cells. The mRNA relative expression of NF-κB p65, IKKα, and IKKβ were upregulated with the increasing of DON concentration, while the relative expression of IκB-α mRNA was downregulated. At the same time, the expression of NF-κB p65 protein increased gradually in the cytoplasm and nucleus with a higher concentration of DON. These results showed that DON could change the morphology of IPEC-J2 cells, destroy its submicroscopic structure, and enhance the permeability of cell membrane, as well as upregulate the transcription of some inflammatory factors and change the expression of NF-κB-related gene or protein in cells.

Description: Transportation safety, as a critical component of an efficient and reliable transportation system, has been extensively studied with respect to societal economic impacts by transportation agencies and policy officials. However, the embodied energy impact of safety, other than induced congestion, is lacking in studies. This research proposes an energy equivalence of safety (EES) framework to provide a holistic view of the long-term energy and fuel consequences of motor vehicle crashes, incorporating both induced congestion and impacts from lost human productivity resulting from injury and fatal accidents and the energy content resulting from all consequences and activities from a crash. The method utilizes a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to national energy consumed in a framework that bridges the gap between safety and energy, leveraging extensive studies of the economic impact of motor vehicle crashes. The energy costs per fatal, injury, and property-damage-only (PDO) crashes in gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) in 2017 were found to be 200,259, 4442, and 439, respectively, which are significantly greater than impacts from induced congestion alone. The results from the motor vehicle crash data show a decreasing trend of EES per crash type from 2010 and 2017, due primarily in part to a decreasing ratio of total energy consumed to GDP over those years. In addition to the temporal analysis, we conducted a spatial analysis addressing national-, state-, and local-level EES comparisons by using the proposed framework, illustrating its applicability.