A study of strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 using Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540MHz

We report on the properties of strong pulses from PSR B0656+14 by analyzing the data obtained using Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz from August 2007 to September 2010. In 44 hrs of observational data, a total of 67 pulses with signal-to-noise ratios above a 5-{\sigma} threshold were detected. The peak flux densities of these pulses are 58 to 194 times that of the average profile, and the pulse energies of them are 3 to 68 times that of the average pulse. These pulses are clustered around phases about 5 degrees ahead of the peak of the average profile. Comparing with the width of the average profile, they are relatively narrow, with the full widths at half-maximum range from 0.28 to 1.78 degrees. The distribution of pulse-energies of the pulses follows a lognormal distribution. These sporadic strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 are different in character from the typical giant pulses, and from its regular pulses.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by RA

Genome Sequences and Comparative Analysis of Two Extended-Spectrum Extensively-Drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains

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FOXP3 Is an X-Linked Breast Cancer Suppressor Gene and an Important Repressor of the HER-2/ErbB2 Oncogene

The X-linked Foxp3 is a member of the forkhead/winged helix transcription factor family. Germ-line mutations cause lethal autoimmune diseases in males. Serendipitously, we observed that Foxp3sf/+ heterozygous mice developed cancer at a high rate. The majority of the cancers were mammary carcinomas in which the wild-type Foxp3 allele was inactivated and ErbB2 was over-expressed. Foxp3 bound and repressed the ErbB2 promoter. Deletion, functionally significant somatic mutations and down-regulation of the FOXP3 gene were commonly found in human breast cancer samples and correlated significantly with HER-2 over-expression, regardless of the status of HER-2 amplification. In toto, the data demonstrate that FOXP3 is an X-linked breast cancer suppressor gene and an important regulator of the HER-2/ErbB2 oncogene

Drug discovery prospect from untapped species: Indications from approved natural product drugs

10.1371/journal.pone.0039782PLoS ONE77

Research on Factors Influencing the Demand of Chinese Commercial Health Insurance Caused by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 enhanced the need for commercial health insurance to address the sudden and overwhelming healthcare costs faced by families. This also led to an increase in the demand for health insurance services requiring insurance companies to innovate and develop suitable services. However, in the context of China, despite the huge potential for growth, health insurance market faces numerous challenges such as inadequate availability of tailored services, educational issues, income limitations, and emphasis on social insurance. To examine the issues and consider areas for improvements, this research investigated the impacts and effects of commercial health insurance from a macro perspective and considered potential recommendations to enhance the effective demand. This paper performed an empirical investigation by using the short panel data for regression analysis. The data was collected over ten years (2010 to 2019) involving 31 provinces in China to establish a fixed effect model. It employed FE and FGLS method to compare and analyze the impact of 9 factors while the health insurance premium was set as the dependent variable. Results showed that domestic economic development led to increasing residents' wealth and consumption levels has increased, including healthcare investments. Elevating the awareness of people through education can promote the development of the commercial health insurance demand, but the influence of urbanization level and the aging of the population remain to be demonstrated

In situ reduction of cathode material by organics and anode graphite without additive to recycle spent electric vehicle LiMn2O4 batteries

In a conventional roasting-sorting process to obtain cathode powders, the phase structure of LiMn2O4 is not dissociated and the valence of manganese is not changed, resulting in low metal recovery efficiency and high reagent cost in the subsequent leaching process. In this context, a novel process is developed to realize the recovery of spent LiMn2O4 lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) via one-step pyrolysis and reductant-free acid leaching. The leaching efficiencies of lithium and manganese are respectively 99.9% and 99.4% under the optimal pyrolysis conditions: a temperature of 500 degrees C, a nitrogen flow rate of 50 mL/min, and a pyrolysis time of 60 min. The analysis of thermogravimetry-infrared spectroscopy indicates volatilization of electrolyte and decomposition of LiPF6 occur in the temperature range of 100-180 degrees C. When the temperature rises from 180 to 800 degrees C, high molecular weight polymers (binder and separator) are degraded into pyrolytic gas and oil. LiMn2O4 is deconstructed and reduced to MnO and Li2CO3 under the synergistic effect of pyrolytic gas and anode graphite. The harmful fluorine and phosphorus are absorbed by Ca(OH)2 solution to avoid environmental hazards. The results suggest that the process integrated pyrolysis and aicd leaching is efficient, environmental-friendly, and low-cost for recycling spent LiMn2O4 LIBs