Checklist and key to species of the leafhopper genus Japanagallia Ishihara, 1955 with description of a new species from China (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae, Megophthalminae)

A new leafhopper species, Japanagallia turriformis sp. n. of the tribe Agalliini of the subfamily Megophthalminae is described and illustrated from Yunnan Province  and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Achecklist and key to the species of the genus are given, along with a map showing the geographical distributions of the 22 Chinese species

Organization of GC/MS and LC/MS metabolomics data into chemical libraries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metabolomics experiments involve generating and comparing small molecule (metabolite) profiles from complex mixture samples to identify those metabolites that are modulated in altered states (e.g., disease, drug treatment, toxin exposure). One non-targeted metabolomics approach attempts to identify and interrogate all small molecules in a sample using GC or LC separation followed by MS or MSⁿdetection. Analysis of the resulting large, multifaceted data sets to rapidly and accurately identify the metabolites is a challenging task that relies on the availability of chemical libraries of metabolite spectral signatures. A method for analyzing spectrometry data to identify and <b>Qu</b>antify <b>I</b>ndividual <b>C</b>omponents in a <b>S</b>ample, (QUICS), enables generation of chemical library entries from known standards and, importantly, from unknown metabolites present in experimental samples but without a corresponding library entry. This method accounts for all ions in a sample spectrum, performs library matches, and allows review of the data to quality check library entries. The QUICS method identifies ions related to any given metabolite by correlating ion data across the complete set of experimental samples, thus revealing subtle spectral trends that may not be evident when viewing individual samples and are likely to be indicative of the presence of one or more otherwise obscured metabolites.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LC-MS/MS or GC-MS data from 33 liver samples were analyzed simultaneously which exploited the inherent biological diversity of the samples and the largely non-covariant chemical nature of the metabolites when viewed over multiple samples. Ions were partitioned by both retention time (RT) and covariance which grouped ions from a single common underlying metabolite. This approach benefitted from using mass, time and intensity data in aggregate over the entire sample set to reject outliers and noise thereby producing higher quality chemical identities. The aggregated data was matched to reference chemical libraries to aid in identifying the ion set as a known metabolite or as a new unknown biochemical to be added to the library.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The QUICS methodology enabled rapid, in-depth evaluation of all possible metabolites (known and unknown) within a set of samples to identify the metabolites and, for those that did not have an entry in the reference library, to create a library entry to identify that metabolite in future studies.</p

Copolymer SJ-1 as a Fluid Loss Additive for Drilling Fluid with High Content of Salt and Calcium

A ternary copolymer of 2-acrylamide-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), acrylamide (AM), and allyl alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (APEG) with a side chain polyoxyethylene ether (C2H4O)n SJ-1 were designed and synthesized in this work. Good temperature resistance and salt tolerance of “–SO3-” of AMPS, strong absorption ability of “amino-group” of AM, and good hydrability of side chain polyoxyethylene ether (C2H4O)n of APEG provide SJ-1 excellent properties as a fluid loss additive. The chemical structure of ternary copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The molecular weight and its distribution were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The API fluid loss of drilling fluid decreased gradually with the increasing concentration of NaCl and CaCl2 in the mud system. SJ-1 was applied well in the drilling fluid even at a high temperature of 220°C. Results of zeta potential of modified drilling fluid showed the dispersion stability of drilling fluid system. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed the microstructure of the surface of the filter cake obtained from the drilling fluid modified by SJ-1

Construction of a prognostic assessment model for colon cancer patients based on immune-related genes and exploration of related immune characteristics

Objectives: To establish a novel risk score model that could predict the survival and immune response of patients with colon cancer.Methods: We used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to get mRNA expression profile data, corresponding clinical information and somatic mutation data of patients with colon cancer. Limma R software package and univariate Cox regression were performed to screen out immune-related prognostic genes. GO (Gene ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) were used for gene function enrichment analysis. The risk scoring model was established by Lasso regression and multivariate Cox regression. CIBERSORT was conducted to estimate 22 types of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune cell functions in tumors. Correlation analysis was used to demonstrate the relationship between the risk score and immune escape potential.Results: 679 immune-related genes were selected from 7846 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). GO and KEGG analysis found that immune-related DEGs were mainly enriched in immune response, complement activation, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and so on. Finally, we established a 3 immune-related genes risk scoring model, which was the accurate independent predictor of overall survival (OS) in colon cancer. Correlation analysis indicated that there were significant differences in T cell exclusion potential in low-risk and high-risk groups.Conclusion: The immune-related gene risk scoring model could contribute to predicting the clinical outcome of patients with colon cancer

Analysis of a micro piezoelectric vibration energy harvester by nonlocal elasticity theory

A theoretical model of a micro piezoelectric energy harvester is proposed based on the nonlocal elasticity theory, which is operated in the flexural mode for scavenging ambient vibration energy. A nonlocal scale is defined as the product of internal characteristic length and a constant related to the material. The dependences of performance of the harvester upon the nonlocal scale and the scale ratio of the nonlocal scale to the external characteristic parameter are investigated in detail. Numerical results show that output power of the harvester decreases, and resonance frequency reduces gradually at first then increases rapidly when nonlocal scale increases. The results of nonlocal elasticity theory are compared with that of classic beam theory. All the results are helpful for material and structure design of the micro piezoelectric energy harvester

Multiple low-frequency broad band gaps generated by a phononic crystal of periodic circular cavity sandwich plates

International audienceWe propose a new type of phononic crystal (PnC) composed of a periodic alternation of circular cavity sandwich plates. In the low-frequency regime, the crystal can modulate the propagation of flexural waves. Governing equations are deduced basing on the classical theory of coupled extensional and flexural vibrations of plates. The dispersion relation of the infinite PnC is calculated by combining the transfer matrix method with Bloch theory. The dynamic response of the PnC with finite unit cells is further studied with finite element analysis. An experiment is carried out to demonstrate the performance of the PnC in vibration isolation. Numerical results and experimental results both illustrate that the proposed PnC can generate several wide low-frequency Bragg band gaps providing strong attenuation. The dependence of band gaps upon geometric and material parameters is also analyzed in detail in view of vibration isolation applications

An Enhanced Plane Wave Expansion Method to Solve Piezoelectric Phononic Crystal with Resonant Shunting Circuits

An enhanced plane wave expansion (PWE) method is proposed to solve piezoelectric phononic crystal (PPC) connected with resonant shunting circuits (PPC-C), which is named as PWE-PPC-C. The resonant shunting circuits can not only bring about the locally resonant (LR) band gap for the PPC-C but also conveniently tune frequency and bandwidth of band gaps through adjusting circuit parameters. However, thus far, more than one-dimensional PPC-C has been studied just by Finite Element method. Compared with other methods, the PWE has great advantages in solving more than one-dimensional PC as well as various lattice types. Nevertheless, the conventional PWE cannot accurately solve coupling between the structure and resonant shunting circuits of the PPC-C since only taking one-way coupling from displacements to electrical parameters into consideration. A two-dimensional PPC-C model of orthorhombic lattice is established to demonstrate the whole solving process of PWE-PPC-C. The PWE-PPC-C method is validated by Transfer Matrix method as well as Finite Element method. The dependence of band gaps on circuit parameters has been investigated in detail by PWE-PPC-C. Its advantage in solving various lattice types is further illustrated by calculating the PPC-C of triangular and hexagonal lattices, respectively

Two methods to broaden bandwidth of a nonlinear piezoelectric bimorph power harvester

International audienceWe propose two methods to broaden the operation bandwidth of a nonlinear pinned-pinned piezoelectric bimorph power harvester. The energy-scavenging structure consists of a properly poled and electroded flexible bimorph with a metallic layer in the middle, and is subjected to flexural vibration. Nonlinear effects at large deformations near resonance are considered by taking the in-plane extension of the bimorph into account. The resulting output powers are multi-valued and exhibit jump phenomena. Two methods to broaden the operation bandwidth are proposed: The first method is to extend the operation frequency to the left single-valued region through optimal design. The second method is to excite optimal initial conditions with a voltage source. Larger output powers in the multi-valued region of the nonlinear harvester are obtained. Hence the operation bandwidth is broadened from the left single-valued region to the whole multi-valued region