Diagnosis of a malayan filariasis case using a shotgun diagnostic metagenomics assay

Typing of blast hits after analyzing subcutaneous tissue sample and details of the phylogenetic MEGAN output. (DOC 198 kb

Observations of the vertical distributions of summertime atmospheric pollutants and the corresponding ozone production in Shanghai, China

Ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and lidar measurements were performed in Shanghai, China, during May 2016 to investigate the vertical distribution of summertime atmospheric pollutants. In this study, vertical profiles of aerosol extinction coefficient, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (HCHO) concentrations were retrieved from MAX-DOAS measurements using the Heidelberg Profile (HEIPRO) algorithm, while vertical distribution of ozone (O-3) was obtained from an ozone lidar. Sensitivity study of the MAX-DOAS aerosol profile retrieval shows that the a priori aerosol profile shape has significant influences on the aerosol profile retrieval. Aerosol profiles retrieved from MAX-DOAS measurements with Gaussian a priori profile demonstrate the best agreements with simultaneous lidar measurements and vehicle-based tethered-balloon observations among all a priori aerosol profiles. Tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) measured with MAX-DOAS show a good agreement with OMI satellite observations with a Pearson correlation coefficient (R) of 0.95. In addition, measurements of the O-3 vertical distribution indicate that the ozone productions do not only occur at surface level but also at higher altitudes (about 1.1 km). Planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and horizontal and vertical wind field information were integrated to discuss the ozone formation at upper altitudes. The results reveal that enhanced ozone concentrations at ground level and upper altitudes are not directly related to horizontal and vertical transportation. Similar patterns of O3 and HCHO vertical distributions were observed during this campaign, which implies that the ozone productions near the surface and at higher altitudes are mainly influenced by the abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the lower troposphere

The Analysis and Design of High Power Millimeter Wave Pulse Detector for 2 mm Frequency Band

Abstract-The research progress of a high power millimeter wave pulse detector for 2 mm frequency band is presented here. This power detector, so-called resistive sensor, is composed of a 2 mm standard waveguide and a semiconductor sensing sample within it. At first, the principle of the detector is analyzed theoretically, and the sensitivity of the detector in the warm-electron region is derived. Then the structural parameters of the detector are calculated and optimized to make the frequency response flat over the waveguide frequency band. A three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used here. The results show that, while the biased voltage on the detecting element is 10 V, the sensitivity of the optimized detector is about 6 V/kW with a fluctuation less than 27% in the frequency range 113-173 GHz, especially less than 9.8% in the frequency range 130-160 GHz. Compared with the diode detectors in 2 mm frequency band, the designed semiconductor detector shows better performance in pulse power measurement

Effect of nitrogen doping and external electric field on the adsorption of hydrogen on graphene

Effect of doping and external electric field on the adsorption of hydrogen on graphene was studied by using density functional theory. Substitutional nitrogen, pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen doping has been considered. It was found that hydrogen prefers to be physically adsorbed on the pristine and substitutional nitrogen doped graphene, whereas hydrogen prefers to be chemically adsorbed on the pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen doped graphene. An external electric field can enhance the chemical adsorption of hydrogen on the pyridinic and pyrrolic N-doped graphene. These demonstrate nitrogen doping combined with external electric field can increase the capacity of hydrogen storage in graphene

High-performance Fe–Si soft magnetic composites with controllable silicate/nano-Fe composite coating

The design of magnetic insulation coating structure has always been a challenge for high-performance soft magnetic composites (SMCs). In this work, we prepared Fe–Si SMCs with silicate/nano-Fe composite coating successfully by in-situ oxidation method combined with spark plasma sintering (SPS). The formation mechanism of the composite coating and its effect on the electro-magnetic properties of Fe–Si SMCs were investigated. The results showed that a uniform Fe2O3 coating can be obtained by reactions between Fe and H2O/O2 during in-situ oxidation process, and became thicker with the increased oxidation time. After sintering, the oxide coating was transformed into a composite coating composed of Fe2SiO4 with excellent insulation and nano-Fe with high ferromagnetism, which resulted from the interfacial reaction between Fe2O3 coating and Fe–Si core. The increased oxidation time led to the gradually thicker composite coating, and resulted in a linear decrease in saturation magnetization, indicating good controllability of the coating. However, excessive oxidation time led to the increased eddy current loss as well as the core loss due to the weakened resistivity. Thus, the Fe–Si SMCs exhibited high saturation magnetic induction (1.66T) and very low core loss (643.9 kW/m3 at 0.1 T/50 kHz) especially when the oxidation time was 1 h

Transplantation of Neural Stem Cells Cotreated with Thyroid Hormone and GDNF Gene Induces Neuroprotection in Rats of Chronic Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis

The present study investigates whether transplantation of NSCs treated with T3 alone (T3/NSCs), or in conjunction with GDNF gene (GDNF-T3/NSCs), provides a better therapeutic effect than NSCs for chronic EAE. EAE rats were, respectively, injected with NSCs, T3/NSCs, GDNF-T3/NSCs, and saline at 10 days and sacrificed at 60 days after EAE immunization. The three cell grafted groups showed a significant reduction in clinical scores, inflammatory infiltration, and demyelination compared with the saline-injected group, and among the cell grafted groups, the reduction in GDNF-T3/NSCs group was the most notable, followed by T3/NSCs group. Grafted T3/NSCs and GDNF-T3/NSCs acquired more MAP2, GalC, and less GFAP in brain compared with grafted NSCs, and grafted GDNF-T3/NSCs acquired most MAP2 and least GalC among the cell grafted groups. Furthermore, T3/NSCs and GDNF-T3/NSCs grafting increased the expression of mRNA for PDGFαR, GalC, and MBP in lesion areas of brain compared with NSCs grafting, and the expression of mRNA for GalC and MBP in GDNF-T3/NSCs group was higher than that in T3/NSCs group. In conclusion, T3/NSCs grafting, especially GDNF-T3/NSCs grafting, provides a better neuroprotective effect for EAE than NSCs transplantation

Transcriptome profiles of corticosterone-induced cytotoxicity reveals the involvement of neurite growth-related genes in depression

Corticosterone (CORT), the main HPA-axis glucocorticoid hormone in rodents, is involved in the regulation of animal stress responses. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of corticosteroids on depression are yet to be elucidated. We found that fluoxetine reversed neurite growth inhibition induced by COAT in PC12 cells, a widely used model system for neurobiological and neurotoxicological studies. Transcriptome profiling showed that 1,609 genes were up-regulated, whereas 1,764 genes were down-regulated significantly in the CORT group in comparison with the Control group. Of them, the expression of 589 DEGs was reversed after fluoxetine treatment, and genes related to cell morphogenesis, neurite growth, and immune function were involved in the neuroprotective effect of fluoxetine against CORT. Furthermore, expression of neurite growth-related genes, such as such as Calpain 2 (Capn2), vesicle-associated membrane protein 7 (Vamp7) and C-type natriuretic peptide (Cnp), altered in a brain region- or treatment-specific manner in the animal models of depression. Therefore, the interaction between stress, glucocorticoids, and neurite growth inhibition may be a candidate pathophysiology underlying major depressive disorder (MDD), and the identification of Capn2, Vamp7 and Cop might provide insight into treatment of MDD

Atmospheric Aerosols Detection Research with a Dual Field of View Lidar

A dual field of view lidar system with two independent receivers is described to realize the detection of atmospheric aerosols. A CCD camera is attached to a backscatter lidar as a receiver to complement the data in the near-field range affected by the incomplete overlap between the laser beam and the receiver field of view. The signal detected by the CCD camera is corrected and finally glued with the signal of the backscatter lidar to retrieve the aerosol extinction coefficient with Fernald algorithm. The aerosol extinction profile and visibilities measured by the dual field of lidar had been compared with the results measured by another general backscatter lidar and a surface aerosol instrument, respectively. The results suggested that the dual field of view lidar based on a CCD camera is feasible and reliable. It could obtain the data both in the near and in the far range simultaneously, improving the detection accuracy of the lidar system effectively

Additional file 3: Figure S2. of Diagnosis of a malayan filariasis case using a shotgun diagnostic metagenomics assay

Typing of blast hits after analyzing the eye discharge sample and detail of the phylogenetic MEGAN output. (DOC 117 kb