Identifying Potential Sites for Artificial Recharge in the Plain Area of the Daqing River Catchment Using GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Analysis

As an essential component for the development of the Xiong’an New Area, China’s second capital, groundwater in the area has been overexploited, resulting in ecological and environmental geological problems. Therefore, artificial groundwater replenishment measures are urgently required, for which the evaluation of the recharge potential is an important prerequisite. In this study, a GIS (Geographic Information System)-based multi-criteria evaluation system was constructed, considering the source water conditions, recharge infiltration conditions, aquifer storage conditions, and environmental conditions. In addition, factors such as the distance to a canal, source water quality, slope, vadose zone infiltration rate, drainage density, groundwater depth, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, aquifer thickness, groundwater quality, soil quality, and distance to sensitive areas were also analyzed. GIS was used to draw and calculate potential artificial recharge sites. The results showed that the potential recharge sites in the study area are mainly distributed in the alluvial plains on both sides of the river, with a total area of 2103.9 km2, accounting for 15.8% of the total study area. In the Xiong’an New Area, the potential sites are mainly distributed in the alluvial–proluvial plains on both sides of the Baigou River in the north-central area, with a total area of 39.4 km2, accounting for approximately 2.2% of the total area of the Xiong’an New Area

Cloning and expression analysis of the DEAD-box/RNA helicase Oslaf-1 in Ovomermis sinensis.

Ovomermis sinensis is a potentially-valuable nematode for controlling insect pests. The parasitic stage of the nematode absorbs nutrients in its host's hemolymph to maintain its growth development and then kills the host when it emerges. At present, little known about its reproductive development, particularly the responsible molecular mechanism. More detailed research on the genes of reproductive development will not only help us understand the mechanisms underlying sex differentiation in the nematode, but would also be valuable for successfully cultivating them in vitro and using them for biocontrol. In this study, we used the homology cloning method to clone the full-length cDNA of a DEAD-box family gene (Oslaf-1) from O. sinensis. Then, using qRT-PCR technology to detect the expression pattern of the Oslaf-1 gene at different development stages and tissues, the gene was found to be highly expressed in the post-parasitic stage (P < 0.01) and ovarian (P < 0.05) of O. sinensis. Western blot analysis showed the same result that the gene is associated with gonadal development and function, but is not gonad-specific. In situ hybridization further demonstrated that the gene is widely expressed in early embryos and is mainly distributed in the gonadal area. However, the signal was mainly concentrated in the reproductive primordia in pre-parasitic juveniles. RNA interference (RNAi) studies revealed that the sex ratio of O. sinensis soaked in dsRNA of Oslaf-1 was not statistically different than the gfp dsRNA treated groups. Our results suggest that Oslaf-1 may play a vital role in the reproductive systems of the nematode. In addition, we speculate that the Oslaf-1 gene plays an important role during embryonic development and that it occurs and develops in the gonads of pre-parasitic juveniles of O. sinensis

An Ab Initio and Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Lithium Ion Diffusion on Graphene

The Li+ diffusion coefficients in Li+-adsorbed graphene systems were determined by combining first-principle calculations based on density functional theory with Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The calculated results indicate that the interactions between Li ions have a very important influence on lithium diffusion. Based on energy barriers directly obtained from first-principle calculations for single-Li+ and two-Li+ adsorbed systems, a new equation predicting energy barriers with more than two Li ions was deduced. Furthermore, it is found that the temperature dependence of Li+ diffusion coefficients fits well to the Arrhenius equation, rather than meeting the equation from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy applied to estimate experimental diffusion coefficients. Moreover, the calculated results also reveal that Li+ concentration dependence of diffusion coefficients roughly fits to the equation from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a low concentration region; however, it seriously deviates from the equation in a high concentration region. So, the equation from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique could not be simply used to estimate the Li+ diffusion coefficient for all Li+-adsorbed graphene systems with various Li+ concentrations. Our work suggests that interactions between Li ions, and among Li ion and host atoms will influence the Li+ diffusion, which determines that the Li+ intercalation dependence of Li+ diffusion coefficient should be changed and complex

Remote Sensing Image Super-Resolution for the Visual System of a Flight Simulator: Dataset and Baseline

High-resolution remote sensing images are the key data source for the visual system of a flight simulator for training a qualified pilot. However, due to hardware limitations, it is an expensive task to collect spectral and spatial images at very high resolutions. In this work, we try to tackle this issue with another perspective based on image super-resolution (SR) technology. First, we present a new ultra-high-resolution remote sensing image dataset named Airport80, which is captured from the airspace near various airports. Second, a deep learning baseline is proposed by applying the generative and adversarial mechanism, which is able to reconstruct a high-resolution image during a single image super-resolution. Experimental results for our benchmark demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed network and show it has reached satisfactory performances

Effects of graphene intercalation on dielectric reliability of HfO2 and modulation of effective work function for Ni/Gr/c-HfO2 interfaces: first-principles study

Abstract We have investigated the effects of graphene intercalation on dielectric reliability of HfO2 for Ni/Gr/HfO2 interfaces, and the effects of graphene intercalation and interfacial atom vacancy on the effective work function (EWF) of Ni/Gr/HfO2 interfaces using first-principle calculation based on density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that graphene intercalation can improve dielectric reliability of HfO2 dielectric even for the interfaces having interfacial oxygen vacancy or a small amount carbon vacancy. Moreover, the calculated results indicate that, inserting graphene into Ni/HfO2 interface induces the EWF’s to decline, and controlling interfacial oxygen or carbon vacancy can effectively tune the EWF of Ni/Gr/HfO2 interface. Our work strongly suggests that the use of graphene synthesized into Ni/HfO2 interface is a very effective way to improve the interface quality, and controlling interfacial oxygen or carbon vacancy is also an attractive and promising way for modulating the EWF of Ni/Gr/HfO2 interfaces

Strain Engineered Band Gaps and Electronic Properties in PbPdO2 and PbPd0.75Co0.25O2 Slabs

Electronic structure and corresponding electrical properties of PbPdO2 and PbPd0.75Co0.25O2 ultrathin slabs with (002) preferred orientation were systematically investigated using first-principles calculations. The calculated results revealed the strain induced evidently the changes of band structure and carrier concentration in both slabs. It was also found that PbPdO2 and PbPd0.75Co0.25O2 ultrathin slabs exhibited evident differences in the external strain dependence of the band gap and charge carrier concentration, which was strongly dependent on bond angle and bond length induced by in-plane anisotropy strain. Interestingly, the carrier concentration of the PbPd0.75Co0.25O2 slab could increase up to 5&ndash;6 orders of magnitude with the help of external strain, which could explain the potential mechanism behind the observed colossal strain-induced electrical behaviors. This work demonstrated that the influence of the doping effect in the case of PbPdO2 could be a potentially fruitful approach for the development of promising piezoresistive materials

Reverse Screening Methods to Search for the Protein Targets of Chemopreventive Compounds

This article is a systematic review of reverse screening methods used to search for the protein targets of chemopreventive compounds or drugs. Typical chemopreventive compounds include components of traditional Chinese medicine, natural compounds and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs. Such compounds are somewhat selective but are predisposed to bind multiple protein targets distributed throughout diverse signaling pathways in human cells. In contrast to conventional virtual screening, which identifies the ligands of a targeted protein from a compound database, reverse screening is used to identify the potential targets or unintended targets of a given compound from a large number of receptors by examining their known ligands or crystal structures. This method, also known as in silico or computational target fishing, is highly valuable for discovering the target receptors of query molecules from terrestrial or marine natural products, exploring the molecular mechanisms of chemopreventive compounds, finding alternative indications of existing drugs by drug repositioning, and detecting adverse drug reactions and drug toxicity. Reverse screening can be divided into three major groups: shape screening, pharmacophore screening and reverse docking. Several large software packages, such as Schrödinger and Discovery Studio; typical software/network services such as ChemMapper, PharmMapper, idTarget, and INVDOCK; and practical databases of known target ligands and receptor crystal structures, such as ChEMBL, BindingDB, and the Protein Data Bank (PDB), are available for use in these computational methods. Different programs, online services and databases have different applications and constraints. Here, we conducted a systematic analysis and multilevel classification of the computational programs, online services and compound libraries available for shape screening, pharmacophore screening and reverse docking to enable non-specialist users to quickly learn and grasp the types of calculations used in protein target fishing. In addition, we review the main features of these methods, programs and databases and provide a variety of examples illustrating the application of one or a combination of reverse screening methods for accurate target prediction

The distribution of OsLAF-1 in various parts of <i>O</i>. <i>sinensis</i>.

<p>Columns: 1: head; 2: tail; 3: testis; 4: ovary; 5: integument.</p