Effects of Nano-CaCO3 on the Properties of Cement Paste: Hardening Process and Shrinkage at Different Humidity Levels

The hardening process and volume stability of cement pastes with and without nano-CaCO3 (NC) were studied through investigations on the setting time and shrinkage. Results showed that NC shortened the setting time of cement paste: the initial setting time decreased by 3.9 and 11.1% when 1 and 3% NC were added, and the finial setting times were shortened by 6.2 and 15.2%, respectively. The shrinkage of cement paste was compensated by NC, and the effect was more obvious as more NC was added into the cement paste. Although the shrinkage decreased at the lower relative humidity, the degree of hydration of cement can be hindered owing to the lack of sufficient internal curing humidity. Considering the hydration of cement and the volume stability of structure, a high curing humidity was an important factor for improving the durability of NC-modified cement-based materials

Taxonomic Abundance at Panxian Dadong, a Middle Pleistocene Cave in South China

The faunal assemblage from the site of Panxian Dadong provides evidence for a general continuity in species representation throughout a period of approximately 120 kya. Taxonomically, faunal material from Dadong includes classic taxa of the Middle Pleistocene Ailuropoda-Stegodon faunal complex of South China. Taxonomic abundance measures document a sample that is rich in large ungulate species including rhinoceros, stegodonts, and large bovids. These data are further examined in light of assemblage formation processes, temporal distribution, and environmental context. Taphonomic data that demonstrate the presence and activities of bonecollecting species (including porcupines, hominids, and large and small carnivores) suggest that Dadong Cave was an attractive shelter that saw many uses during the period analyzed. These include hominid foraging, porcupine bone collecting, and carnivore scavenging and hunting. KEYWORDS: Middle Pleistocene, South China, Ailuropoda-Stegodon fauna, hominid

Lithic Raw Material Use at the Late Middle Pleistocene Site of Panxian Dadong

The possibility of selective use of lithic raw material in the Middle Pleistocene cave deposits of Panxian Dadong is examined in order to evaluate hominid strategies of resource management. Limestone, chert, and basalt, available in or nearby the cave, were differentially used for the production of tools and unretouched flakes. Limestone was predominantly used to produce expedient tools, unretouched flakes were most commonly made of basalt, and chert was most frequently used to produce retouched flakes and tools. Patterns in the reduction sequence for each raw material also indicate that these lithic resources were selectively used. The early stages of core reduction are clearly represented in basalt flakes, whereas chert artifacts exhibit the later stages of tool production and the greatest degree of resharpening. When the selection of raw material is examined through time, over a span of more than 100,000 years, two patterns are clear. The proportion of chert and basalt and the overall frequency of artifacts increases. These changes in the frequency and selection of raw material occur without a techno-typological change. The major shifts in raw material usage correlate with a colder climatic regime and may relate to the intensified use of the cave for animal carcass processing and shelter. KEYWORDS: Middle Pleistocene, lithics, reduction sequence, hominid

3-O-Caffeoylquinic acid in Periploca forrestii Schltr extract ameliorates collagen-induced arthritis by inducing IL17/IL23 cells in rats

Purpose: To study the therapeutic effect of 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3-O-CQA) from Periploca forrestii extract (PFE) on collagen-mediated arthritis (CIA) in rats, as well as the potential underlying mechanism of action. Methods: PFE and 3-O-CQA were successively and intragastrically administered to CIA rats. Paw swelling, arthritic scores and H & E staining were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of 3-O-CQA. Moreover, to determine the effects of PFE and 3-O-CQA on fibroblast-resembling synoviocytes obtained from arthritic subjects (RAFLS), the viability of RAFLS cultured in vitro was measured with MMT, while apoptotic lesions were analyzed by flow cytometry. The levels of IL-6 in CIA and RAFLS were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while quantitative reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunoblotting were used to assess their mRNA and polypeptide levels, respectively. Results: PFE in 3-O-CQA ameliorated swelling and reduced arthritic scores in CIA rat model, and also decreased cytokine levels (p < 0.05). By decreasing mRNA and protein expressions, 3-O-CQA repressed the phosphorylation of STAT3 and JAK2 as well as the protein levels of IL-23 and RORγt (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study show that CIA and RAFLS are ameliorated in rats by 3-O-CQA in PFE through regulation of IL17/ IL23 and Th17 cells. Thus, 3-O-CQA affords a therapeutic strategy for the management of collagen-induced arthritis. Keywords: Arthriti; Periploca forrestii Schltr extract; 3-O-Caffeoylquinic acid; Interleukin (IL)-17; IL-23; Th17 cell

Dipole-tunable interfacial engineering strategy for high-performance all-inorganic red quantum-dot light-emitting diodes

All-inorganic quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes (AI-QLEDs) with excellent stability received enormous interest in the past few years. Nevertheless, the vast energy offset and the high trap density at the NiOX/QDs interface limit hole injection leading to fluorescence quenching and hampering the performance. Here, we present self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with phosphonic acid (PA) anchoring groups modifying NiOX hole transport layer (HTL) to tune energy level and passivate trap states. This strategy facilitates hole injection owning to the well-aligned energy level by interface dipole, downshifting the vacuum level, reducing the hole injection barrier from 0.94 eV to 0.28 eV. Meanwhile, it mitigates the interfacial recombination by passivating surface hydroxyl group (-OH) and oxygen vacancy (VO) traps in NiOX. The electron leakage from QDs toward NiOX HTL is significantly suppressed. The all-inorganic R-QLEDs exhibit one of the highest maximum luminance, external quantum efficiency and operational lifetime of 88980 cd m−2, 10.3% and 335045 h (T50@100 cd m−2), respectively. The as-proposed interface engineering provides an effective design principle for high-performance AI-QLEDs for future outdoor and optical projection-type display applications

Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago

Considerable attention has been paid to dating the earliest appearance of hominins outside Africa. The earliest skeletal and artefactual evidence for the genus Homo in Asia currently comes from Dmanisi, Georgia, and is dated to approximately 1.77-1.85 million years ago (Ma)(1). Two incisors that may belong to Homo erectus come from Yuanmou, south China, and are dated to 1.7 Ma(2); the next-oldest evidence is an H. erectus cranium from Lantian (Gongwangling)-which has recently been dated to 1.63 Ma(3) and the earliest hominin fossils from the Sangiran dome in Java, which are dated to about 1.5-1.6 Ma(4). Artefacts from Majuangou III5 and Shangshazui(6) in the Nihewan basin, north China, have also been dated to 1.6-1.7 Ma. Here we report an Early Pleistocene and largely continuous artefact sequence from Shangchen, which is a newly discovered Palaeolithic locality of the southern Chinese Loess Plateau, near Gongwangling in Lantian county. The site contains 17 artefact layers that extend from palaeosol S15-dated to approximately 1.26 Ma-to loess L28, which we date to about 2.12 Ma. This discovery implies that hominins left Africa earlier than indicated by the evidence from Dmanisi

Research Progress of Different Acupuncture and Moxibustion Methods in the Treatment of GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease)

Over the past decade, there have been many clinical reports on acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of gastro esophageal reflux disease, which has been an increasing trend year by year. The authors use "acupuncture", "acupuncture and moxibustion" or "electric acupuncture" and "GERD" or "gastro esophageal reflux disease" as key words for retrieval. Through the clinical articles on acupuncture and moxibustion methods in the treatment of GERD indexed by China CNKI academic literature database, VPCS database and Wanfang database from 2006 to 2016, we find that: acupuncture and moxibustion methods in the treatment of GERD has definite curative effect and outstanding advantages. It can better improve the symptoms of patients and can effectively improve their quality of life. At present, in clinical applications, there are treatment ideas such as the method of acupuncture on governor vessel back segment, the old ten needles, and compatibility of five meridians in the aspect of acupoint selection; there are treatment ideas such as fire acupuncture, thread-embedding, and electric acupuncture in the aspect of method of needling and moxibustion; there are treatment ideas such as acupuncture and moxibustion combined with pinellia ternate Xiexin Decoction, Chinese herb bath, deanxit (flupentixol and melitracen tablets) in the aspect of acupuncture and medicinal treatment. This paper comb integration of the current variety of therapies, in order to allow readers to obtain a more comprehensive clinical diagnosis and treatment ideas of gastro esophageal reflux disease

Etude technologique de l'industrie lithique du site de Guanyindong dans la province du Guizhou, sud-ouest de la Chine

La méthode technologique n'ayant jamais été appliquée aux industries lithiques chinoises, ce travail représente un essai de recherche en appliquant cette méthode sur l'industrie lithique du site de Guanyindong dans la province du Guizhou, sud-ouest de la Chine.L'approche analytique repose sur la notion de chaîne opératoire , de schème opératoire et sur les deux aspects différents et interdépendants : techno-psychologie et techno-économie. L'analyse techno-psychologique, basée sur les schémas diacritiques, a permis de mettre en évidence les connaissances techniques mises en œuvre au cours de débitage, ce qui a permis d'attribuer le système technique de production au système C en termes de structure additionnelle des nucléus. L'analyse techno-économie a démontré qu'il n'existe ni d'économie de débitage, ni d'économie des matières premières dans cette industrie lithique et que l'objectif de la chaîne opératoire est de produire des outils à bords convergents et à fil tranchant en sélectionnant et transformant une structure fondamentale identique sur les supports sélectionnés, sans contrôle strict ni différenciation de la morphologie des supports. Les comparaisons des industries lithiques chinoises et celles des autres régions du monde ont mis en évidence une unité à l'échelle de la Chine et permis de constater que le concept Levallois, malgré son importante aire d'extension, n'est pas entré dans les industries lithiques chinoises, ce qui représente une différence marquée entre les deux continents.The technological method having never been applied on the lithic industries of China, this study represent a tentative research of applying this method on the lithic industry of the site Guanyindong, in the province of Guizhou, south-west of China. The analytical approachesare based on the notions of the chaîne opératoire , the operative scheme and on two different and interdependent aspects: techno-psychology and techno-economy. The techno-psychological analysis, based on the diacritical diagram , indicated that the technical system of the lithic production of the site Guanyindong could be determined as the system C in terms of the additional structure of the cores. The techno-economical analysis revealed that the economy of débitage and the economy of raw materials don't exist in this lithic industry and the objective of the chaîne opératoire was to product the tools with convergent edges and the tools with straight edges by selecting and transforming a fundamental identical structure on the selected blank, without strictly controlling or differentiating the morphology of the blanks. The comparative analysis between the lithic industries of China and those of other regions in the world revealed an identity withinChina and demonstrated that the concept of Levallois, despite its extension in large scale in other regions, didn't enter the Chinese technique systems of prehistoric lithic production, which constitute a notable difference between these two continents.NANTERRE-PARIS10-Bib. élec. (920509901) / SudocSudocFranceF