C-E Interpreting of Political Neologisms in Light of Searle’s Network-background Theory

Searle believes that language meaning is determined by intentional states, and is hugely influenced by social rules and communicators’ mental capabilities, concluding his Network-Background Theory in his discussion of Intentionality. Contemporary Chinese political discourse has its own distinctiveness, and is especially featured by increasing political neologisms, posing difficulties for interpreters and for China’s international publicity. Interpreting of Chinese political neologisms, also for the purpose of conveying language meaning can gain guidance from Searle’s Network-Background Theory. This paper elaborates through exemplification on strategies for interpreting political neologisms in light of Searle’s theory

DEVELOPMENT OF A PASSIVE SAMPLING STRATEGY FOR MONITORING OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AND THEIR IMPACTS IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS

Anthropogenic organic compounds are constantly released into the freshwater environment, demanding a better knowledge of the chemical status of our Earth’s surface waters and sediments. Conventional water quality monitoring only provides “snapshots” of information in time and space. Passive sampling has been proposed as an in-situ time integrative sampling technique to offer better monitoring of the chemical status of our environment. In this thesis, the diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) technique is introduced because the DGT passive sampler allows for assessing time-weighted average concentrations of various organic contaminants with minimal hydrodynamic influence. This thesis first reviewed the available literature on the potential limitations of DGT samplers. This review summarized the current configurations of the DGT samplers for organics, storage stability of analytes in DGT samplers, kinetic desorption of organic contaminants in sediments and at the interface of water and sediment, and combinations of DGT samplers and bioassays. This review identified two critical gaps: (i) there are only limited studies for desorption kinetics of organic contaminants, especially for hydrophilic to moderately hydrophobic compounds, at the interface of water and sediment; and (ii) there are no studies so far for predicting bioavailability in aquatic biota by in situ DGT technique. Based on these gaps, the objectives of this thesis are to (1) develop DGT samplers that can be applied for the monitoring of organic contaminants across the water-sediment interface in the field with an efficient time; (2) describe the kinetic equilibrium of compounds between sediments and overlying water using a dynamic model; and (3) use DGT-derived concentrations to predict bioaccumulation of organic contaminants by invertebrates through in-situ and laboratory-controlled experiments. First, this research conducted a 30-day laboratory simulation experiment, where DGT samplers were tested for adsorption performance and then were deployed in sediments spiked with nine model antipsychotic compounds, i.e., amitriptyline, bupropion, carbamazepine, citalopram, clozapine, duloxetine, fluoxetine, lamotrigine, and venlafaxine. A dynamic model, DGT-induced fluxes in soils and sediments (DIFS), was used to reveal the dynamic resupply processes of organic contaminants from the solid phase to the aqueous phase. This experiment showed that antipsychotics could be continuously depleted from the sediment aqueous phase and captured by the DGT binding gel. The highest resupply ability was observed for lamotrigine and carbamazepine. The adsorption process took control of the spiked sediments under laboratory conditions during incubation time. Second, DGT devices were in situ deployed at the sedimentwater interface and in sediments, downstream of the Saskatoon Wastewater Treatment Plant, on the South Saskatchewan River. Apart from the DIFS model, a dynamic fraction transfer model was also developed to consider the real status of organic contaminants in sediments during field deployment. The field experiment revealed that positive fluxes of antipsychotics were found from sediment to overlying water and the desorption process was dominant within a 15 cm depth of sediments. The results from the three-fraction transfer model can be auxiliary to further explain dynamic desorption kinetics calculated by the DIFS model. Third, another 30-day laboratory-controlled experiment, where the benthic oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus was exposed to freshwater sediments spiked with nine antipsychotic compounds, and DGT samplers were synchronously deployed, was conducted to develop a numerical model for passive bioaccumulation using DGT-derived concentrations. Passive uptake of antipsychotic compounds by the benthic oligochaetes could be successfully modeled by inputting the diffusion-induced concentrations measured by DGT samplers in water and sediments. Fast desorption to the labile fraction of analytes in a short response time accounted for the process of uptake by oligochaetes. Fourth, DGT devices were in situ deployed at a wastewater-impacted site for 20 days to develop a predictive bioaccumulation model by comparison between the modeled concentration using DGT-derived concentrations in water and those in resident benthic invertebrates, specifically crayfish (Faxonius virilis). The results showed that targeted antipsychotics could be constantly resupplied to the interstitial water and absorbed by crayfish. DGT techniques with a steady-state uptake model in the current study for crayfish could provide a close prediction compared to the measured concentrations for some compounds while it still needs further developments to predict different organic compounds. This thesis has the potential to transform the DGT technique to efficiently monitor emerging contaminants and evaluate their bioavailability in the aquatic cycle, and help protect the safety of our water resources for human and environmental health

Cognitive behavioral therapies for insomnia and hypnotic medications : considerations and controversies

- Insomnia is a prevalent and costly health problem that often remains untreated or is treated inadequately. There are, however, several evidence-based treatment options, including cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) and pharmacologic therapies, each with its own advantages and limitations. - Medications with specific indications for insomnia produce rapid symptomatic relief, but there is little to no evidence that sleep improvements are maintained after drug discontinuation or long-term, continued usage. Conversely, CBT takes longer than drugs to produce sleep improvements, but these improvements are well sustained over time. - Aside from their short-term and long-term benefits, other key considerations need to be taken into account when selecting among the different insomnia therapies. These include patients’ treatment preferences, how best to deliver CBT, whether to combine or sequence CBTs and medication therapies, and who should treat insomnia. These considerations may have a significant impact on efficacy, compliance, attrition, and access to treatment. - Several innovative treatment delivery methods relying on digital technology are increasingly used to treat insomnia. Although these self-help approaches may reduce cost and human resources and increase access, an important shortcoming is the high attrition rate during the course of these self-guided approaches. - The publications of clinical practice guidelines by several international medical and sleep organizations have reached the same recommendation, that is, CBT should be the first-line treatment of insomnia, and only when such treatment is not available or not effective should medication be considered for treating persistent insomnia. It is hoped that such strong and uniform endorsement by the medical and sleep community will help narrow the current gap between the available research evidence and clinical practices

Sleep disturbances during the menopausal transition : the role of sleep reactivity and arousal predisposition

Background Sleep disturbances are common during the menopausal transition and several factors can contribute to this increased incidence. This study examined the association between sleep reactivity, arousal predisposition, sleep disturbances, and menopause. Methods Data for this study were derived from a longitudinal, population-based study on the natural history of insomnia. A total of 873 women (40–60 years) were divided into two groups according to their menopausal status at baseline: reproductive (n = 408) and postmenopausal (n = 465). Participants were evaluated annually throughout the five-year follow-up period. Four questionnaires were used to examine sleep quality, insomnia severity, sleep reactivity, and arousal predisposition. The data were analyzed using two approaches: cross-sectional with a multivariate analysis and binary regression, and longitudinal with a linear mixed models using menopausal groups (3) x time (5) design. Results Cross-sectional analyses showed that postmenopausal women reported significantly more severe insomnia and poorer sleep quality than reproductive women. Sleep reactivity and arousal predisposition were significant predictors of sleep disturbances. Longitudinal analyses revealed increased sleep disturbances in the two years before and after the menopausal transition. Sleep reactivity and arousal predisposition did not moderate the temporal relationship between menopausal transition and sleep disturbances. Conclusion More sleep disturbances were reported during the menopausal transition, but those difficulties were not explained by sleep reactivity and arousal predisposition. These results suggest the involvement of other psychophysiological factors in the development of sleep disturbances during the menopause

Kinetic Modelling and Experimental Studies for the Effects of Fe2+ Ions on Xylan Hydrolysis with Dilute-Acid Pretreatment and Subsequent Enzymatic Hydrolysis

High-temperature (150–170 °C) pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with mineral acids is well established for xylan breakdown. Fe2+ is known to be a cocatalyst of this process although kinetics of its action remains unknown. The present work addresses the effect of ferrous ion concentration on sugar yield and degradation product formation from corn stover for the entire two-step treatment, including the subsequent enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis. The feedstock was impregnated with 0.5% acid and 0.75 mM iron cocatalyst, which was found to be optimal in preliminary experiments. The detailed kinetic data of acid pretreatment, with and without iron, was satisfactorily modelled with a four-step linear sequence of first-order irreversible reactions accounting for the formation of xylooligomers, xylose and furfural as intermediates to provide the values of Arrhenius activation energy. Based on this kinetic modelling, Fe2+ turned out to accelerate all four reactions, with a significant alteration of the last two steps, that is, xylose degradation. Consistent with this model, the greatest xylan conversion occurred at the highest severity tested under 170 °C/30 min with 0.75 mM Fe2+, with a total of 8% xylan remaining in the pretreated solids, whereas the operational conditions leading to the highest xylose monomer yield, 63%, were milder, 150 °C with 0.75 mM Fe2+ for 20 min. Furthermore, the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with the prior addition of 0.75 mM of iron(II) increased the glucose production to 56.3% from 46.3% in the control (iron-free acid). The detailed analysis indicated that conducting the process at lower temperatures yet long residence times benefits the yield of sugars. The above kinetic modelling results of Fe2+ accelerating all four reactions are in line with our previous mechanistic research showing that the pretreatment likely targets multiple chemistries in plant cell wall polymer networks, including those represented by the C–O–C and C–H bonds in cellulose, resulting in enhanced sugar solubilization and digestibility

Atomic-scale observation of localized phonons at FeSe/SrTiO3 interface

In single unit-cell FeSe grown on SrTiO3, the superconductivity transition temperature features a significant enhancement. Local phonon modes at the interface associated with electron-phonon coupling may play an important role in the interface-induced enhancement. However, such phonon modes have eluded direct experimental observations. Indeed, the complicated atomic structure of the interface brings challenges to obtain the accurate structure-phonon relation knowledge from either experiment or theory, thus hindering our understanding of the enhancement mechanism. Here, we achieve direct characterizations of atomic structure and phonon modes at the FeSe/SrTiO3 interface with atomically resolved imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope. We find several phonon modes highly localized (~1.3 nm) at the unique double layer Ti-O termination at the interface, one of which (~ 83 meV) engages in strong interactions with the electrons in FeSe based on ab initio calculations. The electron-phonon coupling strength for such a localized interface phonon with short-range interactions is comparable to that of Fuchs-Kliewer (FK) phonon mode with long-rang interactions. Thus, our atomic-scale study provides new insights into understanding the origin of superconductivity enhancement at the FeSe/SrTiO3 interface

High-conductive protonated layered oxides from H2O vapor-annealed brownmillerites

Protonated 3d transition-metal oxides often display low electronic conduction, which hampers their application in electric, magnetic, thermoelectric, and catalytic fields. Electronic conduction can be enhanced by co-inserting oxygen acceptors simultaneously. However, the currently used redox approaches hinder protons and oxygen ions co-insertion due to the selective switching issues. Here, a thermal hydration strategy for systematically exploring the synthesis of conductive protonated oxides from 3d transition-metal oxides is introduced. This strategy is illustrated by synthesizing a novel layered-oxide SrCoO3H from the brownmillerite SrCoO2.5. Compared to the insulating SrCoO2.5, SrCoO3H exhibits an unprecedented high electronic conductivity above room temperature, water uptake at 250 °C, and a thermoelectric power factor of up to 1.2 mW K-2 m-1 at 300 K. These findings open up opportunities for creating high-conductive protonated layered oxides by protons and oxygen ions co-doping.CC acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities under the “Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-024947-I.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Generation of the first BAC-based physical map of the common carp genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Common carp (<it>Cyprinus carpio</it>), a member of Cyprinidae, is the third most important aquaculture species in the world with an annual global production of 3.4 million metric tons, accounting for nearly 14% of the all freshwater aquaculture production in the world. Apparently genomic resources are needed for this species in order to study its performance and production traits. In spite of much progress, no physical maps have been available for common carp. The objective of this project was to generate a BAC-based physical map using fluorescent restriction fingerprinting.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>The first generation of common carp physical map was constructed using four- color High Information Content Fingerprinting (HICF). A total of 72,158 BAC clones were analyzed that generated 67,493 valid fingerprints (5.5 × genome coverage). These BAC clones were assembled into 3,696 contigs with the average length of 476 kb and a N50 length of 688 kb, representing approximately 1.76 Gb of the common carp genome. The largest contig contained 171 BAC clones with the physical length of 3.12 Mb. There are 761 contigs longer than the N50, and these contigs should be the most useful resource for future integrations with linkage map and whole genome sequence assembly. The common carp physical map is available at <url>http://genomics.cafs.ac.cn/fpc/WebAGCoL/Carp/WebFPC/</url>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The reported common carp physical map is the first physical map of the common carp genome. It should be a valuable genome resource facilitating whole genome sequence assembly and characterization of position-based genes important for aquaculture traits.</p

Inside-out Ca2+ signalling prompted by STIM1 conformational switch

Store-operated Ca(2+) entry mediated by STIM1 and ORAI1 constitutes one of the major Ca(2+) entry routes in mammalian cells. The molecular choreography of STIM1–ORAI1 coupling is initiated by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) store depletion with subsequent oligomerization of the STIM1 ER-luminal domain, followed by its redistribution towards the plasma membrane to gate ORAI1 channels. The mechanistic underpinnings of this inside-out Ca(2+) signalling were largely undefined. By taking advantage of a unique gain-of-function mutation within the STIM1 transmembrane domain (STIM1-TM), here we show that local rearrangement, rather than alteration in the oligomeric state of STIM1-TM, prompts conformational changes in the cytosolic juxtamembrane coiled-coil region. Importantly, we further identify critical residues within the cytoplasmic domain of STIM1 (STIM1-CT) that entail autoinhibition. On the basis of these findings, we propose a model in which STIM1-TM reorganization switches STIM1-CT into an extended conformation, thereby projecting the ORAI-activating domain to gate ORAI1 channels