Preparation of Graphene/TiO 2

The graphene (GR) was prepared by an improved electrochemical stripping method using a high-purity graphite rod as raw material and high temperature heat reduction in hydrogen atmosphere, and the graphene/TiO2 (GR/TiO2) composite nanomaterials were manufactured by the method of sol-gel and high temperature crystallization in hydrogen atmosphere using butyl titanate and electrolysis graphene as precursors. The physical and chemical properties of the composites had been characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM),  and specific surface area (SSA) by BET method. The photocatalytic properties of GR/TiO2 composites nanomaterials in anoxic water were studied by using 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) as probe. The results showed that graphite was well intercalated and peeled by a facile electrolysis method in different electric field environment; a well dispersed and rings structure of graphene was prepared by coupling ultrasound-assisted changing voltage electrochemical stripping technology. The as-prepared GR/TiO2 composites had good performance for the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-D in anoxic water; the chlorines were removed from benzene ring; the middle products of dichlorophenol, chlorophenol, phloroglucinol, and so forth were produced from the photocatalytic redox reaction of 2,4-D in anoxic water; parts of 2,4-D were decomposed completely, and CO2 and H2O were produced

Original Article Expression of CDKN1A/p21 and TGFBR2 in breast cancer and their prognostic significance

Abstract: Background: A new diagnostic and prognostic biomarker may be of value in cancer diseases. Our study aimed to evaluate the CDKN1A/p21 and TGFBR2 level measurable in a cohort of patients with breast cancer after mastectomy, and to confirm their suitability to serve as prognostic biomarkers of the cancer. Methods: The expression levels of CDKN1A/p21 and TGFBR2 were detected by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), western blot assay and immunohistochemical staining for 65 primary tumor samples and paired adjacent noncancerous breast tissues. Their relations to clinicopathologic parameters and to the prognosis of patients with breast cancer were analyzed. Results: We found the mRNA and protein expression levels of CDKN1A/p21 were significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissues compared with adjacent nontumorous breast tissues. Increased CDKN1A/p21 expression showed a significant correlation with larger tumor size (P=0.014), higher tumor dedifferentiation grade (P=0.021), lymph node metastasis (P=0.019) and a shorter disease-free survival (P=0.044). Contrarily, the expression levels of TGFBR2 mRNA and protein were significantly decreased in breast cancer tissues compared with adjacent nontumorous breast tissues. Underexpression of TGFBR2 in breast cancer was correlated with larger tumor size (P=0.034), lymph node metastasis (P=0.039) and a shorter disease-free survival (P=0.035). Statistical analysis suggested that there was no significant association between CDKN1A/p21 and TGFBR2 expression. Conclusions: in summary, our results suggested that high CDKN1A/p21 and low TGFBR2 expression was closely correlated with adverse pathological parameters and poor prognosis in breast cancer. Both CDKN1A/p21 and TGFBR2 are presented as possible candidates for breast cancer biomarkers

Nonlinear Analysis for the Crack Control of SMA Smart Concrete Beam Based on a Bidirectional B-Spline QR Method

A bidirectional B-spline QR method (BB-sQRM) for the study on the crack control of the reinforced concrete (RC) beam embedded with shape memory alloy (SMA) wires is presented. In the proposed method, the discretization is performed with a set of spline nodes in two directions of the plane model, and structural displacement fields are constructed by the linear combination of the products of cubic B-spline interpolation functions. To derive the elastoplastic stiffness equation of the RC beam, an explicit form is utilized to express the elastoplastic constitutive law of concrete materials. The proposed model is compared with the ANSYS model in several numerical examples. The results not only show that the solutions given by the BB-sQRM are very close to those given by the finite element method (FEM) but also prove the high efficiency and low computational cost of the BB-sQRM. Meanwhile, the five parameters, such as depth-span ratio, thickness of concrete cover, reinforcement ratio, prestrain, and eccentricity of SMA wires, are investigated to learn their effects on the crack control. The results show that depth-span ratio of RC beams and prestrain and eccentricity of SMA wires have a significant influence on the control performance of beam cracks

Insomnia partially mediated the association between problematic Internet use and depression among secondary school students in China

This study aims to examine the mediating effects of insomnia on the associations between problematic Internet use, including Internet addiction (IA) and online social networking addiction (OSNA), and depression among adolescents. Methods A total of 1,015 secondary school students from Guangzhou in China participated in a cross-sectional survey. Levels of depression, insomnia, IA, and OSNA were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire, and Online Social Networking Addiction Scale, respectively. Logistic regression models were fit to test the associations between IA, OSNA, insomnia, and depression. The mediation effects of insomnia were tested using Baron and Kenny’s strategy. Results The prevalence of depression at moderate level or above (CES-D ≥ 21), insomnia, IA, and OSNA were 23.5%, 37.2%, 8.1%, and 25.5%, respectively. IA and OSNA were significantly associated with depression (IA: AOR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.71, 4.55; OSNA: AOR = 3.27, 95% CI: 2.33, 4.59) and insomnia (IA: AOR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.72, 4.65; OSNA: AOR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.61, 2.96), after adjusting for significant background factors. Furthermore, insomnia partially mediated 60.6% of the effect of IA on depression (Sobel Z = 3.562, p < .002) and 44.8% of the effect of OSNA on depression (Sobel Z = 3.919, p < .001), respectively. Discussion The high prevalence of IA and OSNA may be associated with increased risk of developing depression among adolescents, both through direct and indirect effects (via insomnia). Findings from this study indicated that it may be effective to develop and implement interventions that jointly consider the problematic Internet use, insomnia, and depression

Persistent exchange splitting in the chiral helimagnet Cr_1/3NbS₂

Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculation, we systematically investigate the electronic structure of the chiral helimagnet Cr1/3NbS2 and its temperature evolution. The comparison with NbS2 suggests that the electronic structure of Cr1/3NbS2 is strongly modified by the intercalation of Cr atoms. Our ab initio calculation, consistent with experimental results, suggests strong hybridization between Nb- and Cr-derived states near the Fermi level. In the chiral helimagnetic state (below the Curie temperature, Tc), we observe exchange splitting of the energy bands crossing the Fermi level, which follows the temperature evolution of the magnetic moment, suggesting a strong interaction between the conduction electrons and Cr spin moments. Interestingly, the exchange splitting persists far above Tc with weak temperature dependence, in drastic contrast to the itinerant ferromagnetism described by the Stoner model, indicating the existence of short-range magnetic order. Our results provide important insights into the interplay between the electronic structure and magnetism in Cr1/3NbS2, which is helpful for understanding the microscopic mechanism of chiral helimagnetic ordering

Vertical Transmission of Wolbachia Is Associated With Host Vitellogenin in Laodelphax striatellus

Wolbachia in host germ lines are essential for their vertical transmission to the next generation. It is unclear how the regulation of host oocyte development influences Wolbachia location and the mechanistic basis of transmission. Here, we investigated whether vitellogenin influences Wolbachia transmission in Laodelphax striatellus. Wolbachia increased in density and spread from the anterior tropharium to developing oocytes as ovaries developed. Microscopic observations indicated that Wolbachia invaded ovarioles from the tropharium of its anterior side rather than the pedicel side. Wolbachia utilized the host Vg transovarial transportation system to enter the ovaries and were transmitted from the tropharium into the developing oocytes through nutritive cords. These observations were supported by knocking down the Vg transcript, in which low Wolbachia titers were detected in ovaries and fewer Wolbachia were transmitted into oocytes. Our findings establish a link between the Vg-related mode of transovarial transmission and efficient maternal transmission of Wolbachia

A simulation study on the measurement of D0-D0bar mixing parameter y at BES-III

We established a method on measuring the \dzdzb mixing parameter $y$ for BESIII experiment at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ collider. In this method, the doubly tagged $\psi(3770) \to D^0 \overline{D^0}$ events, with one $D$ decays to CP-eigenstates and the other $D$ decays semileptonically, are used to reconstruct the signals. Since this analysis requires good $e/\pi$ separation, a likelihood approach, which combines the $dE/dx$, time of flight and the electromagnetic shower detectors information, is used for particle identification. We estimate the sensitivity of the measurement of $y$ to be 0.007 based on a $20fb^{-1}$ fully simulated MC sample.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Measurements of psi(2S) decays to octet baryon-antibaryon pairs

With a sample of 14 million psi(2S) events collected by the BESII detector at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC), the decay channels psi(2S)->p p-bar, Lambda Lambda-bar, Sigma0 Sigma0-bar, Xi Xi-bar are measured, and their branching ratios are determined to be (3.36+-0.09+-0.24)*10E-4, (3.39+-0.20+-0.32)*10E-4, (2.35+-0.36+-0.32)*10E-4, (3.03+-0.40+-0.32)*10E-4, respectively. In the decay psi(2S)->p p-bar, the angular distribution parameter alpha is determined to be 0.82+-0.17+-0.04.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Search for the Rare Decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e, J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e, and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e-

We report on a search for the decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c., J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c., and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e- + c.c. in a sample of 5.8 * 10^7 J/Psi events collected with the BESII detector at the BEPC. No excess of signal above background is observed, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions are set: B(J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c.)<4.8*10^-5, B(J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c.) D0bar e+ e- + c.c.)<1.1*10^-5Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Partial Wave Analysis of χc0→π+π−K+K−\chi_{c0}\to\pi^+\pi^-K^+K^-

A partial wave analysis of $\chi_{c0}\to\pi^+\pi^-K^+K^-$ in $\psi(2S)\to\gamma\chi_{c0}$ decay is presented using a sample of 14 million $\psi(2S)$ events accumulated by the BES II detector. The data are fitted to the sum of relativistic covariant tensor amplitudes for intermediate resonant decay modes. From the fit, significant contributions to $\chi_{c0}$ decays from the channels $f_0(980)f_0(980)$, $f_0(980)f_0(2200)$, $f_0(1370)f_0(1710)$, $K^*(892)^0\bar K^*(892)^0$, $K^*_0(1430)\bar K^*_0(1430)$, $K^*_0(1430)\bar K^*_2(1430) + c.c.$, and $K_1(1270)K$ are found. Flavor-SU(3)-violating $K_1(1270)-K_1(1400)$ asymmetry is observed. Values obtained for the masses and widths of the resonances $f_0(1710)$, $f_0(2200)$, $f_0(1370)$, and $K^*_0(1430)$ are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, and 4 table