Precise Sm-Nd and U-Pb isotopic dating of the supergiant Shizhuyuan polymetallic deposit and its host granite, SE China

The supergiant Shizhuyuan W-Sn-Bi-Mo deposit is hosted by the Qianlishan granite, a small, highly fractionated granitic pluton (~10 km2) with multiple phases of intrusions within the Early Yanshanian granitoid province of SE China. Strong alteration of skarn and greisen that formed in the contact zone between the first and second phases of granite intrusions and Devonian limestone is responsible for the polymetallic mineralizations. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon analysis indicates that the two early phases of the Qianlishan granite formed contemporaneously at 152 ± 2 Ma. Metasomatic minerals (garnet, fluorite and wolframite) separated from the skarn and greisen yield a Sm-Nd isochron age of 149 ± 2 Ma that is interpreted as the formation age of the Shizhuyuan deposit. Therefore, the mineralization of the supergiant Shizhuyuan polymetallic deposit formed contemporaneously with, or very shortly after, the intrusion of the small, highly fractionated Qianlishan granite. © 2004 Cambridge University Press.published_or_final_versio

Search for K_S K_L in psi'' decays

K_S K_L from psi'' decays is searched for using the psi'' data collected by BESII at BEPC, the upper limit of the branching fraction is determined to be B(psi''--> K_S K_L) < 2.1\times 10^{-4} at 90% C. L. The measurement is compared with the prediction of the S- and D-wave mixing model of the charmonia, based on the measurements of the branching fractions of J/psi-->K_S K_L and psi'-->K_S K_L.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

STAT Is an Essential Activator of the Zygotic Genome in the Early Drosophila Embryo

In many organisms, transcription of the zygotic genome begins during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), which is characterized by a dramatic increase in global transcriptional activities and coincides with embryonic stem cell differentiation. In Drosophila, it has been shown that maternal morphogen gradients and ubiquitously distributed general transcription factors may cooperate to upregulate zygotic genes that are essential for pattern formation in the early embryo. Here, we show that Drosophila STAT (STAT92E) functions as a general transcription factor that, together with the transcription factor Zelda, induces transcription of a large number of early-transcribed zygotic genes during the MZT. STAT92E is present in the early embryo as a maternal product and is active around the MZT. DNA–binding motifs for STAT and Zelda are highly enriched in promoters of early zygotic genes but not in housekeeping genes. Loss of Stat92E in the early embryo, similarly to loss of zelda, preferentially down-regulates early zygotic genes important for pattern formation. We further show that STAT92E and Zelda synergistically regulate transcription. We conclude that STAT92E, in conjunction with Zelda, plays an important role in transcription of the zygotic genome at the onset of embryonic development

Functional Identification of Neuroprotective Molecules

The central nervous system has the capacity to activate profound neuroprotection following sub-lethal stress in a process termed preconditioning. To gain insight into this potent survival response we developed a functional cloning strategy that identified 31 putative neuroprotective genes of which 28 were confirmed to provide protection against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) or excitotoxic exposure to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in primary rat cortical neurons. These results reveal that the brain possesses a wide and diverse repertoire of neuroprotective genes. Further characterization of these and other protective signals could provide new treatment opportunities for neurological injury from ischemia or neurodegenerative disease

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

Detection of human bocavirus from children and adults with acute respiratory tract illness in Guangzhou, southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a newly discovered parvovirus associated with acute respiratory tract illness (ARTI) and gastrointestinal illness. Our study is the first to analyze the characteristics of HBoV-positive samples from ARTI patients with a wide age distribution from Guangzhou, southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Throat swabs (n=2811) were collected and analyzed from children and adults with ARTI over a 13-month period. The HBoV complete genome from a 60 year-old female patient isolate was also determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HBoV DNA was detected in 65/2811 (2.3%) samples, of which 61/1797 were from children (<18 years old) and 4/1014 from adults (≥18 years old). Seasonal peaks of 4.8% and 7.7% were detected in May and June, respectively. 28 of 65 (43.1%) HBoV-positive samples were co-detected with 11/16 other potential pathogens. <it>Mycoplasma pneumoniae </it>had the highest frequency of 16.9% (11/65). Upper and lower respiratory tract illness were common symptoms, with 19/65 (29.2%) patients diagnosed with pneumonia by chest radiography. All four adult patients had systemic influenza-like symptoms. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome revealed a close relationship with other HBoVs, and a more distant relationship with HBoV2 and HBoV3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HBoV was detected from children and adults with ARTI from Guangzhou, southern China. Elderly people were also susceptive to HBoV. A single lineage of HBoV was detected among a wide age distribution of patients with ARTI.</p

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

China’s private institutions for the education of health professionals: a time-series analysis from 1998 to 2012

Abstract Background Public institutions have been the major provider of education for health professionals in China for most of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, the Chinese government began to encourage the establishment of private education institutions, which have been steadily increasing in numbers over the past decade. However, there is a lack of authoritative data on these institutions and little has been published in international journals on the current status of private education of health professionals in China. In light of this knowledge gap, we performed a quantitative analysis of private institutions in China that offer higher education of health professionals. Methods Using previously unreleased national data provided by the Ministry of Education of China, we conducted time-series and descriptive analyses to study the scale, structure and educational resources from 1998 to 2012 of private institutions for health professional education. Results The number of private institutions that educate health professionals increased from two in 1999 to 123 in 2012. Private institutions displayed an average annual growth rate of 44.2% for enrolment, 59.0% for the number of students and 53.3% for the number of graduates. In 2012, nursing, clinical medicine and traditional Chinese medicine had the most students (37.2%, 32.8% and 8.9% respectively), representing 78.9% of all students in these institutions. Ninety-seven private institutions located in the more economically advantaged eastern and central China and only 26 ones were in the less economically advantaged western China, respectively turning out 85.2% and 14.8% of health professional graduates. There were less educational resources, such as the number of faculty members, physical space and assets, at private institutions than at public institutions. Conclusions Private institutions for the education of health professionals have emerged quickly in China, contributing to the demand for health professionals that exceeds what public institutions are able to offer. At the same time, the imbalance of geographical distribution and poor educational resources of private institutions are of concern. It may be of utmost importance to enhance administration and supervision to better regulate private institutions and their development plans. Future studies may be needed to better examine the effects of private institutions on the production and allocation of health workers.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145446/1/12960_2018_Article_308.pd