Chinese and North American Culture: a New Perspective in Linguistics Studies

We explored the two cultures in the two countries. There has been discussed on Chinese culture and North American culture. Chinese language, ceramics, architecture, music, dance, literature, martial arts, cuisine, visual arts, philosophy, business etiquette, religion, politics, and history have global influence, while its traditions and festivals are also celebrated, instilled, and practiced by people around the world. The culture of North America refers to the arts and other manifestations of human activities and achievements from the continent of North America. The American way of life or simply the American way is the unique lifestyle of the people of the United States of America. It refers to a nationalist ethos that adheres to the principle of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

Increased immune response elicited by DNA vaccination with a synthetic gp120 sequence with optimized codon usage

DNA vaccination elicits humoral and cellular immune responses and has been shown to confer protection against several viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens. Here we report that optimized codon usage of an injected DNA sequence considerably increases both humoral and cellular immune responses. We recently generated a synthetic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 sequence in which most wild-type codons were replaced with codons from highly expressed human genes (syngp120). In vitro expression of syngp120 is considerably increased in comparison to that of the respective wild-type sequence. In BALB/c mice, DNA immunization with syngp120 resulted in significantly increased antibody titers and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte reactivity, suggesting a direct correlation between expression levels and the immune response. Moreover, syngp120 is characterized by rev-independent expression and a low risk of recombination with viral sequences. Thus, synthetic genes with optimized codon usage represent a novel strategy to increase the efficacy and safety of DNA vaccination

Sub-50 fs compressed pulses from a graphene-mode locked fiber laser

We demonstrate a graphene mode-locked fiber laser system generating 42 fs pulses with 53 mW output power, ideal for high temporal resolution applications

Gut microbiota regulates circadian oscillation in hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury‑induced cognitive impairment by interfering with hippocampal lipid metabolism in mice

Abstract Background: Hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a common complication of liver surgery, which can lead to extrahepatic metabolic disorders, such as cognitive impairment. Recent observations have emphasized the critical effects of gut microbial metabolites in regulating the development of liver injury. Herein, we investigated the potential contribution of gut microbiota to HIRI-related cognitive impairment. Methods: HIRI murine models were established by ischemia–reperfusion surgery in the morning (ZT0, 08:00) and evening (ZT12, 20:00), respectively. Antibiotic-induced pseudo-germ-free mice were gavaged with fecal bacteria of the HIRI models. Behavioral test was used to assess cognitive function. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomics were used for microbial and hippocampal analysis. Results: Our results established that cognitive impairment caused by HIRI underwent diurnal oscillations; HIRI mice performed poorly on the Y-maze test and the novel object preference test when surgery occurred in the evening compared with the morning. In addition, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from the ZT12-HIRI was demonstrated to induce cognitive impairment behavior. The specific composition and metabolites of gut microbiota were analyzed between the ZT0-HIRI and ZT12-HIRI, and bioinformatic analysis showed that the differential fecal metabolites were significantly enriched in lipid metabolism pathways. After FMT, the hippocampal lipid metabolome between the P-ZT0-HIRI and P-ZT12-HIRI groups was analyzed to reveal a series of lipid molecules with significant differences. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that gut microbiota are involved in circadian differences of HIRI-related cognitive impairment by affecting hippocampal lipid metabolism

Catalytic furfural hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol over Cu/SiO2 catalysts: A comparative study of the preparation methods

Furfuryl alcohol, a vital intermediate for the production of foundry resins, fragrances, pharmaceuticals and pesticide, is produced by hydrogenation of furfural in gas phase or liquid phase. The furfuryl alcohol production in gas phase over silica supported copper catalyst is favored thanks to the environmental and technical advantages. The effect of preparation methods of silica supported copper catalysts on the structure and performance was investigated by means of ICP, N-2 physisorption, ex-situ/in-situ XRD, in-situ XPS, FT-1R, H-2-TPR, TEM, N20 titration, TG as well as furfural hydrogenation. The results indicated that the different catalyst synthesis strategies led to the diverse copper species in the calcined samples and disparate Cu-0 surface area as well as different molar ratio of Cu+/(Cu+ + Cu-0) in the fresh samples. The performance of impregnation derived sample was poorer than that of commercial CuCr-Strem catalyst. The catalysts prepared by deposition precipitation and ion exchange exhibited similar performance to the CuCr-Strem. The ammonia evaporation derived catalyst (Cu/SiO2-EA) showed superior performance in the activity, selectivity and stability among all the studied catalysts. The excellent performance was related to the highest surface area of Cu-0, smallest copper particle size, large surface area and pore volume as well as appropriate higher Cu+/(Cu+ + Cu-0) ratio. Furthermore, all the copper catalysts went through deactivation, which was caused by carbon deposition, during the reaction. Owing to the largest amount of Cu-0 sites and large S-BET, the Cu/SiO2-EA exhibited the slowest deactivation rate

[南盘江盆地八渡辉绿岩斜锆石和锆石U-Pb年龄及其地质意义]

International audienceThe Nanpanjiang basin is the biggest terrigenous clasitic basin developed on the southwest margin of the South China block. The tectonic setting of the Nanpanjiang Basin during its formation, the onset time and the mechanism of the basin's opening have been long debated. These debates obstruct our understanding on the evolution of the Indochina orogen. Inside the Nanpanjiang basin, in addition to the Triassic deposition, some Paleozoic carbonatites were also outcropped, which developed into faulted blocks of the basement during the basin stretching. Around the Paleozoic carbonate faulted blocks, some stratoid or veined diabase were outcropped. As the initial record of the basin evolution, the diabase is a perfect research target for studying the age and geodynamics of the basin's opening. In this study, the diabase samples were acquired near to Badu Town, Tianlin County, Guangxi, which is in the southeastern part of the Nanpanjiang Basin. The U-Pb dating was conducted with Cameca IMS 1280 on the baddeleyite and zircon concentrated from the diabase samples. The results yielded the weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of (269.3±4.2) Ma (N=15, MSWD=0.27) and (265.0±2.9) Ma (N=8, MSWD=0.02), respectively. This result demonstrates that the Badu diabase emplaced during the Wordian, Middle Permian (265.1~268.8 Ma), and indicates that the Nanpanjiang Basin was stretching during this period. Besides this magmatic event dated by this study, a later mafic magmatic event continued widely in the Nanpanjiang basin during the Late Permian to the Early Triassic (258~248 Ma). Sedimentologic study suggests that, from the Late Permian to the Early Triassic, the sedimentary environment of the Nanpanjiang basin changed from calci-clastic platform to turbidite fan. All these facts suggest that the Nanpanjiang Basin experienced extension during the Middle Permian to Early Triassic