Enhanced critical current density of MgB2 superconductor synthesized in high magnetic fields

The effect of high magnetic fields on the current carrying properties of both MgB2 bulks and Fe-sheathed tapes was investigated following different thermal sequences. It is found that application of a large magnetic field during processing results in the quite uniform microstructure and the better connectivity between the MgB2 grains. As a result, the Jc of these samples has shown much higher value than that of the MgB2 samples in the absence of magnetic field. The possible mechanism of the Jc enhancement under an external magnetic field is also discussed.Comment: Presented at ISS2005, Tsukuba, 24-26 Oct., 2005; Revised versio

The Code

In Chapter 1 - Beauty of Pain, I discuss references, including Chinese philosophy, literature, myth and the reflection of social issues, to present the highly complex intertwining background of foot-binding. In Chapter 2- ‘Chan’ Project, I display notions of different western philosophers and artists, in order to further discuss my artistic practice and research method. I will combine my art proceeding with each subheadings in the following sections to demonstrate my thoughts and practice. Foot-binding was unique to females of late imperial China. However, the concept and practice of enduring violence and pain, mutilation and self-mutilation in the name of beauty can be found in almost every culture and civilization, i.e. circumcision in Africa, the long-necked tribe of Thailand, the girdle in Europe etc. Therefore, developments regarding foot-binding may not simply be interpreted as Chinese women under repression waking up to revolt against patriarchal society. In other words, foot-binding requires a cross cultural and interdisciplinary perspective. An examination of the practice in the context of history, literature, linguistics, and psychoanalysis is crucial to comprehensive understanding of this cultural fetish. Although, despite the way in which this culture has influenced China for thousands of years, there are now few women alive who have had their feet bound. According to Wang Ping,in ‘1966, the year Mao Zedong launched the Culture Revolution to fight against the remaining powers of feudalism, capitalism, and revisionism in China’, everything changed. After the revolution the practice of foot-binding, which was seen as a symbol of feudal oppression of women for almost half century, began to be eliminated. Given change in the sociopolitical climate in China, the question arises: “What have we achieved from this custom of disappearance?” This is not only a critique of social political issues but also the notion of changing the national aesthetic norms, philosophy, morality, human belief, etc. My ‘Chan’ project plays on these Chinese elements. However its main purpose is to reduce the narrative from language - ‘linguistically silence’ , and shrink the distance between spectator and visual installations. In doing that I aim to break down representation at the structure base of the language (sign) itself. What we are is hidden inside language(sign), and maybe the true meaning of sings are inaccessible and indecipherable even to those who speak the language - a process of decoding and recoding. While most of my artwork is based on characteristics of Chinese culture, I am interested in the combination of both Asia and Western culture. I was born in 1987, after the Chinese political turmoil (cultural revolution), without war, people revolution, social upheaval. During the same year, Mr Deng Xiaoping advocated his comprehensive plans for recreating socialism with Chinese characteristics. Thereafter, China takes a step toward a new future, developing its economy encompasses the biggest policy decision of Chinese administration. Nowadays, people describe China as a rising and responsible global power. However, China is still a typical ‘communist’ country full of in- visible rules and control. There is no true freedom of speech or human rights. My work is based on the system of rules symbolized in Chinese elements, such as Chinese characters, oriental painting, calligraphy, etc. My project centers around control and rules. I think this notion has been a great part of my focus as an artist and is evident in almost every artwork that I have made. I often try to visualize the idea of something being controlled or something artificial, two concepts that both are based on my thought that there is an overwhelming distance (misunderstanding) between people. For this reason, I tend to question the basics as part of my research; research that has to do with finding a kind of material trace, an image or sound that can shrink the distance. I could call it a search for finding different forms of intimacy, but these words are used only as a means by which to conceal the search as a code. When using the Chinese element as a medium and questioning the characteristics of Chinese custom, I must embrace the non- narrative, because perhaps only then, could a difference be perceived, a thing learned, a kind of knowledge. Also be- cause the materiality of an interpretation (language) based medium might be destined to be parochial

Circ_0008234 regulates the biological process of gallbladder carcinoma by targeting the miR-204-5p/FGFR2 axis

Background. Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a common cancer disease with high mortality. Circular RNA_0008234 (circ_0008234) has been shown to play a key role in many tumors, including GBC. However, the function between circ_0008234 and microRNA-204-5p (miR-204-5p) in the progression of GBC has not been clarified. Methods. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expressions of circ_0008234, miR-204-5p and fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2) in GBC cells and tissues. Western blot was used to detect the expression of relative proteins. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration were detected by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, thymidine analog 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, flow cytometry, transwell assay and wound healing assay. Mechanically, the interaction of miR-2045p with circ_0008234/FGFR2 was notarized by dualluciferase reporter assay. A xenotransplantation model was established to study the role of circ_0008234 in vivo. Results. Circ_0008234 and FGFR2 were highly expressed in GBC tissues and cells. Silencing circ_0008234 down-regulated cell proliferation, migration and invasion of NOZ and SGC-996 cells, while miR-204-5p inhibitors reversed these effects. In addition, overexpression of FGFR2 restored the cell malignant behavior of GBC cells inhibited by miR-2045p mimic. Animal experiments confirmed the anti-tumor effect of silenced circ_0008234 in vivo. Conclusion: Circ_0008234 mediated GBC via the miR-204-5p/FGFR2 axis, providing a novel targeted therapy for gallbladder carcinom

Large and stable genome edits at the sorghum alpha kafirin locus result in changes in chromatin accessibility and globally increased expression of genes encoding lysine enrichment

Introduction: Sorghum is a resilient and widely cultivated grain crop used for feed and food. However, it’s grain is deficient in lysine, an essential amino acid. This is due to the primary seed storage proteins, the alpha-kafirins, lacking lysine. It has been observed that reductions in alpha-kafirin protein results in rebalancing of the seed proteome and a corresponding increase in non-kafirin proteins which leads to an increased lysine content. However, the mechanisms underlying proteome rebalancing are unclear. This study characterizes a previously developed gene edited sorghum line, with deletions at the alpha kafirin locus. Methods: A single consensus guide RNA leads to tandem deletion of multiple members of the gene family in addition to the small target site mutations in remaining genes. RNA-seq and ATAC-seq were utilized to identify changes in gene expression and chromatin accessibility in developing kernels in the absence of most alpha-kafirin expression. Results: Several differentially accessible chromatin regions and differentially expressed genes were identified. Additionally, several genes upregulated in the edited sorghum line were common with their syntenic orthologues differentially expressed in maize prolamin mutants. ATAC-seq showed enrichment of the binding motif for ZmOPAQUE 11, perhaps indicating the transcription factor’s involvement in the kernel response to reduced prolamins. Discussion: Overall, this study provides a resource of genes and chromosomal regions which may be involved in sorghum’s response to reduced seed storage proteins and the process of proteome rebalancing

Study on vibration characteristics of ship mining system under composite load

The load that borne by ship mining system is very complex. The vibration of lifting pipe can be significantly affected by ocean current and wind load, which has a key impact on material lifting, ore bin storage and ship towing. Considering the composite load condition, the vibration control equation of mining ship is established based on the transverse swing mechanism of ship hull, and the variation law of transverse disturbance is obtained. The dynamic equation is constructed according to the bearing characteristics of the lifting system and the D’Alembert principle. The Wilson method is used to analyze and obtain the transverse vibration spectrum response of the lifting pipe under different wind loads, hull disturbance velocity and water depth. Based on the analogy method and hammering method, the vibration feedback test-bed of the lifting system is built, and the time-domain and frequency-domain vibration characteristics of the lifting pipe model under different water depths are obtained. The results show that in shallow water, the disturbance of mining ship and the composite load of ocean current are the key factors affecting the vibration amplitude of lifting pipe respectively. With the increase of water depth, the characteristic frequency and amplitude of the system decrease, and the amplitude gradually presents a discontinuous phenomenon

A population of deletion mutants and an integrated mapping and exome-seq pipeline for gene discovery in maize

To better understand maize endosperm filling and maturation, we used gamma irradiation of the B73 maize reference line to generate mutants with opaque endosperm and reduced kernel fill phenotypes, and created a population of 1788 lines including 47 Mo17 × F2s showing stable, segregating and viable kernel phenotypes. For molecular characterization of the mutants, we developed a novel functional genomics platform that combined Bulked Segregant RNA and Exome sequencing (BSREx-seq) to map causative mutations and identify candidate genes within mapping intervals. To exemplify the utility of the mutants and provide proof-ofconcept for the bioinformatics platform, we present detailed characterization of line 937; an opaque mutant harboring a 6203-bp in-frame deletion covering six exons within the Opaque-1 gene. In addition, we describe mutant line 146 which contains a 4.8 Kb intra-gene deletion within the Sugary-1 gene and line 916 in which an 8.6 Kb deletion knocks out a Cyclin A2 gene. The publically available algorithm developed in this work improves the identification of causative deletions and its corresponding gaps within mapping peaks. This study demonstrates the utility of gamma irradiation for forward genetics in large non-dense genomes such as maize since deletions often affect single genes. Furthermore, we show how this classical mutagenesis method becomes applicable for functional genomics when combined with state-of-the-art genomics tools

A population of deletion mutants and an integrated mapping and exome-seq pipeline for gene discovery in maize

To better understand maize endosperm filling and maturation, we used gamma irradiation of the B73 maize reference line to generate mutants with opaque endosperm and reduced kernel fill phenotypes, and created a population of 1788 lines including 47 Mo17 × F2s showing stable, segregating and viable kernel phenotypes. For molecular characterization of the mutants, we developed a novel functional genomics platform that combined Bulked Segregant RNA and Exome sequencing (BSREx-seq) to map causative mutations and identify candidate genes within mapping intervals. To exemplify the utility of the mutants and provide proof-ofconcept for the bioinformatics platform, we present detailed characterization of line 937; an opaque mutant harboring a 6203-bp in-frame deletion covering six exons within the Opaque-1 gene. In addition, we describe mutant line 146 which contains a 4.8 Kb intra-gene deletion within the Sugary-1 gene and line 916 in which an 8.6 Kb deletion knocks out a Cyclin A2 gene. The publically available algorithm developed in this work improves the identification of causative deletions and its corresponding gaps within mapping peaks. This study demonstrates the utility of gamma irradiation for forward genetics in large non-dense genomes such as maize since deletions often affect single genes. Furthermore, we show how this classical mutagenesis method becomes applicable for functional genomics when combined with state-of-the-art genomics tools

Monocular vision ranging and camera focal length calibration

The camera calibration in monocular vision represents the relationship between the pixels’ units which is obtained from a camera and the object in the real world. As an essential procedure, camera calibration calculates the three-dimensional geometric information from the captured two-dimensional images. Therefore, a modified camera calibration method based on polynomial regression is proposed to simplify. In this method, a parameter vector is obtained by pixel coordinates of obstacles and corresponding distance values using polynomial regression. The set of parameter’s vectors can measure the distance between the camera and the ground object in the field of vision under the camera’s posture and position. The experimental results show that the lowest accuracy of this focal length calibration method for measurement is 97.09%, and the average accuracy was 99.02%

The Role of Amygdala in Patients With Euthymic Bipolar Disorder During Resting State

The current study aims to explore the functional changes of the amygdala in patients with euthymic Bipolar Disorder (BD) using resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI). Twenty-one euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and 28 healthy controls participated in this study. Two of the euthymic patients with BD and three of the healthy controls were excluded due to excessive head motion. We found that patients with euthymia (38.79 ± 12.03) show higher fALFF (fractional Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation) value of the amygdala (t = 2.076, P = 0.044), and lower functional connectivity between the amygdala and supplementary motor area (p < 0.01, GRF corrected) than healthy controls (33.40 ± 8.21). However, euthymic patients did not show a differential activity in ReHo (Regional Homogeneity) and gray matter of the amygdala region as compared to healthy controls. Thus, despite the absence of clinical symptoms in euthymic patients with BD, the amygdala functional activity and its connectivity to other brain regions remain altered. Further investigation of negative emotions and social functioning in euthymic patients with BD are needed and can help pave the way for a better understanding of BD psychopathology