The Overseeing Mother: Revisiting the Frontal-Pose Lady in the Wu Family Shrines in Second Century China

Located in present-day Jiaxiang in Shandong province, the Wu family shrines built during the second century in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) were among the best-known works in Chinese art history. Although for centuries scholars have exhaustively studied the pictorial programs, the frontal-pose female image situated on the second floor of the central pavilion carved at the rear wall of the shrines has remained a question. Beginning with the woman’s eyes, this article demonstrates that the image is more than a generic portrait (“hard motif ”), but rather represents “feminine overseeing from above” (“soft motif ”). This synthetic motif combines three different earlier motifs – the frontal-pose hostess enjoying entertainment, the elevated spectator, and the Queen Mother of the West. By creatively fusing the three motifs into one unity, the Jiaxiang artists lent to the frontal-pose lady a unique power: she not only dominated the center of the composition, but also, like a divine being, commanded a unified view of the surroundings on the lofty building, hence echoing the political reality of the empress mother’s “overseeing the court” in the second century during Eastern Han dynasty

Synthesis of Starch-Stabilized Ag Nanoparticles and Hg2+Recognition in Aqueous Media

The starch-stabilized Ag nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via a reduction approach and characterized with SPR UV/Vis spectroscopy, TEM, and HRTEM. By utilizing the redox reaction between Ag nanoparticles and Hg2+, and the resulted decrease in UV/Vis signal, we develop a colorimetric method for detection of Hg2+ion. A linear relationship stands between the absorbance intensity of the Ag nanoparticles and the concentration of Hg2+ion over the range from 10 ppb to 1 ppm at the absorption of 390 nm. The detection limit for Hg2+ions in homogeneous aqueous solutions is estimated to be ~5 ppb. This system shows excellent selectivity for Hg2+over other metal ions including Na+, K+, Ba2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+, and Cd2+. The results shown herein have potential implications in the development of new colorimetric sensors for easy and selective detection and monitoring of mercuric ions in aqueous solutions

The crystal structure of 1-(2-chlorobenzyl)-3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)urea, C14H11Cl3N2O

C14H11Cl3N2O, orthorhombic, P212121 (no. 19), a = 8.3600(4) Å, b = 12.0085(8) Å, c = 14.3665(6) Å, V = 1442.27(13) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt (F) = 0.0460, wRref (F 2) = 0.0944, T = 293 K

Entosis Allows Timely Elimination of the Luminal Epithelial Barrier for Embryo Implantation

SummaryDuring implantation, uterine luminal epithelial (LE) cells first interact with the blastocyst trophectoderm. Within 30 hr after the initiation of attachment, LE cells surrounding the blastocyst in the implantation chamber (crypt) disappear, allowing trophoblast cells to make direct physical contact with the underneath stroma for successful implantation. The mechanism for the extraction of LE cells was thought to be mediated by apoptosis. Here, we show that LE cells in direct contact with the blastocyst are endocytosed by trophoblast cells by adopting the nonapoptotic cell-in-cell invasion process (entosis) in the absence of caspase 3 activation. Our in vivo observations were reinforced by the results of co-culture experiments with primary uterine epithelial cells with trophoblast stem cells or blastocysts showing internalization of epithelial cells by trophoblasts. We have identified entosis as a mechanism to remove LE cells by trophoblast cells in implantation, conferring a role for entosis in an important physiological process

Controlling dynamic recrystallization via modified LPSO phase morphology and distribution in Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy

Featured initial microstructures of Mg-11Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy (wt%) were obtained by adjusting temperatures of solid solution and cooling methods, including island intergranular 18R and 14H LPSO phases with low-density stacking faults, differentially spaced lamellar intragranular 14H-LPSO phases, and network intergranular 18R-LPSO phases with high-density intragranular stacking faults. Effects of these featured LPSO phases and stacking faults on dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior were investigated via hot compression. Promoted DRX behavior via particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) is introduced by coexisting intergranular island 18R and 14H LPSO phases and intragranular wide spacing lamellar 14H-LPSO phases, contributing the highest DRX fraction of 42.6%. Conversely, it is found that DRX behavior with network intergranular 18R-LPSO phases and dense intragranular stacking fault is considerably inhibited with the lowest fraction of 22.8%. That is, the restricted DRX due to dislocations pinning by stacking faults overwhelms the enhanced DRX behavior via PSN of island intergranular 18R and 14H LPSO phases. Specially, compared with dense intragranular lamellar 14H-LPSO phases, high-density stacking faults exert a larger inhibition effect on DRX behavior

Microstructure and Properties of Poly(ethylene glycol)-Segmented Polyurethane Antifouling Coatings after Immersion in Seawater

Polyurethane has a microphase separation structure, while polyethylene glycol (PEG) can form a hydrated layer to resist protein adsorption. In this paper, PEG was introduced to polyurethane to improve the antifouling properties of the polyurethane, providing a new method and idea for the preparation of new antifouling polyurethane materials. The mechanical properties, hydrophilicity, swelling degree, microphase separation and antifouling performance of the coatings were evaluated. The response characteristics of the polyurethane coatings in a seawater environment were studied, and the performance changes of coatings in seawater were tested. The results showed that the crystallized PEG soft segments increased, promoting microphase separation. The stress at 100% and the elasticity modulus of the polyurethane material also markedly increased, in addition to increases in the swelling degree in seawater, the water contact angle decreased. A total of 25% of PEG incorporated into a soft segment can markedly improve the antibacterial properties of the coatings, but adding more PEG has little significant effect. After immersion in seawater, the coatings became softer and more elastic. This is because water molecules formed hydrogen bonding with the amino NH, which resulted in a weakening effect being exerted on the carbonyl C=O hydrogen bonding and ether oxygen group crystallization

An Integrated Microfluidic Probe for Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Biological Samples

Ambient ionization based on liquid extraction is widely used in mass spectrometryimaging (MSI) of molecules in biological samples. The development of nanospray desorption electrospray ionization (nano-DESI) has enabled the robust imaging of tissue sections with high spatial resolution. However, the fabrication of the nano-DESI probe is challenging, which limits its dissemination to the broader scientific community. Herein, we describe the design and performance of an integrated microfluidic probe (iMFP) for nano-DESI MSI. The glass iMFP fabricated using photolithography, wet etching, and polishing shows comparable performance to the capillary-based nano-DESI MSI in terms of stability and sensitivity; the spatial resolution of better than 25 μm was obtained in these first proof-of-principle experiments. The iMFP is easy to operate and align in front of a mass spectrometer, which will facilitate broader use of liquid extraction-based MSI in biological research, drug discovery, and clinical studies