Secondary Production of Gaseous Nitrated Phenols in Polluted Urban Environments

Nitrated phenols (NPs) are important atmospheric pollutants that affect air quality, radiation, and health. The recent development of the time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) allows quantitative online measurements of NPs for a better understanding of their sources and environmental impacts. Herein, we deployed nitrate ions as reagent ions in the ToF-CIMS and quantified six classes of gaseous NPs in Beijing. The concentrations of NPs are in the range of 1 to 520 ng m(-3). Nitrophenol (NPh) has the greatest mean concentration. Dinitrophenol (DNP) shows the greatest haze-to-clean concentration ratio, which may be associated with aqueous production. The high concentrations and distinct diurnal profiles of NPs indicate a strong secondary formation to overweigh losses, driven by high emissions of precursors, strong oxidative capacity, and high NOx levels. The budget analysis on the basis of our measurements and box-model calculations suggest a minor role of the photolysis of NPs (Peer reviewe

Energy-Efficient Wireless Caching in Device-to-Device Cooperative Networks

In this paper, we consider wireless caching in device-to-device (D2D) cooperative networks and propose a new definition, energy-consumption-ratio (ECR), to measure the energy efficiency that caching schemes can achieve. Based on this definition, we formulate an optimal energy-efficient caching problem and develop a caching scheme, named SBRC-2S. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the existing ones and approaches the optimal performance bounds in terms of energy efficiency

Astatic balance debugging method for inner ring assembly of frame type angle measuring device

The seeker position calibration system is a frame type angle measuring device, and the static balance of its inner ring components directly determines the stability of the product performance. This paper makes full use of the advantages of the pressure sensor, carries out analog-to-digital conversion and data acquisition through HX711, displays the collected results on the LCD screen, and analyzes and processes the data. A device that automatically measures the static balance of the frame in the seeker position calibration system is designed. The device uses four embedded pressure sensors to realize that if the product is unbalanced when placing the inner frame of the product on the balancing tool rest, one end of the inner frame will press on the balancing device due to gravity. By displaying the size of the pressure value and fitting with the least square method, the relationship between the pressure value and the thickness of the increased or decreased shims of the product is realized, and the universality of the relationship is verified. One calculation can realize the accurate adjustment of the static balance of the frame in the seeker position calibration system

Microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of the thin-plate AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel joints by interrupted pulsed arc welding

The feasibility of the interrupted pulsed argon arc welding (IPAW) of the 0.5 mm-thick AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel (FSS) was studied. The results showed that the sound appearances of the butt joints were obtained by the IPAW under different welding parameters. Two joining modes were obtained: (1) typical fusion pool structure with continuous coarsen columnar grain by short interrupted time and low welding speed; (2) snowflake-shape melting pool structure with relatively independent radially grew columnar grain by long interrupted time and high welding speed. The fusion zone (FZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the joints showed higher microhardness compared to the base metal because of the carbide precipitation and martensite transformation. The joint with a typical fusion pool structure fractured at the fusion zone with a low tensile strength and elongation rate because the weak bonding region between the columnar grains was perpendicular to the tensile direction. The joint with the snowflake-shaped structure displayed a high tensile strength and elongation rate, which was fractured at the BM, as a result of the randomness of the intergranular bonding interface to the tensile direction caused by dendritic radial growth

Exploring the Upgrading of Chinese Automotive Manufacturing Industry in Global Value Chain:An Empirical study based on Panel Data

In the age of globalization, the upgrading of China’s manufacturing industries has attracted great attention from both academicians and practitioners, as it certainly has great implications for the development of China and, even further, for the development of the whole world. To address this issue, the study clarifies the effects of the internal technological innovation capability (ITIC) and external linkages (ELs) on upgrading the Chinese automotive manufacturing industry (CAMI) in the global value chain, in order to indicate the appropriate way for the CAMI to be further upgraded and provide references for the formulation of regional automotive industrial policies. Based on Chinese panel data, the results confirm that both ITIC and EL are important for the upgrading of the CAMI, with ITIC being the more important. Improvement of ITIC facilitates the industry’s cooperation with the EL, resulting in better knowledge access. Furthermore, the results of cluster analysis reveal that regions with relatively developed automotive industries place emphasis on both the ITIC and EL. However, in some regions (e.g., Shanghai and Chongqing), the utility of EL seems insufficient. Therefore, the results of this paper, on the one hand, suggest policies should be directed towards increasing the ITIC of CAMI. On the other hand, in some regions, managers and policymakers need to explore further the advantage of clustering

The Duck <i>RXRA</i> Gene Promotes Adipogenesis and Correlates with Feed Efficiency

Background: The accumulation of fat in ducks is the main cause of low feed efficiency and metabolic diseases in ducks. Retinoic acid X receptor alpha (RXRA) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily involved in lipid, glucose, energy, and hormone metabolism. The effect of the RXRA gene on lipid metabolism in duck preadipocytes (DPACs) and the relationship between SNPs and the feed efficiency traits of ducks are unclear. Methods: qRT-PCR and Western blotting analyses were used to detect changes in mRNA and protein in cells. Intracellular triglycerides (TGs) were detected using an ELISA kit. A general linear model analysis was used to determine the association between RXRA SNPs and feed efficiency. Results: The duck RXRA gene was highly expressed on the fourth day of DPAC differentiation. The RXRA gene increased the content of fat and TG in DPACs and promoted the expression of cell differentiation genes; g.5,952,667 correlated with average daily feed intake (ADFI), residual feed intake (RFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Conclusions: Duck RXRA can accelerate fat accumulation, and the polymorphism of the RXRA gene is closely related to feed efficiency, which provides basic data for breeding high feed efficiency ducks

The expression levels of plasma micoRNAs in atrial fibrillation patients.

MicroRNA (miRNA) has been found in human blood. It has been increasingly suggested that miRNAs may serve as biomarkers for diseases. We examined the potential of circulating miRNA to serve as predictors of atrial fibrillation (AF).During the discovery stage of this project, we used massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) to carry out an in-depth analysis of the miRNA expression profile (miRNome) in 5 healthy controls, 5 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) alone, and 5 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PersAF) alone. Twenty-two specific miRNAs were found to be dysregulated in each PAF group, PersAF group, or control group. Four candidate microRNAs (miRNA-146a, miRNA-150, miRNA-19a, and miRNA-375) met our selection criteria and were evaluated in an independent cohort of 90 plasma samples using TaqMan miRNA quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We found miRNA-150 levels to be reduced by a factor of approximately 17 in PAF relative to controls and a factor of approximately 20 in PersAF relative to controls (P<.0001). Logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the reduced miRNA-150 expression levels (odds ratio [OR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5 to 3.57, P<0.001), age (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.73, P<0.001), and Left atrial diameter (LAD) (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.36 to 1.8, P<0.001). Each was independently associated with AF. Much of the identified target genes related to AF were part of the inflammatory response system. We found that plasma levels of CRP were negatively correlated with the plasma levels of miRNA-150.In summary, we firstly found that plasma miRNA-150 levels in from AF patients were substantially lower than that from healthy people. Circulating reduced miRNA-150 was significantly associated with AF