Kaposi＇s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Towards better understanding of its latency and pathogenesis

Kaposi＇s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus （KSHV） is a double stranded DNA virus. It was found to be related to Kaposi＇s sarcoma （KS）, primary effusion lymphoma （PEL） and multicentric Castleman＇s disease （MCD）, which cause severe illness in AIDS patients. As a member of human herpesvirus family, KSHV displays two distinct phases in its life cycle, the default latent and lytic replication phase. Following primary infection, the virus can quickly establish latent infection in the host. However, it is still not fully understood up to date how KSHV establishes and maintains viral latency in the host cells. KSHV mainly infects endothelial cells in the host, promoting proliferation and angiogenesis. Abundant angiogenesis is the key feature of KS and is the critical factor for KS progression. The mechanism of KSHV mediated pathogenesis is also largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the mecha- nisms of KSHV latency and pathogenesis, with particular views from our work.     

Recent progress in room-temperature sodium-ion batteries

Room-temperature sodium-ion batteries have attracted increasing interest in recent years because of abundant sodium reserves and the low costs. Grid-scale energy storage applications are particularly rele- vant to this battery technology. Here, we present our recent progress in researching room-temperature so- dium-ion batteries, and focus on new electrode materials, including cathodes and anodes, for both non-a- queous and aqueous systems.     

Trace back the origin of recent insect orders evidence from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota

The Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota has yielded very rich fossil plants, vertebrates, and inver tebrates. The particularly famous fossil insects are represented by at least 24 orders, revealing one of the most diverse Mesozoic insect communities. Among them, the occurrence of Emhioptera, Mantophasma- todea, and Siphonaptera increased respectively as supported by fossil evidence from Daohugou. Moreover, the early co-evolution of ectoparasites and their hosts may be analyzed by the presence of various giant fleas and the co-occurred potential hosts such as mammals, feather dinosaurs, and pterosaurs from Daohugou.     

Mechanisms functional underlying the characteristics structural and of acupoints

Acupoints are particular areas on the surface of the body through which the Qi and blood of the Zang-fu organs and meridians flow. Acupoints can respond to stimuli and reflect syndromes. Research on the essential morphology of acupoints has two key focuses： anatomical structure and physiological func- tion. The structure is the material and anatomical basis for the function, while the function is the manifes- tation of the structure. The two factors not only have profound significance for our understanding of the essence of acupoints, but also have great value for clinical acupuncture and moxibustion practice. Based on the structural and functional characteristics of meridians under different physiological and pathological con- ditions, this paper illustrates the essence of acupoints and explores the rules and biological basis of the acu- point functions induced by acupuncture and moxibustion.     

Formal verification with projection temporal logic

Projection temporal logic （PTL） is an extension of interval temporal logic （ITL） with a new projection operator prj and infinite intervals which has been well investigated in the past ten years. In this paper, we review the work on PTL in four aspects： （1） decidability, complexity and expressiveness of propositional PTL （PPTL） ; （2） modeling, simulation and verification language （MSVL） ; （3） formal verification approaches with MSVL and PPTL, and （4） supporting toolkit MSV.     

Transport phenomena for a spherical particle in pure extensional and simple shear flows

Particles （including solid particles, liq- uid drops and gas bubbles） are ubiquitous in a large number of natural processes as well as in in- dustrial productions. Their behaviors are of funda- mental importance in multiphase systems since the existence of such dispersed particles influences the momentum, mass and heat transport behaviors in these systems. Up to now, a vast body of litera- ture has been published in dealing with the trans- port phenomena related to a particle surrounded by a fluid under various physical circumstances. In this paper, principal research results for the trans- port process of a single spherical particle in pure extensional and simple shear flows presented in the literature, including our recent work, are generally reviewed in order to give a comprehensive knowl- edge in this area.     

Exceptionally preserved brachiopods from the Chengjiang Lagerst（a｜¨）tte（Yunnan,China）：Perspectives on the Cambrian explosion of metazoans

The Cambrian explosion was coined to describe the geologically sudden appearance of numerous bilaterian body plans（Phyla）around the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition,around 565-520million years ago.Many explanations and conjectures have been postulated in order to explain the pattern and duration of this explosive radiation of many different phyla of early metazoans.Here,we focus on the evolution of a phylum of marine suspension-feeding animals—the brachiopods,as exemplified by the exceptionally preserved taxa from the celebrated Chengjiang Konservat Lagerst（a｜¨）tte（Yunnan,China）.The abundant soft-bodied preservation at these fossil quarries gives us the only firm insights into what brachiopods looked like and how they functioned and lived when they first appeared on the Earth.Studies of Chengjiang brachiopods demonstrate that the early animals developed a remarkably varied organization of tissues and organs shortly after the onset of Cambrian explosion.In the marine suspension-feeding brachiopods,most importantly the tentaculate feeding structure of early brachiopods is already differentiated into two shapes of lophophore,anteriorly coiled（spiralled）and posteriorly arching tentacle crowns and the unique latter type was previously not documented from fossil and living brachiopods.Also unlike any known Recent brachiopod,all the known Cambrian brachiopods from Chengjiang have an open digestive tract that was disposed either as a Ushaped gut in linguliform and stem group brachiopods,or straight gut with a posterior anus in some calcareous-shelled stocks.Moreover,in contrast toliving lingulids,all the Cambrian brachiopods have an epibenthic lifestyle either cemented by a ventral valve or attached by variable pedicles to establish complex ecological community encompassing primary tierers and variable secondary tierers.It is therefore assumed that brachiopods were the first benthic metazoan that achieved their success in ecological stratification and tiering complexity by late Atdabanian.The setae are also important for the brachiopod suspension-feeding life style,and in the Chengjiang braehiopods they include two types cilia-like and spine-like setae.The mantle canals of different braehiopod species are also distinctly variable in arrangement,mainly disposed in pinnate,baeulate and peripheral conditions.Of these,the peripheral disposition of mantle canals is for the first time proposed here so as to differentiate from the bifurcate condition in recent lingulids in that the former is devoid of posteriorly extending main trunks of sinus,but possesses a diverging dorsal vascula media in dichotomy.     

Metal oxide/graphene composite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Metal oxides, such as SnO2, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, CoO, Co3O4, NiO, CuO, Cu2O, MnO, Mn3O4, MnO2. etc. , are promising anode materi- als for lithium-ion batteries （LIBs） due to their high capacity and safety characteristics. However, the commercial utility of metal oxide anodes has been hindered to date by their poor cycling per- formance. Recent study shows that metal oxide/ graphene composites show fascinating cycling per- formance as anode materials for lABs. In this re- view, we summarize the state of research on prepa- ration of metal oxide/graphene composites and their I.i storage performance. The prospects and future challenges of metal oxide/graphene compos- ites anode materials for lABs are also discussed.     

水合锰(Ⅱ)结构的量子化学和ABEEM/MM研究

应用新一代可极化分子力场——原子-键电负性均衡浮动电荷分子力场ABEEM/MM,结合精密量子化学方法, 构建了精确的Mn²⁺-H₂O 相互作用的势能函数, 确定了相关参数.将该势能函数用于计算[Mn(H₂O)_n]²⁺(n=1~12)的结构和结合能, 得到了与量子化学一致的结果. 进一步对Mn²⁺水溶液进行ABEEM/MM 动力学模拟, 得到的Mn²⁺–O 径向分布函数的第一和第二最高峰分别处于0.218 和0.435 nm 处, 积分得到第一和第二水合层的配位水分子数分别为7.03 和17.74; 对于O–Mn²⁺–O 角度分布函数, 其第一和第二最高峰分别位于80°和140°附近, 这些结果与实验和其他理论方法的结果有很好的一致性. Mn²⁺的极化作用使得第一水合层中水分子的键长明显增长, 键角明显减小; 而Mn²⁺对第二水合层及外层水分子的结构影响较小. 分析体系的电荷分布表明, 与ABEEM-7P 纯水相比, Mn²⁺水溶液中参与形成氢键的氢原子和孤对电子的电荷变化较大, 且Mn²⁺和其邻近的水分子间存在明显的电荷转移.     

HOSO+X(X=F,Cl,Br)的反应机理及电子密度拓扑分析

在CCSD(T)/6-311++G(d, p)//MP2/6-311++G(d, p)水平上研究了HOSO+X(X= F, Cl,Br)的反应机理. 优化得到了反应势能曲线上各驻点的几何构型, 通过内禀反应坐标(IRC)确认了反应物、中间体、过渡态和产物的相关性. 在CCSD(T)/6-311++G(d, p)水平上对计算得到的构型进行了能量校正. 应用经典过渡态理论(TST)与变分过渡态理论(CVT), 并结合小曲率隧道效应模型(SCT)校正的方法, 计算了该反应在200~3000 K 温度范围内的速率常数k_TST,k_CVT 和k_CVT/SCT. 计算结果表明: HOSO+X(X= F, Cl, Br)反应在单态和三态条件下均可发生, 其中单态为主反应通道, HX+SO₂ 为主产物. 并利用电子密度拓扑分析方法研究了主反应通道化学键的变化.