A TEM study on the microstructure of spark plasma sintered ZrB_2-based composite with nano-sized SiC dopant

Sintering behavior of ZrB_2 ceramic with nano-sized SiC dopant was studied. ZrB_2-25 vol% nano-sized SiC was selected as the starting mixture to fabricate the composite. The manufacturing process was accomplished at 1800℃ for 5 min under 25 MPa via spark plasma sintering(SPS). The as-sintered sample reached a relative density of 99%. Besides the initial phases, namely ZrB_2 and SiC, the high-resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD) was used to study the formation of an in-situ ZrC phase. The possible chemical interactions during the ZrC phase formation were scrutinized. The microstructure of the composite was studied by the field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Elemental analysis through FESEM evaluations revealed the formation of amorphous phases, rich in Zr, C, Si, B, and O elements, which was in harmony with the thermodynamical assessments. TEM studies endorsed the formation of such phases, containing a glassy bed of Si–B–O with ZrC and C islands dispersed therein.     

An Economic Model-Based Matching Approach Between Buyers and Sellers Through a Broker in an Open E-Marketplace

A broker in an open e-marketplace enables buyers and sellers to do business with each other. Although a broker plays an important role in e-marketplaces, theory and guidelines for matching between buyers and sellers in multi-attribute exchanges are limited. Therefore, a challenge for a broker’s responsibility is how to maximize a buyer’s total satisfaction degree as its goals under the consideration of trade-off between a buyer’s buying quantity and price paid to a seller, and other attributes. To solve this challenge, this paper proposes an economic model-based matching approach between a buyer’s requirements and a seller’s offers. The major contributions of this paper are that (i) a broker can model a seller’s price policy as per a buyer’s buying quantity through communication between a broker and a seller; (ii) due to each buyer’s different quantity demand, a broker models a buyer’s satisfaction degree as per a buyer’s buying quantity based on communication between a broker and a buyer; and (iii) to carry out a broker’s matching processes, an objective function and a set of constraints are generated to help a broker to maximize a buyer’s total satisfaction degree. Experimental results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed approach.     

Early SIV and HIV infection promotes the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis in cDCs

Classical dendritic cells (cDCs) play a pivotal role in the early events that tip the immune response toward persistence or viral control. In vitro studies indicate that HIV infection induces the dysregulation of cDCs through binding of the LILRB2 inhibitory receptor to its MHC-I ligands and the strength of this interaction was proposed to drive disease progression. However, the dynamics of the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis in cDCs during early immune responses against HIV are yet unknown. Here, we show that early HIV-1 infection induces a strong and simultaneous increase of LILRB2 and MHC-I expression on the surface of blood cDCs. We further characterized the early dynamics of LILRB2 and MHC-I expression by showing that SIVmac251 infection of macaques promotes coordinated up-regulation of LILRB2 and MHC-I on cDCs and monocytes/macrophages, from blood and lymph nodes. Orientation towards the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis starts from the first days of infection and is transiently induced in the entire cDC population in acute phase. Analysis of the factors involved indicates that HIV-1 replication, TLR7/8 triggering, and treatment by IL-10 or type I IFNs increase LILRB2 expression. Finally, enhancement of the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis is specific to HIV-1 and SIVmac251 infections, as expression of LILRB2 on cDCs decreased in naturally controlled chikungunya virus infection of macaques. Altogether, our data reveal a unique up-regulation of LILRB2 and its MHC-I ligands on cDCs in the early phase of SIV/HIV infection, which may account for immune dysregulation at a critical stage of the anti-viral response.     

我国巨型机发展概述

系统地总结和介绍了我国高性能计算机，包括“银河”系列巨型机、“曙光”系列巨型机、“神威”系列巨型机、“深腾”系列巨型机以及“深超”系列巨型机的开发研制以及应用情况。     

The influence of chronic nicotine treatment on stress-induced gastric ulceration and emptying rate in rats.

Ten-day treatment with nicotine (5, 25 or 50 micrograms/ml drinking water) dose-dependently intensified gastric ulceration induced by cold-restraint, and emptying rate. Stomach contractions produced by graded doses of bethanechol i.v. were elevated further by nicotine treatment. It is suggested that chronic nicotine administration produces hypersensitivity of the gastric muscarinic receptors; stomach hypermotility contributes to the ulcer-worsening action of the alkaloid.     

森林生物技术走出实验室举步艰难

新的、高密度树木种植正在给林业生物技术带来迅速的变化。但是如果不能克服生态风险和经济障碍．这些新的方法或许永远也无法使用——     

噬菌体展示禽流感病毒抗原变异性基因片段文库的构建

构建T7噬菌体展示禽流感病毒抗原变异性基因片段文库. 首先， 从Gene Bank中查找筛选禽流感病毒抗原变异性基因, 将其截短、 修饰、 简并后得到禽流感病毒抗原变异性基因微阵列. 其次， 将合成的禽流感病毒抗原变异性基因片段文库扩增、 酶切, 链接到双酶切后的T7噬菌体载体基因上, 构成重组噬菌体DNA. 最后， 重组噬菌体DNA经体外包装和扩增, 得到T7噬菌体展示文库, 并进行T7噬菌体展示文库滴度、 重组率和免疫活性测定. 实验结果表明, 从Gene Bank中查找、 筛选、 剪切和修饰共获得96 258条序列构建T7噬菌体展示文库, 原始文库滴度为3.6×107个菌落/mL, 重组率大于90%. 用禽流感病毒H5N1抗体进行捕获, 经聚合酶链式反应(PCR)鉴定, 得到理想目的条带, 证明噬菌体表面展示蛋白具有抗原活性, 可用于禽流感病毒感染患者的快速检测及抗原表位筛选.