In this paper, we propose a W-band 8-quadrature-amplitude-modulation (8QAM) frequency tripling photonic vector millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signal generation method by using a phase modulator (PM) with only amplitude pre-coding. The PM is driven by 2-Gbaud 8QAM-modulated amplitude precoded signal at 25 GHz. Instead of phase pre-coding, we only need to reverse the real part of the signal at the receiver after photo detector (PD). The structure of the transmitter and the structure of the receiver are simple. The frequency tripling scheme is completed by numerical simulation, the output optical spectrum is consistent with the theoretical analysis, and bit-error-ratio (BER) curves indicate that the put forward 75 GHz 8QAM vector signal generation technique has good performance. The BER of 6 Gbit/s 75 GHz 8QAM vector mm-wave signal is below 3.8 × 10 −3 after 12 km optical fiber transmission. For all we know, it is the first time to report on the generation of high-order QAM photonic mm-wave signal with odd times of RF frequency by using a single external modulator. INDEX TERMS Millimeter wave, frequency multiplication, phase modulation, digital signal processing, quadrature amplitude modulation. LUN ZHAO received the M.S. degree in communication and information system from the Wuhan Research Institute (WRI), Hubei, China, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic science and technology from the School of electronic engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China, in 2016. He is currently working in information and telecommunication engineering with the Ubiquitous Wireless Communication Technology Team, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His research interests include radio over fiber, coherent optical communication, machine learning/deep learning in optical communication, optical physical layer security, and 5G mobile networks. LIAN XIONG was born in Huanggang, Hubei, China, in 1985. He received the B.S. degree in telecommunications engineering from the North University of China, Taiyuan, China, in 2008, the M.S. degree in communication and information system from the Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in communication and information system from

The average content of heavy metals in Weining soil of karst landforms is generally higher than that of other agricultural regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the heavy metal content in potatoes from Weining county and to analyze the correlation between the content of heavy metals in potatoes planted in the soil of karst landform and the soil’s environmental factors (soil heavy metals, soil pH, soil organic matter, altitude). Weining county (Guizhou province, China) is a typical karst landform, and has a potato production yield of 2.7 million tons. In this study, 56 soil and potato samples were collected from Weining county and the heavy metal content in the soils and potatoes was detected by inductively coupled plasma atomic mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The content of Cr, Ni, and As in the soil was found to be higher, with almost half of the samples exceeding the maximum allowable levels. A total of 9 of the 56 samples tested had pollution load index values greater than 1.0, which indicates serious soil pollution. It was found that the ability of the potato to absorb heavy metals from the soil was very low, with the average bio-concentration factors of the metals Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, and As being 0.087, 0.088, 0.0028, 0.0034, 0.0066, and less than 0.001, respectively. The content of the six heavy metals in the potatoes were all lower than the maximum permissible limit. The results show that a high As content in the soil could increase the content of Pb in potatoes, that a lower pH was beneficial to the bioaccumulation of Cr and Ni in potatoes, and that a high altitude is detrimental to the bioaccumulation of zinc and copper in potatoes. The HRI ranged between 1.12 × 10−2 and 5.92 × 10−2.

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is a hub protein in the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, which acts as a master switch for numerous inflammatory diseases, including acute lung injury (ALI). Although this protein is considered as a crucial therapeutic target, there are currently no clinically approved MyD88-targeting drugs. Based on previous literature, here we report the discovery via computer-aided drug design (CADD) of a small molecule, M20, which functions as a novel MyD88 inhibitor to efficiently relieve lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation both in vitro and in vivo. Computational chemistry, surface plasmon resonance detection (SPR) and biological experiments demonstrated that M20 forms an important interaction with the MyD88-Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain and thereby inhibits the protein dimerization. Taken together, this study found a MyD88 inhibitor, M20, with a novel skeleton, which provides a crucial understanding in the development and modification of MyD88 inhibitors. Meanwhile, the favorable bioactivity of the hit compound is also conducive to the treatment of acute lung injury or other more inflammatory diseases.

Objective The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical outcomes of circular suture at placental attachment site for refractory postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), which could block blood supply of the serosa and myometrium layer. Methods Eighty cases of refractory PPH were enrolled and retrospective analyzed in this study for further analysis from a consecutive single center database between 2010 and 2018. After undergoing circular suture of the uterine serosa and myometrium layer around placental attachment site, surgical and perioperative outcomes were recorded and analyzed. Results Among all the patients enrolled, 28 cases (35.0%) of refractory PPH were mainly caused by uterine inertia, 36 cases (45.0%) caused by ectopic placenta, and 2 cases (2.5%) caused by coagulation disorders. After circular suture of the uterine serosa and myometrium layer at placental attachment site, all the uterine active bleeding was controlled below 40 ml without recurrence. The perioperative results were similar between the vaginal and cesarean sections groups. Conclusions Circular suture of the uterine serosa and myometrium at the placental attachment site could control refractory PPH with few postoperative complications. Circular suture around placenta site could be applied in time to protect the endometrium even in primary hospital.

Archilejeunea, a pantropical liverwort genus of about 22 species, has not been revised worldwide and recent phylogenetic study showed that the genus is not monophyletic. We addressed phylogenetic relationships of Archilejeunea by using nuclear (ITS) and chloroplast (rbcL, trnL-F) DNA regions. Bayesian, likelihood and parsimony phylogenetic analyses of a broad sampling of the group resolved the species in three robust clades, which are morphologically distinct. Based on our molecular phylogenetic results, we split Archilejeunea into two distantly related genera, Archilejeunea s.str. with six species and Dibrachiella stat. nov. with nine species. Both groups have tropical Afro-American distributions but the range of Archilejeunea is much more restricted than that of Dibrachiella. Archilejeunea is sister to Verdoornianthus from Amazonia and Dibrachiella is member of a clade together with the paleotropical Ptychanthus and Tuzibeanthus, and the pantropical Spruceanthus. Five species previously placed in Archilejeunea (A. abbreviata, A. amakawana, A. kiushiana, A. olivacea, A. planiuscula) are resolved in Spruceanthus, which is morphologically very similar to Dibrachiella. Fifteen new combinations and one replacement name are proposed. Ancestral state reconstruction showed that morphological characters traditionally used to define genera of Ptychanthoideae are highly homoplasious. Spruceanthus differs from Dibrachiella in possessing homogeneous oil bodies.