TIVEE: Visual Exploration and Explanation of Badminton Tactics in Immersive Visualizations.

Tactic analysis is a major issue in badminton as the effective usage of tactics is the key to win. The tactic in badminton is defined as a sequence of consecutive strokes. Most existing methods use statistical models to find sequential patterns of strokes and apply 2D visualizations such as glyphs and statistical charts to explore and analyze the discovered patterns. However, in badminton, spatial information like the shuttle trajectory, which is inherently 3D, is the core of a tactic. The lack of sufficient spatial awareness in 2D visualizations largely limited the tactic analysis of badminton. In this work, we collaborate with domain experts to study the tactic analysis of badminton in a 3D environment and propose an immersive visual analytics system, TIVEE, to assist users in exploring and explaining badminton tactics from multi-levels. Users can first explore various tactics from the third-person perspective using an unfolded visual presentation of stroke sequences. By selecting a tactic of interest, users can turn to the first-person perspective to perceive the detailed kinematic characteristics and explain its effects on the game result. The effectiveness and usefulness of TIVEE are demonstrated by case studies and an expert interview.

Floristic characteristics of alien invasive seed plant species in China.

This study aims to determine the floristic characteristics of alien invasive seed plant species (AISPS) in China. There are a total of five hundred and thirteen AISPS, belonging to seventy families and two hundred and eighty-three genera. Seventy families were classified into nine areal types at the family level, and "Cosmopolitan" and "Pantropic" are the two main types. Two hundred and eighty-three genera were classified into twelve areal types at the genus level, and "Pantropic", "Trop. Asia & Amer. disjuncted", and "Cosmopolitan" are the three main types. These results reveal a certain degree of diversity among AISPS in China. The floristic characteristics at the family level exhibit strong pantropic characteristics. Two possible reasons for this are as follows. Firstly, southeastern China is heavily invaded by alien invasive plant species and this region has a mild climate. Secondly, southeastern China is more disturbed by human activities than other regions in China. The floristic characteristics at the genus level display strong pantropic but with abundant temperate characteristics. This may be due to that China across five climatic zones and the ecosystems in which the most alien invasive plant species occur have the same or similar climate with their natural habitat.

The allelopathic effects of invasive plant Solidago canadensis on seed germination and growth of Lactuca sativa enhanced by different types of acid deposition.

Invasive species can exhibit allelopathic effects on native species. Meanwhile, the types of acid deposition are gradually changing. Thus, the allelopathic effects of invasive species on seed germination and growth of native species may be altered or even enhanced under conditions with diversified acid deposition. This study aims to assess the allelopathic effects (using leaves extracts) of invasive plant Solidago canadensis on seed germination and growth of native species Lactuca sativa treated with five types of acid deposition with different SO4(2-) to NO3(-) ratios (1:0, sulfuric acid; 5:1, sulfuric-rich acid; 1:1, mixed acid; 1:5, nitric-rich acid; 0:1, nitric acid). Solidago canadensis leaf extracts exhibited significantly allelopathic effects on germination index, vigor index, and germination rate index of L. sativa. High concentration of S. canadensis leaf extracts also similarly exhibited significantly allelopathic effects on root length of L. sativa. This may be due to that S. canadensis could release allelochemicals and then trigger allelopathic effects on seed germination and growth of L. sativa. Acid deposition exhibited significantly negative effects on seedling biomass, root length, seedling height, germination index, vigor index, and germination rate index of L. sativa. This may be ascribed to the decreased soil pH values mediated by acid deposition which could produce toxic effects on seedling growth. Sulfuric acid deposition triggered more toxic effects on seedling biomass and vigor index of L. sativa than nitric acid deposition. This may be attributing to the difference in exchange capacity with hydroxyl groups (OH(-)) between SO4(2-) and NO3(-) as well as the fertilizing effects mediated by nitric deposition. All types of acid deposition significantly enhanced the allelopathic effects of S. canadensis on root length, germination index, vigor index, and germination rate index of L. sativa. This may be due to the negatively synergistic effects of acid deposition and S. canadensis on seed germination and growth of L. sativa. The ratio of SO4(2-) to NO3(-) in acid deposition was an important factor that profoundly affected the allelopathic effects of S. canadensis on the seed germination and growth of L. sativa possibly because the difference in exchange capacity with hydroxyl groups (OH(-)) between SO4(2-) and NO3(-) as well as the fertilizing effects triggered by nitric deposition. Thus, the allelopathic effects of invasive species on seed germination and growth of native plants might be enhanced under increased and diversified acid deposition.

Detection of tyrosine­phosphorylated proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues using a combination of GST­Nck1­SH2 pull­down and two­dimensional electrophoresis.

Tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins govern a host of cell functions, such as growth, division, adhesion and motility. We previously identified a group of Nck Src homology 2 (SH2) domain­binding proteins by combining the GST-Nck1-SH2 pull-down method with two-dimensional electrophoresis (2­DE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. In the present study, different methods and conditions for key procedures of GST-Nck1-SH2 pull-down and 2­DE were investigated and optimized. High-resolution results were obtained using the following conditions: a total amount of 100 µl GST-Nck1-SH2 fusion proteins/10 mg liver proteins to execute the pull-down procedure; 7 M urea and 2 M thiourea as lysis buffer; ultrafiltration depletion of interferential materials. Moreover, we performed a negative control experiment using GST-4T3 during the pull-down procedure, and further demonstrated that the proteins obtained using the aforementioned method interacted with Nck in a tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent manner. The optimized method offers a rapid, efficient alternative for the high­quantity screening of tyrosine-phosphorylated protein expression and solubility, which in turn facilitates future studies on tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins.

[Quantitative analysis of serum troponin I and myoglobin in patients with acute myocardial infarction].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical implications of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), myoglobin (Mb), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: The serum concentrations of cTnI and Mb were determined in 50 patients with AMI 2 to 4 h after chest pain onset and compared with those measured in 50 age-matched healthy subjects. RESULTS: The serum levels of cTnI, CK-MB and CK in patients with AMI were significantly higher than those in the control group. Mb levels in AMI group were above the normal range. Mb, CK-MB, CK and cTnI reached the peak levels at 8+/-2.2, 18.1+/-3.2, 19.4+/-4.1 and 18.6+/-2.9 h after the onset, respectively, and their levels increased with the aggravation of AMI and were reduced to the normal levels with the amelioration of the disease. All the 4 indices were normal in the control group. CONCLUSION: cTnI and Mb are reliable biochemical markers for early diagnosis of AMI and the changes in their serum levels have clinical significance in diagnoses and prognostic judgment of AMI.