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By combining RMF models and equivparticle models with density-dependent quark masses, we construct explicitly ``a quark Fermi Sea'' and ``a baryonic Fermi surface'' to model the quarkyonic phase, where baryons with momentums ranging from zero to Fermi momentums are included. The properties of nuclear matter, quark matter, and quarkyonic matter are then investigated in a unified manner, where quarkyonic matter is more stable and energy minimization is still applicable to obtain the microscopic properties of dense matter. Three different covariant density functionals TW99, PKDD, and DD-ME2 are adopted in our work, where TW99 gives satisfactory predictions for the properties of nuclear matter both in neutron stars and heavy-ion collisions and quarkyonic transition is unfavorable. Nevertheless, if PKDD with larger slope of symmetry energy $L$ or DD-ME2 with larger skewness coefficient $J$ are adopted, the corresponding EOSs are too stiff according to both experimental and astrophysical constraints. The situation is improved if quarkyonic transition takes place, where the EOSs become softer and can accommodate various experimental and astrophysical constraints.

The study investigates the time-varying correlation between El Ni~no phenomenon and agricultural commodity markets by employing the bootstrap full- and sub-sample rolling-window Granger causality tests. We find that the El Ni~no index (ENI) which measures the intensity of El Ni~no phenomenon, has both positive and negative impacts on agricultural commodity prices (ACP). The positive impact indicates that El Ni~no phenomenon may reduce the output of agriculture commodities, resulting in supply shortages and price increases. However, the negative impact suggests that affected by external uncertainties, ENI does not always cause ACP to change in the same direction. Conversely, we find ACP has negative impact on ENI, showing that agricultural commodity markets can reflect the extreme climate conditions globally in advance. The analyses can assist investors to adjust investment decisions and optimize asset allocation. Additionally, countries can improve the abnormal climate monitoring system to mitigate losses, and consider the impact of external uncertainties on agricultural commodity markets and ensure food security.

We investigate non-radial oscillations of pure and hybrid neutron stars, employing equations of state of nuclear matter from Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory, and of quark matter from the Dyson-Schwinger quark model, performing a Gibbs construction for the mixed phase in hybrid stars. Characteristic differences between neutron-star and hybrid-star $g_1$-mode oscillation frequencies, damping times, and gravitational wave strains are pointed out. Prospects of observations are also discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

We investigate systematically the possible deconfinement phase transition from nuclear matter to quark matter in compact stars. The properties of nuclear matter are fixed by expanding its binding energy to the order of $\rho^3$, while those of quark matter are predicted by an equivparticle model. The Maxwell construction is then applied for the quark-hadron mixed phase. By confronting compact star structures with pulsar observations, we obtain several EOSs that are compatible with the latest observations while supporting quark cores inside the most massive stars. It is found that the quark core is rather small and does not emerge for compact stars with $M\lesssim 2M_\odot$. The in-medium quark condensate of the stellar matter in those stars are then extracted within the framework of an equivparticle model, which decreases nonlinearly with density. At larger densities with pure quark matter, the quark condensate is still large and does not necessary decrease with density, indicating significant nonperturbative contributions within the density regions covered by compact stars.

Based on an equivparticle model, we investigate the in-medium quark condensate in neutron stars. Carrying out a Taylor expansion of the nuclear binding energy to the order of $\rho^3$, we obtain a series of EOSs for neutron star matter, which are confronted with the latest nuclear and astrophysical constraints. The in-medium quark condensate is then extracted from the constrained properties of neutron star matter, which decreases non-linearly with density. However, the chiral symmetry is only partially restored with non-vanishing quark condensates, which may vanish at a density that is out of reach for neutron stars.

We calculate the variation of the chiral condensate in medium with respect to the quark chemical potential and evaluate the pion-nucleon sigma term via the Hellmann-Feynman theorem. The variation of chiral condensate in medium are obtained by solving the truncated Dyson-Schwinger equation for quark propagator at finite chemical potential, with different models for the quark-gluon vertex and gluon propagator. We obtain the value of the sigma term $\sigma_{\pi N}$ = 62(1)(2) MeV, where the first represents the systematic error due to our different model for the quark-gluon vertex and gluon propagator and the second represents a statistical error in our linear fitting procedure., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

We explore the effects of strangeness and $\Delta$ resonance in baryonic matter and compact stars within the relativistic-mean-field (RMF) models. The covariant density functional PKDD is adopted for $N$-$N$ interaction, parameters fixed based on finite hypernuclei and neutron stars are taken for the hyperon-meson couplings, and the universal baryon-meson coupling scheme is adopted for the $\Delta$-meson couplings. In light of the recent observations of GW170817 with the dimensionless combined tidal deformability $197 \leq \bar{\Lambda}\leq 720$, we find it is essential to include the $\Delta$ resonances in compact stars, and small $\Delta$-$\rho$ coupling $g_{\rho \Delta}$ is favored if the mass $2.27{}_{-0.15}^{+0.17}\ M_\odot$ of PSR J2215+5135 is confirmed.

We study the interface effects in strangelets adopting mean-field approximation (MFA). Based on an equivparticle model, the linear confinement and leading-order perturbative interactions are included with density-dependent quark masses. By increasing the confinement strength, the surface tension and curvature term of strange quark matter (SQM) become larger, while the perturbative interaction does the opposite. For those parameters constrained according to the 2$M_\odot$ strange star, the surface tension is $\sim$2.4 MeV/fm${}^2$, while unstable SQM indicates a slightly larger surface tension. The obtained results are then compared with those predicted by the multiple reflection expansion (MRE) method. In contrast to the bag model case, it is found that MRE method overestimates the surface tension and underestimates the curvature term. To reproduce our results, the density of states in the MRE approach should be modified by proper damping factors.

We explore the effects of strangeness and $\Delta$ resonance in baryonic matter and compact stars within the relativistic-mean-field (RMF) models. The covariant density functional PKDD is adopted for $N$-$N$ interaction, parameters fixed based on finite hypernuclei and neutron stars are taken for the hyperon-meson couplings, and the universal baryon-meson coupling scheme is adopted for the $\Delta$-meson couplings. In light of the recent observations of GW170817 with the dimensionless combined tidal deformability $197 \leq \bar{\Lambda}\leq 720$, we find it is essential to include the $\Delta$ resonances in compact stars, and small $\Delta$-$\rho$ coupling $g_{\rho \Delta}$ is favored if the mass $2.27{}_{-0.15}^{+0.17}\ M_\odot$ of PSR J2215+5135 is confirmed.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-limiting recessive genetic disease among Caucasians caused by mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) with over 95% male patients infertile. However, whether CFTR mutations could affect spermatogenesis and result in azoospermia remains an open question. Here we report compromised spermatogenesis, with significantly reduced testicular weight and sperm count, and decreased cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression in the testes of CFTR knockout mice. The involvement of CFTR in HCO(3)(-) transport and the expression of the HCO(3)(-) sensor, soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), are demonstrated for the first time in the primary culture of rat Sertoli cells. Inhibition of CFTR or depletion of HCO(3)(-) could reduce FSH-stimulated, sAC-dependent cAMP production and phosphorylation of CREB, the key transcription factor in spermatogenesis. Decreased CFTR and CREB expression are also observed in human testes with azoospermia. The present study reveals a previously undefined role of CFTR and sAC in regulating the cAMP-CREB signaling pathway in Sertoli cells, defect of which may result in impaired spermatogenesis and azoospermia. Altered CFTR-sAC-cAMP-CREB functional loop may also underline the pathogenesis of various CF-related diseases.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-limiting recessive genetic disease among Caucasians caused by mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) with over 95% male patients infertile. However, whether CFTR mutations could affect spermatogenesis and result in azoospermia remains an open question. Here we report compromised spermatogenesis, with significantly reduced testicular weight and sperm count, and decreased cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression in the testes of CFTR knockout mice. The involvement of CFTR in HCO(3)(-) transport and the expression of the HCO(3)(-) sensor, soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), are demonstrated for the first time in the primary culture of rat Sertoli cells. Inhibition of CFTR or depletion of HCO(3)(-) could reduce FSH-stimulated, sAC-dependent cAMP production and phosphorylation of CREB, the key transcription factor in spermatogenesis. Decreased CFTR and CREB expression are also observed in human testes with azoospermia. The present study reveals a previously undefined role of CFTR and sAC in regulating the cAMP-CREB signaling pathway in Sertoli cells, defect of which may result in impaired spermatogenesis and azoospermia. Altered CFTR-sAC-cAMP-CREB functional loop may also underline the pathogenesis of various CF-related diseases.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-limiting recessive genetic disease among Caucasians caused by mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) with over 95% male patients infertile. However, whether CFTR mutations could affect spermatogenesis and result in azoospermia remains an open question. Here we report compromised spermatogenesis, with significantly reduced testicular weight and sperm count, and decreased cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression in the testes of CFTR knockout mice. The involvement of CFTR in HCO(3)(-) transport and the expression of the HCO(3)(-) sensor, soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), are demonstrated for the first time in the primary culture of rat Sertoli cells. Inhibition of CFTR or depletion of HCO(3)(-) could reduce FSH-stimulated, sAC-dependent cAMP production and phosphorylation of CREB, the key transcription factor in spermatogenesis. Decreased CFTR and CREB expression are also observed in human testes with azoospermia. The present study reveals a previously undefined role of CFTR and sAC in regulating the cAMP-CREB signaling pathway in Sertoli cells, defect of which may result in impaired spermatogenesis and azoospermia. Altered CFTR-sAC-cAMP-CREB functional loop may also underline the pathogenesis of various CF-related diseases.