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The planthopper Nilaparvata muiri is a sister species to N. lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), a notorious insect pest in Asian rice fields. N. muiri and N. lugens have a different host preference despite the similarities in many biological features. To better understand the adaptive evolution of planthoppers, comprehensive genomic information on N. muiri and N. lugens are urgently needed. In this study, we used ultra-low input PacBio HiFi libraries and Hi-C sequencing technologies to assemble a reference genome of a single N. muiri at the chromosomal level. The genome size was determined to be 531.62 Mb with a contig N50 size of 2.47 Mb and scaffold N50 size of 38.37 Mb. Totally, 96.61% assembled sequences were anchored to the 15 pseudo-chromosomes. BUSCO analysis yielded an Insecta completeness score of 98.6%. A total of 22,057 protein-coding genes were annotated, and 168.16 Mb repetitive sequences occupying 31.63% of genome were pinpointed. The assembled genome is valuable for evolutionary and genetic studies of planthoppers, and may provide sights to pest control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiogenesis inhibitors (AIs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are new treatment options for advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of AIs plus ICIs in patients with advanced STS. A retrospective cohort study was performed on STS patients treated with AIs and ICIs at Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute between August 2020 and December 2021. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR); secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and adverse events. Thirty-three patients were enrolled; 27 were evaluable for objective response. The ORR and DCR were 48.1% (95% CI 30.7–66.0%) and 85.2% (95% CI 67.5–94.1%). With a median follow-up of 7.6 months (range, 0.8–25.5), the median PFS for all 33 patients was 8.90 months (95% CI 5.98–11.82). The median OS was not reached. The most common treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) of any grade were hypertension (50.0%), ECG T-wave abnormality (30.0%), hypothyroidism (26.7%), elevated alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase (23.3%), elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (23.3%), and fatigue (16.7%). The most common grade 3–4 TRAE was hypertension (27.3%). Three serious TRAEs (two myocarditis and one rapid atrial fibrillation) were recorded. This study suggests that adding AIs to ICIs is beneficial in STS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These authors contributed equally: Zhuo-Qi Liu, Ping-Yang Zhu.Correction to: Scientific Datahttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03812-0, published online 28 August 2024In this article the author name Zhuo-Qi Liu was incorrectly written as Zhou-Qi Liu. The original article has been corrected.By Zhuo-Qi Liu; Ping-Yang Zhu; Ni-Tong Xu; Yi Wan; Jin-Li Zhang; Xun Zhou; Yu-Xuan Ye; Hong-Xing Xu and Hai-Jun XuReported by Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) robots has brought new opportunities and challenges. The linkage between AI robots and humans has also gained extensive attention from the legal profession. This study focuses on the extended AI Robot Lawyer Technology Acceptance Model (RLTAM). A total of 385 valid questionnaires are collected through quantitative research, and the relationships among the five variables in the model are reanalyzed and revalidated. Results show that the "legal use" variable in the original extended model is not a direct key variable for consumers to accept AI robot lawyers, but it has a direct effect on "perceived ease of use" and "perceived usefulness" variables. AI robots still need to respond actively to attain legitimacy. AI robot lawyers with national legal certification and good user interface design provide humans a sense of trust. AI robot lawyers based on the development of extended intelligence theory can form a closely coordinated working model with humans. In addition, consumers indicate that the normalized use of AI robots could be a trend in the legal industry in the future, and the types of legal profession that robots can replace will not be affected by gender differences. Practitioners using AI robot lawyers need to establish a complete liability risk control system. This study further optimizes the integrity of RLTAM and provides a reference for developers in designing AI robots in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar disorder is an illness characterised by periods of elated and depressed mood. These mood episodes are associated with changes in cognitive function and there is evidence to suggest that cognitive dysfunction persists during euthymia. The extent to which this is a function of the illness or a result of treatment is less clear. In this narrative review, we explore the impact of commonly used medications for bipolar disorder on cognitive function. Specific impairments in executive function and verbal memory have been noted in bipolar disorder. The impact of pharmacological treatments upon cognitive function is mixed with a number of studies reporting conflicting results. Interpretation of the data is further complicated by the variety of cognitive tests employed, study design, the relatively small numbers of patients included and confounding by indication. Overall, there is some evidence that while lithium improves some cognitive domains, it impedes others. Antipsychotics may be deleterious to cognition, although this may relate to the patient population in which they are prescribed. Sodium valproate is also associated with worse cognitive outcomes, while the impact of other antiepileptics is unclear. Overall the quality of evidence is poor and is derived from a relatively small number of studies that often do not account for the significant heterogeneity of the disorder or common comorbidities. The use of consistent methodologies and measures of cognition across studies, as well as in naturalistic settings, would enable more certain conclusions to be drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically realize the acoustic rainbow trapping effect by tapping an air waveguide with space-coiling metamaterials. Due to the high refractive-index of the space-coiling metamaterials, our device is more compact compared to the reported trapped-rainbow devices. A numerical model utilizing effective parameters is also calculated, whose results are consistent well with the direct numerical simulation of space-coiling structure. Moreover, such device with the capability of dropping different frequency components of a broadband incident temporal acoustic signal into different channels can function as an acoustic wavelength division de-multiplexer. These results may have potential applications in acoustic device design such as an acoustic filter and an artificial cochlea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial honeycomb lattices with Dirac cone dispersion provide a macroscopic platform to study the massless Dirac quasiparticles and their novel geometric phases. In this paper, a quadruple-degenerate state is achieved at the center of the Brillouin zone in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice phononic crystal, which is a result of accidental degeneracy of two double-degenerate states. In the vicinity of the quadruple-degenerate state, the dispersion relation is linear. Such quadruple degeneracy is analyzed by rigorous representation theory of groups. Using k.p method, a reduced Hamiltonian is obtained to describe the linear Dirac dispersion relations of this quadruple-degenerate state, which is well consistent with the simulation results. Near such accidental degeneracy, we observe some unique properties in wave propagating, such as defect-insensitive propagating character and the Talbot effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The source and diagenesis of sediment organic matter (OM) based on amino sugar yields and compositions were investigated in sediment samples collected along a reach of the upper Pearl River Estuary in south China. Materials and methods: Sediment samples were collected from the estuary. Three sediment size fractions-coarse particulate OM (CPOM), fine particulate OM (FPOM), and ultrafiltered dissolved OM (UDOM)-were analyzed for total hydrolysable amino sugars (THAS), total organic carbon (TOC), and total nitrogen (N). Results and discussion: THAS contributed much more to sediment TOC and total N in UDOM than in CPOM and FPOM. Percentages of TOC as THAS increased with increasing sediment size. The low glucosamine/galactosamine ratios indicated a relatively large bacterial contribution to the sediment OM size fractions and the less reactive nature of sediment OM in the upper Pearl River Estuary. However, the depletion in muramic acid in the three sediment fractions, especially in UDOM, suggested that living bacteria or intact peptidoglycan units were not a major contributor to sediment OM. Conclusions: The increases of TOC as THAS and C-normalized yields of THAS with the different sediment size fractions demonstrated that they could be used as diagenetic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid chromatography with amperometric detection (LC-AD) is developed and applied to simultaneously determine five aromatic amines. In the LC-AD, a new carbon nanotubes/poly(3-methylthiophene) modified dual-electrode is fabricated and then used as the working electrode. It is found that this chemically modified electrode (CME) exhibits efficiently electrocatalytic oxidation for aromatic amines with relatively high sensitivity, stability and long-life. Thus, lower detection in LC-AD can be achieved, which are 4.0 × 10−8 mol L−1 for aniline, 1.6 ×10−7 mol L−1 for 4-nitroaniline, 1.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 for 4-chloroaniline, 1.5 × 10−7 mol L−1 for 1-naphthylamine, 1.7 × 10−7 mol L−1 for 2-bromoaniline. The recoveries of the five analytes are also determined, which range between 0.95 and 1.05 for drinking water, 0.86 and 1.10 for the LiWa River water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]