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El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the leading mode of interannual climate variability that affects climate and society across the world. However, our understanding of ENSO variability is currently lacking due to short instrumental observations, which limit our confidence in predicting its future occurrence and impact. In this study, we use the nested principal component regression method to reconstruct the ENSO index based on a global‐scale proxy network of stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O). We account for the teleconnection changes that influence proxy records corresponding to different ENSO phases by using the isotope‐enabled Community Earth System Model. According to the precipitation δ18O–ENSO relationship, we reconstruct the ENSO index over the last eight hundred years based on the first two leading modes of the selected proxy records. The skill of ENSO reconstruction improves with an increased number of δ18O series distributed over the ENSO‐affected regions. Our new reconstruction shows high consistency with existing ENSO reconstructions during periods of strong ENSO variability, indicating that the global proxy records capture enhanced teleconnection signals during the phase of strong ENSO amplitude. There is a weak El Niño response 1 year after the large volcanic eruptions in our reconstruction, and the amplitude of ENSO is significantly correlated with volcanic intensity. The strengthened energetic interactions between the ocean and atmosphere following large volcanic eruptions result in enhanced sea surface temperature variability. Plain Language Summary: El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a mode of interannual climate variability originating in the tropical Pacific region. Our understanding of the range of natural variability in ENSO and the long‐term relationships between ENSO and climate change is still limited due to short instrumental observations. Global proxy records preserved in tree rings and caves are a common data source for ENSO variability over the preindustrial period. We use a climate model to interpret the patterns of proxy records associated with different ENSO phases. According to the proxy–ENSO relationship, we reconstruct the ENSO index over the last eight hundred years based on global proxy records. They could reasonably represent ENSO variability when distributed around the ENSO‐affected regions, including the Asian–Australian monsoon region, the tropical Pacific, northern South America, and Africa. Our reconstruction shows high consistency with existing ENSO reconstructions during periods of strong ENSO amplitude and reveals a weak El Niño‐like response 1 year after large volcanic eruptions. We further show a tight coupling between volcanic intensity and ENSO amplitude, with large volcanic eruptions corresponding to strong ENSO amplitudes. Key Points: We account for the teleconnection changes in a global‐scale proxy network of δ18O corresponding to different El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phasesThe new ENSO reconstruction shows high consistency with existing ENSO reconstructions during periods of strong ENSO variabilityWe reveal an El Niño‐like response to large volcanic eruptions and the amplitude of ENSO is significantly correlated with volcanic intensity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is a fungal pulmonary disease with high mortality in immunocompromised patients. Neutrophils are essential in defending against fungal infections; however, their role in PCP is controversial. Here we aim to investigate the effects of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) on Pneumocystis clearance and lung injury using a mouse model of PCP. Intriguingly, although neutrophils play a fundamental role in defending against fungal infections, NETs failed to eliminate Pneumocystis, but instead impaired the killing of Pneumocystis. Mechanically, Pneumocystis triggered Leukotriene B4 (LTB4)‐dependent neutrophil swarming, leading to agglutinative NET formation. Blocking Leukotriene B4 with its receptor antagonist Etalocib significantly reduced the accumulation and NET release of neutrophils in vitro and in vivo, enhanced the killing ability of neutrophils against Pneumocystis, and alleviated lung injury in PCP mice. This study identifies the deleterious role of agglutinative NETs in Pneumocystis infection and reveals a new way to prevent NET formation, which provides new insights into the pathogenesis of PCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aims to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise training on BKCa channel in diabetic vascular smooth muscle and explore the underlying mechanism. Methods: Control m/m mice and diabetic db/db mice were randomly assigned to sedentary groups (W and D) and exercise training groups (WE and DE). Mice in exercise groups underwent training sessions lasting for 12 weeks, with a speed of 12 m/min for 60 min, five times per week. The thoracic aorta was extracted isolated and examined for measurement of vascular structure, global levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), vasodilation, and protein expression. Rat thoracic aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (USMCs) were cultured, and siRNA transfection was conducted to detect whether AMPK contributed to the regulation. ROS level and protein expression were measured. Results: Compared with control mice, diabetic mice had a larger vascular medium thickness, impaired BKCa-mediated vasodilation, a higher level of ROS, and a lower expression of BKCa α, BKCa β1, Nrf2, p-Nrf2, p-Nrf2/Nrf2, HO-1, and p-AMPK/AMPK. Exercise training increased the expression of BKCa α, Nrf2, p-Nrf2, p-Nrf2/Nrf2, HO-1, and p-AMPK/AMPK. AMPK deletion led to lower ROS levels and expression of BKCa α, β1, Nrf2, and HO-1 in USMCs cultured in high glucose conditions. Conclusions: BKCa channel protein expression reduction in VSMCs contributes to vasodilation and vascular remodeling dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. Aerobic exercise can promote the expression of BKCa channel and improve BKCa-mediated vascular dysfunction in diabetic VSMCs through AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution and resource waste in Chinese cities have become important obstacles to sustainable economic development, and it is urgent to change the mode of economic development and improve the quality of economic development. In response to this challenge, this study proposes environmental regulation as a solution and empirically tests the impact of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity. The empirical results show that environmental regulation can significantly improve urban green total factor productivity, the public environmental concern and green finance strengthen the positive effect of environmental regulation on urban green total factor productivity. The mechanism test shows that environmental regulation can improve urban green total factor productivity through green technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that, compared to the resource-based cities, the positive effect of environmental regulation on urban green total factor productivity is more significant in the non-resource-based cities with relatively developed traditional finance and high levels of industrial modernisation. Compared to the central and western as well as the northeast regions of China, the positive effect of environmental regulation on urban green total factor productivity is more significant in the eastern region due to capital accumulation and technological constraints. The results of the study remain reliable after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. These studies provide an important research basis for providing more targeted environmental regulation programmes and better improving green total factor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological research has documented the migration of Neolithic farmers onto the Tibetan Plateau by 4000 BC. How these incoming groups interacted, if at all, with local indigenous foragers, however, remains unclear. New archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the Zongri site in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau suggest that local foragers continued to hunt but supplemented their diet with agricultural products in the form of millet. The authors propose that, rather than being grown locally, this millet was acquired via exchange with farmers. This article highlights how indigenous foragers engaged in complex patterns of material and cultural exchange through encounters with newly arrived farmers. Keywords: Tibetan Plateau, Late Neolithic, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, forager-farmers, exchange, Introduction During the Early to Mid Holocene, agricultural intensification promoted the dispersal of farming groups across the Old World (Bellwood & Renfrew 2002), extending their territories to areas previously only [...]

We study the critical thickness for the plastic relaxation of the Si quantum well layer embedded in a SiGe/Si/SiGe heterostructure for qubits by plan-view transmission electron microscopy and electron channeling contrast imaging. Misfit dislocation segments form due to the glide of pre-existing threading dislocations at the interface of the Si quantum well layer beyond a critical thickness given by the Matthews–Blakeslee criterion. Misfit dislocations are mostly 60 ° dislocations (b=a/2 <110>) that are split into Shockely partials (b=a/6 <112>) due to the tensile strain field of the Si quantum well layer. By reducing the quantum well thickness below critical thickness, misfit dislocations can be suppressed. A simple model is applied to simulate the misfit dislocation formation and the blocking process. We discuss consequences of our findings for the layer stack design of SiGe/Si/SiGe heterostructures for usage in quantum computing hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-Robot Collaboration, whereby human worker and robot perform tasks jointly, is becoming the new frontier in industry production. Unlike robots, continuous work leads to an accumulation of human fatigue, which is the main cause of decreased efficiency and deterioration of health. Characteristic differences between human and robot bring challenges to collaboration task scheduling. In this paper, we studied the task scheduling of a human-robot collaboration assembly cell to achieve a trade-off between job cycle and human fatigue. A task scheduling model integrated with micro-breaks inside job cycles was proposed to avoid human fatigue accumulation by taking advantage of the human-robot collaboration characteristics. Furthermore, the optimisation of task scheduling by taking the job cycle as the objective function and maximum human fatigue as a constraint was solved. The developed method is studied on a cable assembly inspired by an industry case. The results of the case study are presented to indicate the validity and practicability of the proposed model. It suggests that compared with the model of placing rest breaks between job cycles, the proposed model outperforms in job-cycle performance in most cases. Finally, there are some insights on the HRCAC which are obtained from the results of the case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of high‐risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is crucial for early screening and preventing cervical cancer. However, the substantial workload in high‐level hospitals or the limited resources in primary‐level hospitals hinder widespread testing. To address this issue, we explored a sample‐to‐answer genotyping system and assessed its performance by comparing it with the traditional real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method conducted manually. Samples randomly selected from those undergoing routine real‐time PCR detection were re‐analyzed using the fully automatic GenPlex® system. This system identifies 24 types of HPV through a combination of ordinary PCR and microarray‐based reverse hybridization. Inconsistent results were confirmed by repeated testing with both methods, and the κ concordance test was employed to evaluate differences between the two methods. A total of 365 samples were randomly selected from 7259 women. According to real‐time PCR results, 76 were high‐risk HPV negative, and 289 were positive. The GenPlex® system achieved a κ value greater than 0.9 (ranging from 0.920 to 1.000, p < 0.0001) for 14 types of high‐risk HPV, except HPV 51 (κ = 0.697, p < 0.0001). However, the inconsistent results in high‐risk HPV 51 were revealed to be false positive in real‐time PCR by other method. When counting by samples without discriminating the high‐risk HPV type, the results of both methods were entirely consistent (κ = 1.000, p < 0.0001). Notably, the GenPlex® system identified more positive cases, with 73 having an HPV type not covered by real‐time PCR, and 20 potentially due to low DNA concentration undetectable by the latter. Compared with the routinely used real‐time PCR assay, the GenPlex® system demonstrated high consistency. Importantly, the system's advantages in automatic operation and a sealed lab‐on‐chip format respectively reduce manual work and prevent aerosol pollution. For widespread use of GenPlex® system, formal clinical validation following international criteria should be warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The morphological changes in the cornea and crystalline lens have not been closely evaluated after the administration of atropine 0.01%. This study aims to evaluate the radii of curvature and refractive power of the cornea and lens in myopic eyes during atropine 0.01% treatment. Methods: Children aged 6–14 years with myopia <−6.0 D were randomized to receive atropine 0.01% once nightly with single vision lenses or simply wear single vision lenses. Ocular biometric parameters were measured using the IOLMaster 700 biometry and the radii of corneal and lenticular curvature were simulated using a customized program. Results: At the 9‐month visit, 69 atropine‐treated eyes and 50 control eyes were included in the final analyses. In atropine‐treated eyes, the posterior corneal surface steepened (−0.05 ± 0.13 mm) and the anterior lenticular surface flattened (0.20 ± 0.69 mm) significantly within 3–6 months, whereas the posterior corneal surface and anterior lenticular surface gradually flattened (0.07 ± 0.23 and 0.32 ± 0.80 mm respectively) in the control eyes over 9 months. The difference in the change of corneal refractive power was significant between groups (−0.03 ± 0.18 D vs. 0.11 ± 0.24 D, p = 0.001), while that in the change of lenticular refractive power was statistically insignificant (0.01 ± 0.92 D vs. −0.22 ± 0.86 D, p = 0.161). Conclusions: The administration of atropine 0.01% exhibited a clinically short and subtle impact on the cornea and lens, which may shed light on new targets of action for atropine in inhibiting myopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a millennium of domestication, numerous silkworm mutants have emerged that exhibit transparent epidermis, which is caused by abnormally low levels of uric acid. We identified the Bombyx mori gene Bmcap (BMSK0003832) as the homolog of cappuccino, a subunit of the biogenesis of lysosome‐related organelles complex‐1 (BLOC‐1) that has been extensively characterized in human, mouse, and insect species, by analyzing the amino acid sequences of putative purine metabolism genes. Using the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR) / CRISPR‐associated protein 9 system, we disrupted Bmcap, resulting in decreased uric acid levels in the silkworm epidermis and a translucent skin phenotype. In the Bmcap mutant, the purine metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, and membrane system were altered compared to the wild type. Biogenesis of lysosome‐related organelle complex genes play a role in the pigmentation and biogenesis of lysosome‐related organelles (LROs) in platelets, melanocytes, and megakaryocytes. LROs exhibit unique morphologies and functions in various tissues and cells. Investigation of the Bmcap mutant will enhance our understanding of the uric acid metabolic pathway in silkworms, and this mutant offers a valuable silkworm model for LRO studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mode of urban renewal in China has changed from incremental expansion to a value-added stage, and the development of cities has increasingly focused on the human experience and quality improvement. However, Cultural Street Vending and the unique street spaces in the historic districts that bear important connotations to the city have shown a trend of rapid decline and even disappearance. Therefore, how to identify the characteristics and connotations of such street vending spaces, grasp the relationship between perception of locality and built environment elements in different states and formulate targeted protection and renewal strategies is presently an urgent problem to be solved. Many studies have now discussed in detail the identification of elements, street perception and preservation strategies for historic districts. However, the Cultural Street Vending space, which carries special urban memory connotations, has been neglected, especially the characterisation of this type of space in different time dimensions. This paper takes the Cultural Street Vending space as a research object and focuses on the perceptual differences between its market day and non-market day, aiming at grasping the perceptual characteristics and constituent elements of this type of street space in different time states, as well as the patterns of changes they undergo. This paper took the Baxian Temple, a typical Cultural Street Vending space in a historic district of Xi'an, as the research object and took 30 architecture students as the evaluators to score 33 pairs of adjectives and recall the elements of nine streets. This paper compared and analysed the differences in the structure of people's psychological perception of the street in the state of market day and non-market day by SD method. It was found that the activities of the vendors obviously promoted people's positive emotions, and three commonality factors including impression, vitality and morphosis were extracted through the factor analysis. Moreover, through the element recall method to understand the change in element perception on the market day, we found that the range of people's perception was smaller on the market day and summarised the element map of the space and the element components of high, medium and low characteristics. The correlation analysis between psychological quantities and environmental elements revealed that people's positive psychology has a positive correlation with vendors, goods and street components and a negative correlation with greening, colour and texture. This study can provide an important research basis for the development of conservation and renewal strategies for this type of Cultural Street Vending space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]