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Abstract Although several phylogeographic studies of Asian snakes have been conducted, most have focused on pitvipers, with non‐venomous snakes, such as colubrids or natricids, remaining poorly studied. The Chinese keelback water snake (Trimerodytes percarinatus Boulenger) is a widespread, semiaquatic, non‐venomous species occurring in China and southeastern Asia. Based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, we explored the population genetic structure, genetic diversity, and evolutionary history of this species. MtDNA‐based phylogenetic analysis showed that T. percarinatus was composed of five highly supported and geographically structured lineages. SNP‐based phylogenetic analysis, principal component analysis, and population structure analysis consistently revealed four distinct, geographically non‐overlapping lineages, which was different from the mtDNA‐based analysis in topology. Estimation of divergence dates and ancestral area of origin suggest that T. percarinatus originated ~12.68 million years ago (95% highest posterior density: 10.36–15.96 Mya) in a region covering southwestern China and Vietnam. Intraspecific divergence may have been triggered by the Qinghai‐Xizang Plateau uplift. Population demographics and ecological niche modeling indicated that the effective population size fluctuated during 0.5 Mya and 0.002 Mya. Based on the data collected here, we also comment on the intraspecific taxonomy of T. percarinatus and question the validity of the subspecies T. p. suriki.

The gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus is the third most speciose vertebrate genus in the world, containing well over 300 species that collectively range from South Asia to Melanesia across some of the most diverse landscapes and imperiled habitats on the planet. A genus-wide phylogeny of the group has never been presented because researchers working on different groups were using different genetic markers to construct phylogenies that could not be integrated. We present here Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference mitochondrial and mito-nuclear phylogenies incorporating of 310 species that include dozens of species that had never been included in a genus-wide analysis. Based on the mitochondrial phylogeny, we partition Cyrtodactylus into 31 well-supported monophyletic species groups which, if used as recommended herein, will increase the information content of future integrative taxonomic analyses that continue to add new species to this genus at an ever-increasing annual rate. Data presented here reiterate the outcome of several previous studies indicating that Cyrtodactylus comprises an unprecedented number of narrow-range endemics restricted to single mountain tops, small islands, or karst formations that still remain unprotected. This phylogeny can provide a platform for various comparative ecological studies that can be integrated with conservation management programs across the broad diversity of landscapes and habitats occupied by this genus. Additionally, these data indicate that the true number of Cyrtodactylus remains substantially underrepresented.

Huocong He*,1 Shuo Qie,*,2,3 Qiaojuan Guo,4 Shuyang Chen5,6 Changyan Zou,1 Tianzhu Lu,4 Ying Su,1 Jingfeng Zong,4 Hanchuan Xu,4 Dan He,5 Yun Xu,4 Bijuan Chen,4 Jianji Pan,4 Nianli Sang2,5 Shaojun Lin41Department of Radiation Biology, Fujian Cancer Hospital & Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Cancer Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; 3Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; 4Department of Radiation Oncology, Fujian Cancer Hospital & Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Cancer Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Biology, Drexel University College of Arts & Sciences, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; 6Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2) expression is upregulated under multiple stress conditions including hypoxia, nutrient starvation and radiation. Overexpression of STC2 correlates with tumor progression and poor prognosis.Purpose: We previously demonstrated that overexpression of STC2 in nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) positively correlates with radiation resistance and tumor metastasis, two major clinical obstacles to the improvement of NPC management. However, it remains elusive whether STC2 expression is a critical contributing factor for post-radiation survival and metastasis of NPC cells.Materials and methods: Using the radiation resistant CNE2 cell line as a model, we examined the importance of STC2 expression for post-radiation survival, migration and invasion. Here, we report the establishment of STC2 knockout lines (CNE2-STC2-KO) using the CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technique.Results: Compared with the parental line, STC2-KO cells showed similar proliferation and morphology in normal culture conditions, and loss of STC2 did not compromise the cell tumorigenicity in nude mice model. However, STC2-KO lines demonstrated increased sensitivity to X-radiation under either normoxic or hypoxic conditions. Particularly, upon X-radiation, parental CNE2 cells only slightly whereas STC2-KO cells remarkably decreased the migration and invasion ability. Cell cycle analysis revealed that loss of STC2 accumulated cells in G1 and G2/M phases but decreased S-population.Conclusion: These data indicate that the expression of STC2, which can be stimulated by metabolic or therapeutic stresses, is one important factor to promote survival and metastasis of post-radiation NPC cells. Therefore, targeting STC2 or relative downstream pathways may provide novel strategies to overcome radiation resistance and metastasis of NPC.Keywords: metabolic stress, metastasis, migration, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, radiation resistance, stanniocalcin 2

Taiyong Bi,1,* Yangyang Du,2,* Xiaogang Wang,2 Na Sang,2 Fan Zhang,2 Hui Kou,1 Qian Zhu,1 Jiang Qiu21School of Management, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Spatial attention could enhance the neural activities of attended locations in human visual cortex. As a salient stimulus, emotional image could enhance the responses in amygdala and visual areas. However, few studies examined the interaction of the attentional effects induced by emotional stimuli and spatial cues on the neural responses in visual areas.Methods: In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the combined and separated effects of emotional image and spatial cue on the activities in human visual areas. A revised Posner cueing paradigm was utilized. Each participant viewed a fearful image and a peaceful image simultaneously in left and right visual fields. A spatial cue of two dots was then presented in one of the image positions. In this manner, the attentional effects for emotional image and spatial cue could be isolated and combined.Results: The results showed that spatial cue enhanced the responses in V4, intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and lateral occipital area (LO), while emotional image could enhance the responses in V3, V4 and LO. Importantly, no significant interactions were found in any of the visual areas.Conclusion: Our results indicate that the two kinds of attentional modulation might not be affected by each other. These findings shed light on the neural mechanism of the emotional attention.Keywords: emotional attention, spatial attention, visual cortex, fMRI

The development of commercial aviation is being driven by the need to improve efficiency and thereby lower emissions. All-electric aircraft present a route to eliminating direct fuel burning emissions, but their development is stifled by the limitations of current battery energy and power densities. Multifunctional structural power composites, which combine load-bearing and energy-storing functions, offer an alternative to higher-energy-density batteries and will potentially enable lighter and safer electric aircraft. This study investigated the feasibility of integrating structural power composites into future electric aircraft and assessed the impact on emissions. Using the Airbus A320 as a platform, three different electric aircraft configurations were designed conceptually, incorporating structural power composites, slender wings and distributed propulsion. The specific energy and power required for the structural power composites were estimated by determining the aircraft mission performance requirements and weight. Compared to a conventional A320, a parallel hybrid-electric A320 with structural power composites >200 Wh/kg could potentially increase fuel efficiency by 15% for a 1500 km mission. For an all-electric A320, structural power composites >400 Wh/kg could halve the specific energy or mass of batteries needed to power a 1000 km flight.

Zinc oxide field effect transistors (ZnO-FET), covalently functionalized with single stranded DNA aptamers, provide a highly selective platform for label-free small molecule sensing. The nanostructured surface morphology of ZnO provides high sensitivity and room temperature deposition allows for a wide array of substrate types. Herein we demonstrate the selective detection of riboflavin down to the pM level in aqueous solution using the negative electrical current response of the ZnO-FET by covalently attaching a riboflavin binding aptamer to the surface. The response of the biofunctionalized ZnO-FET was tuned by attaching a redox tag (ferrocene) to the 3’ terminus of the aptamer, resulting in positive current modulation upon exposure to riboflavin down to pM levels.

Abstract Homalopsid snakes of the genus Myrrophis include only two species distributed in southern China and northern Vietnam. Here, we describe a third species from southern Vietnam based on morphological data and nucleotide sequences from the mitochondrial gene cyt b. Myrrophis dakkrongensis sp. nov. is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: Medium-sized mud snake (largest total length 452 mm); internasal single and distinctly separated from loreals; dorsal scales smooth, in 23 rows at midbody, reduced to 19 or 20 rows before vent; ventrals 133–138; subcaudals 34–42, paired; cloacal plate divided; supralabials 8, fourth entering orbit; second pair of chin-shields small and oblique; maxillary teeth 17 or 18; gland-like tubercles present in the cloacal region; hemipenis short, forked and spinose, reaching 7th subcaudal; dorsum dark brown to black; and a white or yellow to orange lateroventral stripe present. The new species differs from its congeners by an uncorrected p distance in cyt b sequences of at least 10.5%.

Abstract Visual surveillance systems have been playing an important role in monitoring and managing at public areas. However, the computational complexity of video compression in these applications is still a great challenge. To meet practical requirements, the authors propose in this paper a low‐complexity surveillance video coding solution in which the most recent Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard is improved with a novel learning adaptive motion search algorithm. The proposed algorithm is designed based on the temporal motion and spatial texture characteristics of surveillance videos. First, the authors study and define a list of spatial and temporal features which indicates the motion and texture characteristics of surveillance video. These features are used together with a machine learning algorithm to appropriately assign a search range for the VVC motion search. Second, to reduce search points, the authors propose an adaptive Test Zone (TZ) search in which TZ steps are early terminated following the variation of spatial–temporal features. Performance evaluation conducted for a rich set of surveillance videos and relevant benchmarks have shown the superiority of the proposed method, notably with around 33% of encoding time saving when compared with the state‐of‐the art VVC solution and relevant benchmarks while asking for negligible compression loss.

This study investigates the viability of implementing multifunctional structural power composites in a four-seater air taxi, the CityAirbus. For a given specific energy of the power source, the cruise endurance can be approximately doubled by using structural power composites as opposed to conventional batteries. Replacing all the eligible composite mass and batteries with structural power composites can reduce the CityAirbus weight by 25%. To achieve the current design performance, the minimum required elastic modulus, strength, specific energy and power for the structural power composite are 54 GPa, 203 MPa, 74 Wh/kg and 376 W/kg, respectively: current state-of-the-art structural power composites are now approaching this level of performance. Hence, structural power composites are considered feasible for adoption in the urban air mobility sector and have the potential to improve endurance and facilitate commercialization. This paper also discusses several key challenges that must be addressed to realize the adoption of structural power composites in future electric air taxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and predictive factors for clinical outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) performed within 24 hours of stroke onset in patients with basilar artery occlusion (BAO). Method. A prospective, single-center study collected clinical and imaging data from 49 patients with BAO treated with MT within 24 hours of stroke symptom onset. Direct suction using the Penumbra system and thrombus retrieval by Solitaire stent were the primary endovascular techniques used to restore basilar artery flow. Outcomes included angiographic recanalization success, improvement National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at discharge and after 3 months, and occurrence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) complications. Results. The mean age was 67.6 ± 10.4 years (range, 47-88 years). The mean NIHSS and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission were 22.9 ± 11.2 (range, 6-40) and 10.4 ± 3.1 (range, 5-15), respectively. The major etiologic risk factors were large artery atherosclerosis (83.7%), followed by cardioembolism (16.3%). Successful recanalization (thrombolysis in cerebral infarction [TICI] = 2b) was achieved in all patients (100%), and TICI 3 was achieved in 93.9% of patients. Of the total sample, 6.1% (3/49) of patients showed NIHSS improvements of 0 points at discharge, and 24.9% (12/49) of patients showed NIHSS improvements of 10 points at discharge. After 3 months, 22 patients (44.9%) had favorable clinical outcomes (mRS 0-2), whereas 7 (14.3%) had poor outcomes (mRS 3-5); overall mortality was 40.8% (20/49). Complications of sICH were documented in 15.6% of patients. Univariate analysis identified atrial fibrillation (P = 0.016), NIHSS on admission < 15 (P = 0.032), and GCS on admission > 8 (P = 0.010) as predictive factors for favorable outcomes. Conclusions. The current study suggests that MT treatment of BAO has high recanalization rates and good outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]