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This research explores the corrosion behavior of beryllium bronze over a period of 29 years in an industrial atmosphere, revealing an average corrosion rate of 0.557 μm·a−1. The skyward patina layer primarily consists of Cu2O, Cu4SO4(OH)6 and CuSO4, while the field-ward patina layer contains Cu2O, CuO, Cu4SO4(OH)6 and CuSO4. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and XPS analysis show that Be oxidizes preferentially, providing early-stage corrosion protection. DFT and open circuit potential measurements suggest that the patina layer on the field-ward surface is more thermodynamically stable, but cracks serve as pathways for mass transport, accelerating corrosion.

Accurate predictions of community stability feedback to climate warming depend on an advanced understanding of responses of the key species. The transition from seed germination to seedling establishment is the most vulnerable stage of plants, which determines the maintenance of plant diversity and community resistance to climate change. To elucidate how the establishment and physiological characteristics of Machilus gamblei seedlings will respond to future global warming, artificial warming experiments (infrared warming, +0.75 ℃, +1.5 ℃, +3 ℃, +4 ℃) were conducted at the Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, China. The responses of seedling establishment and their physiological adaptation to different warming conditions were studied, and the contents of nutrients, chlorophyll, and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) in the leaves were measured. The results showed that: (1) increasing the temperature by 0.75 ℃ did not affect the survival rate or physiological characteristics of the seedlings, but increasing the temperature by 4 ℃ reduced the survival rate of the seedlings; (2) As the temperature increased from 1.5 ℃ to 3 ℃, the chlorophyll production in the seedling leaves improved, thus particularly promoting the accumulation of NSC by increasing the starch content. In summary, our work suggests that the temperature increase in 1.5 ℃ and 3 ℃ might be conducive to the establishment and growth of Machilus gamblei seedlings in the two-year experimental period, but increasing the temperature by 4 ℃ would threaten their survival and development.

Abstract Constrained by a limited understanding of the structure and luminescence mechanisms of carbon dots (CDs), achieving precise enhancement of their photoluminescence (PL) performance without altering the emission wavelength and color remains a challenge. In this work, a deuterated CD is first achieved by simply replacing the reaction solvent from H2O to D2O. The substitution of D atoms for H atoms is not limited on the surface but also within the internal structure of CDs. Deuteration affects the formation of the π‐conjugated network structure by altering the content of sp2 carbon and sp3 carbon, ultimately inducing a reconstruction for energy level structure of CDs. Both the intrinsic state and surface state emission, including quantum yield, emission intensity and lifetime, are significantly enhanced after deuteration. It benefits from the reduction in non‐radiative transitions, since the lowered vibrational frequencies of D atoms and optimized local energy level distribution in CDs structure. The deuterated CDs are applied in the fabrication of white‐light‐emitting diodes to show their application potential. This work provides a highly versatile route for improving and controlling photoluminescence performance of CDs and has opportunities to guide the development of CDs for practical applications.

P65, a protein subunit of NF-κB, is a widely distributed transcription factor in eukaryotic cells and exerts diverse regulatory functions. Post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation and ubiquitination modulate p65 transcriptional activity and function, impacting various physiological and pathological processes including inflammation, immune response, cell death, proliferation, differentiation and tumorigenesis. The intricate interplay between these modifications can be antagonistic or synergistic. Understanding p65 post-translational modifications not only elucidates NF-κB pathway regulation but also facilitates the identification of therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers for associated clinical conditions.

The rafting of the microstructure of Ni-based superalloys significantly deteriorates the mechanical properties. According to the plastic rafting model based on the dislocation mechanism, the directional atomic diffusion induced by the interaction between the alloying atom and the interfacial dislocation is critical to the evolution of the rafting microstructure. In the present work, the interactions between the alloying atom and dislocation core in both matrix γ phase and the precipitate γ′ phase are investigated by using a first principles method in combination with the semi-discrete variational Peierls-Nabarro dislocation model. We show that the alloying atoms Al, Cr, Co, Mo, Ru, Ta, W, Re lower the (edge for Cr and Co) dislocation core energy in the γ phase, indicating that the alloying atoms are attractive to the dislocation core. For the γ′ phase, Cr, Mo, Ta, W, Re raise whereas Co and Ru lower the dislocation core energy, i.e., Cr, Mo, Ta, W, Re are repulsive but Co and Ru are attractive to the dislocation core. With the calculated interaction between the alloying atoms and the dislocation core, the influence of these alloying elements on the rafting of the superalloy is discussed.

In this letter, we propose a novel cosmological model-independent method to determine cosmic curvature, combining the recent measurements of transverse and line-of-sight directions in the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) with cosmic chronometers (CC) datasets. Considering that the CC dataset is discrete and includes only 32 H(z) measurements, we apply Gaussian process (GP) regression to fit the CC dataset and reconstruct them. Our methodology, which does not need the calibration or selection of any cosmological model, provide multiple measurements of spatial curvature (ΩK) at different redshifts (depending on the redshift coverage of BAO dataset). For combination of all BAO data, we find that the constraint result on cosmic curvature is ΩK=−0.096−0.195+0.190 with 1σ observational uncertainty. Although the measured ΩK is in good agreement with zero cosmic curvature within 1σ confidence level, our result revels the fact of a closed universe. More importantly, our results show that the obtained ΩK measurements are almost unaffected by different priors of the Hubble constant. This could help solve the issue of the Hubble tension that may be caused by inconsistencies in the spatial curvature between the early and late universes.

Abstract BAK permeabilizes the mitochondrial outer membrane, causing apoptosis. This apoptotic activity of BAK is stimulated by binding prodeath activators within its canonical hydrophobic groove. Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase, can ubiquitinate BAK, which inhibits BAK apoptotic activity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the inhibition of ubiquitination remains structurally uncharacterized. Here, we utilize truncated and soluble BAK to construct a mimetic of K113-ubiquitinated BAK (disulfide-linked UbG76C ~ BAKK113C) and further present its NMR-derived structure model. The classical L8-I44-H68-V70 hydrophobic patch of the conjugated Ub subunit binds within the canonical hydrophobic groove of BAK. This Ub occludes the binding of prodeath BID activators in the groove and impairs BID-triggered BAK activation and membrane permeabilization. Reduced interaction between Ub and BAK subunits allows BID to activate K113-ubiquitinated BAK. These mechanistic insights suggest a nonsignaling function of Ub in that it directly antagonizes stimuli targeting Ub-modified proteins rather than by recruiting downstream partners for cellular messaging.

Abstract Improving regeneration of damaged thymus is important for reconstituting T-cell immunity. Interleukin-22 (IL-22) was proved to improve thymus regeneration through recovering thymic epithelial cells (TECs). The IL-22 receptor IL-22RA1 is crucial for mediating IL-22 functions. Mechanism that regulates IL-22RA1 expression is unknown. Through using TECs-conditional knockout mice, we found aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is important for thymus regeneration, because Foxn1-cre-mediated AHR knockout (AhrKO) significantly blocks recovery of thymus cells. Giving mice the AHR inhibitor CH-223191 or the AHR agonist FICZ blocks or accelerates thymus regeneration, respectively. AhrKO-mediated blockade of thymus regeneration could not be rescued by giving exogenous IL-22. Mechanistically, AhrKO mice shows decreased IL-22RA1 expression. In the murine TECs cell line mTEC1 cells, targeting AHR shows an impact on IL-22RA1 mRNA levels. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays, we find AHR co-operates with STAT3, binds the promotor region of IL-22RA1 gene and transcriptionally increases IL-22RA1 expression in mTEC1 cells. Foxn1-cre-mediated IL-22RA1 knockout (Il22ra1KO) blocks thymus regeneration after irradiation. Furthermore, targeting AHR or IL-22RA1 has significant impacts on severity of murine chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), which is an autoimmune-like complication following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Giving FICZ decreases cGVHD, whereas Il22ra1KO exacerbates cGVHD. The impacts on cGVHD are associated with thymus regeneration and T-cell immune reconstitution. In conclusion, we report an unrecognized function of TECs-expressed AHR in thymus regeneration and AHR transcriptionally regulates IL-22RA1 expression, which have implications for improving thymus regeneration and controlling cGVHD.

Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) typically exhibit excellent high-temperature strength but limited ductility. In this study, a comprehensive machine learning strategy with integrated material knowledge is proposed to predict the elongation of TiZrNbVAl RHEAs. By referring to the ductility theories, a set of cost-effective material features is developed with various mathematical forms of thermodynamic parameters. These features are proven to effectively incorporate material knowledge into ML modeling. They also offer potential alternatives to those obtained from costly first-principles calculations. Based on Pearson correlation coefficients, the linear relationships between pairwise features were compared, and the seven key features with the greatest impact on the model were selected for ML modeling. Regression tasks were performed to predict the ductility of TiZrNbVAl, and the CatBoost gradient boosting algorithm exhibiting the best performance was eventually selected. The established optimized model achieves high predictive accuracies exceeding 0.8. These key features were further analyzed using interpretable ML methods to elucidate their influences on various ductility mechanisms. According to the ML results, different compositions of TiZrNbVAl with excellent tensile properties were prepared. The experimental results indicate that Ti44Zr24Nb17V5Al10 and Ti44Zr26Nb8V13Al9 both exhibited ultimate tensile strengths of approximately 1180 MPa and elongations higher than 21%. They verified that the ML strategy proposed in this study is an effective approach for predicting the properties of RHEAs. It is a potential method that can replace costly first-principles calculations. Thermodynamic parameters have been shown to effectively predict alloy ductility to a certain extent.

The Smart Education of China, a large education data platform for the aggregation and application of high-quality educational resources, is vital for China to stimulate the balanced development of education and to reduce students’ learning burden. This study focuses on the long-term mechanism of the Smart Education of China, adopting TOE framework and qualitative comparative analysis research method to investigate the technological conditions, environmental conditions, organizational conditions and content conditions of the Smart Education of China before summarizing four usage paths of the Smart Education of China. With regard for the existing issues, the study concludes that for the sake of a long-term mechanism the Smart Education of China needs to solve four problems, including unfinished construction, content-insufficient platform, popular but ineffective application, and substandard quality.

In this Letter, we propose a model-independent method to determine the Hubble constant and curvature simultaneously by taking advantage of the possibilities of future spaceborne gravitational-wave detector DECIGO in combination with the radio quasars as standard rulers. Similarly to the redshift drift in the electromagnetic domain, accelerating expansion of the Universe causes a characteristic phase correction to the gravitational waveform detectable by DECIGO. Hence, one would be able to extract the Hubble parameter H ( z ). This could be used to recover a distance–redshift relation supported by the data not relying on any specific cosmological model. Assuming the FLRW metric and using intermediate-luminosity radio quasars as standard rulers, one achieves an interesting opportunity to directly assess the H _0 and Ω _k parameters. To test this method, we simulated a set of acceleration parameters achievable by future DECIGO. Based on the existing sample of 120 intermediate-luminosity radio quasars calibrated as standard rulers, we simulated much bigger samples of such standard rulers possible to obtain with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). In the case of ( N = 100) of radio quasars, which is the size of the currently available sample, the precision of the cosmological parameters determined would be ${\sigma }_{{H}_{0}}=2.74$ km s ^−1 Mpc ^−1 and ${\sigma }_{{{\rm{\Omega }}}_{k}}=0.175$ . In the optimistic scenario ( N = 1000) achievable by VLBI, the precision of H _0 would be improved to 1%, which is comparable to the result of ${\sigma }_{{H}_{0}}=0.54$ km s ^−1 Mpc ^−1 from Planck 2018 TT, TE, EE+lowE+lensing data, and the precision of Ω _k would be 0.050. Our results demonstrate that such combined analysis, possible in the future, could be helpful in solving the current cosmological issues concerning the Hubble tension and cosmic curvature tension.

By employing high-throughput first-principles calculations, the segregation capacity of fifteen widely used metallic alloying elements (viz., Be, Mn, Co, Cr, Ni, Al, Mo, W, Mg, Ta, Nb, Sb, Sn, Zr, and Bi) at ∑3 grain boundary in low alloy ferritic steel, as well as their impact on grain boundary stability, interfacial separation work, and other properties, were systematically investigated. The findings reveal that, for alloying atoms Sb, Sn, Bi, Nb, and Zr, whose size is notably larger than that of the matrix Fe atoms, the effect of strain energy minimization in segregation is comparable to that of chemical energy minimization. Furthermore, the impact of strain energy minimization is closely related to the volume of the alloying atoms both at the solid solution sites in the crystal and at the segregation sites at the grain boundary. Thus, the segregation of large alloy atoms on the grain boundaries can be predicted by atomic volume of each segregation site, which can provide valuable insights for the development of new alloys and for grain boundary engineering.

Background: Emerging data have supported the immunostimulatory role of radiotherapy, which could exert a synergistic effect with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). With proven effective but suboptimal effect of ICI and chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), we designed a pilot study to explore the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plus adebrelimab and chemotherapy in TNBC patients. Methods: Treatment-naïve TNBC patients received two cycles of intravenous adebrelimab (20 mg/kg, every 3 weeks), and SBRT (24 Gy/3 f, every other day) started at the second cycle, then followed by six cycles of adebrelimab plus nab-paclitaxel (125 mg/m² on days 1 and 8) and carboplatin (area under the curve 6 mg/mL per min on day 1) every 3 weeks. The surgery was performed within 3–5 weeks after the end of neoadjuvant therapy. Primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR, ypT0/is ypN0). Secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), residual cancer burden (RCB) 0-I, and safety. Results: 13 patients were enrolled and received at least one dose of therapy. 10 (76.9%) patients completed SBRT and were included in efficacy analysis. 90% (9/10) of patients achieved pCR, both RCB 0-I and ORR reached 100% with three patients achieved complete remission. Adverse events (AEs) of all-grade and grade 3–4 occurred in 92.3% and 53.8%, respectively. One (7.7%) patient had treatment-related serious AEs. No radiation-related dermatitis or death occurred. Conclusions: Adding SBRT to adebrelimab and neoadjuvant chemotherapy led to a substantial proportion of pCR with acceptable toxicities, supporting further exploration of this combination in TNBC patients. Funding: None. Clinical trial number: NCT05132790.

Acetonitrile wastewater is difficult to treat due to its high salinity and toxicity to microorganisms. In this paper, a micro electro-activated carbon fiber coupled system (ME-ACF) was established to treat simulated acetonitrile wastewater. In the 200 ml system, the concentration of acetonitrile adsorbed by ACF was 91.3 mg/L, while that of acetonitrile adsorbed by ME-ACF was 150.6 mg/L, and the removal efficiency was increased by 65 % in comparison. The activated carbon fibers before and after the reaction were subjected to a series of characterization, and it was found that the SABET decreased from 1393.48 m2/g to 1114.93 m2/g and 900.23 m2/g, respectively, but the oxygen on the surface of the activated carbon fibers was increased, and the effect of the micro electrolytic system on the activated carbon fibers was then analyzed. The possible reasons for the formation of acetic acid contained in the products were also discussed using DFT simulations. The removal mechanism of acetonitrile by ME-ACF was considered to be electrically enhanced adsorption and electro-catalytic hydrolysis.

Peierls stress (τp) of face-centered-cubic (FCC) structures from the Peierls-Nabarro (PN) model calculation is extremely sensitive to the input parameters including the shear modulus (μ), Poisson's ratio (ν) and generalized stacking fault energy (GSFE), which makes the model not a very reliable tool for the prediction of τp because uncertainties occur inevitably in the theoretical calculation or experimental measurements of these input parameters. In the present work, we scrutinized systematically the sensitivity of τps of the FCC metals to the input parameters within the framework of semi-discrete variational PN (SVPN) model. We showed that τp oscillates drastically with varying input parameters. The period of the oscillation is associated with the dependence of the distance between the two partials of the extended dislocation (D) on μ, ν and GSFE while the amplitude of the oscillation is modulated by the dependence of the half-width of the partial dislocation (ζ) on these input parameters. Based on the explored origin of the oscillation, a modified SVPN model is proposed to relieve the sensitivity of τp on the input parameters. The Peierls stresses evaluated with the modified SVPN model are in general agreement with the available experimental values for all the FCC metals.

Determining the competition between the {110}⟨111⟩, {112}⟨111⟩ and {123}⟨111⟩ slip systems in body-centered cubic (BCC) metals is important to understand their mechanical properties. In this paper, the unstable stacking fault energy (γus) and Peierls stress (σp) of the three slip systems of a series of BCC metals are calculated in order to evaluate the competition among them. We find that γus of BCC metals is proportional to (B+G)/a2/3, where B, G and a are the bulk modulus, shear modulus and lattice constant, respectively. The calculations of γuss predict that the {110}⟨111⟩ dislocation slip is prior to the {112}⟨111⟩ and {123}⟨111⟩ slips, however, γus may not be used to identify the priorities of the latter two slips because γuss of these two slip systems are too close to each other. According to σps, the mobility of dislocations decreases in the sequence of {110}⟨111⟩, {112}⟨111⟩, {123}⟨111⟩ for all the metals considered except for K. Noticeably, it is shown that γus and σp are not monotonically related to each other.

The Omh ^2 ( z _i , z _j ) two-point diagnostics was proposed as a litmus test of the ΛCDM model, and measurements of the cosmic expansion rate H ( z ) have been extensively used to perform this test. The results obtained so far suggested a tension between observations and predictions of the ΛCDM model. However, the data set of H ( z ) direct measurements from cosmic chronometers and baryon acoustic oscillations was quite limited. This motivated us to study the performance of this test on a larger sample obtained in an alternative way. In this paper, we propose that gravitational-wave (GW) standard sirens could provide large samples of H ( z ) measurements in the redshift range of 0 < z < 5, based on the measurements of the dipole anisotropy of luminosity distance arising from the matter inhomogeneities of the large-scale structure and the local motion of the observer. We discuss the effectiveness of our method in the context of the space-borne DECi-herz Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, based on a comprehensive H ( z ) simulated data set from binary neutron star merger systems. Our results indicate that in the GW domain, the Omh ^2 ( z _i , z _j ) two-point diagnostics could effectively distinguish whether ΛCDM is the best description of our Universe. We also discuss the potential of our methodology in determining possible evidence for dark energy evolution, focusing on its performance on the constant and redshift-dependent dark energy equation of state.

Extracting precise stellar labels is crucial for large spectroscopic surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and APOGEE. In this paper, we report the newest implementation of StellarGAN, a data-driven method based on generative adversarial networks (GANs). Using 1D operators like convolution, the 2D GAN is modified into StellarGAN. This allows it to learn the relevant features of 1D stellar spectra without needing labels for specific stellar types. We test the performance of StellarGAN on different stellar spectra trained on SDSS and APOGEE data sets. Our result reveals that StellarGAN attains the highest overall F1-score on SDSS data sets (F1-score = 0.82, 0.77, 0.74, 0.53, 0.51, 0.61, and 0.55, for O-type, B-type, A-type, F-type, G-type, K-type, and M-type stars) when the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is low (90% of the spectra have an S/N < 50), with 1% of labeled spectra used for training. Using 50% of the labeled spectral data for training, StellarGAN consistently demonstrates performance that surpasses or is comparable to that of other data-driven models, as evidenced by the F1-scores of 0.92, 0.77, 0.77, 0.84, 0.84, 0.80, and 0.67. In the case of APOGEE (90% of the spectra have an S/N < 500), our method is also superior regarding its comprehensive performance (F1-score = 0.53, 0.60, 0.56, 0.56, and 0.78 for A-type, F-type, G-type, K-type, and M-type stars) with 1% of labeled spectra for training, manifesting its learning ability out of a limited number of labeled spectra. Our proposed method is also applicable to other types of data that need to be classified (such as gravitational-wave signals, light curves, etc.).

The emergence and development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides an approach to understand the regulatory mechanisms of cell pluripotency and demonstrates the great potential of iPSCs in disease modeling. Acute myelitis defines a group of inflammatory diseases that cause acute nerve damage in the spinal cord; however, its pathophysiology remains to be elusive. In this study, we derived skin fibroblasts from a patient with acute myelitis (P-HAF) and then reprogrammed P-HAF cells to iPSCs using eight exogenous factors (namely, OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, KLF4, NANOG, LIN28, RARG, and LRH1). We performed transcriptomic analysis of the P-HAF and compared the biological characteristics of the iPSCs derived from the patient (P-iPSCs) with those derived from normal individuals in terms of pluripotency, transcriptomic characteristics, and differentiation ability toward the ectoderm. Compared to the control iPSCs, the P-iPSCs displayed similar features of pluripotency and comparable capability of ectoderm differentiation in the specified culture. However, when tested in the common medium, the P-iPSCs showed attenuated potential for ectoderm differentiation. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that pathways enriched in P-iPSCs included those involved in Wnt signaling. To this end, we treated iPSCs and P-iPSCs with the Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor IWR1 during the differentiation process and found that the expression of the ectoderm marker Sox1 was increased significantly in P-iPSCs. This study provides a novel approach to investigating the pathogenesis of acute myelitis.

Objective To report concave-side distraction technique to treat congenital cervical scoliosis in lower cervical and cervicothoracic spine. To evaluate and compare clinical and radiographic results of this procedure with classic hemivertebra resection procedure. Methods This study reviewed 29 patients in last 13 years. These patients were divided into convex-side resection group (group R) and concave-side distraction group (group D). Radiographic assessment was based on parameter changes preoperatively, postoperatively and at last follow-up. Demographic data, surgical data and complications were also evaluated and compared between the 2 groups. Results In group R, mean age was 8.9 ± 3.3 years and follow-up was 46 ± 18 months. Operation time and blood loss averaged 500 ± 100 minutes, 703 ± 367 mL. In group D, mean age was 9.9 ± 2.8 years and follow-up was 34 ± 14 months. Operation time and blood loss averaged 501 ± 112 minutes, 374 ± 181 mL. Structural Cobb angle was corrected from 29.4° ± 12.5° to 5.3° (2.1°–18.1°) (p = 0.001) and 33.7° ± 14.1° to 12.8° ± 11.4° (p < 0.001) in groups R and D. Compensatory Cobb angle had a spontaneous correction rate of 59.6% (40.0%–80.8%) and 59.7% ± 23.0% in groups R and D. Mandibular incline, clavicle angle and spine coronal balance were significantly improved at last follow-up in both groups. All correction rates were not statistically different between groups. However, group D had significant less blood loss (p < 0.001) and operation time (p = 0.004) per vertebra than group R. Seven patients developed C5 nerve root palsy and recovered by 6 months of follow-up. Conclusion Both surgical procedures are safe and effective in correcting congenital cervical scoliosis. But concave-side distraction technique has less blood loss and time-consuming during surgery, which provides a better option for the treatment of congenital cervical scoliosis.

Abstract In this paper, we use the latest observations of quasars covering the redshift range of $$0.04

Conservation of crop wild relatives is critical for plant breeding and food security. The lack of clarity on the genetic factors that lead to endangered status or extinction create difficulties when attempting to develop concrete recommendations for conserving a citrus wild relative: the wild relatives of crops. Here, we evaluate the conservation of wild kumquat (Fortunella hindsii) using genomic, geographical, environmental, and phenotypic data, and forward simulations. Genome resequencing data from 73 accessions from the Fortunella genus were combined to investigate population structure, demography, inbreeding, introgression, and genetic load. Population structure was correlated with reproductive type (i.e., sexual and apomictic) and with a significant differentiation within the sexually reproducing population. The effective population size for one of the sexually reproducing subpopulations has recently declined to ~1,000, resulting in high levels of inbreeding. In particular, we found that 58% of the ecological niche overlapped between wild and cultivated populations and that there was extensive introgression into wild samples from cultivated populations. Interestingly, the introgression pattern and accumulation of genetic load may be influenced by the type of reproduction. In wild apomictic samples, the introgressed regions were primarily heterozygous, and genome-wide deleterious variants were hidden in the heterozygous state. In contrast, wild sexually reproducing samples carried a higher recessive deleterious burden. Furthermore, we also found that sexually reproducing samples were self-incompatible, which prevented the reduction of genetic diversity by selfing. Our population genomic analyses provide specific recommendations for distinct reproductive types and monitoring during conservation. This study highlights the genomic landscape of a wild relative of citrus and provides recommendations for the conservation of crop wild relatives.

Many studies emphasize the need of verbally representing pictorial metaphors, but few have empirically investigated whether and how the particular verbalization form match different types of pictorial metaphors. Using evoked response potentials (ERP), a 3 (pictorial structure: fusion, juxtaposition, literal image) × 2 [verbalization form: A是(is) B, A像(is like) B] within-group experiment was conducted among 36 participants. ERPs were time-locked to the onset of the verb [是/像(is/is like)] of the metaphor sentence that follows a pictorial metaphor to detect the verbo-pictorial incongruity in metaphor comprehension. The incongruity-based ERP analysis showed that pictorial metaphors, when verbalized in two forms, all induced frontal N1 effect, regardless of pictorial structures, only with a larger N1 amplitude for literal images in “A是(is) B.” A central stronger P2 was observed in “A像(is like) B” for three structures. Despite a general elicitation of posterior P3 in all conditions, a larger P3 was found for juxtapositions verbalized in “A像(is like) B” and for literal images verbalized in “A是(is) B.” There was no significant difference between two verbalization forms for fusion-structured pictorial metaphors. These findings suggest: (1) verbo-pictorial metaphors could induce incongruity-based attention; (2) higher verbo-pictorial semantic congruity and relatedness, indexed by stronger P2 and P3, confirmed “A像(is like) B” to be the more effective verbalization form in representing pictorial metaphors, specifically for juxtaposition-structured pictorial metaphors; (3) for non-metaphor advertising pictures, verbal metaphor showed an interference effect. The study not only reveals the neuro-cognitive mechanism of processing verbo-pictorial metaphors, but also offers neural reference for the design of effective multi-modal metaphor by finding an optimal match between PMs and verbalization forms.

In recent years, scientists have conducted extensive research on Moiré materials and have discovered some compelling properties. The Moiré superlattice allows superconductivity through flat-band and strong correlation effects. The presence of flat bands causes the Moiré material to exhibit topological properties as well. Modulating electronic interactions with magnetic fields in Moiré materials enables the fractional quantum Hall effect. In addition, Moiré materials have ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic properties. By tuning the interlayer coupling and spin interactions of the Moiré superlattice, different magnetic properties can be achieved. Finally, this review also discusses the applications of Moiré materials in the fields of photocurrent, superconductivity, and thermoelectricity. Overall, Moiré superlattices provide a new dimension in the development of two-dimensional materials.

As an exact result required by the Etherington reciprocity theorem, the cosmic distance duality relation (CDDR), η(z)=DL(z)(1+z)−2/DA(z)=1 plays an essential part in modern cosmology. In this paper, we present a new method (η(zi)/η(zj)) to use the measurements of ultra-compact structure in radio quasars (QSO) and the latest observations of type Ia supernova (SN Ia) to test CDDR. By taking the observations directly from SN Ia and QSOs, one can completely eliminate the uncertainty caused by the calibration of the absolute magnitudes of standard candles (MB) and the linear sizes of standard rulers (lm). Benefit from the absence of nuisance parameters involved in other currently available methods, our analysis demonstrates no evidence for the deviation and redshift evolution of CDDR up to z=2.3. The combination of our methodology and the machine learning Artificial Neural Network (ANN) would produce 10−3 level constraints on the violation parameter at high redshifts. Our results indicate perfect agreement between observations and predictions, supporting the persisting claims that the Etherington reciprocity theorem could still be the best description of our universe.

Deserts are among the most important terrestrial sedimentary environments and have existed in all periods throughout Earth’s history. In contrast to modern deserts, the ability to quantitatively evaluate the area and desertification degrees of ancient deserts is limited due to the lack of unambiguous proxies. Dune morphology and their spatial arrangements directly reflect the degree of desertification of deserts. Recently, a methodology for obtaining the morphological parameters of dunes was established, although it has not been applied to ancient dunes and deserts in deep time. In the Ordos Basin, both the Early Cretaceous desert and modern deserts (Hobq Desert and Mu Us Desert) were well developed and exposed, which makes the Ordos Basin an ideal place to quantitatively evaluate the paleo-desert based on the proposed methodology. In this study, a total of 698 and 1,490 morphological parameters reflecting the Early Cretaceous desert and modern deserts in the Ordos Basin were obtained, respectively. For the Ordos paleo-desert, our results show that its area was larger and its degree of desertification was more severe than those of modern mid-latitude deserts, including the modern desert in the Ordos Basin, but were similar to those of the modern low-latitude deserts. Our results, therefore, suggest that the Ordos paleo-desert was a non-negligible and large desert during an interval of Earth’s history. Since the other controlling factors, such as regional geography and sources of both the ancient and modern deserts in the Ordos Basin, have remained nearly unchanged, we speculate that it may have been the relatively high temperature, high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and relatively low precipitation during the greenhouse period (i.e., Early Cretaceous) that led to the large area and severe degree of desertification of the Ordos paleo-desert.

The most distant globular cluster (GC) with known pulsars is NGC 5024 (M53). In this paper, we report the discovery of a new binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J1312+1810E (M53E), and present the new timing solutions for M53B–E based on 22 observations from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). These discoveries and timing work benefit from FAST’s high sensitivity. We find that M53C is the only isolated millisecond pulsar known in this distant GC, with a spin period of 12.53 ms and spin period derivative of 5.26 × 10 ^−20 s s ^−1 . Our results reveal orbital periods of 47.7, 5.8, and 2.4 days for M53B, D, and E, respectively. The companions, with masses of 0.25, 0.27, and 0.18 M _⊙ , respectively, are likely to be white dwarf stars; if they are extended objects, they do not eclipse the pulsars. We find no X-ray counterparts for these millisecond pulsars in archival Chandra images in the band of 0.3–8 keV. The characteristics of this pulsar population are similar to the population of millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk, as expected from the low stellar density of M53.

Abstract Although there is increasing evidence for wet, monsoonal conditions in Southeast Asia during the late Eocene, it has not been clear when this environment became established. Cenozoic sedimentary sequences constrained by radiometrically dated igneous rocks from the Jianchuan Basin in the southeast flank of Tibetan Plateau now provide a section whose facies and climatic proxies determine this evolution. Semi-arid conditions had dominated the region since Paleocene controlled by the northern sub-tropical high pressure system, culminating in mid Eocene when desert dunes developed. From 36 Ma, the basin began to accumulate swamp sediments with coals, together with synchronous braided river deposits and diversified pollen assemblages, indicating significant increase in precipitation. This remarkable transition from dry to wet conditions precedes the Eocene/Oligocene boundary at 34 Ma, thus excluding general global cooling as the prime driver. We propose that uplift of Tibetan Plateau might have reached a threshold elevation by that time, operating through thermal and dynamic forcing, causing the inception or significant intensification of monsoonal rains to penetrate into this downwind locality.

Abstract In this paper, we carry out an assessment of cosmic distance duality relation (CDDR) based on the latest observations of HII galaxies acting as standard candles and ultra-compact structure in radio quasars acting as standard rulers. Particularly, two machine learning reconstruction methods [Gaussian Process (GP) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)] are applied to reconstruct the Hubble diagrams from observational data. We show that both approaches are capable of reconstructing the current constraints on possible deviations from the CDDR in the redshift range $$z\sim 2.3$$ z ∼ 2.3 . Considering four different parametric methods of CDDR, which quantify deviations from the CDDR and the standard cosmological model, we compare the results of the two different machine learning approaches. It is observed that the validity of CDDR is in well agreement with the current observational data within $$1\sigma $$ 1 σ based on the reconstructed distances through GP in the overlapping redshift domain. Moreover, we find that ultra-compact radio quasars could provide $$10^{-3}$$ 10 - 3 -level constraints on the violation parameter at high redshifts, when combined with the observations of HII galaxies. In the framework of ANN, one could derive robust constraints on the violation parameter at a precision of $$10^{-2}$$ 10 - 2 , with the validity of such distance duality relation within $$2\sigma $$ 2 σ confidence level.

PurposeThis study aimed to explore current developments and trends in the field of subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults at a macro level and identify research hotspots.MethodsWe included reviews and articles on the SWB of older adults in the Web of Science Core Collection published from 2002 to 2021. We used CiteSpace to draw a knowledge map of the authors, institutions, countries, references, and keywords for visual analysis and used Microsoft Excel tables to count basic information details.ResultsA total of 354 papers were included, and the number of papers published over the past two decades showed a pattern of growth. The core force of publications was primarily attributed to studies conducted in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, which have relatively major issues of aging and good economic strength. However, links between states, institutions, and authors were relatively weak. Cluster analysis showed that the research field could be divided into eight topics: the application of social psychology in the study of the SWB of older adults, aging in older adults, health condition of older adults, achieving successful aging, interventions for SWB, age differences in SWB research, an economic perspective of SWB research and social support for older adults. Current research frontiers are socioeconomic status, community, intervention, participation, adjustment, validation, and personality.ConclusionThe results of the present study provided a comprehensive picture in the research field of SWB of older adults. It showed that the mechanism, especially the bidirectional effect, between the SWB of older adults and its influencing factors is still worthy of further exploration. More research on evidence-based and intervention strategies should be conducted in the future.

In this paper, a dual-polarized Huygens unit is proposed, which has a double-layer metallic pattern etched on both sides of one dielectric substrate. Induced magnetism enables the structure to support Huygens’ resonance, thus obtaining nearly complete available transmission phase coverage. By optimizing the structural parameters, a better transmission performance can be achieved. When the Huygens metasurface was used for the design of a meta-lens, good radiation performance was exhibited, with a maximum gain of 31.15 dBi at 28 GHz, an aperture efficiency of 42.7% and a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 26.4 GHz to 30 GHz (12.86%). Due to its excellent radiation performance and very simple fabrication, this Huygens meta-lens has important applications in millimeter-wave communication systems.

Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) as emerging contaminants have become a global environmental issue due to their small size and high bioavailability. However, very little information is available regarding their impact on zooplankton, especially when food availability is a limiting factor. Therefore, the present study aims at evaluating the long-term effects of two different sizes (50 nm and 1 μm) of amnio-modified polystyrene (PS-NH2) particles on brine shrimp, Artemia parthenogenetica, by providing different levels of food (microalgae) supply. Larvae were exposed to three environmentally relevant concentrations (5.5, 55, and 550 μg/L) of MNPs over a 14-days of exposure with two food levels, high (3 × 105~1 × 107 cells/mL), and low (1 × 105 cells/mL) food conditions. When exposed to high food levels, the survival, growth, and development of A. parthenogenetica were not negatively affected at the studied exposure concentrations. By comparison, when exposed to a low food level, a U shape trend was observed for the three measured effects (survival rate, body length, and instar). Significant interactions between food level and exposure concentration were found for all three measured effects (three-way ANOVA, p < 0.05). The activities of additives extracted from 50 nm PS-NH2 suspensions were below toxic levels, while those from 1-μm PS-NH2 showed an impact on artemia growth and development. Our results demonstrate the long-term risks posed by MNPs when zooplankton have low levels of food intake.

A growing number of studies have demonstrated that N6 methyladenine (m6A) acts as an important role in the pathogenesis of reproductive diseases. Therefore, it is essential to profile the genome-wide m6A modifications such as in spontaneous abortion. In this study, due to the trace of human villi during early pregnancy, we performed high-throughput sequencing in villous tissues from spontaneous abortion (SA group) and controls with induced abortion (normal group) in the first trimester. Based on meRIP-seq data, 18,568 m6A peaks were identified. These m6A peaks were mainly located in the coding region near the stop codon and were mainly characterized by AUGGAC and UGGACG motif. Compared with normal group, the SA group had 2,159 significantly upregulated m6A peaks and 281 downregulated m6A peaks. Biological function analyses revealed that differential m6A-modified genes were mainly involved in the Hippo and Wnt signaling pathways. Based on the conjoint analysis of meRIP-seq and RNA-seq data, we identified thirty-five genes with differentially methylated m6A peaks and synchronously differential expression. And these genes were mainly involved in the Wnt signaling pathway, phosphatase activity regulation, protein phosphatase inhibitor activity, and transcription inhibitor activity. This study is the first to profile the transcriptome-wide m6A methylome in spontaneous abortion during early pregnancy, which provide novel insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of spontaneous abortion in the first trimester.

Abstract In order to estimate cosmic curvature from cosmological probes like standard candles, one has to measure the luminosity distance $$D_L(z)$$ D L ( z ) , its derivative with respect to redshift $$D'_L(z)$$ D L ′ ( z ) and the expansion rate H(z) at the same redshift. In this paper, we study how such idea could be implemented with future generation of space-based DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (DECIGO), in combination with cosmic chronometers providing cosmology-independent H(z) data. Our results show that for the Hubble diagram of simulated DECIGO data acting as a new type of standard siren, it would be able to constrain cosmic curvature with the precision of $$\varDelta \varOmega _k= 0.09$$ Δ Ω k = 0.09 with the currently available sample of 31 measurements of Hubble parameters. In the framework of the third generation ground-based gravitational wave detectors, the spatial curvature is constrained to be $$\varDelta \varOmega _k= 0.13$$ Δ Ω k = 0.13 for Einstein Telescope (ET). More interestingly, compared to other approaches aiming for model-independent estimations of spatial curvature, our analysis also achieve the reconstruction of the evolution of $$\varOmega _k(z)$$ Ω k ( z ) , in the framework of a model-independent method of Gaussian processes (GP) without assuming a specific form. Therefore, one can expect that the newly emerged gravitational wave astronomy can become useful in local measurements of cosmic curvature using distant sources.

Abstract It is well known that de Sitter(dS) black holes generally have a black hole horizon and a cosmological horizon, both of which have Hawking radiation. But the radiation temperature of the two horizons is generally different, so dS black holes do not meet the requirements of thermal equilibrium stability, which brings certain difficulties to the study of the thermodynamic characteristics of black holes. In this paper, dS black hole is regarded as a thermodynamic system, and the effective thermodynamic quantities of the system are obtained. The influence of various state parameters on the effective thermodynamic quantities in the massive gravity space-time is discussed. The condition of the phase transition of the de Sitter black hole in massive gravity space-time is given. We consider that the total entropy of the dS black hole is the sum of the corresponding entropy of the two horizons plus an extra term from the correlation of the two horizons. By comparing the entropic force of interaction between black hole horizon and the cosmological horizon with Lennard-Jones force between two particles, we find that the change rule of entropic force between the two system is surprisingly the same. The research will help us to explore the real reason of accelerating expansion of the universe.

We report the observations of FRB 20220912A using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. We conducted 17 observations totaling 8.67 hr and detected a total of 1076 bursts with an event rate up to 390 hr ^−1 . The cumulative energy distribution can be well described using a broken power-law function with the lower- and higher-energy slopes of −0.38 ± 0.02 and −2.07 ± 0.07, respectively. We also report the L -band (1–1.5 GHz) spectral index of the synthetic spectrum of FRB 20220912A bursts, which is −2.6 ± 0.21. The average rotation measure value of the bursts from FRB 20220912A is −0.08 ± 5.39 rad m ^−2 , close to 0 rad m ^−2 and was relatively stable over 2 months. Most bursts have nearly 100% linear polarization. About 45% of the bursts have circular polarization with Signal-to-Noise ratio > 3, and the highest circular polarization degree can reach 70%. Our observations suggest that FRB 20220912A is located in a relatively clean local environment with complex circular polarization characteristics. These various behaviors imply that the mechanism of circular polarization of FRBs likely originates from an intrinsic radiation mechanism, such as coherent curvature radiation or inverse Compton scattering inside the magnetosphere of the FRB engine source (e.g., a magnetar).

The possible time variation of the fundamental constants of nature has been an active subject of research in modern physics. In this paper, we propose a new method to investigate such possible time variation of the speed of light c using the updated Hubble diagram of high-redshift standard candles including Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) and high-redshift quasars (based on UV–X relation). Our findings show that the SNe Ia Pantheon sample, combined with currently available sample of cosmic chronometers, would produce robust constraints on the speed of light at the level of c / c _0 = 1.03 ± 0.03. For the Hubble diagram of UV+X-ray quasars acting as a new type of standard candle, we obtain c / c _0 = 1.19 ± 0.07. Therefore, our results confirm that there is no strong evidence for deviation from a constant speed of light up to z ∼ 2. Moreover, we discuss how our technique might be improved at much higher redshifts ( z ∼ 5), focusing on future measurements of the acceleration parameter X ( z ) with gravitational waves (GWs) produced by binary neutron star mergers. In particular, in the framework of the second-generation space-based GW detector, DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, the speed of light is expected to be constrained with a precision of Δ c / c = 10 ^−3 .

High accuracy relative navigation (RELNAV) information is crucial for datalink network members in the situation of joint operations, especially the situations that some datalink network members may not be able to obtain their location with absolute navigation. In this paper, relative navigation algorithm based on JTIDS/INS/BA is proposed, in this system datalink joint units(JUs) are positioned in two-dimensional plane with multi-slots joint maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), and altitude is located by a height filter independently, which overcome the problem of poor positioning geometry of altitude. Multi-slots joint MLE convert TOA measurements in different slots to one moment with short-time inertial navigation system(INS) information, which lead to a higher localization accuracy in two-dimensional plane. We simulate a joint tactical information distribution system (JTIDS) network with multiple members, to verify the performance and analyze the influence factors of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results show that compared to EKF that process TOA measurements sequentially in each navigation slot and MLE without multi-slots joint processing, the multi-slots joint MLE relative navigation algorithm based on INS/JTIDS/BA performs better in two-dimensional plane location, and the height filter based on barometric altimeter (BA) improves the relative height positioning accuracy greatly.

Many fungi form persistent and dormant sclerotia with compact hardened mycelia during unfavorable circumstances. While most of these sclerotia are small in size, Wolfiporia cocos, a wood-decay fungus, grows into giant sclerotia, which are mainly composed of polysaccharides of linear (1→3)-β-D-glucans. To explore the underlying mechanism of converting sophisticated wood polysaccharides for biosynthesis of highly homogenized glucans in W. cocos, we sequenced and assembled the genome of a cultivated W. cocos strain (WCLT) in China. The 62-Mb haploid genome contains 44.2% repeat sequences, of which, 48.0% are transposable elements (TEs). Contrary to the genome of W. cocos from North America, WCLT has independently undergone a partial genome duplication (PGD) event. The large-scale TE insertion and PGD occurrence overlapped with an archeological Pleistocene stage of low oxygen and high temperature, and these stresses might have induced the differences in sclerotium due to geographical distribution. The wood decomposition enzymes, as well as sclerotium-regulator kinases, aquaporins, and highly expanded gene families such as NAD-related families, together with actively expressed 1,3-β-glucan synthase for sclerotium polysaccharides, all have contributed to the sclerotium formation and expansion. This study shall inspire further exploration on how fungi convert wood into simple glucans in the sclerotium of W. cocos.

ω-embrittlement is ubiquitous in metastable β-titanium (Ti) alloys, while the fundamental understanding on the damage-fracture mechanism hitherto remains elusive. In this study, we systematically investigate ω-embrittlement of high misfit Ti-10Cr (wt.%) alloys by coupling experiments and first-principles calculation. It is found that brittle cleavage-like fracture prevails in tensile samples, irrespective of the quenching or subsequent aging states. Microscopically, cracks nucleation and propagation proceed along slip bands, inside which ω-lattices are first disordered and then the localized (β + ω)-amorphous-like structures are developed in the shape of white patches. The underlying mechanism of mechanically-driven localized amorphization is that due to the remarkable covalent character of atomic bonding of ω-precipitates caused by composition partitioning of the Cr element, ω-precipitates impart extremely high energy barrier opposed to dislocation gliding and render dislocations pile-up ahead of ω-precipitates, thus leading to their lattice disordering. It is unveiled that the hydrostatic pressure, serving as the driving force for dislocations pile-up, plays a critical role in this unusual cleavage-like fracture of Ti-10Cr alloys caused by mechanically-driven ω-mediated localized amorphization. Accompanied by the transition from the co-operation of deformation twining and ordinary dislocation slip in the quenched Ti-10Cr alloys to the exclusive ordinary dislocation slip in the long-time aged Ti-10Cr samples, it is unexpected that the resulting tensile fracture strength monotonically decreases to a stress level of ~ 100 MPa. These findings provide new insights into the damage and fracture behavior of high misfit β-titanium alloys, such as Ti-Cr alloys.

In addition to the common stable and metastable phases in titanium alloys, the face-centered cubic phase was recently observed under various conditions; however, its formation remains largely unclarified. In this work, the effect of nonmetallic interstitial atoms O, N, C and B on the formation of the face-centered cubic phase of titanium was investigated with the density functional theory. The results indicate that the occupancy of O, N, C and B on the octahedral interstitial sites reduces the energy gap between the hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) and face-centered cubic (FCC) phases, thus assisting the formation of FCC-Ti under elevated temperature or plastic deformation. Such a gap further decreases with the increase in the interstitial content, which is consistent with the experimental observation of FCC-Ti under high interstitial content. The relative stability of the interstitial-containing HCP-Ti and FCC-Ti was studied against the physical and chemical origins, e.g., the lattice distortion and the electronic bonding. Interstitial O, N, C and B also reduce the stacking fault energy, thus further benefiting the formation of FCC-Ti.

3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase-2 (Bdh2), a short-chain dehydrogenase, catalyzes a rate-limiting step in the biogenesis of the mammalian siderophore, playing a key role in iron homeostasis, energy metabolism and apoptosis. However, the function of Bdh2 in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) remains unknown. To gain insights into the role of Bdh2 on pluripotency and cell fate decisions of mouse ESCs, we generated Bdh2 homozygous knockout lines for both mouse advanced embryonic stem cell (ASC) and ESC using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. Bdh2 deficiency in both ASCs and ESCs had no effect on expression of core pluripotent transcription factors and alkaline phosphatase activity, suggesting dispensability of Bdh2 for self-renewal and pluripotency of ESCs. Interestingly, cells with Bdh2 deficiency exhibited potency of endoderm differentiation in vitro; with upregulated endoderm associated genes revealed by RNA-seq and RT-qPCR. We further demonstrate that Bdh2 loss inhibited expression of multiple methyltransferases (DNMTs) at both RNA and protein level, suggesting that Bdh2 may be essentially required to maintain DNA methylation in ASCs and ESCs. Overall, this study provides valuable data and resources for understanding how Bdh2 regulate earliest cell fate decision and DNA methylation in ASCs/ESCs.

Abstract The timing of formation of the low‐gradient, internally drained landscape of the Tibetan Plateau is fundamental to understanding the evolution of the plateau as a whole. Well‐dated sedimentary records of internal drainage of rivers into lakes are used to reveal the timing of this evolution. Here we redate the youngest continental sedimentary successions of central Tibet in the Lunpola Basin and propose a new age range of ca. 35 to 9 Ma, significantly younger than previously thought. We demonstrate long‐standing internal drainage in central Tibet since the late Eocene and stable sedimentary environments, source regions, and low topographic relief since at least the early Miocene. We suggest that sediment aggradation of internal drainage and reduction of hillslope gradients by erosion dominate the formation of low‐relief landscapes and that the late Cenozoic drainage basins in central Tibet developed in response to flow in the lower crust and/or mantle lithosphere.

Abstract The gas depletion factor $$\gamma (z)$$ γ(z) , i.e., the average ratio of the gas mass fraction to the cosmic mean baryon fraction of galaxy clusters, plays a very important role in the cosmological application of the gas mass fraction measurements. In this paper, using the newest catalog of 182 galaxy clusters detected by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Polarization experiment, we investigate the possible redshift evolution of $$\gamma (z)$$ γ(z) through a new cosmology-independent method. The method is based on non-parametric reconstruction using the measurements of Hubble parameters from cosmic chronometers. Unlike hydrodynamical simulations suggesting constant depletion factor, our results reveal the trend of $$\gamma (z)$$ γ(z) decreasing with redshift. This result is supported by a parametric model fit as well as by calculations on the reduced ACTPol sample and on the alternative sample of 91 SZ clusters reported earlier in ACT compilation. Discussion of possible systematic effects leaves an open question about validity of the empirical relation $$M_{tot}$$ Mtot –$$f_{gas}$$ fgas obtained on very close clusters. These results might pave the way to explore the hot gas fraction within large radii of galaxy clusters as well as its possible evolution with redshift, which should be studied further on larger galaxy cluster samples in the upcoming X-ray/SZ cluster surveys.

Abstract In this paper, we assemble a well-defined sample of early-type gravitational lenses extracted from a large collection of 158 systems, and use the redshift distribution of galactic-scale lenses to test the standard cosmological model ($$\varLambda $$ Λ CDM) and the modified gravity theory (DGP). Two additional sub-samples are also included to account for possible selection effect introduced by the detectability of lens galaxies. Our results show that independent measurement of the matter density parameter ($$\varOmega _m$$ Ωm ) could be expected from such strong lensing statistics. Based on future measurements of strong lensing systems from the forthcoming LSST survey, one can expect $$\varOmega _m$$ Ωm to be estimated at the precision of $$\varDelta \varOmega _m\sim 0.006$$ ΔΩm∼0.006 , which provides a better constraint on $$\varOmega _m$$ Ωm than Planck 2015 results. Moreover, use the lens redshift test is also used to constrain the characteristic velocity dispersion of the lensing galaxies, which is well consistent with that derived from the optical spectroscopic observations. A parameter $$f_E$$ fE is adopted to quantify the relation between the lensing-based velocity dispersion and the corresponding stellar value. Finally, the accumulation of detectable galactic lenses from future LSST survey would lead to more stringent fits of $$\varDelta f_E\sim 10^{-3}$$ ΔfE∼10-3 , which encourages us to test the global properties of early-type galaxies at much higher accuracy.

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence has highlighted the potential role of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in the biological behaviors of glioblastoma cells. Herein, the expression and function of RNA binding proteins FXR1 were investigated in human glioma cells. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR were conducted to evaluate the expression of MIR17HG and miR-346, miRNA-425-5p in glioma tissues and cells. Western blot were used to explore the expression of FXR1, TAL1 and DEC1 in glioma tissues and cells. Stable knockdown of FXR1 and MIR17HG in glioma cells were established to explore the function of FXR1, MIR17HG in glioma cells. Further, RIP and RNA pull-down assays were used to investigate the correlation between FXR1 and MIR17HG. Cell Counting Kit-8, transwell assays, and flow cytometry were used to investigate the function of FXR1 and MIR17HG in malignant biological behaviors of glioma cells. ChIP assays were employed to ascertain the correlations between TAL1 and MIR17HG. Results FXR1and MIR17HG were upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines. Downregulation of FXR1 or MIR17HG resulted in inhibition of glioma cells progression. We also found that FXR1 regulates the biological behavior of glioma cells via stabilizing MIR17HG. In addition, downregulated MIR17HG increased miR-346/miR-425-5p expression and MIR17HG acted as ceRNA to sponge miR-346/miR-425-5p. TAL1 was a direct target of miR-346/miR-425-5p, and played oncogenic role in glioma cells. More importantly, TAL1 activated MIR17HG promoter and upregulated its expression, forming a feedback loop. Remarkably, FXR1 knockdown combined with inhibition of MIR17HG resulted in the smallest tumor volumes and the longest survivals of nude mice in vivo. Conclusions FXR1/MIR17HG/miR-346(miR-425-5p)/TAL1/DEC1 axis plays a novel role in regulating the malignant behavior of glioma cells, which may be a new potential therapeutic strategy for glioma therapy.

This paper aims to study the deformational behaviour of tensile-type viscoelastic dampers under different earthquake excitation directions. A method for calculating the corresponding equivalent additional stiffness and damping of a self-centring-segment bridge pier is derived. Using the displacement-based seismic design method, a design method for self-centring-segment bridge piers with tensile-type viscoelastic dampers is proposed. Using the proposed method, a self-centring-segment bridge pier is designed. Based on dynamic analysis of the finite element model by OpenSees, the effectiveness of the proposed seismic design method is validated.

Objective. To investigate the effect of intensive management and achieving the target control more than 3 times on endpoint events during 9 consecutive years’ annual assessment in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients in the Sanlitun Community Health Service Center in Beijing, including blood glucose, blood pressure, lipids profiles, and the joint target control. Methods. In Beijing Community Diabetes Study (BCDS), 224 patients with T2DM from the Sanlitun Community Health Service Center were enrolled in 2008. All patients were randomly assigned to the intensive management group (n = 113) and the standard management group (n = 111). All patients were followed up for nine consecutive years from January 2009 to December 2017. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were detected as the main indexes, and the endpoint events were also carried out at the same time. The endpoint events were analyzed by using survival analysis (Kaplan–Meier method) based on management grouping and whether achieving the target control more than 3 times or not. Results. During the nine-year follow-up, the abscission number was 35 (14.29%), among which 14 (12.39%) was in the intensive management group and 21 (18.92%) was in the standard management group. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy (6 cases, 5.41%) and diabetic nephropathy (13 cases, 11.71%) in the standard management group was significantly higher than that in the intensive management group (1 case, 0.88%; 5 cases, 4.42%), respectively (P0.05). All-cause death was 23 cases, in which patients who achieved the target control (HbA1c and LDL-C) and the joint target control more than 3 times were significantly lower than that of less than 3 times (P0.05). There were less incidence of new onset cerebrovascular events, stenosis or occlusion of large arteries, and diabetic microvascular complications in patients who achieved target control (HbA1c and LDL-C) and the joint target control more than 3 times than those with target control less than 3 times (P