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Abstract In this paper, we would like to point out that in the scenario that the right-handed neutrinos suddenly gain some masses much larger than the temperature of the Universe at that time so that the washout effects for the lepton asymmetry generated from their decays can be neglected safely, the purely flavored leptogenesis scenario (in which the total CP asymmetries for the decays of the right-handed neutrinos are vanishing and the successful leptogenesis is realized by virtue of the flavor non-universality of the washout effects) cannot work in the usual way any more. For this problem, we put forward that the flavor non-universality of the conversion efficiencies from the flavored lepton asymmetries to the baryon asymmetry via the sphaleron processes may play a crucial role. And we will study if the requisite baryon asymmetry can be successfully reproduced from such a mechanism in the scenarios that the right-handed neutrino masses are hierarchical and nearly degenerate, respectively. A detailed study shows that this mechanism can be viable in both these two scenarios.

Highlights An atomically dispersed catalyst with unprecedented N8V4 Co-Ni dual-metal sites is synthesized, which shows interesting asymmetric in situ structural evolution and serves as a quasi-bifunctional catalyst for water splitting. The flexible C–OH groups generated by in situ oxidation can reversibly turn on/off the hydrogen-bonding interaction with the oxygen evolution reaction intermediates to break the conventional scaling relationship.

IntroductionEarly diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) remains challenging. It has been suggested that abnormal brain iron metabolism leads to excessive iron accumulation in PD, although the mechanism of iron deposition is not yet fully understood. Ferritin and transferrin receptor (TfR) are involved in iron metabolism, and the exosome pathway is one mechanism by which ferritin is transported and regulated. While the blood of healthy animals contains a plentiful supply of TfR positive exosomes, rare study has examined ferritin and TfR in plasma neural-derived exosomes in PD.MethodsPlasma exosomes were obtained from 43 patients with PD and 34 healthy controls. Neural-derived exosomes were isolated with anti-human L1CAM antibody immunoabsorption. Transmission electron microscopy and western blotting were used to identify the exosomes. ELISAs were used to quantify ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes of patients with PD and controls. Receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to map the diagnostic accuracy of ferritin and TfR. Independent predictors of the disease were identified using logistic regression models.ResultsNeural-derived exosomes exhibited the typical exosomal morphology and expressed the specific exosome marker CD63. Ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes were significantly higher in patients with PD than controls (406.46 ± 241.86 vs. 245.62 ± 165.47 ng/μg, P = 0.001 and 1728.94 ± 766.71 vs. 1153.92 ± 539.30 ng/μg, P < 0.001, respectively). There were significant positive correlations between ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes in control group, PD group and all the individuals (rs = 0.744, 0.700, and 0.752, respectively). The level of TfR was independently associated with the disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.002; 95% CI 1.000–1.003). ROC performances of ferritin, TfR, and their combination were moderate (0.730, 0.812, and 0.808, respectively). However, no relationship was found between the biomarkers and disease progression.ConclusionIt is hypothesized that ferritin and TfR in plasma neural-derived exosomes may be potential biomarkers for PD, and that they may participate in the mechanism of excessive iron deposition in PD.

Abstract In a paper by Asaka, Ishida and Tanaka (Phys. Rev. D 103:015014, 2021), they proposed a novel possibility (which will be referred to as the AIT ansatz) that, in spite of the Majorana nature of neutrinos, the neutrinoless double beta ( $$0\nu \beta \beta $$ 0 ν β β ) decay can be hidden. In the original AIT model, the AIT ansatz is realized in the minimal seesaw model with two right-handed neutrinos which have a hierarchical mass structure: the lighter and heavier right-handed neutrinos are respectively much lighter and heavier than the typical Fermi-momentum scale of nuclei. However, the original AIT model does not accommodate a successful leptogenesis. For this problem, in this paper we study a split seesaw model with one lighter right-handed neutrino but two heavier right-handed neutrinos which can realize the AIT ansatz and accommodate a successful leptogenesis simultaneously. We first give the condition on the neutrino Yukawa couplings for realizing the AIT ansatz, discuss its realization by employing an Abelian flavor symmetry, and study its implications for the mixing of the lighter right-handed neutrino with three left-handed neutrinos. We then successively study the implications for leptogenesis of the interesting scenarios where $$M_{{\textrm{D}}}$$ M D is a triangular matrix (which has maximally-restricted texture zeros, in line with the simplicity principle) or respects the $$\mu $$ μ - $$\tau $$ τ reflection symmetry (which is well motivated by the experimental results), on top of the AIT ansatz.

Abstract In this paper, we make an attempt to combine the neutrino trimaximal (TM1 and TM2) mixings and $$\mu $$ μ - $$\tau $$ τ reflection symmetry in the type-I seesaw model. Such a scenario is highly restrictive and predictive: in addition to three right-handed neutrino masses, there are only five real parameters; all the lepton flavor mixing parameters except for $$\theta ^{}_{13}$$ θ 13 will be predicted. The relations between the model parameters and the measurable neutrino parameters will be derived. The implications of this scenario for leptogenesis will be explored in detail. A further reduction of this scenario to the more restrictive and predictive minimal seesaw model with only two right-handed neutrinos will also be considered. In addition, we will also discuss a possible approach to get the desired mass matrices and study the compatibility of the trimaximal $$\mu $$ μ - $$\tau $$ τ reflection symmetry with texture zeros.

Skeletal muscle development is closely related with the amount of meat production and its quality in chickens. Natriuretic peptides (NPs) play an important role in myotube formation and fat oxidation of skeletal muscle in animals. The effect of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), an important member of the NPs, and its underlying molecular mechanisms in skeletal muscle are incompletely understood. Treatment of myoblasts with CNP led to enhanced proliferation/differentiation and significantly upregulated (P

Abstract We investigate the gauge invariance and localization of vector KK modes for a bulk U(1) gauge field under three kinds of localization mechanism on a brane with one extra dimension. By a general KK decomposition for the bulk U(1) gauge field, there are both vector and scalar KK modes on the brane, which couple with each other. We demonstrate that for a localization mechanism with a gauge invariant bulk action of the U(1) gauge field, the effective action of the KK modes on the brane can be formalized to gauge invariant form. However, only the massive vector KK modes and their accompanying scalar ones can be both localized on the brane, which depends on the solution of the brane, the gauge invariance of the massive vector field is finally preserved. For a localization mechanism with a broken gauge invariant bulk action of the field, it is impossible to rebuild the gauge invariance on the brane.

Abstract In this paper, we consider the imbedding of the popular and well-motivated trimaximal mixing and μ–τ reflection symmetry (which can help us shape the forms of the neutrino mass matrix) in the minimal seesaw model (which contains much fewer parameters than the general seesaw model) with two TeV-scale right-handed neutrinos (for realizing a low-scale seesaw) of nearly degenerate masses (for realizing a resonant leptogenesis). However, either for the trimaximal mixing scenario (which is realized through the Form Dominance approach here) or for the μ–τ reflection symmetry scenario, leptogenesis cannot proceed. To address this issue, we consider the possibility that the special forms of the neutrino mass matrix for the trimaximal mixing and μ–τ reflection symmetry are slightly broken by the renormalization group evolution effect, thus allowing leptogenesis to proceed. It is found that in the normal case of the neutrino mass ordering, the baryon asymmetry thus generated can reproduce the observed value. For completeness, we have also extended our analysis to the scenario that two right-handed neutrinos are not nearly degenerate any more. Unfortunately, in this scenario the final baryon asymmetry is smaller than the observed value by several orders of magnitude.

Inorganic solids are a kind of important catalysts, and their activities usually come from sparse active sites, which are structurally different from inactive bulk. Therefore, the rational optimization of activity depends on studying these active sites. Copper is a widely used catalyst and is expected to be a promising catalyst for the electroreduction of CO2 to C2H4. Here, we report a conductive dinuclear cuprous complex with a short Cu···Cu contact for the electroreduction of CO2 to C2H4. By using 1H-[1,10]phenanthrolin-2-one and Cu(I) ions, a dinuclear cuprous complex [Cu2(ophen)2] (Cuophen) with a remarkable conductivity (3.9 × 10−4 S m−1) and a short intramolecular Cu···Cu contact (2.62 Å) was obtained. Such a short Cu···Cu contact is close to the distance of 2.54 Å between 2 adjacent Cu atoms in the edge of the copper(100)/(111) plane. Detailed examination of Cuophen revealed a high activity for the electroreduction of CO2 to C2H4 with a Faradaic efficiency of 55(1)% and a current density of 580 mA cm−2, and no obvious degradation was observed over 50 h of continuous operation. Comparing the properties and mechanisms of Cuophen and 2 other copper complexes with different Cu···Cu distances, we found that the shorter Cu···Cu distance is conducive not only for a *CO species to bridge 2 copper ions into a more stable intermediate transition state but also for C–C coupling.

BackgroundAccurate evaluation of lymph node (LN) status is critical for determining the treatment options in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to develop and validate a 18F-FDG PET-based radiomic model for the identification of metastatic LNs from the hypermetabolic mediastinal–hilar LNs in NSCLC.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 259 patients with hypermetabolic LNs who underwent pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT and were pathologically confirmed as NSCLC from two centers. Two hundred twenty-eight LNs were allocated to a training cohort (LN = 159) and an internal validation cohort (LN = 69) from one center (7:3 ratio), and 60 LNs were enrolled to an external validation cohort from the other. Radiomic features were extracted from LNs of PET images. A PET radiomics signature was constructed by multivariable logistic regression after using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method with 10-fold cross-validation. The PET radiomics signature (model 1) and independent predictors from CT image features and clinical data (model 2) were incorporated into a combined model (model 3). A nomogram was plotted for the complex model, and the performance of the nomogram was assessed by its discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness.ResultsThe area under the curve (AUC) values of model 1 were 0.820, 0.785, and 0.808 in the training, internal, and external validation cohorts, respectively, showing good diagnostic efficacy for lymph node metastasis (LNM). Furthermore, model 2 was able to discriminate metastatic LNs in the training (AUC 0.780), internal (AUC 0.794), and external validation cohorts (AUC 0.802), respectively. Model 3 showed optimal diagnostic performance among the three cohorts, with an AUC of 0.874, 0.845, and 0.841, respectively. The nomogram based on the model 3 showed good discrimination and calibration.ConclusionsOur study revealed that PET radiomics signature, especially when integrated with CT imaging features, showed the ability to identify true and false positives of mediastinal–hilar LNM detected by PET/CT in patients with NSCLC, which would help clinicians to make individual treatment decisions.

Following the Occam's razor principle, we explore the particular textures (featuring texture zeros and equalities) of the Dirac neutrino mass matrix in the minimal seesaw model (where only two right-handed neutrinos N1 and N2 are responsible for the generation of the light neutrino masses), in light of current neutrino experimental results and leptogenesis. The study will be performed for two particular patterns of the Majorana mass matrix MR for N1 and N2: (A) MR being diagonal (M100M2); (B) MR being of the form (0MM0).

We consider the generation of the new light gauge boson Zμτ predicted by the U(1)Lμ−Lτ model via Zh1 associated production followed by the SM-like Higgs boson h1 decaying into a Zμτ pair process at future high-energy e+e− colliders. Taking into account the experimental constraints on the free parameters of the U(1)Lμ−Lτ model and the beam polarizations P(e−,e+)=(−0.8,0.3), P(e−,e+)=(0.8,−0.3) and P(e−,e+)=(0,0), we calculate the cross sections of Zμτ production and further investigate the observability of Zμτ production through the leptonic channel Image 1 and hadronic channel Image 2 at e+e− colliders. We find that the signal significance above 5σ for Zμτ detection can be achieved via both these two processes with appropriate parameter values and high integrated luminosity, and that the hadronic channel can offer a more detectable signature compared with the leptonic channel.

PARK7 mutations are accountable for the inherited Parkinson's disease. An induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line FJMUUHi001-A was generated by expressing five reprogramming factors, OCT3/4, SOX2, c-MYC, KLF4 and BCL-XL, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a 32-year old patient carrying a homozygous mutation of c.189dupA in PARK7. The iPSCs with a normal karyotype had the abilities to differentiate into three germ layers and expressed pluripotency markers without detectable residual plasmids. The cell line FJMUUHi001-A carrying the truncating protein PARK7 could be a useful tool to help comprehend the function of PARK7 in the iPSCs and differentiated cells from them.

Abstract In this paper, we derive in a novel approach the possible textures of neutrino mass matrix that can lead us to maximal atmospheric mixing angle and Dirac CP phase which are consistent with the current neutrino oscillation data. A total of eleven textures are thus found. Interestingly, the specific texture given by the μ-τ reflection symmetry can be reproduced from one of the obtained textures. For these textures, some neutrino mass sum rules which relate the neutrino masses and Majorana CP phases will emerge.

The μ-τ reflection symmetry serves as a unique basis for understanding the observed neutrino mixing as it can lead us to the interesting results θ23=π/4 and δ=−π/2 which stand close to the current experimental results. But a precise measurement for θ23 and δ will probably force us to modify the neutrino mixing U(0) from such a symmetry. Here we perform a study for modifications to U(0) in the forms of U(1)†U(0) and U(0)U(1) where U(1)=Rij(1) (for ij=12,23 and 13) with Rij(1) denoting a real orthogonal rotation on the ij plane.

Abstract It has been found that the zero mode of a five-dimensional Elko spinor could be localized on branes by introducing a Yukawa-type coupling between the Elko spinor and the background scalar field or the Ricci scalar. However, the Yukawa-type coupling is not appropriate for all brane models. In this paper, we explore other localization mechanism for the Elko spinor by introducing the non-minimal coupling $$f(\phi )\mathfrak {L}_{Elko}$$ f(ϕ)LElko between the five-dimensional Elko spinor and the background scalar field. We give the general expressions of the Elko zero mode and the function $$f(\phi )$$ f(ϕ) . Through two thick brane models and three concrete examples, we show that the Elko zero mode can be localized on the branes by this new mechanism. This provides us more possibilities of localizing the Elko zero mode.

Abstract In order to localize U(1) gauge vector field on Randall-Sundrum-like braneworld model with infinite extra dimension, we propose a new kind of non-minimal coupling between the U(1) gauge field and the gravity. We propose three kinds of coupling methods and they all support the localization of zero mode. In addition, one of them can support the localization of massive modes. Moreover, the massive tachyonic modes can be excluded. And our method can be used not only in the thin braneword models but also in the thick ones.

For some theoretical and experimental considerations, the relatively light Majorana neutrinos at the GeV scale have been attracting some interest. In this article we consider a scenario with only one Majorana neutrino N, negligible mixing with the active neutrinos νL, where the Majorana neutrino interactions could be described in a model independent approach based on an effective theory. Under such a framework, we particularly study the feasibility of observing the N with mass in the range 0â30 GeV via the process e+eââνNâγ+E̸ in the future Belle-II and ILC experiments. The results show that it is unpromising for Belle-II to observe the signal, while ILC may easily make a discovery for the Majorana neutrino.

Introduction: Early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains challenging. It has been suggested that abnormal brain iron metabolism leads to excessive iron accumulation in PD, although the mechanism of iron deposition is not yet fully understood. Ferritin and transferrin receptor (TfR) are involved in iron metabolism, and the exosome pathway is one mechanism by which ferritin is transported and regulated. While the blood of healthy animals contains a plentiful supply of TfR positive exosomes, rare study has examined ferritin and TfR in plasma neural-derived exosomes in PD. Methods: Plasma exosomes were obtained from 43 patients with PD and 34 healthy controls. Neural-derived exosomes were isolated with anti-human L1CAM antibody immunoabsorption. Transmission electron microscopy and western blotting were used to identify the exosomes. ELISAs were used to quantify ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes of patients with PD and controls. Receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to map the diagnostic accuracy of ferritin and TfR. Independent predictors of the disease were identified using logistic regression models. Results: Neural-derived exosomes exhibited the typical exosomal morphology and expressed the specific exosome marker CD63. Ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes were significantly higher in patients with PD than controls (406.46 ± 241.86 vs. 245.62 ± 165.47 ng/mg, P = 0.001 and 1728.94 ± 766.71 vs. 1153.92 ± 539.30 ng/mg, P < 0.001, respectively). There were significant positive correlations between ferritin and TfR levels in plasma neural-derived exosomes in control group, PD group and all the individuals (rs = 0.744, 0.700, and 0.752, respectively). The level of TfR was independently associated with the disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.002; 95% CI 1.000-1.003). ROC performances of ferritin, TfR, and their combination were moderate (0.730, 0.812, and 0.808, respectively). However, no relationship was found between the biomarkers and disease progression. Conclusion: It is hypothesized that ferritin and TfR in plasma neural-derived exosomes may be potential biomarkers for PD, and that they may participate in the mechanism of excessive iron deposition in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we attempt to implement the neutrino μ-τ reflection symmetry (which predicts θ 23 = π/4 and δ = ±π/2 as well as trivial Majorana phases) in the minimal seesaw (which enables us to fix the neutrino masses). For some direct (the preliminary experimental hints towards θ 23 ≠ π/4 and δ ≠ −π/2) and indirect (inclusion of the renormalization group equation effect and implementation of the leptogenesis mechanism) reasons, we particularly study the breakings of this symmetry and their phenomenological consequences.

Abstract The neutrino μ-τ reflection symmetry has been attracting a lot of attention as it predicts the interesting results θ 23 = π/4 and δ = ±π/2. But it is reasonable to consider breakings of such a symmetry either from the theoretical considerations or on the basis of experimental results. We thus perform a systematic study for the possible symmetry-breaking patterns and their implications for the mixing parameters. The general treatment is applied to some specific symmetry breaking arising from the renormalization group effects for illustration.

Abstract The neutrinoless double-beta ( $$0\nu 2\beta $$ 0 ν 2 β ) decay is currently the only feasible process in particle and nuclear physics to probe whether massive neutrinos are the Majorana fermions. If they are of a Majorana nature and have a normal mass ordering, the effective neutrino mass term $$\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}$$ ⟨ m ⟩ e e of a $$0\nu 2\beta $$ 0 ν 2 β decay may suffer significant cancellations among its three components and thus sink into a decline, resulting in a “well” in the three-dimensional graph of $$|\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}|$$ | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | against the smallest neutrino mass $$m^{}_1$$ m 1 and the relevant Majorana phase $$\rho $$ ρ . We present a new and complete analytical understanding of the fine issues inside such a well, and identify a novel threshold of $$|\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}|$$ | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | in terms of the neutrino masses and flavor mixing angles: $$|\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}|^{}_* = m^{}_3 \sin ^2\theta ^{}_{13}$$ | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | ∗ = m 3 sin 2 θ 13 in connection with $$\tan \theta ^{}_{12} = \sqrt{m^{}_1/m^{}_2}$$ tan θ 12 = m 1 / m 2 and $$\rho =\pi $$ ρ = π . This threshold point, which links the local minimum and maximum of $$|\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}|$$ | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | , can be used to signify observability or sensitivity of the future $$0\nu 2\beta $$ 0 ν 2 β -decay experiments. Given current neutrino oscillation data, the possibility of $$|\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}| < |\langle m\rangle ^{}_{ee}|^{}_*$$ | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | < | ⟨ m ⟩ e e | ∗ is found to be very small.

Andrographis paniculata is an important traditional medicinal herb in South and Southeast Asian countries with diverse pharmacological activities that contains various flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides. Glycosylation can transform aglycones into more stable, biologically active and structurally diverse glycosides. Here, we report three glycosyltransferases from the leaves of A. paniculata (ApUFGTs) that presented wide substrate spectra for flavonoid glycosylation and exhibited multi-site glycosylation on the substrate molecules. They acted on the 7-OH position of the A ring and were able to glycosylate several other different types of compounds. The biochemical properties and phylogenetic analysis of these glycosyltransferases were also investigated. This study provides a basis for further research on the cloning of genes involved in glycosylation from A. paniculata and offers opportunities for enhancing flavonoid glycoside production in heterologous hosts. These enzymes are expected to become effective tools for drug discovery and for the biosynthesis of derivatives via flavonoid glycosylation.

The diagnosis of PD might be in difficulty, especially in the early stages. Therefore, the identification of novel biomarkers is imperative for the diagnosis and monitoring disease progression in PD. DJ-1 and α-synuclein, are two proteins that are critically involved in the pathogenesis of PD, and they have been examined as disease biomarkers in studies. However, no study exists regarding DJ-1 in plasma neural-derived exosomes. In the present study, the levels of DJ-1 and α-synuclein in plasma neural-derived exosomes were studied together in order to investigate novel biomarkers for PD. DJ-1 and α-synuclein in plasma and plasma neural-derived exosomes of the patients with PD and controls were quantified by ELISAs. The data revealed that the levels of DJ-1 and α-synuclein in plasma neural-derived exosomes and the ratio of plasma neural-derived exosomal DJ-1 to total DJ-1 were significantly higher in patients with PD, compared with controls, while levels of the two proteins in plasma exhibited no difference between the patients with PD and controls. However, no relationship was identified between biomarkers and disease progression. In addition, significant positive correlations between DJ-1 and α-synuclein in plasma neural-derived exosomes were found in the patients with PD and in healthy individuals. We hypothesize that DJ-1 in plasma neural-derived exosomes may be used as a potential biomarker as α-synuclein in PD and they might participate in the mechanism of PD together.

The impacts of channel morphology on the residues and ecological risks of 14 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in water and sediment were investigated in summer (July) and autumn (September) in the Chahe River, in Nanjing, China. The residual concentrations of tri-chlorobiphenyls (tri-CBs, PCB 18) and tetra-CBs (PCB 52) in water were significantly higher than those of penta-CBs to deca-CBs, and the average residual concentration of ∑PCBs (sum of 14 PCB congeners) in summer was about six times higher than in autumn. However, the residues in sediment did not change significantly. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that channel morphology and the corresponding environmental indices had significant impacts on PCB residues and their composition profiles in water and sediment. The overflow weir and lake-type watercourse may remarkably reduce the residual concentration and ecological risks of PCBs in water. The highest reduction percentages of the residual concentration and ecological risks of ∑PCBs induced by an overflow weir were 78% and 67%, respectively, and those induced by a lake-type watercourse were 36% and 70%, respectively. The watercourses with different channel morphologies were ranked by residual ∑PCBs concentrations in the following descending order: the natural ecological watercourse, vertical concrete watercourse, and vegetation-type riprap watercourse. However, they were ranked by residual ∑PCBs concentrations in sediment in the following descending order: the vertical concrete watercourse, vegetation-type riprap watercourse, and natural ecological watercourse.

We carry out a new study of quark mass matrices Mu (up-type) and Md (down-type) which are Hermitian and have four zero entries, and find a new part of the parameter space which was missed in the previous works. We identify two more specific four-zero patterns of Mu and Md with fewer free parameters, and present two toy flavor-symmetry models which can help realize such special and interesting quark flavor structures. We also show that the texture zeros of Mu and Md are essentially stable against the evolution of energy scales in an analytical way by using the one-loop renormalization-group equations.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the Seamless Transfer of Care Model (STCM) to improve readmission occurrence of patients withstroke. Methods: The sample was comprised of fifty-nine subjects with stroke who were hospitalized in the geriatric and neurology departments of a large university hospital in China. Subjects were allocated to an STCM group (n = 30) or a routine care (control) group (n = 29). Results: Compared with the control group, the STCM group had a higher quality of life (p