The impact of the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee(Rural Dibao)Program on child nutrition outcomes

The Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee(Rural Dibao)is an important unconditional cash transfer program to alleviate poverty in rural China.Despite the importance of children’s nutrition in breaking poverty cycles,little is known about the impact of Rural Dibao on child nutrition outcomes.Using China Family Panel Studies(CFPS),this paper examines the effects of Rural Dibao on child nutrition outcomes and investigates potential pathways and heterogeneous effects.We exploit propensity score matching and difference-in-differences techniques to evaluate the effects of the Rural Dibao program on child nutrition outcomes.Our results suggest that Rural Dibao significantly impacts the nutrition outcomes of children up to 15 years of age.Specifically,our results suggest that Rural Dibao improves child height-to-age z-scores by 1.05 standard deviations and lowers the probability of stunting by 11.9 percentage points.Additional analyses suggest that increased protein intake is the main pathway through which Rural Dibao participation contributes to better nutrition outcomes.We also find that the effect of the program is more pronounced among girls,children who are non-left-behind or live with highly educated mothers,and those from low-income families and poor areas.Our findings suggest that Rural Dibao participation helps improve child nutrition outcomes through improving diet quality.

Blockade of CD300A enhances the ability of human NK cells to lyse hematologic malignancies

Objective: The human cluster of differentiation(CD)300A, a type-I transmembrane protein with immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs, was investigated as a potential immune checkpoint for human natural killer(NK) cells targeting hematologic malignancies(HMs).Methods: We implemented a stimulation system involving the CD300A ligand, phosphatidylserine(PS), exposed to the outer surface of malignant cells. Additionally, we utilized CD300A overexpression, a CD300A blocking system, and a xenotransplantation model to evaluate the impact of CD300A on NK cell efficacy against HMs in in vitro and in vivo settings. Furthermore, we explored the association between CD300A and HM progression in patients.Results: Our findings indicated that PS hampers the function of NK cells. Increased CD300A expression inhibited HM lysis by NK cells. CD300A overexpression shortened the survival of HM-xenografted mice by impairing transplanted NK cells. Blocking PS–CD300A signals with antibodies significantly amplified the expression of lysis function-related proteins and effector cytokines in NK cells, thereby augmenting the ability to lyse HMs. Clinically, heightened CD300A expression correlated with shorter survival and an “exhausted” phenotype of intratumoral NK cells in patients with HMs or solid tumors.Conclusions: These results propose CD300A as a potential target for invigorating NK cell-based treatments against HMs.

Molecular phylogenetics and population demographic history of Amphioctopus fangsiao,inferred from mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers

Amphioctopus fangsiao(Cephalopoda:Octopodidae)is an important commercial species in the coastal waters of China.In recent years,however,the resource of A.fangsiao have declined because of habitat destruction and overfishing.To analyze the genetic variations of A.fangsiao caused by the fluctuation of resources,the population genetic structure of nine sampling locations collected from the Bohai Sea to the South China Sea were investigated,using mtDNA COI fragments and microsatellite DNA.The results of F-statistics,AMOVA,STRUCTURE and PCA analyses showed three phylogeographic clades(Clades A,B and C),revealing limited genetic exchange between north and south populations.These clades diverged in 2.23(Clades A and B)and 3.67(Clades A,B and C)million years ago,during the dramatic environmental fluctuations,such as sea level and temperature changes,have exerted great influence on the survival distribution pattern of global organisms.Our results for low genetic connectivity among A.fangsiao populations provide insights into the development of management strategies,that is,to manage this species as separate management unit.

Achieve Personalized Anonymity Through Query Blocks Exchanging

In cyberspace security,the privacy in location-based services(LBSs) becomes more critical. In previous solutions,a trusted third party(TTP) was usually employed to provide disturbance or obfuscation,but it may become the single point of failure or service bottleneck. In order to cope with this drawback,we focus on another important class,establishing anonymous group through short-range communication to achieve k-anonymity with collaborative users. Along with the analysis of existing algorithms,we found users in the group must share the same maximum anonymity degree,and they could not ease the process of preservation in a lower one. To cope with this problem,we proposed a random-QBE algorithm to put up with personalized anonymity in user collaboration algorithms,and this algorithm could preserve both query privacy and location privacy. Then we studied the attacks from passive and active adversaries and used entropy to measure user's privacy level. Finally,experimental evaluations further verify its effectiveness and efficiency.

Trispecific killer engager 161519 enhances natural killer cell function and provides anti-tumor activity against CD19-positive cancers

Objective:Natural killer(NK)cells have gained considerable attention due to their potential in treating"cold tumors,"and are therefore considered as one of the new strategies for curing cancer,by using worldwide development of their new possibilities and interventions with NK cell-related therapeutic products.Methods:We constructed a trispecific killer engager(TriKE)consisting of anti-CD16,IL-15,and anti-CD19.This TriKE was designed to attract CD19^(+)tumor cells to CD16^(+)NK cells,whereas IL-15 sustained the proliferation,development,and survival of NK cells.Results:Treatment with 161519 TriKE in the presence of CD19^(+)targets upregulated expression of CD69,CD107 a,TRAIL,IFN-γ,and TNF-α in NK cells,and significantly improved the proliferation and cytotoxicity of NK cells.NK cells"armed"with 161519 TriKE showed stronger cytolysis against CD19+targets compared with that of"unarmed"NK cells.A preclinical model of B-cell lymphoma in human peripheral blood mononuclear cell-reconstituted xenograft mice showed significant inhibition of tumor growth and prolonged overall survival after treatment with 161519 TriKE,when compared with that in control mice or mice treated with 1619 BiKE.Combined use of IL-2 was a more effective treatment with 1619 BiKE,when compared with that using 161519 TriKE.Conclusions:The newly generated 161519 TriKE enhanced the proliferation,activation,cytokine secretion,and cytotoxicity of NK cells in the presence of CD19+tumor cells.The 161519 TriKE aided inhibition of tumor growth and prolonged the overall survival of murine xenografts,and could be used to treat CD19-positive cancers.

MdWRKY11 improves copper tolerance by directly promoting the expression of the copper transporter gene MdHMA5

Overuse of fungicides and fertilizers has resulted in copper(Cu)contamination of soils and toxic levels of Cu in apple fruits.To breed Cu-resistant apple(Malus domestica)cultivars,the underlying molecular mechanisms and key genes involved in Cu resistance must be identified.Here,we show that MdWRKY11 increases Cu tolerance by directly promoting the transcription of MdHMA5.MdHMA5 is a Cu transporter that may function in the storage of excess Cu in root cell walls and stems for Cu tolerance in apple.The transcription factor MdWRKY11 is highly induced by excess Cu.MdWRKY11 overexpression in transgenic apple enhanced Cu tolerance and decreased Cu accumulation.Apple calli transformed with an MdWRKY11-RNAi construct exhibited the opposite phenotype.Both an in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and an in vitro electrophoretic mobility shift assay indicated that MdWRKY11 binds to the promoter of MdHMA5.Furthermore,MdWRKY11 promoted MdHMA5 expression in transgenic apple plants,as revealed by quantitative PCR.Moreover,inhibition of MdWRKY11 expression by RNA interference led to a significant decrease in MdHMA5 transcription.Thus,MdWRKY11 directly regulates MdHMA5 transcription.Our work resulted in the identification of a novel MdWRKY11-MdHMA5 pathway that mediates Cu resistance in apple.

The expressions and significance of Hpa and bFGF in oral squamous-cell carcinoma

Objective： To investigate the expressions of heparanase （Hpa） and basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） in oral squamous-cell carcinoma （OSCC）, and to evaluate the relationship between the expressions and tumor angiogenesis and progression. Methods： The expressions of Hpa mRNA and bFGF mRNA of OSCC were examined using in situ hybridization. The microvascular density （MVD） was assessed through immunohistochemistry staining. Results： The expressions of Hpa mRNA and bFGF mRNA were associated with tumor MVD and lymph node metastasis. Concomitant expression of Hpa mRNA and bFGF mRNA was associated with higher tumor MVD as compared with expression of either factor alone. Conclusion： Hpa and bFGF might contribute to the angiogenesis and lymph node metastasis in OSCC and they cooperate in promoting vascularization.

全基因组关联研究发现中国人群前列腺癌两个新易感位点9q31.2和19q13.4

0前言在全球范围内，前列腺癌的发病率和病死率存在着巨大差异。该病在西方发达国家发病率最高，在非裔美国人群病死率最高，而在亚洲人群中发病率及病死率均为全球最低，提示不同人种在前列腺癌的遗传方面存在异质性。在欧美和日本人群中，全基因组关联研究（GWAS）技术已经被用于检测前列腺癌的遗传易感性位点，但至今尚无关于GWAS检测中国人群前列腺癌易感位点的报道。

Data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry quantitative proteomic analysis reveals that skin aging-related proteins differ between men and women

The skin is the largest organ of the human body,and its aging is visible to the naked eye.The aging rate of men and women is slightly different.This study compared the protein expression of skin samples on the curved forearms of 11 healthy women and 9 healthy men.Quantitative proteomics analysis found that the expression of epidermal proteins in men and women of the same age group was different.Compared with female skin,in male skin,20 proteins were upregulated,and 7 proteins were downregulated.These data suggest that men and women have differences in the speed of skin aging.For the first time in this experiment,a non-invasive mass spectrometer was used to detect 27 different-related epidermal proteins between men and women.Compared with women,among the 20 epidermal proteins upregulated in men,their functions can be classified into antioxidants,epidermal lipid metabolism,signal transduction,membrane transport,and cell biological processes;the 7 downregulated proteins are involved in a variety of biological processes and inflammatory reactions.Our experiments have discovered epidermal proteins related to the differences between men and women,enriching the library of epidermal differential proteins between men and women and enriching the mechanism of skin aging between men and women from the perspective of epidermal differential proteins.

Melatonin enhances the tolerance to iron deficiency stress through scavenging ROS in apple

Iron(Fe)is an essential micronutrient for plants.Fe deficiency,resulting from poor availability induced by its insolubility in most soils,severely affects the growth and yield of apple(Malus domestica Borkh.).Except for the application of an Fe nutrition agent,there is a lack of efficient and environmently-friendly ways to relieve plants from Fe deficiency in a modern orchard.Here,we observed that melatonin(MT),as an efficient reactive oxygen species(ROS)scavenger,could alleviate the chlorosis of leaves in apple under Fe deficiency,following increased Fe content,decreased chlorophyll degradation and stable photosynthetic rate.Exogenous melatonin induced the synthesis of endogenous melatonin and improved the activities of antioxidant enzymes,which decreased the oxidative damage induced by Fe deficiency through properly scavenging O_(2)•−and H_(2)O_(2).In addition,exogenous melatonin promoted the expression of its synthetase genes,but decreased their protein level,inferring post-transcriptional regulation.In brief,melatonin improved the tolerance to Fe deficiency through ROS migration and chloroplast protection in apple.This work uncovered the role of melatonin on Fe deficiency tolerance and also provided a potential way to relieve plants from Fe deficiency stress for apple production.

An Exergy Analysis Model for the Optimal Operation of Integrated Heat-and-Electricity-Based Energy Systems

Exergy analysis is a unified approach to evaluating the quantity and quality of energy in integrated energy systems(IESs).However,exergy analysis models have been relatively underexplored for IES operation in energy transmission networks.This study addresses this gap by developing an input-benefit exergy model and an exergy loss calculation model for each link within heat-and-electricity-based IESs(HE-IESs),encompassing the transmission networks.Then,an exergy-based unified optimal operation model for HE-IESs is introduced by minimizing the total exergy loss of the system.In addition,the effect of load rate on the energy efficiency of energy conversion equipment is considered.By applying piecewise linearization to the non-convex terms in the objective function and the equality constraints,the proposed optimization model is accurately and efficiently analyzed as a mixed-integer second-order cone pro-gramming problem.The case study results demonstrate that the proposed model reduces equipment-related ex-ergy loss,with approximately 3.2 times the heat net-work-related exergy loss.Moreover,the average deviation gaps of the overall system's exergy loss and equipment's output exergy power between the proposed and the existing models reach 12.94%and 27.83%,respectively.The maximum relative error of the solution results with the proposed linearization method remains below 1.2%,satisfying the requirements of practical application.

Coexistence of multiuser entanglement distribution and classical light in optical fiber network with a semiconductor chip

Building communication links among multiple users in a scalable and robust way is a key objective in achieving large-scale quantum networks.In a realistic scenario,noise from the coexisting classical light is inevitable and can ultimately disrupt the entanglement.The previous significant fully connected multiuser entanglement distribution experiments are conducted using dark fiber links,and there is no explicit relation between the entanglement degradations induced by classical noise and its error rate.Here,a semiconductor chip with a high figure-of-merit modal overlap is fabricated to directly generate broadband polarization entanglement.The monolithic source maintains the polarization entanglement fidelity of above 96%for 42 nm bandwidth,with a brightness of 1.2×10^(7)Hz mW^(−1).A continuously working quantum entanglement distribution are performed among three users coexisting with classical light.Under finite-key analysis,secure keys are established and images encryption are enabled as well as quantum secret sharing between users.This work paves the way for practical multiparty quantum communication with integrated photonic architecture compatible with real-world fiber optical communication network.

Day-ahead Network-constrained Unit Commitment Considering Distributional Robustness and Intraday Discreteness:A Sparse Solution Approach

Quick-start generation units are critical devices and flexible resources to ensure a high penetration level of renewable energy in power systems.By considering the wind uncertainty and both binary and continuous decisions of quickstart generation units within the intraday dispatch,we develop a Wasserstein-metric-based distributionally robust optimization model for the day-ahead network-constrained unit commitment(NCUC)problem with mixed-integer recourse.We propose two feasible frameworks for solving the optimization problem.One approximates the continuous support of random wind power with a finite number of events,and the other leverages the extremal distributions instead.Both solution frameworks rely on the classic nested column-and-constraint generation(C&CG)method.It is shown that due to the sparsity of L_(1)-norm Wasserstein metric,the continuous support of wind power generation could be represented by a discrete one with a small number of events,and the rendered extremal distributions are sparse as well.With this reduction,the distributionally robust NCUC model with complicated mixed-integer recourse problems can be efficiently handled by both solution frameworks.Numerical studies are carried out,demonstrating that the model considering quick-start generation units ensures unit commitment(UC)schedules to be more robust and cost-effective,and the distributionally robust optimization method captures the wind uncertainty well in terms of out-of-sample tests.

Immunotherapeutical Potential of Mycobacterium Vaccae on M. Tuberculosis Infection in Mice

Tuberculosis remains the worldwide infectious disease. To identify the therapeutic potential of M. vaccae in treating tuberculosis, M. vaccae was injected into Mycobacterium tuberculosis （M. tuberculosis） infected mice. The optimal dose of M. vaccae （22.5 μg/mouse） treated mice showed lower pathological change index, spleen weight index, lung weight index and vital M. tuberculosis count than those of the untreated group. Treatment with M. vaccae enhanced the percentages of CD3^＋ and CD4^＋ T cells, IFN-γ^＋CD4^＋ T cells, innate immune cells including NK cells, NK1.1^＋ T cells and γδ T cells, and reduced the percentage of IL-4^＋CD4^＋ T cells. Therefore, M. vaccae could protect the mice from M. tuberculosis infection and improved mouse innate and adaptive cell-mediated immunity, suggesting that M. vaccae is a potential immunotherapeutic agent in pulmonary tuberculosis. Cellular ＆ Molecular Immunology.

Recombinant Expression of a Novel Human Transcriptional Repressor HMBOX1 and Preparation of Anti-HMBOX1 Monoclonal Antibody

HMBOX1 was a novel transcription factor possibly involving in function of pancreas and cytotoxicity of NK cells. For function determination, recombinant human HMBOX1 protein was obtained and purified, and the monoclonal antibodies against HMBOX1 were prepared. The full-length cDNA fragment encoding HMBOX1 was amplified from NK-92 cells and inserted into prokaryotic expression vector pET22b. The pET22b-HMBOX1-6his vector was then transformed into E. coli Rosetta （DE3） and induced by 1 mM IPTG for 4 h at 37℃. The fusion HMBOX1 protein was mainly expressed in inclusion bodies, which was purified and refolded using Ni^2＋-affinity chromatography. With the purified fusion HMBOX1 protein as antigen, monoclonal antibodies against HMBOX1 were generated, providing a potentially useful tool for further study in HMBOX1 functions. Using these anti-HMBOX1 mAbs, we identified that HMBOX1 is located in both cytoplasm and nucleus and could be detected in 10 human normal tissues, including cerebrum, pancreas, kidney and liver tissues. Moreover, the expression in hepatic carcinoma was significantly lower than that in adjacent tissues.

A Mixed-integer SDP Solution to Distributionally Robust Unit Commitment with Second Order Moment Constraints

A power system unit commitment(UC)problem considering uncertainties of renewable energy sources is investigated in this paper,through a distributionally robust optimization approach.We assume that the first and second order moments of stochastic parameters can be inferred from historical data,and then employed to model the set of probability distributions.The resulting problem is a two-stage distributionally robust unit commitment with second order moment constraints,and it can be recast as a mixed-integer semidefinite programming(MI-SDP)with finite constraints.The solution algorithm of the problem comprises solving a series of relaxed MI-SDPs and a subroutine of feasibility checking and vertex generation.Based on the verification of strong duality of the semidefinite programming(SDP)problems,we propose a cutting plane algorithm for solving the MI-SDPs;we also introduce an SDP relaxation for the feasibility checking problem,which is an intractable biconvex optimization.Experimental results on the IEEE 6-bus system are presented,showing that without any tuning of parameters,the real-time operation cost of distributionally robust UC method outperforms those of deterministic UC and two-stage robust UC methods in general,and our method also enjoys higher reliability of dispatch operation.

Heterogeneously integrated,superconducting silicon-photonic platform for measurementdevice-independent quantum key distribution

Integrated photonics provides a route to both miniaturization of quantum key distribution(QKD)devices and enhancing their performance.A key element for achieving discrete-variable QKD is a singlephoton detector.It is highly desirable to integrate detectors onto a photonic chip to enable the realization of practical and scalable quantum networks.We realize a heterogeneously integrated,superconducting silicon-photonic chip.Harnessing the unique high-speed feature of our optical waveguide-integrated superconducting detector,we perform the first optimal Bell-state measurement(BSM)of time-bin encoded qubits generated from two independent lasers.The optimal BSM enables an increased key rate of measurement-device-independent QKD(MDI-QKD),which is immune to all attacks against the detection system and hence provides the basis for a QKD network with untrusted relays.Together with the timemultiplexed technique,we have enhanced the sifted key rate by almost one order of magnitude.With a 125-MHz clock rate,we obtain a secure key rate of 6.166 kbps over 24.0 dB loss,which is comparable to the state-of-the-art MDI-QKD experimental results with a GHz clock rate.Combined with integrated QKD transmitters,a scalable,chip-based,and cost-effective QKD network should become realizable in the near future.

Atomic scale structure dominated FCC and B2 responses to He ion irradiation in eutectic high-entropy alloy AlCoCrFeNi_(2.1)

Radiation-tolerant materials are widely desired in nuclear reactors. High-entropy alloys(HEAs) exhibiting superior mechanical performance and swelling tolerance are being considered as next-generation nuclear structural materials. However, an understanding of HEAs irradiation tolerance at an atomic scale is still lacking. In this study, the atomic scale irradiation response of AlCoCrFeNi_(2.1), composed of face-centered cubic(FCC) phase and B2 phase, has been systematically investigated at 298 and 723 K. The bubble volume ratio of the B2 phase is much larger than that of the FCC phase under the same irradiation conditions, and hence, the FCC phase has superior swelling tolerance than the B2 phase. Also, order-disorder transformation occurred in both L12and B2 phases. The different irradiation responses between the FCC and B2 phases, depend firstly on composition and secondly on crystal structure. The higher compositional complexity and complicated atomic-level lattice environment of the FCC phase contribute to better radiation performance than B2 phase. The results pave a way for exploring radiation-tolerant structural high-entropy alloys.

A rare variant in COL11A1 is strongly associated with adult height in Chinese Han population

Human height is a highly heritable trait in which multiple genes are involved. Recent genome-wide association studies （GWASs） have identified that COL11A1 is an important susceptibility gene for hu- man height. To determine whether the variants of COL11A 1 are associated with adult and children height, we analyzed splicing and coding single-nucleotide variants across COL11A1 through exome-targeted sequencing and two validation stages with a total 20,426 Chinese Han samples. A total of 105 variants were identified by exome-targeted sequencing, of which 30 SNPs were located in coding region. The strongest association signal was chrl 103380393 with P value of 4.8 × 10-7. Chrl_103380393 also showed nominal significance in the validation stage （P = 1.21×10 6）. Combined analysis of 16,738 samples strengthened the original association of chrl 103380393 with adult height （Pcombinea - 3.1×10 8）, with an increased height of 0.292sd （standard deviation） per G allele （95% CI： 0.19-0.40）. There was no evidence （P = 0.843） showing that chrl 103380393 altered child height in 3688 child samples. Only the group of 12-15 years showed slight significance with P value of 0.0258. This study firstly shows that genetic variants of COL11A1 contribute to adult height in Chinese Han population but not to children height, which expand our knowledge of the genetic factors underlying height variation and the biological regulation of human height.

High-quality quantum process tomography of time-bin qubit’s transmission over a metropolitan fiber network and its application

We employ quantum state and process tomography with time-bin qubits to benchmark a city-wide metropolitan quantum communication system.Over this network,we implement real-time feedback control systems for stabilizing the phase of the time-bin qubits and obtain a 99.3%quantum process fidelity to the ideal channel,indicating the high quality of the whole quantum communication system.This allows us to implement a field trial of high-performance quantum key distribution using coherent one way protocol with an average quantum bit error rate and visibility of 0.25%and 99.2%during 12 h over 61 km.Our results pave the way for the high-performance quantum network with metropolitan fibers.