The Precursor of GRB211211A:A Tide-induced Giant Quake?

The equilibrium configuration of a solid strange star in the final inspiral phase with another compact object is generally discussed,and the starquake-related issue is revisited,for a special purpose to understand the precursor emission of binary compact star merger events(e.g.,that of GRB211211A).As the binary system inspirals inward due to gravitational wave radiation,the ellipticity of the solid strangeon star increases due to the growing tidal field of its compact companion.Elastic energy is hence accumulated during the inspiral stage which might trigger a starquake before the merger when the energy exceeds a critical value.The energy released during such starquakes is calculated and compared to the precursor observation of GRB211211 A.The result shows that the energy might be insufficient for binary strangeon-star case unless the entire solid strangeon star shatters,and hence favors a black hole-strangeon star scenario for GRB211211A.The timescale of the precursor as well as the frequency of the observed quasi-periodic-oscillation have also been discussed in the starquake model.

Study on Thermal Insulation Performance of Cross-Laminated Bamboo Wall

In recent years,bamboo,as a green building material,has attracted more and more attention worldwide.Inspired by the investigation of cross-laminated timber in structural systems,a new engineered cross-laminated bamboo(CLB)consisting of the cross lamination of bamboo scrimber plates is proposed in this paper.To evaluate its potential in structural applications,the thermal insulation performances of the CLB walls and CLB walls with the EPS foam plate were studied and evaluated by the temperature-controlled box-heat flow meter method.Test results indicated that the thermal insulation performance improved with the increase of thickness,but different wall configurations had little effect on the thermal insulation performance under the same thickness of the CLB wall.The thermal insulation performance of EPS-CLB composite wall was much better than that of CLB wall.In addition,a relatively acceptable accuracy of the theoretical calculations was proved.Finally,the influence of different locations of the EPS foam plate on heat transfer coefficient can be neglected as it was studied based on the validated numerical models.

Impact of corticosteroids on initiation and half-year durability of humoral response in COVID-19 survivors

Background:The impact of corticosteroids on humoral responses in coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)sur-vivors during the acute phase and subsequent 6-month period remains unknown.This study aimed to determine how the use of corticosteroids influences the initiation and duration of humoral responses in COVID-19 survivors 6 months after infection onset.Methods:We used kinetic antibody data from the lopinavir-ritonavir trial conducted at Jin Yin-Tan Hospital in January 2020,which involved adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19(LOTUS,ChiCTR2000029308).Anti-body samples were collected from 192 patients during hospitalization,and kinetic antibodies were monitored at all available time points after recruitment.Additionally,plasma samples were collected from 101 COVID-19 survivors for comprehensive humoral immune measurement at the half-year follow-up visit.The main focus was comparing the humoral responses between patients treated with systemic corticosteroid therapy and the non-corticosteroid group.Results:From illness onset to day 30,the median antibody titre areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUCs)of nucleoprotein(N),spike protein(S),and receptor-binding domain(RBD)immunoglobulin G(IgG)were significantly lower in the corticosteroids group.The AUCs of N-,S-,and RBD-IgM as well as neutralizing antibodies(NAbs)were numerically lower in the corticosteroids group compared with the non-corticosteroid group.However,peak titres of N,S,RBD-IgM and-IgG and NAbs were not influenced by corticosteroids.During 6-month follow-up,we observed a delayed decline for most binding antibodies,except N-IgM(𝛽−0.05,95%CI[−0.10,0.00])in the corticosteroids group,though not reaching statistical significance.No significant difference was observed for NAbs.However,for the half-year seropositive rate,corticosteroids significantly accelerated the decay of IgA and IgM but made no difference to N-,S-,and RBD-IgG or NAbs.Additionally,corticosteroids group showed a trend towards delayed viral clearance compared with the non-corticosteroid group,but the results were not statistically significant(adjusted hazard ratio 0.71,95%CI 0.50-1.00;P=0.0508).Conclusion:Our findings suggested that corticosteroid therapy was associated with impaired initiation of the antibody response but this did not compromise the peak titres of binding and neutralizing antibodies.Throughout the decay phase,from the acute phase to the half-year follow-up visit,short-term and low-dose corticosteroids did not significantly affect humoral responses,except for accelerating the waning of short-lived antibodies.

Scientific objectives of the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor(HUBS) mission

The Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor(HUBS) is a proposed space-based X-ray telescope for detecting X-ray emissions from the hot gas content in our universe. With its unprecedented spatially-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy and large field of view,the HUBS mission will be uniquely qualified to measure the physical and chemical properties of the hot gas in the interstellar medium, the circumgalactic medium, the intergalactic medium, and the intracluster medium. These measurements will be valuable for two key scientific goals of HUBS, namely to unravel the AGN and stellar feedback physics that governs the formation and evolution of galaxies, and to probe the baryon budget and multi-phase states from galactic to cosmological scales. In addition to these two goals, the HUBS mission will also help us solve some problems in the fields of galaxy clusters, AGNs, difuse X-ray backgrounds, supernova remnants, and compact objects. This paper discusses the perspective of advancing these fields using the HUBS telescope.

Phosphorylation of a wheat aquaporin at two sites enhances both plant growth and defense

Eukaryotic aquaporins share the characteristic of functional multiplicity in transporting distinct substrates and regulating various processes,but the underlying molecular basis for this is largely unknown.Here,we report that the wheat(Triticum aestivum)aquaporin TaPIP2;10 undergoes phosphorylation to promote photosynthesis and productivity and to confer innate immunity against pathogens and a generalist aphid pest.In response to elevated atmospheric CO_(2)concentrations,TaPIP2;10 is phosphorylated at the serine residue S280 and thereafter transports CO_(2)into wheat cells,resulting in enhanced photosynthesis and increased grain yield.In response to apoplastic H_(2)O_(2) induced by pathogen or insect attacks,TaPIP2;10 is phosphorylated at S121 and this phosphorylated form transports H_(2)O_(2) into the cytoplasm,where H_(2)O_(2)intensifies host defenses,restricting further attacks.Wheat resistance and grain yield could be simultaneously increased by TaPIP2;10 overexpression or by expressing a TaPIP2;10 phosphomimic with aspartic acid substitutions at S121 and S280,thereby improving both crop productivity and immunity.

Sub-nm ruthenium cluster catalyst for decomposition as an efficient and robust and synthesis of ammonia： Break the ＂size shackles＂

Downsizing to sub-nm is a general strategy to reduce the cost of catalysts. However, theoretical Wulff-constructed model suggests that sub-nm clusters show little activity for various reactions such as ammonia decomposition and ammonia synthesis because of the lack of active sites. As clusters may deviate from the ideal model construction under reaction conditions, a host-guest strategy to synthesize thermally stable 1.0 run monodispersed Ru dusters by the pyrolysis of MIL-101 hosts is reported here to verify the hypothesis. For ammonia decomposition, the activity of the Ru clusters is 25 times higher than that of commercial Ru/active carbon （AC） at full-conversion temperature, while for ammonia synthesis, the activity of the Ru dusters is 500 times as high as that of promoted Ru NPs counterpart. The catalyst also maintains its activities for 40 h without any increase in the size. This model can be used to develop a host-guest strategy for designing thermally stable sub-nm clusters to atomic-efficiently catalyze reactions.

Pulsar giant pulse: Coherent instability near light cylinder

Giant pulses(GPs) are extremely bright individual pulses of radio pulsar. In microbursts of Crab pulsar, which is an active GP emitter, zebra-pattern-like spectral structures are observed, which are reminiscent of the "zebra bands" that are observed in type Ⅳ solar radio flares. However, band spacing linearly increases with the band center frequency of ～5-30 GHz. In this study, we propose that the Crab pulsar GP can originate from the coherent instability of plasma near a light cylinder. Further, the growth of coherent instability can be attributed to the resonance observed between the cyclotron-resonant-excited wave and the background plasma oscillation. The particles can be injected into the closed-field line regions owing to magnetic reconnection near a light cylinder. These particles introduce a large amount of free energy that further causes cyclotron-resonant instability, which grows and amplifies radiative waves at frequencies close to the electron cyclotron harmonics that exhibit zebra-pattern-like spectral band structures. Further, these structures can be modulated by the resonance between the cyclotron-resonant-excited wave and the background plasma oscillation. In this scenario, the band structures of the Crab pulsar can be well fitted by a coherent instability model, where the plasma density of a light cylinder should be ～10^(13-15) cm^(-3), with an estimated gradient of >5.5 × 10~5 cm^(-4). This process may be accompanied by high-energy emissions. Similar phenomena are expected to be detected in other types of GP sources that have magnetic fields of ? 106 G in a light cylinder.

Inhomogeneous Quantum Codes (III):The Asymmetric Case

The stabilizer(additive)method and non-additive method for constructing asymmetric quantum codes have been established.In this paper,these methods are generalized to inhomogeneous quantum codes.

Inhomogeneous quantum codes （II）： non-additive case

The quantum codes have been generalized to inhomogeneous case and the stabilizer construction has been established to get additive inhomogeneous quantum codes in [Sei. China Math., 2010, 53： 2501-2510]. In this paper, we generalize the known constructions to construct non-additive inhomogeneous quantum codes and get examples of good d-ary quantum codes.

COVID-19 vaccine updates for people under different conditions

SARS-CoV-2 has caused global waves of infection since December 2019 and continues to persist today.The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with strong immune evasion capabilities has compromised the effectiveness of existing vaccines against breakthrough infections.Therefore,it is important to determine the best utilization strategies for different demographic groups given the variety of vaccine options available.In this review,we will discuss the protective efficacy of vaccines during different stages of the epidemic and emphasize the importance of timely updates to target prevalent variants,which can significantly improve immune protection.While it is recognized that vaccine effectiveness may be lower in certain populations such as the elderly,individuals with chronic comorbidities(e.g.,diabetes with poor blood glucose control,those on maintenance dialysis),or those who are immunocompromised compared to the general population,administering multiple doses can result in a strong protective immune response that outweighs potential risks.However,caution should be exercised when considering vaccines that might trigger an intense immune response in populations prone to inflammatory flare or other complications.In conclusion,individuals with special conditions require enhanced and more effective immunization strategies to prevent infection or reinfection,as well as to avoid the potential development of long COVID.