Latitudinal patterns of climatic variables and influence of local topography on climatic variables in the dry valleys of southwestern China

Climate is a key factor to determine the pattern of ecosystems;however,the latitudinal patterns of climatic variables in the arid and semiarid areas remain largely unclear when compared to humid areas.The topography of the dry valleys of southwestern China plays an important role in the formation of climate.However,its impact on the climate remains qualitative.In this study,eight climatic variables from 12 meteorological stations were analyzed to explore their latitudinal patterns in the wet and dry seasons from 1961 to 2019.We also quantified the effects of local topography(RH10)on the climatic variables.The results were as follows:sunshine duration,total solar radiation,average temperature,and evaporation decreased significantly,and wind speed increased significantly with increasing latitude in the annual,wet,and dry seasons(P<0.001).Relative humidity and precipitation decreased significantly with increasing latitude in the wet season(P<0.001),and no obvious change pattern was observed in the dry season.Aridity index significantly decreased(toward dryness)with increasing latitude in the wet season and increased in the dry season(P<0.001).Wind speed had a significantly positive relationship with topography(RH10)(P<0.01),whereas precipitation and aridity index were negatively associated with topography in the wet season and positively associated with topography in the dry season.Dryness was positively associated with RH10 in the wet season,and negatively in the dry season.The results of our research could provide new perspectives for understanding the relationship between topography and drought in the dry valleys of southwestern China.

A Study on the Influence of Local Top Leaders' Corruption——An Empirical Analysis Based on the Municipal Party Committee Secretaries Sacked after the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Based on the cross-sectional data about the municipal Party committee secretaries sacked since the 18th CPC National Congress, this paper adopts a regression model to examine and assess the impact of local top Party leaders' corruption. The study discovers that local heads' integrity directly affects local political ecology they are in; that regions in the charge of corruptive heads suffer a higher degree of corruption; and that the tenure of corruptive local heads relates much to the degree of local corruption(i.e. the longer their tenure is, the more baneful influence they exert on the clean governance of local leaders and cadres). Consequently, it is imperative to establish and consolidate a power structure and a corresponding operating mechanism which enable effective mutual constraint and balance among decisionmaking power, executive power and supervision power. Only by doing so can China alleviate the negative impact of local heads' corruption, effectively restrict and supervise local heads' exercise of power, and maintain a well balance between "power delegation" and "power supervision".

Interplay between topology and localization on superconducting circuits

Topological insulators occupy a prominent position in the realm of condensed matter physics. Nevertheless, the presence of strong disorder has the potential to disrupt the integrity of topological states, leading to the localization of all states.This study delves into the intricate interplay between topology and localization within the one-dimensional Su–Schrieffer–Heeger(SSH) model, which incorporates controllable off-diagonal quasi-periodic modulations on superconducting circuits.Through the application of external alternating current(ac) magnetic fluxes, each transmon undergoes controlled driving,enabling independent tuning of all coupling strengths. Within a framework of this model, we construct comprehensive phase diagrams delineating regions characterized by extended topologically nontrivial states, critical localization, and coexisting topological and critical localization phases. The paper also addresses the dynamics of qubit excitations, elucidating distinct quantum state transfers resulting from the intricate interplay between topology and localization. Additionally, we propose a method for detecting diverse quantum phases utilizing existing experimental setups.

Navigating the pathways:TAR-DNA-binding-protein-43 aggregation,axonal transport,and local synthesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathology

Neurons are highly polarized cells with axons reaching over a meter long in adult humans.To survive and maintain their proper function,neurons depend on specific mechanisms that regulate spatiotemporal signaling and metabolic events,which need to be carried out at the right place,time,and intensity.Such mechanisms include axonal transport,local synthesis,and liquid-liquid phase separations.Alterations and malfunctions in these processes are correlated to neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS).

Understanding the local structure and thermophysical behavior of Mg-La liquid alloys via machine learning potential

The local structure and thermophysical behavior of Mg-La liquid alloys were in-depth understood using deep potential molecular dynamic(DPMD) simulation driven via machine learning to promote the development of Mg-La alloys. The robustness of the trained deep potential(DP) model was thoroughly evaluated through several aspects, including root-mean-square errors(RMSEs), energy and force data, and structural information comparison results;the results indicate the carefully trained DP model is reliable. The component and temperature dependence of the local structure in the Mg-La liquid alloy was analyzed. The effect of Mg content in the system on the first coordination shell of the atomic pairs is the same as that of temperature. The pre-peak demonstrated in the structure factor indicates the presence of a medium-range ordered structure in the Mg-La liquid alloy, which is particularly pronounced in the 80at% Mg system and disappears at elevated temperatures. The density, self-diffusion coefficient, and shear viscosity for the Mg-La liquid alloy were predicted via DPMD simulation, the evolution patterns with Mg content and temperature were subsequently discussed, and a database was established accordingly. Finally, the mixing enthalpy and elemental activity of the Mg-La liquid alloy at 1200 K were reliably evaluated,which provides new guidance for related studies.

Effect of local wound infiltration with ropivacaine on postoperative pain relief and stress response reduction after open hepatectomy

AIM To prospectively evaluate the effect of local wound infiltration with ropivacaine on postoperative pain relief and stress response reduction after open hepatectomy.METHODS A total of 56 patients undergoing open hepatectomy were randomly divided into two groups:a ropivacaine group(wound infiltration with ropivacaine solution)and a control group(infiltration with isotonic saline solution).A visual analog scale(VAS)at rest and on movement was used to measure postoperative pain for the first 48 h after surgery.Mean arterial pressure(MAP),heart rate(HR),time to bowel recovery,length of hospitalization after surgery,cumulative sufentanil consumption,and incidence of nausea and vomiting were compared between the two groups.Surgical stress hormones(epinephrine,norepinephrine,and cortisol)were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,and the results were compared. RESULTS VAS scores both at rest and on movement at 24 h and48 h were similar between the two groups.Significantly lower VAS scores were detected at 0,6,and 12 h in the ropivacaine group compared with the control group(P<0.05 for all).MAP was significantly lower at 6,12,and 24 h(P<0.05 for all);HR was significantly lower at 0,6,12,and 24 h(P<0.05 for all);time to bowel recovery and length of hospitalization after surgery(P<0.05 for both)were significantly shortened;and cumulative sufentanil consumption was significantly lower at 6,12,24,and 36 h(P<0.05 for all)in the ropivacaine group than in the control group,although the incidence of nausea and vomiting showed no significant difference between the two groups.The levels of epinephrine,norepinephrine,and cortisol were significantly lower in the ropivacaine group than in the control group at 24 and 48 h(P<0.01 for all). CONCLUSION Local wound infiltration with ropivacaine after open hepatectomy can improve postoperative pain relief,reduce surgical stress response,and accelerate postoperative recovery.

Postoperative chemotherapy with S-1 plus oxaliplatin versus S-1alone in locally advanced gastric cancer(RESCUE-GC study): a protocol for a phase Ⅲ randomized controlled trial

Background： The ACTS-GC study had shown postoperative adiuvant therapy with S-1 improved survival of patients with locally advanced gastric cancer. Addition of oxaliplatin to S-1 is considered to be acceptable as one of the treatment options for gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy with D2 lymph node excision. Methods： We have commenced a randomized phase III trial in December 2016 to evaluate S-I plus oxaliplatin compared with S-1 alone in the adjuvant setting for locally advanced gastric cancer. A total of 564 patients will be accrued from 13 Chinese institutions in two years. The primary endpoint is 3-year relapse-free survival. The secondary endpoints are 5-year overall survival, proportion of patients who complete the postoperative chemotherapy and incidence of adverse events. Ethic and dissemination： The trial has been approved by the institutional review board of each participating institution and it was activated on December, 2016. The enrollment will be finished in December, 2018. Patient＇s follow-up will be ended until December, 2023. Trial registration： ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier： NCT02867839. Registered on August 4, 2016.

Postoperative inflammation as a possible cause of portal vein thrombosis after irreversible electroporation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Portal vein thrombosis(PVT) is a rare but serious postoperative complication associated with irreversible electroporation(IRE). We report a case of postoperative PVT in a 54-year-old woman who underwent IRE for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Drain removal and discharge of the patient from the hospital were scheduled on postoperative day(POD) 7; however, a magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed the presence of PVT. We suspected postoperative inflammation in the pancreas as the main cause of PVT. However, the patient did not undergo any medical treatment because she did not have any clinical symptoms, and she was discharged on POD 8.

Influence of RNA interference on the mitochondrial subcellular localization of alpha-synuclein and on the formation of Lewy body-like inclusions in the cytoplasm of human embryonic kidney 293 cells induced by the overexpression of alphasynuclein

The specific and effective a-synuclein RNA interference （RNAi） plasmids, and the a-synuclein-pEGFP recombinant plasmids were co-transfected into human embryonic kidney 293 （HEK293） cells using the lipofectamine method. Using an inverted fluorescence microscope, a-synuclein proteins were observed to aggregate in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Wild-type a-synuclein proteins co-localized with mitochondria. Hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed round eosinophilic bodies （Lewy body-like inclusions） in the cytoplasm of some cells transfected with a-synuclein-pEGFP plasmid. However, the formation of Lewy body-like inclusions was not observed following transfection with the RNAi pSYN-1 plasmid. RNAi blocked Lewy body-like inclusions in the cytoplasm of HEK293 cells induced by wild-type a-synuclein overexpression, but RNAi did not affect the subcellular localization of wild-type a-synuclein in mitochondria.

An efficient transient gene expression system for protein subcellular localization assay and genome editing in citrus protoplasts

Protoplast has been widely used in biotechnologies to circumvent the breeding obstacles in citrus, including long juvenility, polyembryony, and male/female sterility. The protoplast-based transient gene expression system is a powerful tool for gene functional characterization and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in higher plants, but it has not been widely used in citrus. In this study, the polyethylene glycol(PEG)-mediated method was optimized for citrus callus protoplast transfection, with an improved transfection efficiency of 68.4%. Consequently, the efficiency of protein subcellular localization assay was increased to 65.8%, through transient expression of the target gene in protoplasts that stably express the fluorescent organelle marker protein. The gene editing frequencies in citrus callus protoplasts reached 14.2% after transient expression of CRISPR/Cas9 constructs. We demonstrated that the intronic polycistronic tRNAgRNA(inPTG) genome editing construct was functional in both the protoplast transient expression system and epicotyl stable transformation system in citrus. With this optimized protoplast transient expression system, we improved the efficiency of protein subcellular localization assay and developed the genome editing system in callus protoplasts, which provides an approach for prompt test of CRISPR vectors.

Place recognition based on saliency for topological localization

Based on salient visual regions for mobile robot navigation in unknown environments, a new place recognition system was presented. The system uses monocular camera to acquire omni-directional images of the environment where the robot locates. Salient local regions are detected from these images using center-surround difference method, which computes opponencies of color and texture among multi-scale image spaces. And then they are organized using hidden Markov model (HMM) to form the vertex of topological map. So localization, that is place recognition in our system, can be converted to evaluation of HMM. Experimental results show that the saliency detection is immune to the changes of scale, 2D rotation and viewpoint etc. The created topological map has smaller size and a higher ratio of recognition is obtained.

A Distributed Cooperative Localization Algorithm for Mobile Multi-platforms Oriented to Unpredicted Communication Topology

The cooperative localization(CL)is affected by the communication topology among the platforms.Based on the unscented Kalman filtering,the distributed CL(DCL)oriented to the unpredicted communication topology is investigated.To improve the adaptability,the character of the look-up Cholesky decomposition is exploited for the covariance matrix decomposing.Then,the distributed U transformation can be dynamically implemented according to the available communication topology.In the proposed algorithm,the global information is not required for the individual,and only the available information from the neighbor is used.Each platform’s state can be estimated independently.The error covariance of the state estimates can be updated in the single platform.The algorithm is adaptive to any serial communication topologies where the measuring to the measured platform is a starting path.The applicability of the proposed algorithm to unpredicted communication topology is improved,remaining equivalent localization performance to free connection communication.

A high figure of merit localized surface plasmon sensor based on a gold nanograting on the top of a gold planar film

We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon sensor is 317 nm/RIU, and the FOM is predicted to be above 8, which is very high for a localized surface plasmon sensor. By employing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis （RCWA） method, we analyze the distribution of the magnetic field and find that the sensing property of our proposed system is attributed to the interactions between the localized surface plasmon around the gold nanostrips and the surface plasmon polarition on the surface of the gold planar metallic film. These findings are important for developing high FOM localized surface plasmon sensors.

Contained local compression on peri-ascending aortic area for postoperative bleeding control:a case report

After type A acute aortic dissection(AAD)repair or modified Bentall procedure,uncontrollable bleeding from the anastomotic sites of the fragile dissected tissues or aortic root area is a critical situation to a cardiac surgeon.For postoperative care,lots of blood transfusion with strict monitoring on the patient all night and subsequent reoperation for the bleeding control is usually needed.We managed to make contained local compression of upper half of the heart,from upper part of the right ventricle to just above the innominate vein,using bovine pericardium with closing both sides of transverse sinus in two cases of uncontrolled postoperative bleeding(bleeding from distal anastomotic site in type-A AAD and valve sitting site in modified Bentall procedure).Even though reoperations for the removal of packed gauges were done in both cases 2 days later,postoperative courses at intensive care unit were very smooth with little need for transfusion.This kind of contained local compression trial could be a useful strategy for dealing with the malignant uncontrollable bleeding from the fragile aortic tissue or root area after acute dissection or aortic root repair.

HOMOTOPY FORMULA FOR A LOCAL q-CONCAVE WEDGE IN STEIN MANIFOLDS AND IT'S APPLICATIONS

A homotopy formula for a loced q-concave wedge in Stein manifolds is obtained, by using this formula the -equation on local q-concave wedges is solved, and an extension problem on local q-concave wedges is discussed.

Weak antilocalization and interaction-induced localization of Dirac and Weyl Fermions in topological insulators and semimetals

Weak localization and antilocalization are quantum transport phenomena that arise from the quantum interference in disordered metals.At low temperatures,they can give distinct temperature and magnetic field dependences in conductivity,allowing the symmetry of the system to be explored.In the past few years,they have also been observed in newly emergent topological materials,including topological insulators and topological semimetals.In contrast from the conventional electrons,in these new materials the quasiparticles are described as Dirac or Weyl fermions.In this article,we review our recent efforts on the theories of weak antilocalization and interaction-induced localization for Dirac and Weyl fermions in topological insulators and topological semimetals.

A study of the effect of local scour on the flow field near the spur dike

The flow field near a spur dike such as down flow and horseshoe vortex system(HVS)are susceptible to the topographic changes in the local scouring process,resulting in variation of the sediment transport with time.In this study,large eddy simulations with fixed-bed at different scouring stages were conducted to investigate the changes in flow field.The results imply that the bed deformation leads to an increase in flow rate per unit area,which represent the capability of sediment transportation by water,in the scour hole.Moreover,the intensity of turbulent kinetic energy and bimodal motion near the sand bed induced by the HVS were also varied.However,the peak moments between the two sediment transport mechanisms were different.Hence,understanding the complex feedback mechanism between topography and flow field is essential for the local scour problem.

Cooperative Anti-Jamming and Interference Mitigation for UAV Networks: A Local Altruistic Game Approach

To improve the anti-jamming and interference mitigation ability of the UAV-aided communication systems, this paper investigates the channel selection optimization problem in face of both internal mutual interference and external malicious jamming. A cooperative anti-jamming and interference mitigation method based on local altruistic is proposed to optimize UAVs’ channel selection. Specifically, a Stackelberg game is modeled to formulate the confrontation relationship between UAVs and the jammer. A local altruistic game is modeled with each UAV considering the utilities of both itself and other UAVs. A distributed cooperative anti-jamming and interference mitigation algorithm is proposed to obtain the Stackelberg equilibrium. Finally, the convergence of the proposed algorithm and the impact of the transmission power on the system loss value are analyzed, and the anti-jamming performance of the proposed algorithm can be improved by around 64% compared with the existing algorithms.

Genome-wide investigation to assess copy number variants in the Italian local chicken population

Background Copy number variants(CNV)hold significant functional and evolutionary importance.Numerous ongoing CNV studies aim to elucidate the etiology of human diseases and gain insights into the population structure of livestock.High-density chips have enabled the detection of CNV with increased resolution,leading to the identification of even small CNV.This study aimed to identify CNV in local Italian chicken breeds and investigate their distribution across the genome.Results Copy number variants were mainly distributed across the first six chromosomes and primarily associated with loss type CNV.The majority of CNV in the investigated breeds were of types 0 and 1,and the minimum length of CNV was significantly larger than that reported in previous studies.Interestingly,a high proportion of the length of chromosome 16 was covered by copy number variation regions(CNVR),with the major histocompatibility complex being the likely cause.Among the genes identified within CNVR,only those present in at least five animals across breeds(n=95)were discussed to reduce the focus on redundant CNV.Some of these genes have been associated to functional traits in chickens.Notably,several CNVR on different chromosomes harbor genes related to muscle development,tissue-specific biological processes,heat stress resistance,and immune response.Quantitative trait loci(QTL)were also analyzed to investigate potential overlapping with the identified CNVR:54 out of the 95 gene-containing regions overlapped with 428 QTL associated to body weight and size,carcass characteristics,egg production,egg components,fat deposition,and feed intake.Conclusions The genomic phenomena reported in this study that can cause changes in the distribution of CNV within the genome over time and the comparison of these differences in CNVR of the local chicken breeds could help in preserving these genetic resources.

Multi-Material Topology Optimization for Spatial-Varying Porous Structures

This paper aims to propose a topology optimization method on generating porous structures comprising multiple materials.The mathematical optimization formulation is established under the constraints of individual volume fraction of constituent phase or total mass,as well as the local volume fraction of all phases.The original optimization problem with numerous constraints is converted into a box-constrained optimization problem by incorporating all constraints to the augmented Lagrangian function,avoiding the parameter dependence in the conventional aggregation process.Furthermore,the local volume percentage can be precisely satisfied.The effects including the globalmass bound,the influence radius and local volume percentage on final designs are exploited through numerical examples.The numerical results also reveal that porous structures keep a balance between the bulk design and periodic design in terms of the resulting compliance.All results,including those for irregular structures andmultiple volume fraction constraints,demonstrate that the proposedmethod can provide an efficient solution for multiple material infill structures.