Neurological consequences of human calmodulin mutations

When calcium ions enter the cytosol,it is a stimulatory signal for cellular events.The calcium sensor calmodulin picks up the change in calcium concentration and relays this information to its more than 300 downstream interaction partners.In this way,calmodulin affects cellular processes such as fertilization,muscle contraction,neuronal firing,and apoptosis.That is,calmodulin is involved in(nearly)everything!The significance of calmodulin is emphasized by the fact that we all carry three different genes(CALM1,2,3)on different chromosomes that encode the exact same calmodulin protein,and these are all expressed in all cell types.Moreover,throughout vertebrate evolution,the protein sequence has remained completely unchanged.

WHEN EAST MEETS WEST IN URBAN DESIGN

No matter how the world changes,people’s aspiration for a better living environment remains unchanged.Urban planners factor this in their blueprints and different eras give different characteristics to urban design and architecture.Modernization,technological progress,cultural trends,and social issues have all become drivers of urban planning and building design.In addition,architects and urban planners worldwide have to consider several crucial issues today-how to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emission in construction and improving the ecological environment in urban design,how to revitalize ancient cultural heritage,and how to create a new,sustainable urban culture.

Let’s get moving:The Global Status Report on Physical Activity 2022 calls for urgent action

Physical activity has many benefits for individual health and well-being,including a reduced risk of noncommunicable diseases,as well as improved mental health,sleep,and cognitive function.1 Being physically active also has broader social and environmental benefits and has a key role to play in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.2,3 However,over 80%of adolescents and around a quarter of adults are insufficiently active and these figures have remained largely unchanged for the past 20 years.4,5 A recent economic analysis estimated that the total cost of inactive lifestyles equates to USD 27 billion(INT 48 billion)annually.

Improving Stability and Quality of Foreign Trade

At the recent routine press conference of the CCPIT in October, CCPIT spokesperson Zhang Xin stated that China’s foreign trade operated smoothly for the first three quarters of this year, with a year-on-year growth rate that remained basically unchanged and showed a positive development trend.

The Eternal Door

IN an ancient town in the southern reaches of the Yangtze River there lived in a small compound of nine average households sharing an ancient well.e layout of the oldstyle houses had largely remained unchanged over the years, except that more and more modern furniture and home décor accessories had been added.

Milk production analysis after supplementing Calotropis gigantea leaf silage to dairy cows

This study aimed at evaluating the milk production after supplementing Calotropis gigantea(Giant milkweed,GM)silage as a new functional feed additive for ruminants.Cows refused to eat GM plants so,we processed it into silage before feeding.After ensiling,six ruminally cannulated dairy cows were assigned to two treatment groups(GM silage supplementation treatment and control without GM silage supplementation)in a cross over design.Repeated sampling of milk and rumen fluid was carried out on the last days of the third and fourth week after treatment.Ensiling GM increased the crude proteins,neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber while ash was unchanged.There was no dry matter intake(DMI)when supplementing GM forage to the cows,DMI and milk yield returned to normal conditions but feed efficiency,milk protein,milk fat and lactose slightly increased when supplementing GM silage.Rumen protozoa genera such as Entodinium,Ophryoscolex,Eudiplodinium,Dasytricha and Isotricha were maintained.A dose effect study remained to be carried out to identify an effective dose that could bring significant enhancement of the animal production after supplementing GM silage.This study revealed that the silage form of GM can be a new source of proteins for dairy cows and an appropriate dose could potentially induce some improvement of the milk production and composition.Therefore,the plant will not continue to be perceived as an invasive weed but as a new forage to be integrated into the cow’s diet.

解读习近平箴言:推进高水平对外开放

China’s policy of reform and opening up will remain unchanged over the long term.——Chinese President Xi Jinping April 13,2023 while inspecting Guangdong Province Measures of high-standard opening up Xi noted,in his report to the 20th CPC National Congress,that in order to promote high-standard opening up,China will·leverage the strengths of China’s enormous market,attract global resources and production factors with our strong domestic economy,and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources.

Tomato SlAN11 regulates flavonoid biosynthesis and seed dormancy by interaction with bHLH proteins but not with MYB proteins

The flavonoid compounds are important secondary metabolites with versatile human nutritive benefits and fulfill a multitude of functions during plant growth and development.The abundance of different flavonoid compounds are finely tuned with species-specific pattern by a ternary MBW complex,which consists of a MYB,a bHLH,and a WD40 protein,but the essential role of SlAN11,which is a WD40 protein,is not fully understood in tomato until now.In this study,a tomato WD40 protein named as SlAN11 was characterized as an effective transcription regulator to promote plant anthocyanin and seed proanthocyanidin(PA)contents,with late flavonoid biosynthetic genes activated in 35S::SlAN11 transgenic lines,while the dihydroflavonol flow to the accumulation of flavonols or their glycosylated derivatives was reduced by repressing the expression of SlFLS in this SlAN11-overexpressed lines.The above changes were reversed in 35S::SlAN11-RNAi transgenic lines except remained levels of flavonol compounds and SlFLS expression.Interestingly,our data revealed that SlAN11 gene could affect seed dormancy by regulating the expressions of abscisic acid(ABA)signaling-related genes SlABI3 and SlABI5,and the sensitivity to ABA treatment in seed germination is conversely changed by SlAN11-overexpressed or-downregulated lines.Yeast two-hybrid assays demonstrated that SlAN11 interacted with bHLH but not with MYB proteins in the ternary MBW complex,whereas bHLH interacted with MYB in tomato.Our results indicated that low level of anthocyanins in tomato fruits,with low expression of bHLH(SlTT8)and MYB(SlANT1 and SlAN2)genes,remain unchanged upon modification of SlAN11 gene alone in the transgenic lines.These results suggest that the tomato WD40 protein SlAN11,coordinating with bHLH and MYB proteins,plays a crucial role in the fine adjustment of the flavonoid biosynthesis and seed dormancy in tomato.

The influence of DC stray current on pipeline corrosion

DC stray current can cause severe corrosion on buried pipelines.In this study,firstly,we deduced the equation of DC stray current interference on pipelines.Next,the cathode boundary condition was discretized with pipe elements,and corresponding experiments were designed to validate the mathematical model.Finally,the numerical simulation program BEASY was used to study the corrosion effect of DC stray current that an auxiliary anode bed generated in an impressed current cathodic protection system.The effects of crossing angle,crossing distance,distance of the two pipelines,anode output current,depth,and soil resistivity were investigated.Our results indicate that pipeline crossing substantially affects the corrosion potential of both protected and unprotected pipelines.Pipeline crossing angles,crossing distances,and anode depths,our results suggest,have no significant influence.Decreasing anode output current or soil resistivity reduces pipeline corrosion gradually.A reduction of corrosion also occurs when the distance between two parallel pipelines increases.

Erratum:“On the design of magnetically insulated transmission lines for z-pinch loads”[Matter Radiat.Extremes 4,027402(2019)]

This erratum1 is issued by the authors to note that part(b)of Fig.1 was erroneously excluded in the published version of the manuscript.A correct version of Fig.1 is provided here.The figure caption of Fig.1 is repeated here,however the captions and text of the document remain unchanged.

Effect of Grain Boundary on Spinodal Decomposition Using the Phase Field Crystal Method

Spinodal decomposition (SD) with different grain boundaries (GBs) is investigated on the atomic scale using the novel phase field crystal model.It is demonstrated that the decomposition process is initiated by precipitating one phase with a larger lattice constant in the tension region at the GBs and the other one with a smaller lattice constant in the compression region.As the phase separation proceeds,the dislocations comprising the low-angle GBs migrate toward the compositional domain boundaries to relieve the coherent strain energy,and eventually become randomly distributed in the coarsening regime of SD,which leads to the disappearance of the low-angle GBs.For high-angle GBs,the location of GBs remains unchanged,while the atoms rearrange along the GBs to fit the stress field arising from compositional inhomogeneity.

“Survival of the Fittest” in The Call of the Wild

Jack London(1876-1916) is known as an American novelist in the early 20 th century. He lived in the gilded times that were full of different kinds of trend of thought in literature and art. His experiences made his life more colorful. He saw the cruelty of Capitalism and spoke for Socialism with his words. His novels, The Call of the Wild, The leading character, in their own way, witnessed the survival of the fittest in their life. Jack London told the unchanged truth — the survival of the fittest in his brilliant words. It is difficult to change the world, but easy to change oneself. One adjusts to his life space with his"evolution",and one goes in a new environment where every cloud has a silver lining.

Characteristics of Soliton Evolution in the Wave-Breaking-Free Regime in a Passively Mode-Locked Yb-Doped Fiber Laser

We focus on several aspects concerning the numerical simulation of a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser by a non-distributed model.The characteristics of soliton evolution in a wave-breaking-free regime are numerically investigated with the split-step Fourier method.Based on the model,a parabolic-shaped soliton with a nearly linear chirp and bound soliton pairs are obtained by controlling the intra-cavity average dispersion of the fiber laser.A phenomenon is observed that by keeping the system parameters unchanged,linearly chirped parabolic soliton and bound soliton pairs are attainable under different initial conditions in the transient region between these two kinds of solitons.

Nonlinear Electrical Behaviour of the TiO_(2)·Y_(2)O_(3)·Nb_(2)O_(5) System

The nonlinear properties and the dielectric properties of a new TiO_(2)-based varistor system,TiO_(2)·Y_(2)O_(3)·Nb_(2)O_(5),have been investigated.The(Nb,Y)-doped TiO_(2)ceramics have nonlinear coefficients of α=5-8 and a lower breakdown electrical field of 6-12V·mm^(-1),in which the varistor of(99.3mol%)TiO_(2).(0.6mol%)Y_(2)O_(3).(0.1mol%)Nb_(2)O_(5)composite sintered at 1400℃ has a nonlinear coefficient of α=7.8 and a maximum breakdown electrical field of 12 V·mm^(-1) at 1 mA·cm^(-2).Also,the relative dielectric constants of the composite reach more than 85000,which is almost unchanged within the temperature range from-20 to 280℃ and the frequency range of 0.5 K-2 MHz.Due to these properties the(Nb,Y)-doped TiO_(2)varistors has varistor capacitance bifunctional components,which are quite useful in the situation that the voltage protection and high frequency noise absorption are meanwhile required.

Low-Temperature Baking Effect of the Radio-Frequency Nb_(3)Sn Thin Film Superconducting Cavity

The Nb_(3)Sn thin film cavity,having the potential to be operated at a higher temperature and higher gradient compared to the cavity made from bulk niobium,is one of the most promising key technologies for the nextgeneration radio-frequency superconducting accelerators.In our work,several 1.3 GHz single-cell TESLA-shaped Nb_(3)Sn thin film cavities,coated by the vapor diffusion method,were tested at Peking University and Institute of Modern Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.It was observed that the performance of the Nb_(3)Sn thin film cavities in the tests without the slow cooling down procedure and the effective magnetic field shielding was significantly improved by using a low temperature baking at 100℃for 48 hours.Although the peak electric field of the cavity remained unchanged,the rapid drop of the unloaded Q value(Q0)with the increasing accelerating field(Q-slope)was effectively eliminated,resulting in an improvement of the Q0 in the intermediate field region by~8 times.Furthermore,under better test conditions with the shielded magnetic field less than 5 mG and the slow cooling down procedure in the temperature range of 25-15 K,the Q0 was still improved by about 20%.Our study shows that the low temperature baking can be an effective supplement to the effective post-treatment for the Nb_(3)Sn thin film cavity.

Structural and Optical Characterizations of ZnO Films Grown by Reactive Electron Beam Evaporation

Low temperature epitaxial growth of ZnO films is achieved on Si(001)substrates by reactive electron beam evap oration.Growth temperature is varied from 125 C to 420 C and the optimum temperature is found between 200°C and 300 C.X-ray diffraction shows that the ZnO films are highly c-axis oriented and the line width of(002)diffraction peak is significantly smaller than that measured from the ZnO films deposited by magnetron sput tering.The combined photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation(PLE)spectroscopic measurements demonstrate the sharp band-absorption edge and exciton absorption in the ZnO films.PLE has also revealed that the absorption characteristic near the band edge is remarkably improved with the increase of oxygen content in the ZnO films,although x-ray diffraction analysis shows that the crystalline structure of ZnO films grown under different oxygen pressures remains unchanged.

Brassica rapa orphan genes largely affect soluble sugar metabolism

Orphan genes(OGs),which are genes unique to a specific taxon,play a vital role in primary metabolism.However,little is known about the functional significance of Brassica rapa OGs(BrOGs)that were identified in our previous study.To study their biological functions,we developed a BrOG overexpression(BrOGOE)mutant library of 43 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and assessed the phenotypic variation of the plants.We found that 19 of the 43 BrOGOE mutants displayed a mutant phenotype and 42 showed a variable soluble sugar content.One mutant,BrOG1OE,with significantly elevated fructose,glucose,and total sugar contents but a reduced sucrose content,was selected for indepth analysis.BrOG1OE showed reduced expression and activity of the Arabidopsis sucrose synthase gene(AtSUS);however,the activity of invertase was unchanged.In contrast,silencing of two copies of BrOG1 in B.rapa,BraA08002322(BrOG1A)and BraSca000221(BrOG1B),by the use of an efficient CRISPR/Cas9 system of Chinese cabbage(B.rapa ssp.campestris)resulted in decreased fructose,glucose,and total soluble sugar contents because of the upregulation of BrSUS1b,BrSUS3,and,specifically,the BrSUS5 gene in the edited BrOG1 transgenic line.In addition,we observed increased sucrose content and SUS activity in the BrOG1 mutants,with the activity of invertase remaining unchanged.Thus,BrOG1 probably affected soluble sugar metabolism in a SUS-dependent manner.This is the first report investigating the function of BrOGs with respect to soluble sugar metabolism and reinforced the idea that OGs are a valuable resource for nutrient metabolism.

Pulsed Plasma Polymerization of Perfluorooctyl Ethylene for Transparent Hydrophobic Thin Coatings

Herein we report on the deposition of transparent hydrophobic thin coatings by radio frequency plasma polymerization（PP） of perfluorooctyl ethylene（PFOE） in both pulsed and continuous wave（CW） modes.The chemical compositions of the resulting PP-PFOE coatings were confirmed by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）.The thicknesses and surface morphologies of the coatings were examined using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.The surface wetting properties and optical transmittance were measured using a water contact angle goniometer and UV-vis spectroscopy.The FT-IR and XPS data showed that the PP-PFOE coatings deposited in the pulsed mode had a higher retention of CF_2 groups compared to those from the CW mode.While the water contact angle of the freshly deposited PP-PFOE from the pulsed mode showed a decrease from 120 degrees to 111 degrees in the first two days,it then remained almost unchanged up to 45 days.The UV-vis data indicated that a PP-PFOE coating 30.6 nm thick had a light transmittance above 90%in the UV and visible ranges.The deposition rates under various plasma conditions are also discussed.

MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PRESSOR EFFECT OF ELECTROACUPUNCTURE:Ⅰ.ESSENTIAL NEURAL SUBSTRATES IN BRAIN

The electroacupuncture(EA)being delivered to“Zusanli-Sanyinjiao”acupomts reduced a pressor-tachycardia effect,this effect still remained(nearly unchanged)after decerebration between superior and inferior colliculus,indicating that the essential cen-tets of EA-pressor effect(EA-PE)are located in lower brain stem.The EA-PE could be at-tenuated by preinjection of atropine or phentolamine bilaterally into rostral ventrolateralmedulla(RVL)(but was not significantly influenced by propranolol or haloperidol).Elec-trolytic lesions of bilateral nucleus parabrachialis(NPB),reduced the EA-PE,while lesionof the area postrema did not.Taken together with our previous results that lesions of bilateral locus coeruleus(LC)also remarkably decreased the EA-PE,α-adrenoceptors in RVL mediated NPB-pressor re-sponse,and both α-adrenoceptors,M-cholinoceptors are involved in LC-pressor response:the present results indicate that activation of NPB-RVL(α-receplor)and LC-RVL(α-and Mreceptor)pressor system by EA is the essential central mechanism underlying EA-PE.

Corrigendum to“Cation-vacancy induced Li+intercalation pseudocapacitance at atomically thin heterointerface for high capacity and high power lithium-ion batteries”[J.Energy Chem.62(2021)281–288]

The authors regret that the wrong image of Fig.1 was uploaded in the paper.The correct one should be:We confirm the discrepancy is restricted to the image of Fig.1 only,the underlying data is correct and unchanged.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.