Do large brains of long-living mammals prefer non-newly generated,immature neurons？

Brain plasticity is heterogeneous in mammals：Brain regeneration and repair are the dream of every neurobiologist as well as every common citizen in the world who knows that most neurological diseases,dementia and other age-related problems affecting the central nervous system（CNS）do represent a heavy health and social burden.Efficacious re-generative processes are not＂ a natural property of the mammalian CNS, rather, due to evolutionary constraints they seem substantially reduced （if compared to those occurring in non-mammalian vertebrates） and hardly inducible by therapeutic approaches （reviewed in Martino et al., 2011）.

Torque Sharing Function Control of Switched Reluctance Machines with Reduced Current Sensors

This paper presents a Torque Sharing Function(TSF)control of Switched Reluctance Machines(SRMs)with different current sensor placements to reconstruct the phase currents.TSF requires precise phase current information to ensure accurate torque control.Two proposed methods with different chopping transistors or a new PWM implementation require four or two current sensors to replace the current sensors on each phase regardless of the phase number.For both approaches,the actual phase current can be easily extracted during the single phase conducting region.However,how to separate the incoming and outgoing phase current values during the commutation region is the difficult issue to deal with.In order to derive these two adjacent currents,the explanations and comparisons of two proposed methods are described.Their effectiveness is verified by experimental results on a four-phase 8/6 SRM.Finally,the approach with a new PWM implementation is selected,which requires only two current sensors for reducing the number of sensors.The control system can be more compact and cheaper.

Mapping tree species distribution in support of China's integrated tree-livestock-crop system

The primary challenge of the contemporary world is to meet accelerating requirements for food.Limited land,competition between crop and livestock farming and climate change are major challenges.Agroforestry offer a form of sustainable agriculture through the direct provision of food by raising farmers’incomes and through various ecosystem services.The first essential step in adopting agroforestry is the selection of appropriate tree species that fit local climates.In this paper,we mapped 20 fodder trees and important crops in China using the multi-model ensemble and Ecocrop modelling approach.Relying on the intersectional concept of set theory,the fuzzy logic technique was applied to identify regions where candidate trees could be grown with appropriate crops and livestock.The resulting models provide important insights into the climatic suitability of trees and crops and offer knowledge critical to the proper integration of trees with crops and livestock at specific locations.The results offer support for developing appropriate strategies regarding potential land-use within agroforestry systems in order to maximize ecosystem services and the benefits of sustainable agriculture.Model outputs could easily convert into conventional maps with clearly defined boundaries for site-specific planning for tree-crop-livestock integration.The next step for actualizing an integrated system is to investigate specifically what these different species may contribute to the existing farming systems,quantify the benefits and estimate any possible tradeoffs.

Cytokinome of adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells:immunological and inflammatory features

Background: Being non-immunogenic and capable of achieving major metabolic liver functions, adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells (ADHLSCs) are of special interest in the field of liver cell therapy. The cytokine repertoire of engrafted cells may have critical impacts on the immune response balance, particularly during cell transplantation. Methods: In this work, we analyzed the cytokinome of ADHLSCs during hepatogenic differentiation (HD) following stimulation with a mixture of inflammatory cytokines (I) in vitro and compared it to that of mature hepatocytes. Results: Independent of their hepatic state, ADHLSCs showed no constitutive expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which were significantly induced by inflammation (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNFα, CCL5, IL-12a, IL-12b, IL-23p19, IL-27p28 and EBI-3). IL1-RA and IDO-1, as immunoregulatory cytokines, were highly induced in undifferentiated ADHLSCs, whereas TGF-β was downregulated by both hepatic and inflammatory events. Interestingly, TDO-1 was exclusively expressed in ADHLSCs after hepatic differentiation and enhanced by inflammatory cytokines. Compared to mature hepatocytes, hepatic-differentiated ADHLSCs showed significantly different cytokine expression patterns. Conclusions: By establishing the cytokinome of ADHLSCs and highlighting their immunological and inflammatory features, we can enhance our knowledge about the safety and efficiency of the transplantation strategy.

Intermittent chaos for ergodic light trapping in a photonic fiber plate

Extracting the light trapped in a waveguide,or the opposite effect of trapping light in a thin region and guiding it perpendicular to its incident propagation direction,is essential for optimal energetic performance in illumination,display or light harvesting devices.Here we demonstrate that the paradoxical goal of letting as much light in or out while maintaining the wave effectively trapped can be achieved with a periodic array of interpenetrated fibers forming a photonic fiber plate.Photons entering perpendicular to that plate may be trapped in an intermittent chaotic trajectory,leading to an optically ergodic system.We fabricated such a photonic fiber plate and showed that for a solar cell incorporated on one of the plate surfaces,light absorption is greatly enhanced.Confirming this,we found the unexpected result that a more chaotic photon trajectory reduces the production of photon scattering entropy.

Hyperspectral imaging and pulse characterization

An advanced method for hyperspectral imaging was combined with phase retrieval and standard pulse characterization techniques to characterize ultrashort laser pulses and ultrashort processes to a new level of precision in a single shot.

Older European Adults and Access to Healthcare During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In Europe,population ageing poses a challenge.Given accelerating population ageing in Europe,longterm care(LTC)is a growing concern.Unmet healthcare needs varied among European countries during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,and greater attention should be paid to ensuring that the healthcare needs of vulnerable populations are met.Notably,developing common and comparable indicators is useful for monitoring the LTC and healthcare of older adults at the national and international levels,and understanding the reasons for the differences in indicators between European countries could shed light on how to improve the health of older adults.