The strength, position, and width changes of the intertropical convergence zone since the Last Glacial Maximum.

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) plays a key role in regulating tropical hydroclimate and global water cycle through changes in its convection strength, latitudinal position, and width. The long-term variability of the ITCZ, along with the corresponding driving mechanisms, however, remains obscure, mainly because it is difficult to separate different ITCZ variables in paleoclimate proxy records. Here, we report a speleothem oxygen isotope (δ18O) record from southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, and compile it with other speleothem records from the Maritime Continent. Using the spatial gradient of speleothem δ18O along a transect across the ITCZ, we constrain ITCZ variabilities over the Maritime Continent during the past 30,000 y. We find that ITCZ convection strength overall intensified from the last glacial period to the Holocene, following changes in climate boundary conditions. The mean position of the regional ITCZ has moved latitudinally no more than 3° in the past 30,000 y, consistent with the deduction from the atmospheric energy framework. However, different from modern observations and model simulations for future warming, the ITCZ appeared narrower during both the late Holocene and most part of the last glacial period, and its expansion occurred during Heinrich stadials and the early-to-mid Holocene. We also find that during the last glacial and deglacial period, prominent millennial-scale ITCZ changes were closely tied to the variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), whereas during the Holocene, they were predominantly modulated by the long-term variability of the Walker circulation.

Dynamic Ultrastrong Coupling in a 2 nm Gap Plasmonic Cavity at the Sub-Picosecond Scale.

Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) can enhance the electromagnetic fields on metallic nanostructures upon light illumination, providing an approach for manipulating light-matter interactions at the sub-wavelength scale. However, currently, there is no thorough investigation of the physical mechanism in the dynamic formation of the strongly coupled LSPRs on sub-5 nm plasmonic cavities at the sub-picosecond scale. In this work, through femtosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopy, we reveal the dynamic ultrastrong coupling processes in a nanoparticle-in-trench (NPiT) structure containing 2 nm gap cavities, and demonstrate a coherent motional coupling between vibrating AuNPs and the nanogaps. We achieve a maximum Rabi splitting energy of ∼660 meV in the sub-picosecond hot-electron relaxation time scale under the resonant excitation of the nanogap cavity's LSPR, reaching the ultrastrong coupling regime. This leads to a change of global vibration modes for the 2 nm gap cavity, potentially related to the dynamical Casimir effect with nanogap resonators.

Constructing Bionic Perovskite Smart Photovoltaic Windows with Switchable Colors and High Cycling Stability.

Smart photovoltaic windows (SPWs) provide a high-efficiency and energy-saving strategy owing to the dual capabilities of electricity generation and sunlight modulation achieved by tunable colors and transmittances. Due to the deterioration of chromic process on photovoltaic layers, SPWs usually suffer from poor cycling stability. Moreover, thermochromic SPWs with a multilayer structure usually change transmittance without reversible color transitions. To address these issues, inspired by chameleon skin, bionic SPWs are designed and constructed by integrating hydrogel, CsPbBr3 semitransparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs), and transparent polymer film. The SPWs realize reversible transitions between transparent green (25 °C) and opaque yellow (45 °C) states in a short duration (2 min) under natural conditions. By optimizing perovskite film and ultrathin-metal electrodes, CsPbBr3 ST-PSCs achieve a good trade-off between transmittance and efficiency, delivering the highest photovoltaic efficiency (8.35%) and a record light utilization efficiency (4.43). Ultimately, the multilayer SPWs maintain stable optical properties and more than 88% initial conversion efficiency after 100 transition cycles, presenting excellent cycling stability. This study proposes a novel approach and device structure for SPWs with high cycling stability, switchable colors, and switchable transmittances. It also paves the way for smart photovoltaic deployment in buildings and many other fields.

Periodically tunable multimode soliton pulsation in a spatiotemporal mode-locked fiber laser.

Multimode fiber lasers have become a new platform for investigating nonlinear phenomena since the report on spatiotemporal mode-locking. In this work, the multimode soliton pulsation with a tunable period is achieved in a spatiotemporal mode-locked fiber laser. It demonstrates that the pulsation period drops while increasing the pump power. Moreover, it is found that different transverse modes have the same pulsation period, asynchronous pulsation evolution and different dynamical characteristics through the spatial sampling technique and the dispersive Fourier transform technique. To further verify the experimental results, we numerically investigate the influences of the gain and the loss on the pulsation properties. It is found that within a certain parameter range, the pulsation period drops and rises linearly with the increase of the gain and the loss, respectively. The obtained results contribute to understanding the formation and regulating of soliton pulsations in fiber lasers.

Spatiotemporal dual-periodic soliton pulsation in a multimode fiber laser.

Spatiotemporal mode-locked (STML) fiber lasers have become a new platform for investigating nonlinear phenomena. In this work, spatiotemporal dual-periodic soliton pulsation (SDSP) is firstly observed in an STML fiber laser. It is found that in the SDSP, the long-period pulsations (LPPs) of different transverse modes are synchronous, while the short-period pulsations (SPPs) exhibit asynchronous modulations. The numerical simulation confirms the experimental results and further reveals that the proportion of transverse mode components can manipulate the periods of the LPP and SPP but does not affect the synchronous and asynchronous pulsations of different transverse modes. The obtained results bring the study of spatiotemporal dissipative soliton pulsation into the multi-period modulation stage, which helps to understand the complex spatiotemporal dynamics in STML fiber lasers and discover new dynamics in high-dimensional nonlinear systems.

Identification and functional characterization of laminin receptor in the mud crab, Scylla paramamosain, in response to MCDV-1 challenge.

Laminin receptor (LR), which mediating cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, plays a crucial role in cell signaling and regulatory functions. In the present study, a laminin receptor gene (SpLR) was cloned and characterized from the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain). The full length of SpLR contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 960 bp encoding 319 amino acids, a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 66 bp and a 3' UTR of 49 bp. The predicted protein comprised two Ribosomal-S2 domains and a 40S-SA-C domain. The mRNA of SpLR was highly expressed in the gill, followed by the hepatopancreas. The expression of SpLR was up-regulated after mud crab dicistrovirus-1(MCDV-1) infection. Knocking down SpLR in vivo by RNA interference significantly down-regulated the expression of the immune genes SpJAK, SpSTAT, SpToll1, SpALF1 and SpALF5. This study shown that the expression level of SpToll1 and SpCAM in SpLR-interfered group significantly increased after MCDV-1 infection. Moreover, silencing of SpLR in vivo decreased the MCDV-1 replication and increased the survival rate of mud crabs after MCDV-1 infection. These findings collectively suggest a pivotal role for SpLR in the mud crab's response to MCDV-1 infection. By influencing the expression of critical innate immune factors and impacting viral replication dynamics, SpLR emerges as a key player in the intricate host-pathogen interaction, providing valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying MCDV-1 pathogenesis in mud crabs.

Transcriptome analysis of Scylla paramamosain hepatopancreas response to mud crab dicistrovirus-1 infection.

Scylla paramamosain, an economically significant crab, is widely cultivated worldwide. In recent years, S. paramamosain has faced a serious threat from viral diseases due to the expansion of culture scale and increased culture density. Among these, mud crab dicistrovirus-1 (MCDV-1) stands out as highly pathogenic, presenting substantial challenges to the healthy development of mud crab aquaculture. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the mud crab immune response to MCDV-1 infection is imperative for devising effective disease prevention strategies. In this study, transcriptomic analyses were conducted on the hepatopancreas of mud crabs infected with MCDV-1. The findings revealed a total of 5139 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between healthy and MCDV-1 infected mud crabs, including 3327 upregulated and 1812 downregulated DEGs. Further analysis showed that mud crabs resist MCDV-1 infection by activating humoral immune-related pathways, including the MAPK signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway-fly, and Toll and Imd signaling pathway. In contrast, MCDV-1 infection triggers host metabolic disorders. Several immune-related vitamin metabolism pathways (ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, retinol metabolism, and nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism) were significantly inhibited, which may create favorable conditions for the virus's self-replication. Notably, endocytosis emerged as significantly upregulated both in GO terms and KEGG pathways, with several viral endocytosis-related pathways showing significant activation. PPI network analysis identified 9 hub genes associated with viral endocytosis within the endocytosis. Subsequent GeneMANIA analysis confirmed the association of these hub genes with viral endocytosis. Both transcriptome data and qPCR analysis revealed a significant upregulation of these hub genes post MCDV-1 infection, suggesting MCDV-1 may use viral endocytosis to enter cells and facilitate replication. This study represents the first comprehensive report on the transcriptomic profile of mud crab hepatopancreas response to MCDV-1 infection. Future investigations should focus on elucidating the mechanisms through which MCDV-1 enters cells via endocytosis, as this may holds critical implications for the development of vaccine targets.

Identifying symptom clusters and temporal interconnections in patients with lung tumors after CT-guided microwave ablation: A network analysis.

PURPOSE: To explore symptom clusters and interrelationships using a network analysis approach among symptoms in patients with lung tumors who underwent computed tomography (CT)-guided microwave ablation (MWA). METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted, and 196 lung tumor patients undergoing MWA were recruited and were measured at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h after MWA. The Chinese version of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and the Revised Lung Cancer Module were used to evaluate symptoms. Network analyses were performed to explore the symptom clusters and interrelationships among symptoms. RESULTS: Four stable symptom communities were identified within the networks. Distress, weight loss, and chest tightness were the central symptoms. Distress, and weight loss were also the most key bridge symptoms, followed by cough. Three symptom networks were temporally stable in terms of symptom centrality, global connectivity, and network structure. CONCLUSION: Our findings identified the central symptoms, bridge symptoms, and the stability of symptom networks of patients with lung tumors after MWA. These network results will have important implications for future targeted symptom management intervention development. Future research should focus on developing precise interventions for targeting central symptoms and bridge symptoms to promote patients' health.

Establishing of 3D-FISH on frozen section and its applying in chromosome territories analysis in Populus trichocarpa.

KEY MESSAGE: Fluorescence in situ hybridization with frozen sections of root tips showed difference of chromosome territories distribution between autosome and sex-chromosome homologous pairs in Populus trichocarpa. The spatial organization of chromatin within the interphase nucleus and the interactions between chromosome territories (CTs) are essential for various biologic processes. Three-dimensional fluorescence in situ hybridization (3D-FISH) is a powerful tool for analyzing CTs, but its application in plants is limited. In this study, we established a 3D-FISH technique using frozen sections of Populus trichocarpa root tips, which was an improvement over the use of paraffin sections and enabled us to acquire good FISH signals. Using chromosome-specific oligo probes, we were able to analyze CTs in interphase nuclei in three dimensions. The distribution of chromosome pairs 17 and 19 in the 3D-preserved nuclei of P. trichocarpa root tip cells were analyzed and showed that the autosome pair 17 associated more often than sex chromosome 19. This research lays a foundation for further study of the spatial position of chromosomes in the nucleus and the relationship between gene expression and spatial localization of chromosomes in poplar.

Development of a framework to forecast the urban residential building CO2 emission trend and reduction potential to 2060: A case study of Jiangxi province, China.

Investigating the CO2 abatement potential of urban residential building from systematic perspective is essential to reach the urban carbon neutrality target. However, previous studies on building CO2 emission trend forecasting were mainly focused on the building operational phase. In this study, a new framework that includes four building stages under a system dynamic model is developed to simulate urban residential building carbon emission changes and the related reduction potentials under three scenarios in Jiangxi Province up to 2060. Results showed that the overall process carbon emission dynamic had already peaked in 2014 under the three scenarios, with a peak value of 38.52 Mt. It then fell to 9.56 Mt in 2060 under the baseline (BAU) scenario. More importantly, seven carbon abatement measures were adopted during four building activities in this study, and the total carbon reduction was not the sum of the carbon reduction potential of the individual measures. Some carbon abatement strategies displayed synergistic effects such as low-carbon electrification where the combination of electrification and clean energy power generation was the largest contributor to reduced carbon emissions during building operation as a comprehensive carbon reduction measure. By contrast, extending a building's lifetime restrained the carbon abatement potential during the demolition stage, and it inhibited the carbon emission reduction by 24.84 Mt. These results highlight the significant need for effective policy interventions for clean production and the need to improve prefabricated building proportions, promote electrification, improve energy efficiency, strengthen recycling practices, and extend building lifetimes to promote decarbonization of urban residential building system development.

Dissipative soliton resonance in a figure-eight multimode fiber laser.

We report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a spatiotemporal mode-locked (STML) multimode fiber laser based on nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM), generating dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) pulses. Due to the complex filtering characteristics caused by the inherent multimode interference filtering structure and NALM in the cavity, the STML DSR pulse has wavelength tunable function. What's more, kinds of DSR pulses are also achieved, including multiple DSR pulses, and the period doubling bifurcations of single DSR pulse and multiple DSR pulses. These results contribute to further understand the nonlinear properties of STML lasers and may shed some light on improving the performance of the multimode fiber lasers.

The role of Nrf2 signaling pathway in the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) in response to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection.

The transcription factor Nrf2 plays vital roles in detoxification and antioxidant enzymes against oxidative stress. However, the function of Nrf2 in crustaceans is not well studied. In this study, a novel Nrf2 gene from the mud crab (Sp-Nrf2) was identified. It was encoded 245 amino acids. Sp-Nrf2 expression was ubiquitously expressed in all tested tissues, with the highest expression level in the gill. Sp-Nrf2 protein was mainly located in the nucleus. The expression levels of Sp-Nrf2, and antioxidant-related genes (HO-1 and NQO-1) were induced after Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection, indicating that Nrf2 signaling pathway was involved in the responses to bacterial infection. Over-expression of Sp-Nrf2 could improve cell viability after H2O2 exposure, indicating that Sp-Nrf2 might relieve oxidative stress. Silencing of Sp-Nrf2 in vivo decreased HO-1 and NQO-1 expression. Moreover, knocking down Sp-Nrf2 in vivo can increase malondialdehyde content and the mortality of mud crabs after V. parahaemolyticus infection. Our results indicated that Nrf2 signaling pathway played a significant role in immune response against bacterial infection.

Essential role of the Cytochrome P450 2 (CYP2) in the mud crab Scylla paramamosain antioxidant defense and immune responses.

Cytochrome P450 (CYPs) enzymes are one of the critical detoxification enzymes, playing a key role in antioxidant defense. However, the information of CYPs cDNA sequences and their functions are lacked in crustaceans. In this study, a novel full-length of CYP2 from the mud crab (designated as Sp-CYP2) was cloned and characterized. The coding sequence of Sp-CYP2 was 1479 bp in length and encoded a protein containing 492 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of Sp-CYP2 comprised a conserved heme binding site and chemical substrate binding site. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that Sp-CYP2 was ubiquitously expressed in various tissues, and it was highest in the heart followed by the hepatopancreas. Subcellular localization showed that Sp-CYP2 was prominently located in the cytoplasm and nucleus. The expression of Sp-CYP2 was induced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection and ammonia exposure. During ammonia exposure, ammonia exposure can induce oxidative stress and cause severely tissue damage. Knocking down Sp-CYP2 in vivo can increase malondialdehyde content and the mortality of mud crabs after ammonia exposure. All these results suggested that Sp-CYP2 played a crucial role in the defense against environmental stress and pathogen infection in crustaceans.

Essential role of the HSC70 in the mud crab Scylla paramamosain in response to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection.

Heat shock proteins play an important role in host defense, and modulate immune responses against pathogen infection. In this study, a novel HSC70 from the mud crab (designated as SpHSC70) was cloned and characterized. The full length of SpHSC70 contained a 58 bp 5'untranslated region (UTR), an open reading frame (ORF) of 2,046 bp and a 3'UTR of 341 bp. The SpHSC70 protein included the conserved DnaK motif. The mRNA of SpHSC70 was highly expressed in the hemocytes, heart and hepatopancreas, and lowly expressed in the intestine. The subcellular localization results indicated that SpHSC70 was localized in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Moreover, SpHSC70 was significantly responsive to bacterial challenge. RNA interference experiment was designed to investigate the roles of SpHSC70 in response to bacterial challenge. V. parahaemolyticus infection induced the expression levels of SpPO, SpHSP70, SpSOD and SpCAT. Knocking down SpHSC70 in vivo can decrease the expression of these genes after V. parahaemolyticus infection. These results suggested that SpHSC70 could play a vital role in defense against V. parahaemolyticus infection via activating the immune response and antioxidant defense signaling pathways in the mud crab.

Identification and functional characterization of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) from the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) in response to hydrogen peroxide and bacterial challenge.

Activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) is critical for regulation of unfolded protein response (UPR), which is involved in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis maintenance and cellular redox regulation. In the present study, a ATF6 gene from the mud crab (designated as Sp-ATF6) has been cloned and identified. The open reading frame of Sp-ATF6 was 1917 bp, encoding a protein of 638 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequences of Sp-ATF6 contained a typical basic leucine zipper (BZIP domain). Sp-ATF6 was widely expressed in all tested tissues, with the highest expression levels in the hemocytes and the lowest in the muscle. Subcellular localization showed that Sp-ATF6 was expressed in both nucleus and cytoplasm of S2 cells. The expression level of Sp-ATF6 was induced by hydrogen peroxide and V. parahaemolyticus challenge, indicating that the ATF6 pathway was activated in response to ER stress. In order to know more about the regulation mechanism of the Sp-ATF6, RNA interference experiment was investigated. Knocking down Sp-ATF6 in vivo can decrease the expression of antioxidant-related genes (CAT and SOD) and heat shock proteins (HSP90 and HSP70) after V. parahaemolyticus infection. All these results suggested that Sp-ATF6 played a crucial role in the defense against environmental stress and pathogen infection in crustaceans.

Oligo-FISH of Populus simonii Pachytene Chromosomes Improves Karyotyping and Genome Assembly.

Poplar was one of the first woody species whose individual chromosomes could be identified using chromosome specific painting probes. Nevertheless, high-resolution karyotype construction remains a challenge. Here, we developed a karyotype based on the meiotic pachytene chromosome of Populus simonii which is a Chinese native species with many excellent traits. This karyotype was anchored by oligonucleotide (oligo)-based chromosome specific painting probes, a centromere-specific repeat (Ps34), ribosomal DNA, and telomeric DNA. We updated the known karyotype formula for P. simonii to 2n = 2x = 38 = 26m + 8st + 4t and the karyotype was 2C. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) results revealed some errors in the current P. simonii genome assembly. The 45S rDNA loci were located at the end of the short arm of chromosomes 8 and 14 by FISH. However, they were assembled on pseudochromosomes 8 and 15. In addition, the Ps34 loci were distributed in every centromere of the P. simonii chromosome in the FISH results, but they were only found to be present in pseudochromosomes 1, 3, 6, 10, 16, 17, 18, and 19. Our results reveal that pachytene chromosomes oligo-FISH is a powerful tool for constructing high-resolution karyotypes and improving the quality of genome assembly.

The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will exacerbate the economic-carbon inequality in the plastic trade.

The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is regarded as the world's first carbon tariff regulation. Its consequential impacts on the trades of individual countries/regions at different development stages are crucial for climate justice while remaining unclear. By combining Multi-regional Input-output analysis and scenario analysis, this study analyzed the economic-carbon inequality in national/regional plastic exports and simulated CBAM's short-term impacts on plastic trade inequality under different scenarios. Our analysis shows that the maximum values of total carbon tariffs for all countries/regions levied on plastic exports to the EU will be 497.8, 859.1, and 1564.2 million euros under scenarios covering Scope 1, Scope 1&2, and Scope 1&2&3 emissions, respectively. The corresponding proportions of CBAM costs to national/regional plastic export volumes to the EU will be 0.6%, 1.0%, and 1.8% on average, respectively. China and the rest of Asia and the Pacific will burden the most CBAM costs in all cases, and Russia will be the country most affected. CBAM will exacerbate the economic-carbon inequality in the plastic trade by reducing the trade profits of developing economies with higher ratios than those of developed economies. Our analysis calls for practical initiatives to induce technological advances toward lower carbon technologies, increase trade diversification, exploit the domestic market's potential, and implement domestic carbon pricing mechanisms to alleviate the negative impact of CBAM.

Effects of microwave and conventional heating on physicochemical, digestive, and structural properties of debranched quinoa starch-oleic acid complexes with different water addition.

BACKGROUND: A starch-lipid complex is a new type of resistant starch, which is of great importance for the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Most starch-lipid complexes usually need to be treated by heating to make them suitable for a variety of applications, and starch-based foods are generally not edible without a heat-treatment process. However, the digestion and structural properties of the starch-lipid complex will be changed after heating. In this study, microwave and conventional heating were used to treat debranched quinoa starch-oleic acid complexes (DQS-OA) with different water addition conditions, and the effects of the two methods on the physicochemical, digestive, and structural properties of DQS-OA were compared. RESULTS: The results of in vitro digestibility showed that the resistant starch content (235.34-269.55 g kg-1 ) of the conventional heating-treated samples was significantly higher than that the microwave-treated samples (141.51-157.99 g kg-1 ). Moreover, after microwave treatment, the short-range molecular order and crystalline structure of DQS-OA were destroyed and the particle size became smaller. In contrast, the thermal stability, enthalpy, and crystallinity of the complexes after conventional heating were improved. The ratio at 1047/1022 cm-1 of complexes has also been increased. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that conventional water-bath heating was better than microwave heating in increasing digestion resistance, improving the short-range and long-range molecular order, and promoting the formation of DQS-OA. With an increase in water addition, the influence of microwave or water-bath treatment on the properties of DQS-OA became greater. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Narrow bandwidth spatiotemporal mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser.

We report a narrow bandwidth spatiotemporal mode-locked (STML) ytterbium-doped fiber laser, based on a homemade carbon nanotube/polyvinyl alcohol composite film and the multimode interference filtering effect. The wavelength-tunable narrow bandwidth STML operations combined with different pulse states are achieved, including single pulse, multiple pulses, and harmonics. The 3-dB bandwidth at the single-pulse state is 103 pm, while at the harmonic state, it is as narrow as 26 pm. To give an insight into the generation of the narrow bandwidth STML pulses, numerical simulations are performed. Such a laser has a wide range of potential applications in fields of optical communication and optical measurement, as well as provides a favorable platform for studying the evolution dynamics of multimode solitons.

Biochemical, metabolic, and immune responses of mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) after mud crab reovirus infection.

Mud crab reovirus (MCRV) is a serious pathogen that leads to large economic losses in the mud crab farming. However, the molecular mechanism of the immune response after MCRV infection is unclear. In the present study, physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic responses after MCRV infection were investigated. The results showed that MCRV infection could increase lactate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase activities. MCRV infection decreased antioxidant enzyme activity levels, induced oxidative stress, and caused severe histological damage. Transcriptome analysis identified 416 differentially expressed genes, including 354 up-regulated and 62 down-regulated genes. The detoxification, immune response, and metabolic processes-related genes were found. The results showed that two key pathways including phagocytosis and apoptosis played important roles in response to MCRV infection. The combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses showed that related metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis, citrate cycle, lipid, and amino acid metabolism were also significantly disrupted. Moreover, the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids was activated in response to MCRV infection. This study provided a novel insight into the understanding of cellular mechanisms in crustaceans against viral invasion.