Forager-farmer transition at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia 4900 years ago.

The southward expansion of East Asian farmers profoundly influenced the social evolution of Southeast Asia by introducing cereal agriculture. However, the timing and routes of cereal expansion in key regions are unclear due to limited empirical evidence. Here we report macrofossil, microfossil, multiple isotopic (C/N/Sr/O) and paleoproteomic data directly from radiocarbon-dated human samples, which were unearthed from a site in Xingyi in central Yunnan and which date between 7000 and 3300 a BP. Dietary isotopes reveal the earliest arrival of millet ca. 4900 a BP, and greater reliance on plant and animal agriculture was indicated between 3800 and 3300 a BP. The dietary differences between hunter-gatherer and agricultural groups are also evident in the metabolic and immune system proteins analysed from their skeletal remains. The results of paleoproteomic analysis indicate that humans had divergent biological adaptations, with and without farming. The combined application of isotopes, archaeobotanical data and proteomics provides a new approach to documenting dietary and health changes across major subsistence transitions.

Synthesis of a core-shell magnetic covalent organic framework for the enrichment and detection of aflatoxin in food using HPLC-MS/MS.

A porous magnetic covalent organic framework, Fe3O4@TPBD-TPA (terephthalaldehyde (TPA) , N, N, N', N'-tetrakis(p-aminophenyl)-p-phenylenediamine (TPBD)), was synthesized using the Schiff base reaction under mild reaction conditions. This adsorbent exhibited excellent adsorption performance for aflatoxins. The adsorption capacity of Fe3O4@TPBD-TPA for aflatoxins ranged from 64.4 to 84.4 mg/g. A magnetic solid-phase extraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method based on Fe3O4@TPBD-TPA was developed for the efficient determination of four types of aflatoxins in food samples (maize, maize oil, peanut, and peanut oil). The determination coefficients (R2) were ≥0.9972. The method exhibited detection limits ranging from 0.01 to 0.06 µg/kg and spiked recoveries of 80.0 to 113.1%. The intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 6.77%, indicating good repeatability. The adsorbent showed promising prospects for the efficient enrichment of trace amounts of aflatoxins in complex food matrices.

A multidisciplinary study on the social customs of the Tang Empire in the Medieval Ages.

Multidisciplinary research on human remains can provide important information about population dynamics, culture diffusion, as well as social organization and customs in history. In this study, multidisciplinary analyses were undertaken on a joint burial (M56) in the Shuangzhao cemetery of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), one of the most prosperous dynasties in Chinese history, to shed light on the genetic profile and sociocultural aspects of this dynasty. The archaeological investigation suggested that this burial belonged to the Mid-Tang period and was used by common civilians. The osteological analysis identified the sex, age, and health status of the three individuals excavated from M56, who shared a similar diet inferred from the stable isotopic data. Genomic evidence revealed that these co-buried individuals had no genetic kinship but all belonged to the gene pool of the ancient populations in the Central Plains, represented by Yangshao and Longshan individuals, etc. Multiple lines of evidence, including archaeology, historic records, as well as chemical and genetic analyses, have indicated a very probable familial joint burial of husband and wives. Our study provides insights into the burial customs and social organization of the Tang Dynasty and reconstructs a scenario of civilian life in historic China.

Immune regulatory effects of microRNA9-3.

MicroRNAs are known to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, the immunological mechanism and role of microRNA9-3 (miR9-3) are unknown. This study used CRISPR/cas9 technology to knock out miR9-3 to modulate its expression level. FACS results showed that the absolute number of total B cells declined in miR9-3-deficiency in the spleen (Sp), bone marrow (BM), and lymph node (LN) to different levels compared to the wild-type. Also, the absolute numbers of Fo, T1, and T2 cells decreased both in Sp and LN. The absolute numbers of total T cells in Sp and LN declined sharply; CD4+ and CD8+ T cells showed a dramatic decrease in Sp, LN, and Th (thymus) of the miR9-3- group. In BM, the cells number of immature B cells, pro-pre-B cells, pro-B cells, and pre-B cells reduced to different levels, while mature B cells were comparable to wild-type. These data illustrated that miR9-3-deficiency impaired the development of B cells in BM. Also, the development of T cells was severely impaired. In Th, the numbers of DN and DP cells were remarkably reduced in the miR9-3 mutant mice. Also, the numbers of DN-1, DN-3, and DN-4 cells decreased. The absolute number of cells in the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) system such as LT-HSC (long-term HSC), ST-HSC (short-term HSC), MPP (multipotent progenitor), GMP (granulocyte-macrophage progenitor), CMP (common myeloid progenitors), MEP (megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor), and CLP (common lymphoid progenitor) all were decreased in miR9-3 deficient mice. These results showed that miR9-3 deficiency initiated the damage to the entire hematopoietic system. Moreover, the absolute number of myeloid cells in both Sp and BM decreased in mutant mice. The cells number of NK cells showed a sharp reduction in Sp whereas the change was not significant in BM. The above results suggest that miR9-3 participates in the immune regulation of B cells, T cells, and the HSC system, highlighting its regulatory roles.

Influence of coke heterogeneity and the interaction between different coke species on the emission of toxic HCN and NOx from FCC spent catalyst regeneration.

Concerning the emissions of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and other N-bearing air pollutants from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) regeneration units, this paper has conducted a comprehensive testing and surface characterisation of four industrial spent catalysts, aged catalysts and hard coke sample in three different schemes, Ar-TPD, O2 -TPO and rapid heating to elaborate the transformation of N upon the influence of the heterogeneity of coke and N speciation. In the Ar-TPD scheme, the surface N is responsive for the emission of gaseous NH3 from pyrrolic N-5 and HCN from both pyridinic N-6 and quaternary N-Q. The removal of soft coke is beneficial in promoting the surface exposure of hard coke, thereby increasing the HCN emission dramatically. In the O2-TPO scheme, the oxygen accessibility is the principal factor governing the emission of HCN. The external soft coke is able to access the bulk O2 firstly, the combustion of which in turn provides heat back to promote the cracking of internal hard coke from the same and neighbouring particles to release more HCN. The induction effect of bulk O2 is also superior over the spent catalyst properties in formulating a nearly identical trend of HCN emission for all the four spent catalysts tested. Finally, for the use of rapid heating scheme that is typical in a commercial FCC regenerator, it is effective in accelerating the volatilisation of soft coke quickly, thereby promoting the oxygen accessibility to hard coke and the internal N-bearing precursors so as to mitigate the emission of HCN effectively. The use of a large superficial velocity of gas is further effective in sweeping the volatiles including HCN away from the catalyst, promoting their oxidation extent accordingly.

Genetic Continuity of Bronze Age Ancestry with Increased Steppe-Related Ancestry in Late Iron Age Uzbekistan.

Although Uzbekistan and Central Asia are known for the well-studied Bronze Age civilization of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), the lesser-known Iron Age was also a dynamic period that resulted in increased interaction and admixture among different cultures from this region. To broaden our understanding of events that impacted the demography and population structure of this region, we generated 27 genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism capture data sets of Late Iron Age individuals around the Historical Kushan time period (∼2100-1500 BP) from three sites in South Uzbekistan. Overall, Bronze Age ancestry persists into the Iron Age in Uzbekistan, with no major replacements of populations with Steppe-related ancestry. However, these individuals suggest diverse ancestries related to Iranian farmers, Anatolian farmers, and Steppe herders, with a small amount of West European Hunter Gatherer, East Asian, and South Asian Hunter Gatherer ancestry as well. Genetic affinity toward the Late Bronze Age Steppe herders and a higher Steppe-related ancestry than that found in BMAC populations suggest an increased mobility and interaction of individuals from the Northern Steppe in a Southward direction. In addition, a decrease of Iranian and an increase of Anatolian farmer-like ancestry in Uzbekistan Iron Age individuals were observed compared with the BMAC populations from Uzbekistan. Thus, despite continuity from the Bronze Age, increased admixture played a major role in the shift from the Bronze to the Iron Age in southern Uzbekistan. This mixed ancestry is also observed in other parts of the Steppe and Central Asia, suggesting more widespread admixture among local populations.

SFace: Sigmoid-Constrained Hypersphere Loss for Robust Face Recognition.

Deep face recognition has achieved great success due to large-scale training databases and rapidly developing loss functions. The existing algorithms devote to realizing an ideal idea: minimizing the intra-class distance and maximizing the inter-class distance. However, they may neglect that there are also low quality training images which should not be optimized in this strict way. Considering the imperfection of training databases, we propose that intra-class and inter-class objectives can be optimized in a moderate way to mitigate overfitting problem, and further propose a novel loss function, named sigmoid-constrained hypersphere loss (SFace). Specifically, SFace imposes intra-class and inter-class constraints on a hypersphere manifold, which are controlled by two sigmoid gradient re-scale functions respectively. The sigmoid curves precisely re-scale the intra-class and inter-class gradients so that training samples can be optimized to some degree. Therefore, SFace can make a better balance between decreasing the intra-class distances for clean examples and preventing overfitting to the label noise, and contributes more robust deep face recognition models. Extensive experiments of models trained on CASIA-WebFace, VGGFace2, and MS-Celeb-1M databases, and evaluated on several face recognition benchmarks, such as LFW, MegaFace and IJB-C databases, have demonstrated the superiority of SFace.

A protein fragment of Rv3194c located on mycobacterial cell surface efficiently prevents adhesion of recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis, and promises a new anti-adhesive drug.

Adhesins are virulence factors expressed on the surfaces of pathogenic bacteria that mediate pathogen-host interactions, a critical step in the infection process. Here, we show that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis protease Rv3194c functions not only as an enzyme but as an adhesin. The heterologous Rv3194c protein was purified from Escherichia coli and was shown to bind to hyaluronic acid (HA). The HA-binding site was identified as a 20 amino acid peptide between residues 91 and 110 (P91-110). Rv3194c bound to A549 alveolar basal epithelial cells and the interaction was abolished by the addition of hyaluronidase or P91-110. Experimental infection in vitro revealed that Rv3194c participates in the attachment of recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis (Rv3194c/MS) to A549 cells, and P91-110 treatment of A549 cells largely inhibited the Rv3194c/MS-A549 cell interaction. To provide in vivo evidence, we constructed a reporter strain of M. smegmatis that expressed a derivative of the firefly luciferase that is shifted to red (FFlucRT) in combination with Rv3194c (Rv3194c + FFlucRT/MS) to infect mice and monitor the progression of the disease. In mice, Rv3194c dramatically enhanced M. smegmatis persistence and induced lesions in the lungs. In addition, treatment of intratracheal Rv3194c + FFlucRT/MS- infected mice with P91-110 significantly suppressed the growth of Rv3194c + FFlucRT/MS in vivo and reduced pathological injury caused by infection of the lung with Rv3194c + FFlucRT/MS. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Rv3194c functions as an HA-binding adhesin and that P91-110 may have the potential for treating and preventing mycobacterial infection.

A male adult skeleton from the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, China (202 BC-220 AD) with bone changes that possibly represent spinal tuberculosis.

Bioarchaeological data for tuberculosis (TB) have been published very sporadically in China or the rest of East Asia. To explore the history of TB in this area, 85 skeletons excavated from the Liuwei Cemetery in Shaanxi, China (202 BC-220 AD) were macroscopically examined to record TB related bone changes. These skeletons represented inhabitants of Maolingyi, an urban area that had a high population density during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 CE). Seventeen of the 85 skeletons had spines that were well enough preserved to observe evidence of spinal disease. Among them, a male skeleton aged around 30 years (M34-E) manifested multiple lytic lesions in the eleventh thoracic to second lumbar vertebral bodies (T11 to L2). TB was considered a possible diagnosis for the spinal lesions observed, with differential diagnoses of brucellosis and typhoid. The dense population and overcrowding in urban Maolingyi were considered the potential social risk factors for TB found at this site. The findings of this study contribute to limited knowledge about the history of TB in East Asia and suggest a relationship between population density and the spread of TB in Maolingyi at that time. However, the lack of published bioarchaeological data of TB in East Asia hinders understanding the transmission of TB within Asia and its link to the rest of the world. Further intensive review of archaeological skeletons in Asia is urgently needed. 。, 。85, 17, 。, 30、、。, 。, 。、, , 。, 。, 。.

A geographical location prediction method based on continuous time series Markov model.

Trajectory data uploaded by mobile devices is growing quickly. It represents the movement of an individual or a device based on the longitude and latitude coordinates collected by GPS. The location based service has a broad application prospect in the real world. As the traditional location prediction models which are based on the discrete state sequence cannot predict the locations in real time, we propose a Continuous Time Series Markov Model (CTS-MM) to solve this problem. The method takes the Gaussian Mixed Model (GMM) to simulate the posterior probability of a location in the continuous time series. The probability calculation method and state transition model of the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) are improved to get the precise location prediction. The experimental results on GeoLife data show that CTS-MM performs better for location prediction in exact minute than traditional location prediction models.

[Isolation and identification of rhizobacteria RS-3 from Panax ginseng and evaluation of its antagonistic activity].

A rhizobacteria strain named RS-3 exhibited inhibitory activity against all five Panax ginseng pathogens was isolated from the root of P. ginseng. This strain was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens based on its morphological character and 16S rDNA sequence. Antagonistic activity experiments indicated that the strain could strongly suppress Botrytis cinerea Pers with an inhibitory rate of 54.4%, suggesting the potentialities of biocontrol agent against diseases that frequently happen on ginseng.

[Expression, purification and characterization of Rv3194c protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis].

Objective: PDZ[Post-synaptic density-95 (PSD-95), Drosophilia tumor suppressor protein diskslarge-1 (DLG), the tight junction protein zonula occludentes 1 (ZO-1)] signal protein was encoded by Rv3194c gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and its ability to adhere M. tuberculosis was studied. Methods: Rv3194c protein was expressed in prokaryotic system. Rv3194c protein was separately incubated with hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and collagen Ι overnight at different temperature (37, 38, 39, 40℃). Then component changes of culture supernatant were tested by Western blot and ELISA. Results: Western blot showed that Rv3194c protein expressed in prokaryotic system, with a molecular weight of about 35 kDa, was mainly in soluble form. Western blot showed that His-Rv3194c protein in supernatant of 39℃ experimental group was significantly less than that of other experimental groups (37, 38, 40℃)(***P<0.001). ELISA showed that hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and collagen Ι in supernatant of 39℃ experimental group was significantly less than that of other experimental groups (37, 38, 40℃)(***P<0.001). Conclusion: For the first time it was affirmed that Rv3194c protein with detected activity of adhesions in this study will be targeted to the development of the new anti-M. tuberculosis drug.

[Advance in studying early bolting of Umbelliferae medicinal plant].

The early bolting has become one of the key issues affecting the Umbelliferae herbs production. The early bolting does not only reduce herbs production but also affect the active ingredients of plants. The concept of early bolting, physiological theory, induce factors of the quality of medicine and, control technology about the early bolting of Umbelliferae are integrative reviewed in the paper. Its occurrence mechanism include: genetic factors, environmental and ecological factors, endogenous hormones, sowing, fertilizer and other production management measures. For the above occurring mechanism, the proposed prevention measures are as follows: preferably germplasm, sowing, rational fertilization, exogenous hormones, shading, reed head cut off, cut fall the leaves, reasonable planting density and other agronomic measures can reduce its bolting rate. And the early bolting problem focused for future research are mentioned, including: development of authentic ingredients cultivation technical specifications, screened early bolting hormone inhibitor, in-depth study of the mechanism of early bolting, reveal its early bolting gene and key ecological factors. The research of vernalization gene, gene regulation of flowering early bolting will solve the problem of quality and production reducing fundamentally caused by the early bolting.

[Effects of Lime on Seedling Growth,Yield and Volatile Constituents of Atractylodes lancea].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of different amounts of lime on yield and quality of Atractylodes lancea, and to provide reference for the herb growing site soil improvement and self-poisoning ease. METHODS: Add different gradients of lime, and then measure their growth targets, yield and four kinds of volatile constituents content(hinesol, atractylone, ß-eudesmol and atractylodin). Volatile constituents yield per plant was calculated. RESULTS: Adding 160 g/m2 lime had a significant role in promoting the growth and yield of herb; Adding 80 g/m2 lime was conducive to the volatile constituents production, and adding lime decreased the atractylone and atractylodin content, while increased the hinesol and ß-eudesmol content; Adding 160 g/m2 lime promoted the volatile constituents yield per plant. CONCLUSION: Adding lime plays a role of neutralize soil pH, antibacteria and prevention incognita, and has a certain degree of ease autotoxicity and obstacle,and then promotes the yield and volatile constituents production of Atractylodes lancea.

[Mitigative effect of micribial degradation on autotoxicity of Panax ginseng].

Continuously cropping obstacle restricts ginseng production and rational use of land resource severely, and autotoxicity is one of the most important factors. In our previous work, ginseng autotoxin degrading bacteria were isolated, in the present re- search, plate culturing method and traditional physiological and biochemical method were used to analyze biological indices and protective enzyme activities, in order to elucidate the mitigative effect of autotoxin degrading bacteria on autotoxicity of P. ginseng. Results indicated that, except for palmitic acid, autotoxicity of benzonic acid, diisobutyl phthalate, diisobutyl succinate, and 2,2-bis (4- hydroxyphenyl) propane on the growth of ginseng seeds was significantly alleviated after autotoxins degrading bacteria was inoculated, and which have no evident difference with control. Except for benzoic acid, enzyme activity of SOD, POD and CAT in other autotoxin degrading treatments decreased significantly. The present research showed that, microbial degradation could alleviate the autotoxicity of autotoxins on ginseng seeds effectively, and which will be helpful for the resolution of ginseng continuously cropping obstacle problem.

[Isolation and characteristics of Panax ginseng autotoxin-degrading bacterial strains].

In this study, traditional plate culturing method was used to isolate autotoxin-degrading microbial strains, and which were then identified by 16S rDNA homological analysis and morphological characteristics. Furthermore, the growth and autotoxin-degrading efficiency of them were analyzed by liquid culturing method and GC-MS to illustrate their autotoxin-degradation characteristics. As a result, five bacterial strains having autotoxin-degrading activity were isolated from 6-years ginseng nonrhizospheric soil successfully, and which can growth successfully by taking autotoxins added artificially as carbon source in liquid culturing condition. Results indicated that it was feasible to isolate autotoxin-degrading bacteria from ginseng nonrhizospheric soil, and the isolated bacterial strains can be used to degrade autotoxins in soils once planted Panax ginseng.

[Isolation of endophytic bacteria in roots of Panax ginseng and screening of antagonistic strains against phytopathogens prevalent in P. ginseng].

In this study, endophytic bacteria were isolated from roots of P. ginseng by plate culture method, and as a result, 40 endophytic bacterial strains were isolated, Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were predominant. By confront culture method, two antagonistic endophytic bacterial strain, ge15 (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) and ge25 (Bacillus sp. ) against Cylindrocarpon destructans, Sclerotinia schinseng and Alternaria pana were identified. The inhibition zone of ge15 to them were 5.5, 22.0, 14.8 mm, respectively; and which were 12.7,16.5,9.0 mm for ge25. The Results indicate that endophytic bacteria have biocontrol potential on ginseng pathogens, and which can be used as a bio-control factor on ginseng soilborne diseases control.

[Quality testing and quality classification standard establishment of Trollius chinensis seeds].

OBJECTIVE: To study quality test, and establish quality classification standard of Trollius chinensis. METHOD: Seed purity, weight per 1 000 seeds, seed moisture content, seed viability and their exterior parameters of the seed samples from different producing areas were measured, K cluster analysis was applied for the data analysis. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Quality of T. chinensis seeds from different producing areas was analyzed, and the primary T. chinensis seed quality classification standard was established.