DataSheet1_Seismicity-based 3D model of ruptured seismogenic faults in the North-South Seismic Belt, China.zip

The North–South Seismic Belt produces the most frequent strong earthquakes in the Chinese continental region, such as the MS 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 and Ms 7.0 Lushan earthquake on 20 April 2013. This seismicity results in significant hazards. Fault geometry modeling is crucial for analyzing earthquake preparation and trigger mechanisms, simulating and predicting strong earthquakes, inverting fault slip rates, etc. In this study, a novel method for obtaining geometric models of ruptured seismogenic faults over a large area is designed based on datasets from surface fault traces, fault orientations, focal mechanism solutions, and earthquake relocations. This method involves three steps. 1) An initial model of the fault geometry is constructed from the focal mechanism solution data. This initial model is used to select the earthquake relocation data related to the target fault. 2) Next, a fine model of the fault geometry with a higher resolution than that of the initial model is fitted based on the selected earthquake relocation data. 3) The minimum curvature interpolation method (Briggs, 2012) is adopted to build a 3D model of the subsurface fault geometry according to the three-dimensional coordinates of nodes on all profiles of each fault/segment. Based on this method and data collected in the North–South Seismic Belt, the fine morphologies of different faults along 1,573 transverse profiles were fitted, and a 3D model of 263 ruptured seismogenic faults or fault segments in the North–South Seismic Belt was built using the minimum curvature spatial interpolation method. Since the earthquake number decreases with increasing depth, the model uncertainty increases with increasing depth. Different ruptured faults have different degrees of seismicity, so different fault models may have different uncertainties. The overall fitting error of the model is 0.98 km with respect to the interpreted results, from six geophysical exploration profiles.</p

Table_1_Coevolutionary analysis of the Philopteroides Mey, 2004 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) parasitizing bulbuls (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae).docx

IntroductionAvian head lice comprise a diverse group of distantly related genera of lice that exhibit a strongly convergent morphology. Due to their lack of free-living stages, their strong morphological adaptations to living on the host’s head, and the limited opportunities for transfer between hosts during mating or nesting, the lateral transmission of head lice between non-conspecific hosts may be presumed to be restricted. Despite this, many species of head lice are ostensibly host generalists. We here examine lice of the head louse genus Philopteroides Mey, 2004, from bulbuls (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae).MethodsWe use two different methods, ParaFit and Jane, to get insights on the co-evolutionary history of Philopteroides species and their bulbul hosts. Jane was run with a variation of event costs.ResultsOur phylogenetic analysis indicate that several morphologically cryptic species can be found in this group, most of which appear to be host specific. However, co-phylogenetic analyses indicate that host-switching has been common in the history of these lice, and co-speciation events have been rarer than expected. Moreover, lowest-cost co-evolutionary reconstructions under a variety of event costs are indistinguishable from random. An expanded dataset with more Philopterus-complex lice was found to be evenly balanced between host-switching and co-speciation events.DiscussionThe transfer of avian head lice between host species is poorly understood, but evidently fairly common. Several potential routes are discussed, but direct evidence is missing. Potentially, the presence of multiple bulbul species at fruiting trees may be an important factor in this transfer. However, such transfer routes also do not explain why Philopteroides lice on bulbuls appear to be distinct from those of other hosts. Moreover, as many of the species recovered in our analysis are morphologically indistinguishable, cryptic speciation appears to be common in this group.</p

Sensitivity-Tunable Terahertz Liquid/Gas Biosensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance with Dirac Semimetal

In this paper, we study the sensitivity-tunable Terahertz (THz) liquid/gas biosensor in a coupling prism-three-dimensional Dirac semimetal (3D DSM) multilayer structure. The high sensitivity of the biosensor originates from the sharp reflected peak caused by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) mode. This structure achieves the tunability of sensitivity due to that the reflectance could be modulated by the Fermi energy of 3D DSM. Besides, it is found that the sensitivity curve depends heavily on the structural parameters of 3D DSM. After parameter optimization, we obtained sensitivity over 100{\deg}/RIU for liquid biosensor. We believe this simple structure provides a reference idea for realizing high sensitivity and tunable biosensor device

XA pH-Responsive and Colitis-Targeted Nanoparticle Loaded with Shikonin for the Oral Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Mice

Epidemiology shows that more than 6.8 million people in the world are influenced by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) each year. IBD is a refractory inflammatory disease, and the disease mainly affects the colon. Shikonin (SK) was originally extracted from traditional Chinese medicine “Zicao” (with an English name Lithospermum erythrorhizon) and found to inhibit inflammation, regulate immunity, and be involved in healing wounds. Herein, we used chitosan (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA), and pH-responsive polymer Eudragits S100 (ES100) to design SK-loaded ES100/HA/CS nanoparticles (SK@SAC) as an oral delivery system to treat the colitis mice. Particle size of SK@SAC was 190.3 nm and drug loading efficiency was 6.6%. SAC nanoparticles accumulated in RAW264.7 macrophages and exhibited colitis-targeted ability by increasing the local drug concentration as well as reducing nonspecific distribution after oral gavage. In TNBS-induced IBD mice, SK@SAC treatment had significant therapeutic effects, regulated of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β), and also inhibited COX-2 and iNOS activity. SK@SAC also increased tight junction protein ZO-1 and occludin to some extent. These promising results showed that this novel oral SK-loaded nanoparticle drug delivery system for targeted treatment provides a new strategy for the management of IBD