Novel Reassortant Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N5) Viruses in Domestic Ducks, China

In China, domestic ducks and wild birds often share the same water, in which influenza viruses replicate preferentially. Isolation of 2 novel reassortant highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N5) viruses from apparently healthy domestic ducks highlights the role of these ducks as reassortment vessels. Such new subtypes of influenza viruses may pose a pandemic threat

Genome-wide comparative analysis of digital gene expression tag profiles during maize ear development

Background: Development of the maize (Zea mays L.) female inflorescence (ear) has an important impact on corn yield. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying maize ear development are poorly understood. Results: We profiled and analyzed gene expression of the maize ear at four developmental stages: elongation phase (I), spikelet differentiation phase (II), floret primordium differentiation phase (III), and floret organ differentiation phase (IV). Based on genome-wide profile analysis, we detected differential mRNA of maize genes. Among the ~6,800 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 3,325 genes were differentially expressed in stage II, 3,765 genes in III, and 1,698 genes in IV, compared to its previous adjacent stages, respectively. Furthermore, some of DEGs were predicted to be potential candidates in maize ear development, such as AGAMOUS (GRMZM2G052890) and ATFP3 (GRMZM2G155281). Meanwhile, some genes were well-known annotated to the mutants during maize inflorescence development such as compact plant2 (ct2), zea AGAMOUS homolog1 (zag1), bearded ear (bde), and silky1 (si1). Some DEGs were predicted targets of microRNAs such as microRNA156. K-means clustering revealed that the DEGs showed 18 major expression patterns. Thirteen transcriptional factors from 10 families were differentially expressed across three comparisons of adjacent stages (II vs. I, III vs. II, IV vs. III). Antisense transcripts were widespread during all four stages, and might play important roles in maize ear development. Finally, we randomly selected 32 DEGs to validate their expression patterns using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The results were consistent with those from Solexa sequencing. Conclusions: DEGs technique had shown an advantage in detecting candidates, and some transcription factors during maize ear development. RT-PCR data were consistent with our sequencing data and supplied additional information on ear developmental processes. These results provide a molecular foundation for future research on maize ear development

Neutrino Physics with JUNO

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton multi-purposeunderground liquid scintillator detector, was proposed with the determinationof the neutrino mass hierarchy as a primary physics goal. It is also capable ofobserving neutrinos from terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sources, includingsupernova burst neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, geoneutrinos,atmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, as well as exotic searches such asnucleon decays, dark matter, sterile neutrinos, etc. We present the physicsmotivations and the anticipated performance of the JUNO detector for variousproposed measurements. By detecting reactor antineutrinos from two power plantsat 53-km distance, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a 3-4sigma significance with six years of running. The measurement of antineutrinospectrum will also lead to the precise determination of three out of the sixoscillation parameters to an accuracy of better than 1\%. Neutrino burst from atypical core-collapse supernova at 10 kpc would lead to ~5000inverse-beta-decay events and ~2000 all-flavor neutrino-proton elasticscattering events in JUNO. Detection of DSNB would provide valuable informationon the cosmic star-formation rate and the average core-collapsed neutrinoenergy spectrum. Geo-neutrinos can be detected in JUNO with a rate of ~400events per year, significantly improving the statistics of existing geoneutrinosamples. The JUNO detector is sensitive to several exotic searches, e.g. protondecay via the $p\to K^++\bar\nu$ decay channel. The JUNO detector will providea unique facility to address many outstanding crucial questions in particle andastrophysics. It holds the great potential for further advancing our quest tounderstanding the fundamental properties of neutrinos, one of the buildingblocks of our Universe

Dry Sliding-Friction and Wear Behavior of Hot-Extruded Al6061/Si3N4/Cf Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite.

The effects of reinforcement addition and hot extrusion on the microstructures, micro hardness, friction, and wear behavior of aluminium (Al) hybrid composite were investigated. Al6061 dispersed with electroless nickel-coated Si3N4 (6wt.%) and copper-coated carbon fiber (Cf) (1wt.%) hybrid composites was developed through stir casting followed by hot extrusion. Optical micro structural studies confirmed that the size of reinforcements decreased, and their orientations were in the extrusion direction. The decrease in the grain size (29%) of hybrid composites was larger than that in the grain size of matrix alloys under hot-extruded conditions. The synthesized hot-extruded Al6061 hybrid composite exhibited a lower coefficient of friction (51%) and high wear resistance (39%) compared with the hotextruded Al6061base alloy

An Exploration into the Influence of Higher Vocational Students' Psychological Capital on Their Employability

Cultivating higher vocational students' employability is one of the most important goals for higher vocational education. Many researchers address teachers' key roles in cultivation of employability. However, the cultivation of employability relates to students' family environment and psychological capital. Through the collection of demographic data, 6700 higher vocational students were investigated with the Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PPQ) and the College Students' Employability Questionnaire (CSEQ). The results show that psychological capital is significantly correlated with employability (P < 0.01); although family environment can not regulate the impact of psychological capital on employability, it works independently as psychological capital does; the self-efficacy, optimism and hope in psychological capital significantly affect the employability of higher vocational students from single-parent families. The improvement of psychological capital is conducive to the cultivation of employability of higher vocational students from single-parent families

Effects of environment and space on species turnover of woody plants across multiple forest dynamic plots in East Asia

Species turnover is fundamental for understanding the mechanisms that influence large-scale species richness patterns. However, few studies have described and interpreted large-scale spatial variation in plant species turnover, and the causes of this variation remain elusive. In addition, the determinants of species turnover depend on the dispersal ability of growth forms. In this study, we explored the large-scale patterns of woody species turnover across the latitude gradient based on eight large stem-mapping plots (covering 184 ha forest) in East Asia. The patterns of woody species turnover increased significantly with increasing latitude differences in East Asia. For overall woody species, environment explained 36.30%, 37.20%, and 48.48% of the total variance in Jaccard’s (βj), Sorenson’s, (βs), and Simpson’s dissimilarity (βsim). Spatial factors explained 47.92%, 48.39%, and 41.38% of the total variance in βj, βs, and βsim, respectively. The effects of pure spatial and spatially structured environments were stronger than pure environmental effects for overall woody species. Our results support the hypothesis that the effect of neutral processes on woody species turnover is more important than the effect of the environment. Neutral processes explained more variation for turnover of tree species, and environmental factors explained more variation for the turnover of shrub species on a large scale. Therefore, trees and shrubs should be subjected to different protection strategies in future biodiversity conservation efforts

Construction of Novel Thermostable Chimeric Vaccine Candidates for Genotype VII Newcastle Disease Virus

Genotype VII Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) has caused a pandemic in many countries and usually causes fatal consequences in infected chickens. Although current commercial attenuated NDV vaccines can provide an ideal protection against genotype VII NDV, they cannot completely prevent the infection and viral shedding, and the genotype of some vaccine strains cannot match with the prevalent strain. In this study, in order to construct a thermostable and genotype VII-matched live attenuated vaccine, we used a thermostable genotype VIII virulent HR09 strain as the backbone and replaced its F gene with that of the genotype VII DT-2014 strain. Meanwhile, the cleavage site of F gene of DT-2014 was mutated to that of class I F protein and avirulent class II F protein, respectively. The results showed that the two chimeric viruses, designated rcHR09-CI and rcHR09-CII, shared a similar growth kinetics and thermostability with their parental HR09 strain. Mean death time (MDT) and intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) tests showed that the two chimeric viruses were highly attenuated. Though both chimeric NDVs and La Sota vaccine strain could provide complete protection to immunized chickens against the challenge of virulent genotype VII ZJ1 strain, the two chimeric NDVs could induce a higher level of antibody response against ZJ1 strain and could significantly reduce the viral shedding compared with La Sota vaccine strain. In conclusion, our study constructed two chimeric thermostable genotype VII-matched NDV vaccine candidates, which provided complete protection against the challenge of virulent genotype VII NDV

Observational Analysis of the Formation Reasons and Evolution Law of Winter Counter-Wind Current in Jiazi Sea Area of Northeastern South China Sea

Based on the observational data of wind, current, and sea surface temperature in the Jiazi sea area of the northeastern South China Sea in 2018 and the satellite remote sensing data of sea surface temperature in the northern South China Sea, this paper explores the formation reasons and evolution law of winter counter-wind currents in the Jiazi sea area of the northeastern South China Sea. The results show that: (1) The counter-wind current in the Jiazi sea occurs only in certain time periods instead of the entire winter; (2) When the eastern component of wind stress weakens, the eastern component of seafloor friction also weakens to some extent. A high-frequency northeast current often occurs in the bottom layer of the sea area, indicating that the formation of winter counter-wind current in the Jiazi sea area is a result of the concerted action of wind stress, the baroclinic effect, and geostrophic effect; (3) When the counter-wind current is formed, there is a low temperature water mass in the northwest of Jiazi and a high-temperature water mass in the southeast. The baroclinic effect causes the sea water to flow to the shore and produce a westward flow on the shore, and northeastward counter-wind current occurs on convergent sea water on the shore due to the baroclinic effect and geostrophic effect (Ekman effect). Therefore, two different current systems are formed in the northeastern South China Sea in winter with 116° E as the boundary. The appearance of cold water masses in the northwest of 116° E sea area and warm water masses in the southeast of the South China Sea is the key to the formation of both the two different current systems with 116° E as the boundary and the winter counter-wind flow; (4) The formation and disappearance of the counter-wind current can be divided into four stages: in the first stage, the northeast monsoon gradually relaxes to become the southeast wind, forming the northwest current; in the second stage, the warm water masses on the west side of the Luzon Strait flow to the coastal waters due to the northwest current, forming a significant onshore pressure gradient force; in the third stage, a high-temperature seawater convergence zone is formed in the Jiazi sea area, forming southwest and northeast pressure gradient forces, and the northwest coastal current forms a counter-wind current under the combined action of pressure gradient force and geostrophic effect; in the fourth stage, the northeast monsoon intensifies and the counter-wind current weakens gradually until it disappears, and the sea water flows to the southwest again