Matter Effects of Sterile Neutrino in Light of Renormalization-Group Equations

The renormalization-group equation (RGE) approach to neutrino matter effects is further developed in this work. We derive a complete set of differential equations for effective mixing elements, masses and Jarlskog-like invariants in presence of a light sterile neutrino. The evolutions of mixing elements as well as Jarlskog-like invariants are obtained by numerically solving these differential equations. We calculate terrestrial matter effects in long-baseline (LBL) experiments, taking NOvA, T2K and DUNE as examples. In both three-flavor and four-flavor frameworks, electron-neutrino survival probabilities as well as the day-night asymmetry of solar neutrino are also evaluated as a further examination of the RGE approach.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; 22 pages, the version accepted by JHE

How does ocean ventilation change under global warming?

International audienceSince the upper ocean takes up much of the heat added to the earth system by anthropogenic global warming, one would expect that global warming would lead to an increase in stratification and a decrease in the ventilation of the ocean interior. However, multiple simulations in global coupled climate models using an ideal age tracer which is set to zero in the mixed layer and ages at 1 yr/yr outside this layer show that the intermediate depths in the low latitudes, Northwest Atlantic, and parts of the Arctic Ocean become younger under global warming. This paper reconciles these apparently contradictory trends, showing that the decreases result from changes in the relative contributions of old deep waters and younger surface waters. Implications for the tropical oxygen minimum zones, which play a critical role in global biogeochemical cycling are considered in detail

Editorial : Natural Variations and Genetic Constraints on Plant Nutrition

Acknowledgments Huge thanks are given to the colleagues, authors, reviewers, and support staff who contributed to the success of this Research Topic. Funding The work in FD and FZ lab was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (32170276), and the Major International (Regional) Joint Research Project from NSFC-ASRT (32061143044).Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Doubly charmed baryon decays Ξcc++→Ξc(′)+π+\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to\Xi_c^{(\prime)+}\pi^+ in the quark model

In this work we study the doubly charmed baryon decays $\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to\Xi_c^{(\prime)+}\pi^+$ within the framework of the non-relativistic quark model (NRQM). Factorizable amplitudes are expressed in terms of transition form factors, while nonfactorizable amplitudes arising form the inner $W$-emission are evaluated using current algebra and the pole model and expressed in terms of baryonic matrix elements and axial-vector form factors. Nonperturbative parameters are then calculated using the NRQM. They can be expressed in terms of the momentum integrals of baryon wave functions, which are in turn expressed in terms of the harmonic oscillator parameters $\alpha_\rho$ and $\alpha_\lambda$ for $\rho$- and $\lambda$-mode excitation. The measured ratio $R$ of the branching fraction of $\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to \Xi^{\prime +}_c\pi^+$ relative to $\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to \Xi_c^+\pi^+$ can be accommodated in the NRQM with $\alpha_{\rho 1}$ and $\alpha_{\rho_2}$ being in the vicinity of 0.51 and 0.19, respectively, where $\alpha_{\rho 1}$ is the $\alpha_\rho$ parameter for $\Xi_{cc}^{++}$ and $\alpha_{\rho 2}$ for $\Xi_{c}^{(\prime)+}$. Decay asymmetries are predicted to be $-0.78$ and $-0.89$ for $\Xi_c^+\pi^+$ and $\Xi_c^{\prime +}\pi^+$ modes, respectively, which can be tested in the near future. We compare our results with other works and point out that although some other models can accommodate the ratio $R$, they tend to lead to a branching fraction of $\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to \Xi_c^+\pi^+$ too large compared to that inferred from the LHCb measurement of its rate relative to $\Xi_{cc}^{++}\to\Lambda_c^+ K^- \pi^+\pi^+$.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Using a practical molecular capsular serotype prediction strategy to investigate Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance in Chinese local hospitalized children

Comprehensive cpsB sequetyping database based on GenBank sequences (until Jan 1, 2015). (DOCX 47 kb

Molecular evolution of calcium signaling and transport in plant adaptation to abiotic stress

Adaptation to unfavorable abiotic stresses is one of the key processes in the evolution of plants. Calcium (Ca2+) signaling is characterized by the spatiotemporal pattern of Ca2+ distribution and the activities of multi-domain proteins in integrating environmental stimuli and cellular responses, which are crucial early events in abiotic stress responses in plants. However, a comprehensive summary and explanation for evolutionary and functional synergies in Ca2+ signaling remains elusive in green plants. We review mechanisms of Ca2+ membrane transporters and intracellular Ca2+ sensors with evolutionary imprinting and structural clues. These may provide molecular and bioinformatics insights for the functional analysis of some non-model species in the evolutionarily important green plant lineages. We summarize the chronological order, spatial location, and characteristics of Ca2+ functional proteins. Furthermore, we highlight the integral functions of calcium-signaling components in various nodes of the Ca2+ signaling pathway through conserved or variant evolutionary processes. These ultimately bridge the Ca2+ cascade reactions into regulatory networks, particularly in the hormonal signaling pathways. In summary, this review provides new perspectives towards a better understanding of the evolution, interaction and integration of Ca2+ signaling components in green plants, which is likely to benefit future research in agriculture, evolutionary biology, ecology and the environment

Highly conserved evolution of aquaporin PIPs and TIPs confers their crucial contribution to flowering process in plants

Flowering is the key process for the sexual reproduction in seed plants. In gramineous crops, the process of flowering, which includes the actions of both glume opening and glume closing, is directly driven by the swelling and withering of lodicules due to the water flow into and out of lodicule cells. All these processes are considered to be controlled by aquaporins, which are the essential transmembrane proteins that facilitate the transport of water and other small molecules across the biological membranes. In the present study, the evolution of aquaporins and their contribution to flowering process in plants were investigated via an integration of genome-wide analysis and gene expression profiling. Across the barley genome, we found that HvTIP1;1, HvTIP1;2, HvTIP2;3, and HvPIP2;1 were the predominant aquaporin genes in lodicules and significantly upregulated in responding to glume opening and closing, suggesting the importance of them in the flowering process of barley. Likewise, the putative homologs of the above four aquaporin genes were also abundantly expressed in lodicules of the other monocots like rice and maize and in petals of eudicots like cotton, tobacco, and tomato. Furthermore, all of them were mostly upregulated in responding to the process of floret opening, indicating a conserved function of these aquaporin proteins in plant flowering. The phylogenetic analysis based on the OneKP database revealed that the homologs of TIP1;1, TIP1;2, TIP2;3, and PIP2;1 were highly conserved during the evolution, especially in the angiosperm species, in line with their conserved function in controlling the flowering process. Taken together, it could be concluded that the highly evolutionary conservation of TIP1;1, TIP1;2, TIP2;3 and PIP2;1 plays important roles in the flowering process for both monocots and eudicots

A human-in-the-loop haptic interaction with subjective evaluation

To date, one of the challenges in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is fully immersive multisensory remote physical interaction technologies. The applications of haptic perception in HCI can enrich the interaction details and effectively improve the immersion and realism of interaction. In the human-in-the-loop haptic interaction system, the quality of experience (QoE) of the human operator plays an essential role. However, QoE in haptic interaction is still in its infancy. Based on the typical application scenarios of haptic operation, the paper constructs a haptic-visual interaction framework and analyzes the QoE influencing factors. Through subjective evaluation experiments, the paper establishes a haptic interaction database that can provide a research basis for further exploring the relationship between various influencing factors and interactive QoE

Molecular interaction and evolution of jasmonate signaling with transport and detoxification of heavy metals and metalloids in plants

An increase in environmental pollution resulting from toxic heavy metals and metalloids [e.g., cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb)] causes serious health risks to humans and animals. Mitigation strategies need to be developed to reduce the accumulation of the toxic elements in plant-derived foods. Natural and genetically-engineered plants with hyper-tolerant and hyper-accumulating capacity of toxic minerals are valuable for phytoremediation. However, the molecular mechanisms of detoxification and accumulation in plants have only been demonstrated in very few plant species such as Arabidopsis and rice. Here, we review the physiological and molecular aspects of jasmonic acid and the jasmonate derivatives (JAs) in response to toxic heavy metals and metalloids. Jasmonates have been identified in, limiting the accumulation and enhancing the tolerance to the toxic elements, by coordinating the ion transport system, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the chelating capacity in plants. We also propose the potential involvement of Ca2+ signaling in the stress-induced production of jasmonates. Comparative transcriptomics analyses using the public datasets reveal the key gene families involved in the JA-responsive routes. Furthermore, we show that JAs may function as a fundamental phytohormone that protects plants from heavy metals and metalloids as demonstrated by the evolutionary conservation and diversity of these gene families in a large number of species of the major green plant lineages. Using ATP-Binding Cassette G (ABCG) transporter subfamily of six representative green plant species, we propose that JA transporters in Subgroup 4 of ABCGs may also have roles in heavy metal detoxification. Our paper may provide guidance toward the selection and development of suitable plant and crop species that are tolerant to toxic heavy metals and metalloids