Aqua­(2,2′-bipyridine-κ2 N,N′)[2-(3-thien­yl)malonato-κ2 O,O′]zinc(II) dihydrate

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [Zn(C7H4O4S)(C10H8N2)(H2O)]·2H2O, the ZnII ion assumes a trigonal–bipyramidal coordination geometry completed by two N atoms from a 2,2′-bipyridine ligand, two O atoms from a 2-(3-thien­yl)malonate anion and a water mol­ecule. The S atom of the 2-(3-thien­yl)malonate ligand is disordered over two sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.701 (5):0.299 (5). Inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure

A Study of Pulsation properties of 57 Non-Blazhko effect ab-type RR Lyrae stars with homogeneous metallicities from the LAMOST-Kepler/K2 survey

Homogeneous metallicities and continuous high-precision light curves play key roles in studying the pulsation properties of RR Lyrae stars. By cross-matching with LAMOST DR6, we have determined 7 and 50 Non-Blazhko RRab stars in the Kepler and K2 fields, respectively, who have homogeneous metallicities determined from low-resolution spectra of the LAMOST-Kepler/K2 project. The Fourier Decomposition method is applied to the light curves of these stars provided by the Kepler space based telescope to determine the fundamental pulsation periods and the pulsation parameters. The calculated amplitude ratios of R21, R31 and the phase differences of {\phi}21, {\phi}31 are consistent with the parameters of the RRab stars in both the Globular Clusters and the Large Magellanic Cloud. We find a linear relationship between the phase differences {\phi}21 and {\phi}31, which is in good agreement with the results in previous literature. As far as the amplitude, we find that the amplitude of primary frequency A1 and the total amplitude Atot follow either a cubic or linear relationship. For the rise time RT, we do not find its relevance with the period of the fundamental pulsation mode P1, or Atot and {\phi}21. However, it might follow a linear relationship with R31. Based on the homogeneous metallicities, we have derived a new calibration formula for the relationship of period-{\phi}31-[Fe/H], which agrees well with the previous studies

Unique Proteomic Signatures Distinguish Macrophages and Dendritic Cells

Monocytes differentiate into heterogeneous populations of tissue macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) that regulate inflammation and immunity. Identifying specific populations of myeloid cells in vivo is problematic, however, because only a limited number of proteins have been used to assign cellular phenotype. Using mass spectrometry and bone marrow-derived cells, we provided a global view of the proteomes of M-CSF-derived macrophages, classically and alternatively activated macrophages, and GM-CSF-derived DCs. Remarkably, the expression levels of half the plasma membrane proteins differed significantly in the various populations of cells derived in vitro. Moreover, the membrane proteomes of macrophages and DCs were more distinct than those of classically and alternatively activated macrophages. Hierarchical cluster and dual statistical analyses demonstrated that each cell type exhibited a robust proteomic signature that was unique. To interrogate the phenotype of myeloid cells in vivo, we subjected elicited peritoneal macrophages harvested from wild-type and GM-CSF-deficient mice to mass spectrometric and functional analysis. Unexpectedly, we found that peritoneal macrophages exhibited many features of the DCs generated in vitro. These findings demonstrate that global analysis of the membrane proteome can help define immune cell phenotypes in vivo

KIC 10417986: Spectroscopic confirmation of the nature of the binary system with a {\delta} Scuti component

KIC 10417986 is a short orbital period (0.0737 d) ellipsoidal variable star with a {\delta} Scuti and {\gamma} Doradus hybrid pulsations component discovered by Kepler. The ground-based spectroscopic observations were carried out in the winters of 2020 and 2021 to investigate the binary nature of this star. We derive the orbital parameters using the rvfit code with a result of K1 = 29.7 $\pm$ 1.5 km/s, {\gamma} = -18.7 $\pm$ 1.7 km/s, and confirm an orbital period of 0.84495 d instead of the result given by Kepler. The atmospheric parameters of the primary are determined by the synthetic spectra fitting technique with the estimated values of Teff = 7411 $\pm$ 187 K, log g = 4.2 $\pm$ 0.3 dex, [M/H] = 0.08 $\pm$ 0.09 dex and vsini = 52 $\pm$ 11 km/s. KIC 10417986 is a circular orbit binary system. From the single-lined nature and mass function of the star, the derived orbital inclination is 26 $\pm$ 6{\deg}, and the mass of the secondary is from 0.43 to 0.7 M_sun, which should be a late-K to early-M type star. Fourteen frequencies are extracted from Kepler light curves, of which six independent frequencies in the high-frequency region are identified as the p-mode pulsations of {\delta} Scuti star, and one independent frequency in the low-frequency region (f2 = 1.3033 c/d) is probably the rotational frequency due to the starspots rather than the ellipsoidal effect or g-mode of {\gamma} Doradus.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Photometric Variability in the CSTAR Field: Results From the 2008 Data Set

The Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) is the first telescope facility built at Dome A, Antarctica. During the 2008 observing season, the installation provided long-baseline and high-cadence photometric observations in the i-band for 18,145 targets within 20 deg2 CSTAR field around the South Celestial Pole for the purpose of monitoring the astronomical observing quality of Dome A and detecting various types of photometric variability. Using sensitive and robust detection methods, we discover 274 potential variables from this data set, 83 of which are new discoveries. We characterize most of them, providing the periods, amplitudes and classes of variability. The catalog of all these variables is presented along with the discussion of their statistical properties.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables; Accepted for publication in ApJ

Loss of ACS7 confers abiotic stress tolerance by modulating ABA sensitivity and accumulation in Arabidopsis

The phytohormones ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) play essential roles in the abiotic stress adaptation of plants, with both cross-talk of ethylene signalling and ABA biosynthesis and signalling reported. Any reciprocal effects on each other's biosynthesis, however, remain elusive. ACC synthase (ACS) acts as the key enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis. A pilot study on changes in ACS promoter activities in response to abiotic stresses revealed the unique involvement in abiotic stress responses of the only type 3 ACC synthase, ACS7, among all nine ACSs of Arabidopsis. Hence an acs7 mutant was characterized and its abiotic stress responses were analysed. The acs7 mutant germinated slightly faster than the wild type and subsequently maintained a higher growth rate at the vegetative growth stage. Ethylene emission of acs7 was merely one-third of that of the wild type. acs7 exhibited enhanced tolerance to salt, osmotic, and heat stresses. Furthermore, acs7 seeds were hypersensitive to both ABA and glucose during germination. Transcript analyses revealed that acs7 had elevated transcript levels of the stress-responsive genes involved in the ABA-dependent pathway under salt stress. The ABA level was also higher in acs7 following salt treatment. Our data suggest that ACS7 acts as a negative regulator of ABA sensitivity and accumulation under stress and appears as a node in the cross-talk between ethylene and ABA

Treatment and survival analysis for 40-year SEER data on upper esophageal cancer

BackgroundUpper esophageal cancer (UEC) is rare in both Eastern and Western countries. The epidemiological characteristics and long-term survival of UEC patients are less known. In addition, the choice of optimal treatment for UEC has been controversial.MethodsCases of UEC (C15.3 and C15.0) arising during the period from 1973 to 2013 were identified and selected using the SEER database. Student's t-test and Pearson's chi-square test were used to compare the differences in parameters among different groups. Esophageal cancer-specific survival (ECSS) and overall survival (OS) rates were calculated by using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to analyze predictive factors.ResultsIn the past 40 years, the cases of UEC have gradually increased, and the proportion of adenocarcinoma (AD) has gradually increased (from 3.6% to 11.8%, p < 0.001). There has been a significant increase (1973–1982 vs. 2004–2013) in median OS (7 months vs. 10 months, p < 0.001) and median ECSS (7 months vs. 11 months, p < 0.001) among UEC patients from 1973 to 2013. For the impact of different treatments, the results showed that the ECSS and OS of surgery without radiation (SWR) and radiation plus surgery (R+S) were superior to those of radiation without surgery (RWS). Subgroup analysis showed that ECSS and OS were highest among patients treated with SWR compared with R+S and RWS for patients with localized disease. For regional disease, ECSS and OS were highest among patients with R+S compared with SWR or RWS. Among patients with regional-stage squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), OS was higher with neoadjuvant radiotherapy or adjuvant radiotherapy compared with SWR. Multivariate analysis showed that radiotherapy sequence was dependently associated with OS among patients with regional-stage SCC.ConclusionAlthough the long-term survival of UEC remains poor, it has gradually increased since 1973. This should be closely related to the improvement of medical care over the past 40 years. Different treatment methods have a great influence on the long-term survival of UEC. For localized diseases, surgery may be a better choice. For regional disease, surgery plus adjuvant or neoadjuvant radiotherapy may be more beneficial to improve the long-term prognosis of UEC patients