Re-examining the premise of isobaric collisions and a novel method to measure the chiral magnetic effect

In these proceedings we show that the premise of the isobaric and collisions to search for the chiral magnetic effect (CME) may not hold as originally anticipated due to large uncertainties in the isobaric nuclear structures. We demonstrate this using Woods-Saxon densities and the proton and neutron densities calculated by the density functional theory. Furthermore, a novel method is proposed to gauge background and possible CME contributions in the same system, intrinsically better than the isobaric collisions of two different systems. We illustrate the method with Monte Carlo Glauber and AMPT (A Multi-Phase Transport) simulations

The effects of thermomechanical history on the microstructure of a nickel-base superalloy during forging

The effect of thermo-mechanical history on hot compression behaviour and resulting microstructures of a nickel base superalloy is presented. Hot compression tests were carried out on HAYNES® 282® specimens to varying strains from 0.1 to 0.8. Both single pass and multi-pass tests were completed. 60 minute inter-pass times were utilized to accurately replicate industrial forging practices. The effect of dynamic, metadynamic and static recrystallization during inter-pass times on flow stress was investigated. The study showed the presence of yield peaks in the flow stress data which have been identified in previous studies and thought to be due to solute atoms pinning dislocations, but in this work are shown to be due to friction. The resulting microstructures were analysed using scanning electron, optical microscopy and EBSD to relate grain size and homogeneity with flow stress data. The study showed a negligible difference between multi-pass and single pass tests for strain increments above 0.2. Therefore, when modelling similar low strain and strain rate forging processes inHAYNES® 282®, previous forging steps can be ignored

Network modelling reveals the mechanism underlying colitis-associated colon cancer and identifies novel combinatorial anti-cancer targets

The connection between inflammation and tumourigenesis has been well established. However, the detailed molecular mechanism underlying inflammation-associated tumourigenesis remains unknown because this process involves a complex interplay between immune microenvironments and epithelial cells. To obtain a more systematic understanding of inflammation-associated tumourigenesis as well as to identify novel therapeutic approaches, we constructed a knowledge-based network describing the development of colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC) by integrating the extracellular microenvironment and intracellular signalling pathways. Dynamic simulations of the CAC network revealed a core network module, including P53, MDM2, and AKT, that may govern the malignant transformation of colon epithelial cells in a pro-tumor inflammatory microenvironment. Furthermore, in silico mutation studies and experimental validations led to a novel finding that concurrently targeting ceramide and PI3K/AKT pathway by chemical probes or marketed drugs achieves synergistic anti-cancer effects. Overall, our network model can guide further mechanistic studies on CAC and provide new insights into the design of combinatorial cancer therapies in a rational manner

Importance of Isobar Density Distributions on the Chiral Magnetic Effect Search

Under the approximate chiral symmetry restoration, quark interactions with topological gluon fields in quantum chromodynamics can induce chirality imbalance and parity violation in local domains. An electric charge separation ({\sc cs}) could be generated along the direction of a strong magnetic field ({\bf B}), a phenomenon called the chiral magnetic effect ({\sc cme}). {\sc cs} measurements by azimuthal correlators are contaminated by a major background from elliptic flow anisotropy ($v_2$). Isobaric $^{96}_{44}$Ru+$^{96}_{44}$Ru and $^{96}_{40}$Zr+$^{96}_{40}$Zr collisions have been proposed to identify the {\sc cme} (expected to differ between the two systems) out of the background (expected to be almost the same). We show, by using the density-functional calculated proton and neutron distributions, that these expectations may not hold as originally anticipated, because the two systems may have sizable differences in eccentricity and $v_2$ and because their difference in {\bf B} may suffer from large uncertainties.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. v2: Now the magnetic field averaged over the overlap area is presented, instead of that at the single point at the overlap center in the previous version. v3: published versio

Varying the Chiral Magnetic Effect Relative to Flow in a Single Nucleus-Nucleus Collision

We propose a novel method to search for the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in heavy ion collisions. We argue that the relative strength of the magnetic field (mainly from spectator protons and responsible for the CME) with respect to the reaction plane and the participant plane is opposite to that of the elliptic flow background arising from the fluctuating participant geometry. This opposite behavior in a single collision system, hence with small systematic uncertainties, can be exploited to extract the possible CME signal from the flow background. The method is applied to the existing data at RHIC, the outcome of which is discussed.Comment: 7 Revtex pages, 3 figures. Accepted by Chinese Physics

Comparative analysis of stripe rust resistance in seedling stage and Yr gene incidence in spring and winter wheat from Xinjiang, China

BackgroundStripe rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici (Pst), poses a significant threat to global wheat production.ObjectivesThis study aims to analyze the distribution of stripe rust resistance genes, characterize resistance phenotypes at the seedling stage of 137 spring and 149 winter wheat varieties in Xinjiang, China, and discern differences in resistance between spring and winter wheat varieties.DesignWe used various Pst races (CYR23, CYR29, CYR31, CYR32, CYR33, CYR34) to characterize seedling resistance of spring and winter wheat varieties and to correlate resistance to the presence of wheat resistance genes (Yr5, Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr17, Yr18, Yr26, Yr41, Yr80, Yr81) using molecular markers.ResultsAmong spring wheat varieties, 62, 60, 42, 26, 51, and 24 varieties exhibited resistance to CYR23, CYR29, CYR31, CYR32, CYR33, and CYR34, respectively, with four varieties resistant to all varieties. Among winter wheat varieties, 66, 32, 69, 26, 83, 40 varieties demonstrated resistance to CYR23, CYR29, CYR31, CYR32, CYR33, and CYR34, respectively, with four varieties resistant to all varieties. Molecular testing revealed that, in spring wheat, 2, 17, 21, 61, 10, 0, 10, 79, and 32 varieties carried Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr17, Yr18, Yr26, Yr41, Yr80, and Yr81 genes, respectively. In winter wheat, 40, 20, 7, 143, 15, 1, 6, 38, and 54 varieties carried Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr17, Yr18, Yr26, Yr41, Yr80, and Yr81 genes, respectively. Notably, winter wheat exhibited a significantly higher resistance frequency than spring wheat, particularly in the incidence of Yr9, Yr10, Yr17, Yr18, and multi-gene combinations.ConclusionIn summary, this study provides information on seedling stage resistance to stripe rust 286 Xinjiang wheat varieties, elucidates the distribution of resistance genes in this population, and offers a mechanistic basis for breeding durable resistance in wheat. varieties from Xinjiang

Utilizing metagenomic next-generation sequencing for diagnosis and lung microbiome probing of pediatric pneumonia through bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in pediatric intensive care unit: results from a large real-world cohort

BackgroundMetagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a powerful method for pathogen detection in various infections. In this study, we assessed the value of mNGS in the pathogen diagnosis and microbiome analysis of pneumonia in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples.MethodsA total of 104 pediatric patients with pneumonia who were admitted into PICU between June 2018 and February 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. Among them, 101 subjects who had intact clinical information were subject to parallel comparison of mNGS and conventional microbiological tests (CMTs) for pathogen detection. The performance was also evaluated and compared between BALF-mNGS and BALF-culture methods. Moreover, the diversity and structure of all 104 patients’ lung BALF microbiomes were explored using the mNGS data.ResultsCombining the findings of mNGS and CMTs, 94.06% (95/101) pneumonia cases showed evidence of causative pathogenic infections, including 79.21% (80/101) mixed and 14.85% (15/101) single infections. Regarding the pathogenesis of pneumonia in the PICU, the fungal detection rates were significantly higher in patients with immunodeficiency (55.56% vs. 25.30%, P =0.025) and comorbidities (40.30% vs. 11.76%, P=0.007). There were no significant differences in the α-diversity either between patients with CAP and HAP or between patients with and without immunodeficiency. Regarding the diagnostic performance, the detection rate of DNA-based BALF-mNGS was slightly higher than that of the BALF-culture although statistically insignificant (81.82% vs.77.92%, P=0.677) and was comparable to CMTs (81.82% vs. 89.61%, P=0.211). The overall sensitivity of DNA-based mNGS was 85.14% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 74.96%-92.34%). The detection rate of RNA-based BALF-mNGS was the same with CMTs (80.00% vs 80.00%, P>0.999) and higher than BALF-culture (80.00% vs 52.00%, P=0.045), with a sensitivity of 90.91% (95%CI: 70.84%-98.88%).ConclusionsmNGS is valuable in the etiological diagnosis of pneumonia, especially in fungal infections, and can reveal pulmonary microecological characteristics. For pneumonia patients in PICU, the mNGS should be implemented early and complementary to CMTs

Identification of Puccinia striiformis races from the spring wheat crop in Xinjiang, China

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a foliar disease that affects both winter and spring wheat crops in Xinjiang, China, which is linked to Central Asia. Race identification of Pst from spring wheat in Xinjiang was not done before. In this study, a total of 216 isolates were recovered from stripe rust samples of spring wheat in the region in 2021 and multiplied using the susceptible cultivar Mingxian 169. These isolates were tested on the Chinese set of 19 wheat differential lines for identifying Pst races. A total of 46 races were identified. Races Suwon-11-1, Suwon11-12, and CYR32 had high frequencies in the spring wheat region. The frequencies of virulence factors on differentials “Fulhard” and “Early Premium” were high (>95%), whereas the virulence factor to differential “Triticum spelta var. Album” (Yr5) was not detected, while virulence to other differentials showed variable frequency within different counties. The predominant races in winter wheat in the same season were also detected from spring wheat cultivars, indicating Pst spreading from winter wheat to spring wheat crops. Deploying resistance genes in spring and winter wheat cultivars is critical for control stripe rust

Thin film Gallium nitride (GaN) based acoustofluidic Tweezer: Modelling and microparticle manipulation.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound semiconductor which shows advantages in new functionalities and applications due to its piezoelectric, optoelectronic, and piezo-resistive properties. This study develops a thin film GaN-based acoustic tweezer (GaNAT) using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and demonstrates its acoustofluidic ability to pattern and manipulate microparticles. Although the piezoelectric performance of the GaNAT is compromised compared with conventional lithium niobate-based SAW devices, the inherited properties of GaN allow higher input powers and superior thermal stability. This study shows for the first time that thin film GaN is suitable for the fabrication of the acoustofluidic devices to manipulate microparticles with excellent performance. Numerical modelling of the acoustic pressure fields and the trajectories of mixtures of microparticles driven by the GaNAT was performed and the results were verified from the experimental studies using samples of polystyrene microspheres. The work has proved the robustness of thin film GaN as a candidate material to develop high-power acoustic tweezers, with the potential of monolithical integration with electronics to offer diverse microsystem applications.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Grant numbers: EP/P002803/1, EP/P018998/1, Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province/2020JQ-233, Fundamental Scientific Research of Central Universities/3102017OQD116, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council fellowship /EP/N01202X/2, Royal Society / IEC/NSFC/170142, IE161019, Natural Science Foundation of China/61704017, Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Fund/2018J11CY00