Complete genome sequence of a Megalocytivirus (family Iridoviridae) associated with turbot mortality in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Turbot reddish body iridovirus (TRBIV) causes serious systemic diseases with high mortality in the cultured turbot, <it>Scophthalmus maximus</it>. We here sequenced and analyzed the complete genome of TRBIV, which was identified in Shandong province, China.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The genome of TRBIV is a linear double-stranded DNA of 110,104 base pairs, comprising 55% G + C. Total 115 open reading frames were identified, encoding polypeptides ranging from 40 to 1168 amino acids. Amino acid sequences analysis revealed that 39 of the 115 potential gene products of TRBIV show significant homology to other iridovirus proteins. Phylogenetic analysis of conserved genes indicated that TRBIV is closely related to infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV), rock bream iridovirus (RBIV), orange-spotted grouper iridovirus (OSGIV), and large yellow croaker iridovirus (LYCIV). The results indicated that TRBIV belongs to the genus <it>Megalocytivirus </it>(family Iridoviridae).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The determination of the genome of TRBIV will provide useful information for comparative study of Megalocytivirus and developing strategies to control outbreaks of TRBIV-induced disease.</p

SOL-NeRF:Sunlight Modeling for Outdoor Scene Decomposition and Relighting

Outdoor scenes often involve large-scale geometry and complex unknown lighting conditions, making it difficult to decompose them into geometry, reflectance and illumination. Recently researchers made attempts to decompose outdoor scenes using Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) and learning-based lighting and shadow representations. However, diverse lighting conditions and shadows in outdoor scenes are challenging for learning-based models. Moreover, existing methods may produce rough geometry and normal reconstruction and introduce notable shading artifacts when the scene is rendered under a novel illumination. To solve the above problems, we propose SOL-NeRF to decompose outdoor scenes with the help of a hybrid lighting representation and a signed distance field geometry reconstruction. We use a single Spherical Gaussian (SG) lobe to approximate the sun lighting, and a first-order Spherical Harmonic (SH) mixture to resemble the sky lighting. This hybrid representation is specifically designed for outdoor settings, and compactly models the outdoor lighting, ensuring robustness and efficiency. The shadow of the direct sun lighting can be obtained by casting the ray against the mesh extracted from the signed distance field, and the remaining shadow can be approximated by Ambient Occlusion (AO). Additionally, sun lighting color prior and a relaxed Manhattan-world assumption can be further applied to boost decomposition and relighting performance. When changing the lighting condition, our method can produce consistent relighting results with correct shadow effects. Experiments conducted on our hybrid lighting scheme and the entire decomposition pipeline show that our method achieves better reconstruction, decomposition, and relighting performance compared to previous methods both quantitatively and qualitatively.</p

Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators

We propose a general theory on the standing waves (quasiparticle interference pattern) caused by the scattering of surface states off step edges in topological insulators, in which the extremal points on the constant energy contour of surface band play the dominant role. Experimentally we image the interference patterns on both Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films by measuring the local density of states using a scanning tunneling microscope. The observed decay indices of the standing waves agree excellently with the theoretical prediction: In Bi$_2$Se$_3$, only a single decay index of -3/2 exists; while in Bi$_2$Te$_3$ with strongly warped surface band, it varies from -3/2 to -1/2 and finally to -1 as the energy increases. The -1/2 decay indicates that the suppression of backscattering due to time-reversal symmetry does not necessarily lead to a spatial decay rate faster than that in the conventional two-dimensional electron system. Our formalism can also explain the characteristic scattering wave vectors of the standing wave caused by non-magnetic impurities on Bi$_2$Te$_3$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

The policy-driven peak and reduction of China's carbon emissions

Pursuant to the Paris Agreement, China committed itself to peak its carbon emissions by around 2030 and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% at the same time. The government has supported the international agreement by setting and strengthening the domestic policy targets for an earlier peak and faster reduction, aiming to contain the average global temperature increase to well below 2 °C. We develop a Kaya Inequality method to assess the time of peak and pace of reduction of China's energy-related CO2 emissions based on the national energy policy targets for 2030. We find that, despite the minor fluctuations, the current plateau essentially represents the peak emissions and should enter a phase of steady decline by around 2025, given current trends in energy consumption and decarbonization. Such developments would be consistent with the strengthened national policy target to achieve 50% of renewable power generation by 2030. However, the basic policy targets – a 20% share of non-fossil energy and 6 Gtce in total energy consumption by 2030 – would be insufficient to peak carbon emissions by around 2030. The synergy and interplay between domestic policy target setting and international climate commitments shed light on the need to elevate national climate ambitions under the Paris Agreement and beyond

Experimental demonstration of the topological surface states protected by the time-reversal symmetry

We report direct imaging of standing waves of the nontrivial surface states of topological insulator Bi$_2$Te$_3$ by using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The interference fringes are caused by the scattering of the topological states off Ag impurities and step edges on the Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111) surface. By studying the voltage-dependent standing wave patterns, we determine the energy dispersion $E(k)$, which confirms the Dirac cone structure of the topological states. We further show that, very different from the conventional surface states, the backscattering of the topological states by nonmagnetic impurities is completely suppressed. The absence of backscattering is a spectacular manifestation of the time-reversal symmetry, which offers a direct proof of the topological nature of the surface states

Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and long-term outcomes of new diabetes diagnosis in elderly patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Previous studies have reported associations between newly diagnosed diabetes and poor outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but there is limited data focusing on elderly patients (age ≥ 65). This study aimed to analyze the prevalence and clinical implications of newly diagnosed diabetes in elderly patients who underwent PCI. From 2004 to 2021, a total of 2456 elderly patients who underwent invasive PCI at Korea University Guro Hospital were prospectively enrolled and followed up for a median of five years. The primary endpoint was five-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Cox regression was used to evaluate whether newly diagnosed diabetes impacted on long-term clinical outcomes. Newly diagnosed diabetes was presented in approximately 8.1% to 10.9% of elderly patients who underwent PCI. Those who had a new diagnosis of diabetes had a higher risk of MACE than previously known diabetes (25.28% vs. 19.15%, p = 0.039). After adjusting for significant factors, newly diagnosed diabetes remained an independent predictor of MACE (HR [hazard ratio] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-2.17, p < 0.001), cardiac death (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.29-3.59, p = 0.003) and repeat revascularization (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.09-2.11, p = 0.013), but not for non-fatal myocardial infarction (HR 1.66, 95% CI 0.94-2.12, p = 0.081). Newly diagnosed diabetes was associated with an increased risk of 5-year MACE compared with non-diabetes and previously diagnosed diabetes in elderly patients underwent PCI. More attention should be given to those elderly newly diagnosed diabetes population. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).

CXCL9 Is a Potential Biomarker of Immune Infiltration Associated With Favorable Prognosis in ER-Negative Breast Cancer

The chemokine CXCL9 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9) has been reported to be required for antitumour immune responses following immune checkpoint blockade. In this study, we sought to investigate the potential value of CXCL9 according to immune responses in patients with breast cancer (BC). A variety of open-source databases and online tools were used to explore the expression features and prognostic significance of CXCL9 in BC and its correlation with immune-related biomarkers followed by subsequent verification with immunohistochemistry experiments. The CXCL9 mRNA level was found to be significantly higher in BC than in normal tissue and was associated with better survival outcomes in patients with ER-negative tumours. Moreover, CXCL9 is significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration and immune-related biomarkers, including CTLA4, GZMB, LAG3, PDCD1 and HAVCR2. Finally, we performed immunohistochemistry with breast cancer tissue samples and observed that CXCL9 is highly expressed in the ER-negative subgroup and positively correlated with the immune-related factors LAG3, PD1, PDL1 and CTLA4 to varying degrees. These findings suggest that CXCL9 is an underlying biomarker for predicting the status of immune infiltration in ER-negative breast cancer

Plasmoid ejection and secondary current sheet generation from magnetic reconnection in laser-plasma interaction

Reconnection of the self-generated magnetic fields in laser-plasma interaction was first investigated experimentally by Nilson {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 255001 (2006)] by shining two laser pulses a distance apart on a solid target layer. An elongated current sheet (CS) was observed in the plasma between the two laser spots. In order to more closely model magnetotail reconnection, here two side-by-side thin target layers, instead of a single one, are used. It is found that at one end of the elongated CS a fan-like electron outflow region including three well-collimated electron jets appears. The ($>1$ MeV) tail of the jet energy distribution exhibits a power-law scaling. The enhanced electron acceleration is attributed to the intense inductive electric field in the narrow electron dominated reconnection region, as well as additional acceleration as they are trapped inside the rapidly moving plasmoid formed in and ejected from the CS. The ejection also induces a secondary CS