69 research outputs found
Driven Majorana Modes: A Route to Synthetic Superconductivity
We propose a protocol to realize synthetic superconductors in
one-dimensional topological systems that host Majorana fermions. By
periodically driving a localized Majorana mode across the system, our protocol
realizes a topological pumping of Majorana fermions, analogous to the adiabatic
Thouless pumping of electrical charges. Importantly, similar to the realization
of a Chern insulator through Thouless pumping, we show that pumping of Majorana
zero modes could lead to a superconductor in the two dimensions of
space and synthetic time. The Floquet theory is employed to map the driven
one-dimensional system to a two-dimensional synthetic system by considering
frequency as a new dimension. We demonstrate such Floquet
superconductors using the Kitaev -wave superconductor chain, a prototypical
1D topological system, as well as its more realistic realization in the 1D
Kondo lattice model as examples. We further show the appearance of a new
Majorana mode at the Floquet zone boundary in an intermediate drive frequency
region. Our work suggests a driven magnetic spiral coupled to a superconductor
as a promising platform for the realization of novel topological
superconductors
Inoculating chlamydospores of Trichoderma asperellum SM-12F1 changes arsenic availability and enzyme activity in soils and improves water spinach growth
Regulation of platelet activation and thrombus formation by reactive oxygenspecies
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated within activated platelets and play an important role in regulating
platelet responses to collagen and collagen-mediated thrombus formation. As a major collagen receptor, plateletspecific
glycoprotein (GP)VI is a member of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily, with two extracellular Ig
domains, a mucin domain, a transmembrane domain and a cytoplasmic tail. GPVI forms a functional complex
with the Fc receptor γ-chain (FcRγ) that, following receptor dimerization, signals via an intracellular immunoreceptor
tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM), leading to rapid activation of Src family kinase signaling
pathways. Our previous studies demonstrated that an unpaired thiol in the cytoplasmic tail of GPVI undergoes
rapid oxidation to form GPVI homodimers in response to ligand binding, indicating an oxidative submembranous
environment in platelets after GPVI stimulation. Using a redox-sensitive fluorescent dye (H2DCFDA)
in a flow cytometric assay to measure changes in intracellular ROS, we showed generation of ROS downstream
of GPVI consists of two distinct phases: an initial Syk-independent burst followed by additional Sykdependent
generation. In this review, we will discuss recent findings on the regulation of platelet function by
ROS, focusing on GPVI-dependent platelet activation and thrombus formation.This research was supported by National Natural Science
Foundation of China (grant no. 81400082, 81370602 and 81570096),
the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant no.
BK20140219), the funding for the Distinguished Professorship Program
of Jiangsu Province, the Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province
(WSN-133), the Shuangchuang Project of Jiangsu Province, the 333
Project of Jiangsu Province (BRA2017542), the Scientific Research
Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State
Education Ministry, the Science and Technology Foundation for the
Selected Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Ministry of Human Resources
and Social Security, and the National Health and Medical Research
Council of Australi
Effect of Exogenous Phosphate on the Lability and Phytoavailability of Arsenic in Soils
The effect of exogenous phosphate (P, 200 mg·kg-1 soil) on the lability and phyto-availability of arsenic (As) was studied using the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique. Lettuce were grown on the As-amended soils following the stabilization of soil labile As after 90 day’s incubation. Phosphate (P) application generally facilitated plant growth except one grown on P-sufficient soil. Soil labile As concentration increased in all the soils after P application due to a competition effect. Plant As concentration increased in red soils collected from Hunan Province, while decreases were observed in the other soils. Even though, an overall trend of decrease was obtained in As phytoavailability along with the increase of DGT-measured soil labile P/As molar ratio. The functional equation between P/As and As phytoavailability provided a critical value of 1.7, which could be used as a guidance for rational P fertilization, thus avoiding overfertilization
An absence of platelet activation following thalidomide treatment in vitro or in vivo
Increased risk of thromboembolism and platelet hyperreactivity has been reported in patients receiving thalidomide therapy. Whether thalidomide induces platelet activation directly or through other factors remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of thalidomide on platelet activation under resting conditions in vitro and in vivo. Isolated human or mouse platelets were treated with different concentrations of thalidomide (10, 50 and 100 μg/ml) for 60 min at 37°C followed by analysis of platelet surface expression of platelet receptors GPIbα, GPVI, αIIbβ3 and P-selectin, and PAC-1 or fibrinogen binding, by flow cytometry and collagen- or ADP-induced platelet aggregation. In addition, thalidomide (200 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected into mice for analysis of the effect of thalidomide on platelet activation in vivo. No increased expression of P-selectin, PAC-1 or fibrinogen binding was observed in either human and mouse platelets after thalidomide treatment in vitro for 60 min at 37oC. Thalidomide treatment also did not affect expression of GPIbα, GPVI or αIIbβ3, nor did it affect collagen- or ADP-induced platelet aggregation at threshold concentrations. However, while mice injected with thalidomide displayed no increased surface expression of platelet P-selectin or αIIbβ3, there was a significantly shortened tail bleeding time, thrombin time, prothrombin time together with higher levels of Factor IX and fibrinogen. In conclusion, thalidomide at therapeutic doses does not directly induce platelet activation under resting conditions in vitro or in vivo, but results in increased procoagulant activity, which could explain the thalidomide-dependent prothrombotic tendency in patients.This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81400082 and 81370602), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant no. BK20140219), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (project no. 2015M570479), the funding for the Distinguished Professorship Program of Jiangsu Province, the Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province (project no. WSN-133), the Shuangchuang Project of Jiangsu Province, the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, and the Science and Technology Foundation for the Selected Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
Inoculating chlamydospores of Trichoderma asperellum SM-12F1 changes arsenic availability and enzyme activity in soils and improves water spinach growth
Genomic monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 uncovers an Nsp1 deletion variant that modulates type I interferon response
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, is undergoing constant mutation. Here, we utilized an integrative approach combining epidemiology, virus genome sequencing, clinical phenotyping, and experimental validation to locate mutations of clinical importance. We identified 35 recurrent variants, some of which are associated with clinical phenotypes related to severity. One variant, containing a deletion in the Nsp1-coding region (D500-532), was found in more than 20% of our sequenced samples and associates with higher RT-PCR cycle thresholds and lower serum IFN-beta levels of infected patients. Deletion variants in this locus were found in 37 countries worldwide, and viruses isolated from clinical samples or engineered by reverse genetics with related deletions in Nsp1 also induce lower IFN-beta responses in infected Calu-3 cells. Taken together, our virologic surveillance characterizes recurrent genetic diversity and identified mutations in Nsp1 of biological and clinical importance, which collectively may aid molecular diagnostics and drug design.Peer reviewe
Research on Road Network Partitioning Considering the Coupling of Network Connectivity and Traffic Attributes
The urban road network is a large and complex system characterized by significant heterogeneity arising from different spatial structures and traffic demands. To facilitate effective management and control, it is necessary to partition the road network into homogeneous sub-areas. In this regard, we aim to propose a hybrid method for partitioning sub-areas with intra-area homogeneity, inter-area heterogeneity, and similar sizes, called CSDRA. It is specifically designed for bidirectional road networks with segment weights that encompass traffic flow, speed, or roadside facility evaluation. Based on community detection and spectral clustering, this proposed method comprises four main modules: initial partition, partitioning of large sub-areas, reassignment of small sub-areas, and boundary adjustment. In the preliminary partitioning work, we also design a road network reconstruction method which further helps to enhance the intra-area homogeneity and inter-area heterogeneity of partitioning results. Furthermore, to align with the requirement for comparable work units in practical traffic management and control, we control the similarity in the size of sub-areas by enforcing upper and lower bound constraints on the size of the sub-areas. We verify the outperformance of the proposed method by an experiment on the partitioning of an urban road network in Guangzhou, China, where we employ sidewalk barrier-free score data as segment weights. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of both the road network reconstruction method and the CSDRA proposed in this paper, as they significantly improve the partitioning outcomes compared with other methods using different evaluation indicators corresponding to the partitioning objectives. Finally, we investigate the influence of constraint parameters on the evaluation indicator. Our findings indicate that appropriately configuring these constraint parameters can effectively minimize sub-region size variations while having minimal impact on other aspects
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