Impact of LHCb 13 TeV WW and ZZ pseudo-data on the Parton Distribution Functions

We study the potential of the LHCb 13 TeV single $W^{\pm}$ and $Z$ boson pseudo-data for constraining the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton. As an example, we demonstrate the sensitivity of the LHCb 13 TeV data, collected with integrated luminosities of 5 fb$^{-1}$ and 300 fb$^{-1}$, to reducing the PDF uncertainty bands of the CT14HERA2 PDFs, using the error PDF updating package {\sc ePump}. The sensitivities of various experimental observables are compared. Generally, sizable reductions in PDF uncertainties can be observed in the 300 fb$^{-1}$ data sample, particularly in the small-$x$ region. The double-differential cross section measurement of $Z$ boson $p_T$ and rapidity can greatly reduce the uncertainty bands of $u$ and $d$ quarks in almost the whole $x$ range, as compared to various single observable measurements.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figure

Control water waves by metagratings

Metasurfaces and metagratings offers new platforms for electromagnetic wave control with significant responses. However, metasurfaces based on abrupt phase change and resonant structures suffer from the drawback of high loss and face challenges when applied in water waves. Therefore, the application of metasurfaces in water wave control is not ideal due to the limitations associated with high loss and other challenges. We have discovered that non-resonant metagratings exhibit promising effects in water wave control. Leveraging the similarity between bridges and metagratings, we have successfully developed a water wave metagrating model inspired by the Luoyang Bridge in ancient China. We conducted theoretical calculations and simulations on the metagrating and derived the equivalent anisotropic model of the metagrating. This model provides evidence that the metagrating has the capability to control water waves and achieve unidirectional surface water wave. The accuracy of our theory is strongly supported by the clear observation of the unidirectional propagation phenomenon during simulation and experiments conducted using a reduced version of the metagrating. It is the first time that the unidirectional propagation of water waves has been seen in water wave metagrating experiment. Above all, we realize the water wave metagrating experiment for the first time. By combining complex gratings with real bridges, we explore the physics embedded in the ancient building-Luoyang Bridge, which are of great significance for the water wave metagrating design, as well as the development and preservation of ancient bridges.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figure

Ventricular fibrillation in congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries treated with pacing: a case report

Background Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) is a rare form of congenital heart disease which may present with sudden death from malignant arrhythmias including complete heart block and ventricular tachyarrhythmias as late complications. Only few cases about ventricular tachyarrhythmias, usually in those with markedly depressed systemic ventricular function, have been reported. Case summary A 26-year-old woman with a known history of CCTGA presented to the emergency department with palpitations and breathlessness for 3–4 weeks and worsening symptoms for 8 h. She had a history of ventricular septal defect repair 14 years ago. Her initial presentation electrocardiogram demonstrated high degree atrioventricular block with a ventricular rate of 44 b.p.m. She had two episodes of complete syncope during this hospitalization, both required external defibrillation due to documented bradycardia-dependent ventricular fibrillations. Her two-dimensional echocardiography study confirmed the diagnosis of CCTGA with preserved systolic ventricular function. She underwent urgent temporal pacing wire placement with a paced ventricular rate at 90 b.p.m. Having thoroughly reviewed the arrhythmia events and discussed with the patient about the option of defibrillator vs. pacemaker therapy a decision was made upon her request for dual-chamber pacemaker implantation. She was discharged home uneventfully 3 days after hospital presentation and has been physically active at 3-, 6-, and 9-month follow-ups. Discussion Our case illustrates the individualized clinical decision making in choosing device therapy for a rare congenital heart disease presented with malignant arrhythmia. Careful history taking, open communication, and closely planned long-term follow-up will be essential in caring for such patients

Gut microbiome variation modulates the effects of dietary fiber on host metabolism

Background: There is general consensus that consumption of dietary fermentable fiber improves cardiometabolic health, in part by promoting mutualistic microbes and by increasing production of beneficial metabolites in the distal gut. However, human studies have reported variations in the observed benefits among individuals consuming the same fiber. Several factors likely contribute to this variation, including host genetic and gut microbial differences. We hypothesized that gut microbial metabolism of dietary fiber represents an important and differential factor that modulates how dietary fiber impacts the host. Results: We examined genetically identical gnotobiotic mice harboring two distinct complex gut microbial communities and exposed to four isocaloric diets, each containing different fibers: (i) cellulose, (ii) inulin, (iii) pectin, (iv) a mix of 5 fermentable fibers (assorted fiber). Gut microbiome analysis showed that each transplanted community preserved a core of common taxa across diets that differentiated it from the other community, but there were variations in richness and bacterial taxa abundance within each community among the different diet treatments. Host epigenetic, transcriptional, and metabolomic analyses revealed diet-directed differences between animals colonized with the two communities, including variation in amino acids and lipid pathways that were associated with divergent health outcomes. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that interindividual variation in the gut microbiome is causally linked to differential effects of dietary fiber on host metabolic phenotypes and suggests that a one-fits-all fiber supplementation approach to promote health is unlikely to elicit consistent effects across individuals. Overall, the presented results underscore the importance of microbe-diet interactions on host metabolism and suggest that gut microbes modulate dietary fiber efficacy. [MediaObject not available: see fulltext.]Fil: Murga Garrido, Sofia M.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Hong, Qilin. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Cross, Tzu Wen L.. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unidos. Purdue University; Estados UnidosFil: Hutchison, Evan R.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Han, Jessica. Wisconsin Institute for Discovery; Estados UnidosFil: Thomas, Sydney P.. Wisconsin Institute for Discovery; Estados UnidosFil: Vivas, Eugenio I.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Denu, John. Wisconsin Institute for Discovery; Estados UnidosFil: Ceschin, Danilo Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentina. Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Biomédicas de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Tang, Zheng Zheng. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unidos. Wisconsin Institute for Discovery; Estados UnidosFil: Rey, Federico E.. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unido

High-throughput UAV-based rice panicle detection and genetic mapping of heading-date-related traits

IntroductionRice (Oryza sativa) serves as a vital staple crop that feeds over half the world's population. Optimizing rice breeding for increasing grain yield is critical for global food security. Heading-date-related or Flowering-time-related traits, is a key factor determining yield potential. However, traditional manual phenotyping methods for these traits are time-consuming and labor-intensive.MethodHere we show that aerial imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), when combined with deep learning-based panicle detection, enables high-throughput phenotyping of heading-date-related traits. We systematically evaluated various state-of-the-art object detectors on rice panicle counting and identified YOLOv8-X as the optimal detector.ResultsApplying YOLOv8-X to UAV time-series images of 294 rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs) allowed accurate quantification of six heading-date-related traits. Utilizing these phenotypes, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), including verified loci and novel loci, associated with heading date.DiscussionOur optimized UAV phenotyping and computer vision pipeline may facilitate scalable molecular identification of heading-date-related genes and guide enhancements in rice yield and adaptation

Enrichment and characteristics of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in wastewater treatment process

High purity ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) culture containing a single AOA strain was enriched from the filtering materials of biological aerated filter. The concentration of AOA reached 3.27\ua0×\ua010\ua0copies/mL, while its proportion was 91.40%. The AOA amoA gene sequence belonged to Nitrososphaera cluster. Ammonia concentration significantly influenced the growth of AOA in culture, while total organic carbon (TOC) concentration had no obvious effect. The optimum ammonia concentration, temperature, pH and DO concentration for growth of AOA were 1\ua0mM, 30\ua0°C, 7.5 and 2.65\ua0mg/L, respectively. Under the optimum growth conditions, the AOA abundance and ammonia oxidation rate were 3.53\ua0×\ua010\ua0copies/mL and 2.54\ua0×\ua010\ua0mg/(copies·d)

Genome-wide identification and analysis of heterotic loci in three maize hybrids

Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, is a predominant phenomenon in plant genetics, serving as the basis of crop hybrid breeding, but the causative loci and genes underlying heterosis remain unclear in many crops. Here, we present a large-scale genetic analysis using 5360 offsprings from three elite maize hybrids, which identifies 628 loci underlying 19 yield-related traits with relatively high mapping resolutions. Heterotic pattern investigations of the 628 loci show that numerous loci, mostly with complete–incomplete dominance (the major one) or overdominance effects (the secondary one) for heterozygous genotypes and nearly equal proportion of advantageous alleles from both parental lines, are the major causes of strong heterosis in these hybrids. Follow-up studies for 17 heterotic loci in an independent experiment using 2225 F2 individuals suggest most heterotic effects are roughly stable between environments with a small variation. Candidate gene analysis for one major heterotic locus (ub3) in maize implies that there may exist some common genes contributing to crop heterosis. These results provide a community resource for genetics studies in maize and new implications for heterosis in plants

A noncanonical vacuolar sugar transferase required for biosynthesis of antimicrobial defense compounds in oat

Plants produce an array of natural products with important ecological functions. These compounds are often decorated with oligosaccharide groups that influence bioactivity, but the biosynthesis of such sugar chains is not well understood. Triterpene glycosides (saponins) are a large family of plant natural products that determine important agronomic traits, as exemplified by avenacins, antimicrobial defense compounds produced by oats. Avenacins have a branched trisaccharide moiety consisting of L-arabinose linked to 2 D-glucose molecules that is critical for antifungal activity. Plant natural product glycosylation is usually performed by uridine diphosphate-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs). We previously characterized the arabinosyltransferase that initiates the avenacin sugar chain; however, the enzymes that add the 2 remaining D-glucose molecules have remained elusive. Here we characterize the enzymes that catalyze these last 2 glucosylation steps. AsUGT91G16 is a classical cytosolic UGT that adds a 1,2-linked D-glucose molecule to L-arabinose. Unexpectedly, the enzyme that adds the final 1,4-linked D-glucose (AsTG1) is not a UGT, but rather a sugar transferase belonging to Glycosyl Hydrolase family 1 (GH1). Unlike classical UGTs, AsTG1 is vacuolar. Analysis of oat mutants reveals that AsTG1 corresponds to Sad3, a previously uncharacterized locus shown by mutation to be required for avenacin biosynthesis. AsTG1 and AsUGT91G16 form part of the avenacin biosynthetic gene cluster. Our demonstration that a vacuolar transglucosidase family member plays a critical role in triterpene biosynthesis highlights the importance of considering other classes of carbohydrate-active enzymes in addition to UGTs as candidates when elucidating pathways for the biosynthesis of glycosylated natural products in plants

Applications of 2D-layered palladium diselenide and its van der Waals heterostructures in electronics and optoelectronics

The rapid development of two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides has been possible owing to their special structures and remarkable properties. In particular, palladium diselenide (PdSe2) with a novel pentagonal structure and unique physical characteristics have recently attracted extensive research interest. Consequently, tremendous research progress has been achieved regarding the physics, chemistry, and electronics of PdSe2. Accordingly, in this review, we recapitulate and summarize the most recent research on PdSe2, including its structure, properties, synthesis, and applications. First, a mechanical exfoliation method to obtain PdSe2 nanosheets is introduced, and large-area synthesis strategies are explained with respect to chemical vapor deposition and metal selenization. Next, the electronic and optoelectronic properties of PdSe2 and related heterostructures, such as field-effect transistors, photodetectors, sensors, and thermoelectric devices, are discussed. Subsequently, the integration of systems into infrared image sensors on the basis of PdSe2 van der Waals heterostructures is explored. Finally, future opportunities are highlighted to serve as a general guide for physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and engineers. Therefore, this comprehensive review may shed light on the research conducted by the 2D material community.Web of Science131art. no. 14