Description of three new species of Callyntrura (Japonphysa) (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from China with the aid of DNA barcoding

Callyntrura(s.l.) Börner, 1906 is the largest genus of the subfamily Salininae and contains 11 subgenera and 98 species from all over the world (mainly Asia), with eight species recorded from China. In the present paper, three new species of Callyntrura(s.l.) are described from China: C. (Japonphysa) xinjianensis sp. nov.; C. (J.) tongguensis sp. nov. and C. (J.) raoi sp. nov. Their differences in colour pattern, chaetotaxy and other characters are slight, however distances of COI mtDNA support their validation as three new distinct species. A key to the Chinese Callyntrura(s.l.) is provided

Explainable machine learning-based prediction model for diabetic nephropathy

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of serum metabolites on diabetic nephropathy (DN) and predict the prevalence of DN through a machine learning approach. The dataset consists of 548 patients from April 2018 to April 2019 in Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University (SAHDMU). We select the optimal 38 features through a Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model and a 10-fold cross-validation. We compare four machine learning algorithms, including eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), random forest, decision tree and logistic regression, by AUC-ROC curves, decision curves, calibration curves. We quantify feature importance and interaction effects in the optimal predictive model by Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. The XGB model has the best performance to screen for DN with the highest AUC value of 0.966. The XGB model also gains more clinical net benefits than others and the fitting degree is better. In addition, there are significant interactions between serum metabolites and duration of diabetes. We develop a predictive model by XGB algorithm to screen for DN. C2, C5DC, Tyr, Ser, Met, C24, C4DC, and Cys have great contribution in the model, and can possibly be biomarkers for DN

Experimental Quantum Communication Overcomes the Rate-loss Limit without Global Phase Tracking

Secure key rate (SKR) of point-point quantum key distribution (QKD) is fundamentally bounded by the rate-loss limit. Recent breakthrough of twin-field (TF) QKD can overcome this limit and enables long distance quantum communication, but its implementation necessitates complex global phase tracking and requires strong phase references which not only add to noise but also reduce the duty cycle for quantum transmission. Here, we resolve these shortcomings, and importantly achieve even higher SKRs than TF-QKD, via implementing an innovative but simpler measurement-device-independent QKD which realizes repeater-like communication through asynchronous coincidence pairing. Over 413 and 508 km optical fibers, we achieve finite-size SKRs of 590.61 and 42.64 bit/s, which are respectively 1.80 and 4.08 times of their corresponding absolute rate limits. Significantly, the SKR at 306 km exceeds 5 kbit/s and meets the bitrate requirement for live one-time-pad encryption of voice communication. Our work will bring forward economical and efficient intercity quantum-secure networks.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Comprehensive Analysis and Functional Studies of WRKY Transcription Factors in Nelumbo nucifera

The WRKY family is one of the largest transcription factor (TF) families in plants and plays central roles in modulating plant stress responses and developmental processes, as well as secondary metabolic regulations. Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is an aquatic crop that has significant food, ornamental and pharmacological values. Here, we performed an overview analysis of WRKY TF family members in lotus, and studied their functions in environmental adaptation and regulation of lotus benzylisoquinoline alkaloid (BIA) biosynthesis. A total of 65 WRKY genes were identified in the lotus genome and they were well clustered in a similar pattern with their Arabidopsis homologs in seven groups (designated I, IIa-IIe, and III), although no lotus WRKY was clustered in the group IIIa. Most lotus WRKYs were functionally paired, which was attributed to the recently occurred whole genome duplication in lotus. In addition, lotus WRKYs were regulated dramatically by salicilic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and submergence treatments, and two lotus WRKYs, NnWRKY40a and NnWRKY40b, were significantly induced by JA and promoted lotus BIA biosynthesis through activating BIA biosynthetic genes. The investigation of WRKY TFs for this basal eudicot reveals new insights into the evolution of the WRKY family, and provides fundamental information for their functional studies and lotus breeding

A Novel Discrete Global-Best Harmony Search Algorithm for Solving 0-1 Knapsack Problems

In order to better solve discrete 0-1 knapsack problems, a novel global-best harmony search algorithm with binary coding, called DGHS, is proposed. First, an initialization based on a greedy mechanism is employed to improve the initial solution quality in DGHS. Next, we present a novel improvisation process based on intuitive cognition of improvising a new harmony, in which the best harmony of harmony memory (HM) is used to guide the searching direction of evolution during the process of memory consideration, or else a harmony is randomly chosen from HM and then a discrete genetic mutation is done with some probability during the phase of pitch adjustment. Third, a two-phase repair operator is employed to repair an infeasible harmony vector and to further improve a feasible solution. Last, a new selection scheme is applied to decide whether or not a new randomly generated harmony is included into the HM. The proposed DGHS is evaluated on twenty knapsack problems with different scales and compared with other three metaheuristics from the literature. The experimental results indicate that DGHS is efficient, effective, and robust for solving difficult 0-1 knapsack problems

Pretreatment with Shenxiong Drop Pill induces AQP4- mediated neuroprotective effect on middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

Purpose: To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Shenxiong Drop Pill (SXDP) pretreatment on rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats, and the mechanism involved.Methods: Ninety-nine SD rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: control group, MCAO group, shamoperated group and SXDP group. The MCAO model was established via thread occlusion. Rats in the SXDP group was administered SXDP 7 days before induction of MCAO. Neurological deficit score (NDS) was determined using Bederson's neurological behavioral scoring method, while cerebral infarction volume was measured using TTC staining. Integrated optical density (IOD) of Nissl Body was evaluated via Nissl staining. Brain water content was measured using dry-wet method. The expression level of AQP4 in brain tissues was determined using immunocytochemistry.Results: The SXDP treatment resulted in significant reduction in NDS, marked improvement in IOD of Nissl Body, and significant reductions in cerebral infarction volume, brain water content, and expression level of AQP4, relative to control (p< 0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that SXDP pretreatment exerts neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischemia in rats by decreasing in cerebral edema through a mechanism involving downregulation of the expression of AQP4. Keywords: Middle cerebral artery occlusion, Cerebral ischemia, Aquaporins-4, Cerebral edema, Neuroprotectio