A Fast Independent Component Analysis Algorithm for Geochemical Anomaly Detection and Its Application to Soil Geochemistry Data Processing

A fast independent component analysis algorithm (FICAA) is introduced to process geochemical data for anomaly detection. In geochemical data processing, the geological significance of separated geochemical elements must be explicit. This requires that correlation coefficients be used to overcome the limitation of indeterminacy for the sequences of decomposed signals by the FICAA, so that the sequences of the decomposed signals can be correctly reflected. Meanwhile, the problem of indeterminacy in the scaling of the decomposed signals by the FICAA can be solved by the cumulative frequency method (CFM). To classify surface geochemical samples into true anomalies and false anomalies, assays of the 1 : 10 000 soil geochemical data in the area of Dachaidan in the Qinghai province of China are processed. The CFM and FICAA are used to detect the anomalies of Cu and Au. The results of this research demonstrate that the FICAA can demultiplex the mixed signals and achieve results similar to actual mineralization when 85%, 95%, and 98% are chosen as three levels of anomaly delineation. However, the traditional CFM failed to produce realistic results and has no significant use for prospecting indication. It is shown that application of the FICAA to geochemical data processing is effective

Fish Autophagy Protein 5 Exerts Negative Regulation on Antiviral Immune Response Against Iridovirus and Nodavirus

Autophagy is an important biological activity that maintains homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. However, little is known about the functions of fish autophagy-related genes (Atgs). In this study, we cloned and characterized Atg5, a key gene in the autophagy gene superfamily, from orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) (EcAtg5). EcAtg5 encoded a 275-amino acid protein that shared 94 and 81% identity to seabass (Lates calcarifer) and humans (Homo sapiens), respectively. The transcription level of EcAtg5 was significantly increased in cells infected with red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV). In cells infected with Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV), EcAtg5 expression declined during the early stage of infection and increased in the late stage. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that EcAtg5 mainly localized with a dot-like pattern in the cytoplasm of grouper cells. Overexpression of EcAtg5 significantly increased the replication of RGNNV and SGIV at different levels of detection, as indicated by increased severity of the cytopathic effect, transcription levels of viral genes, and levels of viral proteins. Knockdown of EcAtg5 decreased the replication of RGNNV and SGIV. Further studies showed that overexpression EcAtg5 activated autophagy, decreased expression levels of interferon related cytokines or effectors and pro-inflammatory factors, and inhibited the activation of nuclear factor κB, IFN-sensitive response element, and IFNs. In addition, ectopic expression of EcAtg5 affected cell cycle progression by hindering the G1/S transition. Taken together, our results demonstrated that fish Atg5 exerted a crucial role in virus replication by promoting autophagy, down-regulating antiviral IFN responses, and affecting the cell cycle

Identification of a Novel Marine Fish Virus, Singapore Grouper Iridovirus-Encoded MicroRNAs Expressed in Grouper Cells by Solexa Sequencing

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ubiquitous non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. An increasing number of studies has revealed that viruses can also encode miRNAs, which are proposed to be involved in viral replication and persistence, cell-mediated antiviral immune response, angiogenesis, and cell cycle regulation. Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) is a pathogenic iridovirus that has severely affected grouper aquaculture in China and Southeast Asia. Comprehensive knowledge about the related miRNAs during SGIV infection is helpful for understanding the infection and the pathogenic mechanisms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To determine whether SGIV encoded miRNAs during infection, a small RNA library derived from SGIV-infected grouper (GP) cells was constructed and sequenced by Illumina/Solexa deep-sequencing technology. We recovered 6,802,977 usable reads, of which 34,400 represented small RNA sequences encoded by SGIV. Sixteen novel SGIV-encoded miRNAs were identified by a computational pipeline, including a miRNA that shared a similar sequence to herpesvirus miRNA HSV2-miR-H4-5p, which suggests miRNAs are conserved in far related viruses. Generally, these 16 miRNAs are dispersed throughout the SGIV genome, whereas three are located within the ORF057L region. Some SGIV-encoded miRNAs showed marked sequence and length heterogeneity at their 3' and/or 5' end that could modulate their functions. Expression levels and potential biological activities of these viral miRNAs were examined by stem-loop quantitative RT-PCR and luciferase reporter assay, respectively, and 11 of these viral miRNAs were present and functional in SGIV-infected GP cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided a genome-wide view of miRNA production for iridoviruses and identified 16 novel viral miRNAs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of miRNAs encoded by aquatic animal viruses. The results provide a useful resource for further in-depth studies on SGIV infection and iridovirus pathogenesis

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

Joint determination of inventory replenishment and sales effort with uncertain market responses

An optimal joint operational and marketing decision is crucial for robust supply chain management. This paper addresses concurrent determination of inventory replenishment and sales effort decisions such as price, incentives to salesforce, and short-term promotions, or a combination of them. Market responses to sales efforts are typically highly uncertain, and demand in each period has its distribution dependent on the selected sales effort. In each period a replenishment order may be issued, which incurs both fixed and variable ordering costs, and at the same time the sales effort is also determined, the execution of which may incur costs. For such a model, the previously developed methods which are used for the joint inventory-pricing models become inadequate. A computational procedure for obtaining an optimal joint policy is addressed, and the conditions for the optimality of that policy are identified.Sales effort Market response Uncertainty Inventory control

Bursting oscillations, bifurcation delay and multi-stability in complex nonlinear systems

This special issue presents 32 contributions on bifurcation, chaos, and bursting oscillations. Some of them are devoted to dynamical behaviors, some to modeling and stability analysis. Bifurcation and chaos are important in the research of nonlinear dynamical behaviors, and bursting oscillations at multiple time scales also have a significant influence on these systems. This leads to many conclusions that can be used to guide practical engineering. A large number of new methods have been proposed for practical model-building and analysis, including scaling, adaptive control, and deep learning methods