Investigation of hot spring gas components and soil gas fluxes in Arxan Holocene volcanic field, Inner Mongolia, NE China

The latest research results show that there is a unified magma system and heating channel beneath the Arxan volcanic field, indicating a potential risk of eruption. The Arxan volcanic field features multiple gas emission sites (e.g., Jinjianggou hot springs and Yinjianggou hot springs) and exhibits strong hydrothermal activity. In this study, measurements of the hot spring gas composition and soil CO2 flux in the Arxan Holocene volcanic field were conducted, and the results were combined with previous research results to analyze the degassing characteristics of this region. The results show that the volcanic gases in the Arxan volcanic field are composed of 0.07%–1.09% CO2, 0.33–12 ppm CH4, 1.57–53 ppm H2, 800–30,241 ppm He, and 1.14%–1.86% Ar. The He content in this area is notably higher than that in other dormant volcanoes in China. This difference is possibly caused by U–Th decay in the Mesozoic granodiorite and acidic volcanic rocks in the study area, which can produce substantial radiogenic He. The soil gas concentrations near the Jinjianggou and Yinjianggou hot springs are higher than those of two Holocene volcanoes. The peak CO2 concentration in the soil near the Jinjianggou hot spring can reach 35,161 ppm. The single-site soil microseepage CO2 flux in the Arxan volcanic field is 4.66–107.18 g m−2 d−1, and the estimated annual CO2 emission flux from the volcanic field to the atmosphere is 0.63 × 105 t, which also demonstrates that soil CO2 flux of Arxan volcano is comparable to the soil CO2 emission level of the Iwojima volcano

MindShift: Leveraging Large Language Models for Mental-States-Based Problematic Smartphone Use Intervention

Problematic smartphone use negatively affects physical and mental health. Despite the wide range of prior research, existing persuasive techniques are not flexible enough to provide dynamic persuasion content based on users' physical contexts and mental states. We first conduct a Wizard-of-Oz study (N=12) and an interview study (N=10) to summarize the mental states behind problematic smartphone use: boredom, stress, and inertia. This informs our design of four persuasion strategies: understanding, comforting, evoking, and scaffolding habits. We leverage large language models (LLMs) to enable the automatic and dynamic generation of effective persuasion content. We develop MindShift, a novel LLM-powered problematic smartphone use intervention technique. MindShift takes users' in-the-moment physical contexts, mental states, app usage behaviors, users' goals & habits as input, and generates high-quality and flexible persuasive content with appropriate persuasion strategies. We conduct a 5-week field experiment (N=25) to compare MindShift with baseline techniques. The results show that MindShift significantly improves intervention acceptance rates by 17.8-22.5% and reduces smartphone use frequency by 12.1-14.4%. Moreover, users have a significant drop in smartphone addiction scale scores and a rise in self-efficacy. Our study sheds light on the potential of leveraging LLMs for context-aware persuasion in other behavior change domains

Study on the actual particle size, activity concentration, and migration process adsorption behavior of radioactive substances in liquid effluents from nuclear power plants

Radionuclides emitted by nuclear power plants may have effects on the environment and public health. At present, research on radioactive material effluent in the industry mainly focuses on the treatment of radioactive effluent and the particle size distribution of the primary circuit. There is little research on the particle size of radioactive material during the migration process outside the primary circuit system, as well as the flocculation precipitation and other enrichment phenomena during the collection process of effluent. Therefore, this study relies on the sampling of effluent from an in-service nuclear power plant to measure its radioactivity level by particle size range. At the same time, the mixing process of effluent is simulated in the laboratory to simulate the adsorption behavior of effluent during the migration process. It was found that in the activity concentration of detectable radioactive nuclides in the effluent samples, more than 95% of radioactive nuclides exist in the liquid with particle sizes less than 0.1μm, while particle sizes greater than 0.45 μm account for less than 5%. After the sample was filtered by the demineralizer, the radioactive activity decreased. The flocculation precipitation in the waste liquid of the waste water recovery system has a certain contribution to the enrichment of nuclides. With the extension of time, the enrichment of transition elements such as cobalt and manganese is particularly obvious, so that it is distributed in the liquid again with a large particle size. In addition, large particle size substances such as colloids in seawater have a certain adsorption effect on radionuclides, which will lead to its aggregation effect again

A genome-wide association study of Chinese and English language phenotypes in Hong Kong Chinese children

Funding: This study was partially supported by a Theme-based Research Scheme (T44-410/21-N) and a Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) (C4054-17W) from the Research Grants Council. HCS was partially supported by the KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research of Common Diseases, and the Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, as well as the Lo Kwee Seong Biomedical Research Fund.Dyslexia and developmental language disorders are important learning difficulties. However, their genetic basis remains poorly understood, and most genetic studies were performed on Europeans. There is a lack of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on literacy phenotypes of Chinese as a native language and English as a second language (ESL) in a Chinese population. In this study, we conducted GWAS on 34 reading/language-related phenotypes in Hong Kong Chinese bilingual children (including both twins and singletons; total N = 1046). We performed association tests at the single-variant, gene, and pathway levels. In addition, we tested genetic overlap of these phenotypes with other neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as cognitive performance (CP) and educational attainment (EA) using polygenic risk score (PRS) analysis. Totally 5 independent loci (LD-clumped at r2 = 0.01; MAF > 0.05) reached genome-wide significance (p 0.3 and having at least 2 correlated SNPs (r2 > 0.5) with p < 1e-3). The loci were associated with a range of language/literacy traits such as Chinese vocabulary, character and word reading, and rapid digit naming, as well as English lexical decision. Several SNPs from these loci mapped to genes that were reported to be associated with EA and other neuropsychiatric phenotypes, such as MANEA and PLXNC1. In PRS analysis, EA and CP showed the most consistent and significant polygenic overlap with a variety of language traits, especially English literacy skills. To summarize, this study revealed the genetic basis of Chinese and English abilities in a group of Chinese bilingual children. Further studies are warranted to replicate the findings.Peer reviewe

Characterization of suspended sand concentrations in the Yangtze River Estuary and adjacent waters

IntroductionThe study on the distribution characteristics of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in estuaries is an important subject in the study of estuaries and coasts, which has important theoretical significance and practical value.MethodsIn order to fully understand the characteristics of SSC in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters, this paper uses fixed vertical observation data and navigation type large area observation data as data sources to analyze the distribution characteristics of SSC in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters under different tidal current states and its vertical profile characteristics. It discusses the impact of tidal current velocity on SSC and the changes of SSC in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters from 2018 to 2020. And the applicability of the Rouse and Soulsby formulas in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters was verified.ResultsIt was found that the Rouse and Soulsby models have high applicability in the study area, and the prediction accuracy based on the Li’s Soulsby model is higher. This study provides effective support for carrying out marine forecasting, analysis and evaluation, and provides theoretical basis for carrying out analysis of the current situation of estuarine mudflat resources and prediction of the evolution trend. It plays an important role in scientific and comprehensive research and management of mudflat resources in Shanghai.DiscussionHowever, this study only explored the characteristic patterns of SSC in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters based on field observations, but SSC is a more complex water environment parameter that is influenced by a variety of factors. The effects of salinity, temperature and wind speed should be considered in subsequent studies

Long Non-Coding MALAT1 Functions as a Competing Endogenous RNA to Regulate Vimentin Expression by Sponging miR-30a-5p in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high morbidity as well as mortality and is believed to be one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. The long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is involved in numerous cancers, including HCC. This study aimed to explore the role of MALAT1 in HCC progression. Methods: The expression levels of MALAT1 and Vimentin in HCC tissues and relative pair-matched adjacent normal liver tissues were analyzed by RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry. Using bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase assay, we examined the correlation between MALAT1 and miR-30a-5p. Dual-luciferase assay and western blotting suggested that Vimentin was a target of miR-30a-5p. A wound healing assay and transwell assays were employed to determine the effect of MALAT1 and miR-30a-5p on cell migration and invasion in HCC. Results: Our data demonstrated that the levels of MALAT1 and Vimentin were upregulated in HCC tissues and that miR-30a-5p was a direct target of MALAT1. Silenced MALAT1 and overexpressed miR-30a-5p each inhibited cell migration and invasion. Additionally, dual-luciferase assay and western blotting demonstrated that MALAT1 could competitively sponge miR-30a-5p and thereby regulate Vimentin. Conclusion: Our data suggest that MALAT1 acts as an oncogenic lncRNA that promotes HCC migration and invasion. Therefore, the MALAT1-miR-30a-5p-Vimentin axis is a potential therapeutic target and molecular biomarker in HCC

A New Real-Time Pinch Detection Algorithm Based on Model Reference Kalman Prediction and SRMS for Electric Adjustable Desk

This paper presents a new algorithm based on model reference Kalman torque prediction algorithm combined with the sliding root mean square (SRMS). It is necessary to improve the accuracy and reliability of the pinch detection for avoiding collision with the height adjustable desk and accidents on users. Motors need to regulate their position and speed during the operation using different voltage by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to meet the requirement of position synchronization. It causes much noise and coupling information in the current sampling signal. Firstly, to analyze the working principle of an electric height adjustable desk control system, a system model is established with consideration of the DC (Direct Current) motor characteristics and the coupling of the system. Secondly, to precisely identify the load situation, a new model reference Kalman perdition method is proposed. The load torque signal is selected as a pinch state variable of the filter by comparing the current signal. Thirdly, to meet the need of the different loads of the electric table, the sliding root means square (SRMS) of the torque is proposed to be the criterion for threshold detection. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm, the experiments are carried out in the actual system. Experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper can detect the pinched state accurately under different load conditions

Genome-Wide Identification, Expression and Interaction Analysis of GmSnRK2 and Type A PP2C Genes in Response to Abscisic Acid Treatment and Drought Stress in Soybean Plant

As a typical ancient tetraploid, soybean (Glycine max) is an important oil crop species and plays a crucial role in supplying edible oil, plant protein and animal fodder worldwide. As global warming intensifies, the yield of soybean in the field is often strongly restricted by drought stress. SNF1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) and type A protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C-A) family members are core components of the abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction pathway in plants and have been suggested to play important roles in increasing plant tolerance to drought stress, but genetic information supporting this idea is still lacking in soybean. Here, we cloned the GmSnRK2s and GmPP2C-A family genes from the reference genome of Williams 82 soybean. The results showed that the expression patterns of GmSnRK2s and GmPP2C-As are spatiotemporally distinct. The expression of GmSnRK2s in response to ABA and drought signals is not strictly the same as that of Arabidopsis SnRK2 homologous genes. Moreover, our results indicated that the duplicate pairs of GmSnRK2s and GmPP2C-As have similar expression patterns, cis-elements and relationships. GmSnRK2.2 may have a distinct function in the drought-mediated ABA signaling pathway. Furthermore, the results of yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays between GmSnRK2s and GmPP2C-As revealed that GmSnRK2.17, GmSnRK2.18, GmSnRK2.22, GmPP2C5, GmPP2C7, GmPP2C10 and GmPP2C17 may play central roles in the crosstalk among ABA signals in response to drought stress. Furthermore, GmPP2C-As and GmSnRKs were targeted by miRNA and validated by degradome sequencing, which may play multiple roles in the crosstalk between ABA and drought signals and other stress signals. Taken together, these results indicate that GmSnRK2s and GmPP2C-As may play a variety of roles in the drought-mediated ABA signaling pathway