Enhancing pentachlorophenol degradation by vermicomposting associated bioremediation

Vermicomposting is an effective and environmentally friendly approach for soil organic contamination clean-up. This study investigated the roles and mechanisms of earthworm (Eisenia foetida) on soil pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation with sterile and non-sterile soil-compost treatment. Limited soil PCP degradation was observed in the control and sterile compost treatments, whereas the synergetic effects of earthworm and compost contributed to the PCP biodegradation acceleration by significantly improving microbial biomass and activities. Sequence analysis and phylogentic classification of soil bacterial and fungal community structure after 42 days treatment identified the dominancy of indigenous bacterial families Pseudomonadaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae and Xanthomonadaceae, and fungal family Trichocomaceae, which were responsible for PCP biodegradation and stimulated by vermicomposting. Further investigation revealed the dominant roles of sterile compost during PCP biodegradation as the formation of humus-PCP in soil rather than neutralizing soil pH and increasing PCP availability. The mechanisms of vermicomposting include humus-PCP complex degradation, humus consumption and soil pH neutralization. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the synergetic effect of vermicomposting on microbial community functions and PCP degradation enhancement in soils

The impact on the soil microbial community and enzyme activity of two earthworm species during the bioremediation of pentachlorophenol-contaminated soils

The ecological effect of earthworms on the fate of soil pentachlorophenol (PCP) differs with species. This study addressed the roles and mechanisms by which two earthworm species (epigeic Eisenia fetida and endogeic Amynthas robustus E. Perrier) affect the soil microbial community and enzyme activity during the bioremediation of PCP-contaminated soils. A. robustus removed more soil PCP than did E. foetida. A. robustus improved nitrogen utilisation efficiency and soil oxidation more than did E. foetida, whereas the latter promoted the organic matter cycle in the soil. Both earthworm species significantly increased the amount of cultivable bacteria and actinomyces in soils, enhancing the utilisation rate of the carbon source (i.e. carbohydrates, carboxyl acids, and amino acids) and improving the richness and evenness of the soil microbial community. Additionally, earthworm treatment optimized the soil microbial community and increased the amount of the PCP-4-monooxygenase gene. Phylogenic classification revealed stimulation of indigenous PCP bacterial degraders, as assigned to the families Flavobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae and Sphingobacteriacea, by both earthworms. A. robustus and E. foetida specifically promoted Comamonadaceae and Moraxellaceae PCP degraders, respectively

Ordovician successions in southern-central Xizang (Tibet), China—Refining the stratigraphy of the Himalayan and Lhasa terranes

The Ordovician stratigraphy of southern-central Xizang (Tibet) has been revised based on new conodont data recovered from 43 samples in four stratigraphic units and their integration with existing nautiloid and graptolite data. The Histiodella holodentata and Pygodus serra biozones have been identified respectively in the Alai and Jiaqu formations of the Chiatsun Group exposed near Alai village in Nyalam County within the Himalayan terrane, and the Yangtzeplacognathus foliaceus Subbiozone (lower part of the Pygodus serra Biozone) in the Sangqu Formation exposed at the Guyu section within Zayu County in the Lhasa terrane. Recognition of these biozones has increased the precision of correlation of the middle-upper Darriwilian strata in the region. Regional reassessment of the Ordovician stratigraphy permitted by new biostratigraphic data has allowed revised definitions for the Chiatsun and Keerduo groups and the Sangqu and Xainza formations. The Chiatsun Group is defined herein to include three lithologically distinctive formations in descending order, the Jiaqu, the Alai and the Adang formations. The stratigraphic age for the Jiaqu and Alai formations in the type area ranges from the middle Darriwilian (Histiodella holodentata Biozone) to middle Katian (Hamarodus brevirameus Biozone), but the age of the Adang Formation remains less certain

GSmoothFace: Generalized Smooth Talking Face Generation via Fine Grained 3D Face Guidance

Although existing speech-driven talking face generation methods achieve significant progress, they are far from real-world application due to the avatar-specific training demand and unstable lip movements. To address the above issues, we propose the GSmoothFace, a novel two-stage generalized talking face generation model guided by a fine-grained 3d face model, which can synthesize smooth lip dynamics while preserving the speaker's identity. Our proposed GSmoothFace model mainly consists of the Audio to Expression Prediction (A2EP) module and the Target Adaptive Face Translation (TAFT) module. Specifically, we first develop the A2EP module to predict expression parameters synchronized with the driven speech. It uses a transformer to capture the long-term audio context and learns the parameters from the fine-grained 3D facial vertices, resulting in accurate and smooth lip-synchronization performance. Afterward, the well-designed TAFT module, empowered by Morphology Augmented Face Blending (MAFB), takes the predicted expression parameters and target video as inputs to modify the facial region of the target video without distorting the background content. The TAFT effectively exploits the identity appearance and background context in the target video, which makes it possible to generalize to different speakers without retraining. Both quantitative and qualitative experiments confirm the superiority of our method in terms of realism, lip synchronization, and visual quality. See the project page for code, data, and request pre-trained models: https://zhanghm1995.github.io/GSmoothFace

Balanced Reward-inspired Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Vehicle Racing

Autonomous vehicle racing has attracted extensive interest due to its great potential in autonomous driving at the extreme limits. Model-based and learning-based methods are being widely used in autonomous racing. However, model-based methods cannot cope with the dynamic environments when only local perception is available. As a comparison, learning-based methods can handle complex environments under local perception. Recently, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has gained popularity in autonomous racing. DRL outperforms conventional learning- based methods by handling complex situations and leveraging local information. DRL algorithms, such as the proximal policy algorithm, can achieve a good balance between the execution time and safety in autonomous vehicle competition. However, the training outcomes of conventional DRL methods exhibit inconsistent correctness in decision-making. The instability in decision-making introduces safety concerns in autonomous vehicle racing, such as collisions into track boundaries. The proposed algorithm is capable to avoid collisions and improve the training quality. Simulation results on a physical engine demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms other DRL algorithms in achieving safer control during sharp bends, fewer collisions into track boundaries, and higher training quality among multiple tracks

Long-coherence pairing of low-mass conduction electrons in copper-substituted lead apatite

Two entangled qubits emerge as an essential resource for quantum control, which are normally quantum confined with atomic precision. It seems inhibitive that in the macroscopic scope collective qubit pairs manifest long coherence and quantum entanglement, especially at high temperature. Here, we report this exotic ensemble effect in solid-state sintering lead apatite samples with copper substitution, which have been repeatedly duplicated with superior stability and low cost. An extraordinarily low-field absorption signal of cw electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy stems from low-mass conduction electrons implying the coherence of cuprate radicals can be long-termly protected. The pulsed EPR experiments exhibit triplet Rabi oscillation from paired cuprate diradicals with the coherence time exceeding 1 microsecond at 85K. We believe these appealing effects are sufficiently promising to be applied for scalable quantum control and computation.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Variation of Tensor Force due to Nuclear Medium Effect

The enhancement of $J^{\pi}(T)$=3$^{+}$(0) state with isospin $T=0$ excited by the tensor force in the free $^{6}$Li nucleus has been observed, for the first time, relative to a shrinkable excitation in the $^{6}$Li cluster component inside its host nucleus. Comparatively, the excitation of $J^{\pi}(T)$=0$^{+}$(1) state with isospin $T=1$ for these two $^{6}$Li formations take on an approximately equal excitation strength. The mechanism of such tensor force effect was proposed due to the intensive nuclear medium role on isospin $T$=0 state.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Aspect of Clusters Correlation at Light Nuclei Excited State

The correlation of $\alpha\alpha$ was probed via measuring the transverse momentum $p_{T}$ and width $\delta p_{T}$ of one $\alpha$, for the first time, which represents the spatial and dynamical essentialities of the initial coupling state in $^{8}$Be nucleus. The weighted interaction vertex of 3$\alpha$ reflected by the magnitudes of their relative momentums and relative emission angles proves the isosceles triangle configuration for 3$\alpha$ at the high excited energy analogous Hoyle states.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Multi-alpha Boson Gas state in Fusion Evaporation Reaction and Three-body Force

The experimental evidence for the $\alpha$ Boson gas state in the $^{11}$C+$^{12}$C$\rightarrow$$^{23}$Mg$^{\ast}$ fusion evaporation reaction is presented. By measuring the $\alpha$ emission spectrum with multiplicity 2 and 3, we provide insight into the existence of a three-body force among $\alpha$ particles. The observed spectrum exhibited distinct tails corresponding to $\alpha$ particles emitted in pairs and triplets consistent well with the model-calculations of AV18-UX and chiral effective field theory of NV2-3-la*, indicating the formation of $\alpha$ clusters with three-body force in the Boson gas state.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure