Characterization and identification of the integrin family in silkworm, Bombyx mori

YesAs an important economic insect, Bombyx mori is also a useful model organism for lepidopteran insect. Integrins are evolutionarily conserved fromsponges to humans, and play vital roles inmany physiological and pathological processes. To explore their diverse functions of integrins in insect, eleven integrins including sixα and five β subunitswere cloned and characterized fromsilkworm. Our results showed that integrins fromsilkwormown more family members compared to other invertebrates. Among those α subunits, integrins α1, α2, and the other four subunits belong to PS1, PS2, and PS3 groups, respectively. The β subunits mainly gather in the insect βν group except the β1 subunit which belongs to the insect β group. Expression profiles demonstrated that the integrins exhibited distinct patterns, but were mainly expressed in hemocytes. α1 and β2 subunits are the predominant ones either in the embryogenesis or larva stages. Interestingly, integrins were significantly up-regulated after stimulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E) in vivo. These results indicate that integrins performdiverse functions in hemocytes of silkworm. Overall, our results provide a newinsight into the functional and evolutionary features of integrins.National Basic Research Programof China (No. 2012cb114603), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20130182110003), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2013jcyjys0007), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU111014)

Four volcanically driven climatic perturbations led to enhanced continental weathering during the Late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode

The arid climate of the Late Triassic was interrupted by a particularly humid episode known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE; ca. 234–232 million years ago). The CPE is often linked to eruptions in the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province (LIP), and is assumed to have led to global warming, enhanced weathering, water deoxygenation, and biotic changes. However, direct evidence for a temporal link between volcanic activity and chemical weathering has not yet been established due to the lack of comprehensive records across the CPE. In this study, geochemical and mineralogical analyses are applied to a lacustrine stratigraphic succession of the Jiyuan Basin (North China) that captures the CPE in high resolution. We identify four distinct pulses of enhanced continental chemical weathering characterized by elevated Chemical Index of Alteration values and kaolinite contents. These peaks in continental weathering coincide with Hg/TOC enrichments and negative organic carbon isotope excursions that mark four short (~400 kyr) but intense pulses of Wrangellia LIP volcanism. In combination with signs of increased humidity, our findings provide direct and independent evidence that Wrangellia LIP eruptions significantly altered CPE chemical weathering rates in response to global warming and wetting. The lake experienced eutrophication and water deoxygenation after each volcanic pulse but the swift recovery of carbon isotopes suggests that the system rapidly returned to conditions prior to the volcanic perturbation. Organic carbon burial facilitated by widespread dysoxic and anoxic waters, and CO2 consumption via enhanced weathering likely played crucial roles in the rapid climatic recovery after each volcanic pulse

Sustainable ultra‐strong thermally conductive wood‐based antibacterial structural materials with anti‐corrosion and ultraviolet shielding

In light of the uprising global development on sustainability, an innovative and environmental friendly wood-based material derived from natural pinewood has been developed as a high-performance alternative to petrochemical-based materials. The wood-based functional material, named as BC-CaCl2, is synthesized through the coordination of carboxyl groups (−COOH) present in pinewood with calcium ions (Ca2+), which facilitates the formation of a high-density cross-linking structure through the combined action of intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The as-prepared BC-CaCl2 exhibits excellent tensile strength (470.5 MPa) and flexural strength (539.5 MPa), establishing a robust structural basis for the materials. Meanwhile, BC-CaCl2 shows good water resistance, thermal conductivity, thermal stability, UV resistance, corrosion resistance, and antibacterial properties. BC-CaCl2 represents a viable alternative to petrochemical-based materials. Its potential application areas include waterproof enclosure structure of buildings, indoor underfloor heating, outdoor UV resistant protective cover, and anti-corrosion materials for installation engineering, and so forth

Anomalous stopping of laser-accelerated intense proton beam in dense ionized matter

Ultrahigh-intensity lasers (10$^{18}$-10$^{22}$W/cm$^{2}$) have opened up new perspectives in many fields of research and application [1-5]. By irradiating a thin foil, an ultrahigh accelerating field (10$^{12}$ V/m) can be formed and multi-MeV ions with unprecedentedly high intensity (10$^{10}$A/cm$^2$) in short time scale ($\sim$ps) are produced [6-14]. Such beams provide new options in radiography [15], high-yield neutron sources [16], high-energy-density-matter generation [17], and ion fast ignition [18,19]. An accurate understanding of the nonlinear behavior of beam transport in matter is crucial for all these applications. We report here the first experimental evidence of anomalous stopping of a laser-generated high-current proton beam in well-characterized dense ionized matter. The observed stopping power is one order of magnitude higher than single-particle slowing-down theory predictions. We attribute this phenomenon to collective effects where the intense beam drives an decelerating electric field approaching 1GV/m in the dense ionized matter. This finding will have considerable impact on the future path to inertial fusion energy.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Energy loss enhancement of very intense proton beams in dense matter due to the beam-density effect

Thoroughly understanding the transport and energy loss of intense ion beams in dense matter is essential for high-energy-density physics and inertial confinement fusion. Here, we report a stopping power experiment with a high-intensity laser-driven proton beam in cold, dense matter. The measured energy loss is one order of magnitude higher than the expectation of individual particle stopping models. We attribute this finding to the proximity of beam ions to each other, which is usually insignificant for relatively-low-current beams from classical accelerators. The ionization of the cold target by the intense ion beam is important for the stopping power calculation and has been considered using proper ionization cross section data. Final theoretical values agree well with the experimental results. Additionally, we extend the stopping power calculation for intense ion beams to plasma scenario based on Ohm's law. Both the proximity- and the Ohmic effect can enhance the energy loss of intense beams in dense matter, which are also summarized as the beam-density effect. This finding is useful for the stopping power estimation of intense beams and significant to fast ignition fusion driven by intense ion beams

Target density effects on charge tansfer of laser-accelerated carbon ions in dense plasma

We report on charge state measurements of laser-accelerated carbon ions in the energy range of several MeV penetrating a dense partially ionized plasma. The plasma was generated by irradiation of a foam target with laser-induced hohlraum radiation in the soft X-ray regime. We used the tri-cellulose acetate (C$_{9}$H$_{16}$O$_{8}$) foam of 2 mg/cm$^{-3}$ density, and $1$-mm interaction length as target material. This kind of plasma is advantageous for high-precision measurements, due to good uniformity and long lifetime compared to the ion pulse length and the interaction duration. The plasma parameters were diagnosed to be T$_{e}$=17 eV and n$_{e}$=4 $\times$ 10$^{20}$ cm$^{-3}$. The average charge states passing through the plasma were observed to be higher than those predicted by the commonly-used semiempirical formula. Through solving the rate equations, we attribute the enhancement to the target density effects which will increase the ionization rates on one hand and reduce the electron capture rates on the other hand. In previsous measurement with partially ionized plasma from gas discharge and z-pinch to laser direct irradiation, no target density effects were ever demonstrated. For the first time, we were able to experimentally prove that target density effects start to play a significant role in plasma near the critical density of Nd-Glass laser radiation. The finding is important for heavy ion beam driven high energy density physics and fast ignitions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 35 conference