LocustDB: a relational database for the transcriptome and biology of the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)

BACKGROUND: The migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is an orthopteran pest and a representative member of hemimetabolous insects for biological studies. Its transcriptomic data provide invaluable information for molecular entomology and pave a way for the comparative research of other medically, agronomically, and ecologically relevant insects. We developed the first transcriptomic database of the locust (LocustDB), building necessary infrastructures to integrate, organize, and retrieve data that are either currently available or to be acquired in the future. DESCRIPTION: LocustDB currently hosts 45,474 high-quality EST sequences from the locust, which were assembled into 12,161 unigenes. It, through user-friendly web interfaces, allows investigators to freely access sequence data, including homologous/orthologous sequences, functional annotations, and pathway analysis, based on conserved orthologous groups (COG), gene ontology (GO), protein domain (InterPro), and functional pathways (KEGG). It also provides information from comparative analysis based on data from the migratory locust and five other invertebrate species, including the silkworm, the honeybee, the fruitfly, the mosquito and the nematode. The website address of LocustDB is . CONCLUSION: LocustDB starts with the first transcriptome information for an orthopteran and hemimetabolous insect and will be extended to provide a framework for incorporating in-coming genomic data of relevant insect groups and a workbench for cross-species comparative studies

Ground state degeneracy of the Ising cage-net model

The Ising cage-net model, first proposed in Phys. Rev. X 9, 021010 (2019), is a representative type I fracton model with nontrivial non-abelian features. In this paper, we calculate the ground state degeneracy of this model and find that, even though it follows a similar coupled layer structure as the X-cube model, the Ising cage-net model cannot be "foliated" in the same sense as X-cube as defined in Phys. Rev. X 8, 031051 (2018). A more generalized notion of "foliation'' is hence needed to understand the renormalization group transformation of the Ising cage-net model. The calculation is done using an operator algebra approach that we develop in this paper, and we demonstrate its validity through a series of examples

Characterization and comparative profiling of the small RNA transcriptomes in two phases of locust

High-throughput sequencing of the small RNA transcriptome of locust reveals differences in post-transcriptional regulation between solitary and swarming phases and provides insights into the evolution of insect small RNAs

CSP and Takeout Genes Modulate the Switch between Attraction and Repulsion during Behavioral Phase Change in the Migratory Locust

Behavioral plasticity is the most striking trait in locust phase transition. However, the genetic basis for behavioral plasticity in locusts is largely unknown. To unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the behavioral phase change in the migratory locust Locusta migratoria, the gene expression patterns over the time courses of solitarization and gregarization were compared by oligonucleotide microarray analysis. Data analysis revealed that several gene categories relevant to peripheral olfactory perception are strongly regulated in a total of 1,444 differentially expressed genes during both time courses. Among these candidate genes, several CSP (chemosensory protein) genes and one takeout gene, LmigTO1, showed higher expression in gregarious and solitarious locusts, respectively, and displayed opposite expression trends during solitarization and gregarization. qRT-PCR experiments revealed that most CSP members and LmigTO1 exhibited antenna-rich expressions. RNA interference combined with olfactory behavioral experiments confirmed that the CSP gene family and one takeout gene, LmigTO1, are involved in the shift from repulsion to attraction between individuals during gregarization and in the reverse transition during solitarization. These findings suggest that the response to locust-emitted olfactory cues regulated by CSP and takeout genes is involved in the behavioral phase change in the migratory locust and provide a previously undescribed molecular mechanism linked to the formation of locust aggregations

The stability evaluation of clay tunnels via the non-linear deterioration of physical and mechanical properties of surrounding rocks

Simple, fast, and reliable methods for the stability evaluation of tunnels can facilitate the construction and development of tunneling projects. The problems related to tunnel stability at this stage can be well analyzed via theoretical analysis method, model test method, or numerical analysis method. On the other hand, those methods are hard to be effectively analyzed these projects with higher importance, shorter decision and design period, and more urgent construction period. This paper proposed research works on the stability evaluation of clay tunnels. Firstly, a state function with the variables of stress and strain state is presented to predict the stress and strain states of surrounding rocks caused by tunnel excavation, which characterize the physical-mechanical state of surrounding rocks (also called stability state). Secondly, the non-linear deterioration of the physical and mechanical properties of surrounding rocks will be simulated, and the expressions and calculation methods of the tunnel stability reserve factor will be yielded. Finally, the results of the proposed method were compared with the strength reduction method and the limit equilibrium method with a clay tunnel example. The comparison between the three feature points of the arch crown, sidewall, and arch bottom showed that the stability reserve factor of the clay tunnel was smaller than those of the strength reduction method and the limit equilibrium method. The values of limit displacement obtained by the proposed method were closer to the field monitoring data than that of the strength reduction method. Therefore, this study could be better applied to the stability evaluation of clay tunnels

Search for the decay J/ψ→γ+invisibleJ/\psi\to\gamma + \rm {invisible}

We search for $J/\psi$ radiative decays into a weakly interacting neutral particle, namely an invisible particle, using the $J/\psi$ produced through the process $\psi(3686)\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi$ in a data sample of $(448.1\pm2.9)\times 10^6$ $\psi(3686)$ decays collected by the BESIII detector at BEPCII. No significant signal is observed. Using a modified frequentist method, upper limits on the branching fractions are set under different assumptions of invisible particle masses up to 1.2 $\mathrm{\ Ge\kern -0.1em V}/c^2$. The upper limit corresponding to an invisible particle with zero mass is 7.0$\times 10^{-7}$ at the 90\% confidence level

Observation and study of the decay J/ψ→ϕηη′J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'

We report the observation and study of the decay $J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'$ using $1.3\times{10^9}$ $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESIII detector. Its branching fraction, including all possible intermediate states, is measured to be $(2.32\pm0.06\pm0.16)\times{10^{-4}}$. We also report evidence for a structure, denoted as $X$, in the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectrum in the $2.0-2.1$ GeV/$c^2$ region. Using two decay modes of the $\eta'$ meson ($\gamma\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\eta\pi^+\pi^-$), a simultaneous fit to the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectra is performed. Assuming the quantum numbers of the $X$ to be $J^P = 1^-$, its significance is found to be 4.4$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2002.1 \pm 27.5 \pm 21.4)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(129 \pm 17 \pm 9)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.8 \pm 1.2 \pm 1.7)\times10^{-5}$. Alternatively, assuming $J^P = 1^+$, the significance is 3.8$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2062.8 \pm 13.1 \pm 7.2)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(177 \pm 36 \pm 35)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.6 \pm 1.4 \pm 2.0)\times10^{-5}$. The angular distribution of $J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X$ is studied and the two $J^P$ assumptions of the $X$ cannot be clearly distinguished due to the limited statistics. In all measurements the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures and 4 table

Observation of Ds+→pnˉD^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n} and confirmation of its large branching fraction

The baryonic decay $D^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n}$ is observed, and the corresponding branching fraction is measured to be $(1.21\pm0.10\pm0.05)\times10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and second systematic. The data sample used in this analysis was collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ double-ring collider with a center-of-mass energy of 4.178~GeV and an integrated luminosity of 3.19~fb$^{-1}$. The result confirms the previous measurement by the CLEO Collaboration and is of greatly improved precision, which may deepen our understanding of the dynamical enhancement of the W-annihilation topology in the charmed meson decays