The effect of Matmo typhoon on mixed zone between the Yellow sea and Bohai sea

The results of remote sensing, buoy and profile based on measured data indicate that the wind speed, H-1/3 and salinity increased, sea surface temperature declined, and wind direction changed greatly during the transit of the Matmo typhoon on July 25. It was found that the typhoon transport the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass into the the Yellow and Bohai seas mixed zone

Person re-identification using local relation-aware graph convolutional network

Local feature extractions have been verified to be effective for person re-identification (re-ID) in recent literature. However, existing methods usually rely on extracting local features from single part of a pedestrian while neglecting the relationship of local features among different pedestrian images. As a result, local features contain limited information from one pedestrian image, and cannot benefit from other pedestrian images. In this paper, we propose a novel approach named Local Relation-Aware Graph Convolutional Network (LRGCN) to learn the relationship of local features among different pedestrian images. In order to completely describe the relationship of local features among different pedestrian images, we propose overlap graph and similarity graph. The overlap graph formulates the edge weight as the overlap node number in the node’s neighborhoods so as to learn robust local features, and the similarity graph defines the edge weight as the similarity between the nodes to learn discriminative local features. To propagate the information for different kinds of nodes effectively, we propose the Structural Graph Convolution (SGConv) operation. Different from traditional graph convolution operations where all nodes share the same parameter matrix, SGConv learns different parameter matrices for the node itself and its neighbor nodes to improve the expressive power. We conduct comprehensive experiments to verify our method on four large-scale person re-ID databases, and the overall results show LRGCN exceeds the state-of-the-art methods

Mirror protected Dirac fermions on a Weyl semimetal NbP surface

The first Weyl semimetal was recently discovered in the NbP class of compounds. Although the topology of these novel materials has been identified, the surface properties are not yet fully understood. By means of scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we find that NbPs (001) surface hosts a pair of Dirac cones protected by mirror symmetry. Through our high resolution spectroscopic measurements, we resolve the quantum interference patterns arising from these novel Dirac fermions, and reveal their electronic structure, including the linear dispersions. Our data, in agreement with our theoretical calculations, uncover further interesting features of the Weyl semimetal NbPs already exotic surface. Moreover, we discuss the similarities and distinctions between the Dirac fermions here and those in topological crystalline insulators in terms of symmetry protection and topology

Propeller driven spectral state transition in LMXB 4U 1608-52

Spectral state transitions in neutron star LMXB systems have been widely observed yet not well understood. Here we report an abrupt spectral change in 4U 1608-52, a typical atoll source, during its decay phase of the 2004 outburst. The source is found to undergo sudden changes in its spectral hardness and other properties. The transition occurred when its luminosity is between (3.3-5.3) E36 ergs/s, assuming a distance of 3.6 kpc. Interpreting this event in terms of the propeller effect, we infer the neutron star surface magnetic field as (1.4-1.8) E8 Gauss. We also briefly discuss similarities and differences between the spectral states of neutron star and black hole binary systems.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journa

Genome-Wide Gene Expression Analysis Suggests an Important Role of Suppressed Immunity in Pathogenesis of Kashin-Beck Disease

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences between the gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from normal controls and patients with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD). METHODS: Twenty KBD patients and 12 normal subjects were selected from a KBD-endemic area and divided into four pairs of KBD vs. control (KBD, n = 5 per pair; control, n = 3 per pair). RNAs were respectively isolated from KBD PBMCs and normal PBMCs. Gene expression profiles were analyzed by oligonucleotide microarray. The gene expression profiles in PBMCs from KBD patients and normal controls were compared and the differentially expressed genes were identified. The obtained microarray data was further confirmed by using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: Approximately 501 genes, corresponding to 2.4% of the total probe transcripts, showed a 2-fold change in differential expression. 19.4% (97 out of 501)of the differentially expressed genes were commonly detected in all the four pairs. Among the 97 differentially expressed genes, 83 genes were up-regulated and 14 genes were down-regulated, compared with those in the normal controls. Some differentially expressed genes were found to be related to functions such as immunity, metabolism, apoptosis, cystoskeleton and cell movement, and extracellular matrix. The validity of our microarray data were supported by the results of qRT-PCR assay. CONCLUSION: Differences in the PBMC gene expression profile between the KBD patients and the normal controls exhibited a similar pattern among all the four pairs of microarrays examined, indicating that the suppressed immunity may play an important role in the pathogenesis of KBD

Acute infarct of the corpus callosum presenting as alien hand syndrome: evidence of diffusion weighted imaging and magnetic resonance angiography

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infarcts of the corpus callosum are rare and have not been well documented previously. As for a variety of signs and symptoms presented, alien hand syndrome (AHS) can be easily overlooked.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>In this report, we present a patient with a mixed types of AHS coexistence secondary to the corpus callosum infarction, including a motor type of AHS by intermanual conflict (callosal type AHS) and a sensory type of AHS by alien hand and left hemianesthesia (posterior AHS).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our case may contribute to the early recognition of AHS and to explore the abnormal neural mechanism of AHS. To our knowledge, rare reports have ever documented such mixed AHS coexisting secondary to the callosal lesion, based on advanced neuroimaging methods as in our case.</p

MEPE/OF45 protects cells from DNA damage induced killing via stabilizing CHK1

Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein/osteoblast factor 45 (MEPE/OF45) was cloned in 2000 with functions related to bone metabolism. We identified MEPE/OF45 for the first time as a new co-factor of CHK1 in mammalian cells to protect cells from DNA damage induced killing. We demonstrate here that MEPE/OF45 directly interacts with CHK1. Knocking down MEPE/OF45 decreases CHK1 levels and sensitizes the cells to DNA damage inducers such as ionizing radiation (IR) or camptothicin (CPT)-induced killing. Over-expressing wild-type MEPE/OF45, but not the mutant MEPE/OF45 (depleted the key domain to interact with CHK1) increases CHK1 levels in the cells and increases the resistance of the cells to IR or CPT. MEPE/OF45, interacting with CHK1, increases CHK1 half-life and decreases CHK1 degradation through the ubiquitine-mediated pathway. In addition, the interaction of MEPE/OF45 with CHK1 decreases CHK1 levels in the ubiquitin E3 ligases (Cul1 and Cul4A) complex, which suggests that MEPE/OF45 competes with the ubiquitin E3 ligases binding to CHK1 and thus decreases CHK1 from ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. These findings reveal an important role of MEPE/OF45 in protecting cells from DNA damage induced killing through stabilizing CHK1, which would provide MEPE/OF45 as a new target for sensitizing tumor cells to radiotherapy or chemotherapy

Cosmological evolution of interacting phantom (quintessence) model in Loop Quantum Gravity

The dynamics of interacting dark energy model in loop quantum cosmology (LQC) is studied in this paper. The dark energy has a constant equation of state $w_x$ and interacts with dark matter through a form $3cH(\rho_x+\rho_m)$. We find for quintessence model ($w_x>-1$) the cosmological evolution in LQC is the same as that in classical Einstein cosmology; whereas for phantom dark energy ($w_x<-1$), although there are the same critical points in LQC and classical Einstein cosmology, loop quantum effect reduces significantly the parameter spacetime ($c, w_x$) required by stability. If parameters $c$ and $w_x$ satisfy the conditions that the critical points are existent and stable, the universe will enter an era dominated by dark energy and dark matter with a constant energy ratio between them, and accelerate forever; otherwise it will enter an oscillatory regime. Comparing our results with the observations we find at $1\sigma$ confidence level the universe will accelerate forever.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in JCA

Dairy consumption and cardiometabolic diseases: systematic review and updated meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies

Purpose of Review Dairy products contain both beneficial and harmful nutrients in relation to cardiometabolic diseases. Here, we provide the latest scientific evidence regarding the relationship between dairy products and cardiometabolic diseases by reviewing the literature and updating meta-analyses of observational studies. Recent Findings We updated our previous meta-analyses of cohort studies on type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke with nine studies and confirmed previous results. Total dairy and low-fat dairy (per 200 g/d) were inversely associated with a 3–4% lower risk of diabetes. Yogurt was non-linearly inversely associatedwith diabetes (RR = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.83–0.90 at 80 g/ d). Total dairy and milk were not associated with CHD (RR~1.0). An increment of 200 g of daily milk intake was associated with an 8% lower risk of stroke. Summary The latest scientific evidence confirmed neutral or beneficial associations between dairy products and risk of cardiometabolic diseases

Protein-coding variants implicate novel genes related to lipid homeostasis contributing to body-fat distribution.

Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF ≥5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF &lt;5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants