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Climate warming poses a great threat to ecosystems worldwide, which significantly affects the geographical distribution and suitable growth area of species. Taking Castanopsis hystrix Miq. as the research object, the potentially suitable cultivation regions under present and future climatic emission scenarios in China were predicted based on the MaxEnt model with 360 effective individual distributions and eight environmental variables. The min temperature of coldest month (bio6), precipitation of driest month (bio14), and precipitation of warmest quarter (bio18) are three leading factors affecting the geographical distribution area of C. hystrix Miq. The suitable cultivation regions of C. hystrix Miq. range from 18°–34° N, 89°–122° E in central and southern China and cover an area of 261.95 × 104 km2. The spatial pattern of C. hystrix Miq. will migrate to the southern region of low latitudes with a decreasing suitable area when in ssp1-2.6, and to the southwestern region of low latitudes or expand to the northeast region at high latitudes in ssp5-8.5, with an increasing suitable area; no significant change on the spatial pattern in ssp2-2.4. For ssp1-2.6 or ssp2-4.5 climate scenarios, the southern region of high latitudes will be appropriate for introducing and cultivating C. hystrix Miq., and the cultivation area will increase. For ssp5-8.5, its cultivation will increase and expand to the northeast of high-latitude areas slightly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Acetylcholine (ACh), as a classical neurotransmitter, plays great roles in the nervous system. There is increasing evidence of its non‐neuronal roles in regulating basic cell functions in vertebrates. However, knowledge about the non‐neuronal cholinergic system in insects is scarce. RESULTS: A comparative transcriptome analysis was performed to investigate differences in the key molecular components of the cholinergic system between the head and ovary. The results showed that expression levels of most cholinergic system‐related genes were higher in the head than in the ovary, and some cholinergic components were absent in the ovary. ACh contents ranged from 0.1 to 1.3 μg mg−1 of wet weight during the development of the ovary, and weak acetylcholinesterase activity was also detected. Moreover, the ovary has a capacity for ACh synthesis. Bromoacetylcarnitine (BrACar), a specific carnitine acetyltransferase (CarAT) inhibitor, greatly inhibits ACh synthesis by 83.83% in ovary homogenates, but bromoacetylcholine (BrACh), a specific choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) inhibitor, has no effect on ACh synthesis in the ovary. These findings indicate that non‐neuronal ACh in the ovary is only catalyzed by CarAT. CONCLUSION: This study reveals the existence of the non‐neuronal cholinergic system in the ovary of M. separata, whose synthesis and release mechanisms are different from those of the head. These results provide novel insights into the non‐neuronal cholinergic system in insects, and will be valuable in the discovery of new target genes and the future development of green pest control. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research describes a link between winter–springtime snow cover anomalies in central Europe and precipitation over the low‐latitude highlands of China (LLHC). Excessive snow cover over Europe and East Asia alters the meridional temperature gradient, which induces zonal wind anomalies at the 500 hPa level that impact the strength and position of subtropical streams. These anomalies persist until spring and result in a distinctive paired cyclonic–anticyclonic circulation pattern. Over Mongolia, the imposition of cyclonic circulation weakens the Mongolia High and reduces the potential southward flow of cold air that normally affects the LLHC during spring. Concurrently, the development of anticyclonic conditions over the LLHC weakens springtime precipitation in this area. This paired circulation system is verified by the linear baroclinic model, which also confirms that the observed linkage between snow cover and precipitation is not modulated by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. This analysis affords new insight into the effects of snow cover on the subtropical stream and atmospheric circulations downwind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pandrol track fastener image is composed of two parts: track fastener clip sub-graph and track fastener bolt sub-graph. However, the detection of track fastener clip defect can be realized by track fastener image and track fastener image cannot effectively detect whether the bolt is loose. When the convolutional neural network is used to extract whole picture features and detect, many bolt features unrelated to the clips will be obtained, thereby resulting in a high false alarm rate. To solve these problems, a method based on local convolutional neural network to detect the Pandrol track fastener defects is proposed. First, the algorithm for automatic segmentation of track fastener pictures was used to divide the picture of the Pandrol track fastener into two sub-pictures, one sub-picture is the track fastener bolt and the other sub-picture is the track fastener clip. Second, convolutional neural network was used to detect the track fastener clip pictures. The influence of bolt features unrelated to clips on clips detection can be avoided through image segmentation for local feature extraction, thereby reducing the false alarm rate. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is verified using real Pandrol track fastener images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignancy of plasma cells that largely remains incurable. The search for new therapeutic targets is therefore essential. In addition to a wide panel of genetic mutations, epigenetic alterations also appear as important players in the development of this cancer, thereby offering the possibility to reveal novel approaches and targets for effective therapeutic intervention. Results: Here, we show that a higher expression of the lysine methyltransferase SETD8, which is responsible for the mono-methylation of histone H4 at lysine 20, is an adverse prognosis factor associated with a poor outcome in two cohorts of newly diagnosed patients. Primary malignant plasma cells are particularly addicted to the activity of this epigenetic enzyme. Indeed, the inhibition of SETD8 by the chemical compound UNC-0379 and the subsequent decrease in histone H4 methylation at lysine 20 are highly toxic in MM cells compared to normal cells from the bone marrow microenvironment. At the molecular level, RNA sequencing and functional studies revealed that SETD8 inhibition induces a mature non-proliferating plasma cell signature and, as observed in other cancers, triggers an activation of the tumor suppressor p53, which together cause an impairment of myeloma cell proliferation and survival. However, a deadly level of replicative stress was also observed in p53-deficient myeloma cells treated with UNC-0379, indicating that the cytotoxicity associated with SETD8 inhibition is not necessarily dependent on p53 activation. Consistent with this, UNC-0379 triggers a p53-independent nucleolar stress characterized by nucleolin delocalization and reduction of nucleolar RNA synthesis. Finally, we showed that SETD8 inhibition is strongly synergistic with melphalan and may overcome resistance to this alkylating agent widely used in MM treatment. Conclusions: Altogether, our data indicate that the up-regulation of the epigenetic enzyme SETD8 is associated with a poor outcome and the deregulation of major signaling pathways in MM. Moreover, we provide evidences that myeloma cells are dependent on SETD8 activity and its pharmacological inhibition synergizes with melphalan, which could be beneficial to improve MM treatment in high-risk patients whatever their status for p53. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the impact of academic papers can help scholars quickly identify the high-quality papers in the field. How to develop efficient predictive model for evaluating potential papers has attracted increasing attention in academia. Many studies have shown that early citations contribute to improving the performance of predicting the long-term impact of a paper. Besides early citations, some bibliometric features and altmetric features have also been explored for predicting the impact of academic papers. Furthermore, paper metadata text such as title, abstract and keyword contains valuable information which has effect on its citation count. However, present studies ignore the semantic information contained in the metadata text. In this paper, we propose a novel citation prediction model based on paper metadata text to predict the long-term citation count, and the core of our model is to obtain the semantic information from the metadata text. We use deep learning techniques to encode the metadata text, and then further extract high-level semantic features for learning the citation prediction task. We also integrate early citations for improving the prediction performance of the model. We show that our proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art models in predicting the long-term citation count of the papers, and metadata semantic features are effective for improving the accuracy of the citation prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commonly used fastener positioning methods include pixel statistics (PS) method and template matching (TM) method. For the PS method, it is difficult to judge the image segmentation threshold due to the complex background of the track. For the TM method, the search in both directions of the global is easily affected by complex background, as a result, the locating accuracy of fasteners is low. To solve the above problems, this paper combines the PS method with the TM method and proposes a new fastener positioning method called local unidirectional template matching (LUTM). First, the rail positioning is achieved by the PS method based on the gray-scale vertical projection. Then, based on the prior knowledge, the image of the rail and the surrounding area of the rail is obtained which is referred to as the 1-shaped rail image; then, the 1-shaped rail image and the produced offline symmetrical fastener template is pre-processed. Finally, the symmetrical fastener template image is searched from top to bottom along the rail and the correlation is calculated to realize the fastener positioning. Experiments have proved that the method in this paper can effectively realize the accurate locating of the fastener for ballastless track and ballasted track at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are three main problems in track fastener defect detection based on image: (1) The number of abnormal fastener pictures is scarce, and supervised learning detection model is difficult to establish. (2) The potential data features obtained by different feature extraction methods are different. Some methods focus on edge features, and some methods focus on texture features. Different features have different detection capabilities, and these features are not effectively fused and utilized. (3) The detection of the track fastener clip will be interfered by the track fastener bolt subimage. Aiming at the above three problems, a method for track fastener defects detection based on Local Deep Feature Fusion Network (LDFFN) is proposed. Firstly, the track fastener image segmentation method is used to obtain the track fastener clip subimage, which can effectively reduce the interference of bolt subimage features on the track fastener clip detection. Secondly, the edge features and texture features of track fastener clip subimages are extracted by Autoencoder (AE) and Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM), and the features are fused. Finally, the similarity measurement method Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is used to detect defects in track fasteners. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by real Pandrol track fastener images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper designs a double-side linear vernier permanent-magnet motor, which incorporates the merits of high thrust force capability, high power factor, and high efficiency. Since the parameters of the motor are very sensitive and the high thrust force capability comes along with the high force ripple, a framework of multiobjective optimization is proposed to improve the overall motor performances. The sensitivity analysis is used to select significant variables and the multiobjective differential evolution with ranking-based mutation operator is conducted with the response surface models to generate the Pareto solution set. The electromagnetic performances of the optimal motor are compared with the initial motor by simulating step by step based on finite-element analysis. Finally, a prototype motor is manufactured and the experimental results validate the improved motor performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation efficiency (PE) is a crucial physical quantity in convective processes, describing the efficiency of rainfall generation from cloud detrainment. Although the importance of PE in extreme precipitation events is widely accepted, the evolution of PE in the warming climate and the associated moisture processes in East Asia are still not well understood. To address these issues, the interdecadal variability of PE in East Asia during summer in 1979–2016 is investigated in this study. Two major modes of summertime precipitation efficiency are identified using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. The leading EOF mode (EOF1) has a dipole pattern that reveals the variations of mean precipitation efficiency. The second EOF mode (EOF2) presents a quadrupole pattern that shows changes in the variability of precipitation efficiency. Both EOF modes exhibit significant interdecadal variability (IDV). The IDV of EOF1 is closely associated with the phase change of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies associated with the PDO can excite wind anomalies that significantly modulate moisture transport and further alter the mean precipitation efficiency in East Asia. The IDV of EOF2 can be attributed to the interdecadal change of occurrence frequency of Eastern Pacific El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, which affect water vapor transport by inducing an East Asia-Pacific teleconnection-like wave train anomaly pattern. The IDV patterns of precipitation efficiency for both the mean value and variability will improve the ability to predict precipitation in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) components, EZH2 and its homolog EZH1, and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway are focal points as therapeutic targets for multiple myeloma. However, the exact crosstalk between their downstream targets remains unclear. We herein elucidated some epigenetic interactions following Akt inhibition and demonstrated the efficacy of the combined inhibition of Akt and PRC2. We found that TAS‐117, a potent and selective Akt inhibitor, downregulated EZH2 expression at the mRNA and protein levels via interference with the Rb‐E2F pathway, while EZH1 was compensatively upregulated to maintain H3K27me3 modifications. Consistent with these results, the dual EZH2/EZH1 inhibitor, UNC1999, but not the selective EZH2 inhibitor, GSK126, synergistically enhanced TAS‐117‐induced cytotoxicity and provoked myeloma cell apoptosis. RNA‐seq analysis revealed the activation of the FOXO signaling pathway after TAS‐117 treatment. FOXO3/4 mRNA and their downstream targets were upregulated with the enhanced nuclear localization of FOXO3 protein after TAS‐117 treatment. ChIP assays confirmed the direct binding of FOXO3 to EZH1 promoter, which was enhanced by TAS‐117 treatment. Moreover, FOXO3 knockdown repressed EZH1 expression. Collectively, the present results reveal some molecular interactions between Akt signaling and epigenetic modulators, which emphasize the benefits of targeting PRC2 full activity and the Akt pathway as a therapeutic option for multiple myeloma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) is an epigenetic regulator induced in many cancers. It is thought to drive tumorigenesis by repressing division, stemness, and/or developmental regulators. Cancers evade immune detection, and diverse immune regulators are perturbed in different tumors. It is unclear how such cell-specific effects are coordinated. Here, we show a profound and cancer-selective role for PRC2 in repressing multiple cytokine pathways. We find that PRC2 represses hundreds of IFNγ stimulated genes (ISGs), cytokines and cytokine receptors. This target repertoire is significantly broadened in cancer vs non-cancer cells, and is distinct in different cancer types. PRC2 is therefore a higher order regulator of the immune program in cancer cells. Inhibiting PRC2 with either RNAi or EZH2 inhibitors activates cytokine/cytokine receptor promoters marked with bivalent H3K27me3/H3K4me3 chromatin, and augments responsiveness to diverse immune signals. PRC2 inhibition rescues immune gene induction even in the absence of SWI/SNF, a tumor suppressor defective in ~20% of human cancers. This novel PRC2 function in tumor cells could profoundly impact the mechanism of action and efficacy of EZH2 inhibitors in cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In embryonic stem cells, promoters of key lineage-specific differentiation genes are found in a bivalent state, having both activating H3K4me3 and repressive H3K27me3 histone marks, making them poised for transcription upon loss of H3K27me3. Whether cancer-initiating cells (C-ICs) have similar epigenetic mechanisms that prevent lineage commitment is unknown. Here we show that colorectal C-ICs (CC-ICs) are maintained in a stem-like state through a bivalent epigenetic mechanism. Disruption of the bivalent state through inhibition of the H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2, resulted in decreased self-renewal of patient-derived C-ICs. Epigenomic analyses revealed that the promoter of Indian Hedgehog (IHH), a canonical driver of normal colonocyte differentiation, exists in a bivalent chromatin state. Inhibition of EZH2 resulted in de-repression of IHH, decreased self-renewal, and increased sensitivity to chemotherapy in vivo. Our results reveal an epigenetic block to differentiation in CC-ICs and demonstrate the potential for epigenetic differentiation therapy of a solid tumour through EZH2 inhibition. The presence of bivalent epigenetic active and repressive histone marks control lineage-specific differentiation in embryonic stem cells. Here, the authors reveal that bivalent marks repress the differentiation gene IHH in colorectal cancer-initiating cells, and can be targeted by EZH2 inhibition [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]