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Early warning signs of the outbreak of pandemic disease become a high profile from the beginning and they remind more susceptible individuals to keep social distance on social occasions. However, these signs have no way to the Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) models which have been concerned by medical scientists. Warning signs imply the risk level of the pandemic disease evaluated by the government. The response of susceptible population ([Formula: see text]-population) to the warning signs is represented by a chicken game. In order to get a better payoff, the more beneficial behavior of the [Formula: see text]-population may be induced in the autonomous society based on the SIR model. We emphasize that participants can choose their strategies whether to follow the health rules or not without coercion in the chicken game while the warning signs released by the policy makers can encourage [Formula: see text]-population to choose beneficial behavior, instead of purely following the healthy rules or not. The agile policy helps [Formula: see text]-population to make a choice on the basis of risk interests but without losing to protect themselves in a serious pandemic situation. Comparing the classic SIR model with our signal-SIR model, the serious pandemic signal released by the policy makers and the disease awareness to it together play an important role in the outbreak period of the pandemic disease.

The cooperation in a large population engaging in the Public Goods Game (PGG) is investigated. Agents have two strategies to choose, i.e., to cooperate or to defect. These agents are temporally formed into groups for playing the PGG. The group sizes are randomly distributed and the payoffs obtained by the two-type agents after playing the games are related to the strategy selection implemented by the death-birth process. The time scales between the interactions of the agents and the strategy update are also considered. We find that the frequency of cooperation as a function of the game parameter is greatly affected by the group size distributions and the time scales of the evolutionary dynamics. At some cases, the cooperative behavior can be analytically solved. In this model, a mixed state with coexistence of cooperators and defectors and a totally cooperative state are observed. The critical game parameter, above which a totally cooperative state will occur, is obtained by an analytical treatment or analyzed by the last-surviving pattern. When the process of the strategy selection is fast, the critical game parameter for the emergence of an AllC state depends on the size scope of the group size distribution and the time scale of the interactions via grouping dynamics. At slow strategy selection, the critical game parameter approaches to rely on the mean group size of the dynamically formed groups. All the theoretical results are verified by computer simulations and they are in a good agreement.

Talent training in Colleges and universities is a process of the unity of education and talent cultivation. To build a high-level talent training system, we must consider the ideological and political work system, pay attention to the construction of Ideological and Political Theories Teaching in All Courses(IPTTAC), and solve the problem of "two skins" of professional education and ideological and political education[1]. In the teaching process of data structure course, Teachers practice IPTTAC and explore a series of methods of IPTTAC. Breaking the boundaries of disciplines, carrying out benign interaction, engineering culture and IPTTAC going hand in hand, engineering ethics education, socialist core values and Chinese traditional culture should be applied to IPTTAC.Paying attention to teachers' ethics and style, teaching by words and deeds, it will prompt IPTTAC. In teaching, we should start from the professional curriculum itself, explore the content related to ideology and politics, extend and expand the curriculum content, and enrich the charm of the curriculum itself.

Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKL) is aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment for high-risk lymphomas owing to its associated graft-versus-lymphoma (GVL) effect. However, its application to ENKL is limited. We aim to summarize the characteristics of allo-HSCT for ENKL and, more importantly, evaluate whether allo-HSCT could offer any benefits for ENKL.A systematic review and data analysis were performed to evaluate the performance of allo-HSCT in the treatment of ENKL using studies obtained from PubMed, Medline, and Embase from January 2000 to December 2019 in the English language.A total of 136 cases from 17 eligible publications were included in this study. It was found that after allo-HSCT, with an average follow-up time of 34 months (range: 1-121 months), 37.5% (52) of 136 patients had acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and 31.6% (43) had chronic GVHD. Furthermore, 35.3% (48) of the patients were reported to have relapsed, but 2 of those relapsed only locally and achieved complete remission (CR) again with additional irradiation, chemotherapy, and donor lymphocyte infusions for one and rapid tapering and discontinuation of cyclosporine for the other, earning more than one year of extra survival. Finally, of the 136 patients, 51.5% (70) died because of primary disease progression (42.9%), infection (20.0%), GVHD (11.4%), organ failure (7.1%), hemorrhage (4.3%), and other causes (not specified/unknown) (14.3%).Allo-HSCT may be a treatment option for advanced or relapsed/refractory ENKL, but its role still requires more rigorous future studies.Ekstranodal NK/T-hücreli lenfoma (ENKL) agresiftir ve kemoterapi ve radyoterapiye dirençlidir. Allojenik hematopoetik kök hücre transplantasyonu (allo-HSCT), ilişkili graft-lenfoma (GVL) etkisi nedeniyle, yüksek riskli lenfomalara yönelik potansiyel olarak iyileştirici bir tedavidir. Bununla birlikte, ENKL’ye uygulanması sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada ENKL için allo-HSCT’nin/AHKHN’nin özelliklerini özetlemeyi ve daha da önemlisi allo-HSCT’nin ENK için herhangi bir fayda sağlayıp sağlamayacağını değerlendirmeyi amaçlıyoruz.Ocak 2000’den Aralık 2019’a kadar İngilizce dilinde PubMed, Medline ve Embase literatürleri kullanılarak allo-HSCT’nin ENKL’ye performansını değerlendirmek için sistematik bir inceleme ve veri analizi gerçekleştirildi.Bu çalışmaya 17 uygun yayından toplam 136 olgu dahil edildi. 1) allo-HSCT’den sonra, 34 aylık ortalama takip süresine göre (aralık: 1-121 ay), 136 hastanın %37,5’inde (52) akut graft-versus-host hastalığı (GVHD), %31,6’sında (43) kronik GVHD vardı; 2) rapor edildiğinde, hastaların %35,3’ünde (48) relaps vardı, ancak bunlardan ikisi sadece lokal olarak nüks etti ve bunlardan birine ek ışınlama, kemoterapi, donör lenfosit infüzyonu ile tekrar tam remisyon (CR) sağladı, diğerine siklosporinin hızlı azaltılması ve kesilmesi bir yıldan fazla ekstra sağkalım kazandırdı; 3) 136 hastanın %51,5’i (70) primer hastalık ilerlemesi (%42,9), enfeksiyon (%20,0), GVHD (%11,4), organ yetmezliği (%7,1), kanama (%4,3) ve diğerleri (belirtilmedi/bilinmiyor) (%14,3) nedeniyle öldü.Allo-HSCT, ilerlemiş veya nükseden/refrakter ENKL için bir tedavi seçeneği olabilir, ancak rolü hala daha titiz gelecek çalışmaları gerektirmektedir.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a curative therapy but can result in significant complications including poor graft function (PGF). Little is known about the risk factors of primary PGF occurring after allo-HSCT. We retrospectively analyze the clinical data of 146 patients with myeloid tumors who underwent allo-HSCT at our hospital from January 2015 to December 2021. The relevant clinical parameters affecting the occurance of primary PGF after allo-HSCT were selected for univariate and multivariate analysis. Then, the difference in overall survival (OS) between groups were analyzed. The results of univariate and multivariate analysis showed that CD34+ cell dose ＜5×106 /kg (P = 0.010) and the pre-transplant CRP ＞10 mg/L (P = 0.020) were independent risk factors for primary PGF after allo-HSCT. The primary PGF was an independent factor related to poor OS for patients with myeloid tumors (P = 0.046). In conclusion, monitoring the pre-transplant CRP and ensuring CD34+ cell dose ≥5×106 /kg in graft are effective measures to prevent the occurance of primary PGF after allo-HSCT. The occurance of primary PGF affects the overall survival of patients with myeloid tumors who underwent allo-HSCT and we should do a good job in prevention and treatment of primary PGF at an early stage.

The thermal stability of enzymes dramatically limits their application in the industrial field. Based on the crystal structure, we conducted a semi-rational design according to the B-factor and free energy values to improve the stability of dextranase from Streptococcus mutans (SmdexTM). The B-factor values of Asn102, Asn503, Asp501 and Asp500 were the highest predicted by B-FITTER. Then Rosetta was used to simulate the saturation mutations of Asn102, Asn503, Asp501 and Asp500. The mutated amino acid was designed according to the change of acG. The results showed that the thermal stability of N102P, N102C, D500G, and D500T was improved, and the half-lives of N102P/D500G and N102P/D500T at 45 °C were increased to 3.14 times and 2.44 times, respectively. Analyzing the interaction of amino acids by using Discovery Studio 4.5, it was observed that the thermal stability of dextranase was improved due to the increase in hydrophobicity and the number of hydrogen bonds of the mutant enzyme. The catalytic efficiency of N102P/D500T was increased. Compared with the hydrolyzed products of SmdexTM, the mutant enzymes do not change the specificity of hydrolysates.

Bioglycosylation is an efficient strategy to improve biological activities and physicochemical properties of natural compounds to develop structural modifications of drugs. In this study, an N555 residue was identified as a candidate for site-directed mutagenesis through sequence alignment with GTF180ΔN. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) was used as an acceptor substrate. Two generated mutants, N555Q and N555E, demonstrated significant specificity of distribution of products. Under identical conditions, the conversion rates of diglycoside products (CAPE-2G) generated by the N555E (80.8%) and N555Q (84.5%) mutants were 3.30- and 3.46-fold higher than those generated by the original enzyme (24.4%). The structural simulation results demonstrated that a new hydrogen bond was formed between the N555 residue and CAPE, and the N555 residue was closely related to substrate elongation. These results provide a reference for subsequent studies. Suitable mutants for transfer of diglycosides have important application potential in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

To improve the coding performance of depth maps, 3D-HEVC includes several new depth intra coding tools at the expense of increased complexity due to a flexible quadtree Coding Unit/Prediction Unit (CU/PU) partitioning structure and a huge number of intra mode candidates. Compared to natural images, depth maps contain large plain regions surrounded by sharp edges at the object boundaries. Our observation finds that the features proposed in the literature either speed up the CU/PU size decision or intra mode decision and they are also difficult to make proper predictions for CUs/PUs with the multi-directional edges in depth maps. In this work, we reveal that the CUs with multi-directional edges are highly correlated with the distribution of corner points (CPs) in the depth map. CP is proposed as a good feature that can guide to split the CUs with multi-directional edges into smaller units until only single directional edge remains. This smaller unit can then be well predicted by the conventional intra mode. Besides, a fast intra mode decision is also proposed for non-CP PUs, which prunes the conventional HEVC intra modes, skips the depth modeling mode decision, and early determines segment-wise depth coding. Furthermore, a two-step adaptive corner point selection technique is designed to make the proposed algorithm adaptive to frame content and quantization parameters, with the capability of providing the flexible tradeoff between the synthesized view quality and complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can provide about 66% time reduction of the 3D-HEVC intra encoder without incurring noticeable performance degradation for synthesized views and it also outperforms the previous state-of-the-art algorithms in term of time reduction and $\Delta $ BDBR.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type in the sub-classification of liver cancer. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a fundamental role in tumor occurrence and progression. This research aimed to investigate the role and molecular basis of circRNA homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 3 (circ_HIPK3) in HCC. Circ_HIPK3 and DLX2 levels were enhanced, and miR-582-3p level was reduced in HCC tissues and cells. Silencing of circ_HIPK3 impeded proliferation, migration and invasion and expedited apoptosis in HCC cells. Furthermore, circ_HIPK3 modulated HCC progression via sponging miR-582-3p, and miR-582-3p suppressed HCC progression via targeting DLX2. Moreover, circ_HIPK3 knockdown inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Circ_HIPK3 facilitated HCC progression by mediating miR-582-3p/DLX2 pathway, suggesting a new potential biomarker for HCC treatment.

Salt-tolerant rice varietal development is necessary and the best approach to enhance crop productivity in areas with high salinity. To identify the genetic variation in stress-related genes in salt-tolerant genotypes, we carried out genotyping by sequencing (GBS) of seven rice lines with contrasting responses to salinity stress, including FL478 as a tolerant variety and IR64 as a sensitive check. The GBS reduces genomic complexity and enables us to obtain many SNP markers in the genome. A total of 7,980,092 high-quality single-end reads of 94 bp each were generated, and approximately 83% of the reads mapped to the rice reference genome (Nipponbare). We identified a total of 80,159 SNPs and 6,403 InDels among the seven rice genotypes. Forty-two percent of these SNPs were identified from the genic regions, and further, 27% were observed in the coding areas out of these genic SNPs. We used bioinformatics analysis to identify functional SNPs in the genes that changed the functions of proteins. We found variations between tolerant and sensitive genotypes by comparing the identified SNPs in coding regions. We found that 566 of the SNPs identified in the coding regions were non-synonymous (nsSNPs), affecting proteins. We identified 116 abiotic stress-related genes that contained 138 nsSNPs (between FL478 and IR64) in coding regions, thus directly affecting the proteins. Analysis indicated that these genes might contribute to the salt stress phenotype in rice varieties and the identified nsSNP markers that were useful to distinguish tolerant and sensitive genotypes. Our results revealed that the identified SNPs could be used as an essential source of genomic variability for improving and developing saline tolerant genotypes.

To evaluate the clinical effect of haploid allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(haplo-HSCT) in the treatment of severe aplastic anemia (SAA), and to explore the efficacy different between post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT/Cy) and standard-dose ATG.The clinical data of 38 patients with SAA in our hospital from January 2012 to December 2019 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. The efficacy was evaluated. The patients with haplo-HSCT were divided into low-dose ATG combined with PT/Cy group and standard-dose ATG group, and the blood cell hematopoietic reconstruction time, GVHD incidence, mortality and survival time of the patients in the two groups was compared.Among the 32 patients, hematopoietic reconstitution were detected in 9375%(30/32) recipients. The median time of neutrophil and platelet engraftment was 15(10-22) days and 13(7-30) days, respectively. The incidence of GVHD was 21.89%, the incidence of infection was 93.75%, and the 2-year overall survival rate was 84.38%. The hematopoietic reconstitution time, incidence of GVHD, mortality rate and survival time were no statistical differences between the patients in the two groups(all P0.05).Haplo-HSCT is an effective method for the treatment of SAA，low-dose ATG combined with PT/Cy can lighten the economic burden on patients, it would be a feasible treatment plan for SAA with light side effect.单倍型异基因造血干细胞移植联合后置环磷酰胺(PT/Cy)治疗重型再生障碍性贫血患者的临床研究.评估单倍型异基因造血干细胞移植(haplo-HSCT)治疗重型再生障碍性贫血（SAA）患者的疗效；探讨联合后置环磷酰胺(PT/Cy)与标准剂量ATG方案预防GVHD疗效的区别.收集并回顾性分析2012年1月至2019年12月于我院接受haplo-HSCT的SAA患者32例的临床资料，评价治疗疗效。将接受haplo-HSCT治疗的患者按预防移植物抗宿主病(GVHD)方案不同，分为低剂量ATG联合PT/Cy方案和标准剂量ATG组，比较两组患者血细胞造血重建时间、GVHD发生率、死亡率及生存时间的差异.32例患者中，30例获得造血重建，重建率93.75%，中性粒细胞、血小板中位植入时间分别为15(10-22)d、13(7-30)d。GVHD发生率为21.89%，感染发生率为93.75%,2年总生存率为84.38%。低剂量ATG联合PT/Cy组和标准剂量ATG组患者造血重建时间、GVHD发生率、死亡率、生存时间差异均无统计学意义(P0.05).Haplo-HSCT是治疗SAA的有效方法，低剂量ATG联合PT/Cy方案可减轻患者的经济负担，副作用小，是治疗SAA可行的方案.

Cowpea is an important food legume widely grown in the semi-arid tropics and serves as a main source of dietary protein, minerals, and vitamins. However, varieties differ from region to region based on the consumer’s preference for seed types determined by seed size, seed coat texture, seed color, and hilum-eye types. The genetics of seed size, seed color, and seed coat texture have been well documented, but the hilum-eye types have not been studied well because they represent seven different types with complex interactions. We studied the genetic segregation for hilum-eye types and determined the number of genes involved in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between a small eye parent ‘GEC’ and a Watson eye parent ‘IT98K-476-8’. The results demonstrated a three-gene model, W (Watson), S (small), and R (large), for cowpea seed hilum-eye type pattern and the interaction of these three genes, W, S, and R, resulted in five phenotypes, viz. self, Watson, small, large, and ring hilum-eye types. Moreover, we also mapped the RILs for hilum-eye types, identified three quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and aligned to the cowpea reference genome as QTL qHilum7.1, qHilum9.1, and qHilum10.1, corresponding to these three genes, Ring type (R), Watson type (W), and Small type (S) hilum-eye type patterns, respectively. Therefore, there was a complete agreement between the genetic analysis and QTL mapping for the number of genes controlling the hilum types in cowpea.

Accurate prediction of hybrid offspring complex trait phenotype from parents is paramount to enhanced plant breeding, animal breeding, and human medicine. Here we report genome-wide identification of genes enabling accurate prediction of hybrid offspring complex traits from parents using maize grain yield as the target trait. We identified 181 ZmF1GY genes enabling prediction of maize (Zea mays L.) F

The Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) is well known to favor a chiral rotation of the magnetic moments, which accounts for the emergence of the skyrmions. The DMI is a combined effect of spin–orbit coupling with broken inversion symmetry in magnets. Most of the noncentrosymmetric magnetic materials that bear skyrmions involve nonmagnetic elements. This work shows that strong DMIs exist in elemental cobalt with a β-Mn-type metastable structure. The variation of DMI among different cobalt pairs largely follows the variation of hopping magnitude in which p electrons play an important role. Although the DMIs between different atomic pairs partly cancels with each other, the net interaction is sufficient to result in a left-handed Bloch-type spiral. Spin dynamics simulation shows that a critical magnetic field of 2.9 T stabilizes skyrmions at 0 K.

Objective. This meta-analysis aimed at exploring the predictive value of CHA2DS2-VASc score for the left atrial thrombus (LAT) or left atrial spontaneous echo contrast (LASEC) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Methods. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, and Chinese core journals of the CNKI and Wanfang databases were searched to identify all the relevant papers that were published up to January 2020. The data were extracted for pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), heterogeneity, subgroup, publication bias, and sensitivity analysis. Results. Overall, 15 studies containing 6223 patients with NVAF were enrolled. All studies were evaluated for LAT, and 12 studies were evaluated for LASEC. The pooled analysis using a random-effects model showed that a high CHA2DS2-VASc score was related with LAT/LASEC (pooled OR=1.59, 95% CI: 1.35–1.88, P<0.001) with high heterogeneity (I2=76.9%, P<0.001) and LAT (pooled OR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.44–2.33, P<0.001) with high heterogeneity (I2=79.4%, P<0.001). The subgroup analysis demonstrated that the sample size may be the main source of heterogeneity. Although the Begg’s funnel plot based on 15 studies for LAT/LASEC (P=0.029) and 12 studies for LAT (P=0.046) indicated the presence of publication bias among the included studies, the trim-and-fill method verified the stability of the pooled outcomes. In addition, sensitivity analysis indicated that all effects were stable. Conclusion. The results of this meta-analysis showed that the CHA2DS2-VASc score is related with LAT and LASEC in patients with NVAF. However, more studies are warranted to address this issue.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculate (L.) Walp.) is a worldwide important multifunctional legume crop for food grain, vegetable, fodder, and cover crop. Nevertheless, only limited research has been conducted on agronomic traits. Here, we report quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of the days to flowering (DTF) and plant height (PH) using a dense SNP linkage map recently developed from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between Golden Eye Cream and IT98K-476-8. The population was phenotyped for DTF and PH through field and greenhouse trials under two environments. The QTLs controlling these traits were mapped using multiple-environment combined and individual trial phenotypic data. The combined data analysis identified one major QTL (qDTF9.1) for DTF, and one major QTL (qPH9.1) and a minor QTL (qPH4.1) for PH. qDTF9.1 and qPH9.1 were adjacent to each other on Chromosome 9 and each explained 29.3% and 29.5% of the phenotypic variation (PVE), respectively. The individual trial data analysis identified a minor QTL (qDTF2.1) on Chromosome 2 for DTF and two minor QTLs (qPH4.1 and qPH4.2) on Chromosome 4 for PH, while the major QTLs, qDTF9.1 and qPH9.1, were consistently identified in all trials conducted. Epistasis analysis revealed that qDTF9.1 interacted with one locus on Chromosome 4, contributed 50% of the PVE, and qPH9.1 interacted with one locus on each of Chromosomes 4 and 6, contributing 30% and 23% of the PVE, respectively, suggesting that epistasis plays an important role in the trait performance. These results, therefore, provide a deeper understanding of the genetic architecture of plant DTF and PH, and molecular tools necessary for cloning the genes and for enhanced cowpea breeding.

CrFeNi2V0.5Wx (x = 0, 0.25) alloys based on these parameters of mixing enthalpy (ΔHmix), mixing entropy (ΔSmix), atomic radius difference (δ), valance electron concentration, and electronegativity difference(Δχ) were designed and prepared. The microstructure and room-temperature mechanical behavior of both alloys were investigated. Compressive test results showed that the CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy had higher yield strength than that of the W-free CrFeNi2V0.5 alloy, although they all exhibited quite larger compressive plasticity (e > 70%). Compression fracture surface of CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy revealed a ductile fracture in the face-centered cubic (FCC) phase and a brittle-like fracture in the σ phase. Moreover, tensile test results indicated that the CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy exhibited excellent mechanical property with an ultimate tensile strength of 640 MPa and a high tensile elongation of 15.7%. The tensile deformation mode of the FCC phase in the CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy is dominated by planar glide, relating to dislocation configurations, high-density dislocations, and dislocation wall. Therefore, dislocation slip plays a significant role in tensile deformation of CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 high-entropy alloy. The higher strength of CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy is predominantly due to the solid solution strengthening of W element and σ phase precipitation strengthening. Combination of the higher tensile strength and plasticity suggests that the CrFeNi2V0.5W0.25 alloy can be a promising aerospace material.

The structural modification of polysaccharides directly affects their physicochemical properties and applications. Dextran, a chained polysaccharide, consists of multiple d -glucose molecules with repetitive structures. In this study, the physicochemical properties of oxidized dextran (DO) at different concentrations of NaClO/NaBr and H2O2 were compared. The results showed that NaClO/NaBr oxidation is more conducive to the formation of carboxyl groups. Oxidized dextran with NaClO/NaBr (DOB) showed good iron (III) chelating ability, and the DOB‑iron (III) complex (DOBIC) had an iron content of 28.31%. According to structural analysis, NaClO/NaBr (2 g/100 g of active chlorine) and H2O2 (4 g/100 g), respectively, oxidize the C1 and C2 hydroxyl groups of dextran to carboxyl groups and open the ring when DO and iron have the strongest chelation ability. The complex is indeed a chelate iron complex, and iron core is composed of iron oxyhydroxide or the β-FeOOH mineral polymorph. These results indicate that DOBIC is expected to be a good iron supplement or food additive to strengthen iron.

Accurately predicting the phenotypes of complex traits is crucial to enhanced breeding in plants and livestock, and to enhanced medicine in humans. Here we reports the first study accurately predicting complex traits using their contributing genes, especially their number of favorable alleles (NFAs), genotypes and transcript expressions, with the grain yield of maize, Zea mays L. When the NFAs or genotypes of only 27 SNP/InDel-containing grain yield genes were used, a prediction accuracy of r = 0.52 or 0.49 was obtained. When the expressions of grain yield gene transcripts were used, a plateaued prediction accuracy of r = 0.84 was achieved. When the phenotypes predicted with two or three of the genic datasets were used for progeny selection, the selected lines were completely consistent with those selected by phenotypic selection. Therefore, the genes controlling complex traits enable accurately predicting their phenotypes, thus desirable for gene-based breeding in crop plants.

Plant tolerance to heat or high temperature is crucial to crop production, especially in the situation of elevated temperature resulting from global climate change. Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., is an internationally important legume food crop and an excellent pool of genes for numerous traits resilient to environmental extremes, particularly heat and drought. Here, we report a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genetic map for cowpea and identification of the loci controlling the heat tolerance in the species. The SNP map consists of 531 bins containing 4,154 SNPs grouped into 11 linkage groups, and collectively spans 1,084.7 cM, thus having a density of one SNP in 0.26 cM or 149 kb. The 11 linkage groups of the map were aligned to the 11 cowpea chromosomes. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping identified nine QTLs responsible for the cowpea heat tolerance on seven of the 11 chromosomes, with each QTL explaining 6.5-21.8% of heat tolerance phenotypic variation. Moreover, we aligned these nine QTLs to the cowpea genome. Each of the QTLs was positioned in a genomic region ranging from 209,000 bp to 12,590,450 bp, and the QTL with the largest effect (21.8%) on heat tolerance, qHT4-1, was located within an interval of only 234,195 bp. These results provide SNP markers useful for marker-assisted selection for heat tolerance and lay a foundation for cloning, characterization, and applications of the genes controlling the cowpea heat tolerance for heat tolerance genetic improvement in cowpea and related crops.

Asymmetrical influence of population is ubiquitous in human and animal societies. Based on this fact, we construct a setup of asymmetric influence of structured population, which is often put with the combination mechanism of tolerance and punishment when the dispute of unfair outcome happens, to investigate the evolution of cooperation. In detail, the structured populations are classified into two types: A-type players (strong players) and B-type players (weak players). A-type players are capable to decide whether or not to lower the fitness of B-type neighbors with punitive action due to the tolerance limits. This action affects the behavior of B-type neighbors in the evolutionary game. Based on our simulations, it is noted that the mechanism of punishment combining with tolerance in an asymmetrical environment can promote the evolution of cooperation. Furthermore, the lower threshold of tolerance with the looser punishment, the higher the level of cooperation; and the higher degree of tolerance with the stricter punishment will maintain the survival of cooperators. It is also worth mentioning that if A-type population is the key minority impacting the majority of B-type, they can favor affecting and further promoting the evolution of cooperation in the evolutionary game.