Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed, millisecond-duration radio bursts1-3. Recent observations of a Galactic FRB4-8 suggest that at least some FRBs originate from magnetars, but the origin ...of cosmological FRBs is still not settled. Here we report the detection of1,863 bursts in 82 h over 54 days from the repeating source FRB 20201124A (ref.9). These observations show irregular short-time variation ofthe Faraday rotation measure (RM), which scrutinizes the density-weighted line-of-sight magnetic field strength, of individual bursts during the first 36 days, followed by a constant RM. We detected circular polarization in more than half of the burst sample, including one burst reaching a high fractional circular polarization of 75%. Oscillations in fractional linear and circular polarizations, as well as polarization angle as a function of wavelength, were detected. All of these features provide evidence for a complicated, dynamically evolving, magnetized immediate environment within about an astronomical unit (au; Earth-Sun distance) ofthe source. Our optical observations of its Milky-Way-sized, metal-rich host galaxy10-12 show a barred spiral, with the FRB source residing in a low-stellar-density interarm region at an intermediate galactocentric distance. This environment is inconsistent with a young magnetar engine formed during an extreme explosion of a massive star that resulted in a long gamma-ray burst or superluminous supernova.
As there is currently a lack of consensus on the most appropriate dose and duration of peginterferon alfa‐2a (PEG‐IFNα‐2a) therapy in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive patients, the efficacy and ...safety of either 24 or 48 weeks' duration and 90 μg/week or 180 μg/week doses were compared. HBeAg‐positive patients (n = 544; 34% genotype B, 51% genotype C) were randomized to receive PEG‐IFNα‐2a (2 × 2 factorial design) for 24 or 48 weeks and at 90 μg/week or 180 μg/week and included in the per‐protocol population. The primary efficacy endpoint of the noninferiority study was HBeAg seroconversion 6 months posttreatment. The prespecified odds ratio (OR) noninferiority margin was 1.88 with a one‐sided significance level of 0.025. The highest rates of HBeAg seroconversion 6 months posttreatment were in the 180/48 arm (36.2% versus 14.1%‐25.8% in the other arms). When the dose and duration arms were pooled, the OR for noninferiority of 24 weeks versus 48 weeks was 2.17 (95% confidence interval CI 1.43, 3.31; P = 0.749) and for 90 μg versus 180 μg was 1.79 (95% CI 1.18, 2.72; P = 0.410). As the upper limit of the 95% CI of the ORs were >1.88, 24 weeks were inferior to 48 weeks and 90 μg/week was inferior to 180 μg/week. The highest rates of response in the 180/48 arm were achieved by patients with HBsAg <1,500 IU/mL at Week 12 (58%) or Week 24 (57%), whereas patients with HBsAg >20,000 IU/mL did not respond. Adverse events were typical of those associated with PEG‐IFNα‐2a. Conclusion: Compared with lower doses and shorter durations, the licensed PEG‐IFNα‐2a treatment regimen (180μg/48 weeks) was the most efficacious and beneficial for HBeAg‐positive patients predominantly infected with hepatitis B virus genotypes B or C. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)
Nearly 500 basidiomycetous yeast species were accepted in the latest edition of The Yeasts: A Taxonomic Study published in 2011. However, this number presents only the tip of the iceberg of yeast ...species diversity in nature. Possibly more than 99 % of yeast species, as is true for many groups of fungi, are yet unknown and await discovery. Over the past two decades nearly 200 unidentified isolates were obtained during a series of environmental surveys of yeasts in phyllosphere and soils, mainly from China. Among these isolates, 107 new species were identified based on the phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU), the small subunit (SSU), and the internal transcribed spacer region including the 5.8S rDNA (ITS) and protein-coding genes both subunits of DNA polymerase II (RPB1 and RPB2), the translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1) and the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (CYTB), and physiological comparisons. Forty-six of these belong to 16 genera in the Tremellomycetes (Agaricomycotina). The other 61 are distributed in 26 genera in the Pucciniomycotina. Here we circumscribe eight new genera, three new families and two new orders based on the multi-locus phylogenetic analyses combined with the clustering optimisation analysis and the predicted similarity thresholds for yeasts and filamentous fungal delimitation at genus and higher ranks. Additionally, as a result of these analyses, three new combinations are proposed and 66 taxa are validated.
Creating oxide interfaces with precise chemical specificity at the atomic layer level is desired for the engineering of quantum phases and electronic applications, but highly challenging, owing ...partially to the lack of in situ tools to monitor the chemical composition and completeness of the surface layer during growth. Here we report the in situ observation of atomic layer-by-layer inner potential variations by analysing the Kikuchi lines during epitaxial growth of strontium titanate, providing a powerful real-time technique to monitor and control the chemical composition during growth. A model combining the effects of mean inner potential and step edge density (roughness) reveals the underlying mechanism of the complex and previously not well-understood reflection high-energy electron diffraction oscillations observed in the shuttered growth of oxide films. General rules are proposed to guide the synthesis of atomically and chemically sharp oxide interfaces, opening up vast opportunities for the exploration of intriguing quantum phenomena at oxide interfaces.
Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic oral pain syndrome that primarily affects peri‐ and postmenopausal women. It is characterized by oral mucosal burning and may be associated with dysgeusia, ...paresthesia, dysesthesia, and xerostomia. The etiology of the disease process is unknown, but is thought to be neuropathic in origin. The goal of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of the various treatments for BMS. Literature searches were conducted through PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases, which identified 22 randomized controlled trials. Eight studies examined alpha‐lipoic acid (ALA), three clonazepam, three psychotherapy, and two capsaicin, which all showed modest evidence of potentially decreasing pain/burning. Gabapentin was seen in one study to work alone and synergistically with ALA. Other treatments included vitamins, benzydamine hydrochloride, bupivacaine, Catuama, olive oil, trazodone, urea, and Hypericum perforatum. Of these other treatments, Catuama and bupivacaine were the only ones with significant positive results in symptom improvement. ALA, topical clonazepam, gabapentin, and psychotherapy may provide modest relief of pain in BMS. Gabapentin may also boost the effect of ALA. Capsaicin is limited by its side effects. Catuama showed potential for benefit. Future studies with standardized methodology and outcomes containing more patients are needed.
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients of unknown physical origin observed at extragalactic distances
. It has long been speculated that magnetars are the engine powering ...repeating bursts from FRB sources
, but no convincing evidence has been collected so far
. Recently, the Galactic magnetar SRG 1935+2154 entered an active phase by emitting intense soft γ-ray bursts
. One FRB-like event with two peaks (FRB 200428) and a luminosity slightly lower than the faintest extragalactic FRBs was detected from the source, in association with a soft γ-ray/hard-X-ray flare
. Here we report an eight-hour targeted radio observational campaign comprising four sessions and assisted by multi-wavelength (optical and hard-X-ray) data. During the third session, 29 soft-γ-ray repeater (SGR) bursts were detected in γ-ray energies. Throughout the observing period, we detected no single dispersed pulsed emission coincident with the arrivals of SGR bursts, but unfortunately we were not observing when the FRB was detected. The non-detection places a fluence upper limit that is eight orders of magnitude lower than the fluence of FRB 200428. Our results suggest that FRB-SGR burst associations are rare. FRBs may be highly relativistic and geometrically beamed, or FRB-like events associated with SGR bursts may have narrow spectra and characteristic frequencies outside the observed band. It is also possible that the physical conditions required to achieve coherent radiation in SGR bursts are difficult to satisfy, and that only under extreme conditions could an FRB be associated with an SGR burst.
The genus Thielavia is morphologically defined by having non-ostiolate ascomata with a thin peridium composed of textura epidermoidea, and smooth, single-celled, pigmented ascospores with one germ ...pore. Thielavia is typified with Th. basicola that grows in close association with a hyphomycete which was traditionally identified as Thielaviopsis basicola. Besides Th. basicola exhibiting the mycoparasitic nature, the majority of the described Thielavia species are from soil, and some have economic and ecological importance. Unfortunately, no living type material of Th. basicola exists, hindering a proper understanding of the classification of Thielavia. Therefore, Thielavia basicola was neotypified by material of a mycoparasite presenting the same ecology and morphology as described in the original description. We subsequently performed a multi-gene phylogenetic analyses (rpb2, tub2, ITS and LSU) to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of the species currently recognised in Thielavia. Our results demonstrate that Thielavia is highly polyphyletic, being related to three family-level lineages in two orders. The redefined genus Thielavia is restricted to its type species, Th. basicola, which belongs to the Ceratostomataceae (Melanosporales) and its host is demonstrated to be Berkeleyomyces rouxiae, one of the two species in the “Thielaviopsis basicola” species complex. The new family Podosporaceae is sister to the Chaetomiaceae in the Sordariales and accommodates the re-defined genera Podospora, Trangularia and Cladorrhinum, with the last genus including two former Thielavia species (Th. hyalocarpa and Th. intermedia). This family also includes the genetic model species Podospora anserina, which was combined in Triangularia (as Triangularia anserina). The remaining Thielavia species fall in ten unrelated clades in the Chaetomiaceae, leading to the proposal of nine new genera (Carteria, Chrysanthotrichum, Condenascus, Hyalosphaerella, Microthielavia, Parathielavia, Pseudothielavia, Stolonocarpus and Thermothielavioides). The genus Canariomyces is transferred from Microascaceae (Microascales) to Chaetomiaceae based on its type species Can. notabilis. Canariomyces is closely related to the human-pathogenic genus Madurella, and includes three thielavia-like species and one novel species. Three monotypic genera with a chaetomium-like morph (Brachychaeta, Chrysocorona and Floropilus) are introduced to better resolve the Chaetomiaceae and the thielavia-like species in the family. Chrysocorona lucknowensis and Brachychaeta variospora are closely related to Acrophialophora and three newly introduced genera containing thielavia-like species; Floropilus chiversii is closely related to the industrially important and thermophilic species Thermothielavioides terrestris (syn. Th. terrestris). This study shows that the thielavia-like morph is a homoplastic form that originates from several separate evolutionary events. Furthermore, our results provide new insights into the taxonomy of Sordariales and the polyphyletic Lasiosphaeriaceae.
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) tend to infiltrate into tumors and form a major component of the tumor microenvironment. Our previous work demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)-activated ...MSCs significantly promoted tumor growth. However, the role of TNFα-treated MSCs in tumor metastasis remains elusive. Employing a lung metastasis model of murine breast cancer, we found that TNFα-activated MSCs strikingly enhanced tumor metastasis compared with normal MSCs. We analyzed the chemokine profiles and found that the expression of CCL5, CCR2 and CXCR2 ligands were enhanced in TNFα-activated MSCs. Using genetic or pharmacological strategies to inhibit CCL5 or CCR2, we demonstrated that CCL5 and CCR2 ligands were indispensable in supporting TNFα-activated MSCs to promote tumor metastasis. Analysis of immune cells revealed that CXCR2 ligands (CXCL1, CXCL 2 and CXCL5) expressed by TNFα-activated MSCs efficiently recruited CXCR2
neutrophils into tumor. These neutrophils were responsible for the pro-metastatic effect of MSCs since inhibition of this chemotaxis abolished increased neutrophil recruitment and tumor metastasis. The interaction between neutrophils and tumor cells resulted in markedly elevated metastasis-related genes by tumor cells, including CXCR4, CXCR7, MMP12, MMP13, IL-6 and TGFβ. Importantly, in IL8
human breast cancer samples, we also observed similar alterations of gene expression. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that TNFα-activated MSCs promote tumor metastasis via CXCR2
neutrophil recruitment.
The precise measurement of the spectrum of protons, the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, is necessary to understand the source and acceleration of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. This ...work reports the measurement of the cosmic ray proton fluxes with kinetic energies from 40 GeV to 100 TeV, with 2
/
years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). This is the first time that an experiment directly measures the cosmic ray protons up to ~100 TeV with high statistics. The measured spectrum confirms the spectral hardening at ~300 GeV found by previous experiments and reveals a softening at ~13.6 TeV, with the spectral index changing from ~2.60 to ~2.85. Our result suggests the existence of a new spectral feature of cosmic rays at energies lower than the so-called knee and sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.
Fear is a common and potentially distressful psychological response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The factors associated with such fear remains relatively unstudied among older adults. We ...investigated if fear of COVID-19 could be associated with a combination of psychological factors such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, and risk perception of COVID-19, and demographic factors in a community sample of older adults. Older adults (
= 413,
= 69.09 years,
= 5.45) completed measures of fear of COVID-19, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and risk perception of COVID-19, during a COVID-19 lockdown. These variables, together with demographics, were fitted to a structural equation model. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were highly correlated with each other and were combined into the higher order latent variable of affective symptoms for analyses. The final model revealed that fear of COVID-19 was positively associated with psychological factors of affective symptoms and risk perception. Older age was associated with greater fear of COVID-19. Our findings showed that fear of COVID-19 can be a projection of pre-existing affective symptoms and inflated risk perceptions and highlighted the need to address the incorrect risk perceptions of COVID-19 and socio-affective issues among older adults in the community.
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