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The propagation process of blasting vibration has always been a difficult problem affecting the stability of high slopes in open-pit mines. Taking the Jianshan Phosphorus Mine as the research background, combined with engineering geological investigation, field blasting test, blasting vibration monitoring, numerical simulation technology, and theoretical analysis, the three-dimensional dynamic stability of the adjacent high slope after blasting vibration was systematically studied. In our study, a small-diameter buffer shock-absorbing blasting technology near the slope was proposed, which greatly improved the production efficiency. Through regression analysis of a large amount of vibration test data, the law of blasting vibration propagation in Jianshan stope and Haifeng stope was obtained. In addition, by establishing four three-dimensional geomechanical numerical models, the slope's own frequency, damping characteristics, and dynamic response acceleration distribution after detonation were studied, respectively. On the other hand, under the action of Ei Centro wave with 8-degree seismic intensity, the maximum total acceleration and maximum total displacement of the slope were calculated and analyzed. Both the explosion unloading of the 8-degree earthquake and the Ei Centro wave simulation results showed that the high slope near the Jianshan Phosphorus Mine was generally in a stable state. Thus, this study can provide technical support and theoretical guidance for mine blasting.

The heterogeneous nature of tumour microenvironment (TME) underlying diverse treatment responses remains unclear in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Here, we profile 176,447 cells from 10 NPC tumour-blood pairs, using single-cell transcriptome coupled with T cell receptor sequencing. Our analyses reveal 53 cell subtypes, including tumour-infiltrating CD8 + T, regulatory T (Treg), and dendritic cells (DCs), as well as malignant cells with different Epstein-Barr virus infection status. Trajectory analyses reveal exhausted CD8 + T and immune-suppressive TNFRSF4 + Treg cells in tumours might derive from peripheral CX3CR1 + CD8 + T and naïve Treg cells, respectively. Moreover, we identify immune-regulatory and tolerogenic LAMP3 + DCs. Noteworthily, we observe intensive inter-cell interactions among LAMP3 + DCs, Treg, exhausted CD8 + T, and malignant cells, suggesting potential cross-talks to foster an immune-suppressive niche for the TME. Collectively, our study uncovers the heterogeneity and interacting molecules of the TME in NPC at single-cell resolution, which provide insights into the mechanisms underlying NPC progression and the development of precise therapies for NPC. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a diverse cancer characterised by a heterogeneous microenvironment. Here, the authors use single cell sequencing to analyse the tumour microenvironment in 10 nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumours and identify different cell types including immune-suppressive T regulatory, tolerogenic dendritic, and exhausted CD8 T cells.

The faithful storage and coherent manipulation of quantum states with matter-systems would enable the realization of large-scale quantum networks based on quantum repeaters. To achieve useful communication rates, highly multimode quantum memories are required to construct a multiplexed quantum repeater. Here, we present a demonstration of on-demand storage of orbital-angular-momentum states with weak coherent pulses at the single-photon-level in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal. Through the combination of this spatial degree-of-freedom (DOF) with temporal and spectral degrees of freedom, we create a multiple-DOF memory with high multimode capacity. This device can serve as a quantum mode converter with high fidelity, which is a fundamental requirement for the construction of a multiplexed quantum repeater. This device further enables essentially arbitrary spectral and temporal manipulations of spatial-qutrit-encoded photonic pulses in real time. Therefore, the developed quantum memory can serve as a building block for scalable photonic quantum information processing architectures. Multiplexing of quantum memories would enable higher communication rate for repeater based quantum networks. Here, the authors demonstrate multiplexed storage of single-photon-level pulses using multiple degree-of-freedom, with the additional function of arbitrary manipulation of photonic pulses in real time.

Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) is an essential regulator of immune cell functionality, but the mechanisms whereby it drives immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. In the present study, we studied the association with CDKN2A expression and immune invasion with the risk of developing HCC. A totally of 2207 different genes were found between HCC and adjacent liver tissues from TCGA and GEO databases. CDKN2A was highly expressed in HCC and associated with poorer overall survival and disease-free survival. Notably, CDKN2A expression was positively correlated with infiltrating levels into purity, B cell, CD+8 T cell, CD+4 T cell, macrophage, neutrophil, and dendritic cells in HCC. CDKN2A expression showed strong correlations between diverse immune marker sets in HCC. These findings suggest that CDKN2A expression potentially contributes to regulation of tumor-associated macrophages and can be used as a prognostic biomarker for determining prognosis and immune infiltration in HCC.

Influenza vaccination has been recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months since 2010. Data from the 2016 National Internet Flu Survey were analyzed to assess provider vaccination recommendations and early influenza vaccination during the 2016–17 season among adults aged ≥18 years. Predictive marginals from a multivariable logistic regression model were used to identify factors independently associated with early vaccine uptake by provider vaccination recommendation status. Overall, 24.0% visited a provider who both recommended and offered influenza vaccination, 9.0% visited a provider who only recommended but did not offer, 25.1% visited a provider who neither recommended nor offered, and 41.9% did not visit a doctor from July 1 through date of interview. Adults who reported that a provider both recommended and offered vaccine had significantly higher vaccination coverage (66.6%) compared with those who reported that a provider only recommended but did not offer (48.4%), those who neither received recommendation nor offer (32.0%), and those who did not visit a doctor during the vaccination period (28.8%). Results of multivariable logistic regression indicated that having received a provider recommendation, with or without an offer for vaccination, was significantly associated with higher vaccination coverage after controlling for demographic and access-to-care factors. Provider recommendation was significantly associated with influenza vaccination. However, overall, 67.0% of adults did not visit a doctor during the vaccination period or did visit a doctor but did not receive a provider recommendation. Evidence-based strategies such as client reminder/recall, standing orders, provider reminders, or health systems interventions in combination should be undertaken to improve provider recommendation and influenza vaccination coverage. Other factors significantly associated with a higher level of influenza vaccination included age ≥50 years, being Hispanic, having a college or higher education, having a usual place for medical care, and having public health insurance.

We define the anisotropic Rabi model as the generalization of the spin-boson Rabi model: The Hamiltonian system breaks the parity symmetry; the rotating and counterrotating interactions are governed by two different coupling constants; a further parameter introduces a phase factor in the counterrotating terms. The exact energy spectrum and eigenstates of the generalized model are worked out. The solution is obtained as an elaboration of a recently proposed method for the isotropic limit of the model. In this way, we provide a long-sought solution of a cascade of models with immediate relevance in different physical fields, including (i) quantum optics, a two-level atom in single-mode cross-electric and magnetic fields; (ii) solid-state physics, electrons in semiconductors with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling; and (iii) mesoscopic physics, Josephson-junction flux-qubit quantum circuits.

Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) is an important legume crop for forage, agriculture, and environment in the world. Ascorbic acid (AsA) plays positive roles in plants. However, its effects on germination and salt-tolerance of alfalfa are unknown. The effects of AsA applications on seed germination and seedling salt-tolerance of alfalfa were investigated. The results revealed that 0.1 and 1 mmol L -1 of exogenous AsA increased germination, amylase, and protease, as well as seedling length, fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and endogenous AsA both in the shoots and roots, except that 1 mmol L -1 AsA reduced the activities of α-amylase, β-amylase and protease on day 3. However, 10 and 100 mmol L -1 AsA inhibited these parameters and even caused serious rot. It indicates that 0.1 mmol L -1 AsA has the optimal effects, whereas 100 mmol L -1 AsA has the worst impacts. Another part of the results showed that 0.1 mmol L -1 AsA not only enhanced stem elongation, FW and DW, but also increased chlorophyll and carotenoids both under non-stress and 150 mmol L -1 NaCl stress. Furthermore, 0.1 mmol L -1 AsA mitigated the damages of membrane permeability, malondialdehyde, and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ions both in the shoots and roots under 150 mmol L -1 NaCl stress. Hence, 0.1 mmol L -1 AsA improves growth and induces salt-tolerance by inhibiting excessive ROS, down-regulating the ion toxicity and up-regulating the antioxidant system. The principal component analysis included two main components both in the shoots and roots, and it explained the results well. In summary, the optimum concentration of 0.1 mmol L -1 AsA can be implemented to improve the seed germination and seedling growth of alfalfa under salt stress.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has majorly impacted public health and economies worldwide. Although several effective vaccines and drugs are now used to prevent and treat COVID-19, natural products, especially flavonoids, showed great therapeutic potential early in the pandemic and thus attracted particular attention. Quercetin, baicalein, baicalin, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), and luteolin are among the most studied flavonoids in this field. Flavonoids can directly or indirectly exert antiviral activities, such as the inhibition of virus invasion and the replication and inhibition of viral proteases. In addition, flavonoids can modulate the levels of interferon and proinflammatory factors. We have reviewed the previously reported relevant literature researching the pharmacological anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of flavonoids where structures, classifications, synthetic pathways, and pharmacological effects are summarized. There is no doubt that flavonoids have great potential in the treatment of COVID-19. However, most of the current research is still in the theoretical stage. More studies are recommended to evaluate the efficacy and safety of flavonoids against SARS-CoV-2.

The Griffiths singularity in a phase transition, caused by disorder effects, was predicted more than 40 years ago. Its signature, the divergence of the dynamical critical exponent, is challenging to observe experimentally. We report the experimental observation of the quantum Griffiths singularity in a two-dimensional superconducting system. We measured the transport properties of atomically thin gallium films and found that the films undergo superconductor-metal transitions with increasing magnetic field. Approaching the zero-temperature quantum critical point, we observed divergence of the dynamical critical exponent, which is consistent with the Griffiths singularity behavior. We interpret the observed superconductor-metal quantum phase transition as the infinite-randomness critical point, where the properties of the system are controlled by rare large superconducting regions.

Pressure fluctuations play an essential role in the transport of turbulent kinetic energy and vibrational loading. This study focuses on examining the effect of wall cooling on pressure fluctuations in compressible turbulent boundary layers by high-fidelity direct numerical simulations. Pressure fluctuations result from the vorticity mode and the acoustic mode that are both closely dependent on compressibility. To demonstrate the effects of wall cooling at various compressibility intensities, three free-stream Mach numbers are investigated, i.e. $M_\\infty =0.5$, 2.0 and 8.0, with real gas effects being absent for $M_\\infty =8.0$ due to a low enthalpy inflow. Overall, opposite effects of wall cooling on pressure fluctuations are found between the subsonic/supersonic cases and the hypersonic case. Specifically, the pressure fluctuations normalized by wall shear stress $p^\\prime _{rms}/\\tau _w$ are suppressed in the subsonic and supersonic cases, while enhanced in the hypersonic case near the wall. Importantly, travelling-wave-like alternating positive and negative structures (APNS), which greatly contribute to pressure fluctuations, are identified within the viscous sublayer and buffer layer in the hypersonic cases. Furthermore, generating mechanisms of pressure fluctuations are explored by extending the decomposition based on the fluctuating pressure equation to compressible turbulent boundary layers. Pressure fluctuations are decomposed into five components, in which rapid pressure, slow pressure and compressible pressure are dominant. The suppression of pressure fluctuations in the subsonic and supersonic cases is due to both rapid pressure and slow pressure being suppressed by wall cooling. In contrast, wall cooling strengthens compressible pressure for all Mach numbers, especially in the hypersonic case, resulting in increased wall pressure fluctuations. Compressible pressure plays a leading role in the hypersonic case, mainly due to the APNS. Essentially, the main effects of wall cooling can be interpreted by the suppression of the vorticity mode and the enhancement of the acoustic mode.