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Nutrient scarcity is pervasive for natural microbial communities, affecting species reproduction and co-existence. However, it remains unclear whether there are general rules of how microbial species abundances are shaped by biotic and abiotic factors. Here we show that the ribosomal RNA gene operon ( rrn ) copy number, a genomic trait related to bacterial growth rate and nutrient demand, decreases from the abundant to the rare biosphere in the nutrient-rich coastal sediment but exhibits the opposite pattern in the nutrient-scarce pelagic zone of the global ocean. Both patterns are underlain by positive correlations between community-level rrn copy number and nutrients. Furthermore, inter-species co-exclusion inferred by negative network associations is observed more in coastal sediment than in ocean water samples. Nutrient manipulation experiments yield effects of nutrient availability on rrn copy numbers and network associations that are consistent with our field observations. Based on these results, we propose a “hunger games” hypothesis to define microbial species abundance rules using the rrn copy number, ecological interaction, and nutrient availability. Environmental and biotic factors control ecological communities. Here, the authors study community ribosomal rRNA gene copy number in coastal sediment and ocean bacterial communities, and in microcosm nutrient addition experiments, to propose a conceptual framework of how nutrient supply and ecological interactions shape the community.

C. elegans neurons were thought to be non-spiking until our recent discovery of action potentials in the sensory neuron AWA; however, the extent to which the C. elegans nervous system relies on analog or digital coding is unclear. Here we show that the enteric motor neurons AVL and DVB fire synchronous all-or-none calcium-mediated action potentials following the intestinal pacemaker during the rhythmic C. elegans defecation behavior. AVL fires unusual compound action potentials with each depolarizing calcium spike mediated by UNC-2 followed by a hyperpolarizing potassium spike mediated by a repolarization-activated potassium channel EXP-2. Simultaneous behavior tracking and imaging in free-moving animals suggest that action potentials initiated in AVL propagate along its axon to activate precisely timed DVB action potentials through the INX-1 gap junction. This work identifies a novel circuit of spiking neurons in C. elegans that uses digital coding for long-distance communication and temporal synchronization underlying reliable behavioral rhythm. Most neurons in the nematode C. elegans communicate in an analog manner. Here, the authors demonstrate that enteric motor neurons can fire all-or-none action potentials, and that this digital communication is important for defecation.

China’s equipment-manufacturing industry accounts for a significant portion of its total carbon emissions. While intelligent equipment optimization has been found to be an effective way of reducing carbon emissions, understanding of its mechanisms remains limited. This paper takes the equipment-manufacturing industry as an example to explore the mechanisms and pathways for enhancing carbon emissions efficiency through intelligent equipment optimization. Using panel data from 243 equipment-manufacturing firms, the analysis identified a nonlinear, U-shaped relationship between intelligent equipment upgrades and carbon emissions efficiency. At the initial stage of intelligent upgrading of equipment, efficiency declines due to the high capital expenditures required for upgrading and integrating advanced systems. However, as these technologies become more integrated into production processes, carbon emissions efficiency improves significantly. This study also examines the mediating role of cost-saving effects and the moderating influence of energy intensity in this relationship. The effect of intelligent transformation on improving carbon emissions efficiency is more significant in high-energy-intensity enterprises. The findings suggest that intelligent equipment optimization not only enhances resource-utilization efficiency but also supports green and low-carbon transitions in equipment-manufacturing enterprises. These insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers and industry leaders aiming to further integrate intelligent manufacturing with carbon reduction strategies.

Intelligent production has changed the traditional mode of production. However, how to achieve an improvement in carbon emission efficiency via intelligent production needs to be further explored. This study focuses on the mechanism of how production intelligence affects the equipment manufacturing sector’s carbon emission efficiency. Using data from 247 businesses in the equipment manufacturing sector between 2015 and 2021, this study applies fixed-effects models and statistical analysis methods to explore the correlation between production intelligence and the equipment manufacturing sector’s carbon emission efficiency. The results indicate that intelligent production can effectively improve the carbon emission efficiency of equipment manufacturing businesses and improve the carbon emission efficiency by enhancing the energy utilization rate of enterprises. Environmental regulation has a regulating function in the connection between the production intelligence and carbon emission efficiency of equipment manufacturing enterprises. There are also regional and industrial differences in the effect of intelligent production on carbon emission efficiency. Based on these findings, our study proposes three policy suggestions for policymakers.

: Integrin β3 is one of the main integrin heterodimer receptors on the surface of cardiac myocytes. Our previous studies showed that hypoxia induces apoptosis and increases integrin β3 expression in cardiomyocytes. However, the exact mechanism by which integrin β3 protects against apoptosis remains unclear. Hence, the present investigation aimed to explore the mechanism of integrin β3 in cardiomyocyte proliferation and hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. : Stable cells and acute and chronic heart failure rat models were generated to reveal the essential role of integrin β3 in cardiomyocyte proliferation and apoptosis. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were employed to detect the expression of integrin β3 in the stable cells and rat cardiac tissue. Flow cytometer was used to investigate the role of integrin β3 in hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Confocal microscopy was used to detect the localization of integrin β3 and integrin αv in cardiomyocytes. : A cobaltous chloride-induced hypoxic microenvironment stimulated cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased integrin β3 expression in H9C2 cells, AC16 cells, and cardiac tissue from acute and chronic heart failure rats. The overexpression of integrin β3 promoted cardiomyocyte proliferation, whereas silencing integrin β3 expression resulted in decreased cell proliferation . Furthermore, knocking down integrin β3 expression using shRNA or the integrin β3 inhibitor cilengitide exacerbated cobaltous chloride-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis, whereas overexpression of integrin β3 weakened cobaltous chloride-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis. We found that integrin β3 promoted cardiomyocytes proliferation through the regulation of the PTEN/Akt/mTOR and ERK1/2 signaling pathways. In addition, we found that knockdown of integrin αv or integrin β1 weakened the effect of integrin β3 in cardiomyocyte proliferation. : Our findings revealed the molecular mechanism of the role of integrin β3 in cardiomyocyte proliferation and hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis, providing new insights into the mechanisms underlying myocardial protection.

The interplay between a multitude of electronic, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom underlies the complex phase diagrams of quantum materials. Layer stacking in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures is responsible for exotic electronic and magnetic properties, which inspires stacking control of two-dimensional magnetism. Beyond the interplay between stacking order and interlayer magnetism, we discover a spin-shear coupling mechanism in which a subtle shear of the atomic layers can have a profound effect on the intralayer magnetic order in a family of vdW antiferromagnets. Using time-resolved X-ray diffraction and optical linear dichroism measurements, interlayer shear is identified as the primary structural degree of freedom that couples with magnetic order. The recovery times of both shear and magnetic order upon optical excitation diverge at the magnetic ordering temperature with the same critical exponent. The time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory shows that this concurrent critical slowing down arises from a linear coupling of the interlayer shear to the magnetic order, which is dictated by the broken mirror symmetry intrinsic to the monoclinic stacking. Our results highlight the importance of interlayer shear in ultrafast control of magnetic order via spin-mechanical coupling. Van der Waals materials are characterized by two dimensional layers weakly held together by interlayer van der Waals forces. Here, the authors study how shear motions between these layers influence the magnetic properties of the van der Waals antiferromagnets FePS3, MnPS3, and NiPS3. ‘

Detection platforms for second-generation sequencing include MiSeq, Ion Torrent, and Pacific Biosciences. [...]in response to previous studies showing inconclusive effects of pre-existing low-frequency resistance mutations on antiretroviral efficacy in human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-infected patients, the study was designed to detect pre-existing low-frequency resistance mutations in HIV-1-infected patients using the MiSeq second-generation sequencing platform to investigate their impact on virological response in HIV-1 naïve patients. The results of testing by second-generation sequencing showed that the overall pre-existing low-frequency resistance detection rate of the included population was 14.5% (11/76), in which the pre-existing low-frequency resistance mutation rate of the failure group was significantly higher than that of the control group (23.7% [9/38] vs. 5.3% [2/38]), and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 5.208, P = 0.022). According to the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS,[8] the time point for determining whether antiretroviral treatment failure has occurred and the need for switching treatment is precisely 24 weeks after initiating treatment. [...]low-frequency resistance mutations delayed the rate of viral load decline after ART and showed a single significant difference at 24 weeks of treatment, but with longer antiviral treatment, such as at 48 weeks of ART, there was no significant difference in viral load decline between the two groups. [...]we showed that HIV-1 patients may have pre-existing low-frequency resistance mutations in both the failed and successful virological response groups, and that the prevalence of pre-existing low-frequency resistance was higher in the former than in the latter.

The kagome superconductor CsV 3 Sb 5 hosts a variety of charge density wave (CDW) phases, which play a fundamental role in the formation of other exotic electronic instabilities. However, identifying the precise structure of these CDW phases and their intricate relationships remain the subject of intense debate, due to the lack of static probes that can distinguish the CDW phases with identical spatial periodicity. Here, we unveil the out-of-equilibrium competition between two coexisting 2 × 2 × 2 CDWs in CsV 3 Sb 5 harnessing time-resolved X-ray diffraction. By analyzing the light-induced changes in the intensity of CDW superlattice peaks, we demonstrate the presence of both phases, each displaying a significantly different amount of melting upon excitation. The anomalous light-induced sharpening of peak width further shows that the phase that is more resistant to photo-excitation exhibits an increase in domain size at the expense of the other, thereby showcasing a hallmark of phase competition. Our results not only shed light on the interplay between the multiple CDW phases in CsV 3 Sb 5 , but also establish a non-equilibrium framework for comprehending complex phase relationships that are challenging to disentangle using static techniques. The interplay between charge density wave states in emerging kagome superconductors is a topic of ongoing debate. Here, the authors unveil the out-of-equilibrium competition between two coexisting charge density waves in CsV 3 Sb 5 by harnessing time-resolved X-ray diffraction.

Utilizing ultrafast light-matter interaction to manipulate electronic states of quantum materials is an emerging area of research in condensed matter physics. It has significant implications for the development of future ultrafast electronic devices. However, the ability to induce long-lasting metastable electronic states in a fully reversible manner is a long-standing challenge. Here, by using ultrafast laser excitations, we demonstrate the capability to manipulate the electronic polar states in the charge-density-wave material EuTe 4 in a non-volatile manner. The process is completely reversible and is achieved at room temperature with an all-optical approach. Each induced non-volatile state brings about modifications to the electrical resistance and second harmonic generation intensity. The results point to layer-specific phase inversion dynamics by which photoexcitation mediates the stacking polar order of the system. Our findings extend the scope of non-volatile all-optical control of electronic states to ambient conditions, and highlight a distinct role of layer-dependent phase manipulation in quasi-two-dimensional systems with inherent sublayer stacking orders. Manipulating collective phenomena in solid-state platforms with optical means is an ongoing topic of interest in condensed matter physics. Here, the authors demonstrate all-optical room-temperature manipulation of electronic states in the charge-density-wave material EuTe 4 .

The popularity of direct current (DC) networks have made their optimal power flow (OPF) problem a hot topic. With the proliferation of distributed generation, the many problems of centralized optimization methods, such as single point failure and slow response speed, have led to utilization of measures such as distributed OPF methods. The OPF problem is non-convex, which makes it difficult to obtain an optimal solution. The second-order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation method is widely utilized to make the OPF problem convex. It is difficult to guarantee its exactness, especially when line constraints are considered. This paper proposes a penalty based ADMM approach using difference-of-convex programming (DCP) to solve the non-convex OPF problem in a distributed manner. The algorithm is composed of distributed x iteration, z iteration and λ, μ iteration. Specifically, in the distributed z iteration, the active power flow injection equation of each line is formulated as a difference of two convex functions, and then the SOCP relaxation is given in a different form. If the SOCP relaxation is inexact, a penalty item is added to drive the solution to be feasible. Then, an optimal solution can be obtained using a local nonlinear programming method. Finally, simulations on a 14-bus system and the IEEE 123-bus system validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.