A novel entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species, Steinernema tarimense n. sp., was isolated from soil samples collected in a Populus euphratica forest located in Yuli County within the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, China. Integrated morphological and molecular analyses consistently place S. tarimense n. sp. within the ‘kushidai-clade’. The infective juvenile (IJ) of new species is characterized by a body length of 674–1010 μm, excretory pore located 53–80 μm from anterior end, nerve ring positioned 85–131 μm from anterior end, pharynx base situated 111–162 μm from anterior end, a tail length of 41–56 μm, and the ratios D% = 42.0–66.6, E% = 116.2–184.4, and H% = 25.5–45.1. The first-generation male of the new species is characterized by a curved spicule length of 61–89 μm, gubernaculum length of 41–58 μm, and ratios D% = 36.8–66.2, SW% = 117.0–206.1, and GS% = 54.8–82.0. Additionally, the tail of first-generation female is conoid with a minute mucron. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS, 28S, and mt12S sequences demonstrated that the three isolates of S. tarimense n. sp. are conspecific and form a sister clade to members of the ‘kushidai-clade’ including S. akhursti, S. anantnagense, S. kushidai, and S. populi. Notably, the IJs of the new species exhibited faster development at 25°C compared to other Steinernema species. This represents the first described of an indigenous EPN species from Xinjiang, suggesting its potential as a novel biocontrol agent against local pests.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Myocardial interstitial fibrosis leads to high hemodynamic load resulting in heart failure (HFrEF). Previous studies show that treatment with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) does not reduce fibrosis. We hypothesize that human cardiac fibroblasts are highly activated in HFrEF and remain unresponsive to hemodynamic unloading by LVAD. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Forty human subjects with HFrEF undergoing LVAD implantation were enrolled to provide a portion of myocardium routinely removed during LVAD placement. In addition, 7 biopsies previously collected from transplanted hearts with extended LVAD treatment were also evaluated (LVEX). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Quantification of PSR-stained sections reveals a significant increase in collagen content in the HFrEF tissue (CVF = 2.8) compared to control tissues (CVF = 0.9) that remained elevated in LVEX hearts (CVF = 3.1). HCFs from LV biopsies were isolated and grown to confluence. HCFs from HFrEF patients and control HCFs were plated on substrates with stiffnesses reflective of normal myocardium (2kPa) or HFrEF myocardium (8kPa). Cells were collected at 4- and 7-day time points and levels of collagen I and alpha-smooth muscle actin were quantified by western blot analysis. Control HCFs were responsive to changes in substrate stiffness producing more Col I and a-SMA on 8kPa versus 2kPa, HCFs from HFrEF patients were unresponsive to changes in stiffness exhibiting no significant difference in protein production on 2 vs. 8kPa. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggests that HCFs isolated from the failing myocardium do not respond to changes in mechanical load and might contribute to persistent increases in fibrosis. These findings bring us one step closer to elucidating mechanisms behind fibrosis in HFrEF which could lead to targeted therapies to improve patient outcomes from LVAD support.

The chemistry of Al transformation has been well documented, though little is known about the mechanisms of structural perturbation of Al precipitates by carbonates at a molecular level. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the structural perturbation of Al precipitates formed under the influence of carbonates. Initial carbonate/Al molar ratios (MRs) used were 0, 0.1, and 0.5 after aging for 32 days, then the samples were analyzed by X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), and chemical analysis. The XRD data were in accord with the FTIR results, which revealed that as the carbonate/Al MR was increased from 0 to 0.1, carbonate preferentially retarded the formation of gibbsite and had relatively little effect on the formation of bayerite. As the carbonate/Al MR was increased to 0.5, however, the crystallization of both gibbsite and bayerite was completely inhibited. The impact of carbonate on the nature of Al precipitates was also evident in the increase of adsorbed water and inorganic C contents with increasing carbonate/Al MR. The Al K- and L- edge XANES data provide the first evidence illustrating the change in the coordination number of Al from 6-fold to mixed 6- and 4-fold coordination in the structural network of short-range ordered (SRO) Al precipitates formed under the increasing perturbation of carbonate. The fluorescence yield spectra of the O K-edge show that the intensity of the peak at 534.5 eV assigned to σ* transitions of Al-O and O-H bonding decreased with increasing carbonate/Al MR. The XANES data, along with the evidence from XRD, FTIR, and chemical analysis showed clearly that carbonate caused the alteration of the coordination nature of the Al-O bonding through perturbation of the atomic bonding and structural configuration of Al hydroxides by complexation with Al in the SRO network of Al precipitates. The surface reactivity of an Al-O bond is related to its covalency and coordination geometry. The present findings were, therefore, of fundamental significance in understanding the low-temperature geochemistry of Al and its impacts on the transformation, transport, and fate of nutrients and pollutants in the ecosystem.

The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.

We report on experimental observation of non-laminar proton acceleration modulated by a strong magnetic field in laser irradiating micrometer aluminum targets. The results illustrate the coexistence of ring-like and filamentation structures. We implement the knife edge method into the radiochromic film detector to map the accelerated beams, measuring a source size of 30–110 μm for protons of more than 5 MeV. The diagnosis reveals that the ring-like profile originates from low-energy protons far off the axis whereas the filamentation is from the near-axis high-energy protons, exhibiting non-laminar features. Particle-in-cell simulations reproduced the experimental results, showing that the short-term magnetic turbulence via Weibel instability and the long-term quasi-static annular magnetic field by the streaming electric current account for the measured beam profile. Our work provides direct mapping of laser-driven proton sources in the space-energy domain and reveals the non-laminar beam evolution at featured time scales.

Manure is a primary source of methane (CH4) emissions into the atmosphere. A large proportion of CH4 from manure is emitted during storage, but this varies with storage methods. In this research, we tested whether covering a manure heap with plastic reduces CH4 emission during a short-term composting process. A static chamber method was used to detect the CH4 emission rate and the change of the physicochemical properties of cattle manure which was stored either uncovered (treatment UNCOVERED) or covered with plastic (treatment COVERED) for 30-day periods during the four seasons? The dry matter content of the COVERED treatment was significantly less than the UNCOVERED treatment (P < 0.01), and the C/N ratio of the COVERED treatment significantly greater than the UNCOVERED treatment (P > 0.05) under high temperature. In the UNCOVERED treatment, average daily methane (CH4) emissions were in the order summer > spring > autumn > winter. CH4 emissions were positively correlated with the temperature (R2 = 0.52, P < 0.01). Compared to the UNCOVERED treatment, the daily average CH4 emission rates from COVERED treatment manure were less in the first 19 days of spring, 13 days of summer, 10 days of autumn and 30 days of winter. In summary, covering the manure pile with plastic reduces the evaporation of water during storage; and in winter, long-term covering with plastic film reduces the CH4 emissions during the storage of manure.

An acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreak caused by a norovirus occurred at a hospital in Shanghai, China, was studied for molecular epidemiology, host susceptibility and serological roles. Rectal and environmental swabs, paired serum samples and saliva specimens were collected. Pathogens were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Histo-blood group antigens (HBGA) phenotypes of saliva samples and their binding to norovirus protruding proteins were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The HBGA-binding interfaces and the surrounding region were analysed by the MegAlign program of DNAstar 7.1. Twenty-seven individuals in two care units were attacked with AGE at attack rates of 9.02 and 11.68%. Eighteen (78.2%) symptomatic and five (38.4%) asymptomatic individuals were GII.6/b norovirus positive. Saliva-based HBGA phenotyping showed that all symptomatic and asymptomatic cases belonged to A, B, AB or O secretors. Only four (16.7%) out of the 24 tested serum samples showed low blockade activity against HBGA-norovirus binding at the acute phase, whereas 11 (45.8%) samples at the convalescence stage showed seroconversion of such blockade. Specific blockade antibody in the population played an essential role in this norovirus epidemic. A wide HBGA-binding spectrum of GII.6 supports a need for continuous health attention and surveillance in different settings.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common pathogen associated with nosocomial infections and is characterised serologically by capsular polysaccharide (K) and lipopolysaccharide O antigens. We surveyed a total of 348 non-duplicate K. pneumoniae clinical isolates collected over a 1-year period in a tertiary care hospital, and determined their O and K serotypes by sequencing of the wbb Y and wzi gene loci, respectively. Isolates were also screened for antimicrobial resistance and hypervirulent phenotypes; 94 (27.0%) were identified as carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) and 110 (31.6%) as hypervirulent (hvKP). isolates fell into 58 K, and six O types, with 92.0% and 94.2% typeability, respectively. The predominant K types were K14K64 (16.38%), K1 (14.66%), K2 (8.05%) and K57 (5.46%), while O1 (46%), O2a (27.9%) and O3 (11.8%) were the most common. CRKP and hvKP strains had different serotype distributions with O2a:K14K64 (41.0%) being the most frequent among CRKP, and O1:K1 (26.4%) and O1:K2 (17.3%) among hvKP strains. Serotyping by gene sequencing proved to be a useful tool to inform the clinical epidemiology of K. pneumoniae infections and provides valuable data relevant to vaccine design.

Lameness is a very important disorder of periparturient dairy cows with implications on milk production and composition as well as with consequences on reproductive performance. The aetiology of lameness is not clear although there have been various hypotheses suggested over the years. The objective of this study was to metabotype the urine of dairy cows prior to, during and after the onset of lameness by evaluating at weeks −8, −4 pre-calving, the week of lameness diagnosis, and +4 and +8 weeks post-calving. We used a metabolomics approach to analyse urine samples collected from dairy cows around calving (6 cows with lameness v. 20 healthy control cows). A total of 153 metabolites were identified and quantified using an in-house MS library and classified into 6 groups including: 11 amino acids (AAs), 39 acylcarnitines (ACs), 3 biogenic amines (BAs), 84 glycerophospholipids, 15 sphingolipids and hexose. A total of 23, 36, 40, 23 and 49 metabolites were observed to be significantly different between the lame and healthy cows at −8 and −4 weeks pre-calving, week of lameness diagnosis as well as at +4 and +8 weeks post-calving, respectively. It should be noted that most of the identified metabolites were elevated; however, a few of them were also lower in lame cows. Overall, ACs and glycerophospholipids, specifically phosphatidylcholines (PCs), were the metabolite groups displaying the strongest differences in the urine of pre-lame and lame cows. Lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPCs), although to a lesser extent than PCs, were altered at all time points. Alterations in urinary AA concentrations were also observed during the current study for four time points. During the pre-calving period, there was an observed elevation of arginine (−8 week), tyrosine (−8 week) and aspartate (−4 week), as well as a depression of urinary glutamate (−4 weeks). In the current study, it was additionally observed that concentrations of several sphingomyelins and one BA were altered in pre-lame and lame cows. Symmetric dimethylarginine was elevated at both −8 weeks pre-calving and the week of lameness diagnosis. Data showed that urinary fingerprinting might be a reliable methodology to be used in the future to differentiate lame cows from healthy ones.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection has been a major public health threat globally. Monitoring and prediction of CT epidemic status and trends are important for programme planning, allocating resources and assessing impact; however, such activities are limited in China. In this study, we aimed to apply a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model to predict the incidence of CT infection in Shenzhen city, China. The monthly incidence of CT between January 2008 and June 2019 in Shenzhen was used to fit and validate the SARIMA model. A seasonal fluctuation and a slightly increasing pattern of a long-term trend were revealed in the time series of CT incidence. The monthly CT incidence ranged from 4.80/100 000 to 21.56/100 000. The mean absolute percentage error value of the optimal model was 8.08%. The SARIMA model could be applied to effectively predict the short-term CT incidence in Shenzhen and provide support for the development of interventions for disease control and prevention.