Substantial changes resulting from the interaction of environmental and dietary factors contribute to an increased risk of obesity, while their specific associations with obesity remain unclear. Identify inflammation-related dietary patterns (DPs) and explore their associations with obesity among urbanized Tibetan adults under significant environmental and dietary changes.Totally, 1826 subjects from the suburbs of Golmud City were enrolled in an open cohort study, of which 514 were followed up. Height, weight, and waist circumference were used to define overweight and obesity. DPs were derived using reduced rank regression with 41 food groups as predictors and hs-CRP and prognostic nutritional index as inflammatory response variables. Altitude was classified as high or ultra-high. Two DPs were extracted. DP-1 was characterized by having high consumptions of sugar-sweetened beverages, savory snacks, and poultry, and a low intake of tsamba. DP-2 had high intakes of poultry, pork, animal offal, and fruits, and a low intake of butter tea. Participants in the highest tertiles (T3) of DPs had increased risks of overweight and obesity (DP-1: OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.77; DP-2: OR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.85) than those in the lowest tertiles (T1). Participants in T3 of DP-2 had an increased risk of central obesity (OR=2.25, 95% CI: 1.49, 3.39) than those in T1. The positive association of DP-1 with overweight and obesity was only significant at high altitudes, while no similar effect was observed for DP-2. Inflammation-related DPs were associated with increased risks of overweight and/or obesity.

A multifunctional optical diagnostic system, which includes an interferometer, a refractometer and a multi-frame shadowgraph, has been developed at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility to characterize underdense plasmas in experiments of the double-cone ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion. The system employs a 266 nm laser as the probe to minimize the refraction effect and allows for flexible switching among three modes of the interferometer, refractometer and multi-frame shadowgraph. The multifunctional module comprises a pair of beam splitters that attenuate the laser, shield stray light and configure the multi-frame and interferometric modules. By adjusting the distance and angle between the beam splitters, the system can be easily adjusted and switched between the modes. Diagnostic results demonstrate that the interferometer can reconstruct electron density below 1019 cm–3, while the refractometer can diagnose density approximately up to 1020 cm–3. The multi-frame shadowgraph is used to qualitatively characterize the temporal evolution of plasmas in the cases in which the interferometer and refractometer become ineffective.

This paper proposes a nonparametric approach to identify and estimate the generalized additive model with a flexible additive structure and with possibly discrete variables when the link function is unknown. Our approach allows for a flexible additive structure which provides applied researchers the flexibility to specify their model according to economic theory or practical experience. Motivated by the concerns from empirical research, our method also allows for multiple discrete variables in the covariates. By transforming our model into a generalized additive model with univariate component functions, our identification and estimation thereby follows a procedure adapted from the case with univariate components. The estimators converge to normal distributions in large sample with a one-dimensional convergence rate for the link function and a $d_k$-dimensional convergence rate for the component function $f_k(\cdot )$ defined on ${\mathbb R}^{d_k}$ for all k.

The self-generated magnetic field in three-dimensional (3-D) single-mode ablative Rayleigh–Taylor instability (ARTI) relevant to the acceleration phase of a direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion is investigated. It is found that stronger magnetic fields up to a few thousand teslas can be generated by 3-D ARTI rather than by its two-dimensional (2-D) counterpart. The Nernst effects significantly alter the magnetic field convection and amplify the magnetic fields. The magnetic field of thousands of teslas yields the Hall parameter of the order of unity, leading to profound magnetized heat flux modification. While the magnetic field significantly accelerates the bubble growth in the short-wavelength 2-D modes through modifying the heat fluxes, the magnetic field mostly accelerates the spike growth but has little influence on the bubble growth in 3-D ARTI. The accelerated growth of spikes in 3-D ARTI is expected to enhance material mixing and degrade ICF implosion performance. This work is focused on a regime relevant to direct-drive ICF parameters at the National Ignition Facility, and it also covers a range of key parameters that are relevant to other ICF designs and hydrodynamic/astrophysical scenarios.

Understanding the genetic basis of porcine mental health (PMH)-related traits in intensive pig farming systems may promote genetic improvement animal welfare enhancement. However, investigations on this topic have been limited to a retrospective focus, and phenotypes have been difficult to elucidate due to an unknown genetic basis. Intensively farmed pigs, such as those of the Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire breeds, have undergone prolonged selection pressure in intensive farming systems. This has potentially subjected genes related to mental health in these pigs to positive selection. To identify genes undergoing positive selection under intensive farming conditions, we employed multiple selection signature detection approaches. Specifically, we integrated disease gene annotations from three human gene–disease association databases (Disease, DisGeNET, and MalaCards) to pinpoint genes potentially associated with pig mental health, revealing a total of 254 candidate genes related to PMH. In-depth functional analyses revealed that candidate PMH genes were significantly overrepresented in signaling-related pathways (e.g., the dopaminergic synapse, neuroactive ligand‒receptor interaction, and calcium signaling pathways) or Gene Ontology terms (e.g., dendritic tree and synapse). These candidate PMH genes were expressed at high levels in the porcine brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus, and the cell type in which they were significantly enriched was neurons in the hippocampus. Moreover, they potentially affect pork meat quality traits. Our findings make a significant contribution to elucidating the genetic basis of PMH, facilitating genetic improvements for the welfare of pigs and establishing pigs as valuable animal models for gaining insights into human psychiatric disorders.

This study aimed to understand the potassium voltage-gated channel KQT-like subfamily, member 1 gene polymorphism in a rural elderly population in a county in Guangxi and to explore the possible relationship between its gene polymorphism and blood sugar. The 6 SNP loci of blood DNA samples from 4355 individuals were typed using the imLDRTM Multiple SNP Typing Kit from Shanghai Tianhao Biotechnology Co. The data combining epidemiological information (baseline questionnaire and physical examination results) and genotyping results were statistically analyzed using GMDR0.9 software and SPSS22.0 software. A total of 4355 elderly people aged 60 years and above were surveyed in this survey, and the total abnormal rate of glucose metabolism was 16·11 % (699/4355). Among them, male:female ratio was 1:1·48; the age group of 60–69 years old accounted for the highest proportion, with 2337 people, accounting for 53·66 % (2337/4355). The results of multivariate analysis showed that usually not doing farm work (OR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·50), TAG ≥ 1·70 mmol/l (OR 1·19; 95 % CI 1·11, 1·27), hyperuricaemia (OR 1·034; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·66) and BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 (OR 1·06; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·09) may be risk factors for abnormal glucose metabolism. Among all participants, rs151290 locus AA genotype, A allele carriers (AA+AC) were 0.70 times more likely (0.54 to 0.91) and 0.82 times more likely (0.70 to 0.97) to develop abnormal glucose metabolism than CC genotype carriers, respectively. Carriers of the T allele at the rs2237892 locus (CT+TT) were 0.85 times more likely to have abnormal glucose metabolism than carriers of the CC genotype (0.72 to 0.99); rs2237897 locus CT gene. The possibility of abnormal glucose metabolism in the carriers of CC genotype, TT genotype and T allele (CT + TT) is 0·79 times (0·67–0·94), 0·74 times (0·55–0·99) and 0·78 times (0·66, 0·92). The results of multifactor dimensionality reduction showed that the optimal interaction model was a three-factor model consisting of farm work, TAG and rs2237897. The best model dendrogram found that the interaction between TAG and rs2237897 had the strongest effect on fasting blood glucose in the elderly in rural areas, and they were mutually antagonistic. Environment–gene interaction is an important factor affecting abnormal glucose metabolism in the elderly of a county in Hechi City, Guangxi.

Thin-film beam combining technology is an effective approach to improve output power while maintaining beam quality. However, the lack of comprehensive research into the key factors affecting the beam quality in systems makes it challenging to achieve a practical combined beam source with high brightness. This paper clearly established that the temperature rise of dichroic mirrors (DMs) and sub-beam overlapping precision are the main factors affecting the beam quality of the system, with quantified effects. Based on this understanding, a combined light source of four channels of 3 kW fiber lasers was achieved, and an output power of 11.4 kW with a beam quality of M2x = 1.601 and M2y = 1.558, using three high-steepness low-absorption DMs and the active control technique. To the best of our knowledge, this is the best beam quality for a 10 kW light source. This study offers a solution for practical high-power laser sources in the tens of kilowatts range.

Modern studies suggest that the upper ocean heat content (OHC) in the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) is a better qualitative predictor of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). But it is still unknown how the OHC is mechanically linked to ISMR and whether it can be applied to long-term climate changes. By analyzing reanalysis datasets across the 20th century, we illustrate that in contrast to those anomalies associated with stronger ISM westerlies, higher ISMR is accompanied with summer surface high pressure and east wind anomalies from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal (BOB), and is loosely related to increased western TIO OHC during decayed phases of positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) and of El Niño. Except for 1944–1968 AD, this interannually lagged ISMR response to winter OHC is insignificant, probably suppressed by those simultaneous effects of positive IOD and El Niño on ISMR. In our paleoclimatic simulations, this modern observed lagged response is interrupted by seasonally reversed insolation anomalies at the 23,000-year precessional band. Our sensitivity experiments further prove that, the ISMR can be simultaneously reduced by positive IOD-like summer OHC anomalies both for modern and precessional situations. This damping effect is mainly contributed by the warmer western TIO that triggers anomalous surface high pressure, easterly winds, and drastically reduced rainfall from BOB to Arabian Peninsula, but with slightly increased rainfall in the northern ISM region. And the cooler southeastern TIO will only moderately increase rainfall in the southern ISM region.

Studies on obesity and risk factors from a life-course perspective among residents in the Tibet Plateau with recent economic growth and increasing obesity are important and urgently needed. The birth cohort in this area provides a unique opportunity to examine the association between maternal dietary practice and neonatal obesity. The study aims to detect the prevalence of obesity among neonates, associated with maternal diet and other factors, supporting life-course strategies for obesity control. A cohort of pregnant women was enrolled in Tibet Plateau and followed till childbirth. Dietary practice during pregnancy was assessed using the Chinese FFQ – Tibet Plateau version, food items and other variables were associated with the risk for obesity of neonates followed by logistic regression, classification and regression trees (CART) and random forest. Of the total 1226 mother–neonate pairs, 40·5 % were Tibetan and 5·4 % of neonates with obesity. Consuming fruits as a protective factor for obesity of neonates with OR (95 % CI) = 0·61 (0·43, 0·87) from logistic regression; as well as OR = 0·20 (0·12, 0·35) for consuming fruits (≥ weekly) from CART. Removing fruit consumption to avoid overshadowing effects of other factors, the following were influential from CART: maternal education (more than middle school, OR = 0·22 (0·13, 0·37)) and consumption of Tibetan food (daily, OR = 3·44 (2·08, 5·69). Obesity among neonates is prevalent in the study population. Promoting healthy diets during pregnancy and strengthening maternal education should be part of the life-course strategies for obesity control.

We show that the mode-locking region of the family of quasi-periodically forced Arnold circle maps with a topologically generic forcing function is dense. This gives a rigorous verification of certain numerical observations in [M. Ding, C. Grebogi and E. Ott. Evolution of attractors in quasiperiodically forced systems: from quasiperiodic to strange nonchaotic to chaotic. Phys. Rev. A 39(5) (1989), 2593–2598] for such forcing functions. More generally, under some general conditions on the base map, we show the density of the mode-locking property among dynamically forced maps (defined in [Z. Zhang. On topological genericity of the mode-locking phenomenon. Math. Ann. 376 (2020), 707–72]) equipped with a topology that is much stronger than the $C^0$ topology, compatible with smooth fiber maps. For quasi-periodic base maps, our result generalizes the main results in [A. Avila, J. Bochi and D. Damanik. Cantor spectrum for Schrödinger operators with potentials arising from generalized skew-shifts. Duke Math. J. 146 (2009), 253–280], [J. Wang, Q. Zhou and T. Jäger. Genericity of mode-locking for quasiperiodically forced circle maps. Adv. Math. 348 (2019), 353–377] and Zhang (2020).

A comprehensive direct numerical simulation of electroconvection (EC) turbulence caused by strong unipolar charge injection in a two-dimensional cavity is performed. The EC turbulence has strong fluctuations and intermittency in the closed cavity. Several dominant large-scale structures are found, including two vertical main rolls and a single primary roll. The flow mode significantly influences the charge transport efficiency. A nearly $Ne \sim T^{1/2}$ scaling stage is observed, and the optimal $Ne$ increment is related to the mode with two vertical rolls, while the single roll mode decreases the charge transport efficiency. As the flow strength increases, EC turbulence transitions from an electric force-dominated mode to an inertia-dominated mode. The former utilizes the Coulomb force more effectively and allocates more energy to convection. The vertical mean profiles of charge, electric field and energy budget provide intuitive information on the spatial energy distribution. With the aid of the energy-box technique, a detailed energy transport evolution is illustrated with changing electric Rayleigh numbers. This exploration of EC turbulence can help explain more complicated electrokinetic turbulence mechanisms and the successful utilization of Fourier mode decomposition and energy-box techniques is expected to benefit future EC studies.

This study aimed to investigate the association between n-3 PUFA and lung function. First, a cross-sectional study was conducted based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2012 data. n-3 PUFA intake was obtained from 24-h dietary recalls. A multivariable linear regression model was used to assess the observational associations of n-3 PUFA intake with lung function. Subsequently, a two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) was performed to estimate the potential causal effect of n-3 PUFA on lung function. Genetic instrumental variables were extracted from published genome-wide association studies. Summary statistics about n-3 PUFA was from UK Biobank. Inverse variance weighted was the primary analysis approach. The observational study did not demonstrate a significant association between n-3 PUFA intake and most lung function measures; however, a notable exception was observed with significant findings in the highest quartile for forced vital capacity (FVC) and % predicted FVC. The MR results also showed no causal effect of circulating n-3 PUFA concentration on lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), β = 0·01301, se = 0·01932, P = 0·5006; FVC, β = −0·001894, se = 0·01704, P = 0·9115; FEV1:FVC, β = 0·03118, se = 0·01743, P = 0·07359). These findings indicate the need for further investigation into the impact of higher n-3 PUFA consumption on lung health.

Kaolinite is often a cause of deformation in soft-rock tunnel engineering, leading to safety problems. In order to gain a better predictive understanding of the governing principles associated with this phenomenon, the physical and chemical properties of kaolinite were investigated using an efficient, firstprinciples scheme for studying isomorphic substitution of Al ions in kaolinite by two kinds of other elements (namely, the dual defect). Elements that are relatively common in natural kaolinite were chosen from groups II (Be, Mg, Ca, and Sr) and III (Fe and Sc) of the Periodic Table as dual-defect ions to substitute for Al ions in kaolinite. By systematically calculating the impurity-formation energies (which characterize the difference in the total crystal energy before and after the defect arises) and transitionenergy levels, which characterize the energy cost for the transformation between two different charge states, the (Be + Sc)Al (i.e. the replacement of two specific Al ions in kaolinite by external Be and Sc ions), (Ca + Sc)Al, (Mg + Sc)Al, and (Sr + Sc)Al ion pairs were determined to have low formation energies, suggesting that these combinations of ions can easily substitute for Al ions in kaolinite. The (Be + Fe)Al, (Ca + Fe)Al, (Mg + Fe)Al, and (Sr + Fe)Al ion pairs have relatively high formation energies which make isomorphic substitution (or doping) in kaolinite difficult. Moreover, these combinations of elements from groups II and III were found to have relatively low transition-energy levels compared with other element pairs. Among them, (Sr + Sc)Al have the lowest transition-energy level at 0.06 eV above the valence band maximum. When compared with single external substitutional defects in kaolinite, remarkably, the dual defects have relatively low formation energies and transition-energy levels. The results are helpful in understanding the chemical and physical properties of natural kaolinite.

Schistosomiasis, a parasite infectious disease caused by Schistosoma japonicum, often leads to egg granuloma and fibrosis due to the inflammatory reaction triggered by egg antigens released in the host liver. This study focuses on the role of the egg antigens CP1412 protein of S. japonicum (SjCP1412) with RNase activity in promoting liver fibrosis. In this study, the recombinant egg ribonuclease SjCP1412, which had RNase activity, was successfully prepared. By analysing the serum of the population, it has been proven that the anti-SjCP1412 IgG in the serum of patients with advanced schistosomiasis was moderately correlated with liver fibrosis, and SjCP1412 may be an important antigen associated with liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis. In vitro, the rSjCP1412 protein induced the human liver cancer cell line Hep G2 and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells apoptosis and necrosis and the release of proinflammatory damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). In mice infected with schistosomes, rSjCP1412 immunization or antibody neutralization of SjCP1412 activity significantly reduced cell apoptosis and necroptosis in liver tissue, thereby reducing inflammation and liver fibrosis. In summary, the SjCP1412 protein plays a crucial role in promoting liver fibrosis during schistosomiasis through mediating the liver cells apoptosis and necroptosis to release DAMPs inducing an inflammatory reaction. Blocking SjCP1412 activity could inhibit its proapoptotic and necrotic effects and alleviate hepatic fibrosis. These findings suggest that SjCP1412 may be served as a promising drug target for managing liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis japonica.