Karst ecosystems in southern China are species-rich and have high levels of endemism, yet little is known regarding the evolutionary processes responsible for the origin and diversification of karst biodiversity. The genus Primulina (Gesneriaceae) comprises ca. 170 species endemic to southern China with high levels of ecological (edaphic) specialization, providing an exceptional model to study the plant diversification in karsts. We used molecular data from nine chloroplast and 11 nuclear regions and macroevolutionary analyses to assess the origin and cause of species diversification due to palaeoenvironmental changes and edaphic specialization in Primulina. We found that speciation was positively associated with changes in past temperatures and East Asian monsoons through the evolutionary history of Primulina. Climatic change around the mid-Miocene triggered an early burst followed by a slowdown of diversification rate towards the present with the climate cooling. We detected different speciation rates among edaphic types, and transitions among soil types were infrequently and did not impact the overall speciation rate. Our findings suggest that both global temperature changes and East Asian monsoons have played crucial roles in floristic diversification within the karst ecosystems in southern China, such that speciation was higher when climate was warmer and wetter. This is the first study to directly demonstrate that past monsoon activity is positively correlated with speciation rate in East Asia. This case study could motivate further investigations to assess the impacts of past environmental changes on the origin and diversification of biodiversity in global karst ecosystems, most of which are under threat.

The reverse engineering (RE) of electronic chips and systems can be used with honest and dishonest intentions. To inhibit RE for those with dishonest intentions (e.g., piracy and counterfeiting), it is important that the community is aware of the state-of-the-art capabilities available to attackers today. In this article, we will be presenting a survey of RE and anti-RE techniques on the chip, board, and system levels. We also highlight the current challenges and limitations of anti-RE and the research needed to overcome them. This survey should be of interest to both governmental and industrial bodies whose critical systems and intellectual property (IP) require protection from foreign enemies and counterfeiters who possess advanced RE capabilities.

A flat-field extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometer working in the 20-500 Å wavelength range with fast time response has been newly developed to measure line emissions from highly ionized tungsten in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) with a tungsten divertor, while the monitoring of light and medium impurities is also an aim in the present development. A flat-field focal plane for spectral image detection is made by a laminar-type varied-line-spacing concave holographic grating with an angle of incidence of 87°. A back-illuminated charge-coupled device (CCD) with a total size of 26.6 × 6.6 mm(2) and pixel numbers of 1024 × 255 (26 × 26 μm(2)/pixel) is used for recording the focal image of spectral lines. An excellent spectral resolution of Δλ0 = 3-4 pixels, where Δλ0 is defined as full width at the foot position of a spectral line, is obtained at the 80-400 Å wavelength range after careful adjustment of the grating and CCD positions. The high signal readout rate of the CCD can improve the temporal resolution of time-resolved spectra when the CCD is operated in the full vertical binning mode. It is usually operated at 5 ms per frame. If the vertical size of the CCD is reduced with a narrow slit, the time response becomes faster. The high-time response in the spectral measurement therefore makes possible a variety of spectroscopic studies, e.g., impurity behavior in long pulse discharges with edge-localized mode bursts. An absolute intensity calibration of the EUV spectrometer is also carried out with a technique using the EUV bremsstrahlung continuum at 20-150 Å for quantitative data analysis. Thus, the high-time resolution tungsten spectra have been successfully observed with good spectral resolution using the present EUV spectrometer system. Typical tungsten spectra in the EUV wavelength range observed from EAST discharges are presented with absolute intensity and spectral identification.

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Background There is a global focus on illness diagnosis in smear-negative and latent tuberculosis infectious populations (SN-TB and LTBI). CD27 has been suggested to play a direct role in active TB. Little is known about smear-negative individuals. Here, we tried to investigate whether it has a role in smear-negative populations. The expression of CD27 and MTB-specific CD27 in CD4+ T cells (“CD27−CD4+” and “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+”) was evaluated in MTB-unexposed controls (HC), TB contacts (TB-C) and SN-TB individuals by flow cytometry. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC (area under curve) of “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells to distinguish SN-TBs from HCs and TB-Cs were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The clinical index was selected from the clinical laboratory and evaluated for correlation with “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells by Spearman statistical analysis. Results We observed that the percentages of “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells were significantly increased in the SN-TB group compared with the HC and TB-C groups (AUC was 0.88, sensitivity was 82.14%, specificity was 80.00%, and P < 0.0001). The percentage of “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells was negatively correlated with WBC (white blood cell count) (r = − 0.3019, P = 0.0182) and positively correlated with IgE (immunoglobulin E) (r = 0.2805, P = 0.0362). Furthermore, “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells were significantly decreased, especially in the > 50 years group, after clinical treatment. Conclusion The present results demonstrated that the percentage of “CD27−IFN-γ+CD4+” cells might be a conceivable molecular indicator in the diagnosis of SN-TB and was influenced by its outcome of therapy.

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Primulina malipoensis, a new species from limestone areas around the Sino-Vietnamese border, is described and illustrated. This new species is morphologically similar to P. maguanensis and P. lungzhouensis, but obviously differs from the latter two species by its pale greenish-yellow flowers (vs. purple, with different colour patterns). The phylogenetic affinity, illustration and photographs of this new species are provided in this paper.