High-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs), which lose energy quickly during their propagation, provide a probe of Galactic high-energy processes and may enable the observation of phenomena such as dark-matter particle annihilation or decay. The CRE spectrum has been measured directly up to approximately 2 teraelectronvolts in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments, and indirectly up to approximately 5 teraelectronvolts using ground-based Cherenkov γ-ray telescope arrays. Evidence for a spectral break in the teraelectronvolt energy range has been provided by indirect measurements, although the results were qualified by sizeable systematic uncertainties. Here we report a direct measurement of CREs in the energy range 25 gigaelectronvolts to 4.6 teraelectronvolts by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) with unprecedentedly high energy resolution and low background. The largest part of the spectrum can be well fitted by a 'smoothly broken power-law' model rather than a single power-law model. The direct detection of a spectral break at about 0.9 teraelectronvolts confirms the evidence found by previous indirect measurements, clarifies the behaviour of the CRE spectrum at energies above 1 teraelectronvolt and sheds light on the physical origin of the sub-teraelectronvolt CREs.

NONCODE (http://www.bioinfo.org/noncode/) is a systematic database that is dedicated to presenting the most complete collection and annotation of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Since NONCODE 2016 was released two years ago, the amount of novel identified ncRNAs has been enlarged by the reduced cost of next-generation sequencing, which has produced an explosion of newly identified data. The third-generation sequencing revolution has also offered longer and more accurate annotations. Moreover, accumulating evidence confirmed by biological experiments has provided more comprehensive knowledge of lncRNA functions. The ncRNA data set was expanded by collecting newly identified ncRNAs from literature published over the past two years and integration of the latest versions of RefSeq and Ensembl. Additionally, pig was included in the database for the first time, bringing the total number of species to 17. The number of lncRNAs in NONCODEv5 increased from 527 336 to 548 640. NONCODEv5 also introduced three important new features: (i) human lncRNA–disease relationships and single nucleotide polymorphism-lncRNA–disease relationships were constructed; (ii) human exosome lncRNA expression profiles were displayed; (iii) the RNA secondary structures of NONCODE human transcripts were predicted. NONCODEv5 is also accessible through http://www.noncode.org/.

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), one of the four scientific space science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a general purpose high energy cosmic-ray and gamma-ray observatory, which was successfully launched on December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The DAMPE scientific objectives include the study of galactic cosmic rays up to $\sim 10$ TeV and hundreds of TeV for electrons/gammas and nuclei respectively, and the search for dark matter signatures in their spectra. In this paper we illustrate the layout of the DAMPE instrument, and discuss the results of beam tests and calibrations performed on ground. Finally we present the expected performance in space and give an overview of the mission key scientific goals.Comment: 45 pages, including 29 figures and 6 tables. Published in Astropart. Phy

The precise measurement of the spectrum of protons, the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, is necessary to understand the source and acceleration of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. This work reports the measurement of the cosmic ray proton fluxes with kinetic energies from 40 GeV to 100 TeV, with 2 1 / 2 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). This is the first time that an experiment directly measures the cosmic ray protons up to~100 TeV with high statistics. The measured spectrum confirms the spectral hardening at~300 GeV found by previous experiments and reveals a softening at~13.6 TeV, with the spectral index changing from~2.60 to~2.85. Our result suggests the existence of a new spectral feature of cosmic rays at energies lower than the so-called knee and sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play crucial regulatory roles in a variety of biological circuits. To document regulatory interactions between ncRNAs and biomolecules, we previously created the NPInter database (http://bigdata.ibp.ac.cn/npinter). Since the last version of NPInter was issued, a rapidly growing number of studies have reported novel interactions and accumulated numerous high-throughput interactome data. We have therefore updated NPInter to its fourth edition in which are integrated 600 000 new experimentally identified ncRNA interactions. ncRNA–DNA interactions derived from ChIRP-seq data and circular RNA interactions have been included in the database. Additionally, disease associations were annotated to the interacting molecules. The database website has also been redesigned with a more user-friendly interface and several additional functional modules. Overall, NPInter v4.0 now provides more comprehensive data and services for researchers working on ncRNAs and their interactions with other biomolecules.

The National Genomics Data Center (NGDC) provides a suite of database resources to support worldwide research activities in both academia and industry. With the rapid advancements in higher-throughput and lower-cost sequencing technologies and accordingly the huge volume of multi-omics data generated at exponential scales and rates, NGDC is continually expanding, updating and enriching its core database resources through big data integration and value-added curation. In the past year, efforts for update have been mainly devoted to BioProject, BioSample, GSA, GWH, GVM, NONCODE, LncBook, EWAS Atlas and IC4R. Newly released resources include three human genome databases (PGG.SNV, PGG.Han and CGVD), eLMSG, EWAS Data Hub, GWAS Atlas, iSheep and PADS Arsenal. In addition, four web services, namely, eGPS Cloud, BIG Search, BIG Submission and BIG SSO, have been significantly improved and enhanced. All of these resources along with their services are publicly accessible at https://bigd.big.ac.cn.

Recent observations of the light component of the cosmic-ray spectrum have revealed unexpected features that motivate further and more precise measurements up to the highest energies. The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a satellite-based cosmic-ray experiment that is operational since December 2015, continuously collecting data on high-energy cosmic particles with very good statistics, energy resolution, and particle identification capabilities. In this work, the latest measurements of the energy spectrum of proton+helium in the energy range from 46 GeV to 316 TeV are presented. Among the most distinctive features of the spectrum, a spectral hardening at ∼600 GeV has been observed, along with a softening at ∼29 TeV measured with a 6.6σ significance. Moreover, by measuring the energy spectrum up to 316 TeV, a strong link is established between space-and ground-based experiments, also suggesting the presence of a second hardening at ∼150 TeV. * https://geant4.web.cern.ch/node/302 † https://web.ikp.kit.edu/rulrich/crmc.html

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