Dominant Effect Research Articles

Assessment of the roles of Spt5-nucleic acid contacts in promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II

Promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a critical transcriptional regulatory mechanism in metazoans that requires the transcription factor DRB sensitivity-inducing factor (DSIF) and the inhibitory negative elongation factor (NELF). DSIF, composed of Spt4 and Spt5, establishes the pause by recruiting NELF to the elongation complex. However, the role of DSIF in pausing beyond NELF recruitment remains unclear. We used a highly purified invitro system and Drosophila nuclear extract to investigate the role of DSIF in promoter proximal pausing. We identified two domains of Spt5, the KOW4 and NGN domains, that facilitate Pol II pausing. The KOW4 domain promotes pausing through its interaction with the nascent RNA while the NGN domain does so through a short helical motif that is in close proximity to the non-transcribed DNA template strand. Removal of this sequence in Drosophila has a male-specific dominant negative effect. The alpha-helical motif is also needed to support fly viability. We also show that the interaction between the Spt5 KOW1 domain and the upstream DNA helix is required for DSIF association with the Pol II elongation complex. Disruption of the KOW1-DNA interaction is dominant lethal invivo. Finally, we show that the KOW2-3 domain of Spt5 mediates the recruitment of NELF to the elongation complex. In summary, our results reveal additional roles for DSIF in transcription regulation and identify specific domains important for facilitating Pol II pausing.

Unraveling Prevalence and Effects of Deleterious Mutations in Maize Elite Lines across Decades of Modern Breeding.

Future breeding is likely to involve the detection and removal of deleterious alleles, which are mutations that negatively affect crop fitness. However, little is known about the prevalence of such mutations and their effects on phenotypic traits in the context of modern crop breeding. To address this, we examined the number and frequency of deleterious mutations in 350 elite maize inbred lines developed over the past few decades in China and the United States. Our findings reveal an accumulation of weakly deleterious mutations and a decrease in strongly deleterious mutations, indicating the dominant effects of genetic drift and purifying selection for the two types of mutations, respectively. We also discovered that slightly deleterious mutations, when at lower frequencies, were more likely to be heterozygous in the developed hybrids. This is consistent with complementation as a potential explanation for heterosis. Subsequently, we found that deleterious mutations accounted for more of the variation in phenotypic traits than nondeleterious mutations with matched minor allele frequencies, especially for traits related to leaf angle and flowering time. Moreover, we detected fewer deleterious mutations in the promoter and gene body regions of differentially expressed genes across breeding eras than in nondifferentially expressed genes. Overall, our results provide a comprehensive assessment of the prevalence and impact of deleterious mutations in modern maize breeding and establish a useful baseline for future maize improvement efforts.

Ingested histamine and serotonin interact to alter Anopheles stephensi feeding and flight behavior and infection with Plasmodium parasites.

Blood levels of histamine and serotonin (5-HT) are altered in human malaria, and, at these levels, we have shown they have broad, independent effects on Anopheles stephensi following ingestion by this invasive mosquito. Given that histamine and 5-HT are ingested together under natural conditions and that histaminergic and serotonergic signaling are networked in other organisms, we examined effects of combinations of these biogenic amines provisioned to A. stephensi at healthy human levels (high 5-HT, low histamine) or levels associated with severe malaria (low 5-HT, high histamine). Treatments were delivered in water (priming) before feeding A. stephensi on Plasmodium yoelii-infected mice or via artificial blood meal. Relative to effects of histamine and 5-HT alone, effects of biogenic amine combinations were complex. Biogenic amine treatments had the greatest impact on the first oviposition cycle, with high histamine moderating low 5-HT effects in combination. In contrast, clutch sizes were similar across combination and individual treatments. While high histamine alone increased uninfected A. stephensi weekly lifetime blood feeding, neither combination altered this tendency relative to controls. The tendency to re-feed 2weeks after the first blood meal was altered by combination treatments, but this depended on mode of delivery. For blood delivery, malaria-associated treatments yielded higher percentages of fed females relative to healthy-associated treatments, but the converse was true for priming. Female mosquitoes treated with the malaria-associated combination exhibited enhanced flight behavior and object inspection relative to controls and healthy combination treatment. Mosquitoes primed with the malaria-associated combination exhibited higher mean oocysts and sporozoite infection prevalence relative to the healthy combination, with high histamine having a dominant effect on these patterns. Compared with uninfected A. stephensi, the tendency of infected mosquitoes to take a second blood meal revealed an interaction of biogenic amines with infection. We used a mathematical model to project the impacts of different levels of biogenic amines and associated changes on outbreaks in human populations. While not all outbreak parameters were impacted the same, the sum of effects suggests that histamine and 5-HT alter the likelihood of transmission by mosquitoes that feed on hosts with symptomatic malaria versus a healthy host.

Multi-year nitrogen accumulation weakens the stabilizing effect of species asynchrony on drought resistance in a Tibetan alpine meadow

Although the impacts of exogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment and drought on grassland community productivity are well known, their interactive effects on community stability remain insufficiently understood. In this study, a seven-year N enrichment experiment was conducted in a Tibetan alpine meadow to examine the effects of N-altered species richness, species dominance, species asynchrony, and pre-drought biomass on community stability, resistance, and resilience during two natural drought stresses (the first severe drought stress in 2015, FDS, and the second light drought stress in 2019, SDS). Our results indicate that N enrichment did not alter species richness but significantly reduced species asynchrony and dominance. Community stability showed a significant correlation with species asynchrony and dominance while remaining independent of species richness. Drought resistance, which was positively associated with community stability, was primarily influenced by species asynchrony and pre-drought biomass, rather than species dominance. Remarkably, the slopes of resistance in relation to the aforementioned factors were steeper in SDS than in FDS, despite SDS being lighter than FDS, indicating a more sensitive response to drought resistance to long-term N accumulation. In contrast, resilience was unaffected by species richness but increased with the rate of N addition. During the FDS, drought resistance and community stability were primarily governed by species asynchrony, while during the SDS, pre-drought biomass overwhelmingly determined drought resistance, surpassing the role of species asynchrony. These findings demonstrate the opposite effects of multi-year N accumulation on species asynchrony and pre-drought biomass, both of which reduce drought resistance and community stability over time. Therefore, our results contribute to a deeper understanding of grassland community stability in the face of N enrichment and natural drought stresses, aiding in predictions of grassland responses to ongoing global environmental changes.

Depth-dependent effects of ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs on soil carbon and nitrogen pools are accentuated under arbuscular mycorrhizal trees.

Plant mycorrhizal associations influence the accumulation and persistence of soil organic matter and could therefore shape ecosystem biogeochemical responses to global changes that are altering forest composition. For instance, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree dominance is increasing in temperate forests, and ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) shrubs can respond positively to canopy disturbances. Yet how shifts in the co-occurrence of trees and shrubs with different mycorrhizal associations will affect soil organic matter pools remains largely unknown. We examine the effects of ErM shrubs on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and indicators of microbial activity at different depths across gradients of AM versus ectomycorrhizal (EcM) tree dominance in three temperate forest sites. We find that ErM shrubs strongly modulate tree mycorrhizal dominance effects. In surface soils, ErM shrubs increase particulate organic matter accumulation and weaken the positive relationship between soil organic matter stocks and indicators of microbial activity. These effects are strongest under AM trees that lack fungal symbionts that can degrade organic matter. In subsurface soil organic matter pools, by contrast, tree mycorrhizal dominance effects are stronger than those of ErM shrubs. Ectomycorrhizal tree dominance has a negative influence on particulate and mineral-associated soil organic matter pools, and these effects are stronger for nitrogen than for carbon stocks. Our findings suggest that increasing co-occurrence of ErM shrubs and AM trees will enhance particulate organic matter accumulation in surface soils by suppressing microbial activity while having little influence on mineral-associated organic matter in subsurface soils. Our study highlights the importance of considering interactions between co-occurring plant mycorrhizal types, as well as their depth-dependent effects, for projecting changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in response to compositional shifts in temperate forests driven by disturbances and global change.

Bird community effects on avian malaria infections

In community assembly processes, interspecific interactions play an important role in shaping community diversity, especially at the local scale. Changes in species richness or abundance can modify local infectious disease dynamics, either reducing or increasing the risk of transmission within the community. This study evaluates the effects of bird community on avian haemosporidians infections in a Neotropical region. Bird samples were collected from areas surrounding three dams, and molecular analysis were performed to identify blood-parasitic haemosporidia infecting the birds. Generalized linear models were used to analyze the relationships between the bird community and the prevalence, number of infections, and richness of avian haemosporidian lineages. Non-significant effects of bird community dominance and richness on the prevalence of avian parasites and the number of infections of Haemoproteus were found. However, there was evidence of an amplification effect. Host dominance was associated with the total number of infections, the number Plasmodium infections and the expected richness of Plasmodium lineages, while the expected richness of Haemoproteus lineages was associated with the richness of bird species. These findings highlight the role of host community dominance and richness in the dynamics of parasite infections, potentially influenced by the availability of competent hosts. This study contributes significantly to our understanding of blood parasite diversity in tropical birds within a relatively understudied region of South America.

Identification of varying modal parameters of a tall building from the full-scale wind-induced responses

The dynamic behaviour of a tall building can change notably during the construction phases, under the varying degree of occupation, loading patterns, wind conditions, and aeroelastic phenomena. In this study, acceleration measurements taken over a period of one year and the corresponding wind conditions for a 150 m tall building in London, UK, are analysed to identify the reasons for variations in the structural modal parameters. Several environmental parameters are investigated, including the magnitude and the relative directions of the wind with respect to the building motion. The identified dominant effects are the response amplitude and the observation time. A finite element model of the tower is employed to support the experimental observations. The amplitude-dependent behaviour is studied for the natural frequencies and damping ratios of the first three vibration modes. The changes in the identified natural frequencies, with the monitoring time and response amplitudes, are attributed to the mass increase under the increasing occupancy and large-amplitude structural softening, respectively. In particular, it is shown that the natural frequencies experience an asymptotic drop of up to 5% with increasing time. The identified trends between the measured total damping and wind speed for different relative wind directions indicate that the amplitude of the lateral building motion, rather than aerodynamic wind characteristics, primarily influence the observed variation in the modal damping. Based only on the operational observations, an updated empirical model is proposed and compared against previous results from the literature. The established empirical model indicates the increase of the damping ratio values from around 0.6 % for the near-zero amplitude conditions to up to 2.1 % for the high amplitude conditions.

Colour properties and tannin concentrations of polymeric phenolic materials extracted from Pinot Noir wines of a single NZ producer

SummaryPolymeric phenolic material (PPM) was separated from monomeric anthocyanins by removing the latter using isoamyl alcohol in 22 Pinot Noir wines of different vintages and grades. The colour and tannin concentrations of PPM were determined using a modified Somers assay and methylcellulose precipitation (MCP) tannin assay, respectively. With wine age increasing, the ratio of absorbance at 520 nm at pH 1.0 to that at 3.4 decreased from 2.6 to 1.1. This decreasing trend with wine age is reported for the first time in Pinot Noir wines. The presence of bleachable polymeric pigments was also observed in PPM, and the degree of ionisation of these bleachable pigments increased along with wine age. Statistical analysis demonstrated the dominant effect of age on colour properties of PPM, regardless of vintage and grade. In contrast, total phenolics and tannin concentration mainly related to vintage, rather than age.

Generalized Linear Models in Determining Factors Affecting the Number of Community Visits to Health Service with Bayesian Inference Approach

Public health plays an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The SDGs are a series of global targets and commitments aimed at addressing various challenges facing the world today, such as poverty, hunger, gender inequality, climate change, and others. Public health, as one of the important aspects of the SDGs, is closely linked to several sustainable development goals. Efforts made to achieve the SDGs in the health sector are to improve health services. The objective of this study was to identify factors that influence the number of community visits to health services. The data used is a small sample size as one hundred community respondents in Padang City, West Sumatra Province. In this study, the number of respondents' visits to health service was the measured variable, while the predictor variables consisted of five variables, namely the status of the implementation of clean and healthy living behavior, health history, distance to health services, type of insurance owned, and consumption patterns. The generalized linear models is used to identify predictor variables that have significance using the Bayesian inference approach. It was found that there are two predictor variables that are significant in influencing the number of community visits to health services, namely the consumption patterns of respondents and the health history of respondents. These two variables have a very dominant effect on the number of visits to health service facilities in Padang City. This result indicates the community has to pay attention to their consumption patterns and living behavior to prevent periodic disease outbreaks and take care of their health history factors.

The ZrC and Ti[sbnd]Ni nanostructures in epoxy coatings: An anticorrosion and tribological study

The work herein describes the effect of the dispersion of ZrC and TiNi nanostructures, produced by mechanosynthesis, on the anticorrosion and tribological properties of epoxy resin (ER) coatings. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the addition of the nanostructured materials in the polymer matrix improved by three to four orders of magnitude the corrosion resistance of a pristine epoxy resin coated steel exposed to a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The chemical and nanocrystalline nature as well as the particle size of the reinforcements played an important role in the penetration of aggressive agents and corrosion of the steel. Interestingly, TiNi promoted a corrosion inhibiting effect through the deposition of its cations on the steel surface. On the other hand, scratch tests as well as electron and atomic force microscopy analysis revealed that the particle size of the reinforcements was a dominant effect on the scratch resistance of the nanocomposite coatings due to the modification of the surface roughness as well as the stress distribution during the scratch tests. The scratch resistance of the pristine epoxy resin was higher than that of the TiNi powder nanocomposite, but lower than that of the ZrC coating. In addition, ZrC promoted a lubricating effect during the scratch test. Up to ∼20 wt% of TiNi shape memory phase in TiNi reinforcement did not provide evident enhancement of the coatings scratch resistance.

Optical Properties and Refractive Index of Wintertime Aerosol at a Highly Polluted North‐Indian Site

AbstractEstimation of aerosol radiative forcing continues to suffer from large uncertainties, partially from a lack of observations of aerosol optical properties. Limited measurements of the atmospheric aerosol imaginary refractive index (iRI) have been made, especially in some of the world's most polluted regions. In this study, we measured aerosol optical and micro‐physical properties at a regional site, Rohtak, India, representative of polluted cities in the Indo‐Gangetic plains in northern India. The average PM2.5 measured during the campaign was 163 μg/m3 with a single‐scatter albedo of 0.7, indicating the presence of strongly absorbing aerosol components. Measurements of aerosol absorption, scattering, and particle number size distributions were used to estimate the effective refractive index using an established Mie inversion technique. The calculated iRI was spectrally invariant in the visible region with values ranging between 0.076 and 0.145. Brown carbon absorption, estimated using an existing Mie optimization method, ranged 34–88 Mm−1, with strongly absorbing mass absorption cross‐sections (∼1.9 m2/g). Higher iRI were observed during periods with higher brown carbon absorption, which are likely directly emitted from combustion sources. Low volatility organic carbon fractions dominated during these periods, with likely persistence of atmospheric absorption. The iRI values are at the upper end of previously reported ranges of urban aerosol iRI. In a sensitivity analysis to measured parameters, the absorption had the dominant effect on estimated iRI. Measured single scatter albedos, were lower than those from climate model simulations over the region, demonstrating the need for intrinsic property measurements to evaluate and constrain climate models.

The infinitesimal model with dominance.

The classical infinitesimal model is a simple and robust model for the inheritance of quantitative traits. In this model, a quantitative trait is expressed as the sum of a genetic and an environmental component, and the genetic component of offspring traits within a family follows a normal distribution around the average of the parents' trait values, and has a variance that is independent of the parental traits. In previous work, we showed that when trait values are determined by the sum of a large number of additive Mendelian factors, each of small effect, one can justify the infinitesimal model as a limit of Mendelian inheritance. In this paper, we show that this result extends to include dominance. We define the model in terms of classical quantities of quantitative genetics, before justifying it as a limit of Mendelian inheritance as the number, M, of underlying loci tends to infinity. As in the additive case, the multivariate normal distribution of trait values across the pedigree can be expressed in terms of variance components in an ancestral population and probabilities of identity by descent determined by the pedigree. Now, with just first-order dominance effects, we require two-, three-, and four-way identities. We also show that, even if we condition on parental trait values, the "shared" and "residual" components of trait values within each family will be asymptotically normally distributed as the number of loci tends to infinity, with an error of order 1/M. We illustrate our results with some numerical examples.

Regional inequalities of future climate change impact on rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield in China

The implications of climate change for rice yield have significant repercussions for food security, particularly in China, where rice cultivation is diverse, involving various cropping intensities, management practices, and climate conditions across numerous regions. The regional discrepancies in the impact of climate change on rice yield in China, however, are yet to be fully understood. Using the ORYZA(v3) model and future climate data from 2025 to 2084, gathered from ten climate models and three climate change scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5), we conducted an investigation into these regional discrepancies. Our findings suggest a projected average decline in rice yield ranging from 3.7 % to 16.4 % under both rainfed and fully irrigated conditions across different scenarios. Central, eastern, and northwestern China could face the most significant climate change impacts on both rainfed and irrigated rice, with yield reductions reaching 41.5 %. In contrast, low levels of climate change under the RCP2.6 scenario may benefit northeastern (2.4 %) and southern (1.0 %) regions for rainfed and irrigated rice, respectively. Fertilization effects from elevated CO2 could counterbalance climate change's negative impact, resulting in yield increases in all Chinese rice-growing regions, excluding the northwest. The primary factor influencing rice yield changes in all regions under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios was temperature. However, precipitation, solar radiation, and relative humidity had notable and sometimes dominant effects, especially under the RCP2.6 scenario. These results highlight the divergent, even contradictory, rice yield responses to climate change across China, underlining the need to account for regional differences in large-scale impact studies. The study's findings can inform future policy decisions regarding ensuring regional and national food security in China.

The role of cognitive control in bilingual language comprehension: An event-related potential study of dense code-switching sentences

AbstractThis study investigated the engagement of domain-general cognitive control during the comprehension of dense code-switching sentences. Stimulus-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured while L1-dominant Chinese–English bilinguals read switch and non-switch sentences. The results of the reading task revealed language dominance effects on the N400, left anterior negativity (LAN) and late positive component (LPC). The language dominance effects at lexical level (i.e., on the N400 and LAN) were modulated by individual differences in monitoring capacity. In contrast, inhibition capacity predicted code-switching costs at the sentence level (i.e., for the LPC component). The results suggest that proactive monitoring and reactive inhibition affect different processing stages during the comprehension of dense code-switching sentences. These findings partially align with processing models of code-switching incorporating a dual control mode perspective and contribute new insight into the dynamic interplay between reactive and proactive control processes.

Role of body fluid on the removal of haloacetic acids from swimming pool water by nanofiltration

Considering the co-presence of body fluids and haloacetic acids (HAAs) in swimming pool waters (SPWs), as well as the potential for interaction among these substances and membranes, we have conducted a systematic investigation into the impact of body fluid analogue (BFA) on membrane performance. The minor impact of BFA on the rejection behavior of NF90 was attributed to its dominant effect of size exclusion. However, for NF270, 30 mg/L BFA increased water flux by 5%, decreased NaCl rejection from 59% to 47%, and decreased HAA rejection from 88% to 75%. The carboxyl-based components in BFA, including citric acid (CA) and hippuric acid (HA), were mainly responsible for the varied performance. Carboxyl-based components reduced the negative charge on membrane surfaces, increased the effective pore size and hydrophilicity, resulting in an increase for water flux and a decrease for NaCl and HAA rejection. The amine-based components (other BFA components with CA, HA, and salt excluded) did not directly influence the membrane performance, but their effect became remarkable under the coexistence of carboxyl-based components. The amine-based components neutralized the effect of the carboxyl-based components by forming hydrogen bonds. The practical application of membrane technology for water purification can be better predicted by the underlying mechanism for resolving the interaction among polyamide membranes, organic substances, and trace contaminants.

Investigating the tunable properties of double blended nanocomposite films exposed to direct Nd:YAG laser beam

Detailed characterization for double blended nanocomposite films of PVP (Polyvinylpyrrolidone)/CMC (carboxy-methyl cellulose) polymer blends doped with SnO2 and ZnS nanoparticles based on different proportional concentrations (1-x)SnO2 -x ZnS (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) has been represented. Nanoparticles were synthesized based on the sol-gel technique, while nanocomposite films were prepared using the casting technique. The crystalline structures for both nanoparticles and nanocomposite films before and after laser exposure have been discussed by the x-ray technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic technique (FTIR) revealed variations in the vibrational bands intensities and locations under the effect of both laser exposure and nanoparticles. The morphological features of the studied samples have been discussed through SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) images. The optical properties (linear-nonlinear) of nanocomposite films have been discussed in details using UV–Vis spectroscopy technique. The refractive index has been calculated based on different proposed models. Similarities in the refractive index values have been observed. The effect of direct laser beam exposure on the estimated values of energy gap Eg has been represented in details. Eg values showed a reduction from 5.1 eV (for undoped films) to 4.8 eV (for laser exposed doped films). Nanocomposite films fully doped with 100% zinc sulphide nanoparticles exhibited the lowest Eg value (4 eV). Linear and nonlinear optical parameters confirmed the dominant effect of direct laser exposure compared with the particle size effect.

Endogenous epitope tagging of eEF1A2 in mice reveals early embryonic expression of eEF1A2 and subcellular compartmentalisation of neuronal eEF1A1 and eEF1A2

All vertebrate species express two independently-encoded forms of translation elongation factor eEF1A. In humans and mice eEF1A1 and eEF1A2 are 92 % identical at the amino acid level, but the well conserved developmental switch between the two variants in specific tissues suggests the existence of important functional differences. Heterozygous mutations in eEF1A2 result in neurodevelopmental disorders in humans; the mechanism of pathogenicity is unclear, but one hypothesis is that there is a dominant negative effect on eEF1A1 during development. The high degree of similarity between the eEF1A proteins has complicated expression analysis in the past; here we describe a gene edited mouse line in which we have introduced a V5 tag in the gene encoding eEF1A2. Expression analysis using anti-V5 and anti-eEF1A1 antibodies demonstrates that, in contrast to the prevailing view that eEF1A2 is only expressed postnatally, it is expressed from as early as E11.5 in the developing neural tube. Two colour immunofluorescence also reveals coordinated switching between eEF1A1 and eEF1A2 in different regions of postnatal brain. Completely reciprocal expression of the two variants is seen in post-weaning mouse brain with eEF1A1 expressed in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes and eEF1A2 in neuronal soma. Although eEF1A1 is absent from neuronal cell bodies after development, it is widely expressed in axons. This expression does not appear to coincide with myelin sheaths originating from oligodendrocytes but rather results from localised translation within the axon, suggesting that both variants are transcribed in neurons but show completely distinct subcellular localisation at the protein level. These findings will form an underlying framework for understanding how missense mutations in eEF1A2 result in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Pengaruh Budaya Organisasi dan Gaya Kepemimpinan terhadap Kepuasan Kerja Pegawai Bappeda Kabupaten Jeneponto

This study aims to analyze the effect of organizational culture and leadership style on the job satisfaction of Bappeda Jeneponto Regency employees. The location of this research is the Office of the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda). The sample in this study used the census method (saturated sample) with a total of 32 respondents. Data collection was done through questionnaires with the analysis method was multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that organizational culture had a positive and significant effect on the job satisfaction of Jeneponto Regency Bappeda employees with a coefficient of determination of 0.377 and P (sig) = 0.000 < 0.05. This shows that the better the organizational culture and understanding by employees, the better job satisfaction will be. Leadership style has a positive and significant effect on the job satisfaction of Bappeda Jeneponto Regency employees with a determination coefficient value of 0.548 and P (sig) = 0.000 <0.05. This shows that the better the leadership style, the better job satisfaction will be. The variable that has a dominant effect on the job satisfaction of Bappeda Jeneponto Regency employees is leadership style.

The domination effect of the intelligent environment in the catastrophe mechanism of investor behavior

In recent years, investors have benefited from the convenience of intelligent recommendation information push, but have exhibited over-dependence on intelligent systems. In some scenarios, investors' trust and behavioral decisions are even dominated by information provided by the intelligent environment, which can lead to polarization and frequent reversal of investor behavior. To explore the mechanism of this frequent change, this work combined qualitative simulations with catastrophe theory, and used text data on investor sentiment, confidence, and behavior changes to construct a catastrophe model of investor behavior. The results show that neutral-type investors are more likely to be affected by information push under the dominance effect of intelligent systems, which results in catastrophe in behavior. Meanwhile, due to the dominance of the intelligent system for some investors, even if the direction of change of the investor's internal trust level is inconsistent with the external situational disturbance, it may still lead to catastrophe behavior. Finally, the catastrophe region of investor behavior is explored through an in-depth analysis of fitted catastrophe model parameters. This can lay the foundation for financial institutions' guidance mechanisms and control strategies for investor behavior in the intelligent era.

Joint analysis of phenotype-effect-generation identifies loci associated with grain quality traits in rice hybrids

Genetic improvement of grain quality is more challenging in hybrid rice than in inbred rice due to additional nonadditive effects such as dominance. Here, we describe a pipeline developed for joint analysis of phenotypes, effects, and generations (JPEG). As a demonstration, we analyze 12 grain quality traits of 113 inbred lines (male parents), five tester lines (female parents), and 565 (113×5) of their hybrids. We sequence the parents for single nucleotide polymorphisms calling and infer the genotypes of the hybrids. Genome-wide association studies with JPEG identify 128 loci associated with at least one of the 12 traits, including 44, 97, and 13 loci with additive effects, dominant effects, and both additive and dominant effects, respectively. These loci together explain more than 30% of the genetic variation in hybrid performance for each of the traits. The JEPG statistical pipeline can help to identify superior crosses for breeding rice hybrids with improved grain quality.