Institute of Modern Physics

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In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.

Identified charged-particle spectra of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$, ${K}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$, $p$, and $\overline{p}$ at midrapidity ($|y|<0.1$) measured by the $\mathit{dE}/\mathit{dx}$ method in the STAR (solenoidal tracker at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) time projection chamber are reported for $\mathit{pp}$ and $d+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\mathit{NN}}}=200$ GeV and for $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV. Average transverse momenta, total particle production, particle yield ratios, strangeness, and baryon production rates are investigated as a function of the collision system and centrality. The transverse momentum spectra are found to be flatter for heavy particles than for light particles in all collision systems; the effect is more prominent for more central collisions. The extracted average transverse momentum of each particle species follows a trend determined by the total charged-particle multiplicity density. The Bjorken energy density estimate is at least several GeV/${\mathrm{fm}}^{3}$ for a formation time less than 1 fm/$c$. A significantly larger net-baryon density and a stronger increase of the net-baryon density with centrality are found in $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at 62.4 GeV than at the two higher energies. Antibaryon production relative to total particle multiplicity is found to be constant over centrality, but increases with the collision energy. Strangeness production relative to total particle multiplicity is similar at the three measured RHIC energies. Relative strangeness production increases quickly with centrality in peripheral $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions, to a value about 50% above the $\mathit{pp}$ value, and remains rather constant in more central collisions. Bulk freeze-out properties are extracted from thermal equilibrium model and hydrodynamics-motivated blast-wave model fits to the data. Resonance decays are found to have little effect on the extracted kinetic freeze-out parameters because of the transverse momentum range of our measurements. The extracted chemical freeze-out temperature is constant, independent of collision system or centrality; its value is close to the predicted phase-transition temperature, suggesting that chemical freeze-out happens in the vicinity of hadronization and the chemical freeze-out temperature is universal despite the vastly different initial conditions in the collision systems. The extracted kinetic freeze-out temperature, while similar to the chemical freeze-out temperature in $\mathit{pp}$, $d+\mathrm{Au}$, and peripheral $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions, drops significantly with centrality in $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions, whereas the extracted transverse radial flow velocity increases rapidly with centrality. There appears to be a prolonged period of particle elastic scatterings from chemical to kinetic freeze-out in central $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions. The bulk properties extracted at chemical and kinetic freeze-out are observed to evolve smoothly over the measured energy range, collision systems, and collision centralities.

Abstract The NUBASE2020 evaluation contains the recommended values of the main nuclear physics properties for all nuclei in their ground and excited, isomeric (T1/2 100 ns) states. It encompasses all experimental data published in primary (journal articles) and secondary (mainly laboratory reports and conference proceedings) references, together with the corresponding bibliographical information. In cases where no experimental data were available for a particular nuclide, trends in the behavior of specific properties in neighboring nuclei were examined and estimated values are proposed. Evaluation procedures and policies that were used during the development of this evaluated nuclear data library are presented, together with a detailed table of recommended values and their uncertainties.

The beam-energy scan at RHIC aims to discover whether a critical point exists in the phase diagram of QCD. This paper reports on the most comprehensive measurement of single-particle spectra for a multitude of hadrons from the first run, taken with the STAR experiment. From these the authors infer the kinetic and chemical freeze-out temperatures and the baryon chemical potential as functions of beam energy and centrality. The results provide an opportunity for the beam-energy scan program at RHIC to enlarge the ($T,\ensuremath{\mu}\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}B$) region of the phase diagram to search for the QCD critical point.

Abstract The past decades witnessed the golden era of hadron physics. Many excited open heavy flavor mesons and baryons have been observed since 2017. We shall provide an updated review of the recent experimental and theoretical progresses in this active field. Besides the conventional heavy hadrons, we shall also review the recently observed open heavy flavor tetraquark states X (2900) and T c c + ( 3875 ) as well as the hidden heavy flavor multiquark states X (6900), P c s ( 4459 ) 0 , Z c s ( 3985 ) − , Z c s ( 4000 ) + , and Z c s ( 4220 ) + . We will also cover the recent progresses on the glueballs and light hybrid mesons, which are the direct manifestations of the non-Abelian SU (3) gauge interaction of the Quantum Chromodynamics in the low-energy region.

The convincing candidate event of the isotope of the 113th element, 278 113, and its daughter nuclei, 274 111 and 270 Mt, were observed, for the first time, in the 209 Bi + 70 Zn reaction at a beam energy of 349.0 MeV with a total dose of 1.7 ×10 19 . Alpha decay energies and decay times of the candidates, 278 113, 274 111, and 270 Mt, were (11.68 ±0.04 MeV, 0.344 ms), (11.15 ±0.07 MeV, 9.26 ms), and (10.03 ±0.07 MeV, 7.16 ms), respectively. The production cross section of the isotope was deduced to be 55 +150 -45 fb (10 -39 cm 2 ).

Parity-odd domains, corresponding to nontrivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge separation of quarks along the system's orbital momentum axis. We investigate a three-particle azimuthal correlator which is a P even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge separation effect. We report measurements of charged hadrons near center-of-mass rapidity with this observable in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at square root of s(NN) = 200 GeV using the STAR detector. A signal consistent with several expectations from the theory is detected. We discuss possible contributions from other effects that are not related to parity violation.

TP53, a crucial tumor suppressor gene, is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancers. Aside from losing its tumor suppressor function, mutant p53 (mutp53) often acquires inherent, novel oncogenic functions, which is termed "gain-of-function". Emerging evidence suggests that mutp53 is highly associated with advanced malignancies and poor prognosis, which makes it a target for development of novel cancer therapies. Herein, we provide a summary of our knowledge of the mutp53 types and mutp53 spectrum in cancers. The mechanisms of mutp53 accumulation and gain-of-function are also summarized. Furthermore, we discuss the gain-of-function of mutp53 in cancers: genetic instability, ferroptosis, microenvironment, and stemness. Importantly, the role of mutp53 in the clinic is also discussed, particularly with regard to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Last, emphasis is given to emerging strategies on how to target mutp53 for tumor therapy. Thus, this review will contribute to better understanding of the significance of mutp53 as a target for therapeutic strategies.

We report the beam energy (sqrt[sNN]=7.7-200 GeV) and collision centrality dependence of the mean (M), standard deviation (σ), skewness (S), and kurtosis (κ) of the net-proton multiplicity distributions in Au+Au collisions. The measurements are carried out by the STAR experiment at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) and within the transverse momentum range 0.4<pT<0.8 GeV/c in the first phase of the Beam Energy Scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These measurements are important for understanding the quantum chromodynamic phase diagram. The products of the moments, Sσ and κσ2, are sensitive to the correlation length of the hot and dense medium created in the collisions and are related to the ratios of baryon number susceptibilities of corresponding orders. The products of moments are found to have values significantly below the Skellam expectation and close to expectations based on independent proton and antiproton production. The measurements are compared to a transport model calculation to understand the effect of acceptance and baryon number conservation and also to a hadron resonance gas model.

The STAR collaboration at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) reports measurements of the inclusive yield of nonphotonic electrons, which arise dominantly from semileptonic decays of heavy flavor mesons, over a broad range of transverse momenta ($1.2<{p}_{T}<10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}/c$) in $p+p$, $d+\mathrm{Au}$, and $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\mathrm{NN}}}=200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. The nonphotonic electron yield exhibits an unexpectedly large suppression in central $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at high ${p}_{T}$, suggesting substantial heavy-quark energy loss at RHIC. The centrality and ${p}_{T}$ dependences of the suppression provide constraints on theoretical models of suppression.

Abstract This is the first of two articles (Part I and Part II) that presents the results of the new atomic mass evaluation, AME2020. It includes complete information on the experimental input data that were used to derive the tables of recommended values which are given in Part II. This article describes the evaluation philosophy and procedures that were implemented in the selection of specific nuclear reaction, decay and mass-spectrometric data which were used in a least-squares fit adjustment in order to determine the recommended mass values and their uncertainties. All input data, including both the accepted and rejected ones, are tabulated and compared with the adjusted values obtained from the least-squares fit analysis. Differences with the previous AME2016 evaluation are discussed and specific examples are presented for several nuclides that may be of interest to AME users.

HIAF (High Intensity heavy ion Accelerator Facility), a new facility planned in China for heavy ion related researches, consists of two ion sources, a high intensity Heavy Ion Superconducting Linac (HISCL), a 45 Tm Accumulation and Booster Ring (ABR-45) and a multifunction storage ring system. The key features of HIAF are unprecedented high pulse beam intensity and versatile operation mode. The HIAF project aims to expand nuclear and related researches into presently unreachable region and give scientists possibilities to conduct cutting-edge researches in these fields. The general description of the facility is given in this article with a focus on the accelerator design.

Abstract Lepton scattering is an established ideal tool for studying inner structure of small particles such as nucleons as well as nuclei. As a future high energy nuclear physics project, an Electron-ion collider in China (EicC) has been proposed. It will be constructed based on an upgraded heavy-ion accelerator, High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) which is currently under construction, together with a new electron ring. The proposed collider will provide highly polarized electrons (with a polarization of ∼80%) and protons (with a polarization of ∼70%) with variable center of mass energies from 15 to 20 GeV and the luminosity of (2–3) × 1033 cm−2 · s−1. Polarized deuterons and Helium-3, as well as unpolarized ion beams from Carbon to Uranium, will be also available at the EicC. The main foci of the EicC will be precision measurements of the structure of the nucleon in the sea quark region, including 3D tomography of nucleon; the partonic structure of nuclei and the parton interaction with the nuclear environment; the exotic states, especially those with heavy flavor quark contents. In addition, issues fundamental to understanding the origin of mass could be addressed by measurements of heavy quarkonia near-threshold production at the EicC. In order to achieve the above-mentioned physics goals, a hermetical detector system will be constructed with cutting-edge technologies. This document is the result of collective contributions and valuable inputs from experts across the globe. The EicC physics program complements the ongoing scientific programs at the Jefferson Laboratory and the future EIC project in the United States. The success of this project will also advance both nuclear and particle physics as well as accelerator and detector technology in China.

Abstract Since the discovery of the first charmed meson in 1976, many open-charm and open-bottom hadrons were observed. In 2003 two narrow charm-strange states D s 0 ∗ ( 2317 ) and D s 1 (2460) were discovered by the BaBar and CLEO Collaborations, respectively. After that, more excited heavy hadrons were reported. In this work, we review the experimental and theoretical progress in this field.

For a long time it was generally accepted that effects of ionizing radiation such as cell death, chromosomal aberrations , DNA damage, mutagenesis , and carcinogenesis result from direct ionization of cell structures, particularly DNA, or from indirect damage through reactive oxygen species produced by radiolysis of water, and these biological effects were attributed to irreparable or misrepaired DNA damage in cells directly hit by radiation. Using linear non-threshold model (LNT), possible risks from exposure to low dose ionizing radiation (below 100 mSv) are estimated by extrapolating from data obtained after exposure to higher doses of radiation. This model has been challenged by numerous observations, in which cells that were not directly traversed by the ionizing radiation exhibited responses similar to those of the directly irradiated cells. Therefore, it is nowadays accepted that the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation are not restricted only in the irradiated cells, but also to non-irradiated bystander or even distant cells manifesting various biological effects.

We present strange particle spectra and yields measured at midrapidity in $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV proton-proton ($p+p$) collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). We find that the previously observed universal transverse mass (${m}_{T}\ensuremath{\equiv}\sqrt{{{p}_{T}}^{2}+{m}^{2}}$) scaling of hadron production in $p+p$ collisions seems to break down at higher ${m}_{T}$ and that there is a difference in the shape of the ${m}_{T}$ spectrum between baryons and mesons. We observe midrapidity antibaryon to baryon ratios near unity for \ensuremath{\Lambda} and \ensuremath{\Xi} baryons and no dependence of the ratio on transverse momentum, indicating that our data do not yet reach the quark-jet dominated region. We show the dependence of the mean transverse momentum $\ensuremath{\langle}{p}_{T}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ on measured charged particle multiplicity and on particle mass and infer that these trends are consistent with gluon-jet dominated particle production. The data are compared with previous measurements made at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron and Intersecting Storage Rings and in Fermilab experiments and with leading-order and next-to-leading-order string fragmentation model predictions. We infer from these comparisons that the spectral shapes and particle yields from $p+p$ collisions at RHIC energies have large contributions from gluon jets rather than from quark jets.

Global polarization of $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ hyperons has been measured to be of the order of a few tenths of a percentage in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{{}_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV, with no significant difference between $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ and $\overline{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}$. These new results reveal the collision energy dependence of the global polarization together with the results previously observed at $\sqrt{{s}_{{}_{NN}}}$ = 7.7--62.4 GeV and indicate noticeable vorticity of the medium created in noncentral heavy-ion collisions at the highest Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider collision energy. The signal is in rough quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions from a hydrodynamic model and from a multi-phase transport model. The polarization is larger in more peripheral collisions, and depends weakly on the hyperon's transverse momentum and pseudorapidity ${\ensuremath{\eta}}^{H}$ within $|{\ensuremath{\eta}}^{H}|<1$. An indication of the polarization dependence on the event-by-event charge asymmetry is observed at the $2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ level, suggesting a possible contribution to the polarization from the axial current induced by the initial magnetic field.

We report the first measurements of the kurtosis ($\ensuremath{\kappa}$), skewness ($S$), and variance (${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{2}$) of net-proton multiplicity (${N}_{p}\ensuremath{-}{N}_{\overline{p}}$) distributions at midrapidity for $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=19.6$, 62.4, and 200 GeV corresponding to baryon chemical potentials (${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$) between 200 and 20 MeV. Our measurements of the products $\ensuremath{\kappa}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{2}$ and $S\ensuremath{\sigma}$, which can be related to theoretical calculations sensitive to baryon number susceptibilities and long-range correlations, are constant as functions of collision centrality. We compare these products with results from lattice QCD and various models without a critical point and study the $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}$ dependence of $\ensuremath{\kappa}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{2}$. From the measurements at the three beam energies, we find no evidence for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram for ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ below 200 MeV.