Non-native fish invasions are among the greatest threats to freshwater ecosystems worldwide. In South China, the same climatic conditions that facilitate the culture of some non-native fishes may also support their invasive potential. We conducted systematic collections of fish in eight main rivers of South China, from 2016 to 2018, to investigate and analysis species composition and the distribution of non-native fishes. The data reveal that non-native fishes are widespread in the sampled rivers: of the 98,887 fish collected, 11,832 individuals representing 20 species were not native. Of the non-native fish species, 17 are used in aquaculture and 19 are native to the tropics; 13 are omnivores while other seven are predators. Based on dissimilarity of the non-native fish species distributions across the eight rivers, the different rivers could be divided into four assemblages. Geographical isolation and temperature were identified as affecting the distribution patterns of non-native fishes, thereby influencing fish species composition, species number, dominant species, and distribution variations in the South China rivers. Species composition of the non-native fishes in the rivers in this region are related to their introduction vector, compatibility with their native habitat, and trophic position. And their distribution pattern was mainly influenced by the geographical location and temperature.

Phenotypic diversity, or disparity, can be explained by simple genetic drift or, if functional constraints are strong, by selection for ecologically relevant phenotypes. We here studied phenotypic disparity in head shape in aquatic snakes. We investigated whether conflicting selective pressures related to different functions have driven shape diversity and explore whether similar phenotypes may give rise to the same functional output (i.e. many-to-one mapping of form to function). We focused on the head shape of aquatically foraging snakes as they fulfil several fitness-relevant functions and show a large amount of morphological variability. We used 3D surface scanning and 3D geometric-morphometrics to compare the head shape of 62 species in a phylogenetic context. We first tested whether diet specialization and size are drivers of head shape diversification. Next, we tested for many-to-one mapping by comparing the hydrodynamic efficiency of head shapes characteristic of the main axis of variation in the dataset. We 3D printed these shapes and measured the forces at play during a frontal strike. Our results show that diet and size explain only a small amount of shape variation. Shapes did not functionally converge as more specialized aquatic species evolved a more efficient head shape than others. The shape disparity observed could thus reflect a process of niche specialization under a stabilizing selective regime.

Many eusocial insects, including ants, show complex colony structures, distributions, and reproductive strategies. In the ant Vollenhovia emeryi Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae), queens and males are produced clonally, while sterile workers arise sexually, unlike other ant species and Hymenopteran insects in general. Furthermore, there is a wing length polymorphism in the queen caste. Despite its ecological and evolutionary importance, little is known about the population dynamics and structure of this ant species, which may provide insight into its unique reproductive mode and polymorphic traits. We performed in-depth analyses of ant populations from Korea, Japan, and North America using three mitochondrial genes (COI, COII, and Cytb). The long-winged (L) morph is predominant in Korean populations, and the short-winged (S) morph is very rare. Interestingly, all L morphs were infected with Wolbachia, while all Korean S morphs lacked Wolbachia, demonstrating a novel association between a symbiont and a phenotypic trait. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the S morph is derived from the L morph. We propose that the S morph is associated with potential resistance to Wolbachia infection, and that Wolbachia infection does not influence clonal reproduction.

Salt-tolerant variety Chuanqiao No.1 and salt-sensitive one Chuanqiao No.2 of Tartary buckwheat were used as experimental materials to study the effect of saline soil and exogenous amino acids on quality and yield of Tartary buckwheat. The results showed that Tartary buckwheat in saline soil is more enrichment in calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se), and Tartary buckwheat in saline soil is more nutritious. Under appropriate amino acids treatment, the seed protein and rutin content of Tartary buckwheat was significantly increased, and the quality of Tartary buckwheat could be obviously increased. In particularly, the amino acids treatment could significantly increase the yield of Tartary buckwheat in saline soil, and the effect of exogenous Asp and Glu on yield increase was the best in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive variety, respectively, and that in salt-tolerant variety was increased more. The effect of exogenous amino acids on quality and yield varies obviously in two Tartary buckwheat varieties. For less amount of amino acid used per hectare and lower price, it is very suitable for popularization and application in saline soil.

Soil erosion is an important environmental problem that threatens human ecological security and socioeconomic development. Unreasonable land use is one of the main causes of soil erosion. By collecting the topography, climate, soil, vegetation and satellite image data of Dongzhiyuan (DZY) in the tableland and gully region of the Loess Plateau, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and the Chinese Soil Loss Equation (CSLE) models were used to simulate the soil erosion intensity in different periods (1987, 1997, 2007 and 2017). We found that under high rainfall erosivity factor (R), the soil erosion usually be overestimated in the RUSLE model. However, the result has been changed when we use the annual average R.Besides, the model of CSLE based on the RUSLE takes engineering measure factor (E) into account, making the results more reliable. Also, land use change will affect soil erosion. The conversion of urban to farmland and grassland will increase soil erosion, and vice versa. The mutual transfer between farmland and grassland, forest and grassland will cause soil erosion to change in different directions, and the greater of land use change, the more serious soil erosion will be. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t increase the urban land by mountain excavation and gully filling blindly. Otherwise, geological disasters such as landslides and surface subsidence may occur in the near future. This work may enhance our understanding of soil erosion mechanisms in DZY, and provide references for land use planning and soil and water conservation in China’s Loess Plateau.

The photocatalytic yield of the g-C3N4 for CO2 reduction was modified by phosphorus doping. The possible reaction pathways for CO2 reduction on the P-doped g-C3N4 (PCN) surface were investigated by DFT calculations for the first time. The experimental results showed that P doping improves the production of CH4 through the increase in the driving force of the electrons. The partial density of states of the PCN showed that the VBM and CBM are composed of px, py and s orbitals of the N atoms and pz states of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, respectively and therefore, the P-doping increase carriers lifetime. Mechanism studies confirm that formic acid, formaldehyde, methanol and methane are the most probable products. The methane having positive adsorption energy can be easily desorbed from the PCN surface and the Gibbs activation energy of the final step is 1.98 eV. The formation of H2COOH is the rate-determining step.

The structure of coral reef communities results from interacting evolutionary, ecological and environmental forces. How these factors interact in structuring these communities at a global scale, and how such effects might vary among biogeographical regions is unclear. We partitioned sources of reef community assemblage patterns by environmental, latent (i.e. unobserved), and random factors on 291 coral reefs distributed across five biogeographical regions. We then estimated how these factors were related to variations in abundance and co-occurrence among 16 functional groups. Latent factors better explained the distributions of opportunistic functional groups like algae, whereas environmental factors better explained abundance and co-occurrence of hard corals. Co-occurrence patterns revealed complex interactions between coral and algae groups that were not related to environmental factors but influenced by regional biogeography. Our results show that environmental factors are not the sole drivers of coral reef structure highlighting the importance of assemblage-level interactions and unobserved variables.

A document by Charly Géron. Click on the document to view its contents.

The polyphenyl chains with $n$ hexagons are the special graphs of unbranched polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The objective of this study is to find the expected values of the multiplicative version of the atomic-bond connectivity index and geometric-arithmetic index of this class of special hydrocarbons. The average values of these two indices with respect to the set of all polyphenyl chains have been determined. Finally, the comparisons between the expected values of the aforementioned indices in the random polyphenyl and spiro chains, have been outlined.

The field of molecular magnetism has benefited from the fluid synergy between experimentalists and theoreticians for decades This has led to fundamental understanding of the processes that govern Single Molecule Magnets, allowing for the establishment of clear design criteria to control properties and the development of new synthetic methodologies, sophisticated magnetic measurements and innovative computational techniques. Herein we give an overview on the experimental and theoretical collaborative work we carried out as part of the synthesis group led by David Mills and the computational/theoretical team led by Nicholas Chilton at the University of Manchester. Together with this, we provide a perspective on collaborative work in molecular magnetism and how such collaborations are essential for advancing the field further.

Chemical bonding nature of rare gases with various elements has been attracting permanent attention of chemical researchers. Interactions between transition metals and rare gases have special characters and should be an important subject of research. Here we theoretically studied the interacting properties of rare gas atoms with iron by inspecting the diatomic molecules FeRg (Rg = He~Rn) and the Rg-inserting compounds FeRgF-/+ and HRgFe-/+ (Rg= Kr, Xe, Rn). Quantum chemistry methods DFT (B3LYP), MP2 and MP4(SDQ) with the basis sets aug-cc-pVTZ were employed to calculate the structure, frequencies and the thermodynamic properties of a series of the dissociation processes. These Rg-containing compounds are found to be thermodynamically stable. The NBO and AIM analyses and the electron localization function (ELF) were employed to study the bonding nature of rare gases with iron. These compounds are linear structures, the Laplacian distribution of electron density and ELF distribution are not axial symmetry at the part of Fe. The electron density distribution does not always show a BCP between Rg and Fe. These phenomena are a result of the incompletely filled 3d shell of Fe. There are many new special characters of chemical bonding between Rg and transition metals.

We studied the ring opening of propylene oxide (PO) by salen-M coordinated OH- group [M = Al(Ⅲ), Sc(Ⅲ), Cr(Ⅲ), Mn(Ⅲ), Fe(Ⅲ), Co(Ⅱ), Co(Ⅲ), Ni(Ⅱ), Cu(Ⅱ), Zn(Ⅱ), Ru(Ⅲ) and Rh(Ⅲ)]. The results show that the ring opening energy barriers for M(II) complexes are much lower than those with M(III) complexes in the gas phase, and the barriers correlate linearly with the negative charges on the OH- group, the Fukui function condensed on the OH- group. The nucleophilicity ordering in gas phase can be rationalized by the ratio of formal positive charges/radius of M cations. Solvent effect greatly increases the barriers of M(II) complexes, but slightly changes the results of M(III) ones, making the barriers similar. Analysis indicates that the reaction heats are linearly proportional to the reverse reaction barriers. The relationships established here can be used to estimate the ring opening barriers and to screen epoxide ring opening catalysts.

Sand control technology is becoming more and more important. which has great influence on fracture operations and well production. To better understand mechanism of proppant transport in water fracturing, the mathematical model of proppant transport is derived and established based on the material balance in the fracture. The coupling effects of proppant settlement, sand bank balance height and fluid flow velocity in the fracture and fluid loss are taken into account. The proppant concentration model is solved by the finite difference method. The whole numerical calculations are carried out by MATLAB-developed program with a computer.. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing the calculated results with published experiment. we compared the proppant concentration distribution under four different conditions. Finally, the effects of fluid leak-off rate, injection rate, fluid viscosity, proppant concentration and proppant size on proppant distribution in the fracture are investigated by the model

In this manuscript, the authors present, discuss, and assess several criteria to evaluate the transferability of approximations to the exchange-correlation functional of density functional theory (DFT). In the first part of the paper they demonstrate that one criteria often used to assess such transferability -  the number of parameters in a given functional - is clearly inadequate for the task. In the second part of the paper, the authors introduce three statistical criteria with roots in statistics and machine learning and apply them to a selection of existing density functional approximations.Considering that the choice of the functional can have a profound impact on the quality and computational cost of DFT calculations and that there are hundreds of functionals available in the literature, this is clearly a topic of importance for a large number of researchers. The work presented here is, to the best of my knowledge, scientifically sound and original. I therefore recommend that the manuscript be accepted for publication in IJQC after the authors have taken the comments bellow under consideration.

There is no specific medicine recommended during the emergency of 2019-nCov has been an outbreak and in COVID-19 outbreak zone where the climate is mildly warm, we highly recommend to use the elderberry in order to protect your health and there are 2 species of elderberries: one, Sambucus adnata, is termed the “blood-red herb-elderberry” by local residents as the roots, rhizomes, and branches exude red-juice when broken; the second, named S. javanica or S. chinensis is commonly called the “herb-elderberry”. This therapeutics paper aims to publish our monography on the elderberry, as no English literature references are present in China because most Chinese horticulturists and farmers consider the elderberry a wild plant. It is regarded as a plant of little value due to its abundance and ease of harvest. Our article contains details of the Sambucus species groups, including the botanical names, Chinese common names, geographic distributions, medical uses.

In the field of drug discovery, the emergence of unexpected toxicity is often a problem resulting from a poor understanding of the pharmacokinetics of drug–drug interactions (DDI). In this context, “organs-on-a-chip” has been proposed as a novel in vitro model to evaluate drug efficacy and toxicity in pharmacology, but it has not yet been applied to DDI research. Here, we aim to first estimate a drug-specific parameter, namely, extraction ratio, using a multi-organ microphysiological system (MO–MPS) and to subsequently evaluate the DDI using a pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic (PK–PD) model. For this, we propose a combination of an MO–MPS, with a liver part as a metabolic model and a cancer part as a drug target model, and its corresponding PK–PD model. The results of the DDI effects evaluated, thus, were consistent with those previously reported, confirming the efficacy of the combination of an MPS and a PK–PD model in DDI research. It is possible to evaluate more clearly, the effect of the concomitantly administered drugs on the pharmacokinetic changes occurring in MPS, by evaluating DDI by the PK–PD model, using parameters inferred from the experimental results. Our proposed method could facilitate both, a better understanding of the pharmacokinetic mechanisms with DDI as also the evaluation of organ–organ interactions using multi-organ MPS.

Background and Purpose: We previously found that secoemestrin C, an epitetrathiodioxopiperazine isolated from Aspergillus nidulans, has a potent immunosuppressive effect on splenocyte proliferation in drug screening. Here, we determined the immunomodulatory and hepatoprotective effects of secoemestrin C in a mouse model of acute autoimmune hepatitis. Experimental Approach: In an in vitro assay, purified hepatic mononuclear cells (MNCs) from C57BL/6J mice were stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A, 2 μg·mL-1) in the presence of secoemestrin C, and cell proliferation and cytokine production were measured. In an in vivo assay, mice with or without secoemestrin C pretreatment were injected with Con A (12 mg·kg-1) to induce acute hepatitis. Blood samples and liver tissues were harvested 8 h after Con A injection. Liver injury, serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines, hepatic lymphocyte subset ratios, and the functional status of NKT and conventional T cells were analyzed. Key Results: Secoemestrin C treatment dose-dependently suppressed cell proliferation and proinflammatory cytokine secretion in Con A-stimulated hepatic MNCs in vitro. In Con A-challenged mice, pre-injection with secoemestrin C significantly decreased the generation of proinflammatory cytokines and ameliorated liver injury. Furthermore, pretreatment with secoemestrin C significantly inhibited the Con A-induced activation of NKT and conventional T cells and decreased the production of IFN-γ by these two cell populations. Conclusion and Implications: Secoemestrin C has an immunosuppressive effect on NKT and conventional T cells and has hepatoprotective activity in mouse autoimmune hepatitis. These findings provide new insights into the use of fungus-derived natural products for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

MicroRNAs play essential roles during defense responses in plants, yet their roles have not been widely functionally validated in cotton response to Verticillium dahliae. Here, we employed transgenic technology, virus induced gene silencing technology, as well as various cytological and molecular tools to investigate the function of miR398b and its target genes in cotton response to V. dahliae. Transcript levels of miR398b were down-regulated by V. dahliae infection and miR398b overexpression in cotton made the plants more susceptible to V. dahliae. The results suggest that miR398b negatively regulates cotton resistance to V. dahliae via two possibilities. One is that miR398b may repress some CC-NBS-LRR genes during transcriptional or translational processes, thereby interfering with defense responses of cotton to V. dahliae and causing increased susceptibility of cotton to V. dahliae. Another possibility is that miR398b may guide the cleavage of the mRNAs of GhCSD1, GhCSD2 and GhCCS, which are important in the regulation of ROS homeostasis, thereby leading to excessive ROS accumulation in miR398b-overexpressing plants during V. dahliae infection. These studies illuminate the conserved and novel roles of miR398b during the cotton-V. dahliae interaction, which yields insights into new strategies to improve resistance to V. dahliae in cotton breeding programs

The carotenoids start the inner membrane structures (IMS) transformation of chloroplasts during colour transformation in tomatoes, but the mechanism remains unclear. E-2-hexenal (E2H) may function downstream of carotenoids to regulate the transformation. In the tomatoes treated with E2H, colour transformation was inhibited and the colour transformation cannot be initiated by ethylene (ET) again, whereas in the ET pretreated tomatoes, the E2H lost the function of inhibition. Therefore, the E2H function downstream of ET. The electron micrographs showed the exogenous E2H accelerated the IMS transformation before enough carotenoids accumulated. Therefore, the E2H may acted downstream of the carotenoids starting the IMS transformation. The contents and the biosynthesis locations of chlorophyll, lycopene and β-carotene supported the E2H accelerated IMS transformation. The E2H expedited LOXC expression caused advanced free linolenic acids consume, E2H also accelerate the release of linolenic acids directly, thus the composition changes altered the IMS. The HPL expression patterns may related with the endogenous E2H feedback balance. The titratable acids, ascorbic acids, soluble solids and malondialdehyde contents also supported the hypothesis. Above all, E2H mediated the carotenoids started IMS transformation. Novel function of the E2H was proposed. Keywords: tomato, E-2-hexenal, chloroplasts, chromoplast, plastids, colour, carotenoid

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of aortic isthmus (AoI) circulation assessed by doppler imaging in growth restricted fetuses with perinatal outcome. DESIGN: prospective longitudinal observational study. SETTING- Tertiary referral center POPULATION- Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) (n=38) between 24–36 weeks’ gestation. METHODS- Doppler examination in aortic isthmus, umbilical artery (UA), middle cerebral artery(MCA), and ductus venosus(DV) was performed. The relation between antegrade (n = 25) and retrograde flow (n = 13)in AoI ,other Doppler parameters with perinatal outcome was analyzed. RESULTS: Retrograde AOI group had higher rates of adverse perinatal outcome (92.3% vs. 72%) with 63.1% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. Overall perinatal mortality (intrauterine death and neonatal death) was higher in retrograde group (23%).No perinatal mortality in antegrade AoI group. Cases with absent end diastolic flow (AEDF) or reverse end diastolic flow (REDF) in the UA and retrograde flow in AoI and normal DV flow had 40% prenatal mortality as 25% in those with abnormal DV Doppler . CONCLUSION: Rretrograde blood flow in AoI is associated with adverse perinatal outcome, particularly intrauterine demise, neonatal death, RDS and increased duration of NICU stay. Even though the DV flow is normal adverse outcome might be suspected in fetuses with AEDF/REDF in UA and retrograde flow in AoI. Thus, retrograde flow in AoI might be considered as an additional trigger for delivering IUGR fetuses 30-34 weeks with AREDF in UA but requires further evaluation by large longitudinal studies . Keywords - Intrauterine growth restriction, doppler ultrasonography; fetal aortic isthmus; perinatal outcome .

Objective: In autoimmune polyglandular syndromes (APS) both types of Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders (AITDs), i.e. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD) can be present. Design: In this meta-analysis, we aimed to provide the first comprehensive overview of the differences between HT and GD in APS II and III. Methods: Using the MEDLINE and Embase databases all studies containing the keywords of APS II and APS III were screened. Out of 479 studies 18 records containing a total of 1312 patients fulfilled the criteria of our study and were selected for analysis. Meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model. Results of each meta-analysis were displayed graphically using forest plots. Results: AITDs were detected in 87.8% of APS patients. HT and GD were specified in 279 and 151 cases, respectively. In the remaining 309 cases, the diagnosis was AITD, without any further characterization. The prevalence of HT, GD and AITD did not differ among APS patients. The pattern of co-associated endocrine, non-endocrine organ-specific and systemic autoimmune disorders was similar in HT and GD. T1DM and AD were found in larger proportion of patients, 70.7% and 18.5%, respectively. Other autoimmune conditions occurred in <4%. The majority of autoimmunities occurred in dual combinations (91.8%). The combination of four and more autoimmune disorders was published only in HT, in 0.1% of patients. Conclusions: Using a meta-analysis, no difference could be observed in the prevalence of HT and GD among APS patients and no distinct pattern of co-associated autoimmunities could be established.

We introduce a new pattern of population genetic structure in a host-parasite system that can arise after secondary contact (SC) of previously isolated populations. Due to different generation time and therefore different tempo of molecular evolution the host and parasite populations reach different degrees of genetic differentiation during their separation (e.g. in refugia). Consequently, during the SC the host populations are able to re-establish a single panmictic population across the whole recolonized area, while the parasite populations stop their dispersal at the SC zone and create a narrow hybrid zone (HZ). From the host’s perspective, the parasite’s HZ functions on a microevolutionary scale as a “host-cleansing filter”: while passing from area A to area B, the hosts are rid of the area A parasites and acquire the area B parasites. We demonstrate this novel pattern on a model composed of Apodemus mice and Polyplax lice by comparing maternally inherited markers (complete mitochondrial genomes, and complete genomes of vertically transmitted symbiont Legionella polyplacis) with SNPs derived from the lice genomic data. We discuss circumstances which may lead to this pattern and possible reasons why it has been overlooked in the studies on host-parasite population genetics.

Fermentation of the pentose fraction from hemicellulosic hydrolysate is an important challenge to be studied in second generation ethanol (E2G) production. In this sense, we have tested non-conventional (Scheffersomyces stipitis and Spathaspora passalidarum) and recombinant yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae recombinant MP-C5 and MP-C5H1) capable to uptake xylose with the aim to design a strategy for E2G production. Growth tests in different carbohydrates (glucose, xylose, glucose + xylose and sucrose + xylose) have shown that the integration of xylose and sucrose presented better results for all yeast tested, and the co-fermentation of these sugars provided faster xylose consumption by S. cerevisiae recombinant. One the other hand, Sp. passalidarum do not present high performance of sucrose consumption in microanaerobic fermentation conditions and an intracellular invertase high activity was observed by this yeast. S. cerevisiae MP-C5H1 presented best performance for fermentation tests and a batch strategy with high cell density was designed. By this strategy was possible to achieve high ethanol yield (0.48 g g-1), titer (53.7 g L-1) and global ethanol productivity (2.24 g L-1 h-1).

Approved by CiSE AEiCs on 3 March 2020. Computing in Science and Engineering (CiSE) is a technical magazine of the IEEE Computer Society, in publication since 1999. CiSE publishes peer-reviewed research articles, and also runs departments spanning news and analyses, topical reviews, tutorials, case studies, and more. CiSE runs special issues on themes chosen by the editorial board, which are handled by Guest Editors. This document explains the editorial workflow of special issues, and the role and responsibilities of Guest Editors.Selection of Special Issue ThemesSpecial Issues are proposed by members of the editorial board, or other community members, for the consideration of the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), and Associate Editors-in-Chief (AEiCs). They are approved by the EiC, with concurrence of a majority of the AEICs. (CiSE currently has 5 AEiCs, so three of them should be supportive of the theme). A special issue needs to have at least two Guest Editors, and should be approved at least one year prior to the expected publication.Invited or Open SubmissionsMost special issues make an open call for submissions of papers relevant to the issue theme. Guest editors may propose an invited special issue, for which articles will be submitted via a closed CFP, and this may be approved by the EiC with support from AEiCs.  To avoid perceived conflict of interest, guest editors should refrain from inviting authors from their own institutions, or authors who were their graduate students or postdoctoral trainees. All invited articles undergo the same peer-review process as unsolicited ones.Invited Special Issues are generally limited to one per year.Special Issue ProposalsProposals for future CiSE special issues should be sent to the EiC directly, and should include the following materials:Description—An overview of topic and scope, and reasons why it is timely to dedicate a magazine issue to this theme.Guest editors—A short bio for each guest editor, addressing how they are well positioned to lead the community to submit and review manuscripts.Draft CFP—A preliminary drafting of the call for papers, subject to improvements after approval.Dissemination plans—How the guest editors plan to reach authors and ensure success of the special issue.Proposed issue date—Considering any related timelines (e.g., when articles stem from workshops, conferences, or world events), anticipated date of CFP and publication. Role and Responsibilities of Guest EditorsGuest editors assume the responsibility of an Associate Editor in charge of the manuscripts submitted to the special issue. They manage the peer review of submitted manuscripts, ensure publication quality, and adhere to the IEEE and Computer Society’s policies. \cite{manual2020}The IEEE Computer Society has published a Guest Editor Information webpage. CiSE complies with these guidelines, but is sometimes stricter.Follow these guidelines for CiSE Special Issues:Guest editors write a special-issue introduction, which should be 1000 to 2200 words in length (5 pages or less), discussing the state of the art and future directions in the theme topic. It should highlight how each article in the special issue contributes to the field, and it may introduce key concepts and terminology, to facilitate a smooth reading of the articles. The guest editors’ introduction should state whether the issue had an invited or open CFP. It should be sent directly to the EiC.Other than the introduction to the special issue, a guest editor may not be an author or co-author of another article in the special issue they are editing. If some special circumstances warrant it (e.g., a needed survey of the field), they should request special dispensation from the EiC, who will seek concurrence from two AEiCs. Guest editors should actively solicit submissions via outreach through their networks, and make every effort to ensure a healthy number of manuscripts are assessed via peer review to be part of the special issue. Guest editors invite reviewers who are experts in the topic of the special issue ahead of the submission deadline. The reviewers should confirm their willingness to serve, and be ready to review their assigned articles within three weeks. Computer Society policies require each manuscript to receive three independent reviews. Guest editors oversee the timeliness and quality of peer-review reports. They should not take the role of reviewers, themselves.Guest editors should not handle the peer review of manuscripts where a real or apparent conflict of interest (COI, see below) is present with any authors. These include: affiliation, previous co-authorship, having formally mentored the author (as PhD or postdoctoral supervisor), or having collaborated in a funded grant. In the case of a submission by an author where a potential COI may exist (real or apparent) with one or more of the guest editors, the guest editors should seek guidance from the EiC on how the COI might be mitigated. The submission may be allowed to go forward, in which case the guest editor will delegate the handling of peer review of this submission to another member of the editorial board, with guidance from the EiC. Guest Editors are also responsible for ensuring that articles conform to Computer Society policies, and the magazine style. Common issues that arise in this regard are the word limits, and limits on the number of references. According to CiSE guidelines for authors: Articles should be between 2,400 and 6,250 words, including all main body, abstract, keyword, bibliography, and biography text. Each table and figure counts for 250 words. They  should have no more than 12 references. Articles should be written for an interdisciplinary audience, be concise, and tend to be more readable than scholarly in style. Special issues typically consist of about 6 articles. Informed by the peer reviews, guest editors select the articles to appear in the issue, which may result in good-quality articles having to be rejected. In exceptional situations of a theme being very popular, guest editors may request approval from the EiC to run a Part 2 of the theme in a later issue. Transfer of special-issue submissions to the regular article queue is discouraged.Definition of Conflict of Interest“A conflict of interest is defined as any situation, transaction, or relationship in which a member’s, volunteer’s, or staff person’s decisions, actions, or votes could materially affect that individual’s professional, personal, financial, or business concerns.” [p.22 IEEE PSPB Operations Manual] An Associate Editor is regarded as having a COI with a manuscript if any author is employed at the same institution as the editor. It is also a COI if the editor has co-authored a paper or has closely collaborated in a research project with any of the manuscript's authors  in the previous five years.Editorial WorkflowWhen a special issue is approved, the editorial workflow is as follows: