The Mongolian Academy of Sciences (Mongolian: Монгол улсын Шинжлэх ухааны Академи, Mongol ulsyn Shinjlekh ukhaany Akademi) is Mongolia's first centre of modern sciences. It came into being in 1921 when the government of newlyindependent Mongolia issued a resolution declaring the establishment of "The Institute of Literature and Scripts", which was later upgraded into "The Institute of Sciences" and "The Institute of Sciences and Higher Education". In 1961, it was finally reorganized as "The Mongolian Academy of Sciences" MAS. At present there are 14 research institutes and two affiliated academies under MAS.
The Upper Paleolithic archaeological record of the Tolbor Valley (northern Mongolia) documents a shift in emphasis from large-blade production to smaller-format bladelet production, characteristic of the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) to Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) transition in Central and Northeast Asia. This periodization is often associated with, respectively, early dispersal and permanent instalment of Homo sapiens populations in eastern Eurasia. In some regions of West Asia and Europe, an increase in lithic sharp-edge productivity has been described in the EUP, raising the hypothesis that for some groups intensified bladelet production represented a potential solution to constraints on sharp-edge availability. We test this using an allometric approach that controls for blank size, drawing on data excavated from three Upper Paleolithic sites in the Tolbor Valley dated between ca. 45 ka and < 28 ka. A diachronic increase in edge length ( 10 mm) is detected among small flakes (< 5 g) between the IUP and EUP samples, while laminar blanks (blades/bladelets) show no consistent increase. This suggests that the increased emphasis on bladelet production during the EUP at Tolbor was not primarily a response to constraints on sharp-edge availability. Instead, it coincided with more productive small flakes, whether as byproducts of bladelet manufacture or as a parallel/integrated blank production strategy. These results highlight the importance of accounting for blank size when evaluating diachronic trends in sharp-edge productivity.
The top-quark Yukawa coupling is extracted from the distribution of the top-quark pair ( tt ) invariant mass in proton-proton collisions using 140 fb−1 of data at √(s)=13 TeV collected in 2015–2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. In the region near the production threshold, the tt invariant mass spectrum is sensitive to electroweak virtual corrections, including contributions from Higgs boson exchange, thereby providing sensitivity to the top-quark Yukawa coupling. This is the first measurement in ATLAS that aims to obtain this coupling exploiting this approach. The tt system is reconstructed in the single-lepton final state, requiring exactly one isolated electron or muon and at least four jets with at least two identified as originating from b-quarks. The measured Yukawa coupling is found to be in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction. An upper limit on the top-quark Yukawa coupling strength of Yt < 2.1 relative to the Standard Model prediction is observed at 95
Since the 1980 s, eutrophication in Wuliangsuhai Lake has intensified due to excessive inputs of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Identifying the main sources and their impacts is essential for effective remediation. However, hydrological processes in the region are heavily influenced by human regulation, making it difficult to clarify the mechanisms driving N and P dynamics in the densely canal-networked Hetao Irrigation District (HID). This study coupled Distributed Agro-Hydrological Model for Irrigation District (DAHMID) and Global Nutrient Model (GNM) to comprehensively simulate four decades of N and P transport from land to the river outlet. The results indicate that agricultural non-point in the HID and municipal wastewater, led to a continuous increase in riverine nutrient loads until 2012. The semi-arid climate contributes to high nutrient retention rates (exceeding 70 % for N and 80 % for P). While this reduces nutrient delivery to the outlet, it simultaneously exacerbates water quality deterioration within the basin. In addition, due to legacy nutrients in the subsurface, excessive irrigation has led to the accumulation of surplus N in the aquifer, a process that persisted until the late 2010 s and is expected to remain a major N source to water bodies in the coming decades. Despite limitations in the simulation period for validation and data reconstruction, this study provides a quantitative basis for informed nutrient management in the basin. Sustainable water quality improvement must be achieved through optimized irrigation-drainage management that reduces nutrient losses from excessive irrigation, coupled with systematically enhanced wastewater treatment efficiency.
Lignite is prone to moisture absorption in air due to its abundant oxygen-containing functional groups and complex pore structure. A detailed understanding of its molecular structure is therefore crucial for interpreting dewatering performance and surface wettability. Elemental and industrial analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) spectroscopy were employed to characterize Mengdong Shengli lignite (SLM). Density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to validate the lignite model and investigate its surface wettability at the molecular level. The characterization results show that the aromatic and aliphatic carbon contents are 66.84 % and 33.15 %, respectively, with an bridge-to-carbon ratio (XBP) of 0.2162. Oxygen was primarily present in ether bonds, while nitrogen and sulfur occur primarily as pyridinic nitrogen and thiophene structures, respectively. The molecular formula was determined to be C136H125O34N. DFT results indicate an optimal simulated density of 1.21 g/cm3, with non-bonding interactions (EN) being the dominant contributor to macromolecular stability. MD results show good agreement between the simulated and experimental contact-angles, indicating the hydrophilic nature of SLM. The mobility of interfacial water molecules increases continuously with increasing water layer thickness. Analysis of the atomic radial distribution indicates hydrogen bond lengths of approximately 2.05 & Aring; and 1.95 & Aring; between coal and water molecules, suggesting the formation of stable hydrogen-bonded networks at the interface.Theses results contribute to a deeper understanding of coal molecular modeling and wettability behavior.
Astragalus membranaceus, a valuable medicinal plant, is widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, and nutritional industries due to its rich bioactive compounds. Its increasing demand has led to extensive cultivation of A. membranaceus to supplement natural resources and ensure a stable supply. However, comparing the metabolic characteristics of natural and cultivated plants is essential for understanding their quality, authenticity, and potential pharmacological differences. We conducted a comparative analysis of polysaccharide and monosaccharide composition and untargeted metabolite profiling in the roots of natural and cultivated A. membranaceus plants in Mongolia. The levels of alcohol soluble total polysaccharides and the major abundant monosaccharides were similar between natural and cultivated A. membranaceus roots. Whereas several less abundant monosaccharides showed reduced levels in the cultivated roots. Untargeted metabolomic profiling identified a total of 157 metabolites, among which 42 and 35 were differentially accumulated in natural and cultivated roots, respectively. Most metabolites showed increased levels in the cultivated roots; however, 32 metabolites were enriched in natural roots. Functional pathway enrichment revealed distinct metabolic features between the two root types. In natural roots, pathways related to stress response, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and energy production were enriched. In cultivated roots, the enriched metabolic pathways were linked to primary metabolism, growth, and energy production. Our findings reveal distinct metabolic characteristics between natural and cultivated A. membranaceus roots, likely shaped by differences in growth environments, soil conditions, and adaptive metabolic reprogramming. These results provide a valuable reference for evaluating, authenticating, and distinguishing natural and cultivated A. membranaceus roots, and offer insights into their pharmacological potential and quality control.
