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In recent years, the frequency and intensity of exposure to heat stress have increased gradually, seriously hampering the production of maize. This paper presents a study designed to analyze how the development, physiology and dispersal of pollen from the heat‐resistant maize variety Zhengdan958 and the heat‐sensitive maize variety Xianyu335 are affected by exposure to heat stress during the tasselling stage. Our results showed That exposure to heat stress significantly increased the antioxidant enzyme activity in pollen. Upon visual inspection of the pollen, we found that the lower water content had given rise to wrinkles in the pollen surface, sunken germination pores, and morphological deformations. In addition, the anther dehiscence process was hindered, resulting in a reduced amount of pollen being dispersed. We also found elevated levels of abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives, indole acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellin‐3 (GA3) in heat‐pollens, as well as elevated ratios of IAA to ABA and ABA to GA3. Ultimately impaired pollen fertility. Summarizing, our experiment revealed that reduced pollen quantity and quality are significant contributors to fertility losses in summer maize exposed to heat stress at anthesis, and we hope that our analysis of the physiological mechanisms involved can contribute to the development of crop management measures aimed at countering the increasingly detrimental effects of heat stress on the production of summer maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An intelligent inverse method is proposed, where MMA works with FEM and binary reconstruction. • The size of chip-integrated logic gates (OR, XOR, NOR, AND and NAND) are 2 μm × 2 μm. • The bandwidth of logic gates are nearly ten times more than the other reported conventional gates. The Si-based chip-integrated OR, XOR, NOR, AND and NAND all-optical logic gates (AO-LGs) with footprints of 2 μm × 2 μm are inversely designed based on an intelligent method, which combines the method of moving asymptotes (MMA) with the finite element method (FEM). In this method, the substrate is divided into many small units, and the refractive index of each unit will be perturbed according to design expectation. Therefore, the optimized refractive index will be gradient, which divorces from fabrication. Binary reconstruction is the process of changing the gradient media into binary media, by filtering out the gradient virtual media, smoothing the boundaries, and refilling Si or air on the substrate to form a new structure. Numerical simulations demonstrate that all the AO-LGs designed by this method work effectively. The contrast ratio (CR) of OR/XOR gate ranges from 23.50 dB to 25.50 dB, NOR gate ranges from 6.33 dB to 7.91 dB, AND gate ranges from 4.44 dB to 6.13 dB, and NAND gate ranges from 8.85 dB to 10.07 dB. And these designed AO-LGs achieve nearly ten times more broad bandwidth than the other reported conventional gates without suffering other performances too much. The OR/XOR, and NOR gate functions well in a broad band range from 800 nm to 1600 nm, and from 850 nm to 1350 nm. AND gate functions well from 1000 nm to 1240 nm and from 1310 nm to 1400 nm. NAND gate functions well from 1360 nm to 1530 nm. It is expected that such a robust method can serve extensive applications in designing photonic devices, and the compact logic gates may contribute to broad applications of future optical computing and signal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Licorice was widely used in food and herbal medicine. In its extract industry, a substantial amount of licorice protein was produced and discarded as waste. Herein, we extracted Licorice Protein Isolate (LPI) and explored its potential as a curcumin nanocarrier. Using a pH-driven method, we fabricated LPI-curcumin nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 129.30 ± 3.21 nm to 75.03 ± 1.19 nm, depending on the LPI/curcumin molar ratio. The formation of LPI-curcumin nanoparticles was primarily driven by hydrophobic interactions, with curcumin entrapped in LPI being in an amorphous form. These nanoparticles significantly enhanced curcumin properties in terms of solubility, photochemical stability, and stability under varying pH, storage, and physiological conditions. Moreover, the loaded curcumin exhibited a 2.58-fold increase in cellular antioxidant activity on RAW 264.7 cells and a 1.86-fold increase in antitumor activity against HepG2 cells compared to its free form. These findings suggested that LPI could potentially serve as a promising novel delivery material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Licorice was widely used in food and herbal medicine. In its extract industry, a substantial amount of licorice protein was produced and discarded as waste. Herein, we extracted Licorice Protein Isolate (LPI) and explored its potential as a curcumin nanocarrier. Using a pH-driven method, we fabricated LPI-curcumin nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 129.30 ± 3.21 nm to 75.03 ± 1.19 nm, depending on the LPI/curcumin molar ratio. The formation of LPI-curcumin nanoparticles was primarily driven by hydrophobic interactions, with curcumin entrapped in LPI being in an amorphous form. These nanoparticles significantly enhanced curcumin properties in terms of solubility, photochemical stability, and stability under varying pH, storage, and physiological conditions. Moreover, the loaded curcumin exhibited a 2.58-fold increase in cellular antioxidant activity on RAW 264.7 cells and a 1.86-fold increase in antitumor activity against HepG2 cells compared to its free form. These findings suggested that LPI could potentially serve as a promising novel delivery material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric elastomers (DEs) have a great potential in applications as smart materials such as artificial muscles and flexible robotics, due to their advantages of large deformation, good flexibility and fast actuation response. However, the excellent electro-actuation performance of DE materials is always achieved under high electric fields, which limits their widespread application. Herein, the synthesized acrylate-based copolymer E 8 G 2 (the molar ratio between 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate is 8:2) was incorporated into the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix by solution mixing and compression molding to prepared a series of bi-network DE composites. The design of the all-organic bi-network structure not only regulates the dielectric-flexibility of E 8 G 2 /PDMS composites synchronously but also relieves the problem of plasticizer exudation. The E 8 G 2 /PDMS composites achieved a remarkable electro-actuated strain of 43.86 % at 50 V/μm, which is improved by 431.08 % compared with pure PDMS (6.95 %). Consequently, this study provides a promising approach for the preparation of advanced DE composites with outstanding electro-actuated performance in low-field driving applications. [Display omitted] • The dielectric elastomer with all-organic bi-network structures were prepared. • The electro-actuated strain of DE composite reaches 43.86 % at low-field of 50 V/μm. • The synergistic regulation on ε r and Y leads to the improved electro-actuation. • The long-standing issue of plasticizer-exudation from DE composites is relieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing quality monitoring method of dynamic compaction construction is costly and inefficient, and the measurement results for the falling distance of the hammer and the number of tamping times may even become completely ineffective in abnormal situations during the construction process, such as empty hook rise and early release hammer. Therefore, this paper proposes an effective measurement method based on time series model. Simulate the regular periodic motion state transformation in strong ramming construction by motion state discrimination model, combined with the prediction interval of running time estimation model to assist state discrimination, realizes real-time monitoring of anomalies as well as effective measurement of important construction parameters such as the tamping times and the falling distance of the hammer. Experimental results demonstrate that the method achieves accuracy of 100% under normal tamping conditions, and accuracy of no less than 95% even in tamping conditions involving abnormal behavior. • Constructed DCC state discrimination model based on bi-objective parallel features. • Proposed a method measuring tamping times using combined temporal-spatial features. • Established a model for estimating the duration of states based on prior data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud and snow in remote sensing images typically block the underlying surface information and interfere with the extraction of available information, so detecting cloud and snow becomes a critical problem in remotely sensed image processing. The current methods for detecting clouds and snow are susceptible to interference from complex background, making it difficult to recover cloud edge details and causing missing and false detection phenomena. To address these issues, a cross-dimensional feature attention aggregation network is suggested to realize the segmentation of clouds and snow. To address the problem of interference induced by the similar spectral characteristics of clouds and snow, the context attention aggregation module is added to conflate feature maps of various dimensions and screen the information. Multi-scale strip convolution module (MSSCM) and its improved version MSSCMs are used to extract edge characteristics at different scales and improve the harsh segmentation border. Also, adding deep feature semantic information extraction module to deep features to guide the classification of the model to avoid the interference of complex background. Finally, a 'los beatles' module is used to replace the traditional linear combination in the decoding stage, and the feature information of different granularity is fused and extracted to enhance the model's detection efficiency. In this paper, experiments are carried out on the public datasets: CSWV, HRC _ WHU and L8 _ SPARCS. The MIOU scores on the three datasets are 89.507 % , 91.674 % and 80.722 % , respectively. Comparative experiment findings demonstrate that the network presented in this article can attain the highest detection accuracy and good detection efficiency with low parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a refractory psychiatric disorder closely associated with dysfunction of the gap junctions (GJs) between astrocytes as well as neuroinflammation. Higenamine (Hig) is a potent cardiotonic ingredient in Fuzi (i.e., Aconitum carmichaeli Debx.) with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which has a significant protective effect on damaged nerve cells and has great potential for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases. Rats were stimulated by chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) for 28 days while given Hig (5, 10, 20 mg/kg) and then analyzed behaviorally by the open field test, sucrose preference test, and forced swimming test. Changes in astrocyte GJs function and morphology were observed by dye transfer and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Expression and phosphorylation of connexin 43 (Cx43) were analyzed by Western blot. Also, considering the close relationship between depression and neuroinflammation, we determined the inflammatory response in serum with ELISA kits and analyzed the expression of inflammation-related proteins with Western blot. Hig ameliorated CUS-induced depression-like behavior in rats. Hig administration improved gap junctional dysfunction in astrocytes, reduced gap junctional gaps and elevated the expression of Cx43 and decreased the phosphorylation of Cx43. Meanwhile, Hig administration was also able to attenuate the inflammatory response that occurs after CUS in rats. For the role of Cx43 in depression, we did not validate it more deeply in animal models with knockout Cx43. In addition, GJs dysfunction might be associated with the inflammatory response seen in depression, but this needs to be further investigated. Hig ameliorates depression and exerts its antidepressant effect possibly by improving the dysfunctional GJs between astrocytes and the inflammatory response. [Display omitted] • Hig ameliorates CUS-induced depression-like behavior in rats. • Hig increases Cx43 expression and inhibits Cx43 phosphorylation in depressed rats. • Hig plays an antidepressant role by improving the gap junction function between astrocytes. • Hig was able to reduce the inflammatory response seen in depressed rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Modern perioperative guidelines encourage drinking oral carbohydrates 2 h before management. Nevertheless, research on the safety of preoperative carbohydrate drinks, particularly in extremely elderly patients is lacking. We aimed to evaluate the safety of carbohydrate drinks 2 h before surgery in extremely elderly patients (≥ 80 years) using gastric ultrasonography. Methods: We conducted a randomized prospective comparative study of 70 patients aged over 80 years who were scheduled for total knee arthroplasty, hip fracture or humerus fracture surgery. These patients were randomly assigned to the carbohydrate group (n = 35), which fasted from midnight, except for drinking 355 mL of a carbohydrate-containing fluid 2 h before surgery, or the fasting group (n = 35), which fasted from midnight and drank no fluid before surgery. The primary outcome of the study was the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the gastric antrum in the right lateral decubitus position (RLDP) before surgery. The secondary outcomes included CSA in the supine position, intraoperative blood glucose levels and their variability coefficients, Perlas grade, and the visual analog scale of subjective feelings. Results: The CSA in the RLDP and supine positions revealed no differences between the carbohydrate and fasting groups at 0 h preoperatively (P > 0.05). In the qualitative assessment, preoperative 0-h Perlas grading did not differ significantly between the groups (P > 0.05). From 2 h before surgery to transfer out of the post-anesthesia care unit, the average blood glucose level of patients in the carbohydrate group was significantly higher than that in the fasting group (P < 0.001) but remained within the normal range. Moreover, the blood glucose variability coefficient was significantly lower in the carbohydrate group than in the fasting group (P = 0.009). Oral intake of 355 mL carbohydrates before surgery significantly relieved patients' feelings (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Preoperative consumption of carbohydrate drinks 2 h before surgery is safe in "healthy" extremely elderly patients. In addition, preoperative drinking has potential value in maintaining ideal blood glucose levels and stable blood glucose fluctuations perioperatively and improving subjective perceptions of preoperative preparation. This finding warrants further investigation in clinical practice. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration Number ChiCTR1900024812), first registered on 29/07/2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescent materials remain a great challenge, since short peak wavelength <400 nm and narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM) <50 nm are simultaneously required. In this sense, multi‐resonance (MR) thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters featuring narrow‐band emissions hold the promise for UV applications. Herein, a novel MR‐TADF skeleton featuring carbazole‐phosphine oxide (P=O) fused aromatics is developed to construct the first two UV MR emitters named CzP2PO and tBCzP2PO. In addition to synergistic resonance effects of P=O and N atom, sp3‐hybrid P atom renders the curved polycyclic planes of CzP2PO and tBCzP2PO, giving rise to their narrowband UV emissions with peak wavelengths <390 nm and FWHM<35 nm. Besides configuration quasi‐planarization for radiation enhancement and quenching suppression, P=O moiety further enhances singlet‐triplet coupling to facilitate reverse intersystem crossing, resulting in the state‐of‐the‐art photoluminescence quantum yield of 62 % in tBCzP2PO doped films. As consequence, tBCzP2PO endowed its UV organic light‐emitting diodes with the peak at 382 nm and FWHM of 32 nm, and especially the record‐high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 15.1 % among all kinds of UV devices. Our results demonstrate great potential of P=O based MR emitters in practical applications including optoelectronics, biology and medicine science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescent materials remain a great challenge, since short peak wavelength <400 nm and narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM) <50 nm are simultaneously required. In this sense, multi‐resonance (MR) thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters featuring narrow‐band emissions hold the promise for UV applications. Herein, a novel MR‐TADF skeleton featuring carbazole‐phosphine oxide (P=O) fused aromatics is developed to construct the first two UV MR emitters named CzP2PO and tBCzP2PO. In addition to synergistic resonance effects of P=O and N atom, sp3‐hybrid P atom renders the curved polycyclic planes of CzP2PO and tBCzP2PO, giving rise to their narrowband UV emissions with peak wavelengths <390 nm and FWHM<35 nm. Besides configuration quasi‐planarization for radiation enhancement and quenching suppression, P=O moiety further enhances singlet‐triplet coupling to facilitate reverse intersystem crossing, resulting in the state‐of‐the‐art photoluminescence quantum yield of 62 % in tBCzP2PO doped films. As consequence, tBCzP2PO endowed its UV organic light‐emitting diodes with the peak at 382 nm and FWHM of 32 nm, and especially the record‐high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 15.1 % among all kinds of UV devices. Our results demonstrate great potential of P=O based MR emitters in practical applications including optoelectronics, biology and medicine science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemokines and their corresponding receptors play crucial roles in orchestrating inflammatory and immune responses, particularly in the context of pathological conditions disrupting the internal environment. Among these receptors, CCR5 has garnered considerable attention due to its significant involvement in the inflammatory cascade, serving as a pivotal mediator of neuroinflammation and other inflammatory pathways associated with various diseases. However, a notable gap persists in comprehending the intricate mechanisms governing the interplay between CCR5 and its ligands across diverse and intricate inflammatory pathologies. Further exploration is warranted, especially concerning the inflammatory cascade instigated by immune cell infiltration and the precise binding sites within signaling pathways. This study aims to illuminate the regulatory axes modulating signaling pathways in inflammatory cells by providing a comprehensive overview of the pathogenic processes associated with CCR5 and its ligands across various disorders. The primary focus lies on investigating the pathomechanisms associated with CCR5 in disorders related to neuroinflammation, alongside the potential impact of aging on these processes and therapeutic interventions. The discourse culminates in addressing current challenges and envisaging potential future applications, advocating for innovative research endeavors to advance our comprehension of this realm. [Display omitted] • To summarize the mechanism of aging involved in ccr5 signaling pathway transduction. • To summarize the neurologic mechanism of aging and CCR5-mediated inflammation. • To summarize the mechanism of aging and CCR5's involvement in other diseases. • Explore the potential targets of CCR5 in different organs. • To explore the progress of drug research on CCR5 as a single or combined target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural green revolution spectacularly enhanced crop yield through modification of gibberellin (GA) signaling. However, in cotton, the GA signaling cascades remain elusive, limiting our potential to cultivate new cotton varieties and improve yield and quality. Here, we identified that GA prominently stimulated fiber elongation through the degradation of DELLA protein GhSLR1, thereby disabling GhSLR1's physical interaction with two transcription factors, GhZFP8 and GhBLH1. Subsequently, the resultant free GhBLH1 binds to GhKCS12 promoter and activates its expression to enhance VLCFAs biosynthesis. With a similar mechanism, the free GhZFP8 binds to GhSDCP1 promoter and activates its expression. As a result, GhSDCP1 upregulates the expression of GhPIF3 gene associated with plant cell elongation. Ultimately, the two parallel signaling cascades synergistically promote cotton fiber elongation. Our findings outline the mechanistic framework that translates the GA signal into fiber cell elongation, thereby offering a roadmap to improve cotton fiber quality and yield. [Display omitted] • Gibberellins promotes fiber cell elongation by degrading GhSLR1 • GhSLR1 interacts with two transcription factors, GhZFP8 and GhBLH1 • GhBLH1 activates the transcription of GhKCS12 and enhances VLCFA biosynthesis • GhZFP8 activates the expression of GhPIF3 by upregulating GhSDCP1 in cotton He et al. identified two signaling cascades, GhSLR1-GhZFP8- GhSDCP1 - GhPIF3 and GhSLR1-GhBLH1- GhKCS12 , which translate the gibberellins signal to regulate cotton fiber cell elongation. This finding can be potentially used in the field to improve cotton fiber quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing S-scheme heterojunctions is an effective method to improve the charge localization on the surface of photocatalysts. Their effective charge transport routes can be enhanced with the help of interfacial noble metal nanoparticles. Herein, an Ag/CuO@ZnIn 2 S 4 plasma S-scheme heterojunction with heterogeneous interfacial covalent bonds was successfully designed. The 15% Ag/CuO@ZnIn 2 S 4 has promising photocatalytic performance and stability with the highest CO and CH 4 yields of 6.9 and 54.4 µmol g−1 h−1 and CH 4 selectivity of 92.8%. It is evidenced that the photogenerated charge can be efficiently separated and transported due to the influence of both the S-scheme electron migration mode and the Cu-S covalent bond. The process is further accelerated by using precious metals as cocatalysts, which can then selectively convert CO 2 into CH 4. This research is expected to provide helpful information for engineering S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts and investigating their charge transfer kinetics. [Display omitted] • Design of a S-scheme heterojunction to promote the separation of carriers. • Built the Cu-S bonds to accelerate the transfer of charges. • Utilizing the LSPR effect to generate hot electrons and enhance light absorption. • The Ag/CuO@ZnIn 2 S 4 photocatalysts can selectively reduce CO 2 to CH 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Co–CeO 2 was used to activate the PMS for degrading PET plastics. • The degradation rate reached 91.61 % in 6 h after adding 1 mL H 2 O 2 and 5 mM PMS. • Several factors, such as pH and anions, were considered. • SO 4 − played a crucial role in the degradation, compared to OH, O 2 −, and 1O 2. • The possible mechanism of photocatalysis/PMS degradation of PET was proposed. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, widely used for packaging owing to its excellent properties, has become a major contributor to plastic waste, for which satisfactory recycling and upgrading treatment technologies are lacking. In this study, Co-doped CeO 2 was used as a photocatalyst to degrade PET plastics in water, and PET degradation was measured according to the weight loss rate. Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) addition to the photocatalytic system enabled the degradation of 53.82 ± 4.48 % of PET plastics, highlighting the excellent PET plastic degradation capability of the photocatalytic PMS system. The study investigated the effects of the catalyst-to-plastic ratio, PMS concentration, initial pH, inorganic anions, humic acid concentration, and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) addition on the catalytic oxidation system. Contrast experiments revealed that H 2 O 2 addition to the photocatalysis/PMS oxidation system further improved the PET plastic degradation efficiency (91.61 ± 1.50 %). Liquid product analysis, electron paramagnetic resonance, and free radical quenching experiments confirmed that SO 4 − played the most significant role in PET degradation. Finally, a possible mechanism for the degradation of PET plastics in water using the photocatalysis/PMS oxidation system was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]