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Bainong sterility (BNS) is a thermo‐sensitive genic male sterile wheat line, characterised by anther fertility transformation in response to low temperature (LT) stress during meiosis, the failure of vacuole decomposition and the absence of starch accumulation in sterile bicellular pollen. Our study demonstrates that the late microspore (LM) stage marks the transition from the anther growth to anther maturation phase, characterised by the changes in anther structure, carbohydrate metabolism and the main transport pathway of sucrose (Suc). Fructan is a main storage polysaccharide in wheat anther, and its synthesis and remobilisation are crucial for anther development. Moreover, the process of pollen amylogenesis and the fate of the large vacuole in pollen are closely intertwined with fructan synthesis and remobilisation. LT disrupts the normal physiological metabolism of BNS anthers during meiosis, particularly affecting carbohydrate metabolism, thus determining the fate of male gametophytes and pollen abortion. Disruption of fructan synthesis and remobilisation regulation serves as a decisive event that results in anther abortion. Sterile pollen exhibits common traits of pollen starvation and impaired starch accumulation due to the inhibition of apoplastic transport starting from the LM stage, which is regulated by cell wall invertase TaIVR1 and Suc transporter TaSUT1. Summary statement: The manuscript provides new insight into the role of carbohydrate metabolism in regulating anther development and the molecular mechanisms underlying pollen abortion in a thermo‐sensitive genic male sterile winter wheat line under low temperature during meiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Assessing the global burden and health inequalities of Hypertension Heart Disease (HHD) during the period from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study in 2019, focusing on the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors worldwide. Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) data related to HHD are extracted from the 2019 GBD. Inequality Slope Index (SII) and Concentration Index are calculated to assess health inequalities across regions and countries. Results: The total DALYs for HHD reached 21.51 million, demonstrating a substantial increase of 54.25% compared to the figures recorded in 1990, while the age-standardized DALY rates per 100,000 population for HHD in 2019 showed a notable decline to 268.19 (95% UI 204.57, 298.07), reflecting a significant decrease of 26.4% compared to the rates observed in 1990. The DALYs rate of hypertensive heart disease increases with age. Countries with moderate SDI accounted for 38.72% of the global burden of HHD in terms of DALYs. The highest age-standardized DALY rates (per 100,000) are predominantly concentrated in underdeveloped areas. In 1990 and 2019, the SII (per 100,000 population) for DALYs were − 121.6398 (95% CI -187.3729 to -55.90684) and − 1.592634 (95% CI -53.11027 to 49.925) respectively. The significant decline suggests a reduction in the inequality of age-standardized burden of HHD between high-income and low-income countries during this period. Conclusion: The unequal prevalence of HHD across different populations can hinder the achievement of the "health for all" objective. Persistent disparities in HHD have been observed globally over the past thirty years. It is crucial to prioritize efforts towards reducing avoidable health inequalities associated with hypertension-related heart disease, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CeO 2 /NiCoP with abundant heterointerface shows excellent HER activity at all-pH, OER activity in alkaline solution, especially OWS performance in alkaline water and simulated seawater electrolyte. In addition, DFT calculation provides theoretical support for superior performance of CeO 2 /NiCoP. [Display omitted] Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been considered as potential electrocatalysts with adjustable valence states, metal characteristics, and phase diversity. However, it is necessary but remains a major challenge to obtain efficient and durable TMPs catalysts, which can realize efficiently for not only all-pH hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but also oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Hence, cerium dioxide incorporated nickel cobalt phosphide growth on nickel foam (CeO 2 /NiCoP) is fabricated by hydrothermal and phosphating reaction. CeO 2 /NiCoP shows excellent activity for all-pH HER (overpotentials of 48, 58 and 72 mV in alkaline, neutral and acidic solution at the current density of 10 mA cm−2), and has a small OER overpotential (231 mV @ 10 mA cm−2). Moreover, the voltage of overall water splitting in alkaline solution and simulated seawater electrolyte is only 1.46 and 1.41 V (10 mA cm−2), respectively, coupled with outstanding operational stability and corrosion resistance. Further mechanism research shows that CeO 2 /NiCoP possesses rich heterointerfaces, which serves more exposed active sites and possesses a promising superhydrophilic and superaerophobic surface. Density functional theory calculations manifest that CeO 2 /NiCoP has appropriate energy for intermediates of reactions. This work provides a deep insight into the CeO 2 /NiCoP catalyst for high-performance water/seawater electrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared absorption spectroscopy is an effective tool for the detection and identification of molecules. However, its application is limited by the low infrared absorption cross-section of the molecule, resulting in low sensitivity and a poor signal-to-noise ratio. Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy is a breakthrough technique that exploits the field-enhancing properties of periodic nanostructures to amplify the vibrational signals of trace molecules. The fascinating properties of SEIRA technology have aroused great interest, driving diverse sensing applications. In this review, we first discuss three ways for SEIRA performance optimization, including material selection, sensitivity enhancement, and bandwidth improvement. Subsequently, we discuss the potential applications of SEIRA technology in fields such as biomedicine and environmental monitoring. In recent years, we have ushered in a new era characterized by the Internet of Things, sensor networks, and wearable devices. These new demands spurred the pursuit of miniaturized and consolidated infrared spectroscopy systems and chips. In addition, the rise of machine learning has injected new vitality into SEIRA, bringing smart device design and data analysis to the foreground. The final section of this review explores the anticipated trajectory that SEIRA technology might take, highlighting future trends and possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Dendrobium officinale is edible and has medicinal and ornamental functions. Polysaccharides and flavonoids, including anthocyanins, are important components of D. officinale that largely determine the nutritional quality and consumer appeal. There is a need to study the molecular mechanisms regulating anthocyanin and polysaccharide biosynthesis to enhance D. officinale quality and its market value. Here, we report that high light (HL) induced the accumulation of polysaccharides, particularly mannose, as well as anthocyanin accumulation, resulting in red stems. Metabolome and transcriptome analyses revealed that most of the flavonoids showed large changes in abundance, and flavonoid and polysaccharide biosynthesis was significantly activated under HL treatment. Interestingly, DoHY5 expression was also highly induced. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that DoHY5 directly binds to the promoters of DoF3H1 (involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis), DoGMPP2, and DoPMT28 (involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis) to activate their expression, thereby promoting anthocyanin and polysaccharide accumulation in D. officinale stems. DoHY5 silencing decreased flavonoid‐ and polysaccharide‐related gene expression and reduced anthocyanin and polysaccharide accumulation, whereas DoHY5 overexpression had the opposite effects. Notably, naturally occurring red‐stemmed D. officinale plants similarly have high levels of anthocyanin and polysaccharide accumulation and biosynthesis gene expression. Our results reveal a previously undiscovered role of DoHY5 in co‐regulating anthocyanin and polysaccharide biosynthesis under HL conditions, improving our understanding of the mechanisms regulating stem color and determining nutritional quality in D. officinale. Collectively, our results propose a robust and simple strategy for significantly increasing anthocyanin and polysaccharide levels and subsequently improving the nutritional quality of D. officinale. Significance Statement: Dendrobium officinale is edible and has medicinal and ornamental functions. Polysaccharides and flavonoids are the predominant bioactive compounds produced by D. officinale. However, the relationship between anthocyanin biosynthesis and polysaccharide biosynthesis is unclear. Our study revealed a mechanism underlying the high‐light‐induced co‐regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis and polysaccharide biosynthesis in D. officinale, improving our understanding of how plants coordinate anthocyanin and polysaccharide biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)/acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening condition marked by severe lung inflammation and increased lung endothelial barrier permeability. Endothelial glycocalyx deterioration is the primary factor of vascular permeability changes in ARDS/ALI. Although previous studies have shown that phospholipase D2 (PLD2) is closely related to the onset and progression of ARDS/ALI, its role and mechanism in the damage of endothelial cell glycocalyx remains unclear. We used LPS-induced ARDS/ALI mice (in vivo) and LPS-stimulated injury models of EA.hy926 endothelial cells (in vitro). We employed C57BL/6 mice, including wild-type and PLD2 knockout (PLD2−/−) mice, to establish the ARDS/ALI model. We applied immunofluorescence and ELISA to examine changes in syndecan-1 (SDC-1), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) levels and the effect of external factors, such as phosphatidic acid (PA), 1-butanol (a PLD inhibitor), on SDC-1 and MMP9 expression levels. We found that PLD2 deficiency inhibits SDC-1 degradation and MMP9 expression in LPS-induced ARDS/ALI. Externally added PA decreases SDC-1 levels and increases MMP9 in endothelial cells, hence underlining PA's role in SDC-1 degradation. Additionally, PLD2 deficiency decreases the production of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) in LPS-induced ARDS/ALI. In summary, these findings suggest that PLD2 deficiency plays a role in inhibiting the inflammatory process and protecting against endothelial glycocalyx injury in LPS-induced ARDS/ALI. • Inhibition or deficiency of PLD2 alleviates LPS-induced endothelial glycocalyx injury. • Inhibition or deficiency of PLD2 suppresses MMP-9 expression in LPS-induced ARDS/ALI. • PA, the catalytic product of PLD2, can induce endothelial glycocalyx degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterocyclic nitrogen compounds containing two adjacent nitrogen atoms generally have a significant effect on soil nitrification inhibition, and 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (DMP) is a typical representative of this structure. However, the inhibitory effect and the regulatory mechanism of DMP on soil N transformation are unclear. In this study, a microcosm with different concentrations of DMP was carried out in brown soil to detect the dynamic changes of soil NH4+–N, NO3–N and related soil enzyme activities. Results showed that DMP inhibited soil nitrification effectively and decreased soil nitrate reductase activity, while increasing nitrite reductase and dehydrogenase activities. The inhibition effects were dose dependent, and DMP at the rate of 0.025 g kg−1 dry soil showed the strongest inhibitory effect on N transformation in brown soil. The soil dehydrogenase activity was increased with an increasing DMP application rate. The changes in the soil's chemical and biological properties caused by DMP application provided a new idea for systematically explaining how DMP participated in the soil N transformation process. This study further implied that DMP would play positive roles in alleviating environmental pressure by delaying nitrate-N formation and decreasing the activity of nitrate reductase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In brain tumor, dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) spatiotemporally resolved high‐quality reconstruction which is required for quantitative analysis of some physiological characteristics of brain tissue. By exploiting some kind of sparsity priori, compressed sensing methods can achieve high spatiotemporal DCE‐MRI image reconstruction from undersampled k‐space data. Recently, as a kind of priori information about the contrast agent (CA) concentration dynamics, Pharmacokinetic (PK) models have been explored for undersampled DCE‐MRI reconstruction. This paper presents a novel dictionary learning‐based reconstruction method with Adaptive Pharmaco‐Kinetic Model Constraints (APKMC). In APKMC, the priori knowledge about CA dynamics is incorporated into a novel dictionary, which consists of PK model‐based atoms and adaptive atoms. The PK atoms are constructed based on Patlak model and K‐SVD dimension reduction algorithm, and the adaptive ones are used to resolve PK model inconsistencies. To solve APKMC, an optimization algorithm based on variable splitting and alternating iterative optimization is presented. The proposed method has been validated on three brain tumor DCE‐MRI data sets by comparing with two state‐of‐the‐art methods. As demonstrated by the quantitative and qualitative analysis of results, APKMC achieved substantially better quality in the reconstruction of brain DCE‐MRI images, as well as in the reconstruction of PK model parameter maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Human astrocyte-specific genes were identified by statistical algorithm. • Shared astrocytic genes with significantly differential expression comparing samples of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and normal brains in two human datasets were identified. • Multiple changes of astrocyte-associated functions in the context of epilepsy were enriched. • Hub astrocyte genes (ERBB2, GFAP, NOTCH2, ITGAV, ABCA1, AQP4, LRP1, GJA1, and YAP1) were identified with a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and cytoHubba analysis. • Upstream transcription factors of hub genes were predicted. • Five hub astrocytic genes positively paralleled with seizure frequency were identified, and preliminary explored the correlation between hub genes and epileptic phenotypes, including inflammatory mediators, complement factors, and glutamate excitotoxicity using Spearman correlation analysis. Epilepsy is a prevalent chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures and brain dysfunction. Existing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) mainly act on neurons and provide symptomatic control of seizures, but they do not modify the progression of epilepsy and may cause serious adverse effects. Increasing evidence suggests that reactive astrogliosis is critical in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. However, the function of reactive astrocytes in epilepsy has not been thoroughly explored. To provide a new perspective on the role of reactive astrocytes in epileptogenesis, we identified human astrocyte-specific genes and found 131 of these genes significantly differentially expressed in human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) datasets. Multiple astrocytic functions, such as cell adhesion, cell morphogenesis, actin filament-based process, apoptotic cell clearance and response to oxidative stress, were found to be promoted. Moreover, multiple altered astrocyte-specific genes were enriched in phagocytosis, perisynaptic astrocyte processes (PAPs), plasticity, and synaptic functions. Nine hub genes (ERBB2, GFAP, NOTCH2, ITGAV, ABCA1, AQP4, LRP1, GJA1, and YAP1) were identified by protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. The correlation between the expression of these hub genes and seizure frequency, as well as epilepsy-related factors, including inflammatory mediators, complement factors, glutamate excitotoxicity and astrocyte reactivity, were analyzed. Additionally, upstream transcription factors of the hub genes were predicted. Finally, astrogliosis and the expression of the hub genes were validated in an epileptic rat model. Our findings reveal the various changes in astrocyte function associated with epilepsy and provide candidate astrocyte-specific genes that could be potential antiepileptogenic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional chemical sensing is highly desirable in industry, agriculture, and environmental sciences, but remains challenging due to the diversity of chemical substances and reactions. Surface‐enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy can potentially address the above problems by ultra‐sensitive detection of molecular fingerprint vibrations. Here, a multifunctional chemical sensing platform based on dual‐resonant SEIRA device for sensitive and multifunctional on‐chip detection of poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) (PECA) is reported. It is experimentally demonstrated that the SEIRA sensing platform achieves multiple functions required by the PECA glue industry, including vibrational detection, thickness measurement, and in situ observation of polymerization and curing, which are usually realized by separately using a spectrometer, a viscometer, and an ellipsometer in the past. Specifically, the all‐in‐one sensor offers a dual‐band fingerprint vibration identification, sub‐nm level detection limit, and ultrahigh sensitivity of 0.76%/nm in thickness measurement, and second‐level resolution in real‐time observation of polymerization and curing. This work not only provides a valuable toolkit for ultra‐sensitive and multifunctional on‐chip detection of PECA, but also gives new insights into the SEIRA technology for multi‐band, multi‐functional, and on‐chip chemical sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few decades have witnessed the tremendous progress of human–machine interface (HMI) in communication, education, and manufacturing fields. However, due to signal acquisition devices' limitations, the research on HMI related to communication aid applications for the disabled is progressing slowly. Here, inspired by frogs' croaking behavior, a bionic triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)‐based ultra‐sensitive self‐powered electromechanical sensor for muscle‐triggered communication HMI application is developed. The sensor possesses a high sensitivity (54.6 mV mm−1), a high‐intensity signal (± 700 mV), and a wide sensing range (0–5 mm). The signal intensity is 206 times higher than that of traditional biopotential electromyography methods. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and Morse code, the safe, accurate (96.3%), and stable communication aid HMI applications are achieved. The authors' bionic TENG‐based electromechanical sensor provides a valuable toolkit for HMI applications of the disabled, and it brings new insights into the interdisciplinary cross‐integration between TENG technology and bionics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Oxymatrine improves motor performance and delays disease progression in ALS mice. • Oxymatrine attenuates motor neuron loss, microgliosis, and astrogliosis in ALS mice. • Oxymatrine regulates the gene expression of inflammation-related factors in ALS mice. • Oxymatrine modulates the gene expression of insulin signaling molecules in ALS mice. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the leading causes of death associated with neurodegenerative diseases worldwide, and the progression of the disease is characteristically accompanied by severe neuroinflammation. Neuroprotective effects of oxymatrine (OMT) were shown to be due to reduced neuroinflammation in the mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The present study investigated whether OMT has a therapeutic potential in transgenic SOD1-G93A (TgSOD1-G93A) mice. Daily OMT treatment started at the age of 55 days until the end stage of the disease. Body weight and rotarod motor performance were assessed every 3 days starting from 70 days of age. Footprints were recorded to measure the stride length 40 days and 60 days after the initiation of the treatment. Some animals were sacrificed at the age of 115 days, and the lumbar spinal cord was harvested for immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to evaluate the neuroinflammatory responses. The results indicated that treatment with OMT delayed body weight loss, improved motor performance, and prolonged the survival of SOD1-G93A mice. Mechanistically, OMT treatment enhanced motor neuronal survival and alleviated the activation of microglia and astrocytes compared with those in the vehicle-treated group. Furthermore, the expression of the proinflammatory mediators was downregulated, and the expression of the anti-inflammatory factors was upregulated in the OMT-treated group compared with those in the vehicle-treated group (P < 0.05). Thus, the treatment with OMT had neuroprotective effects, promoting neuronal survival and extending the lifetime of SOD1-G93A mice by suppressing neuroinflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been a global challenge since December 2019. Although most patients with COVID-19 exhibit mild clinical manifestations, in approximately 5% of these patients, the disease eventually progresses to severe lung injury or even multiorgan dysfunction. This situation represents various challenges to hepatology. In the context of liver injury in patients with COVID-19, several key problems need to be solved. For instance, it is important to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 can directly invade liver, especially when ACE2 appears to be negligibly expressed on hepatocytes. In addition, the mechanisms underlying liver dysfunction in COVID-19 patients are not fully understood, which are likely multifactorial and related to hyperinflammation, dysregulated immune responses, abnormal coagulation and drugs. Here, we systematically describe the potential pathogenesis of COVID-19-associated liver injury and propose several hypotheses about its etiopathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The poorly differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely lethal neoplasm without effective biomarkers for early detection and prognosis prediction, which is characteristically unresponsive to chemotherapeutic regimens. This study aims at searching for key genes which could be applied as novel prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in PDAC. Methods: Clinical samples were collected and a comprehensive differential analysis of seven PDAC samples by integrating RNA-seq data of tumor tissues and matched normal tissues from both our cohort and gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) were performed to discover potential prognostic genes in PDAC. Pathway enrichment analysis was carried out to determine the biological function of PDAC differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed for functional modules analysis. Real-time PCR was performed to validate expression of hub genes. Results: A total of 126 PDAC-specific expressed genes identified from seven PDAC samples were predominantly enriched in cell adhesion, integral component of membrane, signal transduction and chemical carcinogenesis, IL-17 signaling pathway, indicating that obtained genes might play a unique role in PDAC tumorigenesis. Furthermore, survival analysis revealed that five genes (CEACAM5, KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT7, KRT17) which exhibited high expression levels in tumor tissues were obviously correlated with the prognosis of PDAC patients and KRT7 was positively correlated with KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT17 expression. In addition, real-time PCR demonstrated that the expression level of the hub genes was consistent with RNA-seq analysis. Discussion: The current study suggested that CEACAM5, KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT7, and KRT17 may represent novel prognostic biomarkers as well as novel therapeutic targets for poorly differentiated PDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy is a powerful technique that overcomes the issue of low molecular absorption cross-sections in infrared spectroscopy. Due to the collective oscillations of electrons in the infrared regime, SEIRA using resonant metamaterial provides greatly enhanced (up to 107) electromagnetic fields extending up to tens of nanometers from the metamaterial. The enhanced near-field enables spectroscopic analysis and ultrasensitive on-chip sensing of molecules. This interesting characteristic has aroused widespread attention from researchers to SEIRA technology, and various SEIRA-based sensing applications have been continuously emerging. Optimization of the signal enhancement to obtain high sensing performance is the developing main thread of SEIRA technology. In this Review, we provide a basic understanding of SEIRA's sensing mechanism and theoretical model. With this background, several SEIRA optimizing methods are discussed, ranging from design, materials to algorithms. Additionally, perspectives about the future development trends of SEIRA technologies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) has been found to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality and kidney injury, which can be estimated noninvasively. This study aimed to investigate the association between ePWV and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). This study included 5960 patients with AKI from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The low and high ePWV groups were compared using a Kaplan-Meier survival curve to evaluate the differences in survival status. Cox proportional hazards models were used to explore the association between ePWV and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with AKI. To further examine the dose-response relationship, we used a restricted cubic spline (RCS) model. Stratification analyses were conducted to investigate the effect of ePWV on hospital mortality across various subgroups. Survival analysis indicated that patients with high ePWV had a lower survival rate than those with low ePWV. Following adjustment, high ePWV demonstrated a statistically significant association with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality among AKI patients (HR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.36-1.71, p < 0.001). Analysis using the RCS model confirmed a linear increase in the risk of hospital mortality as the ePWV values increased (P for nonlinearity = 0.602). A high ePWV was significantly associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality among patients with AKI. Furthermore, ePWV was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with AKI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melatonin is effective in enhancing various abiotic stress resistances of plants. However, its underlying mechanisms in drought-resistance in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is not clear. The goal of this work was to investigate the effect of melatonin on seed germination and to evaluate leaf antioxidant physiology for two wheat varieties. Experiments included 20% PEG, melatonin plus 20% PEG and a control using two contrasting wheat varieties (JM22– drought sensitive and HG35– drought resistant). Melatonin levels were 0, 1, 10, 100 and 300 μmol L-1. Results revealed that 300 μmol L-1 of melatonin alleviated the negative effect of water stress on germination and increased radicle length, radicle number, and plumule length of the germinated seeds. Principal component analysis showed a significant change in amino acid content during germination and this change was dependent on melatonin concentration and the variety. Lysine (Lys) content in wheat seeds under the PEG plus 300 μmol L-1 melatonin treatment increased compared with that of the seeds under PEG alone. There was a significant and positive correlation between Lys content and morphological index of germination. During seedling growth, soluble protein was involved in osmotic adjustment and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was increased to mitigate the damage in the cytomembrane of JM 22 leaf under 300 μmol L-1 melatonin plus PEG treatment. The effect of melatonin was dependent on SOD activity increasing significantly for HG35—a drought resistant variety. The results of this work lays a foundation for further studies to determine if melatonin can be economically used to mitigate the impact of dry planting conditions on wheat productivity in North China Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of developing a fast algorithm for high-quality MRI reconstruction from undersampled k-space data, we propose a novel deep neural Network, which is inspired by Iterative Shrinkage Thresholding Algorithm with Data consistency (NISTAD). NISTAD consists of three consecutive blocks: an encoding block, which models the flow graph of ISTA, a classical iteration-based compressed sensing magnetic resonance imaging (CS-MRI) method; a decoding block, which recovers the image from sparse representation; a data consistency block, which adaptively enforces consistency with the acquired raw data according to learned noise level. The ISTA method is thereby mapped to an end-to-end deep neural network, which greatly reduces the reconstruction time and simplifies the tuning of hyper-parameters, compared to conventional model-based CS-MRI methods. On the other hand, compared to general deep learning-based MRI reconstruction methods, the proposed method uses a simpler network architecture with fewer parameters. NISTAD has been validated on retrospectively undersampled diencephalon standard challenge data using different acceleration factors, and compared with DAGAN and Cascade CNN, two state-of-the-art deep neural network-based methods which outperformed many other state-of-the-art model-based and deep learning-based methods. Experimental results demonstrated that NISTAD reconstruction achieved comparable image quality with DAGAN and Cascade CNN reconstruction in terms of both PSNR and SSIM metrics, and subjective assessment, though with a simpler network structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Notch signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ALS mice. • Notch activation occurs mainly in astrocytes in spinal cord of ALS mice. • Jagged1-Notch signaling pathway is principally mediated by microglia. • DLL4-Notch signaling pathway is mediated by astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor neuron loss and gliosis in the spinal cord, brain stem and cortex. The Notch signaling pathway has been reported to be dysfunctional in neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS. However, the exact mechanism is still unclear. Here, we detected Notch signaling activation in proliferating glial cells, Notch inactivation in motor neurons in the spinal cord of the SOD1-G93A model, and dramatic changes of cellular relocalization of Notch pathway signaling molecules, including activated Notch intracellular domain (NICD), Notch ligands (Jagged1 and DLL4) and the target gene Hes1. We found that Notch activation was universal in proliferating astrocytes and that the Notch ligand Jagged1 was uniquely upregulated in proliferating microglia, while DLL4 expression was increased in both activated astrocytes and degenerating oligodendrocytes. Our results indicate that microglia may play an important role in the intercellular receptor-ligand interaction of the Notch signaling pathway and contribute to the pathogenesis of motor neuron loss in ALS mice. Further experiments are required to clarify the exact mechanism responsible for Notch dysfunction in ALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating plant density is an important practice to improve winter wheat productivity under limited irrigation in North China Plain. Field experiments were carried out over two seasons (2014–15 and 2015–16) under three plant densities (Dh: 480–570, Dm: 360–390, Dl: 240–270 104 plants hm−2) and three irrigation levels (W0: no irrigation; W1: irrigated 80.0 mm only at the jointing stage, which also means limited irrigation; W2: irrigated 60.0 mm each at the jointing and the flowering stages). Results showed that higher numbers of spikes and higher yield were obtained at high density than that at low density under limited irrigation. Under the same irrigation, wheat culms at ripening stage and the proportion of main stem spikes increased with plant density increasing, along with the increasing of transportation amount, transportation rate, and contribution rate of pre-anthesis storage material to grain. But accumulation amount and contribution rate of post-anthesis dry matter, which was influenced by irrigation level, showed a declining trend with increasing plant density under W2 and W1. Therefore, (1) under limited water condition, yield loss could be compensated by increasing contribution rate of pre-anthesis storage material to grain with increasing plant density. (2) Meantime, under the same limited water condition, higher plant densities could promote nitrogen accumulation in grain and plant of wheat, which was significantly correlation to wheat yield. (3) Considering water and nitrogen use efficiency, medium plant density (Dm) is recommended in wet years, high plant density (Dh) may be considered to increase wheat yield in dry years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various sparse transform models have been explored for compressed sensing-based dynamic cardiac MRI reconstruction from vastly under-sampled k-space data. Recently emerged low rank tensor model using Tucker decomposition could be viewed as a special form of sparse model, where the core tensor, which is obtained using high-order singular value decomposition, is sparse in the sense that only a few elements have dominantly large magnitude. However, local details tend to be over-smoothed when the entire image is conventionally modeled as a global tensor. Moreover, low rankness is sensitive to motion as spatiotemporal correlation is corrupted by spatial misalignment between temporal frames. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents a novel motion aligned locally low rank tensor (MALLRT) model for dynamic MRI reconstruction. In MALLRT, low rank constraint is enforced on image patch-based local tensors, which correspond to overlapping blocks extracted from the reconstructed high-dimensional image after group-wise inter-frame motion registration. For solving the proposed model, this paper presents an efficient optimization algorithm by using variable splitting and alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). MALLRT demonstrated promising performance as validated on one cardiac perfusion MRI dataset and two cardiac cine MRI datasets using retrospective under-sampling with various acceleration factors, as well as one prospectively under-sampled cardiac perfusion MRI dataset. Compared to four state-of-the-art methods, MALLRT achieved substantially better image reconstruction quality in terms of both signal to error ratio (SER) and structural similarity index (SSIM) metrics, and visual perception in preserving spatial details and capturing temporal variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new method of optical trapping based on the intensity gradient that is created by boundary diffraction of light at a metal thin-film edge. The structure consists of an optically thick metal-film step formed on a semi-transparent thin-film-metal-coated glass substrate. While the underlying thin layer of metal serves the purpose of suppressing the thermophoretic effect, the metal film step is found to induce a highly localized intensity distribution of light around the edge via self-interference of an incident wave and its boundary diffraction wave. Two-dimensional (2D) optical trapping of micron-sized dielectric particles is experimentally demonstrated with a 100-nm-thick Au film edge formed on a 10-nm-thick-Cr-coated glass slide. For a 2-µm polystyrene sphere, ∼2-pN trapping force is measured at 30-mW incident power of a 1064-nm laser beam. Not involving surface plasmon fields, this thin-film edge trapping is polarization independent and can be easily incorporated into an on-chip microfluidic configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The sliding motion of the liver during respiration violates the homogeneous motion smoothness assumption in conventional nonrigid image registration and commonly results in compromised registration accuracy. This paper presents a novel approach, registration with three-dimensional (3D) active contour motion segmentation (RAMS), to improve registration accuracy with discontinuity-aware motion regularization. Methods: A Markov random field-based discrete optimization with dense displacement sampling and self-similarity context metric is used for registration, while a graph cuts-based 3D active contour approach is applied to segment the sliding interface. In the first registration pass, a mask-free L1 regularization on an image-derived minimum spanning tree is performed to allow motion discontinuity. Based on the motion field estimates, a coarse segmentation finds the motion boundaries. Next, based on magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensity, a fine segmentation aligns the motion boundaries with anatomical boundaries. In the second registration pass, smoothness constraints across the segmented sliding interface are removed by masked regularization on a minimum spanning forest and masked interpolation of the motion field. Results: For in vivo breath-hold abdominal MRI data, the motion masks calculated by RAMS are highly consistent with manual segmentations in terms of Dice similarity and bidirectional local distance measure. These automatically obtained masks are shown to substantially improve registration accuracy for both the proposed discrete registration as well as conventional continuous nonrigid algorithms. Conclusion/Significance: The presented results demonstrated the feasibility of automated segmentation of the respiratory sliding motion interface in liver MR images and the effectiveness of using the derived motion masks to preserve motion discontinuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Liver dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) requires high spatiotemporal resolution and large field of view to clearly visualize all relevant enhancement phases and detect early-stage liver lesions. The low-rank plus sparse (L + S) reconstruction outperforms standard sparsity-only-based reconstruction through separation of low-rank background component (L) and sparse dynamic components (S). However, the L + S decomposition is sensitive to respiratory motion so that image quality is compromised when breathing occurs during long time data acquisition. To enable high quality reconstruction for free-breathing liver 4D DCE-MRI, this paper presents a novel method called SMC-LS, which incorporates Sliding Motion Compensation into the standard L + S reconstruction. The global superior-inferior displacement of the internal abdominal organs is inferred directly from the undersampled raw data and then used to correct the breathing induced sliding motion which is the dominant component of respiratory motion. With sliding motion compensation, the reconstructed temporal frames are roughly registered before applying the standard L + S decomposition. The proposed method has been validated using free-breathing liver 4D MRI phantom data, free-breathing liver 4D DCE-MRI phantom data, and in vivo free breathing liver 4D MRI dataset. Results demonstrated that SMC-LS reconstruction can effectively reduce motion blurring artefacts and preserve both spatial structures and temporal variations at a sub-second temporal frame rate for free-breathing whole-liver 4D DCE-MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prognostic role of the Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) in hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients undergoing laparoscopic resection is unclear. To evaluate ACCI's effect on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), we gathered data from 136 patients who underwent laparoscopic resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma at Zhengzhou University People's Hospital between 1 June 2018 and 1 June 2022. ACCI scores were categorized into high ACCI (ACCI > 4.0) and low ACCI (ACCI ≤ 4.0) groups. We examined ACCI's association with OS and RFS using Cox regression analyses and developed an ACCI-based nomogram for survival prediction. Our analysis revealed that higher ACCI scores (ACCI > 4.0) (HR = 2.14, 95%CI: 1.37–3.34) were identified as an independent risk factor significantly affecting both OS and RFS in postoperative patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (p < 0.05). TNM stage III-IV (HR = 7.42, 95%CI: 3.11–17.68), not undergoing R0 resection (HR = 1.58, 95%CI: 1.01–2.46), hemorrhage quantity > 350 mL (HR = 1.92, 95%CI: 1.24–2.97), and not receiving chemotherapy (HR = 1.89, 95%CI: 1.21–2.95) were also independent risk factors for OS. The ACCI-based nomogram accurately predicted the 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates, with Area Under the Curve (AUC) values of 0.818, 0.844, and 0.924, respectively. Calibration curves confirmed the nomogram's accuracy, and decision curve analysis highlighted its superior predictive performance. These findings suggest that a higher ACCI is associated with a worse prognosis in patients undergoing laparoscopic resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The ACCI-based nomogram could aid clinicians in making accurate predictions about patient survival and facilitate individualized treatment planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Hypomyelinating disorders are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases characterized by neurological deterioration with hypomyelination visible on brain MRI scans. This study was aimed to clarify the clinical and genetic features of HMDs in Chinese population. Methods: 119 patients with hypomyelinating disorders in Chinese population were enrolled and evaluated based on their history, clinical manifestation, laboratory examinations, series of brain MRI with follow-up, genetic etiological tests including chromosomal analysis, multiplex ligation probe amplification, Sanger sequencing, targeted enrichment-based next-generation sequencing and whole exome sequencing. Results: Clinical and genetic features of hypomyelinating disorders were revealed. Nine different hypomyelinating disorders were identified in 119 patients: Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (94, 79%), Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease (10, 8%), hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (3, 3%), GM1 gangliosidosis (5, 4%), GM2 gangliosidosis (3, 3%), trichothiodystrophy (1, 1%), Pol III-related leukodystrophy (1, 1%), hypomyelinating leukodystrophy type 9 (1, 1%), and chromosome 18q deletion syndrome (1, 1%). Of the sample, 94% (112/119) of the patients were genetically diagnosed, including 111 with mutations distributing across 9 genes including PLP1, GJC2, TUBB4A, GLB1, HEXA, HEXB, ERCC2, POLR3A, and RARS and 1 with mosaic chromosomal change of 46, XX,del(18)(q21.3)/46,XX,r(18)(p11.32q21.3)/45,XX,-18. Eighteen novel mutations were discovered. Mutations in POLR3A and RARS were first identified in Chinese patients with Pol III-related leukodystrophy and hypomyelinating leukodystrophy, respectively. Significance: This is the first report on clinical and genetic features of hypomyelinating disorders with a large sample of patients in Chinese population, identifying 18 novel mutations especially mutations in POLR3A and RARS in Chinese patients, expanding clinical and genetic spectrums of hypomyelinating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutant SOD1 causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by a dominant gain of toxicity. Previous studies have demonstrated therapeutic potential of mutant SOD1-RNAi delivered by intrathecal (IT) injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV). However, optimization of delivery is needed to overcome the high degree of variation in the transduction efficiency and therapeutic efficacy. Here, on the basis of our previously defined, efficient IT injection method, we investigated the influence of injection speed on transduction efficiency in the central nervous system (CNS). We demonstrate that slow IT injection results in higher transduction of spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) while fast IT injection leads to higher transduction of brain and peripheral organs. To test how these effects influence the outcome of RNAi therapy, we used slow and fast IT injection to deliver rAAVrh10-GFP-amiR-SOD1, a rAAV vector that expresses GFP and an artificial miRNA targeting SOD1, in SOD1-G93A mice. Both slow and fast IT injection produced therapeutic efficacy but the slow injection trended slightly toward a better outcome than the fast injection. These results demonstrate that IT injection speed influences the predominance of gene delivery at different CNS sites and should be taken into consideration in future therapeutic trials involving IT injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geleophysic dysplasia, belonging to the group of acromelic dysplasia, is a rare genetic disease. Two genes, FBN1 and ADAMTSL2, were known to be linked to this disorder. The disorder presents as extreme short stature, short limbs, small hands and feet, stubby fingers and toes, joint stiffness, toe walking, skin thickening, progressive cardiac valvular thickening and characteristic facial features, including a round face with full cheeks. Here, we report the first Chinese case with geleophysic dysplasia type 1 based on clinical and genetic features. The boy was admitted because of severe physical growth retardation and mild motor retardation. Comprehensive medical evaluations were performed including metabolic studies, endocrine function examination, bone X-rays and echocardiography. Much delayed bone age and geleophysic dysplasia were found. Targeted next-generation sequencing was used to detect genetic mutations associated with skeletal dysplasia. Sanger sequencing was used to confirm the mutations in the patient. PCR amplification, cloing, and sequencing was used to determine the de novo mutation origin. Two compound heterozygous mutations were confirmed in the ADAMTSL2 gene of the patient. The c.340G > A (p.Glu114Lys) mutation was a de novo heterozygous mutation, and our results suggested that it was located on the paternal allele. While the c.234-2A > G inherited from his mother was a novel pathogenic heterozygous splicing mutation. Growth hormone deficiency had been observed in the patient. His growth velocity was improved by growth hormone supplementation. In conclusion, we have identified a novel splicing mutation of ADAMTSL2 carried by a Chinese boy with geleophysic dysplasia type 1. The patient was treated effectively with growth hormone supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we derive an adiabatic condition for an quantum system subject to environment. The adiabaticity defined here dicates that the open quantum system prepared initially in its steady state would adiabatically follow its instantaneous steady state. We find that if the driving on the open system does not induce transition between the eigenstates of the instantaneous steady state, the open system can evolve adiabatically. In order to examine the validity of the adiabatic condition, a two-band model is exemplified. The results show that the topological quantum phase transition presented in the two-band model is caused by the competition between the effect of decay and the spoiling of the adiabaticity. The geometric phase is also calculated and discussed when the adiabatic condition is satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water shortage is becoming the most important limiting factor for wheat production in many regions such as the North China Plain (NCP). The highly intensive production of grain yield to meet food demand has led to serious negative impacts on the environment in this area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of plough tillage (P), subsoiling tillage (S) and rotary tillage (R) on water consumption characteristics, dry matter accumulation and remobilization, grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat under water saving irrigation (W2), limiting irrigation (W1) and rainfed conditions (W0). The study was carried out at the Gaocheng Experiment Station of Hebei Agricultural University during 2014–2016. The results showed that deep tillage practices (plough tillage and subsoiling) can offset wheat yield reductions under limited irrigation regime. The grain yield with plough tillage under rainfed condition (P0) produced similar yield of 8546 kg ha−1 over two years, which was not significantly different from rotary tillage under water saving condition (R2). The plough tillage gave higher water storage in the 0–200 cm soil layer at the pre-sowing stage of the second winter wheat crop by 67.7%, 64.4% and 39.8% compared to rotary tillage under W2, W1 and W0 conditions, respectively. The soil water consumption and evapotranspiration (ET) with plough tillage and subsoiling were higher than those with rotary tillage under W1 and W0 treatments in both years. Under the W0 treatment, the pre-anthesis dry matter remobilization (DMR), coefficient of pre-anthesis dry matter remobilization (TCDMR) and contribution of pre-anthesis dry matter to grain (CDMR) with plough tillage and subsoiling tillage were lower than those under rotary tillage, but the post-anthesis accumulated dry matter accumulation (ADM) and its accumulated coefficient (ACDM) were higher than those under rotary tillage in both years due to higher soil water consumption. Therefore, deep tillage would be a desirable tillage practice for wheat production under limited irrigation condition. • Effect of tillage practices with three irrigation regimes on wheat production was investigated. • Ploughing and subsoiling can increase soil reservoir capacity to store more summer rainfall. • The decrease of yield by water-saving strategies can partly be compensated by deep tillage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dopamine (DA) plays vital role in diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative disease. It is of high clinical relevance for developing simple, sensitive and selective DA detection method. But the electrochemical detection of DA still faces the problem of insufficient sensitivity, and generally need the complex material synthesis process to realize the selective detection of DA. In this work, we established a simple electrochemical surface plasmon resonance sensor for DA detection based on its electropolymerization property. The main interfering molecules of uric acid and ascorbic acid cannot undergo electropolymerization, while DA can produce polydopamine precipitation on the surface of Au film. The formation of polydopamine precipitation could amplify the SPR signal, and ensures the high selectivity and sensitivity of DA detection. The linear range is 0.01–1000 nM and the detection limit is as low as 1.4 pM. At the same time, this sensor has high selectivity for DA detection even in the presence of 50000-fold higher concentration of ascorbic acid and uric acid. Finally, the sensor was successfully applied to determine DA content in urine samples and DA released from PC12 cells under the stimulation of K+, demonstrating great potential in clinical applications. [Display omitted] • A very simple EC-SPR method was established for DA detection. • The electropolymerization property of DA was creatively used in its SPR detection. • The formation of polydopamine improves the detection limit of DA to 1.4 pM. • The method is highly selective for DA even with coexistence of 50,000-fold UA and AA. • The method can be used for DA detection in urine samples and PC12 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impacts of stereo parameters in multiview synthesis for planar 3D display and presents a novel parameter adjustment method for reducing visual discomforts and geometric distortions. The proposed method combines the geometry of stereoscopic capturing system with the comfortable viewing rules for the human vision system in three steps. First, an identically sized representation between the virtual space and the display space is established, and the virtual camera parameters are derived based on the stereo geometry. Second, the scale factor between the physical space and the virtual space is computed based on the depth of focus theory to diminish vergence-accommodation conflicts. Last, the capturing and displaying parameters are adjusted according to the comfortable viewing zone and personal preference. Experimental results demonstrated that a reliable basis for multiview image synthesis and a more comfortable stereo perception can be achieved by applying the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an advanced form of chronic fatty liver disease, which is a driver of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the roles of the C5aR1 in the NASH remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed to investigate the functions and mechanisms of the C5aR1 on hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in murine NASH model. Methods: Mice were fed a normal chow diet with corn oil (ND + Oil), a Western diet with corn oil (WD + Oil) or a Western diet with carbon tetrachloride (WD + CCl4) for 12 weeks. The effects of the C5a–C5aR1 axis on the progression of NASH were analyzed and the underlying mechanisms were explored. Results: Complement factor C5a was elevated in NASH mice. C5 deficiency reduced hepatic lipid droplet accumulation in the NASH mice. The hepatic expression levels of TNFα, IL-1β and F4/80 were decreased in C5-deficient mice. C5 loss alleviated hepatic fibrosis and downregulated the expression levels of α-SMA and TGFβ1. C5aR1 deletion reduced inflammation and fibrosis in NASH mice. Transcriptional profiling of liver tissues and KEGG pathway analysis revealed that several pathways such as Toll-like receptor signaling, NFκB signaling, TNF signaling, and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway were enriched between C5aR1 deficiency and wild-type mice. Mechanistically, C5aR1 deletion decreased the expression of TLR4 and NLRP3, subsequently regulating macrophage polarization. Moreover, C5aR1 antagonist PMX-53 treatment mitigated the progression of NASH in mice. Conclusions: Blockade of the C5a–C5aR1 axis reduces hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in NASH mice. Our data suggest that C5aR1 may be a potential target for drug development and therapeutic intervention of NASH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: COVID-19; Liver injury; SARS-CoV-2; Chronic liver disease; Liver transplant EN COVID-19 Liver injury SARS-CoV-2 Chronic liver disease Liver transplant 788 789 2 07/30/21 20210801 NES 210801 Dongxiao Li and Xiangming Ding contributed equally to this work. Abbreviations COVALI COVID-19-associated liver injury CLD Chronic liver disease SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 CAID Cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction LT Liver transplant Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Current clinical data suggest that LT patients with chronic immunosuppression are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, although this finding may be due in part to more intensive monitoring and a lower threshold for viral testing in LT patients [[4]]. [Extracted from the article]

Stationary shoulder friction stir welding (SSFSW) was successfully performed on 7075-T651 aluminum alloy. Defect-free joints with smooth weld surface were obtained. The redistribution of constituent particles and the dissolution of η′ precipitates resulted in the low crack initiation energy of the nugget zone. The low crack initiation energy in the heat affected zone (HAZ) can be attributed to both the presence of η precipitates and the redistribution of constituent particles. The presence of η precipitates in the HAZ was the major reason for the decreased tensile strength of SSFSW joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Growth effects of elevated CO2 and drought on soybean are evaluated in pots under controlled conditions. [•] Elevated CO2 concentration improved soybean growth, Pn, WUE, even under drought condition. [•] Elevated CO2 concentration did not significantly improve yield under drought condition. [•] Soybean should be cropped under well irrigation regimes even if CO2 concentration elevated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensive use of groundwater and nitrogen fertilizer has led to serious negative impacts on the environment of the North China Plain (NCP). Water footprint is an emerging approach to assess the consumptive water use and the environmental impacts on winter wheat-summer maize systems. A seven-year rotation experiment was conducted to collect data on wheat and maize growth response to nitrogen rates and irrigation schedules and to explore how the water footprint was affected, using DSSAT 4.6 Wheat and Maize crop models. Results showed that the increase in farm inputs contributed greatly to the increase in water footprint, primarily through the grey water footprint. The water footprints of maize and wheat were more sensitive to the nitrogen rate and irrigation, respectively. An irrigation of 160 mm produced a minimum total water footprint and higher yield for wheat. The grey water footprint of maize increased linearly when the nitrogen rate applied to maize exceeded 60 kg ha−1. Water-saving irrigation with 300 kg ha−1 of nitrogen can maintain a higher grain yield and have little impact on the environment. The approach used and the results can help to develop management strategies to maintain high yields while minimizing the water footprint in NCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic absorption and subsequent heating of nanoparticle solutions and simple NaCl ionic solutions is examined for biomedical applications in the radiofrequency range at 13.56 MHz. It is shown via both theory and experiment that for in vitro measurements the shape of the solution container plays a major role in absorption and heating. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This work investigates the microstructure characterization and mechanical properties of Al alloy fabricated by additive friction stir deposition (AFSD). Microstructure characterizations of the Al alloy 5B70 base material (BM) and build were compared using optical microscope (OM) and electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). The hardness distribution in the direction perpendicular to the cross-section of the deposited area was systematically evaluated. Tensile tests were performed on the BM and the build using digital image correlation (DIC), and the real-time stress distribution states of the specimens were analyzed. After the tensile tests, the fracture micromorphology was characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicated that a high degree of recrystallization occurred in the deposition zone, where fine, equiaxed, and differently oriented grains are formed. It was found that the strength of the deposition layer was lower compared to that of the BM, but its toughness was significantly improved. Also, obvious anisotropy of mechanical properties was identified in the deposition layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A novel BrSCC1 gene for seed coat color was fine mapped within a 41.1-kb interval on chromosome A03 in Brassica rapa and functionally validated by ectopic expression analysis. Yellow seed is a valuable breeding trait that can be potentiality applied for improving seed quality and oil productivity in oilseed Brassica crops. However, only few genes for yellow seed have been identified in B. rapa. We previously identified a minor quantitative trait locus (QTL), qSC3.1, for seed coat color on chromosome A03 in B. rapa. In order to isolate the seed coat color gene, a brown-seeded chromosome segment substitution line, CSSL-38, harboring the qSC3.1, was selected and crossed with the yellow-seeded recurrent parent, a rapid cycling inbred line of B. rapa (RcBr), to construct the secondary F2 population. Metabolite identification suggested that seed coat coloration in CSSL-38 was independent of proanthocyanidins (PAs) accumulation. Genetic analysis revealed that yellow seed was controlled by a single recessive gene, Seed Coat Color 1 (BrSCC1). Utilizing bulked segregant analysis (BSA)-seq and secondary F2 and F2:3 recombinants analysis, BrSCC1 was fine mapped within a 41.1-kb interval. By integrating gene expression profiling, genome sequence comparison, metabolite analysis, and functional validation through ectopic expression in Arabidopsis, the BraA03g040800.3C gene was confirmed to be BrSCC1, which positively correlated with the seed coat coloration. Our study provides a novel gene resource for the genetic improvement of yellow seeds in oilseed B. rapa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report quantitative measurement of heat generation in Au-nanoparticle colloidal solutions induced by radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic waves (13.56MHz; 25W). The possible role of Au nanoparticles in RF heating was systematically investigated by separating the metal nanoparticles away from the colloidal solutions by centrifugation. Contrary to the previously made assumption in this field, it is found that Au nanoparticles do not contribute to RF energy absorption. The electrical conductivity measurement of the solutions with and without Au nanoparticles reveals that the Joule heating via ionic conduction in the electrolyte solutions is the dominant mechanism of RF-radiation-to-thermal conversion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to control the growth of hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals and obtain nano-hydroxyapatite/poly(lactide) (n-HA/PLA) composite with interfacial interaction between the two phases, PLA surfaces were modified with poly(α-methacrylic acid) (PMAA) via photooxidization and UV induced polymerization. FTIR analysis showed that the PMAA was grafted onto the PLA surface and the grafting rate increased with the grafting time. The n-HA/PLA composites were synthesized by modified-PLA and characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM. Several analyses suggested that the m-PLA could act as a template to manipulate the nucleation and growth of n-HA crystals, control the morphology and size of n-HA crystals as well as their distribution over the organic phase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chinese word embedding has attracted considerable attention in the field of natural language processing. Existing methods model the relation between target and neighbouring contextual words. However, with the phenomenon of irrelevant neighbouring words in Chinese, these methods are limited in capturing and understanding the semantics of Chinese words. In this study, we designed sc2vec to explore Chinese word embeddings by proposing a similar context to reduce the influence of the above problem and comprehend relevant semantics of Chinese words. Meanwhile, to enhance the learning architecture, sc2vec was modelled with reinforcement learning to generate high-quality Chinese word embeddings, regarding continuous bag-of-words and skip-gram models as two actions of an agent over a corpus. The results on word analogy, word similarity, named entity recognition, and text classification tasks demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms most state-of-the-art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiqubit CCZ gates form one of the building blocks of quantum algorithms and have been involved in achieving many theoretical and experimental triumphs. Designing a simple and efficient multiqubit gate for quantum algorithms is still by no means trivial as the number of qubits increases. Here, by virtue of the Rydberg blockade effect, we propose a scheme to rapidly implement a three-Rydberg-atom CCZ gate via a single Rydberg pulse, and successfully apply the gate to realize the three-qubit refined Deutsch–Jozsa algorithm and three-qubit Grover search. The logical states of the three-qubit gate are encoded to the same ground states to avoid an adverse effect of the atomic spontaneous emission. Furthermore, there is no requirement for individual addressing of atoms in our protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome (THMD) comprises a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous encephalopathies with autosomal recessive inheritance. Four genes, SLC19A3 , SLC25A19 , SLC19A2 , and TPK1 , are associated with this disorder. This study aimed to explore the clinical, biochemical and molecular characteristics of seven Chinese patients with THMD. Targeted next-generation sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA was used to identify the causative mutations. The patients presented with subacute encephalopathy between the ages of 1–27 months. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed abnormalities in the basal ganglia, indicating Leigh syndrome. Urine α-ketoglutarate in five patients was elevated. In four patients, five novel mutations (c.1276_1278delTAC, c.265A > C, c.197T > C, c.850T > C, whole gene deletion) were found in SLC19A3 , which is associated with THMD2. In two patients, four novel mutations (c.194C > T, c.454C > A, c.481G > A, and c.550G > C) were identified in SLC25A19 , supporting a diagnosis of THMD4. In one patient, two novel mutations (c.395T > C and c.614-1G > A) were detected in TPK1 , which is indicative of THMD5. The patients received thiamine, biotin, and symptomatic therapy, upon which six patients demonstrated clinical improvement. Our findings expanded the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of THMD, with eleven novel mutations identified in seven Chinese patients. Early diagnosis and treatment have a significant impact on prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid worldwide spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a global pandemic. Correct facemask wearing is valuable for infectious disease control, but the effectiveness of facemasks has been diminished, mostly due to improper wearing. However, there have not been any published reports on the automatic identification of facemask-wearing conditions. In this study, we develop a new facemask-wearing condition identification method by combining image super-resolution and classification networks (SRCNet), which quantifies a three-category classification problem based on unconstrained 2D facial images. The proposed algorithm contains four main steps: Image pre-processing, facial detection and cropping, image super-resolution, and facemask-wearing condition identification. Our method was trained and evaluated on the public dataset Medical Masks Dataset containing 3835 images with 671 images of no facemask-wearing, 134 images of incorrect facemask-wearing, and 3030 images of correct facemask-wearing. Finally, the proposed SRCNet achieved 98.70% accuracy and outperformed traditional end-to-end image classification methods using deep learning without image super-resolution by over 1.5% in kappa. Our findings indicate that the proposed SRCNet can achieve high-accuracy identification of facemask-wearing conditions, thus having potential applications in epidemic prevention involving COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The cell wall is the major interface for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis. However, the roles of cell wall proteins and cell wall synthesis in AM symbiosis remain unclear. We reported that a novel wall‐associated kinase 13 (GhWAK13) positively regulates AM symbiosis and negatively regulates Verticillium wilt resistance in cotton.GhWAK13 transcription was induced by AM symbiosis and Verticillium dahliae (VD) infection. GhWAK13 is located in the plasma membrane and expressed in the arbuscule‐containing cortical cells of mycorrhizal cotton roots.GhWAK13 silencing inhibited AM colonization and repressed gene expression of the mycorrhizal pathway. Moreover, GhWAK13 silencing improved Verticillium wilt resistance and triggered the expression of immunity genes. Therefore, GhWAK13 is considered an immune suppressor required for AM symbiosis and disease resistance. GhWAK7A, a positive regulator of Verticillium wilt resistance, was upregulated in GhWAK13‐silenced cotton plants. Silencing GhWAK7A improved AM symbiosis. Oligogalacturonides application also suppressed AM symbiosis. Finally, GhWAK13 negatively affected the cellulose content by regulating the transcription of cellulose synthase genes.The results of this study suggest that immunity suppresses AM symbiosis in cotton. GhWAK13 affects AM symbiosis by suppressing immune responses. See also the Commentary on this article by Giovanetti & Genre, 242: 1851–1853. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic therapy is typically the primary treatment choice for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with extrahepatic metastases. Some patients may achieve partial response (PR) or complete response (CR) with systemic treatment, leading to the possibility of their primary tumor becoming resectable. This study aimed to investigate whether these patients could achieve longer survival through surgical resection of their primary tumor. We retrospectively collected data from 150 HCC patients with extrahepatic metastases treated at 15 different centers from January 1st, 2015, to November 30th, 2022. We evaluated their overall survival (OS) and progress-free survival (PFS) and analyzed risk factors impacting both OS and PFS were analyzed. Patients who received surgical treatment had longer OS compared to those who did not (median OS 16.5 months vs. 11.3 months). However, there was no significant difference in progression-free survival between the two groups. Portal vein invasion (P = 0.025) was identified as a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients, while effective first-line treatment (P = 0.039) and surgical treatment (P = 0.005) were protective factors. No factors showed statistical significance in the analysis of PFS. Effective first-line treatment (P = 0.027) and surgical treatment (P = 0.006) were both independent protective factors for prolonging patient prognosis, while portal vein invasion was an independent risk factor (P = 0.044). HCC patients with extrahepatic metastases who achieve PR/CR with conversion therapy may experience longer OS through surgical treatment. This study is the first to analyze the clinical outcomes of patients receiving surgical treatment for HCC with extrahepatic metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinicians traditionally aim to identify a singular explanation for the clinical presentation of a patient; however, in some cases, the diagnosis may remain elusive or fail to comprehensively explain the clinical findings. In recent years, advancements in next-generation sequencing, including whole-exome sequencing, have led to the incidental identification of dual diagnoses in patients. Herein we present the cases of five pediatric patients diagnosed with dual rare genetic diseases. Their natural history and diagnostic process were explored, and lessons learned from utilizing next-generation diagnostic technologies have been reported. Results: Five pediatric cases (3 boys, 2 girls) with dual diagnoses were reported. The age at diagnosis was from 3 months to 10 years. The main clinical presentations were psychomotor retardation and increased muscular tension, some accompanied with liver dysfunction, abnormal appearance, precocious puberty, dorsiflexion restriction and varus of both feet, etc. After whole-exome sequencing, nine diseases were confirmed in these patients: Angelman syndrome and Krabbe disease in case 1, Citrin deficiency and Kabuki syndrome in case 2, Homocysteinemia type 2 and Copy number variant in case 3, Isolated methylmalonic acidemia and Niemann-Pick disease type B in case 4, Isolated methylmalonic acidemia and 21-hydroxylase deficiency in case 5. Fifteen gene mutations and 2 CNVs were identified. Four novel mutations were observed, including c.15292de1A in KMT2D, c.159_164inv and c.1427G > A in SLC25A13, and c.591 C > G in MTHFR. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the importance of clinicians being vigilant about the significance of historical and physical examination. Comprehensive clinical experience is crucial for identifying atypical clinical features, particularly in cases involving dual rare genetic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]