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Fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FGL1) is a proliferation- and metabolism-related factor secreted by the liver that is aberrantly expressed and functionally abnormal in human malignancies. However, the role of FGL1 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains unknown. We analysed FGL1 expression in HNSCC and its impact on patient survival using the TCGA database. The role of FGL1 in HNSCC cells was investigated by Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and Transwell assays. In addition, we conducted in vivo experiments to assess the effect of FGL1knockdown on tumour growth. We found that FGL1 was highly expressed in HNSCC and correlated with a poor prognosis. Downregulation of FGL1 expression inhibited the proliferation and invasion of HNSCC cells. Furthermore, mechanistic analysis revealed that FGL1 induced an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype and, thus, the malignant progression of HNSCC cells. Finally, xenograft models showed that FGL1 knockdown significantly inhibited EMT in HNSCC in vivo. Our study revealed that FGL1, an oncogene, promotes the malignant progression of HNSCC, providing new perspective on and potential therapeutic target for the treatment of HNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the potential of AVPR2 in the immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), thus providing insights into a novel antitumour strategy. Methods: In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the AVPR2 gene in HNSCC using public datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus. We explored the potential molecular mechanism of HNSCC in clinical prognosis and tumour immunity from the aspects of gene expression, prognosis, immune subtypes, and immune infiltration. Results: AVPR2 expression was significantly downregulated in primary HNSCC tissue compared with normal tissue. HNSCC patients with high AVPR2 expression had a better prognosis. Moreover, the results of GSEA showed that immune subtype surface AVPR2 is involved in immune modulation. Furthermore, significant strong correlations between AVPR2 expression and infiltrating immune cells existed in HNSCC, and marker genes of infiltrating immune cells were also significantly related to AVPR2 expression in HNSCC. These results suggest that AVPR2 expression can influence the infiltration of tumour immune cells. Finally, we found that only high levels of B-cell infiltration, rather than those of other immune cells, can predict a longer overall survival in patients with HNSCC. Future studies are needed to explore the role of AVPR2 and tumour-infiltrating B cells in HNSCC. Conclusions: The AVPR2 gene may be a prognostic biomarker of HNSCC. Moreover, AVPR2 may play a role in HNSCC immune modulation, and the regulation of tumour-infiltrating B cells by AVPR2 may be a key link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The line graphs of some well-known graphs, such as the generalized hypercube and the crossed cube, have been adopted for the logic graphs of data center networks (DCNs). Conditional bijective connection networks (conditional BC networks) are a class of networks which have been proved to include hypercubes, crossed cubes, locally twisted cubes and Möbius cubes, etc. Hence, the researches on the line graphs of conditional BC networks can be applied to DCNs. Edge independent spanning trees (EISTs) on a graph have received extensive attention because of their applications in reliable communication, fault-tolerant broadcasting and secure message distribution. Since the line graph of an n -dimensional conditional BC network, denoted as L (X C n) , is (2 n − 2) -regular, whether there exist 2 n − 2 EISTs on L (X C n) is an open question. In this paper, we first propose a parallel algorithm to construct 2 n − 2 EISTs rooted at an arbitrary node on L (X C n) , where n ≥ 2. Then, we prove the correctness of our algorithm. Finally, we give a simulation result of our algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory infections are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Rapid and accurate detection of pathogens is crucial for timely treatment. This study established a detection method based on multiplex PCR combined with capillary electrophoresis, capable of simultaneously detecting 28 common respiratory pathogens. We used specially designed homo-tag primers, significantly reducing the formation of primer dimers and improving the specificity and sensitivity of amplification. After two rounds of PCR amplification, the products were subjected to fragment analysis using the ABI 3500XL Genetic Analyzer, enabling automated result interpretation. The detection limit of this method reaches 2.77 × 102 copies/ml, with some pathogens reaching as low as 2.77 × 10 copies/ml. The detection of 147 clinical specimens showed that the overall consistency of this method with culture, colloidal gold, fluorescent quantitative PCR, and NGS was 75.5 %. The multiplex PCR detection method established in this study is rapid, sensitive, and high-throughput, can be used for routine screening of common pathogens in respiratory infections, providing an important basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation explores the clinical significance of integrating serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) with a multivariate model for assessing the short-term prognosis of primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) quantification is a crucial prognostic indicator in NPC cases, but not all patients with NPC test positive for EBV. Furthermore, widespread adoption of EBV-DNA quantification remains challenging due to its high cost. Consequently, it is imperative to incorporate additional convenient and cost-effective prognostic markers to comprehensively evaluate patient outcomes. This retrospective analysis included 203 newly diagnosed NPC cases treated at the Affiliated Qingyuan Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between January 2018 and March 2022. The dataset included personal information and clinical data, and the treatment protocols followed the CSCO guidelines. Efficacy assessments were based on the RECIST 1.1 criteria and were conducted after induction chemotherapy and one week and three months after radiotherapy. A noteworthy correlation emerged between baseline serum LDH levels and treatment efficacy at one week after radiotherapy (P = 0.03) and at three months after radiotherapy (P < 0.01). Additionally, a prognostic model that incorporates age (P = 0.010), LDH (P < 0.001), C-reactive protein (P = 0.010), and alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.005) demonstrated robust predictive accuracy and clinical applicability. This investigation substantiates the significant correlation between baseline serum LDH levels and NPC outcomes. Furthermore, we introduce a refined prognostic model that holds promise for informing personalized treatment strategies, thereby contributing to the advancement of the diagnosis of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) with high theoretical capacity are regarded as the most promising candidates for next‐generation energy storage systems. However, the low conductivity, high volume change, and shuttle effect need to be addressed before the commercialization of LSBs. Organosulfur with covalent CS bonds can solve these problems when applied as different components of LSBs. Recent advances of application of organosulfur as cathodes, electrolytes, interlayers, and binders in LSBs are reviewed. Finally, the prospects for organosulfur are proposed from both the perspectives of mechanism understanding and practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging systems, a new multi-exposure HDR imaging method based on Informative Content Enhanced Network (ICEN) is proposed to overcome the disadvantage that the existing deep learning based methods fails to fully exploit the differently exposed Low Dynamic Range (LDR) image contents to recover the details of the under/over-exposed regions. Specifically, the key contents in differently exposed LDR images that contribute to HDR imaging are firstly defined as Informative Contents (ICs). Then, the ICs are enhanced by the proposed Residual Channel Attention Module (RCAM), and then fused to generate HDR image. Furthermore, a generation scheme is designed for constructing HDR image labels and producing a multi-exposure HDR imaging dataset for training the proposed ICEN. The experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to the existing HDR imaging methods in quantitative and qualitative analysis, and can quickly generate high-quality HDR images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent Dirichlet allocation is the prevalent topic model and performs well for image classification. However, it ignores visual word spatial information, which affects topic assignment accuracy. This paper proposes an effective topic model framework based on spatial pyramids including visual word regional information: spatial topic pyramid model (STPM). STPM divides the images into different scale regions and uses the regional topic distributions to represent the images. The regional topic distributions effectively represent image characteristics, because they include global information (regarding the image as a single region) and the regional relationships of visual words in different scale regions. Since the pyramid layers are independent, different topic models and parameters can be used for different scale layers. It makes STPM flexible and easily extensible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although high mechanical and electronic properties have made carbon nanotube (CNT) a promising active material for lithium ion batteries, the relatively low theoretical specific capacity (372 mAh g −1 ) of CNT has hindered its application. Here we have developed a general and efficient template strategy in synthesizing a new family of CNTs with controllable hollow walls and explored their promising applications in LIBs. The hollow structure formed between CNT core and nitrogen-doped graphene shell can be effectively used for lithium storage, and a reversible specific capacity of 635 mAh g −1 was achieved as anode material in LIB. Interestingly, the hollow structure has been further incorporated with silicon to offer even higher specific capacity of 930 mAh g −1 with good cyclic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a representative deep learning model, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have accomplished great achievements in image classification and object detection. However, CNNs require the resizing of the input images to a fixed size, which may affect the representations of objects. To overcome this limitation, we replace the last pooling layer with a topic model and call it a topic network. For arbitrary sizes and ratios of input images, the outputs of the topic network are fixed-size features due to the topic model of the topic layer, and they can reflect the global or regional characteristics of images by means of different scales. Two topic models, namely latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and Markov topic random fields (MTRF), are applied to the topic layer, and we call them latent Dirichlet allocation topic network and Markov topic random fields topic network, respectively. Both of them perform well in image classification with original size. More importantly, as a framework, any topic model can be easily applied to the topic layer of a topic network, which makes it much more flexible and extensible. © 2018 SPIE and IS&T [DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.27.3.033009] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The solubility data of EAQ, TBAQ and TAAQ were measured in TMB + TBU systems. • The solubility was correlated and predicted by Wilson model, NRTL model and modified λ - h equation. • The enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy change of AQs dissolution process were calculated. The solubility of 2-ethylanthraquinone (EAQ), 2- tert -butylanthraquinone (TBAQ) and 2- tert -amylanthraquinone (TAAQ) in binary solvents consisted of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzen (TMB) and tetrabutylurea (TBU) was measured by the equilibrium method at the temperature ranging between 303.15 and 323.15 K and 101.1±2 kPa. With raising the temperature and content of TMB in the mixed solvents, the solubility of EAQ, TBAQ and TAAQ increased gradually. At the same content of TMB and temperature the solubility of TAAQ was higher than that of TBAQ, which was in its turn much higher than that of EAQ. The experimental data were correlated by Wilson model, NRTL model and modified λ - h equation, respectively. Among them, Wilson model gave a relatively good accuracy with the average and maximum relative deviation of 0.56% and 1.77% for EAQ, 1.08% and 4.58% for TBAQ, 0.65% and 1.78% for TAAQ. In addition, the solubility of TAAQ in TMB + TBU was predicted by Wilson model, NRTL model and modified λ - h equation, respectively. The Wilson model showed the best reliability, with the average and maximum relative deviation of 0.98% and 3.10%. The calculated enthalpy change, entropy change and Gibbs free energy change of the dissolution process for AQs all were positive, which demonstrates the dissolving process to be endothermic, entropy-driving and non-spontaneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen-doped carbon structures have recently been demonstrated as a promising candidate for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, while in the meantime the pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen atoms also present high activities for electroreduction of water. Here, an etching strategy that uses hot water steam to preferentially bind to pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen atoms and subsequently etch them in carbon frameworks is reported. As a result, pyrrolic nitrogen atoms with low water affinity are retained after the steam etching, with a much increased level of among all nitrogen species from 22.1 to 55.9%. The steam-etched nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst enables excellent electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance but low hydrogen evolution reaction activity, suggesting a new approach for tuning electrocatalyst activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new family of aligned nitrogen‐doped core–sheath carbon nanotube films is synthesized by growing nitrogen‐doped graphene layers coaxially around carbon nanotubes. The films exhibit both high tensile strength and electrical conductivity, and they are developed as flexible and effective anodes for lithium ion batteries that display high specific capacities. The lithium ion battery stably works under bending and twisting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct analysis in real-time (DART) ion source and HPLC-electrospray mass spectrometry were applied in non-targeted metabolomic analyses of fruits of an orange bud mutant, 'Hong Anliu' along with its parental wild-type, 'Anliu'. Fruits of the two isogenic cultivars were sampled at three different ripening stages, i.e. 120, 170 and 220 days after flowering. More than 130 metabolites were tentatively identified, including acids, sugars, flavonoids, alkaloids, limonoids, coumarins, amino acids, and plant hormones. Metabolomic analyses revealed that, compared to its wild type, the bud mutant fruit is characterized by higher levels of monosaccharides and disaccharides and lower levels of organic acids such as citric acid, malic acid and quinic acid, which agrees well with the anticipated fruit quality benefits of the mutation. In addition, many secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, showed significant differences between the two genotypes, indicating that the whole fruit metabolome is significantly changed due to the bud mutation. This study provided a comprehensive assessment of metabolites in orange fruits, and revealed metabolomic differences in fruits between two isogenic orange genotypes. The results are helpful for understanding how the bud mutation in 'Hong Anliu' impacts the physiological and biochemical processes of orange fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An integrative analysis of transcriptome and proteome was performed to identify differential genes/proteins of a red-flesh sweet orange Cara Cara in comparison with a common cultivar Newhall at ripening stages. At the transcript level, gene expression was measured with Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing (MPSS), and 629 genes of these two sweet orange cultivars differed by two fold or more (FDR<0.001). At the protein level, a combination of 2DE and MALDI-TOF-TOF MS identified 48 protein spots differed in relative abundance (P<0.05). The data obtained from comparing transcriptome with proteome showed a poor correlation, suggesting the necessity to integrate both transcriptomic and proteomic approaches in order to get a comprehensive molecular characterization. Function analysis of the differential genes/proteins revealed that a set of candidates was associated with carotenoid biosynthesis and the regulation. Overall, some intriguing genes/proteins were previously unrecognized related with the formation of red-flesh trait, which provided new insights into molecular processes regulating lycopene accumulation in a red-flesh sweet orange. In addition, some genes/proteins were found to be different in expression patterns between the Cara Cara and another red-flesh sweet orange Hong Anliu, and their potential roles were further discussed in the present study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Here, a comprehensive proteomic analysis of the chromoplasts purified from sweet orange using Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation is reported. A GeLC-MS/MS shotgun approach was used to identify the proteins of pooled chromoplast samples. A total of 493 proteins were identified from purified chromoplasts, of which 418 are putative plastid proteins based on in silico sequence homology and functional analyses. Based on the predicted functions of these identified plastid proteins, a large proportion (∼60%) of the chromoplast proteome of sweet orange is constituted by proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid/protein synthesis, and secondary metabolism. Of note, HDS (hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase), PAP (plastid-lipid-associated protein), and psHSPs (plastid small heat shock proteins) involved in the synthesis or storage of carotenoid and stress response are among the most abundant proteins identified. A comparison of chromoplast proteomes between sweet orange and tomato suggested a high level of conservation in a broad range of metabolic pathways. However, the citrus chromoplast was characterized by more extensive carotenoid synthesis, extensive amino acid synthesis without nitrogen assimilation, and evidence for lipid metabolism concerning jasmonic acid synthesis. In conclusion, this study provides an insight into the major metabolic pathways as well as some unique characteristics of the sweet orange chromoplasts at the whole proteome level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A novel process for the methanation of CO, involving an amorphous nickel alloy (ANA) catalyst incorporated in a magnetically stabilized bed (MSB), has been developed. The effects of varying the operating conditions on the reaction yield and catalyst lifetime have been investigated. The new process was shown to be markedly superior to existing processes for CO methanation in that the concentration of CO in an H2-rich gas mixture could be reduced from 2000ppm to less than 1ppm at a temperature of 433K, a pressure of 3. 0MPa, a gas hourly space velocity of , and a magnetic field intensity of 40kA/m. Compared with conventional fixed bed processes, the operating temperature of the ANA/MSB process can be decreased by about 100K and the gas velocity can be increased by a factor of 5–10. In durability tests, the ANA catalyst does not undergo any significant structural change and retains its initial high activity. These preliminary results indicate that the novel process has good prospects for application in the petrochemical industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • Effects of extraction times on carbon content of Pd/SBA-15 were studied. • Effects of calcination temperature on carbon occurrence state were studied. • A suitable carbon content for improving EAQ hydrogenation performance was found. Silica SBA-15 without removal of template P123 was calcined in an inert atmosphere and the carbon-modified SBA-15 thus obtained was used as the support of Pd catalyst for the hydrogenation of 2-ethylanthraquinone (EAQ). The effects of extraction times of P123 in SBA-15 with water prior to inert calcination and calcination temperature on the structure and catalytic performance of Pd catalyst were studied. The results of elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectra, water contact angle measurement, N 2 adsorption-desorption, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray mapping showed that carbon content of catalysts varied in the range of 3.4 % and 1.1 % with increasing extraction times from 0 to 6 due to the decrease in the residual amount of P123 in uncalcined SBA-15. With rising calcination temperature, the occurrence state of carbon in catalysts was converted from amorphism into graphite. The Pd catalyst supported on SBA-15 extracted for 3 times and calcined at 650 °C had 2.0 % carbon, and exhibited the highest activity (0.37 molH 2 ·gPd−1·min−1) and selectivity (98.9 %). This is due to the presence of appropriate amount of carbon, which provided a relatively high hydrophobicity without significantly reducing the specific surface area and pore size of SBA-15 support. The high hydrophobicity benefits the adsorption of EAQ from the working solution to the surface of catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Integrate the comprehensive explanation verified by network pharmacology and molecular biology. • The combination of in vivo Magnetic resonance imaging and in vitro brain slices greatly improved the discernibility of hematoma. • Bioinformatics prediction and in-vivo experimental verification. • Provide a reliable direction for the clinically compatible application of anti-ICH traditional Chinese medicine. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a debilitating condition characterized by the rupture of cerebral blood vessels, resulting in profound neurological deficits. A significant challenge in the treatment of ICH lies in the brain's limited capacity to regenerate damaged blood vessels. This study explores the potential synergistic effects of Ginsenoside Rh2 and Chrysophanol in promoting angiogenesis following ICH in a rat model. Network pharmacology was employed to predict the potential targets and pathways of Ginsenoside Rh2 and Chrysophanol for ICH treatment. Molecular docking was utilized to assess the binding affinity between these compounds and their respective targets. Experimental ICH was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats through stereotactic injection of type VII collagenase into the right caudate putamen (CPu). The study encompassed various methodologies, including administration protocols, assessments of neurological function, magnetic resonance imaging, histological examination, observation of brain tissue ultrastructure, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), immunofluorescence staining, Western blot analysis, and statistical analyses. Network pharmacology analysis indicated that Ginsenoside Rh2 and Chrysophanol may exert their therapeutic effects in ICH by promoting angiogenesis. Results from animal experiments revealed that rats treated with Ginsenoside Rh2 and Chrysophanol exhibited significantly improved neurological function, reduced hematoma volume, and diminished pathological injury compared to the Model group. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated enhanced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and CD31, signifying augmented angiogenesis in the peri -hematomal region following combination therapy. Importantly, the addition of a VEGFR2 inhibitor reversed the increased expression of VEGFR2 and CD31. Furthermore, Western blot analysis revealed upregulated expression of angiogenesis-related factors, including VEGFR2, SRC, AKT1, MAPK1, and MAPK14, in the combination therapy group, but this effect was abrogated upon VEGFR2 inhibitor administration. The synergistic effect of Ginsenoside Rh2 and Chrysophanol demonstrated a notable protective impact on ICH injury in rats, specifically attributed to their facilitation of angiogenesis. Consequently, this research offers a foundation for the utilization of Ginsenosides Rh2 and Chrysophanol in medical settings and offers direction for the advancement of novel pharmaceuticals for the clinical management of ICH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhanced and reliable high-power performance of x Pb(Mn 1/3 Nb 2/3)O 3 –(1- x)Pb(Zr 0.5 Ti 0.5)O 3 –0.5mol%Co 2 O 3 piezoelectric ceramics (x PMN–(1- x)PZT–Co; x = 0.04–0.10) has been achieved. It is noteworthy that the vibration velocity (υ 0) of the 0.08PMN–0.92PZT–Co ceramic reaches up to 0.9 m/s, which is 2.25 times that of commercial PZT4 ceramics (∼0.4 m/s). The high υ 0 of the 0.08PMN–0.92PZT–Co ceramic is attributed to its excellent electromechanical parameters: d 33 = 405 pC/N, Q m = 1405, and k p = 0.61. The 0.08PMN–0.92PZT–Co ceramic achieves a relatively low high-field tan δ (tan δ = 3.74% at 500 V/mm), thereby suppressing heat generation. Additionally, the significantly high Curie temperature (T c) value of 346 °C for the 0.08PMN–0.92PZT–Co ceramic stabilizes the ferroelectric phase. Therefore, the 0.08PMN–0.92PZT–Co ceramic exhibits long-term reliable high-power performance by maintaining a stable υ 0 of 0.9 m/s and slight temperature rise within 100 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In article number 1701456, Gengfeng Zheng and co‐workers develop a steam‐etching approach to tune the configurations of nitrogen dopants in carbon frameworks. The nitrogen‐doped (“orange atoms”) graphitic carbon surface (“grey atoms”) mimics a planet, and the water droplets strike the “planet” like comets, mimicking the steam‐etching step. CO2 bubbles connected with nitrogen atoms by lightning indicate the CO2 electrochemical reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐power piezoelectric ceramics are typically driven to output vibration velocity (v0) under high AC electric fields. Herein, the Fe2O3 doped 0.125 Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3) O3–0.075 Pb(Mn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.8 Pb(Zr0.48Ti0.52)O3(PZMNZT–xFe; x = 0.05–0.35) piezoelectric ceramics were prepared to enhance v0, and the favorable comprehensive electrical properties, such as d33 = 315 pC/N, Qm = 1738, kp = 0.58, kt = 0.48, εr = 1156, tan δ = 0.4%, and Tc = 320°C, were achieved in the PZMNZT–0.15Fe ceramic. Most importantly, the PZMNZT–0.15Fe ceramic presented a reliable v0 of 0.90 m/s, which was 2.25 times of the commercial PZT4 ceramic (∼0.40 m/s). The excellent high‐power performance should be attributed to ordering functional elements such as crystal grains and ferroelectric domains. Overall, this work reveals that the PZMNZT–0.15Fe ceramic is competitive for high‐power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the most important and widespread plant diseases caused by biotrophic fungi. Notably, while monocot (grass) PM fungi exhibit high-level of host-specialization, many dicot PM fungi display a broad host range. To understand such distinct modes of host-adaptation, we sequenced the genomes of four dicot PM biotypes belonging to Golovinomyces cichoracearum or Oidium neolycopersici. Results: We compared genomes of the four dicot PM together with those of Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (both DH14 and RACE1 isolates), B. graminis f.sp. tritici, and Erysiphe necator infectious on barley, wheat and grapevine, respectively. We found that despite having a similar gene number (6620–6961), the PM genomes vary from 120 to 222 Mb in size. This high-level of genome size variation is indicative of highly differential transposon activities in the PM genomes. While the total number of genes in any given PM genome is only about half of that in the genomes of closely related ascomycete fungi, most (~ 93%) of the ascomycete core genes (ACGs) can be found in the PM genomes. Yet, 186 ACGs were found absent in at least two of the eight PM genomes, of which 35 are missing in some dicot PM biotypes, but present in the three monocot PM genomes, indicating remarkable, independent and perhaps ongoing gene loss in different PM lineages. Consistent with this, we found that only 4192 (3819 singleton) genes are shared by all the eight PM genomes, the remaining genes are lineage- or biotype-specific. Strikingly, whereas the three monocot PM genomes possess up to 661 genes encoding candidate secreted effector proteins (CSEPs) with families containing up to 38 members, all the five dicot PM fungi have only 116–175 genes encoding CSEPs with limited gene amplification. Conclusions: Compared to monocot (grass) PM fungi, dicot PM fungi have a much smaller effectorome. This is consistent with their contrasting modes of host-adaption: while the monocot PM fungi show a high-level of host specialization, which may reflect an advanced host-pathogen arms race, the dicot PM fungi tend to practice polyphagy, which might have lessened selective pressure for escalating an with a particular host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 70% land plants live in mutualistic symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and maintenance of symbiosis requires transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulation. The former has been widely studied, whereas the latter mediated by symbiotic microRNAs (miRNAs) remains obscure, especially in woody plants. Here, we performed high‐throughput sequencing of the perennial woody citrus plant Poncirus trifoliata and identified 3750 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 42 miRNAs (DEmiRs) upon AM fungal colonization. By analyzing cis‐regulatory elements in the promoters of the DEGs, we predicted 329 key AM transcription factors (TFs). A miRNA‐mRNA regulatory network was then constructed by integrating these data. Several candidate miRNA families of P. trifoliata were identified whose members target known symbiotic genes, such as miR167h‐AMT2;3 and miR156e‐EXO70I, or key TFs, such as miR164d‐NAC and miR477a‐GRAS, thus are involved in AM symbiotic processes of fungal colonization, arbuscule development, nutrient exchange and phytohormone signaling. Finally, analysis of selected miRNA family revealed that a miR159b conserved in mycorrhizal plant species and a Poncirus‐specific miR477a regulate AM symbiosis. The role of miR477a was likely to target GRAS family gene RAD1 in citrus plants. Our results not only revealed that miRNA‐mRNA network analysis, especially miRNA‐TF analysis, is effective in identifying miRNA family regulating AM symbiosis, but also shed light on miRNA‐mediated post‐transcriptional regulation of AM symbiosis in woody citrus plants. Summary statement: In our study, we integrated miRNA with mRNA analysis, especially specific miRNA‐TF co‐expression node analysis, and attempted to reveal the regulatory links between transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulatory mechanisms involved in AM symbiosis of woody citrus plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignin deficiency in the endocarp of walnuts causes kernel bare, leads to inconvenient processing and transportation of walnuts, and easily produces insect damage and mildew, thereby affecting the quality of walnuts. Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) is one of the key rate-limiting enzymes in lignin synthesis and plays an important role in the synthesis of lignin in the endocarp of walnut. However, knowledge about CAD gene family members and their evolutionary and functional characteristics in walnuts is limited. In this study, all 18 JrCADs were identified, and phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, protein motifs, collinearity analysis, and expression patterns of the JrCADs were also analyzed. All JrCADs could be divided into three groups based on the phylogenetic tree, gene structure, and motif analysis also support this grouping. Transcriptome data demonstrated that JrCADs have different expression patterns in walnut endocarps at different developmental stages. Combined with qRT–PCR data, we finally identified several candidate JrCADs involved in the process of endocarp sclerosis. This study showed that the JrCAD family members are highly conservative in evolutionary characteristics and they might participate in a variety of hormone responses. JrCAD17 and JrCAD18 are highly expressed in all periods of walnut endocarp harding, they are closely related to lignin accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meningioangiomatosis (MA) is a rare hamartomatous or meningovascular lesion involving the central nervous system, and is sometimes associated with intracranial meningiomas. Calcifying pseudoneoplasms of the neuraxis (CAPNON) are rare, slow-growing benign tumor-like lesions that can occur anywhere along the neuraxis. Here, we report a rare case of MA combined with CAPNON. A 31-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of a high-density mass in the left frontal lobe, detected by computed tomography (CT) during a physical examination. She had a 3-year history of obsessive–compulsive disorder. We describe the imaging, histopathological, and molecular characteristics of the patient. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing MA combined with CAPNON. We reviewed the literature on MA and CAPNON over the last decade and summarized the points for differential diagnosis and treatment. It is difficult to preoperatively distinguish between MA and CAPNON. However, this coexisting condition should be considered when intra-axial calcification lesions are observed on radiological imaging. Accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment are likely to benefit this patient group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interveinal chlorosis in old leaves is a common occurrence in citrus orchards in southern China. The present study investigates the 'Langfeng' navel orange (LF, Citrus sinensis) grafted onto a Trifoliate orange (TO, Poncirus trifoliata) rootstock, which exhibits healthy green leaves, and the 'Newhall' navel orange (NHE, C. sinensis) grafted onto TO, which has typical magnesium (Mg) deficiency-induced chlorosis. Chemical analysis of the rhizosphere soil revealed that the pH values were around 3.92 and that both Mg and calcium (Ca) were significantly deficient in the rhizosphere soil of both grafting combinations (LF/TO and NHE/TO). Furthermore, the chlorotic leaves of NHE/TO had significantly lower levels of Mg, Ca, and phosphorus (P), and the green leaves of NHE/TO had significantly lower levels of Mg and Ca compared to the green leaves of the LF/TO. This suggests that Mg deficiency may be the primary cause of chlorosis in NHE/TO. A greenhouse study using the same graft combinations showed that the LF/TO plants had better growth than the NHE/TO, possibly by promoting Mg uptake and/or improving Mg distribution to leaves, thereby increasing carbon dioxide (CO 2) assimilation and photosynthesis, optimizing carbohydrate distribution, and increasing plant biomass. This results in a phenotype that is tolerant to Mg deficiency. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the LF navel orange could be utilized in the development of new citrus varieties with improved Mg-use efficiency. • Interveinal chlorosis is common in southern China citrus orchards. • Study compares "Langfeng" navel orange (LF) on Trifoliate orange rootstock (TO) to "Newhall" navel orange (NHE) on TO. • Soil analysis showed Mg and Ca deficiencies and NHE/TO had lower levels of Mg, Ca, and P in chlorotic leaves. • Greenhouse study showed better growth in LF/TO plants, indicating improved Mg uptake and tolerance to Mg deficiency. • Findings suggest LF navel orange can be used in new citrus varieties with improved Mg-use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are arguably the most important symbionts of plants, offering a range of benefits to their hosts. However, the provisioning of these benefits does not appear to be uniform among AM fungal individuals, with genetic variation between fungal symbionts having a substantial impact on plant performance. Interestingly, genetic variation has also been reported within fungal individuals, which contain millions of haploid nuclei sharing a common cytoplasm. In the model AM fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, several isolates have been reported to be dikaryotes, containing two genetically distinct types of nuclei recognized based on their mating-type (MAT) locus identity. However, their extremely coenocytic nature and lack of a known single nucleus stage has raised questions on the origin, distribution and dynamics of this genetic variation. Results: Here we performed DNA and RNA sequencing at the mycelial individual, single spore and single nucleus levels to gain insight into the dynamic genetic make-up of the dikaryote-like R. irregularis C3 isolate and the effect of different host plants on its genetic variation. Our analyses reveal that parallel spore and root culture batches can have widely variable ratios of two main genotypes in C3. Additionally, numerous polymorphisms were found with frequencies that deviated significantly from the general genotype ratio, indicating a diverse population of slightly different nucleotypes. Changing host plants did not show consistent host effects on nucleotype ratio's after multiple rounds of subculturing. Instead, we found a major effect of host plant-identity on allele-specific expression in C3. Conclusion: Our analyses indicate a highly dynamic/variable genetic organization in different isolates of R. irregularis. Seemingly random fluctuations in nucleotype ratio's upon spore formation, recombination events, high variability of non-tandemly repeated rDNA sequences and host-dependent allele expression all add levels of variation that may contribute to the evolutionary success of these widespread symbionts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron (B) deficiency inhibits and disturbs root growth and development by interacting with auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA). However, the underlying mechanism of this interaction is still poorly understood. This study found that plants in a long-term boron deprivation treatment (∼0.25 µg L−1) had inhibited elongation of trifoliate orange roots, enlarged root tips and severe necrosis as well as a significant decrease in soluble boron and IAA content in seedling root tips. The results of a short-term boron deprivation treatment showed that a significant decrease in soluble boron and IAA content occurred after 3 hours of treatment (HOT) and 1 day of treatment (DOT), respectively. Moreover, the expression of IAA synthetic genes (TAA1, TAR2, YUC3 and YUC8) was strongly induced as early as 3 HOT and was then significantly reduced. The expression of rootward IAA transport genes (AUX1, PIN1 and PIN4) decreased significantly in the boron deprivation treatment, but the expression levels of shootward IAA transport genes (LAX1, ABCB1 and PIN3) were significantly increased. Taken together, the increase in IAA content before 1 DOT may be due to increased IAA synthesis caused by the induction of TAA1, TAR2, YUC3 and YUC8 expression; the subsequent decrease and the significantly lower final IAA content compared to the +B treatment (0.25 mg L−1 B) may be due to the reduced expression of IAA synthetic genes and rootward IAA transport genes and the increased expression of shootward IAA transport genes. Abbreviations: DAT: days after treatment; DOT: day of treatment; FW: fresh weight; HOT: hour of treatment; isB: insoluble boron; LC: liquid chromatography; LSD: least-significant difference; MS: mass spectrometry; PAT: polar auxin transport; qRT-PCR: quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; sB: soluble boron [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is significantly associated with the risk of cancers in the lung and the digestive system. Emerging evidence shows a plausible link between periodontitis and several types of brain diseases. However, the association between periodontal infection and glioma remains unclear. In the cultured GL261 glioma cells, P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly promoted cell proliferation at concentrations ranging from 10 to 1000 ng/mL. It promoted cell migration at a higher concentration (100 and 1000 ng/mL). Additionally, exposure to 100 ng/mL P. gingivalis LPS induced a significant increase in the expression of TNF-α, TGF-β, MMP2, and MMP9, as well as the phosphorylation level of Akt at Ser473. These changes induced by P. gingivalis LPS were significantly antagonized by the Akt inhibitor. Furthermore, a total of 48 patients with brain tumors were enrolled to investigate their periodontal status before receiving tumor management. Poor periodontal status [probing depth (PD) ≥ 6 mm and attachment loss (AL) >5 mm] was found in 42.9% (9/21) of patients with glioma, which was significantly higher than that in patients with benign tumors and the relevant data in the 4th National Oral Health Survey in China. The glioma patients with both AL > 5 mm and PD ≥ 6 mm had a higher ki-67 labeling index than those with AL ≤ 5 mm or PD < 6 mm. These findings support the association between periodontal infection and glioma progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared small target detection (IRSTD) is a challenging task, due to the scarce target feature, complex background interferences, and poor image quality. The existing studies handle the IRSTD problem by making specific distribution assumptions of target and background, which incurs two issues. First, the specific assumptions of background cannot always hold. Second, the distorted target distributions contaminated by heavy clutters and noise are difficult to model statically. This article handles the problems from the discriminative and dynamic perspectives and proposes an original mechanism named dynamic image structure evolution (DISE) and a DISE-derived single-frame IRSTD framework. First, we resolve IRSTD by a discriminative model without assuming specific background distributions, which is based on a mathematical definition of structure singularity modeling the ideal target structure. Second, to decouple the target distributions from interferences, DISE guides the distorted target to reveal potential structure singularity, while suppressing the interference signal through iterative procedures of structure collapse, intensity settlement, and collapse convergence. The three functional procedures of DISE perform their own duties regarding target enhancement and background suppression. Moreover, an innovative chain mechanism is introduced to propagate the structure field. Experiments on real datasets demonstrate the superiority of DISE against the state-of-the-art IRSTD methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen is an essential core element in walnut seedling growth and development. However, nitrogen starvation and excessive nitrogen stress can cause stunted growth and development of walnut seedlings, and environmental pollution is also of concern. Therefore, it is necessary to study the mechanism of walnut seedling resistance to nitrogen stress. In this study, morphological and physiological observations and transcriptome sequencing of walnut seedlings under nitrogen starvation and excess nitrogen stress were performed. The results showed that walnut seedlings under nitrogen starvation and excess stress could adapt to the changes in the nitrogen environment by changing the coordination of their root morphology and physiological indexes. Based on an analysis of transcriptome data, 4911 differential genes (DEGs) were obtained (2180 were upregulated and 2731 were downregulated) in a comparison of nitrogen starvation and control groups. A total of 9497 DEGs (5091 upregulated and 4406 downregulated) were obtained in the comparison between the nitrogen overdose and control groups. When these DEGs were analysed, the differential genes in both groups were found to be significantly enriched in the plant's circadian pathway. Therefore, we selected the circadian rhythm as the focus for further analysis. We made some discoveries by analysing the gene co-expression network of nitrogen metabolism, circadian rhythm, and hormone signal transduction. (a) Nitrite nitrogen (NO2−) or Glu may act as a nitrogen signal to the circadian clock. (b) Nitrogen signalling may be input into the circadian clock by regulating changes in the abundance of the CRY1 gene. (c) After the nitrogen signal enters the circadian clock, the expression of the LHY gene is upregulated, which causes a phase shift in the circadian clock. (d) The RVE protein may send information about the circadian clock's response to nitrogen stress back to the nitrogen metabolic pathway via the hormone transduction pathway. In conclusion, various metabolic pathways in the roots of walnut seedlings coordinated with one another to resist the ill effects of nitrogen stress on the root cells, and these coordination relationships were regulated by the circadian clock. This study is expected to provide valuable information on the circadian clock regulation of plant resistance to nitrogen stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The first kilowatt-level wavelength tunable Raman fiber laser is demonstrated based on triple-clad passive fiber. • Up to 1135.7 W Raman signal at 1124.3 nm is obtained with a conversion efficiency of 71.8 %. • The wavelength of the kilowatt Raman signal can be tuned from 1119.8 nm to 1137.2 nm. Raman fiber laser (RFL), due to its unique advantages of wide tuning range, free of photon darkening, and low quantum defect, is becoming an important kind of high power laser source. In this manuscript, we demonstrate a kilowatt-level wavelength tunable RFL. It employs a typical master oscillator power amplifier configuration. The seed laser is a homemade tunable random RFL. The Raman gain fiber is a section of triple-clad passive fiber. At an optimal Raman fiber length of 150 m based on numerical simulations, 1135.7 W Raman signal at 1124.3 nm can be achieved under pump power of 1543 W, corresponding to a power conversion efficiency of 71.8 %. Moreover, by tuning the wavelength of seed laser, kilowatt-level Raman signal continuously tunable from 1119.8 nm to 1137.2 nm is demonstrated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first kilowatt-level wavelength tunable RFL ever reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SBA-15 was modified via post-treatment with (NH4)2SiF6 and (NH4)3AlF6 solution (NSF-T and NAF-T) and applied as support of Pd catalysts for the hydrogenation of 2-ethyl-anthraquinone (EAQ). The characterization results revealed that F could be incorporated into the framework of SBA-15 by forming Si–F bond and the amount of F increased as the molar ratio of F in treating solution to Si species in SBA-15 (F/Si) increased from 0.1 to 0.4 for NSF-T and 0.3 to 0.6 for NAF-T. At the same F/Si, the incorporated amount of F was larger with NSF-T than with NAF-T, and the latter could simultaneously create acid sites in catalysts. The hydrophobicity of catalysts could be effectively improved by incorporating F into SBA-15 supports, which favored the catalytic performance. The catalyst on SBA-15 treated by NSF with F/Si of 0.3 exhibited the high initial activity (0.24 molH2·gPd−1·min−1) and selectivity (95.5%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis relies on the formation of arbuscules for efficient nutrient exchange between plants and AM fungi. In this study, we identified a novel kinase gene in rice named OsADK1 (Arbuscule Development Kinase 1) that is required for arbuscule development.By obtaining OsADK1pro::GUS transgenic rice plants and also generating Osadk1 mutants via CRISPR/Cas9 technique, OsADK1 was revealed to be specifically induced in the arbusculated cortical cells and mutations in OsADK1 resulted in an extremely low colonisation rate (c. 3%) of rice roots by AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis.In the mutant roots, the very few observed arbuscules nearly all arrested at an early 'trunk‐forming' phase without forming any branches. Increasing the inoculum strength of AM fungus or cocultivation with a wild‐type nurse plant did not result in the rescue of the arbuscule phenotype. Transcriptome sequencing of both nursed and un‐nursed Osadk1 mutants then revealed that the mutation of OsADK1 could greatly affect the AM symbiotic programme, including many key transcription factors such as RAM1 and WRI5.OsADK1 therefore represents a new rice kinase that is required for arbuscule branching. Its identification opens a new window to explore the elaborate signal transduction pathway that determines arbuscule development during plant–fungus symbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Comparative proteomics analysis was carried out in ‘Egan No.1’ ponkan (Citrus reticulate cv. Egan No.1) fruit during low temperature storage. Commercially mature fruit were harvested, stored at 4°C, and sampled four times at one month intervals. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF–TOF MS were performed to examine the protein changes during the postharvest storage period. Results showed that 74 proteins were differentially regulated, from which 56 proteins were identified by blasting against NCBInr (green plant) and EST_viridiplantae databases. All identified proteins were then classified into functional classes according to known biosynthetic pathways, including C-compound and carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism and response to storage environmental stimuli. In addition, subcellular location and time-dependent accumulation trends of differentially accumulated proteins associated with fruit quality were analyzed. To understand the relationships between these differentially accumulated proteins and fruit quality changes, composition of organic acids (malic acid, citric acid and quinic acid) and soluble sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose) were investigated. Possible mechanisms responsible for fruit quality change in ponkan fruit during storage are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The quantum defect (QD) is an important issue that demands prompt attention in high-power fiber lasers. A large QD may aggravate the thermal load in the laser, which would impact the frequency, amplitude noise and mode stability, and threaten the security of the high-power laser system. Here, we propose and demonstrate a cladding-pumped Raman fiber laser (RFL) with QD of less than 1%. Using the Raman gain of the boson peak in a phosphorus-doped fiber to enable the cladding pump, the QD is reduced to as low as 0.78% with a 23.7 W output power. To our knowledge, this is the lowest QD ever reported in a cladding-pumped RFL. Furthermore, the output power can be scaled to 47.7 W with a QD of 1.29%. This work not only offers a preliminary platform for the realization of high-power low-QD fiber lasers, but also proves the great potential of low-QD fiber lasers in power scaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a confined-doped fiber oscillator model considering the spatial hole-burning effect is established to help understand the underlying physical mechanism of the gain filtering effect. The influences of the relative doping ratio on the gain filtering effect are systematically analyzed in a fiber oscillator under different power levels, which reveals the possibility of achieving near pure fundamental mode laser operation by carefully designing the relative doping ratio of the confined-doped fiber. Simultaneously, the comparison experiment adopting homemade large-mode-area confined-doped fiber and fully-doped fiber is conducted to verify the gain filtering effect of confined-doped fiber in high-power oscillators. This work could provide a practical reference for optimizing the design of the confined-doped fiber laser systems for high-power high-brightness laser operation. This work highlights the first comprehensive study on the gain filtering effect in high-power confined-doped fiber oscillators both experimentally and theoretically. The gain filtering effect in kilowatt-level confined-doped fiber oscillators is verified through comparison experiments, and a numerical model considering the spatial hole-burning effect is established to analyze the influence of the relative doping ratio on the gain filtering effect under different gain saturation levels. This work could provide valuable guidance for the confined-doped fiber design and laser system optimization for high-power high-brightness laser output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) is one of the essential macro-elements for plants. Sugar and organic acid are important factors affecting sensory characteristics of citrus fruit quality. The aim of this study was to investigate how P fertilizer affects quality improvement particularly sucrose (Suc), fructose (Fru), glucose (Glu) and citric acid (CA) accumulations in Cara Cara navel. P fertilizer improved fruit quality of Cara Cara navel, as supported by decreasing titratable acid (TA), CA and increasing soluble solid (TSS), sugars and the ratio of TSS and TA. At the early stage of fruit development, P fertilizer had greater roles in degrading Suc into Fru and Glu due to the increased activities of Suc-degrading enzymes including acid invertase, neutral invertase and Suc synthase-cleavage activity. Coversely, at the mid and late stages of fruit development, P fertilizer had greater roles in re-synthesizing Suc due to the increased activities of Suc-synthesizing enzymes including Suc phosphate synthase and Suc synthase-synthetic activity. These results indicated that application of P fertilizer increased soluble sugars concentrations by improving Suc metabolism and sink strength in fruit conferred by the upregulations of the activities of Suc-degrading and Suc-synthesizing enzymes. P fertilizer decreased CA accumulations at least partially by inhibiting synthesis of CA due to the decreased activities of CA-synthesizing enzymes including citrate synthetase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. This study suggested that P fertilizer, particularly fertilized with 0.40 kg/plant, increased soluble sugars but decreased CA accumulations in citrus fruit. • Phosphorus (P) fertilizer improved fruit quality of Cara Cara navel. • P enhanced sugar accumulations by improving sucrose metabolism and sink strength. • P fertilizer reduced citric acid accumulations partially by inhibiting its synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inter-modal four-wave mixing (IM-FWM) and transversal mode instabilities (TMI) are experimentally studied in high-power distributed side-pumped fiber amplifiers. To the best of our knowledge, we have made the first demonstration of TMI and IM-FWM which can be suppressed simultaneously by increasing the bending diameter. Besides, the experimental results show that the counter-pumping scheme is beneficial to suppress both of IM-FWM and TMI, when comparing with co-pumping scheme. Furthermore, these two effects cannot be observed when the M2 factor is lower than 1.3, which can give a condition to estimate whether these two effects should be considered or not. The pertinent study can provide some guidance for understanding TMI and IM-FWM in the high-power fiber laser and amplifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Plants form a mutualistic symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which facilitates the acquisition of scarce minerals from the soil. In return, the host plants provide sugars and lipids to its fungal partner. However, the mechanism by which the AM fungi obtain sugars from the plant has remained elusive.In this study we investigated the role of potential SWEET family sugar exporters in AM symbiosis in Medicago truncatula.We show that M. truncatula SWEET1b transporter is strongly upregulated in arbuscule‐containing cells compared to roots and localizes to the peri‐arbuscular membrane, across which nutrient exchange takes place. Heterologous expression of MtSWEET1b in a yeast hexose transport mutant showed that it mainly transports glucose. Overexpression of MtSWEET1b in M. truncatula roots promoted the growth of intraradical mycelium during AM symbiosis. Surprisingly, two independent Mtsweet1b mutants, which are predicted to produce truncated protein variants impaired in glucose transport, exhibited no significant defects in AM symbiosis. However, arbuscule‐specific overexpression of MtSWEET1bY57A/G58D, which are considered to act in a dominant‐negative manner, resulted in enhanced collapse of arbuscules.Taken together, our results reveal a (redundant) role for MtSWEET1b in the transport of glucose across the peri‐arbuscular membrane to maintain arbuscules for a healthy mutually beneficial symbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carotenoids and apocarotenoids act as phytohormones and volatile precursors that influence plant development and confer aesthetic and nutritional value critical to consumer preference. Citrus fruits display considerable natural variation in carotenoid and apocarotenoid pigments. In this study, using an integrated genetic approach we revealed that a 5′ cis -regulatory change at CCD4b encoding CAROTENOID CLEAVAGE DIOXYGENASE 4b is a major genetic determinant of natural variation in C 30 apocarotenoids responsible for red coloration of citrus peel. Functional analyses demonstrated that in addition the known role in synthesizing β-citraurin, CCD4b is also responsible for the production of another important C 30 apocarotenoid pigment, β-citraurinene. Furthermore, analyses of the CCD4b promoter and transcripts from various citrus germplasm accessions established a tight correlation between the presence of a putative 5′ cis -regulatory enhancer within an MITE transposon and the enhanced allelic expression of CCD4b in C 30 apocarotenoid-rich red-peeled accessions. Phylogenetic analysis provided further evidence that functional diversification of CCD4b and naturally occurring variation of the CCD4b promoter resulted in the stepwise evolution of red peels in mandarins and their hybrids. Taken together, our findings provide new insights into the genetic and evolutionary basis of apocarotenoid diversity in plants, and would facilitate breeding efforts that aim to improve the nutritional and aesthetic value of citrus and perhaps other fruit crops. Citrus fruits display considerable natural variation in carotenoid and apocarotenoid pigments. This paper reports that a 5′ cis -regulatory change at CCD4b encoding CAROTENOID CLEAVAGE DIOXYGENASE 4b is a major genetic determinant of natural variation in C 30 apocarotenoids responsible for red coloration of citrus peel. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that functional diversification of CCD4b and naturally occurring variation in the CCD4b promoter resulted in the stepwise evolution of red-peel trait in mandarins and their hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel SIRDH method obtains the high-EC and low-stereo image distortion. • The difference view between left and right views is used for recovery by using CNN. • Experimental results show the proposed method is superior to the existing methods. For copyright and integrity protection of stereo images, a stereo image reversible data hiding (SIRDH) method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) is presented. To increase the pixel prediction, a CNN-based predictor is designed. Firstly, pixels are divided into two types. For predicting one type of pixels in one view, the other type of pixels in the same view is considered as the low-resolution (LR) image. Secondly, a LR difference view between the LR image and the other view is computed, since the difference view consists of the texture and depth information. Then, CNN is trained to recover the high-precision difference view from the LR difference view, and the high-resolution image is computed to predict pixels accurately. Moreover, the prediction error expansion (PEE) is employed to embed data. Experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to existing SIRDH methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ring-assisted fiber (RAF) is a promising candidate for fiber communication and high-power application due to its novel structure. • In this manuscript, the beam quality factor (BQF) of RAF is investigated for the first time. • We systematically studied the effects of ring parameters and wavelengths on the BQF of RAF. • The results will provide a comprehensive understanding on the beam quality of RAFs, and thus offer a guidance to the design of this novel fiber for better application. Ring-assisted fiber (RAF) introduces a high refractive index ring into the cladding of the fiber, which brings the fiber more flexibility for communication and high-power application. In this paper, for the first time, we investigate how the additional ring affects the beam quality factor. The theoretical optical field model of RAF is established and verified at the first step. Then both the M2 factor and the β factor under different cases are numerically calculated, based on their general definition and the theoretical filed model. The results show that a larger thickness of the ring will greatly deteriorate the beam quality, but the distance between the ring and the core of RAF brings little influence on the beam quality. Besides the ring parameters, the beam quality factors of the pure and mixed modes under different wavelengths are also investigated systematically. Our results will not only provide a comprehensive understanding on the beam quality of RAFs, but also offer a guide to the design of this novel fiber for further applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unfortunately, after publication of this article [1], it was noticed that the order of correspondence addresses was reversed. Maosheng Xu should be listed before Minli Chen. The correct order of correspondence can be seen in this correction article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypercholesterolemia is known to increase the risk of AD in later life, the purpose of this study is to illustrate brain metabolic and structural changes in a cholesterol-fed rabbit model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) by using clinical 3 T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Methods: The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University approved the study. Totally 16 Japanese White Rabbits (JWR) were randomly divided into 2 groups including normal control group fed with routine diet (group NC) and high cholesterol diet group (group CD) fed a 2% cholesterol diet with 0.24 ppm copper in the drinking water for 12 weeks. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and structural image of rabbit brain were performed by using a 3 Tesla (T) MRI scanner with an 8 channel Rabbit coil. The chemical metabolites were identified by LC Model including N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln), Glycerophosphatidylcholine (GPC), phosphorylcholine (PCH), and myoinositol (MI). The relative concentrations (/Cr) were analyzed. Additionally, Amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation in the brain was measured postmortem. For comparisons of MR and Aβ data between groups, two-tailed t-tests were performed. Results: The ratio of NAA/Cr (0.76 ± 0.10) and Glu/Cr (0.90 ± 0.14) in group CD were lower than those in the group NC (0.87 ± 0.06, 1.13 ± 0.22, respectively, P < 0.05). Compared to the group NC (2.88 ± 0.09 cm3, 0.63 ± 0.08 cm3, respectively), the cortical and hippocampal volumes (2.60 ± 0.14 cm3 and 0.47 ± 0.07 cm3, respectively) of rabbits brain decreased in the group CD while the third and lateral ventricular volumes enlarged (44.56 ± 6.01 mm3 vs 31.40 ± 6.14 mm3, 261.40 ± 30.98 mm3 vs 153.81 ± 30.08 mm3, P < 0.05). These metabolic and structural changes were additionally accompanied by the significant increase of Aβ1–42 in the cortex and hippocampus (163.60 ± 16.26 pg/mg and 215.20 ± 69.86 pg/mg, respectively, P < 0.05). Conclusion: High cholesterol diet can induce the brain metabolic and structural changes of the rabbit including lowered level of NAA and Glu and the atrophy of the brain which were similar to those of human AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perennial woody plants of citrus are one of the most important fruit crops in the world and largely depends on arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis (AMS) to obtain essential nutrients from soil. However, the molecular aspects of AMS in citrus and perennial woody plants in general have largely been understudied. We used RNA-sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes in roots of Poncirus trifoliata upon mycorrhization by the AM fungus Glomus versiforme and evaluated their conservation by comparative transcriptome analyses with four herbaceous model plants. We identified 282 differentially expressed genes in P. trifoliata, including orthologs of 21 genes with characterized roles in AMS and 83 genes that are considered to be conserved in AM-host plants. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed a 'core set' of 156 genes from P. trifoliata whose orthologous genes from at least three of the five species also exhibited similar transcriptional changes during AMS. Functional analysis of one of these conserved AM-induced genes, a 3-keto-acyl-ACP reductase (FatG) involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, confirmed its involvement in AMS in Medicago truncatula. Our results identify a core transcriptional program for AMS that is largely conserved between P. trifoliata and other plants. The comparative transcriptomics approach adds to previous phylogenomics studies to identify conserved genes required for AMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(C-E) MIA PaCa-2 cells stably expressing shGFP, shp63-1 or shp63-2 were subjected to Western blot analyses (C) or transwell assay for cell motility (D,E). TGF- 1 Facilitates TAp63 Protein Lysosomal Degradation to Promote Pancreatic Cancer Cell Migration. (F-H) MIA PaCa-2 cells stably expressing a vector control (Vec) or TAp63 were subjected to Western blot analyses (F) or transwell assay for cell motility (G,H). [Extracted from the article]

First-principles plane-wave pseudopotential calculations were performed to study the energetics and electronic structures of oxygen defects on rutile TiO2(0 0 1). The influence of the material thickness on non-linearity (NL) was studied. With the increase in the thickness, the NL became stronger. Calculating the site-projected density of states by applying an external electric field showed that the NL of the bulk is due to the exchange of electrons between O 2p orbitals and Ti 3d orbitals. Finally, the influence of oxygen defects - oxygen vacancies (Vo), oxygen interstitials (Oi), and oxygen vacancies/oxygen interstitial (VoOi) pairs (Frenkel pair defects) - on the NL of TiO2 was studied. These results demonstrate that the band gap ( of TiO2 became gradually narrower as the electric field increased. The Stark effect and defects can lead to the splitting of degenerate energy levels. Stronger electric fields increase the band splitting and reduce . With the increase in the Vo concentration, the decrease in the splitting amplitude and width of the energy level lead to weakening of the transfer of electrons between O and Ti atoms and optimizing the NL of TiO2. Therefore, the incorporation of Vo plays a significant role in improving the NL of TiO2. It is obvious that the current-voltage ( I- V) curves were symmetric and nonlinear. With the increase in Vo concentration, the model has smaller current at low voltage and more obvious rectification. The current at a particular Vo concentration increases abruptly, and the effect of Vo on the NL is dominant. This indicates that the oxygen vacancy-assisted phase transition is very strong. The NL of the material can be improved by artificially producing Vo defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]