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Leaf shape is considered to be one of the most significant agronomic traits in crop breeding. However, the molecular basis underlying leaf morphogenesis in cotton is still largely unknown. In this study, through genetic mapping and molecular investigation using a natural cotton mutant cu with leaves curling upward, the causal gene GHCU is successfully identified as the key regulator of leaf flattening. Knockout of GHCU or its homolog in cotton and tobacco using CRISPR results in abnormal leaf shape. It is further discovered that GHCU facilitates the transport of the HD protein KNOTTED1‐like (KNGH1) from the adaxial to the abaxial domain. Loss of GHCU function restricts KNGH1 to the adaxial epidermal region, leading to lower auxin response levels in the adaxial boundary compared to the abaxial. This spatial asymmetry in auxin distribution produces the upward‐curled leaf phenotype of the cu mutant. By analysis of single‐cell RNA sequencing and spatiotemporal transcriptomic data, auxin biosynthesis genes are confirmed to be expressed asymmetrically in the adaxial‐abaxial epidermal cells. Overall, these findings suggest that GHCU plays a crucial role in the regulation of leaf flattening through facilitating cell‐to‐cell trafficking of KNGH1 and hence influencing the auxin response level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the photothermal synergistic catalytic conversion of CO2 and H2O, the catalyst harnesses solar energy to accumulate heat, thereby elevating the reaction system's temperature. The influence of this temperature effect on surface chemical reactions remains an underexplored area. Here the impact of temperature on the surface-level thermodynamic reactions and conversion of CO2 with H2O on oxide semiconductors at the atomic scale was investigated using first-principle calculations. 13 different metal oxides and 5 transition metal clusters were used to introduce surface functional sites on the TiO2 supporting catalyst. The potential metal oxide cocatalysts that could be most beneficial to the following conversion of CO2 by H2O were initially screened by calculating the degrees of promotion of CO2 adsorption and activation of surface H to provide protons. The proton donation and hydrogen evolution difficulty from H2O were further analyzed, identifying transition metal cocatalysts that promote direct CO2 hydrogenation. Upon introducing bifunctional sites to facilitate adsorption and reduction, the production of CH3OH and CH4 could be further enhanced through the facilitation of the proton donation process of H2O. The results of Gibbs free-energy calculations revealed that increasing temperature enhances the reaction thermodynamics for each C1 product formation at different surface sites to varying degrees. These findings offer valuable theoretical insights for designing and regulating active sites on oxide semiconductor surfaces for efficient photothermal catalytic CO2 reduction by H2O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New media technologies have opened up new possibilities for the communication of cultural heritage, and digital reading aligns with the participatory shift in museums, becoming an indispensable part of information communication. Currently, there exists a certain contradiction between the professional content of cultural heritage and the non-linear and immersive narrative style of new media. In order to find a balance between form and content, and explore the information communication pattern of cultural heritage in the era of mobile media, starting from practical issues, this article introduces the theory of embodied cognition, combines it with relevant theories in communication studies, and systematically explores the impact of embodied factors on audience reading behavior by using semi-structured interviews and grounded theory. The research reveals that embodied cognition, situational cognition, and interactive cognition have a significant impact on the digital reading information communication of cultural heritage on social media, which includes six factors: functional experience, sensory experience, interactive experience, scene simulation, emotional elevation and social experience. This study further constructed a theoretical model of the factors influencing the effectiveness of information communication in cultural heritage digital reading on the social media platform under the influence of embodied cognition theory, which confirms that these six factors play a significant role in the process of museum content generation, audience understanding, as well as the emergence of and the feedback loop of new meanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the emerging two-dimensional lead halide materials, lead iodide (PbI2) nanosheets have proven to possess strong application potential in the fields of high-energy radiation detection and highly efficient perovskite solar cells. However, the underlying photophysical properties such as hot-exciton-related carrier dynamics remain unclear for PbI2 nanosheets. Here, we report the exciton dynamics of a single PbI2 nanoflake prepared by an aqueous solution method. Through a three-dimensional (3D) diffusion model, we obtain the exciton annihilation radius and diffusion coefficient of a single PbI2 nanoflake under non-resonant and resonant excitation conditions of band-edge exciton state. As initial exciton densities increase, we find the carrier recombination mechanism for a single PbI2 nanoflake gradually changes from exciton-exciton annihilation to free-carrier recombination. Finally, we reveal the room-temperature circular polarization of a single PbI2 nanoflake is due to free-carrier recombination with a band-edge exciton dissociation time of ~120 fs under the resonant excitation condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quartz album is one of the mineral drugs commonly used in Chinese medicine. Different geogenesis of Quartz album led to differences in its composition and thus affected its clinical efficacy. Mineral Chinese medicines are mainly composed of inorganic elements, including some heavy metals and harmful elements, so their quality control is crucial to their clinical safety. Materials and Methods: In this study, the contents of 30 elements in 13 batches Quartz album of different origins were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multiple elements and chemometrics were used to distinguish its different geogenesis. Results: We found that the top elements in order of content were as follows: Al>Fe>Ca>K>Mg>Ti>Mn, all with content greater than 100 µg/g. In addition, the contents ranges of Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu were 1.603–637.705, 0.011–1.387, 0.348–41.298, 0.033–10.877, and 0.808–86.482 µg/g, respectively. Quartz albums produced in Fengyang County, Anhui Province, had the lowest content of heavy metals. Correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation among the elements in the samples. Chemometrics were used to analyze the elemental content, and the results of the different models were found to be consistent and could be used to distinguish between Quartz albums of different geogenesis. Conclusion: This study provided a reference for the quality control and safety of the clinical application of Quartz album. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The components and pore structure of shale are complex due to the heterogeneous distribution of organic matter and the complex distributions of the minerals. The digital core, possessing the advantages of being economical and reusable, can be widely used to directly characterize the three dimensional (3D) micro-pore structure and to numerically simulate its physical properties. During construction of a digital shale core, it is a challenge to solve the multicomponent segmentation for the digital shale core, the contradiction between the sample size and image resolution, and the identification of the pore types in the 3D pore space. Therefore, an automatic workflow based on the gray gradient-maximum entropy-3D morphology was developed. The gray gradient-maximum entropy algorithm was used to segment each sub-image of focused ion beam scanning electron microscope images to generate segmented images. On this basis, the pore size distribution was optimized via 3D morphological erosion. Based on the concept of pore clusters, the organic and inorganic pores were identified using the 3D morphological method for the first time. The construction of a multicomponent digital shale core was realized. The 3D micro-pore structure of the organic and inorganic pores was characterized by pore connectivity, heterogeneity, and pore size distribution. The accuracy of the proposed method was verified using low-temperature N2 adsorption experiment data. The results of this study provide new insight into the multicomponent digital shale core construction and lay the foundation for the characterization of the petrophysical properties and micro-/nano-scale fluid flow simulations of shale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotypic transformation of macrophages plays important immune response roles in the occurrence, development and regression of periodontitis. Under inflammation or other environmental stimulation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exert immunomodulatory effects through their secretome. It has been found that secretome derived from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-pretreated or three-dimensional (3D)-cultured MSCs significantly reduced inflammatory responses in inflammatory diseases, including periodontitis, by inducing M2 macrophage polarization. In this study, periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) pretreated with LPS were 3D cultured in hydrogel (termed SupraGel) for a certain period of time and the secretome was collected to explore its regulatory effects on macrophages. Expression changes of immune cytokines in the secretome were also examined to speculate on the regulatory mechanisms in macrophages. The results indicated that PDLSCs showed good viability in SupraGel and could be separated from the gel by adding PBS and centrifuging. The secretome derived from LPS-pretreated and/or 3D-cultured PDLSCs all inhibited the polarization of M1 macrophages, while the secretome derived from LPS-pretreated PDLSCs (regardless of 3D culture) had the ability to promote the polarization of M1 to M2 macrophages and the migration of macrophages. Cytokines involved in the production, migration and polarization of macrophages, as well as multiple growth factors, increased in the PDLSC-derived secretome after LPS pretreatment and/or 3D culture, which suggested that the secretome had the potential to regulate macrophages and promote tissue regeneration, and that it could be used in the treatment of inflammation-related diseases such as periodontitis in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-range surveillance and early warning of space targets are significant factors in space security. Under remote observation conditions, the energy performance of the target is weak and subject to environmental and imaging process contamination. Most detection methods are aimed at targets with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or local contrast, and the detection performance for dim-weak small targets is poor; therefore, the target signal is often enhanced by energy accumulation. However, owing to the interference caused by the instability of the imaging system, energy accumulation errors occur in the target, resulting in the dispersion of the target energy, making detection a challenge. To solve the above problem, this study proposed a multi-frame superposition detection method for dim-weak point targets based on an optimized clustering algorithm by combining the clustering method with the inherent features of the target and using the difference between the target and noise energy distribution for detection. First, we simulated the multi-frame imaging process of the target post-disturbance and established an optical imaging system model of the dim-weak target. Subsequently, we used data dimension reduction and outlier removal to extract the target potential area. Finally, the data were sent to the clustering model for calculation and judgment. Given that the accuracy rate reaches 87.1% when the SNR is 1 dB, the experimental results show that the detection method proposed in this paper can effectively detect dim-weak targets with low SNR. In addition, there is a significant improvement in the detection performance of the receiver characteristic curve compared with other algorithms in the real scene, which further proves the superiority of the method in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with self-renewing, multilineage differentiation and immunomodulatory properties, have been extensively studied in the field of regenerative medicine and proved to have significant therapeutic potential in many different pathological conditions. The role of MSCs mainly depends on their paracrine components, namely secretome. However, the components of MSC-derived secretome are not constant and are affected by the stimulation MSCs are exposed to. Therefore, the content and composition of secretome can be regulated by the pretreatment of MSCs. We summarize the effects of different pretreatments on MSCs and their secretome, focusing on their immunomodulatory properties, in order to provide new insights for the therapeutic application of MSCs and their secretome in inflammatory immune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Oaks (Quercus spp.) are a major component of subtropical and temperate forests in the Northern Hemisphere. There are approximately 464 species, and they are dominant tree species in ecosystems. Oaks have a long history of cultivation in Europe, North America, and other continents. They are also cultivated and distributed in most provinces of China. In this paper, Quercus germplasm resource distribution, ecological adaptability, and utilization are explored. All evidence indicates that oaks have been widely distributed since ancient times and have greater functional value than other species in the Fagaceae family. This review will provide a deeper understanding of oak conservation, development, and utilization in China. Oaks exhibit unique biological characteristics and high adaptability to complex climatic and soil conditions. They are widely distributed across various regions, spanning 40 degrees latitude and 75 degrees longitude. The total area of oak forest in China is 16.72 million hm2. There are 60 lineages of Quercus in China, including 49 species, seven varieties, and four subgenera. Archaeological data indicate that oaks were already widely distributed in ancient times, and they are dominant trees in vast regions of China's forests. In addition, the acorn was an important food for ancestral humans, and it has accompanied human civilization since the early Paleolithic. Diverse oak species are widely distributed and have great functional value, such as for greening, carbon sequestration, industrial and medicinal uses, and insect rearing. Long-term deforestation, fire, diseases, and pests have led to a continuous decline in oak resources. This study discusses the Quercus species and their distribution in China, ecological adaptation, and the threats facing the propagation and growth of oaks in a changing world. This will give us a better understanding of Quercus resources, and provide guidance on how to protect and better utilize germplasm resources in China. The breeding of new varieties, pest control, and chemical and molecular research also need to be strengthened in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chaperonin ProteinIn article number 2402816, Yan Hu, Tianzhen Zhang, and co‐workers report a chaperonin protein controls upward‐curling leaves margin. They explain this phenotype that had existed for nearly a century. Chaperonin protein GHCU, homeodomain protein KNGH1 and auxin play roles in it..By Yihao Zang; Chenyu Xu; Lishan Yu; Longen Ma; Lisha Xuan; Sunyi Yan; Yayao Zhang; Yiwen Cao; Xiaoran Li; Zhanfeng Si; Jieqiong Deng; Tianzhen Zhang and Yan HuReported by Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a promising strategy to convert CO2 to carbon‐based fuels and to simultaneously reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In this work, the bismuth subcarbonate nanoflowers (BOC NFs) are facilely prepared through a one‐pot synthesis method for efficient formate electrosynthesis through CO2RR. Benefiting from the crystal structure and sheet‐stacked morphology, the in situ measurements and theoretical calculation results reveal the self‐reinforced CO2 adsorption properties and rapid CO2 adsorption–desorption kinetics on the catalyst surface, which significantly facilitate the CO2RR process. As a result, the desirable Faradaic efficiencies of over 90%, with a maximum value of 98.9%, toward formate formation, are achieved in a wide potential window from −0.8 to −1.4 V in an H‐type cell. Moreover, in a flow cell, the superior intrinsic activity of BOC NFs guarantees the high throughput electrocatalytic performance of CO2RR and the FEformate of over 90% with high current density is achieved in a potential range as wide as 1200 mV, demonstrating the great potential of BOC NFs for practical CO2RR applications. These results underscore the effectiveness of designing electrocatalysts with self‐reinforced CO2 adsorption properties to improve electrocatalytic performance for efficient CO2RR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 1.9-dB NF K-band phased-array receiver (RX) is presented, which employs the hybrid packaged 65-nm CMOS beamformer and 0.1- $\mu \text{m}$ GaAs LNAs based on the fan-out wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WLCSP) technology. Power-efficient gain and phase tuning blocks are utilized to reduce power consumption. Temperature-healing design methodology is adopted to ensure nearly constant gain response versus temperature variations. The proposed phased-array RX only consumes 30.2-mW dc power per channel and achieves < 1.2-dB gain variation and < 0.9-dB NF variation from −40 °C to 85 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of society, energy shortage and environmental problems have become more and more outstanding. Solar energy is a clean and sustainable energy resource, potentially driving energy conversion and environmental remediation reactions. Thus, solar‐driven chemistry is an attractive way to solve the two problems. Photothermal chemistry (PTC) is developed to achieve full‐spectral utilization of the solar radiation and drive chemical reactions more efficiently under relatively mild conditions. In this review, the mechanisms of PTC are summarized from the aspects of thermal and non‐thermal effects, and then the interaction and synergy between these two effects are sorted out. In this paper, distinguishing and quantifying these two effects is discussed to understand PTC processes better and to design PTC catalysts more methodically. However, PTC is still a little far away from practical. Herein, several key points, which must be considered when pushing ahead with the engineering application of PTC, are proposed, along with some workable suggestions on the practical application. This review provides a unique perspective on PTC, focusing on the synergistic effects and pointing out a possible direction for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: B atoms modify the local electronic structure of Bi with positive valence sites. B doped Bi boosts highly efficient electroreduction of CO2 to formate. B dopant differentiates the proton participations in CO2 RR and HER processes. The dominant mechanistic pathway of B promoted formate generation is unraveled. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate is economically attractive but improving the reaction selectivity and activity remains challenging. Herein, we introduce boron (B) atoms to modify the local electronic structure of bismuth with positive valence sites for boosting conversion of CO2 into formate with high activity and selectivity in a wide potential window. By combining experimental and computational investigations, our study indicates that B dopant differentiates the proton participations of rate-determining steps in CO2 reduction and in the competing hydrogen evolution. By comparing the experimental observations with the density functional theory, the dominant mechanistic pathway of B promoted formate generation and the B concentration modulated effects on the catalytic property of Bi are unravelled. This comprehensive study offers deep mechanistic insights into the reaction pathway at an atomic and molecular level and provides an effective strategy for the rational design of highly active and selective electrocatalysts for efficient CO2 conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: The cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) pigment gland is a distinctive structure that functions as the main deposit organ of gossypol and its derivatives. It is also an ideal system in which to study cell differentiation and organogenesis. However, only a few genes that determine the process of gland formation have been reported, including GoPGF, CGP1, and CGFs; the molecular mechanisms underlying gland initiation are still largely unclear. Here, we report the discovery of the novel stem pigment gland‐forming gene GoSPGF by map‐based cloning; annotated as a GRAS transcription factor, this gene is responsible for the glandless trait specifically on the stem. In the stem glandless mutant T582, a point mutation (C to A) was found to create a premature stop codon and truncate the protein. Similarly, virus‐induced gene silencing of GoSPGF resulted in glandless stems and dramatically reduced gossypol content. Comparative transcriptomic data showed that loss of GoSPGF significantly suppressed expression of many genes involved in gossypol biosynthesis and altered expression of genes involved in gibberellic acid signaling/biosynthesis. Overall, these findings provide more insight into the networks regulating glandular structure differentiation and formation in cotton, which will be helpful for understanding other plants bearing special gland structures such as tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana), artemisia annua, mint (Mentha spp.), and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis). Significance Statement: The novel cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) gland‐forming gene GoSPGF, encoding a GRAS transcription factor, regulates the glandless trait specifically on the stem. The findings concerning GoSPGF provide more insight into the networks regulating glandular structure differentiation and formation in cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Passive-active immunoprophylaxis against mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) recommends administering hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and birth-dose hepatitis B vaccine in infants within 12 or 24 hours after birth. With this protocol, MTCT of HBV still occurs in 5–10% infants of HBV-infected mothers with positive hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). The present study aimed to investigate whether earlier administration of HBIG and hepatitis B vaccine after birth can further increase protection efficacy. Methods We conducted a prospective, multi-center observational study in infants born to mothers with HBV infection, in whom neonatal HBIG and birth dose hepatitis B vaccine were administered within one hour after birth. The infants were followed up for HBV markers at 7–14 months of age. Results A total of 1140 pregnant women with HBV were enrolled, and 982 infants (9 twins) of 973 mothers were followed up at 9.6 ± 1.9 months of age. HBIG and birth-dose vaccine were administered in newborn infants within a median of 0.17 (0.02–1.0) hours after birth. The overall rate of MTCT was 0.9% (9/982), with none (0%) of the 607 infants of HBeAg-negative mothers and 9 (2.4%) of 375 infants of HBeAg-positive mothers acquiring HBV. All 9 HBV-infected infants were born to mothers with HBV DNA >2.75 × 106 IU/mL. Maternal HBV DNA levels >2 × 106 IU/mL were an independent risk factor (odds ratio, 10.627; 95% confidence interval, 2.135–∞) for immunoprophylaxis failure. Conclusions Earlier use (within 1 hour after birth) of HBIG and hepatitis B vaccine can provide better protection efficacy against MTCT of HBV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimensionality reduction is crucial for the visualization and interpretation of the high-dimensional single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. However, preserving topological structure among cells to low dimensional space remains a challenge. Here, we present the single-cell graph autoencoder (scGAE), a dimensionality reduction method that preserves topological structure in scRNA-seq data. scGAE builds a cell graph and uses a multitask-oriented graph autoencoder to preserve topological structure information and feature information in scRNA-seq data simultaneously. We further extended scGAE for scRNA-seq data visualization, clustering, and trajectory inference. Analyses of simulated data showed that scGAE accurately reconstructs developmental trajectory and separates discrete cell clusters under different scenarios, outperforming recently developed deep learning methods. Furthermore, implementation of scGAE on empirical data showed scGAE provided novel insights into cell developmental lineages and preserved inter-cluster distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: China has implemented universal hepatitis B vaccination since 2002 and provided charge-free hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) to infants of HBV-infected mothers since July 2011. We aimed to compare mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in children born before and since July 2011. Methods: In total, 5,149 children of HBV-infected mothers were tested for HBV markers. Group one contained 1,160 children born during August 2002–June 2011 and group two contained 3,989 children born during July 2011–June 2016. Results: In total, 92 (1.8%, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.4–2.2) children were infected with HBV. None (0%, 95%CI 0.0–0.1) of 3,716 children of mothers with negative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was infected, whereas 92 (6.4%, 95%CI 5.2–7.8) of 1,433 children of HBeAg-positive mothers were infected (p < 0.0001). Among children of HBeAg-positive mothers, MTCT occurred in 10.3% (19/185) (95%CI 6.3–15.6) in group one and 5.8% (73/1,248) (95%CI 4.6–7.3) in group two (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Implementing charge-free active-passive immunoprophylaxis greatly reduces MTCT of HBV in children of HBeAg-positive mothers, highlighting the importance of timely administration of both hepatitis B vaccine and HBIG to prevent MTCT. The still remaining MTCT suggests that reducing maternal virus load before delivery is an additional important measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squarers are widely used in communication and DSP applications. In this letter, two approximate squarers (ABFS1 and ABFS2) are proposed. Specifically, a novel approximate Booth‐folding encoding is designed to generate approximate partial product arrays. Several approximate compressors with precision recovery circuits are proposed. In the ABFS1, a novel approximate 4‐2 compressor with an accurate compensation circuit is utilized. Moreover, the proposed approximate 4‐2 compressor with constant compensation is used in the ABFS2 to improve the performance of squarer. In addition, this letter presents the logic synthesizing result of the two approximate squarers with the 45 nm technology. The comparison with state‐of‐the‐art approximate squarers demonstrates the proposed designs reduce the 58.1% PDP while maintaining a similar or even better accuracy. Finally, the proposed approximate squarers are verified by the K‐means clustering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electro‐oxidative organic upgrading, as an ideal alternative to sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance, can effectively decrease energy consumption to boost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. However, developing highly active electrocatalysts for long‐term durable organic upgrading with high selectivity at large and steady current density remains challenging. Herein, hollow NiSe nanocrystals heterogenized with carbon nanotubes (h‐NiSe/CNTs) are fabricated via a facile one‐pot approach. The highly dispersed h‐NiSe/CNTs 3D network can efficiently facilitate rapid mass/electron diffusion, thus achieving highly active and long‐term stable electrocatalysis for catalyzing methanol to value‐added formate at high and steady current density (≈345 mA cm−2) with high Faradaic efficiency (>95%). This reaction replaces sluggish OER performance to reduce the energy consumption for boosting H2 generation by six times. The critical active species and methanol activation mechanism are systematically studied using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X‐ray absorption fine structure analysis, in situ Raman, and density functional theory calculations, indicating that the non‐ignorable SeOx collaborated with in situ formed NiOOH species can synergistically modulate the d band center to achieve an optimal adsorption for methanol selective oxidation and suppress the further oxidation to CO2, thus leading to active and stable electrolysis for producing value‐added formate with high selectivity and co‐generating H2 with less energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Xinjiang has been the largest and highest yield cotton production region not only in China, but also in the world. Improvements in Upland cotton cultivars in Xinjiang have occurred via pedigree selection and/or crossing of elite alleles from the former Soviet Union and other cotton producing regions of China. But it is unclear how genomic constitutions from foundation parents have been selected and inherited. Here, we deep‐sequenced seven historic foundation parents, comprising four cultivars introduced from the former Soviet Union (108Ф, C1470, 611Б and KK1543) and three from United States and Africa (DPL15, STV2B and UGDM), and re‐sequenced sixty‐nine Xinjiang modern cultivars. Phylogenetic analysis of more than 2 million high‐quality single nucleotide polymorphisms allowed their classification two groups, suggesting that Xinjiang Upland cotton cultivars were not only spawned from 108Ф, C1470, 611Б and KK1543, but also had a close kinship with DPL15, STV2B and UGDM. Notably, identity‐by‐descent (IBD) tracking demonstrated that the former Soviet Union cultivars have made a huge contribution to modern cultivar improvement in Xinjiang. A total of 156 selective sweeps were identified. Among them, apoptosis‐antagonizing transcription factor gene (GhAATF1) and mitochondrial transcription termination factor family protein gene (GhmTERF1) were highly involved in the determination of lint percentage. Additionally, the auxin response factor gene (GhARF3) located in inherited IBD segments from 108Ф and 611Б was highly correlated with fibre quality. These results provide an insight into the genomics of artificial selection for improving cotton production and facilitate next‐generation precision breeding of cotton and other crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to value-added products with high selectivity has attracted significant research interest. The development of earth-abundant and low-cost electrocatalysts is the key in this process. Herein, an efficient CO2 reduction electrocatalyst, comprising Ni and N in situ co-doped into porous and Ni nanoparticle-embedded carbon nanotubes (NiNxCNT), is developed from a sustainable and representative bioligand – folic acid. The synthesis process is straightforward, with the crucial step being the chelation of folic acid and Ni ions into uniform tubular metal–organic complex precursor. The resulted NiNxCNT catalyst exhibits a CO partial current density of 9.0 mA cm−2 at −0.676 V versus RHE and a high selectivity towards CO (>98%) in a wide potential range of −0.676 to −0.976 V versus RHE. Furthermore, the electrode shows little current decay over a period of total 44 h continuous operation at different potentials. The notable performance here is attributed to the synergistic effect of rich Ni–Nx sites and hierarchically porous nanotube structure. The findings of this study will open new avenues for developing inexpensive and high-performance CNT-based electrocatalysts for CO2 utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three groups of fracturing tests in two-phase fluids of CO SB 2 sb and water were conducted, where the pressure of CO SB 2 sb was set at 3.0 MPa, 3.4 MPa, and 3.7 MPa, respectively. It can be observed that the CO SB 2 sb saturation after the displacement range from 44.15% to 68.43%, i.e., the CO SB 2 sb saturation goes up with the increase of CO SB 2 sb displacement pressure. As the confining pump was operated in a constant-pressure mode, when the CO SB 2 sb flowed into the confining pressure chamber through the sample during the fracturing, the piston was moved back by the pump for stabilizing the pressure, thus yielding negative flow rate. [Extracted from the article]

Photo‐thermochemical cycle (PTC) is a promising method to converting CO2 to solar fuels. To study the mechanism of CO2 reduction based on PTC, sol‐gel synthesized titanium dioxide (ST) and Mn‐doped TiO2 (MT) films were produced and applied to the PTC under simulated solar light irradiation. Commercial P25 (PT) was used as a reference. Experiments show that Mn‐doped TiO2 produced more CO than undoped TiO2 and P25. The average CO production of 1.0 wt% MT by the PTC was 32.19 μmol⋅m−2⋅h−1), 4.36 times than that of ST and 3.63 times that of PT. Various characterization methods were conducted to investigated the effect of Mn ions doping on the photoresponse and charge transfer of samples. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also performed to verify the analysis and enhance the PTC mechanism. In conclusion, several key factors that Mn ions promote CO2 conversion have been clarified. Combine solar heat and light! To reduce CO2, photo‐thermochemical (PTC) cycle involves both solar light and thermal energy. Photo‐induced oxygen vacancy (VO) is the key to reduce CO2 in thermal step. Introducing Mn to TiO2 significantly broadens its visible light response and decreases the VO formation energy by DFT calculations. Experimental results show that doping TiO2 with Mn significantly enhances CO2 reduction by PTC under simulated solar light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three concepts of tritium breeding blanket have been proposed for China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor. One of the concepts is helium-cooled ceramic breeder (HCCB) blanket. The HCCB blanket has the S-type cooling pipes in breeding unit (BU), and the BU consists of lithium ceramic pebble beds and beryllium pebble beds. The breeding material and the multiplier material are separated by the cooling plates. Theoretical calculations have been done to obtain temperature distribution and pressure drop for the preliminary design of the breeding blanket. Then, ANSYS CFX is employed to verify the thermal performance of the first wall (FW) in radial–toroidal and poloidal–toroidal directions. The temperature distribution in FW is obtained, and the optimization of cooling channels is proposed according to the simulation results. Finally, according to the temperature distribution, structural stress analysis has been done to verify the feasibility of the design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a facile strategy for conversion of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) into crystalline graphite is of great practical significance and still remains challenging. Herein, rationally assembled crystalline-intercrossed graphite nanocapsules (CI-GNCs) have been realized by a one-step electrochemically induced strategy with the assistance of a soft template, in which the GQDs act as the initial building blocks. The as-prepared CI-GNCs exhibit highly crystalline graphitic nanostructures. Moreover, they possess promising electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reaction reduction (ORR) in alkaline medium. This simple fabrication technology presents a great advance for synthesizing CI-GNCs composite catalysts, which have potential as new metal-free catalysts for efficient ORR applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of conventional nanostructure carbon-based materials (such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)) as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction always suffers from inferior conductivity and low surface area because both graphene and CNTs easily aggregate to form networks with many boundaries. Here, to solve those problems, we have rationally developed “carbon nanoleaf” networks for the oxygen reduction reaction of fuel cells. The “carbon nanoleaf” networks are constructed as aerogels with nitrogen-doped CNTs bridged with graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) by using CNTs as a single precursor. In these carbon nanoleaves, large amounts of unzipped nanoscale GNRs tightly attach to the intact inner walls of the CNTs and thus allow intrinsically good electrical contact. Self-assembly of the carbon nanoleaves into three-dimensional porous aerogel networks with large surface areas guarantees the ultrafast and sufficient mass transfer in the catalytic process. Moreover, the “carbon nanoleaf” networks restrain the aggregation of adjacent CNTs or GNRs, which is inevitable in other 3D CNT and/or graphene nanosheet/GNR networks, to reduce the possibility of the formation of boundaries. Accordingly, the prepared 3D carbon nanoleaf architectures possess a large surface area (380–497 m2 g−1) and an excellent conductivity (up to 112 S m−1), much higher than those of other reported 3D carbon-based architectures. The “carbon nanoleaf” networks can thus act as newly developed oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts with a positive onset potential, ultra-low hydrogen peroxide production and excellent durability that are comparable to or better than those of commercial Pt/C catalysts both in alkaline and acidic solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rationally designed strategy has been developed for spontaneous reduction and assembly of graphene quantum dots rich in carbonyl and carboxylic groups (ox-GQDs) onto sulfur doped graphitic carbon nitride (s-g-C3N4) nanosheets to form unique s-g-C3N4@GQD nanohybrids by a one-step hydrothermal treatment. The fabricated architectures exhibit remarkably enhanced catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction far better than the original s-g-C3N4 and GQDs, which is even comparable to those of well-developed graphene and GQD-based catalysts, demonstrating the potential towards energy conversion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of new promising metal-free catalysts is of great significance for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a rationally assembled three-dimensional (3D) architecture of 1D graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanoribbons with 2D graphene sheets has been developed by a one-step hydrothermal method. Because of the multipathway of charge and mass transport, the hierarchically structured g-C3N4 nanoribbon-graphene hybrids lead to a high electrocatalytic ability for HER with a Tafel slope of 54 mV decade−1, a low onset overpotential of 80 mV and overpotential of 207 mV to approach a current of 10 mA cm−2, superior to those non-metal materials and well-developed metallic catalysts reported previously. This work presents a great advance for designing and developing highly efficient metal-free catalyst for hydrogen evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of new promising metal-free catalysts is of great significance for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a rationally assembled three-dimensional (3D) architecture of 1D graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanoribbons with 2D graphene sheets has been developed by a one-step hydrothermal method. Because of the multipathway of charge and mass transport, the hierarchically structured g-C3N4 nanoribbon-graphene hybrids lead to a high electrocatalytic ability for HER with a Tafel slope of 54 mV decade−1, a low onset overpotential of 80 mV and overpotential of 207 mV to approach a current of 10 mA cm−2, superior to those non-metal materials and well-developed metallic catalysts reported previously. This work presents a great advance for designing and developing highly efficient metal-free catalyst for hydrogen evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of occult Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in children was considerably varied from 0.1–64% in different reports. In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV infection among the children born to mothers with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Jiangsu, China. Serum samples were collected from 210 children of 207 mothers with positive HBsAg. HBV serological markers were detected by ELISA and HBV DNA was detected by nested PCR. Homology comparison of HBV sequences recovered from the child and mother was used to define the infection. Three children (1.43%) were positive for HBsAg, in whom the HBV pre S and S gene sequence in each child was identical to that in her mother. Of the 207 HBsAg-negative children, nine displayed HBV DNA positive by two nested PCR assays using primers derived from S and C genes. However, the sequence alignment showed that the sequences in each child were considerably different from those in his/her mother. Therefore, the sequences amplified from the children were very likely resultant from the cross-contaminations. Furthermore, the nine children with ‘positive HBV DNA’ were all negative for anti-HBc, and one had anti-HBs 3.42 mIU/ml and eight others had anti-HBs from 72 to >1000 mIU/ml, indicating that the nine children were less likely infected with HBV. Therefore, none of the 207 HBsAg-negative children of HBV-infected mothers was found to have occult HBV infection. We conclude that the prevalence of occult HBV infection in vaccinated children born to HBsAg positive mothers should be extremely low. We recommend that homology comparison of sequences recovered from the child and mother be used to define the occult HBV infection in children born to HBV infected mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hepatitis E virus ( HEV) infection has become relevant to blood transfusion practice because isolated cases of blood transmission have been reported and because HEV has been found to cause chronic infection and severe liver disease in immunocompromised patients. Study Design and Methods We tested for immunoglobulin ( Ig) G and IgM antibodies to the HEV and for HEV RNA in 1939 unselected volunteer US blood donors. Subsequently, we tested the same variables in pre- and serial posttransfusion samples from 362 prospectively followed blood recipients to assess transfusion risk. Results IgG anti- HEV seroprevalence in the total 1939 donations was 18.8%: 916 of these donations were made in 2006 at which time the seroprevalence was 21.8% and the remaining 1023 donations were in 2012 when the seroprevalence had decreased to 16.0% (p < 0.01). A significant (p < 0.001) stepwise increase in anti- HEV seroprevalence was seen with increasing age. Eight of 1939 donations (0.4%) tested anti- HEV IgM positive; no donation was HEV RNA positive. Two recipients had an apparent anti- HEV seroconversion, but temporal relationships and linked donor testing showed that these were not transfusion-transmitted HEV infections. Conclusion No transfusion-transmitted HEV infections were observed in 362 prospectively followed blood recipients despite an anti- HEV seroprevalence among donations exceeding 16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hepatitis E virus ( HEV) infection has become relevant to blood transfusion practice because isolated cases of blood transmission have been reported and because HEV has been found to cause chronic infection and severe liver disease in immunocompromised patients. Study Design and Methods We tested for immunoglobulin ( Ig) G and IgM antibodies to the HEV and for HEV RNA in 1939 unselected volunteer US blood donors. Subsequently, we tested the same variables in pre- and serial posttransfusion samples from 362 prospectively followed blood recipients to assess transfusion risk. Results IgG anti- HEV seroprevalence in the total 1939 donations was 18.8%: 916 of these donations were made in 2006 at which time the seroprevalence was 21.8% and the remaining 1023 donations were in 2012 when the seroprevalence had decreased to 16.0% (p < 0.01). A significant (p < 0.001) stepwise increase in anti- HEV seroprevalence was seen with increasing age. Eight of 1939 donations (0.4%) tested anti- HEV IgM positive; no donation was HEV RNA positive. Two recipients had an apparent anti- HEV seroconversion, but temporal relationships and linked donor testing showed that these were not transfusion-transmitted HEV infections. Conclusion No transfusion-transmitted HEV infections were observed in 362 prospectively followed blood recipients despite an anti- HEV seroprevalence among donations exceeding 16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]