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The assessment of the microwave backscattering characteristics from breaking waves is crucial for ocean remote sensing and ocean target recognition. Nevertheless, due to the tough experimental environment and the complex geometric profile of breaking waves, research on the microwave scattering characteristics of breaking waves is still preliminary. In this study, the echoes from breaking waves near shore were measured by a C-band radar, which was conducted at incident angles from 20° to 60° with both horizontal polarization (HH-Pol) and vertical polarization (VV-Pol), to reveal the properties of the normalized radar cross Section (NRCS) and the Doppler spectrum associated with wave breaking. The results show that the radar NRCS increases obviously when water waves are breaking. And, the HH–VV polarization ratio of the scattering field from breaking waves is close to 1. On the other hand, the frequency shift and the bandwidth of the Doppler spectrum of the scattered fields from breaking waves are both increasing. And, the Doppler spectrum may have multiple spectral peaks due to the stronger scattering intensity and higher velocity of the breaking waves. In this work, an empirical model for the NRCS backscattered from breaking waves is proposed within the incidence angle range from 20° to 60° along different observation directions. The experimental results can provide a reference for the subsequent research on microwave scattering characteristics of breaking waves.

Accurate perceptual knowledge of atmospheric characteristics in the propagation path is of great significance for the design of communication systems. However, the atmosphere above the ocean is inhomogeneous, which brings challenges to accurate prediction of propagation loss. Moreover, the atmospheric refractive index distribution model calculated from atmospheric data requires at least two stations with near-sea meteorological data. In real maritime over-the-horizon communication or detection, only one station transmits and receives meteorological data, and the received meteorological data and propagation loss have large temporal noise. To address these issues, first, a denoising model based on the 1-D convolution autoencoder (1-DCAE) is constructed to filter out the temporal noise of input environmental meteorological data and propagation loss. Second, to accurately predict the influence of environmental factors on the prediction of propagation loss, a deep-learning framework called short- and long-term parallel double-flow TrellisNets (SL-TrellisNets) is proposed to predict the loss. Finally, the extensive experiments demonstrated that the root mean square and mean absolute errors (MAEs) of the proposed 1-DCAE are dramatically reduced. Our proposed SL-TrellisNets outperforms the other state-of-the-art techniques in terms of propagation loss prediction. In addition, we analyzed the impact of the environmental factors on the accuracy of over-the-horizon propagation loss (OHPL) prediction.

This paper studies the problem of velocity sensor fault detection for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. A novel fault detection method is proposed based on zonotopes. The fault is detected based on the check of the intersection between the prediction state set and the measurement state set. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated via a minimum detectable fault set. Numerical simulation is conducted to demonstrate the validity and viability of the proposed method.

During myogenesis and regeneration, the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts play key regulatory roles and may be regulated by many genes. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptomic data of chicken primary myoblasts at different periods of proliferation and differentiation with protein‒protein interaction network, and the results indicated that there was an interaction between cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2). Previous studies in mammals have a role for RRM2in skeletal muscle development as well as cell growth, but the role of RRM2in chicken is unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of RRM2on skeletal muscle development and regeneration in chickens in vitro and in vivo. The interaction between RRM2and CDK1was initially identified by co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. Through a dual luciferase reporter assay and quantitative real-time PCR, we identified the core promoter region of RRM2, which is regulated by the SP1transcription factor. In this study, through cell counting kit-8 assays, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine incorporation assays, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining, and Western blot analysis, we demonstrated that RRM2promoted the proliferation and inhibited the differentiation of myoblasts. In vivo studies showed that RRM2reduced the diameter of muscle fibers and slowed skeletal muscle regeneration. In conclusion, these data provide preliminary insights into the biological functions of RRM2in chicken muscle development and skeletal muscle regeneration.

Skeletal muscle satellite cells are stem cells that are known for their multipotency and ability to proliferate in vitro. However, primary skeletal muscle satellite cells have limited proliferative capacity in vitro, which hinders their study in poultry skeletal muscle. The emergence of immortalization techniques for cells has provided a useful tool to overcome this limitation and explore the functions of skeletal muscle satellite cells. In this study, we achieved the immortalization of chicken skeletal muscle satellite cells by transducing primary cells with TERT (Telomerase reverse transcriptase) amplified from chicken (chTERT) using a lentiviral vector through reconstitution of telomerase activity. The cells successfully bypassed replicative senescence but did not achieve true immortalization. Preliminary functional characterization of the established cell line revealed that the proliferative characteristics and cell cycle profile of the immortalized chicken skeletal muscle satellite cell lines (ICMS) were similar to those of chicken primary muscle satellite cells (CPMSCs). Serum dependency analysis and soft agar assays indicated that ICMS did not undergo malignant transformation. Induced differentiation results demonstrated that ICMS retained their capacity for differentiation. The cell lines established in this study provide an important basis for the establishment of immortalized poultry cell lines and a cell model for the study of poultry skeletal muscle-related functional genes.

La disfunción microvascular coronaria (DMC) es muy prevalente y se la reconoce como una importante entidad clínica en pacientes con enfermedad coronaria (EC), aunque su relación con eventos adversos cardiovasculares en diferentes casos de EC no se ha evaluado sistemáticamente.

Associations between air pollution and the acute exacerbations (AEs) of COPD have been established primarily in time-series studies in which exposure and case data were at the aggregate level, limiting the identification of susceptible populations.

Leaf senescence is an orderly and highly coordinated process, and finely regulated by ethylene and nitrogen (N), ultimately affecting grain yield and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms on the crosstalk between ethylene- and N-regulated leaf senescence remain a mystery in maize. In this study, ethylene biosynthesis gene ZmACS7overexpressing (OE-ZmACS7) plants were used to study the role of ethylene regulating leaf senescence in response to N deficiency, and they exhibited the premature leaf senescence accompanied by increased ethylene release, decreased chlorophyll content and Fv/Fmratio, and accelerated chloroplast degradation. Then, we investigated the dynamics changes of transcriptome reprogramming underlying ethylene-accelerated leaf senescence in response to N deficiency. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis were significantly down-regulated, while DEGs involved in chlorophyll degradation and autophagy processes were significantly up-regulated, especially in OE-ZmACS7plants in response to N deficiency. A gene regulatory network (GRN) was predicted during ethylene-accelerated leaf senescence in response to N deficiency. Three transcription factors (TFs) ZmHSF4, ZmbHLH106, and ZmEREB147were identified as the key regulatory genes, which targeted chlorophyll biosynthesis gene ZmLES22, chlorophyll degradation gene ZmNYC1, and autophagy-related gene ZmATG5, respectively. Furthermore, ethylene signaling key genes might be located upstream of these TFs, generating the signaling cascade networks during ethylene-accelerated leaf senescence in response to N deficiency. Collectively, these findings improve our molecular knowledge of ethylene-accelerated maize leaf senescence in response to N deficiency, which is promising to improve NUE by manipulating the progress of leaf senescence in maize.

Power-to-gas (P2G) technique realizes the two-way coupling for the integrated electricity and natural gas systems, which provides an effective way for wind power accommodation based on its operating characteristic. Therefore, a new economic low-carbon clean dispatching of power system containing the power to gas (P2G) considering the comprehensive influence of the multi-price factor is proposed. Firstly, the P2G operation and carbon trading mechanism models are established. Secondly, the goal is to minimize the sum of thermal power generation costs, gas turbine power generation costs, carbon trading cost, wind abandonment penalty cost, and P2G operating costs and taking into account the comprehensive impact of multiple price factors and the security constraints of the natural gas network and the power network. Then, the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to solve the model. Finally, the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed model are verified through the analysis of calculation examples, and it is proved that the conversion of electricity to gas can effectively improve the wind power absorption capacity of the grid, which provides a reference for the low-carbon dispatch operation of the integrated energy system.

A new kind of AlCoCrFeNiTi high-entropy alloy (HEA) as a grain refiner was prepared by vacuum arc melting. In this work, the effects of HEA (1.0 wt.%, 2.0 wt.% and 3.0 wt.%) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of pure aluminum were studied. The microstructure was characterized and examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to indicate the refining abilities and mechanism of HEA on pure aluminum. Results show that the addition of HEA refined both the macrostructure and microstructure of pure aluminum. When 1.0 wt.% HEA was added, most coarse columnar grains were refined into equiaxed crystals, and as the amount of HEA increased to 2.0 wt.% and 3.0 wt.%, aluminum grains were further refined, and the grain boundaries were nearly indistinguishable. Moreover, the morphology of α-Al transformed from coarse columnar crystals to equiaxed grains, and the mean size of α-Al grains decreased from 374 μm to 27 μm. The Al 3 Ti, Al 3 Ni, and nano-phase precipitated from the aluminum alloy with HEA in the solidification. The typical rod-like nano-phases distributed interdendritic regions of α-Al. The average length of nano-phases is 2568 nm, 4372 nm, and 6907 nm and the average diameter is 112 nm, 103 nm, and 92 nm when 1.0 wt.%, 2.0 wt.% and 3.0 wt.% HEA were added to the pure aluminum, respectively. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) were improved in all samples, whereas the elongation (El) was decreased with increasing HEA concentration. When 3.0 wt.% HEA was added into the aluminum melt, the UTS was improved by 145.2% from 62 MPa to 152 MPa, the YS was increased by 173.8% from 42 MPa to 115 MPa, and the El was decreased by 33.3% from 39% to 26%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

68Ga-pentixafor, a ligand of CXCR4 (CXC chemokine receptor type 4), has been reported as a potential PET tracer to evaluate a variety of pathological entities. We report intense 68Ga-pentixafor activity on PET/CT in 2 patients in the histopathologically confirmed adrenal adenomas, which were the cause of their Conn syndrome.

Use of growth retardants enables post-planting optimization of vegetative growth, which is particularly important given ongoing climate change. Mepiquat chloride is an economical and safe retardant widely applied in cotton farming, but it is not uniformly effective. Here, identification of its molecular target as the ent-copalyl diphosphate synthase that initiates gibberellin biosynthesis enabled the introduction of selective agrochemical inhibition, leaving intact more specialized metabolism important for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Improving water use efficiency (WUE) is an important subject in agricultural irrigation for alleviating the scarcity of water resources in semiarid regions of the North China Plain. Moreover, glycine betaine (GB) is one of the most effective compatible solutes synthesized naturally in plants for enhancing stress tolerance under abiotic stress, but little information is available on the involvement of GB in regulating crop WUE under field conditions. This study was conducted to explore the role of exogenously applied GB in improving WUE and plant physiological and biochemical responses in winter wheat subjected to conventional or limited irrigation during the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 growing seasons. Exogenous application of GB significantly enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced the accumulation of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide under limited irrigation conditions. Furthermore, GB-treated plants maintained higher leaf relative water content and membrane stability, which led to higher chlorophyll content and gas exchange attributes for better intrinsic and instantaneous water use efficiencies compared to control plants under limited irrigation conditions. GB-treated plants had higher indole-acetic acid and zeatin riboside levels but lower ABA levels compared to control plants under conventional and limited irrigation conditions. Additionally, GB enhanced the grain filling rate and duration, grain number per spike, and final grain weight, which resulted in higher grain yield compared to the control. Interestingly, GB significantly improved the integrative and photosynthetic WUE under conventional and limited irrigation conditions, although GB treatment did not markedly affect total water consumption. These results suggest the involvement of GB in improving WUEs in winter wheat by modulating hormonal balance, membrane stability, photosynthetic performance and antioxidant systems to maintain higher grain yield under conventional and limited irrigation conditions.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder characterized by tumor formation in multiple organs, with over 80% of TSC patients developing angiomyolipomas (TSC-AMLs). However, the molecular events that contribute to TSC-AMLs are not well understood. Recent reports have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical in TSC cortical tubers. However, little is known about the role of miRNAs in TSC-AMLs. In the current study, we analyzed changes in the miRNA and mRNA profiles in TSC-AMLs and matched normal adjacent tissues. A total of 15 differentially expressed miRNAs and 2664 mRNAs were identified. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we confirmed the results of the miRNA and mRNA profile experiments. Through bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assays, we found that BCL2L11, an apoptotic activator, was the direct target of miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p. Engineered expression of miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, or miR-132-3p significantly regulated proliferation and apoptosis in Tsc2−/−cells. Manipulated expression of BCL2L11 also led to proliferation and apoptosis alterations in Tsc2−/−cells, in agreement with the effects of the above three miRNAs. In addition, BCL2L11 rescued the proliferation and apoptotic inhibition induced by miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p in Tsc2−/−cells. This study provides supportive evidence that miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p play a role in TSC-AMLs through the regulation of BCL2L11.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder characterized by tumor formation in multiple organs, with over 80% of TSC patients developing angiomyolipomas (TSC-AMLs). However, the molecular events that contribute to TSC-AMLs are not well understood. Recent reports have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical in TSC cortical tubers. However, little is known about the role of miRNAs in TSC-AMLs. In the current study, we analyzed changes in the miRNA and mRNA profiles in TSC-AMLs and matched normal adjacent tissues. A total of 15 differentially expressed miRNAs and 2664 mRNAs were identified. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we confirmed the results of the miRNA and mRNA profile experiments. Through bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assays, we found that BCL2L11, an apoptotic activator, was the direct target of miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p. Engineered expression of miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, or miR-132-3p significantly regulated proliferation and apoptosis in Tsc2−/−cells. Manipulated expression of BCL2L11 also led to proliferation and apoptosis alterations in Tsc2−/−cells, in agreement with the effects of the above three miRNAs. In addition, BCL2L11 rescued the proliferation and apoptotic inhibition induced by miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p in Tsc2−/−cells. This study provides supportive evidence that miR-9-5p, miR-124-3p, and miR-132-3p play a role in TSC-AMLs through the regulation of BCL2L11.

In the ultra-precision machining process, it is important to detect the tool–workpiece distance by the laser diffraction effect. However, there is no absolute ideal situation for the tool setting of laser diffraction. It is necessary to consider the influence of installation tilt error on the tool setting accuracy and its compensation. In this paper, referring to the ideal optical axis, the influences of the incident laser tilt, CCD tilt, and rectangular orifice tilt on the peak position of the diffraction fringes in the CCD phase are modeled and analyzed to determine the relative effects on the tool setting accuracy for tool–workpiece distance detection. The tilt angle of the incident laser is measured by extracting the CCD pixel position, where the central peak point is located. The CCD tilt angle is detected by extracting the CCD pixel positions, where the first-degree peak points are located. The inclination direction and the inclination angle of the rectangular orifice are detected by extracting the bending direction and the bending degree of the fringes in the horizontal direction, and the error compensation is performed according to the inclination angle. This study establishes a compensation method for installing tilt error, and the optimized installation process parameters can be acquired under certain experimental conditions according to the experimental data to ensure the results’ accuracy.

Columbian coloration patterns in plumage are widespread phenomena in several standard breeds of poultry, such as the Columbian Plymouth Rock chicken. H line chicken plumage is generally a pure white except in the hackle, wing, and tail plumage, which coloration is very similar to the Columbian plumage pattern, but with the barring substituting for the black vertical striping. Thus, we refer to this plumage coloration as “sub-Columbian” pattern. However, the genetic basis of this phenotype remains unknown. Here, a F3 cross population between yellow plumage roosters and sub-Columbian plumage hens was constructed, for verifying sub-Columbian plumage was sex-linked dominant inheritance. To identify the candidate regions, F2 generation sub-Columbian plumage hens and yellow plumage hens with their parental lines were used for BSA-seq, and sub-Columbian plumage genes were mapped to a 10.46 Mb interval on chromosome Z. Remarkably, by transcriptome analysis of the neck and wing tip follicle tissues of the 2 plumage colors, we demonstrated that within the interval, only 1 gene, SLC45A2expressed significant differently (P< 0.05). Through KASP, we identified L347M and A10331272T in solute carrier family 45 member 2 (SLC45A2), and B2 haplotype of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A), showed near complete association with the phenotype. Eventually, we designed a hybridization experiment for verifying the locus of sub-Columbian plumage, which is inherited through Z-linked dominant inheritance and is controlled by SLC45A2and CDKN2A.

Chinese dwarf cherry (Ouli) is a native shrub in northwest China with high ecological value, but the nutritive potential remains to be explored. In this study, the total content of polyphenols, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and anthocyanins of Ouli from 30 germplasms were measured, and the antioxidant activities were evaluated by FRAP and ABTS assays. The polyphenol profile was determined by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. Grey relational analysis and partial least squares were utilized to build chemometrics models for selecting antioxidant compounds. The contents of total flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, phenols and total anthocyanidins of 30 germplasms of Ouli were 119.92–668.76 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW), 90.81–555.44 mg/100 g FW, 148.42–390.43 mg/100 g FW, 0.02–17.26 mg/100 g FW, respectively. A total of 61 compounds were identified, including 40 flavonoids (26 flavonols, 4 anthocyanins, 6 dihydroflavonols, 2 dihydrochalcones, and 2 flavones), 12 proanthocyanidins, 6 phenolic acids, and 3 types of other class compounds (one stilbene and two phenols). The proanthocyanidin compounds in Ouli contributes most to the total antioxidant capacity with the antioxidant rank that procyanidin trimer > tetramer > dimer ≈ monomer. Catechin and procyanidin B1 were the most abundant compounds and were 18.45–162.50 μg/g FW and 30.52–149.42 μg/g FW, respectively. Shanxi (SX) 2 and SX10 could be considered as potential germplasms, and proanthocyanidins could be chosen as a characteristic nutrient evaluation index of Ouli. This study not only takes a key step to lay the groundwork for further research of Ouli but also provides a reference for the discovery of the functional ingredients of other foods.

Liquid biopsy is a noninvasive technique that can provide valuable information for disease characterization by using biofluids as a source of biomarkers. Proteins found in biofluids can offer a wealth of information for understanding pathological processes. In this study, we used early-stage clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) as a model to explore the proteomic relationships among tissue, plasma, and urine. We analyzed samples of tumor tissue, plasma, and urine from a cohort of 27 ccRCC patients with T1-2 stage and 27 matched healthy controls, using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for proteomic analysis. We integrated the differential proteins found in the three types of samples to explore ccRCC-associated molecular changes. Our results showed that both plasma and urine proteomes could reflect functional changes in tumor tissue. In plasma, cytoskeletal proteins and metabolic enzymes were differentially expressed, while in urine, adhesion molecules and defense proteins showed differential levels. The differential proteins found in plasma and urine both reflect the binding and catalytic activity of tumor tissue. Additionally, proteins only changed in biofluids could reflect body immune response changes, with plasma proteins involved in actin cytoskeleton and oxidative stress, and urine proteins involved in granulocyte adhesion and leukocyte extravasation signaling. Plasma and urine proteins could effectively distinguish RCC from control, with good performances (plasma/urine: 92.6%/92.6% specificity, 96.3%/92.6% sensitivity, and an AUC of 0.981/0.97). In conclusion, biofluids could not only reflect functional changes in tumor tissue but also reflect changes in the body's immune response. These findings will benefit the understanding of body biomarkers in tumors and the discovery of potential disease biomarkers.

Voice biometric feature extraction is the core task in developing any speaker identification system. This paper proposes a robust feature extraction technique for the purpose of speaker identification. The technique is based on processing monaural speech signal using human auditory system based Gammatone Filterbank (GTF) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The measures used to assess the robustness to additive noises and speaker identification performance are defined and discussed. The kkn the proposed feature is evaluated in real environments under varying noisy conditions. The proposed feature is benchmarked against the commonly used features such as: MFCC, PLCC, and PLP, and it outperforms them in different noisy environments.

Objective: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by lesions throughout the body. Our previous study showed the abnormal up-regulation of miRNAs plays an important part in the pathogenesis of TSC-related renal angiomyolipoma (TSC-RAML). circRNAs were known as important regulators of miRNA, but little is known about the circRNAs in TSC-RAMLs. Methods: Microarray chips and RNA sequencing were used to identify the circRNAs and mRNAs that were differently expressed between the TSC-RAML and normal kidney tissue. A competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network was constructed to reveal the regulation of miRNAs and mRNAs by the circRNAs. The biological functions of circRNA and mRNA were analyzed by pathway analysis. Microenvironmental cell types were estimated with the MCP-counter package. Results: We identified 491 differentially expressed circRNAs (DECs) and 212 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and 6 DECs were further confirmed by q-PCR. A ceRNA regulatory network which included 6 DECs, 5 miRNAs, and 63 mRNAs was established. Lipid biosynthetic process was significantly up-regulated in TSC-RAML, and the humoral immune response and the leukocyte chemotaxis pathway were found to be down-regulated. Fibroblasts are enriched in TSC-RAML, and the up-regulation of circRNA_000799 and circRNA_025332 may be significantly correlated to the infiltration of the fibroblasts. Conclusion: circRNAs may regulate the lipid metabolism of TSC-RAML by regulation of the miRNAs. Fibroblasts are enriched in TSC-RAMLs, and the population of fibroblast may be related to the alteration of circRNAs of TSC-RAML. Lipid metabolism in fibroblasts is a potential treatment target for TSC-RAML.

A recombinant carp growth hormone (rcGH) was used to develop for a GH radioreceptor binding assay in the goldfish (Carassius auratus). Specific binding of125I-rcGH to goldfish liver membranes was a pH, time, temperature, and membrane protein dependent process. Scatchard and LIGAND analysis indicated a single class of high affinity and low capacity binding site, with an association constant (Ka) of 1.9×1010 M-1 and a maximum binding capacity (Bmax) of 9 fmol mg-1 protein. Liver tissue displayed the highest125I-rcGH binding of all the tissues examined. Displacement of125I-rcGH with various unlabeled teleost and mammalian GHs and prolactins revealed that the goldfish hepatic binding site was highly specific for teleost GH. Intraperitoneal administration of 0.1, 1.0, and 10 µg rcGH g-1 body weight to hypophysectomized goldfish resulted in a 27, 52, and 68% decrease in total binding sites, respectively. Injection of a high dose of rat prolactin (rPRL) (5 µg rPRL g-1 body weight) also resulted in a 32% decrease in total binding sites. These results suggest that endogenous GH may have a role in the regulation of its own receptors in the goldfish.

Following the publication of this article, the authors noticed an error was in Figure 5C. In the miR-124-3p mimics, the same image was used accidentally for the miR-132-3p mimics. This does not affect the results and conclusions of the article.

Following the publication of this article, the authors noticed an error was in Figure 5C. In the miR-124-3p mimics, the same image was used accidentally for the miR-132-3p mimics. This does not affect the results and conclusions of the article.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroid hormones that function in plant growth and development and response to environmental stresses and nutrient supplies. However, few studies have investigated the effect of BRs in modulating the physiological response to nitrogen (N) supply in maize. In the present study, BR signaling-deficient mutant zmbri1-RNAi lines and exogenous application of 2,4-epibrassinolide (eBL) were used to study the role of BRs in the regulation of physiological response in maize seedlings supplied with N. Exogenous application of eBL increased primary root length and plant biomass, but zmbri1plants showed shorter primary roots and less plant biomass than wild-type plants under low N (LN) and normal N (NN) conditions. LN induced the expression of the BR signaling-associated genes ZmDWF4, ZmCPD, ZmDET2, and ZmBZR1and the production of longer primary roots than NN. Knockdown of ZmBRI1weakened the biological effects of LN-induced primary root elongation. eBL treatment increased N accumulation in shoots and roots of maize seedlings exposed to LN or NN treatment. Correspondingly, zmbri1plants showed lower N accumulation in shoots and roots than wild-type plants. Along with reduced N accumulation, zmbri1plants showed lower NO3−fluxes and 15NO3−uptake. The expression of nitrate transporter (NRT) genes (ZmNPF6.4, ZmNPF6.6, ZmNRT2.1, ZmNRT2.2) was lower in zmbri1than in wild-type roots, but eBL treatments up-regulated the transcript expression of NRT genes. Thus, BRs modulated N physiological response and regulated the transcript expression of NRT genes to promote N uptake in maize.

We first investigate some necessary and sufficient conditions for the solvability to a constraint system of coupled two-sided Sylvester-like quaternion tensor equations. We also construct an expression of the general solution to the system above when it is solvable. As an application of the system, we discuss some solvability conditions and the ?-Hermitian solution to some system of Sylvester-like quaternion tensor equations.